New York Rangers Daily: Blueshirts head into break on high; Thatcher Demko hurt again for Canucks
How quickly moods can change in 24 hours. One night after a dismal effort in a 3-2 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, almost everything went right in the New York Rangers world Saturday.
Not only did the Rangers rally in the third period to knock off the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3, but each team they’re battling in the Eastern Conference playoff race lost. So, in a whirlwind turn, the Rangers enter the 4 Nations Face-off break 11th in the conference, three points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card and four in arrears of the Ottawa Senators for the top wild card, with a game in hand.
Their victory also moved the Rangers a point ahead of the Islanders and three ahead of the sinking Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and Penguins.
Even the only bad news in their sphere had a decent spin. Igor Shesterkin is out 1-2 weeks with an upper-body injury. But their next game is not for two weeks, thanks to the break in the schedule. With the right amount of luck here, Shesterkin won’t miss any game action since Jonathan Quick was in line to start against the Blue Jackets anyway.
It wasn’t perfect Saturday but it was a crucial two points gained. The Rangers surrendered 19 high-dangers scoring chances and had only 10 themselves, per Natural Stat Trick. Their xGF was a touch above 47 percent. But they won, and head into the break with three wins in their past four games.
Catch your breath these next two weeks — and hope no Rangers get hurt during the in-season tournament — then get set for a wild ride to the finish line in this crazy playoff race.
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New York Rangers news
Here are our three Rangers takeaways from a massively important win against the Blue Jackets, including another show of resilience by the Blueshirts.
As mentioned above, Shesterkin is sidelined for up to two weeks with an upper-body injury.
Louis Domingue earned his 100th AHL victory, helping the Hartford Wolf Pack end a seven-game slide with a 4-2 win against Lehigh Valley.
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Trade rumors are swirling around Scott Laughton, with the Philadelphia Flyers reportedly engaged in traded talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets for the forward.
Thatcher Demko is injured again. The Vancouver Canucks goalie left their game against the Maple Leafs on Saturday with an undisclosed injury. The oft-injured goalie missed the first two months this season with a knee issue.
Quinn Hughes remained out of the Canucks lineup and missed his fourth straight game with an unspecified injury. Though he skated on his own Saturday, the 25-year-old defenseman’s status to play for the United States at the 4 Nations Face-off remains unclear.
Despite the injury drama, the Canucks defeated the Maple Leafs 2-1.
Veteran Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was added to Canada’s 4 Nations roster to replace Alex Pietrangelo.
The Detroit Red Wings had their seven-game winning streak end in a 6-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Ottawa Senators’ losing streak extended to three games with a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Florida Panthers.
Brandon Montour sustained an upper-body injury for the Seattle Kraken and didn’t return to their game against the Calgary Flames. The Kraken still found a way to rally past the Flames with a 3-2 overtime victory.
Mathew Barzal had a minor procedure performed on his kneecap and should be out six weeks for the Islanders.
Then the Islanders allowed five straight goals and lost to the Minnesota Wild 6-3.
Jake Allen got back on his game, backstopping the New Jersey Devils to a 4-0 shutout win against the Montreal Canadiens.
The battle of the Keystone state went to the Flyers, who edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2.
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