Two of the first three games of the year against a division rival makes us smile at the hockey schedulers. It makes for an easy storyline, especially when you consider how flat the Rangers looked on opening night. Safe to say the Rangers got their revenge with 6 goals while again holding the Penguins to just one goal. For those keeping track, that’s just two goals allowed by Igor Shesterkin over the first three games. This time around it was the defense that shined, holding the Penguins to 19 shots on goal. A full team win up and down the lineup, despite the injuries to Vincent Trocheck and mid-game to Carson Soucy.
Shesterkin has simply been unbelievable in his first 3 games of action. Just two goals allowed and a .976 SV% through three games shows us just how important he is to the Rangers. There is some real hype to what he can do this season with a defensively sound team in front of him. The Rangers haven’t really played stellar defense in the last decade or so, so this is all new to us and Shesterkin A major reason for his raw stats last season was just how badly the team defended in front of him. I don’t think that’s going to be as big a storyline this year.
Zibanejad is not off to a slow start this year
Mika Zibanejad has been an absolute force since the puck dropped on opening night. He has not hesitated to shoot, and this is the most he has been engaged in the game in seemingly forever. He even got in the middle of some scrums as Bryan Rust took a shot at Vlad Gavrikov while he was covering a puck by the goal crease.
It’s no secret that Mika has come under fire at times from the Rangers fanbase for appearing uninterested in what they are trying to accomplish, but I would argue that out of the gate, these presumptions by the fanbase are completely and utterly false. Scoring his first goal of the season tonight short handed off of a beautiful feed from Sam Carrick, he was ecstatic to score and his 200 foot game was really noticeable.
If this is the Mika Zibanejad we are getting this season, I think he’s going to become one of the greatest goal scorers of this franchise. The goal he scored in this game was his 251st as a Ranger which is 8th all time. There is plenty of time given his contract status and the remainder of games to really climb up that franchise ladder.
Noah Laba has arrived
Noah Laba has arrived to the tune of a multi-assist game. This kid is an animal on the forecheck. His first assist came on some good passing while on the power play to Conor Sheary, who executed a perfect shot pass down low to Will Cuylle, who tipped it in for the first power play goal of the season.
As an aside, it is objectively hilarious that the second power play unit, with its eclectic personnel make up, got the first power play goal of the season. Laba was a big reason for that as he really helped distribute the puck well whenever they were out on the ice. His level of good play is also evident at 5 on 5 when he made a great play in the neutral zone, beating out fellow Pittsburgh rookie Harrison Brunicke on a wall play that he picked up, entered the zone, and slid the puck across to a streaking Taylor Raddysh, who scored his first goal as a Ranger.
Laba has made it clear through 3 games that he not only belongs, but when given a proper role, can produce. As Rob said on Bluesky, if Noah Laba is the Rangers version of Anton Lundell in Florida, this team is going places.
The Rangers took 4 of 6 points in the first three games, with an opportunity to make it six of eight tonight against Washington. The schedule will start to ramp up after today, facing off against playoff teams from last year all next week. If the Rangers think they are a playoff team, this is their time to prove it. Will they answer the call and take some really difficult points and wins, or will they flounder and look like the Rangers of old?
More About:Game Wrap-ups