The Rangers won the first game of their three-game road trip, 4-2 over Dallas, who are 0-4-2 in their last six. New York dominated the first two periods before faltering a bit in the third. Kaapo Kakko scored twice, and Adam Fox (18 seconds into the game) and Mika Zibanejad (#40 on the season) each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers (37-28-4), who remain three points shy of a wild card in the Eastern Conference. Igor Shesterkin rebounded from Saturday’s shaky effort to make 31 saves and notch the win.
Game recap:
Fast, Fox and Kakko after the game:
Game preview vs. Colorado:
A few thoughts:
1)
Defense and puck possession - a major focus in practice Monday, that attention to detail paid great dividends yesterday, especially in the first two periods. Coach David Quinn’s quote below reflects that. New York reverted a bit to prior form in the final stanza, though part of that was due to Dallas upping their level of play. Maintaining that focus and attention to detail for the whole game is the next challenge as well as building off the success from yesterday contest.
"I thought we really managed the puck well," Quinn said. "I thought our puck play was really good, I thought we were on top of them and took away some time and space. We had everybody going. It was a true team effort."
2)
Fox - running out of superlatives. He and Ryan Lindgren has become the de facto top defensive pairing for New York. Fox was on all for all four goals scored by the Rangers, and while plus-minus isn’t the best measure of success, hard to ignore that category yersterday.
Fox’s goal was set up on a smart hockey play by Jesper Fast, who drove to the net, taking the d-man with him, creating all the open room for Fox. While Fox won’t get much Calder love, I think we all are pretty damn happy with the trade made to acquire him from Carolina by GM Jeff Gorton. The future is pretty bright for the local product.
3)
Zibanejad - pretty good run by Zib. He now needs 10 goals his last 13 games to hit the 50 mark. A daunting task, but seeing the kind of roll he has been on of late, not impossible. Zibanejad is a threat every time he is on the ice, which takes some pressure off the rest of the team and also aids Artemi Panarin, who
4)
Pavel Buchnevich had an assist on Zibanejad's goal, extending his point streak to six games (one goal, seven assists). For all the issues and difficulties Buch has earlier this season, he is now up to 45 points, besting his prior career-high set two years ago. Buchnevich has a legitimate shot at 50+ points and is productive even without Chris Kreider.
5)
Filip Chytil left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury and is day to day, per Quinn. When that injury happened, your guess is as good as mine. Jake Elmer was called up last night to Hartford, as someone will be joining the Rangers in Colorado. Vitali Kravtsov, Vinni Lettieri, Steven Fogarty and Matt Beleskey are all possibilities. My bet is on Lettieri, who could slide onto the third line.
6)
Playoff race - four losses in five games damaged the Rangers' chances of making the playoffs but a big win yesterday.
Yesterday, Toronto nipped the Lightning, Bruins whitewashed Philadelphia, Carolina blew away Detroit while Vancouver topped the Islanders in a shootout.
Games that matter today: none besides the Rangers contest. Thursday: Predators at Maple Leafs, Flyers at Lightning, Hurricanes at Devils, Penguins at Blue Jackets, Panthers at Stars and Islanders at Flames.
Toronto - 81 points - 70 games
Washington - 90 points - 69 games
Philly - 89 points - 69 games
Pittsburgh - 86 points - 69 games
Carolina - 81 points - 68 games
Columbus - 81 points - 70 games
Islanders - 80 points - 68 games
Rangers - 78 points - 69 games
Florida - 78 points - 69 games
Montreal - 71 points - 71 games
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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