First Period:
- Filip Chytil (8) Assists: Alexis Lafreniere (10), Adam Fox (25)
- Artemi Panarin (8) Assists: Adam Fox (26), Vincent Trocheck (14)
- Kaapo Kakko (8) Assists: Filip Chytil (9), Alexis Lafreniere (11)
Second Period:
- Philipp Kurashev (4) Unassisted
- Jacob Trouba (2) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (21), Artemi Panarin (31)
- Vincent Trocheck (11) (Power Play) Assists: Adam Fox (27), Mika Zibanejad (22)
Third Period:
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- Vitali Kravtsov (2) Assists: Artemi Panarin (32), Ryan Lindgren (10)
- Braden Schneider (5) Assists: Kaapo Kakko (6)
Stats:
- This was a very opportunistic win for the Rangers where the skill gap between the two teams showed in a big way. That said, this was what the Rangers needed to do against a Chicago team that they should have dominated a few weeks ago, but were able to do tonight.
- Chicago had chances early and in the second period, but once the Rangers got their first goal, maybe their second goal, you could see that the game was pretty much in hand. But the Rangers kept going, kept pressing for opportunities and then scoring on them. We’ve seen the Rangers take their foot off the gas when the game seemed like it was going to be easy and they didn’t really do that tonight. It doesn’t hurt that Chicago is a mess, but Chicago gave it to the Rangers pretty good at MSG.
- The Rangers got scoring from everyone tonight and The Kid Line looked very good….and then Filip Chytil took a late hit and didn’t return. A healthy Chytil has proven to be one of the Rangers most consistent players this season…but he has to stay healthy.
- Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko are both back to playing with a lot of confidence and the points are starting to come. We’ve seen these flashes before, but they’ve had a big part in this winning streak and will need to continue to have a big part the rest of the season…and beyond.
- If Chytil is going to miss some time it may be the catalyst for Vitali Kravtsov to get time on the top line with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. Barclay Goodrow would likely shift to the middle of either The Kid Line or Vincent Trocheck might go there and Goodrow could skate with Chris Kreider and Jimmy Vesey.
- It’s just such an impressive turnaround from the last meeting against Chicago. A few weeks ago four points during this weekend set would have felt monumental, but with how the team has been playing, four points was expected. It’s not always pretty or perfect, but they are getting that extra save or two, some of posts they hit are now going in, and there just seems like much greater buy in and flow from line to line. It’s seven in a row and at times it seemed like they might now get seven wins the rest of the season. This run is what made so much of the season frustrating because we knew they had this in them. Right now they are on a roll, taking their opportunities and piling up points. At some point they will lose and then we will get a real test to see if the Rangers can limit it to one or two losses and then go on another run, but for now it’s seven in a row a huge jump back into the playoff picture.
- Tuesday night should be some game against the Penguins. They jumped ahead of the Pens in the standings, but Pittsburgh has two games in hand and they have been on an equally big run the last few weeks. It’s the first meeting since Artemi Panarin knocked them out in Game 7 and should be another good test as they look for eight in a row.