AROUND THE NHL ON OPENING NIGHT
Season opener: Rangers survive Blue Jackets late rally
Igor Shesterkin strong performance in crease protects narrow lead down the stretch
New York Rangers
Igor Shesterkin strong performance in crease protects narrow lead down the stretch
Igor Shesterkin strong performance in crease protects narrow lead down the stretch
RW Patrick Kane
Re-signed by Chicago
1 yr, $8.15M
RW Vladimir Tarasenko
Re-signed by St. Louis
4 yrs, $9.17M per
RW David Pastrnak
Re-signed by Boston
7 yrs, $9.84M per
C Ryan O’Reilly
Signed by Washington
1 yr, $7.71M
G Frederik Andersen
Signed by Arizona
4 yrs, $7.24M per
C Patrice Bergeron
Signed by Arizona
1 yr, $5.79M
LW Max Pacioretty
Signed by Montreal
1 yr, $4.62M
G Tristan Jarry
Signed with Montreal
3 yrs, $6.59M per
LW/RW Tyler Bertuzzi
Signed with Arizona
5 yrs, $7.31M per
COLUMBUS, OH — Columbus fans were happy to take home the Johnny Gaudreau bobblehead giveaway, but a win would have been much nicer. New York survived a furious Blue Jackets rally, and a 5-3 penalty kill in the final minutes to win their opener against Columbus, 3-2.
The victory comes after a poor performance in preseason when the Rangers won just twice and finished with one of the lowest GFPG averages.
Within the first minute of the game, the Rangers found themselves shorthanded, but they avoided conceding a power play goal. They would go on to kill five more penalties without surrendering a goal thanks to Igor Shesterkin’s strong performance in the crease.
Artemi Panarın was the first to score, taking advantage of a man-advantage after Jackets’ Jake Bean was penalized for holding. Late in the same period, the Rangers went ahead 2-0 when defenseman Ryan Lingren’s power shot from high up the ice got past goalie Elvis Merzlikins.
Six minutes in the 3rd period, New York took a 3-1 lead when the 2023 James Norris Memorial winner, Adam Fox tapped in a loose puck from the left post. The lead wasn’t safe though. Two minutes later, Jakub Voracek scored to make it 3-2.
With less than three minutes to play, both Vincent Trochek, and K’Andre Miller sat in the box as they watched their teammates defend the lead narrow lead. But, it could have been 5 on 2 — Shesterkin wasn’t going to allow the Rangers to let the win slip away.
AROUND THE NHL ON OPENING NIGHT
Stanley Cup Final runner-ups, Carolina, dropped their opener to Philadelphia. The Flyers were fueled by goals from Scott Laughton, and Tanner Laczynski, while Carter Hart made 24 saves. Andrei Svechnikov scored the lone Hurricanes goal.
Goalie Alexander Georgiev had his work cut out for him, making 34 saves to support Colorado’s win. Bowan Byram was among five goal scorers for the Avalanche. Dallas was led by Roope Hintz (G, 2 AST).
Winger Brady Tkachuk scored a goal, and assisted on another in Ottawa’s season opening win against Boston. Taylor Hall performed well for the Bruins, racking 3 points on a goal and two assists.
