The relief in the New York Rangers’ locker room at American Airlines Center was palpable after their 3-1 victory against the Dallas Stars on Friday night.
There were smiles that hadn’t been in evidence during the past month, as if a dark cloud was lifted from over a team that’s gone from being two wins from a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in June to one that began the night 12th in the Eastern Conference.
Not only did the Rangers end a three-game losing streak that had dropped them to 15-15-1 for the season and 3-11-0 in their previous 14 games, they did it by showing the kind of grit and determination that had mostly been missing for the past month. Despite having to kill off 17 minutes of power-play time for the Stars, the Rangers never backed down against one of the League’s best teams – one that had been 13-4-0 in its own building.
The NHL-best penalty kill not only was 7-for-7, it also produced the goal that turned the game around – Reilly Smith’s shorthanded goal midway through the first period tied the game 1-1 after the Rangers had surrendered the game-opening goal less than two minutes after the opening face-off.
“That was really big at the time,” coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “The bench really fueled up after that.”
Of course, no penalty-killing unit is complete without a top-level goaltender, and the Rangers have one in Igor Shesterkin. After Dallas scored 1:46 into game, Shesterkin refused to be beaten again. He finished with 41 saves, 21 of them during Dallas’ seven power plays, and for the last 58 minutes had the look of a goalie who wouldn’t let a marble get past him.
The Rangers will need more of these performances in the next couple of weeks. They play two of the Metropolitan Division’s top teams, the Carolina Hurricanes at home on Sunday afternoon and the New Jersey Devils in Newark 24 hours later. Then it’s a two-game swing through Florida, a home game against the Boston Bruins on Jan. 2 and a visit to the division-leading Washington Capitals two days after that.
“We needed it,” Smith said of the win. “We have another two games coming up right before the (Christmas) break, and we have to make sure (we have) that next-game mindset. We have to try to pick up as many points as we can before the break, and then we’ll assess after that. But right now, we have to try to make up for lost time.”
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3 takeaways from Rangers 3-1 win against Stars
Here are three takeaways from the Rangers win on Friday.
1. Igor the Magnificent
This was Shesterkin’s best performance of the season. He moved like a gazelle, his glove alone prevented a half-dozen goals and his positioning was virtually flawless. It was the kind of performance a team needs to get out of a losing streak.
Shesterkin seems to thrive on lots of action. When he’s made 40 or more saves in a game during his career, the Rangers are now 14-2-1. Since the beginning of last season, he’s allowed one or fewer goals 23 times, first among all NHL goaltenders.
“Great saves by ‘Shesty,’ and everyone just battled,” said defenseman Adam Fox, who set up what proved to be the game-winning goal by Vincent Trocheck at 15:20 of the first period. “Any PK needs a great goalie, and when there’s a breakdown, he’s there to back us up.”
2. Penalty-killers do the job – and then some
The Rangers are tops in the NHL on the penalty kill at 88.0 percent (12 goals allowed in 100 attempts, including 17-for-17 in their past six games). Their 7-for-7 performance against Dallas was the first time since Nov. 30, 2019, against New Jersey that the Rangers were perfect on the penalty kill when they were shorthanded at least seven times.
“We ended up having to kill more penalties than we would have liked to,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “The penalty kill was awesome. Shesty was great but the penalty-killers were fantastic.”
That included newcomer Will Borgen, who played 4:31 on the PK and 17:17 overall in his Rangers debut. He had two hits, a takeaway and a blocked shot.
In all, the Rangers used 13 players on the penalty kill, including all six defensemen.
“Seventeen minutes on the PK is pretty gritty,” Trocheck said. “We can get a lot of momentum from our PK when it’s playing like it did tonight.”
3. Rempe’s return a mixed bag
Matt Rempe was recalled from Hartford of the American Hockey League after Kaapo Kakko was traded to the Seattle Kraken. The Rangers sent him to Hartford to work on the non-physical aspects of his game, and for two-plus periods he showed he can be more than just a physical force.
The Rangers had three power plays in the second period, all on penalties drawn by Rempe. He also found an opening in the Stars’ defense late in the period and got in alone, forcing goaltender Jake Oettinger to make an excellent save.
“I thought he had a big impact in the game,” Laviolette said. “Our guys really rallied around that as well.”
But Rempe showed he still has a ways to go. He gave the Stars a five-minute power play at 7:13 of the third period when he was assessed a major penalty for elbowing and a game misconduct. The Rangers killed it off, but not before Shesterkin had to make eight saves.
Overall, however, the coach was pleased with what he saw.
“We’d like to stay away from the five-minute major,” Laviolette said, “but he’s doing his best to hit bodies and make a difference in the game.”
