NEW YORK — The Rangers have been playing better since the holiday break, but for that to matter, it has to translate into results. It did Thursday night against the New Jersey Devils, a rival team near the top of the standings that blew out New York the last time they met.
“I think we’re starting to get our identity back a bit,” said Sam Carrick, the hero of the 3-2 overtime win.
“When we go to the games, we feel ready,” goalie Igor Shesterkin added. “We changed our mindset. We play our game right now.”
That meant playing responsible defense against New Jersey’s dangerous players. It meant a little more physicality and much better decision making. It meant both special teams units coming through and the team’s most important skaters finding ways to capitalize.
The win against the Devils was a strong end to a dismal first half. New York has a 19-20-2 record. It’s still a flawed team, but if the Rangers can replicate their effort against New Jersey, a postseason berth is still within reach. The team is back in the mushy middle of the Eastern Conference, four points back of No. 8 Columbus with a game in hand. Unfortunately for New York, there are still five total teams it would have to pass. That is doable, but it will take more games like Thursday and fewer like the ones leading into the holiday break.
“We’re trying to push up the ladder — the two points and the win are the biggest thing,” said coach Peter Laviolette, who liked the Rangers’ defensive play after they gave up too much Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. “You’d like to see the game match the score, and I actually thought it did.”
Let’s dig into some takeaways.
An unexpected hero
In playoff hockey, when overtime periods are played at five-on-five and have no time limit, bottom-six forwards get shifts and chances to lift their team to victory. That happens far less in the regular season. Overtime lasts only five minutes and is played at three-on-three, so coaches usually have their most dangerous players on the ice almost the entire period.
With Filip Chytil (upper-body injury) out of the lineup, Laviolette saw a chance to get another center involved in overtime. Midway through he sent Sam Carrick, a fourth-liner, over the boards. The 32-year-old poked a puck away from New Jersey’s Jack Hughes, springing the Rangers on a two-on-one. Reilly Smith grabbed possession and noticed the Devils’ Timo Meier had to defend the rush — a task unfamiliar to forwards. Meier gave Smith a wide lane to pass, and the winger took it, feeding Carrick for a one-timer. Carrick sent the puck past Jacob Markström to end the game.
Artemi Panarin called Carrick a hard-working, honest player. His goal fired up the Rangers, he said.
“He’s played some really good hockey for us,” Laviolette said. “He hits and he does a lot of the dirty work in the defensive zone. When a guy like that scores a goal you’re really happy for him.”
Across the ice, Shesterkin wasn’t surprised.
“He always scores a lot on me in practice,” the goalie quipped.
Igor Shesterkin makes a save on Jesper Bratt in his first game since Dec. 30. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
A dominant night on special teams
The last time these two teams played, New Jersey made a mockery of the normally strong Rangers penalty kill, scoring three times in four attempts. New York cleaned that up on its own ice. The Devils failed to record a shot on the first power play attempt and Shesterkin halted a Dawson Mercer rebound attempt shortly after it ended. New Jersey was more dangerous on its second power play, which came after the Rangers had too many men on the ice — a mental mistake coaches hate. Timo Meier hit the crossbar on the Devils’ best chance, but that puck stayed out and Shesterkin made three saves in the two-minute kill.
The Rangers continued their strong kill the rest of the game. The Devils did not score in 6:55 of power play time, and Shesterkin only had to make four saves on the kill all night. New York also generated a dangerous shorthanded chance in the second period, though it didn’t end well. Hughes gave the puck away along the blue line, leading to a two-on-zero rush for Reilly Smith and a trailing Vincent Trocheck. Smith opted not to go for the breakaway attempt, instead dropping a pass to Trocheck, whose shot missed.
“I tried to pull the goalie to one side and get it back to (Trocheck),” Smith said. “I think the goalie did a good job reading it and pushing back across.”
When the Rangers were on the power play, Adam Fox proved good things happen when he shoots the puck. The defenseman’s shot rate is down this year, and he entered the game with only one goal, an empty-netter. That changed in the first period when Vincent Trocheck won a faceoff cleanly. Fox grabbed possession and took a slap shot from the blue line.
“Bombed away,” Laviolette said.
The puck deflected off Nico Hischier’s stick and past Jacob Markström.
New York’s power play scored again on its second chance of the game. The Rangers generated an early chance off another Fox shot — again, good things tend to happen when he shoots — and Artemi Panarin later buried the rebound off a Mika Zibanejad shot. Zibanejad now has a five-game point streak.
The Devils created two shorthanded chances on a third-period Rangers power play, which ended prematurely with a Zibanejad slash, but Shesterkin bailed them out. It was an imperfect final sequence to a good night of special teams.
“We talked about it real quick before the game: the special teams can 100 percent make a difference inside of a hockey game,” Laviolette said. “If you’re successful on both, your chances of winning the hockey game go up drastically. That was a perfect example tonight.”
Something about New York
New York got the last laugh against Hughes by forcing the overtime turnover, but the Devils star once again spent a game making life difficult on the Rangers. He tipped a Brett Pesce shot past Shesterkin for a second-period goal, then collected an assist on a Jesper Bratt goal later in the frame.
In 23 regular-season games against the Rangers, Hughes has 16 goals and 28 points. That’s a 57-goal and 100-point pace. The 23-year-old Hughes doesn’t have more than 11 goals (against the New York Islanders) or 19 points (against the Washington Capitals) against any other team in his career.
On top of his regular-season numbers, Hughes also has three goals in seven playoff games against New York.
Matt Rempe returned from an eight-game suspension with a quiet night. (Al Bello / Getty Images)
Rempe and Shesterkin return
The crowd cheered the second Matt Rempe took the ice for his first shift. The polarizing winger was coming off an eight-game suspension for a dangerous hit on Miro Heiskanen and said leading into the game that he needed to play smarter. He gave the Rangers 7:47 of ice time without committing a penalty. Enforcer Kurtis MacDermid played for the Devils, but the two didn’t drop the gloves.
“Gave us good minutes and put the puck behind them, tried to play physical,” Laviolette said.
Rempe’s biggest mistake came in the second period when Dawson Mercer won a puck from him and passed to the always-dangerous Hughes, who passed back to Mercer in the slot for a dangerous one-timer. The Rangers managed to temporarily escape danger, but Dougie Hamilton laid a big hit on Will Cuylle in the neutral zone, winning possession and leading to Bratt’s goal.
Shesterkin hadn’t played since suffering an upper-body injury Dec. 30. Laviolette liked the Rangers’ defense in front of him, and he had a lighter workload in his first game back. He finished with 21 saves and 1.56 goals saved above expected, per Natural Stat Trick.
Quick thoughts
• The K’Andre Miller–Will Borgen defensive pairing has not meshed seamlessly since the Rangers acquired Borgen last month, but it had a strong night against the Devils. The Rangers dominated the shot share with them on the ice. Miller played with a bit more physicality and Borgen put two shots on net. He’s had at least one shot on net every game since the holiday break.
“I love the fact that he’s firing the puck,” Laviolette said. “It’s just the simplest offense.”
• Arthur Kaliyev made his Rangers debut, playing 8:31 of fairly low-event hockey. The Rangers claimed him on waivers Monday from Los Angeles. Thursday was his first NHL game of the season; he missed the first half with a broken clavicle.
“It’s good to get him in there,” Laviolette said. “Arty’s been out a long time with an injury, so I think it’s going to take him a minute for him to get up to speed, but he can skate, he can move the puck.”
(Top photo of Sam Carrick celebrating his game-winner: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
