3 Rangers takeaways from rare uplifting night in dismal, lost season
What better place for the sun to come up on the New York Rangers near the end of a miserable season than in South Florida? Sun, beach, 80-degree weather. Literally, rays of light at the end of a dark six-month ride to nowhere.
Oh wait, that’s where the sun set on them last June, when the Rangers lost Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final to the Florida Panthers, that special season ending two wins shy of a Stanley Cup Final appearance.
Well, maybe that made it even more of a perfect place to snap out of things and have themselves a feel-good win before packing up and heading home for a long offseason. There were good vibes all around after the Rangers rallied past the Panthers 5-3 on Monday at Amerant Bank Arena.
And it probably didn’t suck for the Rangers that they snuffed the Panthers’ last chance at keeping alive their hope for home-ice advantage in the first-round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Florida officially is locked into third place in the Atlantic Division.
Of course, that’s a better spot than where the Rangers are. New York’s already been eliminated from playoff contention and has one more game to play, Thursday at home against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Still, that was a nice win for the Rangers on Monday. Down 3-1 in the second period, they rallied to score the final four goals and secure their first victory in 81 games this season when trailing by multiple goals. You may have heard that they were the only team in the NHL not to do so before Monday. They saved it for the first truly meaningless game in four seasons. But, hey, it was still fun to see.
Related: Plenty of winners, few losers from Rangers in 5-3 win against Panthers
3 Rangers takeaways from 5-3 win over Panthers
Here are three Rangers takeaways from the uplifting 5-3 comeback win against the Panthers on Monday.
1. Rempe mania lives
Rempe mania was alive and well in South Florida on Monday night. But Matt Rempe didn’t grab the spotlight with a big fight nor by running around focused on making the biggest hit of the game.
No, this was the maturing Matt Rempe. One who played with speed, smarts, skill, and, yes, a physical edge. The 22-year-old recorded the first multiple-point game of his career and was noticeable — in a good way — throughout his well-deserved 12:26 TOI.
The towering 6-foot-9 forward got to the net and gained inside position on veteran defenseman Seth Jones to score off a rebound and tie the game 1-1 in the first period. He nearly had another goal in the second, speeding up right wing and making a power move to the net, before Sergei Bobrovsky’s excellent poke-check short-circuited the scoring chance. Then in the third period, Rempe led a charge to the net, created all kinds of havoc and picked up an assist on Jonny Brodzinski’s goal that put the game away, 5-3.
2. Worth the wait
Six years after the Rangers selected Matthew Robertson in the second round of the 2019 draft, the defenseman made his NHL debut Monday. He paired with Adam Fox, was in the starting lineup and nearly scored 15 seconds into the game off a slick J.T. Miller set up.
The 24-year-old logged 15:24 TOI, all at even strength, had two shots on goal and was plus-1. He was on the ice when Carter Verhaeghe got position on Fox to score a go-ahead goal in the second period. Robertson was also on for Miller’s goal that started the comeback and Brodzinski’s that finished it off.
The Rangers only had an expected goals share of 38.36 percent with Robertson on the ice, per Natural Stat Trick, but there’s little to find fault here with his NHL debut.
3. Notable numbers
The Rangers established a franchise record when they won their 20th road game, making it four straight seasons with 20 or more road victories. They won 25 times away from Madison Square Garden in 2021-22 and last season, and 24 in 2022-23.
Vincent Trocheck played his 800th game, ironically against the team that drafted him back in 2011. The 31-year-old center rose the occasion and scored the game-winning goal early in the third period. It was his team-leading fifth short-handed goal and 25th overall, equaling his total from last season. It was also New York’s League-high 17th shorty this season.
J.T. Miller recorded his third straight multiple-point game with a goal and an assist. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak and 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 31 games since the Rangers acquired him from the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 31.
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