Since the trade deadline, the New York Rangers have shown the league, they are in it to win it, regardless of any records set or broken along the way. New York has punched their playoff ticket but is still fighting for first or second place in the Metropolitan. So it will be a fight to the finish to see if the Rangers or the Carolina Hurricanes will take the top spot.
The Rangers faced the Winnipeg Jets, New York Islanders, and Boston Bruins this past week. The Rangers looked and played like the dominant team for the first two games. However, with the onset of injuries, the game against Boston was a little flat and not as exciting. So, with three games left in the season, it comes down to how hard they want to fight for the top position in the division.
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New York Rangers vs. Winnipeg Jets
April 19, 2022
Madison Square Garden
W 3-0
1st Period
No Scoring
2nd Period
15:57-Ryan Strome, Mika Zibanejad & Artemi Panarin
3rd Period
11:47-Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin & Andrew Copp
19:27-Ryan Strome, Andrew Copp & Chris Kreider
The Rangers were looking to capitalize on the two previous shutouts and try for a third. They succeeded in their mission, gaining their 50th win of the season. It is only the fifth time in franchise history that they have won 50+ games and the first time since the 2014-15 season. It also makes Gerard Gallant the second coach for the Rangers to reach 50 wins in his first season with the team; Mike Keenan was the other one.
The Rangers played well throughout, doing an impressive job in the offensive zone, keeping the Jets tied up. Igor Shesterkin was able to keep things going in the defensive zone, making 31 saves. After a scoreless first period, Strome kicked off the scoring for the Rangers in the second with a power-play goal. Fox was able to get his 11th goal of the season a little over midway into the third. Then Strome sealed the deal for the Rangers with an empty-net goal.
New York Rangers @New York Islanders
April 21, 2022
UBS Arena
W 6-3
1st Period
03:43-Andrew Copp, Artemi Panarin & Jacob Trouba
07:48-Andrew Copp, Artemi Panarin & Adam Fox
18:13-Andrew Copp, Ryan Strome & Artemi Panarin
2nd Period
00:37-Brock Nelson & Josh Bailey
17:15-Chris Kreider, Adam Fox & Mika Zibanejad
19:07-Ryan Strome, Artemi Panarin & Adam Fox
3rd Period
02:06- Brock Nelson, Mathew Barzal & Noah Dobson
12:53-Ryan Reaves, Alexis Lafreniere & Barclay Goodrow
13:22-Josh Bailey, Noah Dobson & Zdeno Chara
You never know what type of game you will get when the Rangers and Islanders square off. But, thanks to Copp’s natural hat trick in the first period, this one became a memorable one. It was the first Rangers natural hat trick in the first period since Don Raleigh did it in 1948. Yet again, the boys in blue constantly surprise the fans.
They were dominant in the first period, but the Islanders fought back in the second period, finally getting on the board with Nelson’s goal. Despite that, Kreider and Strome knocked some pucks in the net to give the team a 5-1 lead when the buzzer sounded to end the second.
Although the Islanders grabbed two more goals thanks to Nelson and Bailey, Reaves was able to knock one in to make it 6-3. Alexandar Georgiev was able to make 26 saves and win his seventh straight start.
New York Rangers @ Boston Bruins
April 23, 2022
TD Garden
L 3-1
1st Period
19:25-David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy & Brad Marchand
2nd Period
01:07-Taylor Hall, Erik Haula & David Pastrnak
3rd Period
02:58-Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider & Alexis Lafreniere
09:37- Trent Frederic, Craig Smith & Charlie Coyle
In the last road game of the regular season, the Rangers took on the Bruins in what could potentially be a postseason matchup for the playoffs. The Rangers came into the game on a four-game winning streak. However, it ended with this game. They lost, not because of poor play, but because Linus Ullmark was able to do his job and keep pucks out of the net.
Zibanejad was able to get one in on a power play, thanks to a delay of game penalty by Ullmark. Other than that, the Rangers kept working on getting things going, but Boston was able to keep them in check sufficiently. As always, with games between Original Six team rivals, there had to be a few kerfuffles. It was interesting to see Dryden Hunt come in to defend Fox after McAvoy’s hit on him.
With injuries, Copp, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil out of the lineup, the team looked and played differently in the game against the Bruins. All three are supposed to be back in time for the playoffs, which will be good news for fans. Although this was not the ending the boys in blue wanted, hopefully, it served to remind them that it is not quite over yet.
What We Learned This Week
- The Rangers are 19-8-1 since the trade deadline
- Shesterkin has six shutouts this season, eight in his career.
- Panarin has 73 assists and 96 points overall for the season
- Strome has his first 20 goal season
- Georgiev has won the last five games he’s played with an overall 14-9-2 record for the season
- The Rangers are back in second place in the Metropolitan after the loss to Boston
- A showdown between the Rangers and the Hurricanes is on April 26
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Main Image Credit: Embed from Getty Images
