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Rangers ride big third period & performances by kids to 5-1 win over Vegas

December 8, 2022, 3:36 PM ET [297 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Rangers notched their second straight victory with a 5-1 win over the Golden Knights. After scoring three goals in the third Monday to pull out a 6-4 win over St. Louis, New York scored four goals in the third yesterday to defeat Vegas, who were without Jack Eichel and Alex Pietrangelo. Friday, the Blueshirts face an Avalanche team that is missing five of their top-six forwards and lost 4-0 to the Bruins last night.

Game recap:


A few thoughts:
1) Laf-Zib-Kakko- that line was buzzing all night. Kakko gave New York a 1-0 lead at 6:49 of the first period when he tipped in a K'Andre Miller wrist shot from the blue line for his first goal in eight games. Kakko made the play by carrying the puck in the zone, going from right to left, and dishing down low to Jacob Trouba. Trouba passed the puck off the boards to Miller, whose point shot was deflected by Kakko, who found space above the crease. That goal got the gorilla off his back and made Chris Kreider's and Mika's prognosis after Monday's game that Kakko would score be proven accurate.

Mika had a pair of power-play goals, the first at 5:59 of the third period to give New York the lead they wouldn't relinquish. The second at 11:34 to close out the scoring. Both scores came from around the left face-off circle on one-timers. The difference on the first was that there was player movement to create space, while on the second, it came after a face-off win, resulting in the availability of additional space. Both tallies came on passes from Arttemi Panarin, who had three assists, the first his 600th NHL point.

Now to Laf. The move of the Gillmer Twins to the top line has reenergized the pair and also given Zib a little kick. Beyond the fact that Laf scored in the third - the second straight game he tallied - the patience he showed not to rush the shot was more impressive. Zib made a great pass to Laf who had Logan Thompson dead to rights as his stick had been knocked behind the net by his own defenseman. Laf made sure he had solid possession of the puck and found the open side of the net to basically lock down the game. 

2) Panarin-Chytil-Goodrow. With Vitali Kravtsov a questionable at best scratch - yes, still my view despite the end result - Barclay Goodrow moved back to the second line. Panarin may have had his best game in weeks. Offensively, he still is struggling to create time and space, other than on the power play, and generate consistent offense. But I saw some signs yesterday and what was most impressive was his defensive awareness and effort, which had been lacking for weeks. Panarin broke up several rushes just by being back at the back line, preventing scoring chances.

Chytil missed on a chance in the second, when on a giveaway, his shot was blunted by the shaft of Thompson's goalie stick. He made up for that later, taking a beautiful saucer pass from Goodrow to beat Thompson short side and it 3-1 just 24 seconds after Zib's first goal. Another solid game from Chytil on both ends of the ice. He is looking like the player we saw in the playoffs. Now, please, just stay healthy.

Goodrow had an uneven game. Besides the pass, and the fight he had with Keegan Kolesar, his game was very uneven. Several defensive mistakes and giveaways, but in Gallant's view, he balances that line out and is best suited to skate with Panarin and Chytil. I still think he is miscast there and should be on the third or fourth line. His assist yesterday and team win likely mean he will remain on that trio.

3) Game flow - New York was very strong in the first, carrying play, The somewhat expected dip came in the second, as Vegas carried action, aided by several penalties. New York was lucky to be tied at one. In the third, the Rangers flipped the switch and won the period by far with four unanswered goals.

Puck possession was fairly good, save for a few moments, which is expected. The defense though, from forwards to defensemen, was pretty solid, limiting mistakes and rebound shots. The main key was that the forwards were involved on the backcheck, an area of weakness in the past. For the game, New York finished with a 37-26 shot advantage, with Igor Shesterkin making 25 saves for his 12th win. Igor should be back between the pipes Friday.

4) Other notes: Zibanejad has nine points (five goals, four assists) in a six-game point streak. … Adam Fox had two assists and has five points (one goal, four assists) on a four-game point streak....As mentioned above, Panarin had three assists.

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