Are the Rangers for real, even without Igor Shesterkin?
The New York Rangers looked like a really nice story to start the season, jumping out to a hot start after two consecutive years of utter disappointment.
But it looked like that story came crashing to an end on October 9 when all-world franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin suffered a season-ending injury, putting the Rangers back in a situation in which they struggled mightily last year while the Russian was sidelined.
Instead, New York has rattled off a 3-1-1 record since losing Shesterkin to maintain their early grip on the second-place spot in the Metropolitan Division. It’s in large part thanks to the success of 2020 No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere, who is tied for third in the NHL with seven goals, and Dylan Garand, who owns a .929 save percentage since taking over as the top netminder.
On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton was joined by former NHL video coach Steve Peters to discuss the surprise behind New York’s continued success despite Shesterkin’s absence.
Carter Hutton: There’s so many storylines around the NHL right now, and there’s always that, it’s only October… We always say November 1 or American Thanksgiving. You kind of figure out what kind of team you’ve got, and whether it’s injury woes or what’s been going on, but the Rangers last night, another statement game from them… Right now, they’re 6-0 at home. Petey, what do you take away from the Rangers so far?
Steve Peters: It’s funny with this Rangers team. You look at a team a year ago that couldn’t win at home. Heck, they couldn’t score at home a season ago. I’ll be honest, I thought it was a bad mix of players a season ago. I didn’t think they had a team that could provide offense, and I’ve got to give Drury credit. He has taken this team down, rebuilt it with some speed and some youth. Without doing a complete rebuild, where you have to start completely over, he’s been able to sprinkle in pieces along with Zibanejad, along with Miller, that have helped this team become quick. And this team is fast, and they play quick through the blue lines. They’re playing with pace. Gabe Perreault’s having a breakout season. Lafreniere’s starting to come on offensively… I think Dorofeyev’s only going to get better. They’re defending better than I thought. But most importantly, as soon as they lost their best player… You said okay, well that was fun for five, six, seven games, but this season is now over for New York. Good luck for next year, but their goaltending has been solid. So this Ranger team, are they for real? I think they might be.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…
