The Rangers opened the first half of a weekend back-to-back with a 2-1 shootout win in Columbus on Saturday.
New York entered Saturday’s game on a recent scoring surge, having tallied 13 goals in their last two games, and returned home for Sunday’s meeting with the Detroit Red Wings riding a three-game winning streak and with their ninth road win.
They dominated the Blue Jackets, out-attempting them 67-44 at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick, despite finishing with just 48.8% of the expected goal share.
“It was kind of a greasy game,” captain J.T. Miller said. “It wasn’t really super exciting, I don’t think. But finding a way to win on the road against teams in your conference is huge, so we’re happy to keep going.”
Rangers pick up 9th road win
The Rangers continued their historic road start, improving to 9-1-1. They also picked up their 10th point in 11 road games to begin the season.
Miller lifted the club in the shootout, going top shelf on Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves in the third round of the shootout.
Miller swung out to the left slowly, then snapped a quick shot over Greaves’ blocker side.
“A sign of a good team is when they have a comfort level playing in a one-goal game, and a low-scoring game,” said Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan. “And I believe we’re developing that comfort level playing in a close, one-goal low-scoring game … When you can play in your end zone and defend and you don’t have to hit the panic button, you have a certain level of confidence that everybody’s going to do their job.”
4 power play goals in 5 games
New York opened the scoring in the second period, as Mika Zibanejad cleaned up his own rebound at the side of the net. Adam Fox held the puck in the zone on three separate Columbus clearing attempts before Zibanejad’s goal.
It was the Rangers’ fourth power play goal in their last five games, as the unit has continued to heat up after a slow start. Positive regression is a likely explanation for the recent surge, as New York at one point had the league’s worst shooting percentage on the man advantage. Will Cuylle has also added an imposing net-front presence.
“For a lot of the season, the power play has generated a lot of offense,” Sullivan said. “We went through that stretch of games where it was just a struggle for us to score [in] every circumstance. I feel like, as the season’s gone on here, we’re starting to climb our way out of that.”
Zibanejad’s goal was his 600th point with the Rangers. He’s 10 points behind Ron Greschner for seventh all-time in franchise history. It was also his 256th goal with New York, which tied Camille Henry for seventh in Rangers history.
Carrick fights Olivier in spirited second period
The intensity of this game picked up in the second period, as players on both sides gathered several times: of note, when Braden Schneider knocked over a couple of Blue Jackets driving the net, and at the end of the frame, after Alexis Lafreniere was knocked over by Cole Sillinger.
“There were a few plays there that were maybe borderline penalties,” Sam Carrick said. “They’re towing the line a little bit and starting some scrums. That’s part of the game. Teams are going to do that, especially at home, trying to get their crowd into it, trying to create some energy in the building. It’s something that we have to match anytime that happens and stick up for each other, and so far we’ve done a great job of that.”
The Blue Jackets employ Mathieu Olivier, the 231-pound, six-foot-two winger who loves to play the body. Entering Saturday, his 39 penalty minutes were the third-most in the NHL.
Olivier threw four hits Saturday, the heaviest of which came on Matthew Robertson in the second.
Carrick answered the bell against Olivier and held his own. The two exchanged several punches each before being separated.
“That’s no slouch over there,” Miller said about Olivier. “That’s one of the toughest guys, and obviously Sam’s showing that he’s right in that group of fighters.”
“He’s doing what he can to spark his team,” Carrick said. “We’ve done a good job as a team here, sticking up for each other. That’s just part of what it takes to be a good team.”
“Sam’s tough as nails,” Sullivan added. “He’s a good fighter, he’s brave, he’s a tough kid, and he plays the game hard and he plays an honest game, and that’s a thankless job, but he commands so much respect from his teammates, his coaching staff, all of us that are part of this group have a ton of respect for Sam with the courage that he brings, and how he sticks up for his teammates.”
Shesterkin stops Wood’s penalty shot, remains perfect in career
Igor Shesterkin kept the game scoreless late in the first period, as he stopped Blue Jackets left winger Miles Wood on a penalty shot.
Shesterkin has now stopped all seven penalty shots he’s faced in his career during the regular season.
Borgen day-to-day; out of lineup Saturday
Rangers defenseman Will Borgen did not play Saturday. He was listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, the club announced prior to the game.
Remembering Larry Brooks
Larry Brooks, the longtime hockey columnist for the New York Post, died Thursday after a brief battle with cancer.
Brooks was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award from the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. He spent 38 years at the Post, mostly covering the Rangers.
“Larry’s love of hockey was evident in his writing at the New York Post in two stints over nearly four decades,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Larry didn’t pull punches, and when you read his work, you always knew where he stood. He was a staunch advocate for the players and for the reporters who cover the game.”
Brooks started covering the Rangers in 1978. From 1982 to 1992, he served as the vice president of communications for the New Jersey Devils. He returned to the Post in 1993, where he returned to the Rangers beat and was known for his “Slap Shots” column. At the start of this season, he took a medical leave of absence.
Brooks is survived by his son, Jordan, daughter-in-law, Joanna, and grandchildren Scott and Reese. His wife, Janis, died in 2020.
