Rangers win 3rd straight, stun Connor Hellebuyck, Jets 6-3: takeaways
Thursday night at Canada Life Centre, the New York Rangers made Olympic hero Connor Hellebuyck look quite ordinary. They scored five goals on 16 shots against the superstar goalie and added an empty-netter for good measure, to skate past the Winnipeg Jets 6-3.
It was the third straight victory for the Rangers (27-30-8), equaling their longest winning streak of the season, most recently accomplished Nov. 24-28.
Six different Rangers scored goals, and 12 of the 18 skaters picked up at least one point. Alexis Lafreniere, Gabe Perreault, and Tye Kartye each had a goal and an assist. Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider each had two assists.
Adam Fox, Adam Edstrom, and Noah Laba also scored for the Rangers (27-30-8), who got 24 saves from Igor Shesterkin.
The two teams entered the game with identical 4-1-2 records since the Olympic break. And they mirrored each other on the scoreboard through two periods, with things knotted up 2-2.
The Rangers scored the only goal of an extremely low-event first period, and it came just 1:08 into the contest. With Gabe Vilardi in the penalty box serving a hooking minor, the Rangers needed just nine seconds to break through, when Fox hammered a long shot past Hellebuyck, with Trocheck wreaking havoc in front of his teammate on the United States gold medal-winning squad last month at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
It was Fox’s first goal since Dec. 31, though just a span of nine games without one since he missed most of January with a lower-body injury, and there were no games for three weeks in February due to the Olympic break.
The Jets out-shot the Rangers 6-3 in the opening period, and generated little against a stingy defense, though Shesterkin did make one big save, denying Jonathan Toews on a breakaway at 2:32. But the home team did break through early in the second period, tying the game 1-1 on Isek Rosen’s deflection in the slot.
The blistering hot Lafreniere scored his seventh goal in eight games since the break, when he deflected Will Borgen’s long shot past Hellebuyck at 7:36, to put the Rangers back up by one.
But the Jets answered back before the second period ended. Kyle Connor tied it up with his 29th goal, a beauty where he put the puck through Fox’s legs before beating Shesterkin up high at 17:49. And they very nearly took the lead on the opening shift of the third period, but Mark Scheifele’s break in attempt hit the post.
Moments later, the Rangers took their third lead of the night. Kartye drove the net to redirect Matthew Robertson’s point shot into the cage at 1:15, after a clutch offensive-zone face-off win by Conor Sheary.
But the Jets answered again, this time at 4:19. Vilardi went forehand-backhand to tuck a rebound past Shesterkin, tying the game 3-3 with his 25th goal. Then the see-saw tilted back the visitors’ way, and Perreault went to the net to push Schneider’s shot/pass past Hellebuyck at 6:57 to make it 4-3.
New York finally was able to extend their lead instead of handing it back, when Edstrom beat Hellebuyck with a low wrist shot at 11:08.
Laba’s empty-net goal with 50.8 seconds remaining put New York’s 18th road win on ice.
Key takeaways after Rangers defeat Jets 6-3
Who’s that masked man?
The Rangers goalie Thursday wore No. 31 and most definitely played like Shesterkin. But who was that masked man wearing the unrecognizable all-white face protection?
“I look like emergency goalie right now,” Shesterkin joked postgame.
He went on to explain that he’s got a new mask but “I didn’t have time to make it a new color.”
It’s safe to say, he’ll have a fancy paint job soon enough.
As for what really matters, Shesterkin — who’s 4-0-2 in six starts since returning from a 13-game injury absence — said this recent run by the Rangers since the Olympic break is “pretty good for our confidence for the future.”
Get to the net
A key to the Rangers success the past eight games is their work below the dots, particularly in and around the low slot and blue paint of the opposing net. That certainly was the case again Thursday, when Lafreniere, Kartye, and Perreault each was rewarded with a goal for going to net.
“We’re getting there more consistently,” noted coach Mike Sullivan. “that’s where goals are scored in this league.”
The Rangers didn’t generate a lot of sustained pressure for much of the game, but they made their shots on goal count by creating traffic and scoring from the greasy areas. Simply put, this is a winning formula, and the Rangers finally appear to be embracing this fact and making it a staple of their collective game.
Another 4-goal third period
The Rangers scored 34 goals in eight games since the break. You do remember that this team couldn’t land a puck in the Atlantic Ocean to start the season, right? Now, they’re scoring in every way imaginable — fancy, gritty, you name it.
And they are filling it up to close out games, too. This was the third four-goal third period for the Rangers in their past six games. They now have 67 goals in the third period this season, more than any other period (55 in the first period, 54 in the second).
Difference maker
There’s plenty for the Rangers to feel good about these days. Not the least of which is the all-around play of Kartye, a waiver wire pick up March 1, who’s recorded six points (two goals, four assists) in seven games with the Rangers.
The 24-year-old scored one of those drive-by deflection goals against the Jets Thursday, and he also laid out to knock the puck out of his own end and send Laba off to the races in the final minute for an empty-net goal.
His energy, smarts, and physical play mesh so well with Laba, his linemate on the third line and penalty-killing partner. He’s flashed before, most memorably early on with the Seattle Kraken, so let’s see if Kartye sustains this high-level of play.
But right now, he’s an impact player, a game-changer in the bottom six who’s helped breathe life back into the Rangers.
