Three Rangers lessons learned from another shutout win as momentum increases
The New York Rangers are deadlocked for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card, so don’t look now. 24 hours after blanking the Nashville Predators, the Rangers defeated the New York Islanders 4-0 on Monday to earn their second straight home ice shutout, bringing them equal with the Detroit Red Wings (66).
After defeating the Islanders 5-1 at UBS Arena last Tuesday, it was their second victory in a week. The Rangers have a 3-0-0 record against their bitter rivals this season, almost eliminating the Islanders’ hopes of making it to the East playoffs.
With four victories in their last five games and seven in ten, the Rangers (31-26-4) are on the right track. They ended 2024 with a dismal 4-15-0 run, and now they are 15-7-3 since the calendar changed to January.
Additionally, the Rangers haven’t let up a goal in six hockey periods since sending veteran defensive mainstay Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Figure it out.
You could assume that the Islanders would benefit from the recent victory because it was a low-key match. It didn’t. After video review determined that Anders Lee’s game-opening goal in the first period was offside, the Rangers were comfortably in control of this match—at least until the goal was removed from the scoreboard.
The Rangers defeated the Islanders at their own game, though, and that’s what matters. low-key event. Don’t complicate things. First, defense. Even though the Islanders without injured star Mathew Barzal and are a very difficult offensive squad, the Rangers mainly
was a solid victory that prepares them for Wednesday’s delicious matchup at MSG against the Washington Capitals, who are now in first place. Smothered them
These are the Rangers’ three key lessons from Monday’s shutout victory.
1. When a Will is present
Or sometimes there are two Wills, like Cuylle and Borgen, who both contributed significantly to Monday’s most recent Rangers victory.
At 15:03 of the first period, a puck rebounded off Cuylle’s helmet and into the Islanders net, giving him his 17th goal—the second most on the Rangers—as a second-line player. Cuylle was in the correct location as usual, causing chaos in front of Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin, which is why it was a fortunate bounce. With six points (four goals, two assists) in his last seven outings, the 23-year-old is also becoming hotter.
With 19+ minutes of TOI, Borgen had a strong defensive game at his own end while playing at both ends of the rink. With 44.9 seconds remaining in the first period, the defender also scored the game’s biggest goal, a short-handed shot that went bar down and gave Rangers a 2-0 lead.
more than sixty minutes on Monday.race.
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