The Rangers broke their three-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Avalanche. Igor Shesterkin allowed two goals on his first three shots faced - not aided by the defense - but rebounded to allow only one more tally, making 29 saves. New York takes on New Jersey at MSG, as they look to extend their home winning streak to four contests.
Game recap:
David Quinn Post-Game:
"We're not going to go from where we are to where we need to be overnight. There's got to be a progression, and I think we've been making a lot of progress, in particular over the last two games we've played." - Coach Quinn pic.twitter.com/TJK0HfLeaP
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 8, 2020
A few thoughts:b> 1) Igor...Igor..Igor.. - the Garden clearly was looking forward to the rookie goalie’s debut, showering him with love throughout the game. The No. 118 pick in the 2014 draft admitted to feeling nerves heading into his first NHL start. “On my way to the arena my hands were shaking, couldn't even drink water," Shesterkin said through a translator. "But as I stepped on the ice, I felt everyone's support and energy and it really helped me."
The game didn’t start in glorious fashion. The very first shot Shesterkin faced resulted in a deflection goal from J.T. Compher. He saved the second shot on goal, but the third turned into a breakaway goal for Nathan MacKinnon. So three shots, two goals for the netminder who posted a .932 save percentage at Hartford.
Quinn opened his postgame press conference, see above, with a good joke. When asked about Shesterkin's debut, and giving up goals on two of the first three shots he faced — including a turnover that led to a breakaway — Quinn joked, "Well, we didn’t hesitate to give him a taste of Ranger hockey." (I think all of us had the same view watching or listening the game that Shesterkin is getting an early indoctrination as to what life as a Rangers’ goalie is and will be like).
After that rough start, Shesterkin finished with 29 saves, 13 of which came in a scoreless third period. The one goal he allowed in the second came on yes, you guess it, another defensive breakdown. But Shesterkin was solid between the pipes and showed off his pick-handling skills by making a 70-foot stretch pass to Kaapo Kakko in the first period. Quinn did not say if Shesterkin will start Thursday against the Devils.
2) Defense - despite losing Ryan Lindgren late in the first period to a cut under his eye after his fight with Nazem Kadri, the blueline was fairly solid. Of course, that’s once you get past the early part of the game. But down the stretch and in most of the game, the much maligned blue line was good.
Compher’s first goal came when Adam Fox was unable to tie up his stick in the slot. MacKinnon’s goal occurred after the puck hopped over Fox’s stock, resulting in a breakaway. Colorado’s third marker came about about after miscommunication regarding coverage behind and in front of the net. Despite the bobbles, the defense was solid, aided by the shift of Brendan Smith to the blueline in the third period following Lindgren’s departure.
The improvement in the defense was not solely in this game. Over the past several games, we have seen better play, including the last two games of the West Coast trip. I thought Brady Skjei, even beyond the goal, was very good. When he just plays and doesn’t overthink, we see the talent he possesses. The ever popular line of don’t think, you will just hurt the team applies to Skjei.
3) Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome and Mika Zibanejad carried the offense with a little Chris Kreider thrown in for good measure. The line of Panarin (one goal, two assists), Strome (one goal, one assist) and Jesper Fast (single-game career high three assists) combined for eight points. I thought Fast was phenomenal last night, including on the penalty kill and his screen helped Skjei’s shot beat Grubauer. Panarin is Panarin, notching a career-high eight shots and his three points give him 13 (three goals, 10 assists) in his past six games. Strome’s tally, his fifth in six games, gave New York a 4-3 lead they never relinquished.
Zib was Zib, though his struggles between the dots were in display again. But his offense is sublime and he has been solid defensively. Kreider had a beautiful deflection goal through Phillip Grubauer’s five-goal off Strome’s pass to get New York on the board when the score was 2-0. If he is gone by the deadline or after the game, his net-front presence will be sorely missed. The Rangers showed resiliency in rallying from that two-goal deficit and didn’t sway from their game plan.
4) Lias Andersson - as I wrote before, both sides are culpable in what has transpired. After reading the transcript of Andersson’s interview with GP, the newspaper in Gothenburg and to the national broadcast company, SVT. to me it becomes clearer that the Rangers did drop the ball on helping Andersson successes. That’s not to say, Andersson is blameless, because he didn’t handle things perfectly on his end. But his comments show a person, who cares that he is a player, but a person dealing with some form of mental illness who needed the right support and assistance, which the team failed to fully provide.
“A lot of things happening, and eventually there were one too many. I felt enough is enough,… Andersson said, according to a reliable translation. “I won’t get into specifics, but a lot of things happened. It’s been a challenging situation, and finally I just had enough““It’s been a lot of incidents, I have not been well on a personal level because of those incidents,… he told GP. “This decision may be stupid when it comes to my hockey career, but I have to think about how I feel as a person … Family, friends, health — that’s more important than a hockey career. I’ve taken this decision for my health.…
“I miss hockey and I hope I’ll get to play in the NHL again very soon,… Andersson said. “Worst-case scenario I have another year and a half without hockey (until his entry-level deal expires) but it should not come to that. I hope there is a solution near.…
All in all, it a good situation. If New York was smart, GM Jeff Gorton or President John Davidson or someone high up in the food chain, would go to Sweden and talk face to face with Andersson. Hear him out. Get him the assistance he needs, which certainly looks to me at a minimum, a therapist. Repair the relationship.
Expectations were most certainly raised higher than they should have been and Andersson struggled to meet them and the team didn’t do a great job of setting or managing them when he had issues. But the relationship might be able to be repaired. Even if his ceiling is a third- or fourth-liner, Andersson’s health is more important and how the Rangers handle the situation will impact the view of other players towards the organization.