The New York Rangers got a 500-pound monkey off their backs by pounding the Nashville Predators on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. The 6-3 win was the Blueshirts’ first home of the season after going 0-6-1 in their first seven tries.
It’s mind-shocking to see the Rangers take till November 10 to get their first home win. But that’s the way this season has gone for the club. They’ve had up-and-down games throughout the season.
But on Monday night, it was the return of top-line center Vincent Trocheck that sparked the Rangers. Trocheck got two assists on the night, as several Rangers’ players got on the board. Alexis Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad all scored in the game.
Most importantly, the Rangers strung together a fantastic effort against a struggling team. If the win had been something like 2-1, there might have been questions about it. However, the Blueshirts chased Juuse Saros after scoring five goals on 12 shots against him.
Meanwhile, Igor Shesterkin was great despite not facing a huge number of shots. That’s actually positive. The Rangers want to keep the shot count down as much as possible. Beyond Shesterkin’s solid outing, it was nice to see the Rangers give their starting netminder some run support for a change.
The Rangers, ultimately, put together a tremendous bounce-back game. The club played a solid game against the Red Wings last Friday night and then hit the deck with a thud on Saturday night against the New York Islanders.
So, getting that first home win, especially after the 5-0 blanking by the Islanders, could be a significant turning point.
Rangers Could Be on Verge of Turnaround
The loss of Vincent Trocheck forced Rangers coach Mike Sullivan to fiddle around with his lines. Instead of rolling with Trocheck and J.T. Miller as the one-two punch, Sullivan has had to move Zibanejad back to center.
Trocheck’s return changes that dynamic completely. While Zibanejad played center on Monday night with Miller on the wing, having Trocheck made a huge difference. Sullivan was able to deploy revelation Noah Laba as the third-line center with Sam Carrick rounding out the checking line.
That major difference gives the Rangers four reliable centers. While there may be questions about Zibanejad being a top-line center, he’s still far better than the run-of-the-mill NHL center.
Shesterkin Keeping the Blueshirts afloat
The Rangers’ first win could not have been possible without Shesterkin keeping the team afloat. The Russian netminder is having a Vezina-worthy season on a team that hasn’t always had his back.
Shesterkin has consistently kept the Rangers’ heads above water. Unfortunately, he hasn’t gotten the support he’s needed throughout the season. If Monday night’s effort is any indication, Shesterkin could be getting the support he needs to thrive moving forward.
If that’s the case, it’s bad news for the rest of the Eastern Conference. A healthy Igor Shesterkin on his game, with a decent Rangers team in front of him, could be enough to propel the club back to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Monday night was a good start. It’s just a matter of stringing along a few more consistent outings to spark a real turnaround.
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