The Rangers notched their third win in a row - with possibly their best defensive performance of the season - defeating the Hurricanes 1-0 on Tuesday to take a six-point lead in the division with 17 games remaining. Off a 3-1 win over New Jersey the night before and without Matt Rempe, who was suspended four games earlier in the day for his elbow of Jonas Siegenthaler, New York had a gut chuck, big boy, put on your work boots and grab your lunch pail kind of effort against Carolina. Igor Shesterkin was the backbone of the victory, stopping all 28 shots he faced for his second straight shutout.
The Blueshirts head to Tampa to face the Lightning on Thursday, then are on the road in Pittsburgh for a 3pm matinee Saturday and home for a St.Patrick's Day 1pm start time against the Isles. (The NHL needs their heads examined for putting this on during the afternoon on that day as anyone think the crowd will be just a little amped up for the contest).
Game recap:
Rangers lineup vs. Hurricanes:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Roslovic
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko
Vesey-Goodrow-Brodzinski
A few thoughts:
1) Total team performance - the 12 forwards ice time ranged from 10:46 (Jonny Brodzinski) to 19:39 (Mika Zibanejad). On defense, the range was 13:34 (Zac Jones) to 24:51 (Adam Fox). Coach Peter Lacviolette rolled all four lines and three defense pairs, partially due to the score and also impacted by the lack of penalties in the game, as there were two on Carolina and one on New York. All 18 skaters - and especially the one goalie - contributed to the victory.
The sequence in the third where both teams traded high quality chances and each goalie stood on their head was amazing hockey to watch. Certainly was a playoff-type atmosphere, especially with Jake Guentzel making his Carolina debut.
2) Defense - the K'Andre Miller-Braden Schneider pairing was excellent again. I know the Rangers are 4-0 when Jacob Trouba is out and the mindset already is to buyout Trouba in the offseason, but let's reign it in slightly. In those games, New York's goaltending has been stellar, aiding the record. Plus, when the playoffs start, it's a completely different game. We may end up there, but I am not advocating this switch as of now. That said, keep Key and Schneider together. Most impressive when they were pinned in their zone in the second and even though they were gassed, neither took a penalty.
We also learned that Zac Jones can be successful at this level. Another strong game last night from Jones. He may be the odd-man out when Trouba is back but he has shown he deserves to be in the lineup and can step in when needed.
Fox is a beast. The goal was a good read to step up and release the puck immediately. Luck helped as the puck hit Brady Skjei's toe guard and deflected past Pyotr Kochetkov, who was also brilliant in the contest. What stood out was his diving poke check late on Martin Necas, then his recovery to hit Sebastian Aho (watch the MSG video around the 7:35 mark, maybe a little payback for the knee to knee hit by Aho earlier this year). Ryan Lindgren continues to be the current day version of Dan Girardi and very indispensable.
3) Igor is back. He said he had to play well because it was his mother's birthday. Irrespective of the reason, he has righted the ship. Igor's sub-.900 save percentage, a thing of the past. His high goals-against average, much more in line with last year and slowly shrinking. An absolutely stellar performance for his second straight shutout and third of the year - all of which has come in the last 10 games. When he is rolling like this, even if the offense is not clicking all cylinders, New York has a realistic chance to win.
In his last 10 games (since Feb. 12), Igor Shesterkin has posted a 8-1-1 record, 1.50 GAA, .956 save percentage, and three shutouts.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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