New York Rangers have a disappointing start to the season
The team has yet to win a game at home
Photo courtesy of Co-News Editor Brooke Klugewicz
After a disappointing loss in the first game of the season, the New York Rangers (NYR) have lost more times than won this season. Leading up to their game against the Minnesota Wild, the Rangers had yet to score a goal at Madison Square Garden.
In their most recent game against the Montreal Canadiens, the first period ended with the Canadiens winning 2-1. The second period was stagnant, but in the third, the Rangers pulled through to a 4-3 comeback win. Left-wing Artemi Panarin had an impressive game with four points, including one goal, ensuring a victory for the NYR. The other Rangers goals were scored by center Mika Zibanejad, forward J.T. Miller, and defenseman Matthew Robertson. Goaltender Jonathan Quick was in the net for the Rangers instead of Igor Shesterkin against the Canadiens.
NYR head coach, Mike Sullivan, spoke on the comeback win, saying, “You go through some of the early adversity that we’ve gone through here, you know, I said to them after the game, ‘That game could have gone south fast.’ We go down two early like that, given the circumstances that we’ve gone through the last week or so, I just give the guys a lot of credit.”
The Rangers’ offense stepped up during the third period and started playing cohesively after the slow start. In recent losses, the offense has been notably inconsistent. While this game proved that the Rangers have the potential to win, fans are not convinced they will keep up this momentum. Mika Zibanejad said, “It would have been really easy just to feel sorry for ourselves for the past few games and start cheating the game and sacrificing some defense to get some more offense…I think there’s a belief in this group that we’re right there. … Seeing the result today was huge.”
The NYR have struggled in the past with finding the balance between offensive and defensive play. Most of the losses can be attributed to inconsistency with either line or disconnectedness between players, causing severe mistakes.
The Rangers lost in Monday night's game against the Minnesota Wild with a disappointing 3-1 loss. Artemi Panarin scored the only NYR goal during the first period and was assisted by Zibanejad and defenseman Will Borgen. This was also the Rangers’ first home goal of the season. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin was in the net and made 29 saves throughout the game, allowing three goals.
Panarin has been a standout this season, helping the team consistently each game. He can keep momentum going and has a very quick reaction time, allowing him to take more challenging shots. Zibanejad has also been contributing more this season than last. He has been more reactive and taking more shots than in previous seasons. Many fans had been disappointed in his performance last season, especially leading up to the playoffs.
Defenseman Adam Fox has been a topic of discussion among fans for the last few seasons. He has not been performing to the expected standard, and last season, he made some game-determining errors during play. Fox had been regarded as one of the best defensive players in the league, but many NYR fans are beginning to disagree with this sentiment. While he has proven to be stronger this year, time will only tell how long this continues.
Although this has been a disappointing start to the season, the NYR still have hope. Once they find their momentum as a team and the back of the net, the team can start to consistently win.