36-16-3

Seven wins in a row and it has been some ride.

The last game of January was a sound win against Ottowa and February started with Quick in net to defeat Colorado and Tampa. Igor took over for a squeaky OT win against Chicago which brings us to this week’s three wins.

Igor got his first lights-out game of the season against Calgary, who came into the Garden hot and the Rangers played exceptionally well to win. The defense made some serious moves and Igor looked like his old self in that 2-0 win. Vesey’s hustle to seal the win with the second goal likely got him the first-line gig since Wheeler got a season-ending leg injury against Montreal.

Next, Quick was in net for the next win against Montreal in a goofy 7-4 game where defense on both sides seemed to be optional. The Rangers were fortunate enough to have the first flurry of goals and were able to answer back on each Canadian goal to keep a buffered lead.

Tonight’s Stadium series versus the Islanders at MetLife Stadium was another one for the books. Rangers took the lead at the very beginning with their first shot on goal and then the defense fell apart, seeing the Islanders quickly go up 3-1 in the first period. Then 4-1 at the start of the second. The Rangers rallied back to 4-3, but again fell behind at the start of the third, 5-3. The Islanders then left the door open with successive penalties and the Rangers were able to run through it starting with only 4 minutes left in the game.

Panarin’s final magic trick in overtime stole this game 6-5 from the Islanders who played the game better for longer. Igor let in, I’d say one meatball. There was nothing he could do against the deflected goals (something Sorokin knows well) but the defense kept letting him down. Miller let one guy go by him, Brodzinski inadvertently chipped a puck to his open opponent, who was open because Lindgren got an incidental high stick to the face which put him down, letting his man go undefended.

But…everyone’s been yelling for the top players to put some points up and they did! Trocheck had a hell of a game with two glorious goals (one amazing deflection off of Panarin and a ferociously scrappy battle in front of the net). Plus, he had a fight that turned the momentum entirely in the Rangers’ favor. Another bonus was Matt Rempe playing in his first game. He didn’t play many minutes but on his first shift, he fought an NHL veteran and held his own. He should since he’s 6′ 7″ and probably has a 4-foot reach. So hey, we’ll take all the two points and move forward. We could do with less of the Rangers’ bad habits though.

Next week: Dallas, NJ, Philly. Statistically, Dallas is easily the best team and the biggest challenge. The other two are major rivalries so they aren’t going to be easy. They could get away with losing to Dallas and beat NJ and Philly to keep their solid grip on first place in the Metro. The Rangers are currently tied for third place in the league, so everyone is gunning for them.