On Monday night, with the Sabers dragging their losing 13-game throw into the field, there were cases of Rangers playing with their opponents, as they usually do this season.
However, the Blueshirts continued to connect the attacking points and got a 5-3 victory, sending the Sabers with one more defeat.
There was a striking need for familiarity throughout the lineup to start the season and it looks like the Rangers are starting to establish it. Because in the last six games, the Rangers have outscored their opponents 26-11, including 18-6 in the last four.
“I think the most important reason why the offense is approaching is [Mika] Zibanejad, now you have that line playing like they did last year and they will contribute, “acting head coach Kris Knoblauch said on the front line, combining two goals and two assists.” [Ryan] Tree, [Artemi] Panarin, all year round, [have been] quite consistent.
“But now with Zibanejad playing as well as he does [Chris] Kreider i [Pavel Buchnevich], are one of the best lines in the league right now. “
From strength play, penalty kills, uniform strength and five-on-three, the Rangers have been finding ways to put the puck at the bottom of the net recently. And there will be another offensive weapon in his arsenal soon enough, with Vitali Kravtsov expected to join the team as early as Tuesday if he clears the rest of the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.
Although their offense is being revitalized, the Rangers are still trapped on flat feet coming out of the intermissions. The Sabers scored all three goals in the first five minutes of the second and third period.
Buffalo scored two opening goals in the third to tie it at 3-3, but the Rangers were able to rely on players who have been – and should be – boosting their offense after struggling to do so early in the season. season. Behind two goals from Kreider and two goals from Kaapo Kakko, including an empty net, the Rangers prevailed.
“I feel like we’re doing it a little too complicated, we’re trying to do it too much, and obviously that can’t happen,” Zibanejad said of the team’s slow starts in the last two periods. “It simply came to our notice then [goaltender] Keith [Kinkaid] it saves us and keeps us in this game and means great advantages for him. Obviously, it has to be much better, but we come out of it with two points and we are happy with it ”.
Adam Fox, skating in his 100th game with the Rangers, recorded a goal and two assists, including one on Kreider’s balance sheet at 5:47 of the third. And Panarin was Panarin, recording a night of three assists.
Just at 2:53 of the match, all 6 feet-4 of Julien Gauthier threw against Sabers goalkeeper Carter Hutton, sending him into the locker room favoring his left leg. As a result, Dustin Tokarski, who had a one-season cameo with Rangers affiliate AHL in 2018-19, made his first NHL appearance since Oct. 8, 2016.
So when Rasmus Asplund gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead at 3:52 of the second, the chance to lose to a Sabers team that is in the basement not only in the East, but in the entire NHL – and now without their starting goalkeeper – the Blueshirts have woken up. They quickly turned around and scored three consecutive goals to advance 3-1 in the final 20 minutes.
The difference between the Rangers at the start of the season and the Rangers who won on Monday was the offensive chemistry that allowed them to do so.