The Rangers’ 4-1 victory over the Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden on Friday night was a microcosm of the now-concluded pre-All-Star break portion of the regular season.
With the exception of Jaro Halak’s outstanding performance in goal, the Rangers were not particularly noteworthy. They generated many opportunities. They were never fully in charge. Their performance was not quite polished. This is the general impression they’ve produced during the first 49 games.
In an industry where results are the bottom line, the Rangers got the result in this game, and they have routinely gotten the result over the previous 23 games, in which they are 16-4-3 since hitting rock bottom at 11-10-5 on December 3.
Maybe that’s not a fair way to describe a squad that will enter the break sixth in the NHL in points percentage with a.633 mark and a 27-14-8 record overall.
“When you go through something as difficult as we did in the first few months, every detail is scrutinized. It’s not pleasant,” Chris Kreider told The Post after his 20th goal gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead late in the first period. “Every day you focus on improvement. You look within. You acquire knowledge of yourself and your teammates.
“And you become stronger after overcoming it. This is not merely a cliche. Without that hardship, we would have been a weaker team than we are now. That is true.”
This situation was chaotic from the start. Vegas produced an abundance of A+ opportunities. Halak, who will enter the break with a five-game winning run, a.937 save percentage, and an average of 1.67 goals against, turned them all away.
The lone goal he allowed to Phil Kessel, which cut the Rangers’ lead to 2-1 in the second period, resulted from a ricochet off his body on a shot from below the goal line. Consider this a risk-free possibility.)
Halak, who struggled during training camp and the first few weeks of the season, is providing the Blueshirts with their finest backup goaltending since Alexandar Georgiev deep in the 2019-20 season, when he was sharing the net with Igor Shesterkin.
It was a sign of confidence from head coach Gerard Gallant (and goaltending coach Benoit Allaire, who always has confidence in his players) to start the 37-year-old veteran with a nine-day break approaching and Shesterkin appearing to be in good shape.
Apparently, the Rangers have a tandem.
The trio of Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, and Barclay Goodrow played hungry hockey. They were forceful in the zone, maintaining a straightforward approach, and getting to the net. Kreider scored after a Trocheck shot deflected off his leg. The following time, when Trocheck buried a Goodrow centering pass for a 2-0 lead late in the first period, he did not interfere.
This example of rough-and-tumble hockey, according to Kreider, exemplifies the Rangers’ identity or potential identity.
The wing stated, “I believe we’re a good team when we do the right things, and we’re doing them more often than not.” We are difficult to defeat when we establish the forecheck, break the puck out cleanly, and receive puck support through the neutral zone.
The unit of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Jimmy Vesey had many shifts in which they threatened to score, albeit without success. The Rangers led 3-1 at 14:20 of the third period after Filip Chytil scored his seventh goal in the last 11 games on his third attempt following two missed opportunities.
Will Cuylle made his Garden debut and was challenged by one of the league’s most renowned enforcers, Keegan Kolesar, to drop the gloves in the second period’s opening draw. The Blueshirts’ 20-year-old rookie took the challenge in his second NHL encounter and performed admirably in the contest, despite the fact that it seemed to violate the rules.
“Good for him,” Gallant remarked. “He was confronted by a rugged individual. He appeared.”
The Rangers are actively participating in the game. They are victorious despite not always accumulating style points. That is irrelevant.
The Blueshirts have the eighth-best record in the NHL, and they are seven points above of the cut line for the playoffs. The Rangers have not played their best hockey just yet.
The second half is imminent.
»Rangers are not yet playing their best hockey as the second half approaches«