The Rangers became the first team to 50 wins this season with an 8-5 victory against the Coyotes at Mullett Arena on Saturday. New York scored five times in the third, including a pair of empty netters, to finally subdue a pesky Arizona team. The Blueshirts (50-20-4) won their fifth in a row and seventh in their past eight games to maintain a three-point divisional lead over the the Hurricanes. In addition, New York is 22-5-2 in its past 29 games.
Game recap:
Rangers lines vs. Coyotes:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Roslovic
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Brodzinski-Wennberg-Kakko
Cuylle-Goodrow-Vesey
A few thoughts:
1) Jonathan Quick was one of several who hit milestones in the win. His victory Saturday was the 392nd of his career, passing Ryan Miller for the most victories all-time by a US-born goalie. Quick is now 17-5-2 this season with four straight wins and eight in his past nine.
Quick has been a godsend this season, especially when Igor Shesterkin has his struggles. You can see how well-respected he is amongst his teammates and in the room by the reaction they all had on the ice after the game ended. Quick was more than deserving of the one-year, $1.275 million extension he received.
2) Alexis Lafreniere notched the first hat trick of his career. Laf added two assists in the win for his first ever five-point game. With the five points, Laf became the sixth Ranger to surpass the 50-point mark this season. Two of the goals came at even strength and the third into an empty net in front of a partisan Rangers’ crowd on the road. He now has 23 goals at even-strength, one behind Sam Reinhart.
All the talk of Laf being a bust has now subsided. Still some whispers exist and talk that he is a product solely of playing with Artemi Panarin. Who would have thought skating with an elite offensive player positively impacts your numbers, shocker, I know.
3) Chris Kreider scored his 300th goal, not once but twice. His first was ridiculously overturned on review with Kreider’s reaction, tossing the puck back in the ice, a classic. The second was typical Kreider from his home office in front of the net.
Kreider is third on the New York’s all-time goal-scoring list behind Rod Gilbert (406) and Jean Ratelle (336). At his current scoring pace and factoring in regression, Kreider could possibly pass Ratelle next season, though more likely in 2025-26. Gilbert is probably three plus years away, though CK20’s current deal expires at the end of the 2026-27 season.
4) Panarin remains on fire, posting an empty-net goal and three helpers. In the win, Panarin He extended his point streak to five games (6G-7A) and his 107 points are now tied with Mark Messier for the third most in a single season in team history. Panarin could tie or pass Jean Ratelle at 109 points Monday against Pittsburgh and likely will finish second behind Jaromir Jagr’s 123 points from 2005-06.
The Bread Man continues to deliver. At 44 goals, he needs to light the lamp six times in the team’s last eight contests to hit the 50-goal mark. Panarin should finish in the top-five for the Hart Trophy, and even though we are biased, you can make a salient argument he is deserving of the award.
5) Adam Fox’s two assists gave him 300 for his career. As the Rangers’ post-game notes highlighted, at 349 games played, Fox is one of 13 defensemen in NHL history to reach the feat in fewer than 350 games with only Brian Leetch (295 GP) being the other to do so with the Rangers. Pretty heady territory for Fox who is deserving of all the accolades he receives.
6) Jacob Trouba returned after missing 11 games with a lower-body injury. He had 22:29 of ice time with three shots on goal, four blocked shots and five hits. Trouba, as noted by coach Peter Laviolette in his post-game presser, may need some time to get back in the swing of things.
I still believe K’Andre Miller should be playing with Braden Schneider and not Trouba. Laviolette’s view may be that a pairing should not be separated by injury. But seeing how good Miller-Schneider were as a duo and how much the underlying numbers for Miller-Trouba paled in comparison, I don’t agree with the decision. Eight games remain for that duo to try and find their footing, but if it’s not better in a few games, play Trouba with Zac Jones.
7) Overall, if there is one concern, besides Mika Zibanejad’s play 5x5, it’s the team defense the last few games. The contest against Philly was pond hockey. Yesterday against Arizona was more the same. You can argue that the opponents may have dictated the style. But Colorado cratered the team in the third period and Igor Shesterkin saved their bacon. Down the stretch, I would love to see improved play in the neutral and own zone to help the team peak going into the postseason.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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