The New York Rangers split their weekend back-to-back. They shut out the Columbus Blue Jackets on the road Saturday. They returned home Sunday, where they lost to the Edmonton Oilers.
The weekend split came after New York beat the Minnesota Wild in overtime on Thursday. As of Monday evening, the Rangers are still in the Eastern Conference’s second Wild Card spot, with 72 points in 68 games. But their position is far from secure, with the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets all competing for the same position.
The tight race makes a game like Sunday’s frustrating. New York failed to capitalize on any of its power plays, then conceded two untimely third period goals, costing them an important two points in the playoff race. Here are the weekend’s biggest takeaways.
Mika Zibanejad’s continued run of dominance
Mika Zibanejad has been a completely different player since the J.T. Miller trade.
He’s up to 20 points in 18 games since Miller was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31. The two have obvious chemistry together: they’ve both rebounded in scoring from rough starts to the season, and Zibanejad has played with a much more effective demeanor.
He’s been aggressive on the forecheck. He’s stood up opposing players. He’s been physically engaged. He looks like a player who wants to win.
“He’s played really, really well for us,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “It’s the way he’s defending, way he’s competing and battling. He’s creating, he’s playing in high gear. It’s been really good.”
Zibanejad created the play that led to the Rangers’ first goal just 1:43 into the first period Saturday. He pressured Damon Severson into the corner after poking the puck off the defenseman’s stick. Then, after Columbus goalie Daniil Tarasov erroneously moved out of his net to play the puck, Zibanejad tapped it back into the middle, where Alexis Lafrenière put it into the open net.
“I didn’t have much to do on it,” said Lafrenière. “Pretty good forecheck by Mika, and he made a really good play.”
Zibanejad played 18:59 on Saturday, the second highest ice time among Rangers’ forwards. Along with his assist on the Lafrenière goal, he recorded two shots and two hits, and finished with a plus-1 rating.
Rangers’ power play woes continue
The Rangers went a combined 0–4 on the power play in both games this weekend, despite the return of Adam Fox, who missed eight games with an injury.
That’s a small sample size, but it’s a microcosm of the club’s play on the man advantage this season. New York’s power play ranks 25th in the league with an 18.6% conversion rate. Last season, with a largely unchanged cast of players, it ranked third and converted on 26.4% of its opportunities.
Considering that this unit’s only major change has been adding Miller, who was one of the Canucks’ best power play producers during his tenure there, that’s an alarming drop off.
The Rangers generated looks in all three of their power plays on Sunday. Miller hit the post in the first period. Artemi Panarin could not solve Stuart Skinner in the second. Skinner then robbed Zibanejad on a point blank opportunity midway through the third period.
The Rangers’ third power play came at a pivotal moment of the game: down a goal, midway through the third period. They could not score. A few minutes later, Connor McDavid extended the Oilers’ lead to two.
“There was lots of opportunities to score goals,” said Laviolette. “They didn’t find the back of the net. That’s the difference in the game. The guys I thought worked, they moved it. They got the looks that they wanted, and we just, unable to get it to drop.”
Igor Shesterkin must carry the club to the playoffs
Shesterkin faced a light workload of 21 shots on Saturday, but turned each one aside for a shutout victory. On Sunday, the Oilers tested him 23 times, scoring three.
It’s hard to not feel for Shesterkin on all three goals. The first, scored by Corey Perry, came on a power play in a dangerous area in front of the net. Viktor Arvidsson’s go-ahead goal came from the outside, but deflected off of Zac Jones’ stick and ramped up into the net. The third goal was a quick snap shot by McDavid.
McDavid was covered by a trio of blue sweaters, but had a clear look at the net. That’s a shot the Rangers’ star goaltender needs to stop. And with 3:25 to go, it put the game — and valuable points — out of reach.
On a night the Rangers struggled on the power play, and had the better goalie in net, Shesterkin needed to rise to the occasion. There are no moral victories for a loss at this point in the season, with the club barely clinging to the second Wild Card spot.
Thankfully for the Rangers, the Blue Jackets on Monday dropped their fourth game in a row. Unfortunately, the Canadiens are one point behind the Blueshirts and have two games in hand. The Red Wings are one point behind them.
The Rangers will face the Calgary Flames — another team hungry for two points as they hunt the final playoff spot in the Western Conference — at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET.
