After a nice pre-game ceremony honoring the Rangers from the 70’s to the late 80’s, the Rangers came out firing on all cylinders, getting the first five shots of the game and controlling the game. However, that goodwill was quickly shattered as Rangers surrendered two goals on two shots, and shortly after a third goal that Igor would definitely want back.
Since the game took place in the house of horrors, i.e. MSG, it would have been easy for the Rangers to throw in the towel and continue the embarrassing trend of humiliating home losses. But the Rangers’ third line, the new Kid Line, had other ideas. Noah Laba scored his first power play goal, giving the team life and energy. Artemi Panarin scored on a penalty kick later in the period, and the Rangers were within a goal.
JT Miller has had a brutal year and has seen his share of criticism, and rightly so. Last night he woke up and showed his palpable ‘I will take over the game’ skill as he scored the eventual equalizer and winning goals. We may never know what’s going on with Miller, but last night he looked like the JT Miller Chris Drury wanted last year. Miller must continue to do his best to lead this team to more wins.
Matthew Robertson played perhaps the best game of his young career. Robertson is the type of player who flies under the radar for a long time before playing near-perfect games like last night. His first multi-point game with two assists was a bonus for overall solid work on the back end, reading plays and making appropriate pinch moves. It’s hard to say if Robertson will have a long NHL career in New York, but in the context of this team, he has been really solid on the third pairing this season.
Next up is the return of Chris Kreider on Monday night. It can get foggy.
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