The Rangers sleepwalked their way into a 4-1 win over the Coyotes on Sunday. New York failed to notch a shot the first 12:31 of the game and posted just four in the first period. Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves and was by far the team’s best player on the ice, keeping the game scoreless until the offense woke up. The Blueshirts embark on a nine-day, four-game West Coast trip starting Thursday in Seattle.
Game recap:
Lines: Lines: Kreider - Zib - Vesey Panarin - Trocheck - Goodrow Laf - Chytil - Kakko Blais - Carpenter - Gauthier
Miller-Trouba Lindgren-Fox Hajek-Schneider
Shesterkin Halak
A few thoughts: 1) Lines - with Vitali Kravtsov out again - he spent most of Sunday at the dentist for an infected tooth in addition to his stomach bug - Ryan Carpenter dressed with Ryan Reaves a healthy scratch. With Carpenter centering the fourth line, Barclay Goodrow moved up to the second line with Julien Gauthier sliding back to the fourth line right wing.
2) Shesterkin made 17 saves in the first stanza. After the game, Igor spoke about adjusting to the change n styles from last year, when he was constantly under siege. Arthur Staple noted that Shesterkin had at least 30 saves in 10 of his first 12 starts last year; with Sunday’s 31-save performance gave him five such games this season and he’s 3-1-1 in those games.
The early work engaged Igor right from the get-go. He didn’t have to make any spectacular saves but the consistent work load helped him settle in quickly. Shesterkin holding the fort - as he has done so often - bought the team time until the offense work up.
3) Penalty kill - one other key was the penalty kill, especially the first two periods. Facing an Arizona power play that was third in the league, New York stoned the Coyotes’ first five forays on the man advantage. Clayton Keller notched a goal on the team’s sixth chance, but those initial kills went a long way to keep the game scoreless, allowing New York to find their legs.
4) Opportunistic scoring - Barclay Goodrow notched the Rangers’ first goal thanks to a lucky bounce off Dylan Guenther’s skate in front of the net. Adam Fox made it 2-0, extending his point streak to six, with a tally from between the first circles, sticking with the play after kissing his first attempt. Mika Zibanejad’s shot/pass was deflected in self-preservation mode by Chris Kreider off the shaft of his stick. A good forecheck led to Ryan Carpenter’s deflection marker for his first as a Ranger to complete the scoring.
5) Defense - I thought the team D wasn’t horrible last night. Arizona had lots of chance, but not a ton that were Grade A and New York did a decent job of clearing the front of the net. Libor Hajek was solid again and loved him being physical in front of the net, especially against Lawson Crouse, which is a massive mismatch. Based on the way he has played, I am not expected him to come out of the lineup at any time. Of the six blueliners, the K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba has been the most disappointing, though I don’t expect either to be sat at any point, even if deserving.