First Period:
Second Period:
- Alexis Lafreniere (9) (Power Play) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (21), Artemi Panarin (29)
- Dylan Guenther (21) Assists: Ian Cole (11)
- Vincent Trocheck (10) (Power Play) Assists: Artemi Panarin (30), Mika Zibanejad (22)
Third Period:
- Michael Carcone (8) Assists: John Marino (16)
Overtime:
- Sean Durzi (2) Assists: Nick Schmaltz (23)
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- The Rangers had the lead going into the third but Utah outplayed the Rangers by a ton in the third period and tied. The Rangers had their late PP and Mika Zibanejad hit the post, but this was an instance where the Rangers needed to be better in the third period to both protect and potentially build on their lead. Instead they only get one point instead of two but more importantly, they lost Igor Shesterkin in the first period to what seemed like a pretty serious injury.
- Without Shesterkin for any extended period of time the Rangers are likely going to remain near the bottom of the Eastern Conference and start selling. Jonathan Quick, and either Spencer Martin or Dylan Garand, would replace Shesterkin and the Rangers would need to double-down on their defense to try and make it easier for them. Spencer Martin has played in 66 NHL games, so he’ll likely be the back-up but I’d like to see Garand in the NHL and give him a chance to see if he could be part of the goalie rotation in the future.
- But unless all the Rangers top players play at All-Star caliber levels, it’s hard to imagine a Shesterkin-less team being able to climb far enough up the standings to make a run. Crazier things have happened, but with the Rangers already behind the eight-ball with their place in the standings, along with their general inconsistency, they would need to go on some kind of crazy run to stay in the race.
- James Dolan was on WFAN today and reiterated his support for Chris Drury as President and GM and the culture change that he and Mike Sullivan are trying to instill. This aligns with how I’ve viewed things since Sullivan was hired, that this season was hopefully going to be a playoff season but also a transitional year of sorts where Sullivan starts laying the foundation for what the Rangers are going to be. Dolan seems to be buying the plan Drury has been trying to put forth since the summer of 2024 and adding Sullivan last summer is a big piece of it. It doesn’t mean Drury will be GM forever if the Rangers miss the playoffs again, but he is signed through 2027-28 and I’d expect he’ll get at least until then to at least bring most of his plan to fruition.
- Buffalo is on Thursday.