Reformed Rangers ‘buying in’ to changes in order to make serious playoff push
Don’t look now, but the New York Rangers are tied for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after back-to-back 4-0 shutouts against the Nashville Predators on Sunday and the New York Islanders on Monday.
This despite the Rangers coming out of the 4-Nations Face-Off break with some brutal play in an 8-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres and a fortunate 5-3 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Since then, the Rangers have really reformed their game, with a willingness to do the dirty work. That includes increased physicality, blocking shots, and committing to team defense. That was all on display when they blocked 22 shots in the win over the Islanders. The overall result has been winning four of their past five games, the past two in convincing fashion.
“We want to make sure that we have an identity that’s hard to play against,” Braden Schneider said following the win Monday. “Not everyone’s going to score a goal or get an assist, but if you can get some hits and block some shots, it gets the bench going. It creates energy, and the next guy wants to do it too. It’s huge that we have everyone buying in and playing hard.”
The Rangers will need to have everyone buying in as the race for the playoffs remains tight. The Rangers are now tied with the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card spot with 66 points, and trail the Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild card by two points. Both the Red Wings and Blue Jackets have one game in hand, and will make it up when they each play Tuesday night.
Things took a noticeable turn for the better for the Rangers when they matched up against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Friday. Even though they lost 3-2, their defensive play took a considerable jump, and the team started to build momentum that was desperately needed after playing sub-par at best coming out of the 4 Nations break.
“That first game after the break we came back and we gave up eight,” explained Schneider. “I think we really wanted to focus on making sure that we’re communicating in our own end and sorting things out as quick as we can. I thought we’ve done a really good job of that. We’ve been able to keep things to the outside for the most part. Blocking shots, taking guys out of the play when we can, everyone’s buying in.”
Related: 3 Rangers takeaways from another shutout victory as momentum builds
Rangers ‘not panicking as much’ amid playoff push
It hasn’t all been great for the Rangers over their stretch of seven wins in their past 10 games. There’s been some brutal defensive lapses, especially in the games against the Sabres and Penguins. On top of that, the Rangers have still yet to string three wins together since Nov. 14-19.
However, they seem to have hit a turning point in the Toronto game, and will have a chance to win three straight in their next game on Wednesday. That’ll be no easy task since they take on the Washington Capitals, who are first in the Eastern Conference and second in the overall standings.
“We did a good job after that Toronto game even though we lost,” Mika Zibanejad explained. “We looked at that game and said that we’re happy with a lot of things, and a lot of things in our effort in that game. We’ve been bringing that the last couple games here.”
They certainly have brought that effort in their past couple games. Matching up against two sub-par teams in the Predators and Islanders meant two games that the Rangers absolutely needed to win, and they made no mistake of doing so by shutting out each just 24 hours apart.
“We’re playing simple,” Zibanejad continued. “We’re not panicking as much. If they have momentum, alright, let’s try to break it. Bend don’t break. It doesn’t hurt to have two elite goalies back there too.”
The Rangers netminders have been nothing short of outstanding in this recent stretch. Jonathan Quick came up with his 63rd career shutout in his 800th NHL game Sunday, making 35 saves which included 20 in the third period alone when Nashville was pushing and had the better of the play.
Shesterkin followed it up with a shutout of his own, making 21 saves against the Islanders. Some of which were very timely in terms of swinging the momentum in favor of the Rangers.
Whether it’s blocking shots, playing physical, or simply just executing, there’s a newfound sense of confidence in this Rangers lineup. Whatever it is, it’s working, and the Rangers are going to need a lot more of it over their final 21 games of the regular season if they want to find themselves in the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
“I think it’s maybe vague, but we give ourselves a chance to win,” Zibanejad said. “I don’t think we shoot ourselves in the foot in the same way we’ve maybe done it before. The intentions that we’re playing with, the attention to detail. The two points, getting wins, that just kind of builds confidence in the room.”
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