The Rangers picked up their second straight win over the Lightning, shutting out Tampa 4-0 Sunday. New York was content to chip the puck out in the third period, notching just two shots and were outshot 38-21, which is mildly concerning especially with the Oilers in town tomorrow. Mika Zibanejad made up for the absence of Artemi Panarin, tallying a hat trick, the eighth of his career and seventh as a Ranger, in the victory.
Game recap:
Winning pic.twitter.com/bbVi03G5Ja
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 2, 2022
A few thoughts: 1) Zib: when he gets rolling, as he is now, he is a force. After a slow start, Mika is up to 11 goals and 19 assists in 33 games. With Panarin out, he manned the left dot on the power playl blasting one past Andrei Vasilevskiy, aided by a Chris Kreider screen. The second goal was a pass to Kappo Kakko that Ryan McDonagh deflected into the net. Chemistry between Chris Kreider and Mika was in full force on the goal for the hat trick, further evidence why those two remain together.
Zib clearly decided to take over the game with Panarin out. An effort like this may be needed against the Oilers or at least a draw against Connor McDavid. Even more impressive was Zib winning 12 of 17 draws, continuing his recent improvement between the dots. The second goal came as a direct result of winning the draw.
2) Lineup: with Panarin sidelined, Morgan Barron has been recalled from the taxi squad, but he did not dress. Tim Gettinger slid onto the fourth line, Alexis Lafreniere moved up to the second line with Barclay Goodrow on the right side while Dryden Hunt skated on the third trio.
I thought Laf had a solid game, much better on the forecheck, while Goodrow was all over the place. Julien Gauthier was stoned on a breakaway , which was the one main highlight from the third line. The fourth line was mostly non-descript.
On defense, Patrik Nemeth missed the game due to personal reasons, not due to an illness, as first reported. No word given as to why he was out but he likely won't be available tomorrow. Zac Jones dressed in his place, skating next to Nils Lundkvist. I thought Jones, other than one play where Brayden Point went outside in to get past him, acquitted himself nicely, not overwhelmed by the moment, likely aided by having played 10 games with the team last year. Jones, who had 17 points in 21 games with Hartford, showed a willingness to rush the puck. Having him and Niks together gives the Rangers more breakout options from the blue line.
Libor Hajek did not have a bad game next to Fox, who had a pair of assists, though I would love to see Jones there. K'Andre Miller was very solid, especially the first two periods. The Rangers did give up 38 shots, several from dangerous spots, so while the win is nice, work still needs to be done.
Kreider - Zib - Kakko Laf - Strome - Goodrow Hunt - Chytil - Gauthier Gettinger - McKegg - Reaves
Miller - Trouba Hajek - Fox Jones - Lundkvist
Shesterkin Panarin:
3) Shesterkin made 38 saves to pick up his second shutout of the season. He was poised throughout, fighting through screens to find the puck. His rebound control was excellent, as well as his positional play in the game. Tampa had 18 shots in the first, where the score could have been vastly different than 3-0 if not for Shesterkin between the pipes. Alexandar Georgiev is off the COVID protocol list, but I hope Gallant goes with Igor again tomorrow versus Edmonton.
#NYR Igor Shestyorkin is the 9th goalie to get at least 4 shutouts as a Ranger in his first 68 career games joining the following:
— Stat Boy Steven (@StatBoy_Steven) January 2, 2022
Lorne Chabot
Andy Aitkenhead
Johnny Bower
Ed Giacomin
Gille Villemure@VallysView
Cam Talbot
Alexandar Georgiev