Photo Credit: amny.com
Now that it has been a couple of weeks since the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs by the Tampa Bay Lightning, I think it is time to look back and reflect on the Rangers’ season as a whole. The Rangers started their season off on the right foot and got hot quickly. From November 8th to December 7th, the New York Rangers heated up and had an impressive 11-1 record. Through their first 30 games, the Rangers held a record of 19-7-4.
The Rangers were led in the regular season by their playmaking leftwinger Artemi Panarin who finished the season with 96 points, first on the team. The Rangers two best leftwingers stepped up huge, Panarin and Chris Kreider. Kreider led the Rangers in goals with 52, putting him third in the league behind Auston Matthews of Toronto with 60 and Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton with 55.
Their killer powerplay also helped out New York. The Rangers as a team in the regular season converted on the man advantage at a whopping 25.2% of the time, putting them fourth in the entire NHL. The Rangers’ powerplay was led by Chris Kreider, who scored precisely half of his goals on the powerplay 26 goals. Kreider’s 26 goals on the powerplay led the entire league in powerplay goals. Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers’ top centerman, finished tied for 10th in the league in powerplay goals with 15 and scored 29 goals throughout the season.
The Rangers were also led by outstanding goaltending behind them. Igor Shesterkin played fantastic for the Rangers in his best season yet. Shesterkin led the NHL in save percentage with a .935 save percentage and the NHL in goals-against average with a 2.07 goals-against average. Shesterkin would finish the regular season sixth in wins with 36. He is also the favorite to take home the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goaltender in the league.
With the Rangers finishing second in the Metropolitan Division behind the Carolina Hurricanes, they would be matched up with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs, a series everyone believed would go seven games. The Rangers would lose the first game 4-3 to the Penguins in three overtimes, an absolute marathon of a game that lasted four 4 hours and 38 minutes. Igor Shesterkin was nothing short of spectacular in game one, though, as he put up a miraculous 79 save effort, the second-most in a playoff game. The Rangers would win game two by a score of 5-2.
However, the wheels would fall off the wagon for the Rangers in games three and four. Pittsburgh scored seven goals in each of the two games, while Igor Shesterkin was pulled in both of those games, which led people to believe the Rangers were falling apart. The Rangers did that with their backs against the walls, down 3-1 in the series, having to win the next three games to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Rangers found themselves down 2-0 early in game five, but they fought back hard. They would score three unanswered goals to jump in front 3-2, but Pittsburgh would answer back to tie the game at three. In the third period, the Rangers would answer back, scoring two goals to win the game 5-3, and set up a must-win game six back in Pittsburgh. In game six, the Rangers would again find themselves down 2-0 early.
But that didn’t last long as Mika Zibanejad would score two straight goals to tie it. Chris Kreider would also add two of his own goals in the game, leading the Rangers to a huge 5-3 win in game six. The Rangers were riding tremendous momentum into game seven back at the Garden. The Rangers would strike first and take a 1-0 lead. They would go on to trade goals with the Penguins, resulting in a 3-3 game headed to overtime. Madison Square Garden was electric all night, but 4 minutes and 46 seconds into the first overtime frame, Artemi Panarin would send the Rangers onto the second round to face the Hurricanes and send Madison Square Garden into a frenzy.
The Rangers would have to head to Carolina for games one and two. Carolina was 4-0 against the Boston Bruins in the first round at home, and that trend did not stop in round two, with Carolina winning the first two games to take a 2-0 series lead over the Rangers.
Headed back to New York, the Rangers were in a tough spot, but the guy the leaned on all year, Igor Shesterkin, was there to help them battle it back to a 2-2 series with two huge wins and a combined 73 saves, only letting two goals get by him. Carolina would head home for game five, where they have been unstoppable, and the Hurricanes would continue to dominate at home. Improving to 7-0 at home with a 3-1 win over the Rangers and now leading the series 3-2. The Rangers’ backs were against the wall yet again. They would have to win games six and seven, with game seven back in Carolina. The Rangers would come out flying in game six, taking home a 5-2 win led by Filip Chytil’s two-goal game.
The series would head back to Carolina for a game seven where they could not be beaten. But the Rangers decided to flip that script. In game seven, it was all New York. Chris Kreider would tally two goals, and Igor Shesterkin would stop 37 of Carolina’s 39 shots to lead the Rangers to a statement 6-2 win, setting them up for a date with the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, Tampa Bay Lightning in the Conference Finals.
New York was coming off a game seven series while the Lightning were coming off of a four-game series in which the swept the President Trophy winners, Florida Panthers. New York would have home-ice advantage in this series, and they would take an early advantage. The Rangers would go on to win games one and two and take a massive 2-0 series lead headed to Tampa. The Lightning looked rusty in New York, but that rust would be knocked off quickly. Tampa would go back to Amalie Arena and even the series up at two a piece.
The Lightning, now having all the momentum, would head back to New York and win the pivotal game five by a score of 3-1. While leading the series 3-2, the Lightning were looking to close it out at home. The Rangers have now found themselves trailing 3-2 in three straight series. But the Lightning would not let the Rangers force a game seven this time. The Lightning jumped on the Rangers in game six and would win it 2-1, which would win them the series 4-2 and advance to the Stanley Cup Final, where they look to win back-to-back championships.
The Rangers are still very young, and they fought with the big guns all year. The Rangers will look to bounce back next year and hopefully have a better result. The Rangers also have multiple free agents on their team this year. Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, and Alexandar Georgiev are some prominent free agents that the Rangers will look to bring back to town.
New York did, in fact, re-sign Sammy Blais to a one-year deal, who looked like he would have been in a starting role for the Rangers this season but was injured early in the year.
This team will be fun to watch in the upcoming years.
