First Period:
Second Period:
- Will Cuylle (9) Assists: Kaapo Kakko (3), Jonny Brodzinski (10)
Third Period:
- Jimmy Vesey (12) (Empty Net) Unassisted
Three Stars:
- 3: Jacob Markstrom
- 2: Will Cuylle
- 1: Igor Shesterkin
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- After a less-than-encouraging win over Chicago on Friday, the Rangers put forth a very encouraging effort and game to beat Calgary tonight.
- Igor Shesterkin was great tonight, especially as Calgary started to press more and get more shots and quality chances as the game went on. It was his best game in quite a while and the most he has looked like himself in quite a while. He looked confident and strong in net and certainly had a high level of confidence to shoot for the empty net in a one goal game. I don’t think he tries that in any of his most recent starts, but he was on his game tonight and tried to ice it himself.
- Jacob Markstrom was outstanding at the other end and the only reason that this wasn’t a blowout for the Rangers. The Rangers had a ton of chances, especially in the first period, and either missed the net or got shut down by Markstrom. They only got one by him, but with a strong performance at the other end from Shesterkin, one was all they needed.
- It was also another game where the bottom-six got two goals. Kaapo Kakko went to the net and Will Cuylle knocked in the winner and Jimmy Vesey made a phenomenal play to steal the puck for the empty netter. The positive outlook is that the bottom-six has started to add offense. The negative outlook is that the top-six couldn’t cash in and the PP still looked disjointed.
- The PP needed a spark and Peter Laviolette and Michael Peca tried to give it one by changing up the units, but late in the third they went back to the usual group. sort of thought that if these new units worked, great, but if they didn’t, the normal PP group would get the message when they got back together. It didn’t really go that way with the PP in the third, especially since Calgary got the best chances, but I think the PP units need to stay as they have been. I’d start the second unit over splitting them up and hopefully that will force the primary unit back to basics. A big part of those basics is setting Mika Zibanejad up to fire one-timers. Once Zibanejad starts shooting again, and hopefully scoring, it will open up more lanes for other guys, but if he isn’t going to shoot then the PP seems easy to defend.
- It’s a nice win and one that reminds me a bit of how the Rangers were winning earlier in the season. They were more offensive earlier, adjusted as Calgary got better, gave up some chances, but pretty solid defensively compared to a bunch of games the last couple of months, and Igor Shesterkin was on his game. It’s five in a row and four since the All-Star break. They have been solid in three of those four games and seem like they are figuring out how they need to play and win. They still need to score more, and do so without compromising things defensively, and most importantly the PP needs to become a threat, but they look much more like the team that started the season hot than the mediocre team we saw through a lot of December and January.
- They look for six in a row on Thursday against Montreal and then it’s the outdoor game against Patrick Roy and the Islanders.