N.Y. Rangers: Chris Kreider Sticks Pitchfork Into Devils

From the desks: THE BRICK CITY STYX & RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

BATTLE OF THE HUDSON

I - NYR 4; NJD 3*

*shootout

Off-Broadway Kids Come Through Against Devils

Low and behold, Alexis Lafreniere and Kappo Kakko each played good games on the same night.  

After Adam Fox tied the game at one, Lafreniere scored at 11:24 of the second period on feeds from Kappo Kakko and Jacob Trouba.  It's only Lafreniere's fourth goal of the season and his first of November.  However, roughly two minutes later, Dougie Hamilton scored on a power play tying at two.

The Rangers failed to score with a man advantage in the third, but immediately after Newark's successful penalty kill, Kappo Kakko scored assisted by Ryan Strome.  But you know me ... if the Rangers had a top-flight center, Kakko doesn't need to fill the lane.  Kappo's second-period assist and third-period goal are his first two points this season.  They come in his eleventh game.

Together, Alexis Lafreniere and Kappo Kakko have tallied a grand total of six points.

Meanwhile, Chris Kreider continues killing it.  His game-winning goal in the seventh round of Sunday's shootout may not count on the back of his baseball card.  But his two goals against the Blue Jackets are etched in stone.  Kreider has now scored a goal in nine of 15 games played and has 14 points.  Two consecutive games are the longest he's gone this season without a goal.

Pavel Zacha scored at 16:17 of the third period to send this game into overtime.  It was his seventh goal this season.

Mackenzie Blackwood was forced to leave the ice midway through the third period with an upper-body injury.  Jonathan Bernier closed out regulation time, held the Rangers scoreless in overtime, and denied them through six shootout rounds.

Making his fourth start, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 24 of 27 shots.

N.Y. Rangers Bring Goals and Salutations to Seattle

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

SUNDAY

Rangers      3

KRAKEN     1

FINAL

For the first time, the New York Rangers ventured to Seattle to face off against the expansion Kraken.

Chris Kreider continues to impact games.  

He's crowding the crease area and converting passes.  

Kreider did it again on Sunday.  He gave the Rangers an early lead on yet another tip-in just 3:38 into the first period off a feed from Barclay Goodrow.  

Sunday marks his third goal in his last two games, four goals in his previous four games, and seven goals overall through the Rangers' first nine games.  

That's one way to carry a team.  Another is between the pipes.

Igor Shesterkin was again masterful.  He faced 32 total shots, making eight PK saves and 23 at even strength while allowing just one even-strength goal midway through the second period.  Then consider the Rangers mustered just 18 shots on goal of their own and blocked 21 other Kraken attempts.  

Igor has allowed a goal or less in four of his last five starts.  He has now made seven starts against two by Alexandar Georgiev.

Let's give Shesterkin an assist as well on Adan Fox's go-ahead goal in the third.  He made a key save, after which Kappo Kakko made a brilliant long outlet pass put right on the stick of Artemi Panarin, which has gone unspoken.

N.Y. Rangers: Igor Shesterkin Offering No Quarter

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

THURSDAY

RANGERS      3

PREDATORS  1

FINAL

Igor Shesterkin and Penalty Kill Lift Rangers To Third Consecutive Win

Alexandar Georgiev has not seen ice since his opening night defeat against the Washington Capitals.  He faced 27 shots that night and let five get through - three on the penalty kill, one shorthanded, and one at even strength.  Some were arguably soft, others not so much.

Making his first start against Dallas, Igor Shesterkin committed the cardinal sin when he allowed that first-period goal with 0:35 left on the clock.  That raised an eyebrow.   He then allowed a power-play goal in the second.  But it's worth noting all the Ranger skaters allowed four goals on eight power-play opportunities afforded to the Caps and Stars.  Otherwise, the Rangers, of course, lost to Dallas just 1:38 into overtime.

The penalty kill has since tightened up.  Montreal, Toronto, and the Preds finished their games against the Rangers 0/3 on the power play.

Over his last three starts, Igor Shesterkin has allowed just one goal by each of the previously mentioned opponents.  Said another way, he has faced 101 shots on goal over the last three games and stopped all but three.  His 41-save performance against the Maple Leafs was quite commendable.  Artemi Panarin doesn't score the game-winner in overtime without him.

Against Nashville, the power play went 0 for 4, but the Rangers were able to play with a lead.  Filip Chytl scored just 2:12 into the first period on feeds by Alexis Lafreniere and Sammy Blais.

Nashville's Phillip Tomasino evened things up at 7:01 of the second period.

But the Rangers retake the lead midway through the third on Alexis Lafreniere's second goal this season with assists from Adam Fox (his third) and Sammy Blais, his second of the game.  Afterwhich, Barclay Goodrow's goal with 0:06 seconds left in regulation closes out the scoring. 

For Filip Chytil, his first goal of the season.  Before losing him last season to injury, Chytil had eight goals and 14 assists in 42 games.  I'm hoping like hell he plays himself into being this team's top-line center or having him together on a line with Kakkoo Kappo and Alexis Lafreniere.

N.Y. Rangers: First Line Front and Center at Montreal

From the desk: RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

FIRST WIN

With Injuries to Kappo Kakko and Ryan Strome, First Line Must Carry Rangers

It can now be said the Ranger season is underway.  It took three games, but they went from blowout to overtime loss to victory.

Coach Gallant's first line contributed four points towards the victory.  Chris Kreider opened the scoring on a power play midway through the second period on feeds from Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox.  After Montreal tied the game at one in the third period, Alexis Lafreniere answered just 0:26 seconds later on assists by Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin.

The first line (Kreider-Zibanejad-Lafreniere) accounted for 13 (54%) of the Rangers' 24 shots on goal.  Chris Kreider scored his third goal,  Zibanejad picked up his third assist, and Lafreniere scored in front of his home area crowd.

It's too early in the season for me to start wrangling over Mika Zibanejad's first-line qualifications.  We knew early last season he was recovering from a bout with COVID.  To what degree that affected his season-long play, we will not know.  All we can do is compare this season's performance against the previous two campaigns.  In the meantime, the Rangers demonstrated their faith in him with a lucrative contract.  To that point, three points in three games is an excellent way to start proving one's worth.

Chris Kreider is a car of another stable.  Like Zibanejad, he has three points through the first three games, all goals.  Are we now to expect a long drought of pointless games?  Because that's what his career trends suggest.  

Last season Kreider posted twenty goals and ten assists in fifty games.  He scored three goals through the first 15 games, then caught fire with eight goals over his next six games, giving him eleven goals through the season's first 21 games.  Kreider then finished out the season with seven goals and 15 points in his last 29 games.  He scored just three points in eleven games in one late-season stretch from March 27 through April 15. 

If and when someone impacts this team with sustained, tangible, and meaningful leadership, then you sew the C on their sweater.  Until then, I agree with Coach Gallant: let these guys keep having to prove themselves.

• Kappo Kakko sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and was placed on the injured reserve list, and Ryan Strome is still in concussion protocol.