The Rangers went undefeated on their their five-game, season-long road trip to the West Coast and Western Canada.
The Rangers wrapped up their five-game, season-long road trip with a 3-2 overtime win over the Jets in Winnipeg to go undefeated on the West Coast and in Western Canada. Tom Dianora of Blueshirt Banter joined me to talk about the wildly successful road trip and the state of the Rangers as they return home.
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The Rangers flew west for a season-long, five-game road trip coming off an embarrassing home loss. They return home winners of five straight having swept the road trip after Monday’s 3-2 overtime win in Winnipeg. Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
The Rangers flew west for a season-long, five-game road trip coming off an embarrassing home loss. They return home winners of five straight, having swept the road trip after Monday’s 3-2 overtime win in Winnipeg.
1. I was worried about what may happen to the Rangers on the West Coast and in Western Canada when they left New York nearly two weeks ago. The Rangers had just laid an egg against an inferior Nashville team, losing 4-1 at home with Igor Shesterkin getting pulled in the loss. After that demoralizing loss, they were set to embark on an 11-day, five-city, five-game road trip to locations and venues they have not played their best at in recent seasons.
2. I think all Rangers fans would have signed up for three wins on the road trip. It would have represented a winning trip, while earning at least six of a possible 10 points. It would have been understandable if the record on the trip were less than that thoguh, given the ongoing learning process of a new system under a new head coach, it being so early in the season, and the trip being so lengthy.
3. Not in the wildest dreams of any Rangers fan could they envision what would transpire: five wins in five games with a clean sweep of Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg. It was the first time in Rangers history the team had gone undefeated on a road trip of that length.
“It’s awesome,” Peter Laviolette said after the team’s trip-ending 3-2 overtime win over Winnipeg. “Anytime you can grab a record like that is pretty special. This franchise has been around a long time. That’s a pretty big record.”
4. The Rangers outscored their five opponents 17-7 on the road trip. They won in five different cities across three time zones. They posted two shutouts and won two overtime games. They allowed one goal or fewer in three games and two goals or fewer in four games.
5. After beating the Canucks 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night to improve to 4-0 on the road trip, it would have been understandable if the Rangers laid an egg on Monday in Winnipeg. Playing the last game of a season-long road trip and tasting a return home (even if just for a single game) is an acceptable reason to not produce the best effort, and yet the Rangers maintained their excellence.
6. The Rangers could have fallen apart against the Jets after giving up the game-tying goal with 28 seconds left in the first period. They didn’t. They could have let up when they trailed by one with less than seven minutes left in regulation with the thought of their chartered return home growing closer. They didn’t. They could have packed it in when Ryan Lindgren was absurdly called for tripping with 19 seconds to go that would give the Jets a man-advantage in overtime. They didn’t.
7. The Rangers didn’t let the Jets’ game-tying goal at the end of the first faze them. They never wavered when they trailed by a goal with less than seven minutes remaining and used a power-play opportunity to tie the game on a Chris Kreider deflection. When Lindgren was wrongfully called for tripping, they killed off the 4-on-3 advantage in overtime, and with 26 seconds left Artemi Panarin fed Mika Zibanejad for a game-winning one-timer.
“It seems like we’ve been on the road a long time,” Laviolette said. “For the guys to throw in an effort like that in the last one and to come back is pretty amazing.”
8. After not scoring through the first seven games, Zibanejad now has scored in two straight following his overtime game-winner on Monday. It was made possible by Panarin’s open-ice creativity and otherwordly playmaking abilities.
“Some of the things he does are pretty special,” Laviolette said of Panarin. “The game-winner, just to be able to part the way down the middle of the ice like that, that’s a unique player and he’s playing really well for us right now.”
Panarin scored the first goal of the game, assisted on the game-tying, power-play goal and then set up Zibanejad for the game-winner. The three-point night pushed his season total to 15 through nine games (a 137-point pace) as he has tallied at least one point in every game this season.
9. The game-winning goal wouldn’t have been possible if not for the Rangers’ penalty kill stepping up and killing off a 4-on-3 for the opening one minute and 41 seconds of overtime, an unfavorable scenario that typically leads to a loss.
“I thought our penalty kill did a really did a really good job, Laviolette said. “They were in lanes and didn’t really allow much of anything.”
10. With that, the Rangers can fly back home knowing they won’t have to visit any of those venues again this regular season. They can rest easy knowing they won’t play another game on the West Coast for nearly three months.
“Big win,” Laviolette said of the overtime victory over the Jets. “It’s a great way to end the road trip.”
Now it’s back home, where the Rangers left on bad terms in that effortless performance against Nashville. The Rangers sit atop the Met, where one win and two points separate them from Carolina, who they will play on Thursday at the Garden. If they play at home like they just did on the road, they won’t have to worry about that one-win, two-point gap being closed.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
Unlike past seasons, the Rangers are racking up West Coast and Western Canada wins, having won won their first three.
The Rangers left for their season-long, five-game road trip after a dismal performance against Nashville at home. Unlike past seasons, the Rangers are racking up West Coast and Western Canada wins, having won won their first three games with two to go. Chris Lopresti of WFAN and SNY joined me to talk about the first-place Rangers and their impressive start to the season.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
The West Coast and Western Canada are typically an issue for the Rangers. But not the Peter Laviolette Rangers. The Rangers remain undefeated on their road trip. Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
The West Coast and Western Canada are typically an issue for the Rangers. But not the Peter Laviolette Rangers. The Rangers remain undefeated on their road trip to both locations.
1. Igor Shesterkin stole two points for the Rangers in Calgary and his strong bounceback performance coming off being pulled against Nashville made it seem like he would get the start in Edmonton. He didn’t. Peter Laviolette opted to give Jonathan Quick his second start of the season as a result of his strong play in Seattle, his Western Conference familiarity and his success against the Oilers.
“Things like that always factor into it,” Laviolette said. “His career numbers vs. Edmonton are really good. He’s coming off a pretty good performance as well.”
Quick rewarded his head coach’s decision with a 29-save shutout and the Rangers beat the Oilers 3-0.
“I’m very glad that we have him on our team,” Braden Schneider said of the Rangers backup.
For all of the preseason discussion about Quick being washed up and unfit to be the Rangers backup, his play through three games and two starts is the latest reminder that preseason play is meaningless. Quick stopped every shot he faced from the Oilers, including several high-quality, dangerous chances in the first period, and has allowed one goal in 145:52 this season. His .982 save percentage is silly.
2. The Rangers continued their winning ways on their season-long, five-game road trip to the West Coast and Western Canada, remaining undefeated through three games. After winning 4-1 in Seattle on Saturday and 3-1 in Calgary on Tuesday, their 3-0 win in Edmonton on Thursday has them atop the Met. If not for Stuart Skinner’s play in goal for the Oilers, the game could have easily been 6-0 or even 7-0 with the amount of odd-man rushes the Rangers had.
“I thought we could have had three more,” Laviolette said.”
3. If you had told me through the first seven games of the season that Mika Zibanejad and Filip Chytil would have zero goals, I would have followed it up by asking you how many losses the Rangers have. The two top-six centers being held scoreless through the first two-plus weeks of the season and the Rangers having a 5-2 record is a testament to how deep and well rounded this roster is. And also how good the power play has been.
4. With seven power play goals in seven games, the Rangers have converted 30 percent of their man-advantages. Adam Fox’s power-play goal in Edmonton to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead was the team’s first non-net-front power-play goal of the season. The Oilers’ likely pre-planned approach to tighten their box on the penalty kill around the slot and front of the net to prevent Chris Kreider deflections led to Fox being able to quietly find a place alone at the left hash mark for his eventual goal. The Rangers’ ability to change and shift their formation on the mid-power play has made it hard for the opposition to defend and is a major reason why they currently have the sixth-best power play in the league.
5. Midway through the second, Schneider scored his first of the season with a beautiful snipe from the middle of the ice to make it 2-0, and near the end of the second, Alexis Lafreniere scored for the third consecutive game.
While Quick endured his share of criticism in preseason, Lafreniere was right there in terms of drawing the ire of Rangers fans who put any stock into preseason with his play in late September.
Here is what I wrote about Lafreniere after the Rangers’ win over the Flames on Tuesday.
Lafreniere is currently on pace for a 41-goal season. It’s unlikely he will keep that pace up, but for a player who has averaged .20 goals per game in his 216-game career, the early-season total is exciting. League history has endless examples of high first-round picks who found their game for good in their fourth season, and you don’t have to look any farther than Zibanejad for comparison. Zibanejad was the sixth overall pick in 2011, and it wasn’t until his fourth season in the league when he put together his first 20-goal campaign after a 16-goal campaign in his third season. Lafreniere’s third-season goal total? 16.
Well, that 41-goal pace is now up to a 47-goal pace after Lafreniere scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.
6. “He seems confident to me,” Laviolette said. “He seems like he’s having fun.”
Confidence seemed to be an issue for Lafreniere in his first three seasons in the league. David Quinn and Gerard Gallant were always quick to punish him with playing time, demote him in the lineup or even outright scratch him, never being able to properly utilize or get the most out of the former No. 1 pick. It’s been the complete opposite under Laviolette, who rightfully included Lafreniere in the top six from the moment he arrived, and has let him play on the opposite wing of Artemi Panarin in every game this season.
7. “Every night that line is in the positive in a lot of different ways,” Lavioelte said, “and certainly on the scoreboard is a big one.”
It was another ho-hum, two-point night for both Fox and Panarin, who assisted on the Fox and Lafreniere goals. The two assists extended Panarin’s every-game-of-the-season point streak. The Lafreniere-Chytil-Panarin line continues to impress
“When they’re moving, they’re really dangerous,” Laviolette said. “They read off of each other well. I think there’s a good mix of different types of player in there. They were on point tonight. They had a really strong game.”
8. Overall, it was a good, but not complete game from the Rangers. They had trouble finishing (as Laviolette said), and they relied on Quick to get them through the first period. Through seven games, the Rangers have had a tendency in most first periods to come out sluggish and essentially weather the storm until the first intermission. It’s usually after an 18-minute trip to the locker room when they begin to play their game and take over. The Rangers have been outscored 6-5 in the first period this season, but have outscored the opposition 16-7 in the second and third periods. On this road trip, they have outscored the Kraken, Flames and Oilers 8-0 in the second period. All three of their goals in Edmonton came in the second.
9. Will Cuylle nearly had his second goal of the season after the puck deflected in off his right skate. It was called a goal on the ice, but after review it was overturned for a kicking motion, an idea that remains the grayest of gray areas. Despite only one point (a goal) in seven games, Cuylle has played well, and his linemate Blake Wheeler finally played well too on Thursday. Wheeler played his bet game of the season, and his head coach commented, “He was really noticeable all night … He could have had two or three goals.”
10. Outside of a letdown performance in Columbus and a complete no-show against Nashville, the Rangers have played extremely well this season. The fear of falling behind early in the standings as the team learns a new system under a new head coach has been put to rest.
There are two games left on the road trip (Vancouver on Saturday and Winnipeg on Monday),and thankfully just one more late-night start (Vancouver). It’s impossible not to feel good about the state of the Rangers through seven games, and if they can do the unthinkable and pull off a five-game sweep of the West Coast and Western Canada, it will be impossible not to feel great about them.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
After alternating wins and losses through the first five games of the season, the Rangers have now won back-to-back games for the first time this season. Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
After alternating wins and losses through the first five games of the season, the Rangers have now won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
1. It’s rare when anything good comes from a Rangers West Coast or Western Canada road trip, but after beating the Kraken 4-1 in Seattle on Saturday, the Rangers followed that victory with a 3-1 win over the Flames in Calgary on Tuesday. It was their first win in Calgary in nearly six years (Mar. 2, 2018).
“I kind of thought of that coming in,” Chris Kreider said. “I didn’t want to say it out loud, but it’s been rough sledding for us.”
2. It looked like the winless streak on the road against the Flames may continue early on. After being pulled in his most recent start last Thursday against Nashville, Igor Shesterkin was beat from right slot by Blake Coleman just 75 seconds into this one. A turnover in the neutral zone by Filip Chytil gave the Flames possession, and then a poor defensive decision by Chytil to join Adam Fox below the goal line in pursuit of the puck allowed Coleman to become wide open in the slot. But following the early goal, Shesterkin was perfect for the remainder of the game, shutting out the Flames for the remaining 58:45, and turning away 23 of 24 shots overall.
3. The first period was a slog. The Rangers had just three shots in the first 14 minutes and it wasn’t until the last five minutes of the period that they started to generate offense. Still looking for his first goal of the season, Mika Zibanejad missed the net on a breakaway, and seconds later got stopped by Jacob Markstrom on a 2-on-0 with Kreider below the hashmarks. Chytil had a contested breakaway chance that he was unable to convert with 10 seconds left in the period, and just before time expired, Braden Schneider hit the post.
The Rangers were able to build off their play near the end of first period for almost the entirety of the second period. The second period ending up being the only period the Rangers they played a complete, 200-foot game, and unsurprisingly, it was the one period they did all their scoring in.
4. The Flames entered the game having killed off 21 of 22 power plays this season, but their 95 percent success rate took a dip thanks to the Rangers’ first and second power-play units.
On their first power play of the game, it was the second unit that got the Rangers on the board and tied the game at 1 at 7:38 in the second. Kaapo Kakko was able to keep the puck in the zone on a failed clear attempt by Elias Lindholm, and as a result of Kakko’s play at the left blue line, the second unit was eventually able to set up on the opposite side. Alexis Lafreniere passed it off to Chytil who went to Erik Gustafsson at the point with it. Gustafsson threw a shot into traffic and Lafreniere, who had worked his way down low, deflected Gustafsson’s shot for his third goal of the season.
“We work a lot in practices at trying to get a stick on it, and we have really good (defensemen) who can find lanes,” Lafreniere said. “If you can get to the front, things will happen.”
5. Lafreniere is currently on pace for a 41-goal season. It’s unlikely he will keep that pace up, but for a player who has averaged .20 goals per game in his 216-game career, the early-season total is exciting. League history has endless examples of high first-round picks who found their game for good in their fourth season, and you don’t have to look any farther than Zibanejad for comparison. Zibanejad was the sixth overall pick in 2011, and it wasn’t until his fourth season in the league when he put together his first 20-goal campaign after a 16-goal campaign in his third season. Lafreniere’s third-season goal total? 16.
6. About five minutes of play later, the Rangers got their second power play of the night. Peter Laviolette opted to start the man-advantage with the second unit, but this time it would be the first unit that would come through. With 10 seconds left on the power play, Artemi Panarin, holding the puck at the top of the zone, fed Kreider the perfect pass at the goal line to deflect by Markstrom to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. The power-play goal was the Rangers’ sixth in six games, as Panarin kept his every-game-of-the-season point streak alive.
7. Less than three minutes later, on a 4-on-4, Chytil weaved his way through the offensive zone and ripped a shot from the top of the circles on goal. Markstrom squeezed his pads together, but the puck squeaked through his legs. Much like Kakko’s goal against Phillip Grubauer in Seattle, Gustafsson skated in and banged in the loose puck in the crease to make it 3-1.
8. The third period was played much like the first: a slog.
“I don’t think that we were full tilt tonight,” Laviolette said. “I thought we defended too much.”
The Rangers produced just one shot on goal in the first 10 minutes of the third, couldn’t generate any real scoring chances or create sustained pressure. They seemed content with running out the clock on their two-goal lead much to the chagrin of their head coach.
“I’d rather not sit back and try to hang on to that 3-1 lead,” Laviolette said. “I’d rather go down and press on the forecheck and fire 25, 30 attempts and 15 shots on net. But that didn’t happen.”
It didn’t happen against the inferior Flames, and it didn’t need to. Against a much better opponent, that kind of third period will likely get the Rangers in serious trouble. But with Shesterkin playing the way he did, showing up for one of three periods was enough. (Clear Sight Analytics Hockey had the Flames winning in expected goals 4.29 to 2.45.)
9. “We’re happy that we got the two points,” Chytil said, “but I think we set the bar a little higher than how we played tonight.”
The standard of play for the Rangers this season remains opening night in Buffalo, and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if that level of effort and domination isn’t matched again by the Rangers this season. That’s how nearly flawless they were in that game. Their next-best game came in Seattle. The win over the Flames wasn’t to the level of either of those two games, but like Chytil said, they got two points nonetheless.
10. “Every game can’t be an ‘A-plus’ game,” Laviolette said. “You want it to be, and then if it’s not, you try to fix it and correct it, so it is an ‘A’ game.
The Rangers have played one ‘A-plus’ game this season (Buffalo) and one ‘A’ game (Seattle). Despite their at times inconsistent play, they have still managed to win four of six, including their first two on their season-long, five-game West Coast and Western Canada road trip, proving even their ‘B’ or ‘C’ game is enough to get two points. It would be less stressful if every game were an ‘A’ or ‘A-plus’ effort, especially if one of those games were to happen in Edmonton on Thursday night.
Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!
