New York Rangers new lines all score in 6-2 romp over Panthers
The New York Rangers mixed it up and shook things out with a six goal explosion to the delight of fans at Madison Square Garden.
On Monday night, the new look Rangers’ lines all contributed in beating the Florida Panthers 6-2. Artemi Panarin recorded three assists being moved up to the top line with Mika Zibanejad notching two goals and adding an assist. The Kid Line also enjoyed a great night with each member registering two points each. And the new crash line with Vincent Trocheck, Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey cashed in a goal as well.
“I thought for most of the game we played pretty good,” Zibanejad explained. “We didn’t sit back with the lead which has been an issue before. I thought we just kept playing and got the win.”
New York Rangers new lines all contribute
The Blueshirts didn’t waste any time when All Star defenseman Adam Fox broke free of two defenders to score a gorgeous breakaway goal by Alex Lyon just 3:03 into the game. For Fox, it was the start of a big night where he registered three points from the back end.
“We just got into open areas for each other,” Fox said. “We spread the ice and spread them out and got some good looks from it.”
Things didn’t exactly go their way despite an early lead. A too many men penalty led to Carter Verhaeghe beating Igor Shesterkin on the power play to tie the game.
New York would only get one power play in this contest but they made the most of it. Late in the first, they zipped it around with Panarin finding Zibanejad for his patented one-time and a 2-1 lead. It was the Rangers’ top center’s 250th career goal.
The second period was an odd one as the Blueshirts struggle to mount any offense. Florida came in waves only to be thwarted by Shesterkin who finished with 33 stops. Eventually, the Rangers started to work with Jimmy Vesey cashing in a loose puck as his line swarmed the net to give the team a two-goal cushion heading into the final frame.
“We didn’t like the second period and I thought our response in the third was good,” Vesey noted. “It good to see some goals in the blue paint and a power play goal as well.”
In the third period, the Kid Line got into the action. Alexis Lafreniere showed that his unit was capable of scoring a gritty goal as well to extend the Rangers lead.
“Lucky goal but it always feels good after a long stretch without scoring,” Lafreniere said after going 17 games without a tally. “Always fun to play with Fil and Kaapo too. We’ve always had a little bit of chemistry.”
Just 14 seconds later, Zibanejad would ensure that the mountain the Panthers needed to climb would be impossible by converting another sweet pass from Panarin.
Florida pulled their goalie with 9 minutes remaining and actually got an Aleksander Barkov goal from it. However, after Shesterkin nearly missed hitting the vacated net, Chytil capped the scoring with a simple tap in.
The Rangers rebounded from a loss to the Boston Bruins increasing their third place hold in the Metro over the Washington Capitals to 3 points. They are on a 15-5-2 run since the Jacob Trouba Helmet Toss.
New York will now head to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs on Wednesday and return home to play the Vegas Golden Knights Friday before going into the All-Star Break.
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