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Artemi Panarin, on his 31st birthday, leads way in 3-2 Rangers win |
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The Rangers completed their weekend sweep, defeating the Coyotes 3-2 on Sunday. After going 0-2-2, New York flipped the switch this weekend with the two wins. The Blueshirts are off today before kicking off a four-game homestand Tuesday against the Flyers.
Game recap:
Lines:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere
Vesey-Goodrow-Gauthier
Blais-Carpenter-Reaves
Miller-Trouba
Lindgren-Fox
Jones-Schneider
Shesterkin
A few thoughts:
1) The birthday boy, Artemi Panarin, had a goal and two assists. Panarin, who turned 31 yesterday, was all over the ice in the win. The jump that we didn’t see in the playoffs has been very evident through the first 10 games of the season. Panarin has five goals and 11 assists as he puts last year’s somewhat disappointing post season in the rear view mirror.
Panarin’s first assist was beautiful dish to Alexis Lafreniere, who made the okay by driving hard to the net for the deflection goal. His goal came following a strong breakout pass by Adam Fox, but Panarin made the play by protecting the goal and squeaking the puck past Connor Ingram, who was very good for Arizona. The second helper came on the power play, but the key helper went to Chris Krieder, whose blind deflection - a pass that almost worked the day before - went to Mika Zibanejad, who beat Ingram up top in a wide open net.
2) Ryan Reaves dressed for Vitali Kravtsov, injured against Dallas. No real update was given on Kravtsov’s status. If he did suffer a concussion, unsure why he was allowed to fly with the team to Arizona. My guess is that Kravtsov misses the week - at a minimum - if he did in fact suffer a concussion.
Since Filip Chytil left practice early Friday as he tried to return from his injury, I would put his availability for Tuesday as doubtful. Maybe the team gets lucky and he is viewed as ready. But I would hope they err on the side of caution and make sure he is truly 100% before allowing Chytil to dress. Sammy Blais and Julien Gauthier showed again yesterday they deserve to remain in the lineup.
3) Igor Shesterkin made 18 saves and is 5-0-2 in seven starts this season. Sunday’s start was the second time in his NHL career that Shesterkin has started back-to-back games. After the game coach Gerard Gallant seemed amenable to using Igor in this way again, which should be the case, especially if he was well rested. I expect Shesterkin to stay Tuesday against Philly and Thursday versus Boston but sit Sunday when the team faces Detroit with the Isles coming in that Tuesday.
4) I thought the defense was better. Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller certainly had a stronger game than against Dallas. Ryan Lindgren missed clearing the puck which led to a goal and he once again bled in the game, as a deflected puck off his stick cut him late in the second. Arizona still created too many decent chances offensively as New York allowed them opportunities off the rush and on the forecheck. But overall, improved compared to the past week or so.
5) Mullett Arena - clearly it was a fun, college like, atmosphere in the arena. Based on the size and proximity of the fans to the ice, you could how loud the crowd was. Rangers faithful showed up in full force, far outnumbering the Arizona fans. The ice was reportedly good while boards were live and active. I didn’t love the camera angle and the lighting needs some work as it was not always easy to see the puck while watching the game. But the environment was better than expected.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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