3 Rangers takeaways from 4-1 victory against Toronto Maple Leafs
The New York Rangers proved Saturday night that they can win in more than one way.
The Rangers extended their season-opening points streak to five games by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 at Scotiabank Arena. At 4-0-1, the Rangers lead the Eastern Conference with a .900 points percentage; they’re two points behind the New Jersey Devils for first place in the Metropolitan Division, though the Devils have played three more games.
New York has earned points in each of its first five games for the fourth time in franchise history; the others are 2008-09, 1997-98 and 1983-84). The Rangers also improved to 3-0-0 away from Madison Square Garden, something they’d done only twice before in franchise history – and not since 1931-32.
Aided by two empty-net goals, the Rangers have scored 24 times in their first five games. The only time they’ve scored more in that stretch was 1979-80, when they had 25.
But unlike the 5-2 win at Detroit on Thursday that completed a home-and-home sweep of the Red Wings, the victory against the Maple Leafs had some harrowing moments. The Rangers led 2-0 after two periods on goals by Alexis Lafreniere in the first period and Chris Kreider in the second. But Toronto came out loaded for bear in the third period, coming at goaltender Igor Shesterkin in waves at times.
Auston Matthews ended Shesterkin’s bid for his second shutout this season when he scored 3:40 into the final period, and the Maple Leafs had a load of other Grade A chances. But the Rangers had Shesterkin, who kept Toronto from getting the equalizer until Kreider and Artemi Panarin hit the empty net in the final minute.
“I thought it was a really good win,” coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “Good team in Toronto; that’s never an easy thing to do. I thought we sat back a little bit in the third period, Shesterkin had to make some big saves, but they pushed too. When they’re down 2-0, you can expect that.”
Related: Top 10 NHL goalie tandems including Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin, Jonathan Quick
3 takeaways from Rangers 4-1 win against Maple Leafs
Here are three key takeaways from the game Saturday.
1. Igor Shesterkin continues to shine
It’s hard to imagine an NHL goaltender playing a whole lot better than Shesterkin, who continues to make the case for the big contract he’s sure to get before next season.
The final score was 4-1, but it was a 2-1 game for most of the third period before the empty-netters. The only reason the Rangers had that lead was Shesterkin, who was brilliant all night long – but especially in the third period after the Maple Leafs got the early goal by Matthews to make it a one-goal game.
The Maple Leafs attacked in waves. But every time they had a Grade A chance, Shesterkin had the answer. William Nylander was so frustrated that at one point he went back to the bench and broke his stick. Shesterkin finished with 34 saves and improved to 3-0-1 with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage. He’s allowed one goal in each of his three wins.
“He’s able to probably give us bigger leads in games than we deserve, especially through the first five games of the season,” said forward Reilly Smith, who came to the Rangers from the Pittsburgh Penguins during the summer. “He makes saves on pretty much sure goals, and that makes a huge difference.”
2. Kreider-Zibanejad-Smith line keeps producing
The Rangers got Smith in hopes he would fill the hole at right wing on the top line with left wing Chris Kreider and center Mika Zibanejad. So far, so good.
Kreider scored the game-winning goal in the second period and added his empty-netter in the final minute, giving him five goals in as many games. Zibanejad and Smith had assists on each of Kreider’s goals. Zibanejad has five points (one goal, four assists), all in the past three games, and Smith has a goal and three assists.
The line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Lafreniere has gotten most of the attention through the first five games, but Laviolette is more than happy with what he’s getting from the Kreider-Zibanejad-Smith trio.
“I think they’ve been good,” Laviolette said. “They had a pretty good game tonight, but they’ve been together since the start of the year, and I think they’ve played pretty well.”
3. Artemi Panarin loses one streak, keeps another
Panarin kept his points streak from the start of the season alive when he scored into an empty net with 14 seconds remaining, giving him six goals and 12 points in five games. However, his team-record streak of multiple-point games from the beginning of the season did come to an end.
Panarin is on track to surpass the career-high 120 points he put up last season, when he came within three points of matching Jaromir Jagr’s single-season team record 123 points, set in 2005-06. He finished the week with four goals and four assists in three games, including a hat trick in Detroit on Thursday.
Not only is Panarin piling up points for himself, he’s also helping his linemates. Right wing Alexis Lafreniere scored the first goal Saturday and has also had points in all five games, and center Vincent Trocheck is second on the team with two goals and seven points – while winning 59 percent of his face-offs.
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