#new-york-rangers

#new-york-rangers

After a nice pre-game ceremony honoring Rangers from the 70's to the late 80's, the Rangers came out firing on all cylinders, getting the first 5 shots of the game and controlling play. That goodwill though was quickly shattered when the Rangers surrendered 2 goals on 2 shots, and shortly after, a 3rd goal that Igor would absolutely want back.

Sometimes, the process and the game mean more than the results. The Rangers may have lost in overtime to Colorado, but they showed some of that swagger we haven't seen in a while, tying the game with less than a minute remaining to secure that point. The Rangers battled hard for their point, getting yet another point in this week long gauntlet, making it five of six points with one more game against Vegas coming up later tonight.

The Rangers have won five of their last six games, with all five wins coming off strong efforts. The one game in the middle is the one that broke many, the Tampa game, but it appears that was the blip and not the five wins in six games. But now the NHL's best team comes to MSG for a matinee matchup.

Down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils, Messier publicly declared a Game 6 win. Though the Rangers at one point trailed 2-0, Messier scored a natural hat trick to force a seventh game. Less than three weeks later, he scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in Game 7 against the Vancouver Canucks, bringing the Rangers their first championship in 54 years.

Cuylle, of course, caused all of the ruckus late in regulation of the Rangers' 3-2 overtime win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, as New York fired a season-high 41 shots on Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith. He picked up the rebound off an Artemi Panarin shot with just over two minutes to play, his team down by one. He spun toward DeSmith and flung it in. The Garden popped. Cuylle pumped his fist and yelled.

The New York Rangers have come plenty close to winning a Stanley Cup over the last decade. They made the Cup Final in 2014 and three Eastern Conference Final in 2012, 2022, and 2024. In each series, the Rangers were overpowered by a combination of skill, speed, heavy play, and star power. Emphasis on star power is critical, as the 2012 and 2014 runs were done in by lack of consistent offense, and the 2022 and 2024 runs by underwhelming 5v5 play.

NEW YORK The New York Rangers and the St. Louis Blues entered the third period tied at one. This was a similar position to what New York had found itself in during the final two games of its Western road trip in Denver and Salt Lake City. Both those games, of course, the Rangers lost. On Monday night at Madison Square Garden, they held off the Blue just enough to secure their second home win of the season.

The Rangers won three in a row, with wins over Nashville, Tampa, and Columbus, before a rough loss at home to Detroit. In this week's Patreon post (subscribe here!), Dave talked the Rangers season so far: The good, the bad, and where there needs to be improvement. Live From the Blue Seats talked the Rangers recent win streak and what's leading to their wins of late. Vincent Trocheck returned to the Rangers to start the week, arriving with the newly recalled Gabe Perreault.

I look at it as my job is to identify when the risk becomes too great, when it turns into reckless hockey. We don't want to play reckless hockey because we can't win that way. Can't win consistently. You can win the odd night, but you're not going to win consistently playing a reckless game. That's what I try to do, is give them the latitude to act on their instincts.

They have two very winnable games this weekend, though with a scheduling glitch, as they are in Columbus tonight and then face Detroit at home. Columbus is better than their record, having been done in by subpar goaltending from both Elvis Merzlinkins and Jet Greaves, tonight's starter. But this is a team that can score, so if the Rangers are sloppy again it may bite them.