Adam Fox

Rangers drop 2nd consecutive game with 4-2 loss to Colorado

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The New York Rangers were defeated by the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Tuesday night, their second loss in a row.

The New York Rangers are a good hockey club, yet they were no match for the complete game the Colorado Avalanche put on display Tuesday night in their 4-2 win.

Colorado’s Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals and Nazim Kadri recorded three assists in the victory. The Avalanche has beaten the Rangers two times in the last six days.

Ryan Strome and Julien Gauthier scored for the Blueshirts with Alexandar Georgiev making 27 saves in the loss.  The Rangers have now lost their last three out of four games following their seven-game winning streak.

Adam Fox played a massive 27:22 with 30 shifts. Jacob Trouba was second in ice time with 23:29.

Strome found some positive things coming from the loss.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for growth,” Strome told Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “When things are going well, sometimes you get a little bit complacent, and sometimes it’s a little bit of a reality check. Although it’s a loss, I think that the effort was there. Teams that are good go through adversity no matter where it is in the season, and maybe we’re facing a little bit of it now before Christmas.”

Recap Rangers Scoring

Ryan Strome scored to cut the Avalanche lead in half at 10:31 of the 2nd period with his sixth goal of the year.

In the third period, with the Rangers down by a score of 3-1, Gauthier scored his second of the season, with Geogiev pulled for an extra attacker.

Post Game Notes

Adam Fox reached the 25-assist mark and 30-point mark when he got the helper on Ryan Strome’s second-period goal. Fox’s 25 assists are the second in the NHL behind Connor McDavid (29) and lead all NHL defensemen. Fox joins Brian Leetch as the only defenseman in team history to reach the feat. Leetch did it in 1990-91, 1991-92, and 2000-01. With 30 points, Fox required the fewest games (28) to reach the mark among Rangers defensemen since Brian Leetch (24 GP in 2000-01).

Ryan Strome scored his sixth goal of the season and fourth in his last nine games. Strome has five points (3G-2A) in his last seven games and 16 points (5G-11A) in his last 18 games.

Artemi Panarin notched his team-leading 33rd point of the season with an assist, his 24th of the year. Panarin has recorded 10 points (3G-7A) in his last six games and has points in seven of his last nine games (5G-9A), four of them being multi-point games.

Julien Gauthier scored his first goal since November 16.

The Rangers visit the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night with a 9 p.m. Eastern time faceoff.

New York Rangers’ last second goal defeats Buffalo 5-4

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New York Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren scored the game-winner with .07 seconds left to cap a crazy 5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

The New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres appeared to be ready to take their contest into overtime Sunday night.

Chris Kreider had the puck pinned in the Saber’s end with a little over five seconds remaining when the puck found its way onto his stick. He then chipped the puck to a pinching Adam Fox who feed it to Mika Zibanejead.

All the while Ryan Lindgren skated his way to the right of the Buffalo’s goaltender, the only one who saw him was Zibanejead who feed him a perfect tape-to-tape pass that Lindgren easily put into the net, sending the Garden faithful into a frenzy on Hockey Fights Cancer night.

The win was the 11th for the Blueshirts (11-4-03) and was their fifth win in their last six games (5-1).

Sneaking In

Lindgren and Adam Fox were at the blueline and decided to sneak into the offensive zone as they both realized there wasn’t much time should the Sabres get possession of the puck to skate into the Ranger’s end.

“Me and ‘Foxy’ are standing up kind of back towards the point and look up and see the clock and kind of realize with five seconds left there’s probably not going to be enough time for them to bring it all the way down, so you just keep sneaking in,” Lindgren said to Heather Engel. “The puck got to Foxy, who kicked it out to Mika. Obviously, a great play by him. Just a great win.”

Artemi panarin had another three-assist game and was named the number one star of the game. The Rangers and Sabers combined to score four goals in the second period in a span of 1:22. The two teams scored three goals each in that stanza taking a 4-4 game into the second intermission.

Georgiev Continues to Struggle

Alexandar Georgiev started the game for the Rangers, but it was Igor Shesterin who led the team onto the ice for the start of the third period.

Georgiev seemed to be fighting the puck off most of the night. The Sabres’ fourth goal of the game and third of the second period by Rasmus Dahlin seemed to be the last straw for head coach Gerard Gallant.

Shesterkin made four saves in the third period winning his ninth game of the year.

 

Notes (Via NYR PR)

Ryan Lindgren scored the game-winning goal with 0.7 seconds left in the game, marking the fourth time in franchise history that the Rangers have scored a go-ahead goal in the final second of a third period. The last to do so was Brad Richards in 2011 against the Phoenix Coyotes. It is the 24th time in NHL history a team has won a game in the final second of the third period. Lindgren became the fourth defenseman in NHL history to score a go-ahead goal in the final second of regulation.

The Rangers pushed their home win streak to five games with a win tonight, their longest win streak at home since Dec. 22, 2019-Jan. 13, 2020.

New York recorded at least one point for the ninth time in its last 11 games (7-2-2) and has at least one point in 14 of its 18 games this season.

The Rangers won their third-straight game against the Sabres and have extended their point streak to eight games against them (7-0-1). In their last 18 matchups dating back to Feb. 2, 2017, the Rangers have only lost three times in regulation to Buffalo (14-3-1). At MSG, New York has won five straight and nine of 10 games against the Sabres. In their last 16 games at home against Buffalo, the Rangers are 13-3-0 for 26 points.

The Rangers had 12 different players record a point tonight, the most players to record a point in a single game this season.

The Rangers and Sabres combined for four goals in a span of 1:22, marking the fastest four goals in a game since March 21, 2017 (SJS at MIN: 1:03).

New York scored three goals in the second period tonight, the third time this season they have scored three second-period goals. The Rangers have 19 second-period goals this season, tied for the 10th most in the NHL.

Tonight was the fourth occurrence this season in which the Rangers scored five or more goals in a game.

Artemi Panarin recorded his 50th career three-point game with three assists. Since entering the NHL in 2015-16, his 50 three-point games are tied with Patrick Kane for the third-most in the NHL. Tonight marked the 11th time since joining the Rangers that Panarin has recorded three or more assists in a game, trailing only Connor McDavid (16) for the most among all players over that span. Panarin has recorded points in four of his last six games (2G-6A). Tonight was the 20th time in his career that Panarin has faced the Sabres and he has points in 15 of those matchups. Panarin has points in six of his last seven games (3G-10A) against Buffalo.

Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season and eighth on the power-play, trailing Leon Draisaitl (9) for the most PPG’s in the NHL. Since 2019-20, Kreider’s 28 power-play tallies are second in the NHL to Draisaitl (40) Kreider has points in four of his last six games against Buffalo (3G-2A) and seven of his last 10 games against them (6G-2A).

 Adam Fox notched his 13th and 14th assists of the season, giving him the most assists among defensemen in the NHL. Fox extended his assist/point streak to seven games against the Sabres (1G-13A).

Ryan Strome prolonged his point streak to six games (1G-6A) with an assist tonight, his longest point streak since his 11-game streak from March 13-April 1, 2021 (2G-14A). It marks the third time in his career that Strome has had a point streak of six-plus games.

Mika Zibanejad registered an assist on the game-winning goal, giving him five assists in his last six games. Zibanejad has at least one point in six of his last seven games against the Sabres.

Kaapo Kakko tied his career-long point streak of four games (3G-2A) originally set Apr. 6-11, 2021. In each of his last five games, Kakko is a plus-1 or better and in total is a plus-6 since Nov. 13.

 Ryan Lindgren scored his second goal of the season and first career game-winning goal with the tally with 0.7 seconds left to play.

Jacob Trouba scored his second goal of the season and tallied his fifth point (2G-3A) in his last six games.

Filip Chytil recorded his 75th career NHL point in his 201st NHL game. Chytil is the 89th Czech-Republic-born skater in NHL history to tally 75-plus points. Chytil has three points (1G-2A) in his past five games.

 Ryan Reaves skated in his 700th NHL game tonight and recorded his first point as a Ranger (assist). Reaves became the 20th skater from the 2005 draft class and second from the fifth round (Darren Helm) to skate in 700 games. Reaves has split the 700 games between St. Louis (419), Vegas (209), Pittsburgh (58), and New York (14). Since the NHL began tracking hits in the early 2000’s, Reaves is one of 11 players in the NHL who have played in as many games (700) and recorded as many hits (2,387) as Reaves has.

 K’Andre Miller scored his second goal of the season tonight, giving him his 15th career point. Miller scored his first NHL goal against Buffalo on January 26, 2021.

Barclay Goodrow earned his 101st career point with an assist tonight. Goodrow has three goals and five assists for eight points this season, one of six players on New York with five-plus assists.

The Ranger’s next game will be at the new UBS arena when they visit the New York Islanders on Wednesday night, 7 p.m.

New York Rangers fail to play a complete game, lose 3-2 in OT to Vancouver

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The New York Rangers’ five-game road winning streak ended on Tuesday night with a 3-2 OT loss to the Vancouver Canucks.

A complete 60-minute hockey is going to be needed if the New York Rangers are going to have any chance at a playoff birth.  Tuesday night loss to the Canucks was a result of the team failing to play a strong final period in their 3-2 loss.

The good news for the New York Rangers is they have been improving when they have the man advantage. The bad news from Tuesday night’s loss was the team couldn’t find a way to score an even-strength goal.

With that loss, the team’s five-game road win streak comes to an end, but they continue to extend their road point streak to six games.

The Rangers had built a 2-0 lead entering the third period on power-play goals by Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin.  Adam Fox had assists on both of the goals, giving him nine points in the team’s first 10 games.

Mika Zibanejad recognized why the team was unable to keep their road winning streak alive, acknowledging that it takes a complete game to get wins in the NHL.

“We made a couple mistakes, they obviously had a push back and scored on their chances in the third,” center Mika Zibanejad said to Kevin Woodley of NHL.Com. “I thought we did a pretty god job up until the third, but it wasn’t a full 60 minutes and that’s why we sit here with the loss.”

With his two assists, Fox recorded his 100th career point in his 135th career game. Fox becomes the 22nd defenseman in NHL history and third in Rangers history (Sergei Zubov, Brian Leetch) to notch 100 points in 135 or fewer games. Of the 22 defensemen, 16 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. With 11 points in 10 games, Fox is the first Rangers defenseman since Brian Leetch in 2001 to record 11 or more points in the first 10 games of a season.

Penalty Killing Supremecy

The Rangers were 6-6 on the PK Tuesday night. They have killed off 27 of their last 28 penalties since October 16. In that span, New York’s 96.4% PK leads the NHL. The last time the Rangers had a perfect PK when shorthanded six or more times was Feb. 1, 2021, against Pittsburgh. (NYRPR)

Third Period Struggle

Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller had a poor third period, as did the entire team.  Trouba was a minus 2 on the night with Miller a minus 3.

The third line of Lafreneier-Chytil-Blais was a combined minus 3 on the night. The coach had called out that line, stating he expected them to play better than they did in their last game at Seattle.  The line combined for just one shot on goal which Blais had in the first period.

For the second consecutive game, the Blueshirts allowed 13 shots against.  Igor Shesterkin held the Canucks scoreless in that period but was unable to keep them off the scoresheet in the third period.

Former Ranger J.T. Miller scored two goals including the OT game-winner.

Igor Shesterkin stopped 33 of 36 shots and is now 4-0-1 on the road this season.

The Ranger’s next game will be against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night.

New York Rangers head to Vancouver for game Tuesday night

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The New York Rangers take the ice on Tuesday night to play against the Vancouver Canucks.

New York Rangers: 6-2-1 13 Pts
Vancouver Canucks: 3-5-1 7 Pts
Venue: Rogers Arena
Television: MSG Networks, 10 P.M.

Following a win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday night, the New York Rangers visit the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday evening in the first of three straight games in Canada.

New York and Vancouver are playing for the first time since January 4, 2020, a 2-1 Canucks win in Vancouver.

In the game against the Kraken, the team was outshot 32-18 but leaned heavily on the shoulders of Igor Shesterkin until they came up with the game-winning goal in the third period.

Head coach Gallant understands that winning games is important, but the team needs to play better in limiting the opponents in shots against and creating more sustained pressure in the opponent’s end of the ice.

Projected Lineup:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Goodrow
Panarin-Strome-Kakko
Lafreniere-Chytil-Blais
Rooney-McKegg-Hunt

Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Tinordi-Nemeth

Shesterkin

Nils Lundkvist will be a healthy scratch for the second consecutive game.

Gallant is deciding who plays based more on the opponents than how well or poorly a player is performing, at least when it comes to the rookie Lundkvist.

Asked if the decision to sub out Lundkvist in favor of Tinordi was based on who the Rangers are going to play rather than the player’s performance, Gallant alluded to the former.

“We always look at the other team,” Gallant said. “There’s no doubt for sure.”

Special Teams

Chris Kreider leads the NHL in power-play goals with five. The Blueshirts are 23rd in the league scoring at 16.1%. The penalty killing is where the team has excelled. The team is ranked 13th in the NHL with 83.3%.

Goalie Igor Shesterkin has started the season with a 5-1-1 record. His GAA is 1.70 along with a .947 save percentage and one shutout. In his last four road games, he has a 4-0 record with 0.99 GAA.

UPCOMING GAMES (All Times ET)

Nov. 5 – at EDM. – 9:30 PM

Nov. 6 – at CGY – 10:00 PM

Mon, Nov. 8 – vs. FLA – 7:00 PM

Sat. Nov. 13 – at CBJ – 7:00 PM

Rangers agree to terms with Adam Fox on 7-year extension

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New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has agreed to terms with Adam Fox on a seven-year contract extension.

The New York Rangers have agreed to terms with Norris trophy winner Adam Fox. The team announced on Monday afternoon that the club has signed the 23-year-old to a seven-year extension.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting the deal has an AAV of $9.5 million.

Fox, 23, has skated in 134 career NHL games over parts of three seasons (2019-20 – 2021-22), all with the Rangers, registering 15 goals and 83 assists for 98 points, along with a plus-46 rating and 48 penalty minutes. He won the Norris Trophy in 2020-21 as the “defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position”; he skated in 55 games with the Rangers last season, registering five goals and 42 assists for 47 points, along with a plus-19 rating and 14 penalty minutes. Fox became the fourth Ranger to win the Norris Trophy since it was first presented in 1953-54, joining Doug Harvey (1961-62), Harry Howell (1966-67), and Brian Leetch (1991-92 and 1996-97). In addition, Fox became only the second defenseman in NHL history to win the Norris Trophy in one of his first two seasons in the league, joining Bobby Orr (Orr won the award in his second NHL season in 1967-68). He led NHL defensemen in assists, ranked second in points and power-play assists (21), tied for second in power-play points (23), ranked third in takeaways (38), and ranked 11th in average ice time (24:42) in 2020-21.

“We are thrilled that we have agreed to terms with Adam on a contract extension and that he will continue to play for the team he grew up cheering for,” General Manager Chris Drury said. “In just over two seasons, Adam has consistently shown why he is a cornerstone for our organization and one of the best players in the NHL. It has been a privilege for us, and our fans, to watch Adam showcase his ability on a nightly basis, and we are glad to have that opportunity for seven more years.”

Since entering the NHL in 2019-20, Fox is the only defenseman in the league who has tallied at least 90 points and has posted a plus-45 rating or better; only three other NHL players have registered 90 or more points and a plus-45 rating or better over the span (Artemi Panarin, Patrice Bergeron, and Brad Marchand). Fox has skated in nine games with the Rangers thus far in 2021-22, recording two goals and seven assists for nine points, along with a plus-five rating and two penalty minutes. He is tied for second among NHL defensemen in points and is tied for fourth among NHL defensemen in assists this season. In addition, he is the only NHL player averaging at least 17:00 of even-strength ice time, 4:00 of power-play ice time, and 2:00 of shorthanded ice time per game thus far in 2021-22. Fox’s 11 takeaways thus far this season are tied for the fourth-most in the NHL.

Fox currently leads the Rangers in scoring with nine points, two goals with seven assists, and has one game-winning goal in nine games this season.

The Rangers official Twitter account put out a message from Fox soon after the announcement;

The Jericho, New York native was acquired by the Rangers from Carolina on April 30, 2019. Fox was originally selected by Calgary in the third round, 66th overall, of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

New York Rangers: The week ahead (November 1-7)

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The New York Rangers’ trip through the Pacific Northwest got off to a good start through a Halloween triumph over Seattle.

Last Week: 2-1-0
Season: 6-2-1 (3rd in Metropolitan)

Star of the Week: Adam Fox

Is it possible that Adam Fox is the best quarterback in New York? Mike White’s breakout performance at MetLife Stadium could cause some debate, but the defending hoister of the Norris Trophy has set up prime opportunities for his teammates. Fox had assists on each of the Rangers’ final three goals on Friday against Columbus, earning the primary helps on two of them. Fox also earned his second goal of the season on Sunday in Seattle, the sixth game-winner of his career.

The Week Ahead

Tuesday: @ Vancouver (10 p.m. ET, MSG)

In the midst of a seven-game homestand, the Canucks (3-5-1) are coming off three straight one-goal losses in regulation, the most recent being a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. Meeting up with Vancouver sets up a reunion with former first-round representative J.T. Miller, who’s tied for third in the NHL with eight assists.

Friday: @ Edmonton (9:30 p.m. ET, MSG+)

The Oilers (6-1-0) have gotten off to a scorching hot start through familiar methods: scoring efforts from Connor McDavis and Leon Draisaitl, who have united for 29 points in the early going. They’ve been fed well by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who leads the NHL with 10 assists in the early going. The Rangers’ last visit to Edmonton was a wild get-together on New Year’s Eve 2019, as they nearly fought back from a 6-0 deficit through five consecutive goals before falling 7-5.

Saturday: @ Calgary (10 p.m. ET, MSG)

The Rangers have an instant opportunity to avenge last Monday’s listless 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Flames (6-1-1). They weren’t the only ones stymied by Calgary, who finished a dominant east coast swing with five straight wins before shutting out Philadelphia in Alberta on Saturday night. The Blueshirts’ visit is the penultimate game of a five-game homestand at Scotiabank Saddledome, as Nashville and Dallas will respectively stop by on Tuesday and Thursday. This will be the Rangers’ first back-to-back since they followed up an opening night loss in Washington with an overtime defeat at home against Dallas on Oct. 13-14.

They Said It

“It’s repetitive when we talk about it. We can sing his praises for days, but he keeps us in every game and you never feel like you’re out. It’s a tie game and he keeps it that way, and obviously, we get one. I can’t say enough good things about him…We don’t want to rely on him that heavy most games, but when we need him, he comes through. No one wants to have their goaltender bail them out most games.”-Adam Fox on Igor Shesterkin (via Joe Pantorno)

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

Rangers win their 5th road game defeating Seattle 3-1

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rangers

The New York Rangers ended the month of October with a 3-1 victory over the Seattle Kraken.

The New York Rangers had no right winning last night’s game in Seattle. If not for the outstanding play of Igor Shesterkin, the Blueshirts would be wondering what went wrong instead of enjoying a 6-1-2 record.

New York finished the first month of the season with a 6-2-1 record and 13 points, five of those wins coming on the road. It marks the Rangers’ most points in the month of October since notching 16 (7-2-2) in the 2015-16 season. The Rangers have set a franchise record for the most road wins through the first nine games of a season and their five road wins in October are the most road wins in the month of October in franchise history.

Shesterkin made 31 saves in the remand 3-1 victory on Sunday night.  He earned his fifth win in his seventh start of the season. Shesterkin’s five wins are tied for the third-most in the NHL. On the road this season, Shesterkin is an NHL-best 4-0-0 with a .970 SV%.

The Rangers were outshot 32-18 for the game including an outstanding 13-2 in the second period. 

Kreider lights the lamp in the first period

Chris Kreider netted his seventh goal of the season scoring early into the first period in the Ranger’s first trip to Seattle since that city was awarded an expansion team. 

The Rangers took the ice in the second period flat. They were outplayed in all areas of the ice and if not for Shesterkin’s brilliance the score would have been worse at the conclusion of the second period than the reality of a 1-1 contest. 

Fox gets Blueshirt’s a 2-1 third period lead

A more even third period allowed the Rangers to grab their second lead of the game when Adam Fox took a pass from Artemi Panarin and wristed a shot past the Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer. 

It was Fox’s second goal of the season. 

Barclay Goodrow ended the night with an empty netter. 

Post Game Numbers

  • The Rangers have set a franchise record for the most road wins through the first nine games of a season and their five road wins in October are the most road wins in the month of October in franchise history.
  • The Rangers won their fifth-straight road game, tied for the 11th longest streak in franchise history and longest since winning nine straight from Jan. 16-Feb. 27, 2020. The Rangers have also tied Calgary for the most road wins in the NHL (5).
  • The Rangers went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill tonight and have killed off 21 of their last 22 penalties since October 16. In that span, New York’s 95.5 PK% leads the NHL.
  • The Rangers blocked a season-high 20 shots tonight. New York finished the first month of the season with 130 blocked shots, the sixth most in the NHL.
  • Artemi Panarin notched an assist to give him four points in his last two games and eight points in his last eight games.
  • Mika Zibanejad assisted on Goodrow’s empty-net goal, his sixth assist and seventh point of the year. Zibanejad was a plus-2 and a team-high 8-for-12 on faceoffs tonight (min. two draws).

Via NYR PR

The Rangers will visit the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night.

New York Rangers host the Calgary Flames Monday night at MSG

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The New York Rangers, on a four-game winning streak, host the Calgary Flames at the Garden on Monday night.

New York Rangers– 4-1-1 (9 Pts.)

Calgary Flames– 2-1-1 (5 Pts.)

Venue: MSG

Television: MSG Network, 7:00 P.M.

The New York Rangers return to Madison Square Garden on Monday night as they welcome the Calgary Flames. This will be just the second home game of the season for the Blueshirts who dropped their home opener to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 14.

The Blueshirts are in first place in the Metropolitan Division and are third in the NHL behind the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers ( both with 10 Pts.).

Streaks

Barclay Goodrowhas has scored a goal in each of the past two games.

Sammy Blais has recorded three assists in the past two games

Adam Fox has an assist in each of the past two games.

The Blueshirts are a perfect 3-0 when they score the first goal of the game and have a 1-1-1 record when the opposition scores the first goal of the game.

Special Teams

The Rangers are still looking for the first power-play goal at home this year. They are 0-4 with the man advantage at MSG and overall are 3-24 on the power-play. Currently, they are ranked 28th in the NHL with a success rate of 18.5%.

The penalty Killing is only slightly better than their power-play. The rangers have been short-handed 21 times this season allowing four goals. That is good for 18th in the NHL (81%).

Projected Lineup

Ryan Strome (Covid Protocol) and Kaapo Kakko (UBI-IR) were both on the ice for practice on Sunday. It is anticipated that Strome will return to the lineup on Monday night.

The lines used during practice;

Lafreniere – Zibanejad – Kreider

Panarin – Strome – Goodrow

Blais – Chytil – Gauthier

Hunt – Rooney – Blais

Defense

Fox-Lindgren

Trouba-Miller

Nemeth-Lundkvist

Power Play

PP1 – Fox, Zibanejad, Strome, Panarin and Kreider

PP2- Trouba, Lundkvist, Lafreniere, Chytil and Blais

Shesterkin should get the start in net.

LAST GAME


New York Rangers 3, Ottawa Senators 2 – Oct. 23, 2021 (Canadian Tire Centre) NYR Goals: C. Kreider (4), R. Lindgren (1), B. Goodrow (2)
OTT Goals: N. Paul (2), J. Norris (2)
NYR Goalie: A. Georgiev (W) – 26 Saves
OTT Goalie: A. Forsberg (L) – 1 save, M. Murray (ND) – 22 saves
NYR Shots: 26
OTT Shots: 28
NYR PP: 1/4
NYR PK: 4/4

Next Five Games

UPCOMING GAMES (All Times ET)

Mon, Oct. 25 – vs. CGY – 7:00 PM (TV: MSG – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM)
Fri, Oct. 29 – vs. CBJ – 7:00 PM (TV: MSG – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM)
Sun, Oct. 31 – at SEA – 9:00 PM (TV: MSG, NHL Network – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM) Tue, Nov. 2 – at VAN – 10:00 PM (TV: MSG – Radio: ESPN 98.7 FM)
Fri, Nov. 5 – at EDM – 9:00 PM (TV: MSG+ – Radio: TBD)

New York Rangers continue to win on strength of the young guns

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The New York Rangers are having a fantastic road trip as their winning streak hits three consecutive games following Thursday’s 3-1 victory over Nashville.

Winning hockey games can help teams bond. For the New York Rangers, winning hockey has now earned the team three straight wins and points in their last four games (3-0-1).

Head coach Gerard Gallant has been able to find the right line combinations, despite some injuries, the red hot play of goalie Igor Shesterkin has given the Rangers their best start to begin a season (7 points) through five games since the 2009-10 season (8 points).

Thursday night’s lineup was constructed differently. With Ryan Strome and Kappo Kakko still unable to play, Gallant decided to put his two top stars together again.

Mika Zibanejad centered Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider. The trio didn’t record any points but played a strong game driving to the net and causing chaos in the Predator’s end.

The Young Guns

The night belonged to the kids.

Gallant put together a second line of Filip Chytil (22 yrs. old) centering Alexis Lafreniere ( 20 yrs. old) and Sammy Blais (25 yrs. old). The three seemed to hit the ice flying and were in the mix for the first two goals. The first-period backhander by Chytil gave the team a 1-0 lead.

The Rangers’ second goal, scored by Lafreniere, was a small glimpse of the potential these kids have. Norris trophy winner Adam Fox intercepted a pass, skated down the right side of the ice, and threaded a needle pass to Blais.

Not to be outdone by his defenseman, Blais then toe dragged the puck as he split two Predator players just in front of the Nashville goaltender, then chipped a pass to his left onto the stick of Lafreniere who proceeded to put the puck into the net.

Shesterkin Wall

Igor Shesterkin had found his groove early on this season. During this three-game winning streak, (wins over Montreal, Toronto, and Nashville) he has stopped 99 of the 102 shot’s he has faced which is good for a .971 save percentage. 

Three goals against made him pretty unbeatable and is another display of how well things are going on this road trip.

Adam Fox

Adam Fox has points in four of five games this season (1G-3A). Since the beginning of last season, Fox’s 51 points are tied with Victor Hedman for the most in the NHL among defensemen.

The kid, just 23-years-old, does everything on the ice for his team. His great speed along with vision across the whole sheet of ice directly lead to the game-winning goal on Thursday night. 

Head coach Gallant has been trying to limit Fox’s minutes, yet he is still averaging 25:25 minutes on ice per game. Gallant will ride this horse until he’s forced to slow down. 

A balance of veteran players and fearless kids is slowly transforming into a winning combination. They play hard in all three zones, for an entire game. No one player is more important than the other, but all know their responsibilities during games.

Now if they can only find an answer to the power-play. 

New York Rangers host the Dallas Stars in their home opener Thursday

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The New York Rangers will face the Dallas Stars as they take to the Garden ice for their 95th home opener.

New York Rangers- 0-1-0
Dallas Stars-            0-0-0
Venue: Madison Square Garden
TV: MSG Network

 

The New York Rangers play their second game of the season on Thursday night when the team celebrates their home opening game against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.

The Blueshirt are coming off a 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in a game that saw the Rangers take nine penalties. They allowed four power-play goals in the nine times they were shorthanded.

New York connected on their first goal of the season on a power-play opportunity in the third period. The Rangers finished the night 1-for-5 on the power play. Last season, the Rangers ranked 14th in the NHL in power-play efficiency (20.7%) and ranked tied for eighth in the NHL in power-play goals (37) last season. (NYRPR)

Projected Lines

Lafreniere-Zibanejad-Kreider
Panarin-Strome-Kakko
Blais-Chytil-Goodrow
Reaves-Rooney-Gauthier

Fox-Lindgren
Trouba-Miller
Nemeth-Lundkvist

Shesterkin

Notes From Wednesday’s Loss To Washington

– Chris Kreider put the Rangers on the board for the first time in 2021-22 with his 59th career power-play goal and 347th career point. His 59 power-play goals tie Andy Bathgate for the 12th most PPG’s in franchise history. Kreider’s 347 points are four away from tying Petr Nedved (351) for the 27th most in franchise history.

– Adam Fox notched his first point of the season with an assist on Kreider’s goal. Over the last two seasons (2020-21 – 2021-22), Fox has 22 power-play assists, the third-most in the NHL and second among defensemen (Hedman – 23).

– Ryan Strome also earned an assist on Kreider’s goal, earning him points in eight of his last nine games (3G-7A) against Washington. In 33 career games against the Capitals, Strome has eight goals and 18 assists for 36 points.

– Six players (Jarred Tinordi, Patrik Nemeth, Barclay Goodrow, Dryden Hunt, Ryan Reaves, Sammy Blais) made their Rangers debut tonight. Out of that pack, Goodrow led the way with two shots and Reaves had five hits.

– Gerard Gallant coached his first game with the Rangers, the fourth team (CBJ, FLA, VGK, NYR) he has manned the bench for in his career. Gallant is the 36th head coach in franchise history. Gallant now carries a 270-217-4-51 (W-L-T-OT) record over his head coaching career.

– Alexandar Georgiev made his 90th career start for the Rangers, making 22 saves in the loss. Georgiev is the 19th goaltender in team history to start in 90 or more games.