41-18-4
Rangers went 1-1 this week, losing to Florida in a close, hard game (expected) and beating St. Louis (expected) 4-0 for Shesterkin’s second doughnut this season. It made up for the meatball he let in against Florida, which cost the game. I will also note that I think Miller had his best game in weeks. Florida has been racking up wins and is now first in the league. They landed some major trades this week, making them (probably) significantly better, which is a daunting prospect. They are all in for the Cup.
The Rangers had little trouble tonight against St. Louis, who are in the middle of giving up for the season. All four lines played well, with no major mistakes and Shesterkin was more than ready for the few high chance shots that made it to him. Three power play goals sealed the win. With four days off this kind of game should have happened. Other highlights are seeing Rempe play well (he had a goal waved off and played his most minutes, 10) and Zac Jones stepping up to fill in for Trouba (Miller was paired with Schneider) Now there are 6 games in 9 days so the playoff test experience begins now.
I thought the Rangers would settle all their trades well before Friday, but they didn’t. The other surprise was that no blockbuster trades were made, which is rare to see for this team, especially when so far up in the standings (5th in the league, 4 points ahead of Carolina for first in the division).
Jack Roslovic from Columbus (a forward) and Alex Wennberg from Seattle (a forward) played tonight. Not only did they both play well, Wennberg got an assist! Wennberg in particular looked comfortable centering the third line. I also noticed that they’re fast skaters which is needed. These two aren’t all stars but it looks like they’re going to fit in quickly and make a positive change which is the point of making trades. While it wasn’t a challenging game per se, it’s a good sign to see them both get over 15 minutes of ice time and I’m more optimistic than I was on Friday when the trade deadline ended.
The other trade made was for Chad Ruhwedel from Pittsburgh (defenceman). He didn’t play tonight but he should be reliable on defense. He’s not known for scoring points, but he’s solid on the PK and has playoff experience. I’m looking forward to seeing him play. I imagine we’ll see him more than Jones from here on out.
All three players didn’t cost much either. No current roster player was traded away and some draft picks that likely won’t be missed in the future. That said, without a major rightwing trade for the first line made, the pressure is now even higher for Kreider and especially Zibanejad to regularly score. The second line can’t carry the weight alone any longer. When the playoffs start, if they aren’t playing at their best, it will likely be a short post-season run.