25-9-1

The positive record continues. The Rangers rolled the Capitals 5-1. A 4-3 loss to the Panthers, but it was an electric game. Last night, a 5-1 win against Tampa Bay. That 51 points seat the Rangers the first in the league and the Metro division. Vancouver and Las Vegas are closest with 49 points (Van has played one more game and Vegas 2).

It’s taking this team’s most consistent high-quality playing to keep pace with the best. Losing just two games can mean a big change in the standings. With the aforementioned two teams, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Colorado, Carolina, Boston, and the Panthers are currently fighting tooth and nail for the top. There’s a pack of teams just behind that tier as well (looking at Dallas and Philadelphia in particular) that no one should count out. My dark horse team for making the playoffs is Arizona.

Panarin is playing out of his mind. He’s a playmaker in scoring and assists. He’s skating fast and every shift he looks determined to make something happen. Last night he tallied his 6th career hat trick. Each goal is wilder than the one before it. He made this surprise twisted shot that caught everyone by surprise. Mika is having a hell of a month too, with around 17 points in the last 10 games. Igor has returned to form, winning his last 5. Quick has lost his first two regulation games in his last two starts but in each game, he did play outstandingly. In the Florida loss, defensive breakdowns right in front of the net are largely to blame, not him.

The third and fourth lines continue to make the lives of opposing teams difficult. The entire team is playing really well now. Shout out to K’Andre Miller for his recent improvement in his game.

In injury news, Kakko has been skating on his own. He’s been out for more than a month and there’s no time frame for him to come back. It does sound like he’s improving, at least. Chytil has returned home to continue his recovery. Apparently, he’s seen a top doctor for concussions and while he’s been skating on his own, his improvement is slower than expected. He’ll continue to heal and train as much as he can but this means they don’t think he’ll be ready anytime soon. Will he come back in time for the playoffs or is his season over? He’s had at least 4 concussions so this isn’t a good sign. We all hope for the best for 2024.

23-8-1

The final week of games before the Christmas break sees the team go 2-1. A terrific revenge win over Toronto (5-3), a hair-raising loss to Edmonton (4-3), and a way too close of a win over Buffalo in OT (4-3).

Play-wise wise these games went pretty much the same as the last update I gave. Great special teams, solid goaltending, and good point distribution over the whole team: Panarin, Trocheck, Kreider, Zibanejad, and Fox all playing very well, Wheeler is still producing, and the 4th line is making occasional offensive waves with great defense. With his tremendous Boston game, Igor has looked better this week, standing tall against Toronto and making clutch saves in tonight’s game against Buffalo. Things got dicey with Buffalo because of mistakes close to the net that got capitalized on.

Quick lost his first game in regulation against the Oilers last night. Rangers scored first in the 1st period and like I said before, one goal doesn’t mean anything. Wild saves on both sides through the 2nd period kept the one-goal lead until about 5 minutes into the third. Then Edmonton’s offense broke through, taking advantage of rapid defensive breakdowns. It was 4 goals in ten minutes. It was a full-on no-quit effort on both sides though. The Rangers didn’t pack it in when down by 3. Scored on a power play with the goalie pulled to make it 4-2 and Cuylle got a last-second goal to make it 4-3. It was bittersweet as it didn’t mean anything except for a stat boost, but in terms of pushing as a team, I think it meant a lot. That nose-to-the-grindstone effort is going to pay off as the season keeps moving. We’re getting close to the halfway point of the season. There are three games left in the year and they will be challenging (WSH, FL, TMPA).

21-7-1

We are halfway through December and the New York Rangers have seen the largest amount of regulation losses so far with four. Thankfully, the longest losing stretch has only been 2, which was from Nashville and Washington. The record remains fantastic with the team staying at the top of the Metro division and duking it out with Boston for the top of the Eastern Conference. Las Vegas is currently at the top of the league with 45 points. The Rangers currently have the most regulation wins.

There has been doom and gloom from the fan base because all of the losses have been with Shesterkin in net. And they’ve been blowout losses. Quick is currently 9-0-1, which is wild. It’s clear Shesterkin’s game has been off, he’s misjudging high glove shots, moving laterally when he doesn’t need to which puts him out of position, and letting up too many rebounds. Last night’s tremendous come-from-behind OT win against Boston saw him return to form. But the team’s defense is also to blame. Too many turnovers which are mostly due to bad passes, which often turn into odd-man rushes. It doesn’t matter how good your goalie is, odd-man rushes have the highest-scoring potential. Penalties have been pretty high too and recently, like the last 6 games I think, the opposing team has scored first.

The good news is that special teams have remained strong. The Power Play is 2nd in the league and the last I saw the Penalty Kill is in the top ten (I want to say 8th). The points are coming team-wide now, which is great. Panarin remains at the head of the pack with 42(!), Trocheck is next with 27. Face-off wins are fantastic, the best they’ve been in a very long time. Another highlight is that Adam Edstrom (drafted in 2019) got to play his first NHL game and he scored a goal. He was replacing Nick Bonino and all 6’7″(!) of him looked promising. Another bonus, in the last two weeks, Wheeler has played his best hockey with the team.

Kreider also hit major milestones this week. He is now in 3rd place on the Rangers’ leaderboard for most career goals, surpassing Adam Graves. In addition, 100 career power play goals (5th Ranger to do so), and 500 career points (12th Ranger).

Remaining bummers: Chytil has now missed 19 games and Kakko 9 games. There have been no updates on either. It’s getting to the point where it feels like Chytil’s injury is very serious and he’s done for the season. They are both missed as they make a positive difference on this ice. Many people underestimate Kakko’s contributions because he wasn’t putting up points. He’s a monster along the boards and is great at setting up offense plays.

The ship does remain strong though. There have been problems but they are bound to happen and they tend to clear up. Yes, the poor defense keeps cropping up but my faith is there that it will get less frequent. Tonight’s game against Boston was really strong defensively. Getting back to scoring first would put less pressure on the team night in and night out. This is the best hockey league in the world though so even a lead doesn’t mean you can take it easy. One goal means nothing and a two-goal lead just gives you a margin of error to work with. There have been a lot of rallies this season so far.