New York Rangers
The Rangers (51-26-5, 103 pts) sought to take positive momentum into the playoffs, but they were denied by 11th-place Toronto (38-33-11, 87 pts) who won in a shootout to earn a 3-2 victory. New York had fell behind 2-1 with under a minute to play in regulation, then Artemi Panarin snapped home his second of the night with six seconds to spare to force OT. After a scoreless overtime, the Rangers shooters failed them, getting stopped by Ilya Samsonov on all 3 shootout attempts, while Auston Mathews scored the only Leaf’s shootout goal.
Despite the loss and ending the regular season in a tie with Pittsburgh on points (103), the Rangers earned the #2 seed thanks to a better ROW (regulation plus OT wins), 47-40. New York’s 103 points fell seven short of their 2021-22 total of 110, but their 2nd-place finished topped their 4th-place finish of a year ago.
The Rangers (46-26-4, 96 pts) went 10-4-1 and earned 21 points in March and powered their way into a 1st-place tie on points with the Capitals. Fueled by a 7-game win streak that began at the start of the month, the Rangers blew past the Flyers, Capitals, and Penguins to rise 4 places to take over the top spot with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season.
KEY GAME RESULTS
Chris Kreider defended a teammate in the Rangers battle against Ottawa.
The Rangers (35-21-3, 75 pts) slipped another two spots to 5th-place after going 6-4-1 in February. New York still has the best defense in the crease (Igor Shesterkin leads the league with a 2.28 GAA), but their production slipped again, now at 2.95 GFPG (down from 3.08). The team remains in the thick of the race to finish near the top of the East standings, and are 8 points safe from 9th-place.
The Rangers (30-17-2, 62 pts) sought to end a losing streak at four games when they faced the Vegas Golden Knights (29-18-4, 62 pts) in their final game of January, but they failed to stop the bleeding, losing 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. Phil Kessel scored twice to fuel the win for Vegas who are tied for 1st-place with four other clubs in the Western Conference. Despite the stretch of defeats, the Rangers dropped only 2 spots to 3rd-place to end the month.
New York won only 5 of 12 games in the month and saw their production drop 38 points to 3.08 goals per game (ranked 6th in conference). In the seven losses, the Rangers were outscored a combined 24-13 resulting in Igor Shesterkin's GAA taking a hit, going from 2.24 to 2.40 by month’s end.
The Rangers (25-10-2, 52 pts) climbed 2 spots to 2nd-place after going 10-2-1 in December That should have taken them to 1st if not for the surging Blue Jackets. But, with strong momentum and a 100% healthy team, one slip up by Columbus (53 pts) will open the door to New York reclaiming the top spot in the East.
When it came to goaltending, almost none were better than Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin moved into 2nd-place in the league in goals against average (2.29) and helped the team to go from a 2.54 GAPG to a league-best 2.27. Shesterkin earned his 10th career shutout on December 27 when the Rangers blanked the Capitals, 2-0.
Chris Kreider rose to #2 on the team in points (29) after earning 19 in December. Mika Zibanejad remained the team leader in points after a 4-7-11 month.
The Rangers (15-8-1, 31 pts) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to score five unanswered goals and pounded the Ottawa Senators 5-2. The Senators were left suffering from whiplash after losing a 2-goal lead so quickly on home ice. Alexis Lafreniere and Jimmy Vesey scored to tie the game in the middle frame, then Chris Kreider scored the go-ahead goal 3:51 into the third period. The win marked the 9th victory in November as New York will enter December in 5th-place in the East.
Defenseman Adam Fox continues to be one of the Rangers top threats on the attack. Fox leads with 19 assists, and is tied with Mika Zibanejad in points (20). But, Fox’s most impressive number is his plus/minus — an astounding +25 which, if it holds, is a career high for a season.
Igor Shesterkin lowered his GAA to 2.62 and earned his first shutout when the Rangers blanked the Detroit Red Wings 5-0 on November 6th. He still has room for improvement, his GAA is currently ranked 12th in the league.
The Rangers (15-7-3, 15 pts) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to score three unanswered third period goals and defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 at Gil River Arena. The victory was New York’s sixth win in their last ten games, and lifted them in to 1st-place in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Mika Zibanejad has scored 6 goals, but its defenseman K’Andre Miller who has found the back of the net more, notching 7 goals to lead New York. Last season, Miller scored 7 all season (2022: 82 GM, 7 G, 20 PTS).
The Rangers will be without Zibanejad until November 11 after he injured his elbow in the Rangers last game. Lindgren is also going to miss time with an upper body injury. Chris Kreider (back spasms) will be back in the lineup by November 6.
Igor Shesterkin’s performance has not impressed (9 GP, 3.02 GAA, .891 SV%) and has yet to record a shutout. His team’s discipline has not helped. The Rangers have been shorthanded 39 times (Seattle leads TSH with 45), and special teams rank near the bottom in penalty killing (76.9 PK%). Winger Ryan Reaves is the NHL’s top offender (32 PIM).
Artemi Panarin scored twice, Jakob Trouba assisted on two scores and had registered four hits, and the New York Rangers put down a comeback by the Tampa Bay Lightning to win 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.
Panarin didn’t score his first until late in the first period when a frenzy of goals led to a 3-2 Rangers lead before the first intermission. Defense settled in finally to allow just one goal in the second frame — that being a hard slap shot by K’Andre Miller that went in untouched, making it 4-2 Rangers.
The Lightning cut the lead to one goal 12:09 into the third period on R Colton’s first of the season. New York’s defense held down the stretch with Panarin taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s empty net in the final minute.
Igor Shesterkin earned the win, making 13 saves. Andre Vasilevskiy was tagged with the loss.
The win completed an Owner Goal of winning the Opener ($30,000 added to budget).
OPENING NIGHT AROUND THE NHL
Anze Kopitar, Phillip Danault, and Alex Iafallo scored for the traveling LA Kings who defeated the Vegas Knights 3-2.
Alex Ovechkin didn’t score goal number 781, but did earn a point on an assist to help fuel Washington’s 3-1 victory at Boston.
BY THE NUMBERS
