Figuring It Out

By : Mike Rifkin

Filip Chytil scored the Overtime winner for the New York Rangers as they defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Monday. On December third the Rangers lost 5-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks and a lot of people were wondering what would happen next. The Rangers have responded with four consecutive wins. The last three have been against good teams in the Vegas Golden Knights, the defending Stanley Cup Champions Colorado Avalanche and the upstart New Jersey Devils. 

Some of the biggest reasons the Rangers are playing a little bit better is something we saw last year on their run to the Eastern Conference Finals. One is that they are getting some balanced scoring. Over the last four games Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere and Braden Schneider have two goals each. Mika Zibanejad has seven points over the last five games. Vincent Trocheck has five points over the last four games. Chris Kreider has three goals in his last five games. Artemi Panarin has nine assists over the last five games, but has not scored a goal since November 28th. 

Another reason the Rangers have reeled off four wins in a row has been the play of Igor Shesterkin. The reigning Vezina trophy winner has played well for the most part this season, but the last few games especially the game in Colorado has looked like the Shesterkin of  last season. In Monday night’s game he denied Jack Hughes on a penalty shot. With Shesterkin in goal more often than not the Rangers have a chance to win.

The other reason they’re playing well right now also goes back to their run last season. They’re not getting down on themselves and allowing it to snowball into a more difficult task. Last night they fell behind 2-0 early in the first period and they didn’t get down, they scored a goal late in the first to cut it to 2-1 and then after the Devils scored again they fought back with two goals in seven seconds to tie the game again. They’re starting to play with more confidence and it is really showing. 

This is a team that entered the season with high expectations and they’ve struggled with certain aspects of their game. But over the last four they’re playing better hockey. They’re not going to play 82 perfect games, but when everyone contributes that is what makes a team good. The New York Rangers are a good team and this four game winning streak is something to build on.