11/15 - Talk about perseverance. The Flyers come back from a 4-goal deficit to knock off the Ottawa Senators 6-4.
New York Rangers
AS IT STANDS
Last week, the 9th-place Rangers (6-5-0) took it on the chin with two more road losses (@NSH, @NYI). They are still a week away from playing their first home game of the season versus Montreal on Tuesday. New York will need to crank up their offense (3.09 GFPG) to keep pace. They sit 4 points behind the Panthers (8-7-0).
OPPONENTS THIS WEEK
Mon – @ Toronto (4-6-1)
Tue – @ Montreal (5-7-2)
Sat – Edmonton (6-6-2)
AHL GAME OF THE WEEK
Thu – @ Checkers (7-4-2)
CONFERENCE LEADERS
Lightning, 23
Penguins, 21
Bruins, 21
Devils, 19
Islanders, 16
Flyers, 16
Hurricanes, 16
Panthers, 16
—
Rangers, 12
Gm 14 - Mike Smith stops Vitali Kravtsov in shootout to give Edmonton the win.
After a long thirteen-game road trip to start the season, the Rangers finally played on home ice, and despite Edmonton’s 3-2 shootout win, nothing could dampen the spirit of fans who witnessed the raising of the club’s 2021-22 Stanley Cup banner.
The Oilers jumped ahead early in the first period behind Connor McDavid’s sixth of the season. Then, still in the second frame, after Libor Hajek was sent to the box for a delay of game penalty, Jesse Puljujarvi scored on the power play for a 2-0 Oilers lead. Before the end of the period, Artemi Panarin answered with his seventh of the season.
After almost fifteen minutes burned off the clock in the final period, the Rangers tied the game 2-2 when Alexander Radulov put back a rebound from the left circle.
New York got some good looks in overtime but nothing could get by goalies Brayden Holtby or Mike Smith. In the shootout, Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse scored during a sudden death round, leaving it to Vitali Kravtsov to keep the Rangers alive, but Smith made the stop on Kravtsov’s attempt to end the game.
Ryan Strome scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season to fuel the Rangers 5-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night at Centre Bell Arena. The win extended the Rangers win streak to two games and moved them into 8th-place
The key goal came in the third period when Alexander Radulov tallied his fourth of the season to give New York a 4-2 lead 8:53 into the frame. The Canadiens answered two minutes later when C Caufield lit the lamp to make it a 4-3 game. Strome scored later to seal the win.
Braden Hotlby was in net for New York and made 23 saves. Carey Price stopped 33 of 38 shots and took the loss.
Igor Shesterkin stopped all 35 Toronto shots to lead the Rangers to a 1-0 shutout of the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Sammy Blais’ second of the season 16:45 into the second period was all New York needed. Neither team took advantage on the power play with the Rangers going 0-for-3 and Toronto failing to score on four man-advantages.
New York improved to 7-5-0 and remained in 9th-place, two points behind 8th-place NY Islanders. Toronto’s struggles continued, falling to 4-7-2 on the season and are in 13th-place in the conference standings.
RW Vitali Kravtsov, and Sammy Blais (both are -5 plus/minus) need to step up their game this week.
The Rangers are not playing like defending champions. Instead, they are just average so far — not knocking it out of the park. Among East clubs, they are ranked 7th in GFPG (3.09) and 6th in GAPG (2.64). Even their special teams are doing ok on PP and PK. So what’s the problem?
They began the season with a 13-game road trip and won’t play at Madison Square Garden for the first time in the regular season until Saturday versus Edmonton. The Stanley Cup MVP, Alexis Lafraniere will be out with a pulled groin until the home game, and Reilly Smith continues to miss time with a concussion (returning Nov 26).
Ryan Strome, fresh off signing a 6-year contract, leads the team with 11 points, 6 goals, and 5 assists. Needing to step it up: RW Vitali Kravtsov, and Sammy Blais (both are -5 plus/minus).
NEWS OF THE WEEK
11/15 - Talk about perseverance. The Flyers come back from a 4-goal deficit to knock off the Ottawa Senators 6-4.
11/12 - Jack Eichel had 6 points in the Sabres 8-3 thumping of the NY Islanders. Buffalo holds 10th-place in East with 14 points.
11/11 - The final score was 5-1 for the Blackhawks. Even better night for Kirby Dash as he had a hat-trick.
11/11 - Defenseman Shea Weber will be injured for a week or so with a concussion and will miss the game versus the Rangers .
11/9 - Goalie Petr Mrazek will be out for about two weeks with a bruised hip. RW Cal Clutterbuck is also out with a concussion and won't play against New York.
THE WRAP UP
The 8th-place Rangers hold a narrow lead over 9th-place Buffalo after earning five points in the week with two wins and a shootout loss. Several clubs clubs having started strong in the conference including the 1st-place Lightning (29 points) who are resembling their two Stanley Cup championship seasons. The Islanders, Canadiens, and Senators are just a point behind the Rangers.
C P. Bergeron, BOS, 29
D. Pastrnak, BOS, 28
C S. Aho, CAR, 24
LW G Landeskog, CAR, 23
RW N Kucherov, TB, 23
C A Barkov, FLA, 22
LD S. Girard, COL, 22
C P. Bergeron, BOS, 21
RW D. Pastrnak, BOS, 21
C S. Aho, CAR, 19
LW T. Teravainen, COL, 19
LW G Landeskog, COL, 18