Isn’t it just crazy what happens when a coaching staff puts it’s faith in their star goaltender?
If you saw my blog that coincided with an embarrassing loss to the Maple Leafs, you would have taken note that Rangers net-minder Igor Shesterkin had been struggling, particularly over the three starts he made leading up to that blog, and the level of team defense in front of him was hardly doing him any favors over that span.
You could almost look at that game as a trouba helmet spike-esque moment in which a trough in the season, though not as drastic, brings a leader in the room to a breaking point, and the entire team responds by doing their jobs better, and boy did they ever respond.
Since the 7-3 loss to Toronto on home ice earlier this month:
5-1 W vs ANA; 2-1 OT W at BOS; 5-2 W at TOR; 4-3 L vs EDM; 4-3 OT W vs BUF; 5-1 W vs WSH
That’s a 5-1-0 record over the last six with two more games to go in the calendar year, both coming on the road in Florida, and the only loss over that span was a game Jonathan Quick started. You heard me right, Shesterkin has not lost a game since December 12th.
Head Coach Peter Laviolette mentioned earlier this month in a press conference that when the Rangers have lost to a team this year and they’ve gotten a chance to play them again, they have not disappointed. A dominant road win in Toronto proved that, and last nights win over Washington was perhaps the best example. After getting shut out 4-0 on the road on December 9th in a game Shesterkin started, the room answered by hardly giving the caps any high danger chances on home ice, and when they finally started to falter late in the third period nursing a 5-1 lead, Shesterkin stood tall and kept the Caps at bay.
The Rangers now sit atop the NHL heading into New Year’s eve weekend. Artemi Panarin is tied for fourth in the league in points with 46 points in 33 games, and him and Chris Kreider have hovered around the top 10 in the goal scoring race all season long. Not to mention Vinny Trocheck taking the 2C role and running with it in the absence of Filip Chytil, as he sits fourth on the team in scoring with 29 points. Have you guys heard of Mika Zibanejad? After a slow start to the year, he’s now over a point per game following last night’s performance.
Jacob Trouba, the stalwart on defense, left the game yesterday with an undisclosed upper body injury, but Laviolette didn’t seem too concerned about it in the post game presser, and the play of K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider elevated on both ends of the ice in Trouba’s absence.
We’ll see if Trouba is back or not tomorrow night when the Rangers take on one of the top teams in the East in the Florida Panthers, and they’ll finish the road trip, and the calendar year, the following day in Tampa Bay. You can also watch Rangers Prospects Gabriel Perrault and Drew Fortescue in World Junior action tomorrow when Team USA faces Czechia at 11 am EST.
Thank you for following along with all of us at the Morning Skate this year, and be sure to stick around for the ride in 2024. Enjoy your holiday weekend, drink responsibly, and have a happy, healthy new year.
The Morning Skate 
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