Soccoa: The Rangers Are Proving To Be Fast and Furious And Win Again

The New York Rangers are winning games early in the season but they aren’t just winning, they are dismantling teams. It is now five wins in a row for the Blueshirts in a night that featured five different goal scorers yet again. Within this five game winning streak, the Rangers have also been able to score five goals in each of the games during the streak and eight overall games out of thirteen this season.

The second period has been the Rangers favorite period as they have now outscored opponents 25-7 in period twos this season. The Rangers opened the night picking up from the night before in Boston as Kevin Hayes got the Rangers on the board just two minutes in. The second period featured four goal scorers as Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast and Pavel Buchnevich.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games the Rangers felt they played as they were getting outplayed in the first half of period two with loads of turn overs. As Sam Rosen said it “how quick things can change” certainly did for the Rangers as they exploded out of cannon in that second period.

The Rangers have continued getting their contributions up and down the line up as they have improved to 10-3-0 on the young season. They have also taken advantage of this early home schedule now improving to 8-1-0 on home ice.

Confidence continues to build on the Rangers as they have been doing things we haven’t seen in sometime. The difference off the bat is the fact they have continued to put their foot on the gas pedal. In years past we saw the team go into “defensive” shell when grabbing a one goal lead. They no longer do that. They continue to come at you.

It is certainly refreshing for a guy like Henrik Lundqvist seeing his team in front of him put the puck in the back of the net and make things a little easier between the pipes; although Hank loves the pressure on him. Speaking of guys stepping up, over the last five games, the Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller has recorded 23 points (12 goals, 11 assists).

Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves to earn his seventh win of the season. Lundqvist has earned a win in each of his last three appearances (3-0-0, 1.67 GAA, .941 SV%, 1 SO over the span), and he has posted a 6-1-0 record, along with a 2.01 GAA, a .927 SV%, and 1 SO in his last seven appearances.

Many folks are wondering if this pace can continue for the Rangers and the answer is probably not but you never know. Can they be consistent? Absolutely. It has been a uncharacteristic change for the Rangers who typically don’t start the season off well but have proven many doubters wrong. If this is however, something that we can see on a nightly basis from the Rangers then boy fans are in for a real treat.

The Blueshirts believe they haven’t been good. Yep you read that correctly, they don’t feel they had strong games these last two nights but yet grabbed four points. For a team that has ten wins in their first thirteen games and not feeling they have been their best is a scary thing. What happens when the Rangers are at their best? That we would have to wait and see but if you are a fan it has to be encouraging to hear.

Head coach Alain Vigneault wasn’t too thrilled either by the sloppy play but was all smiles postgame as he will take a win by any means necessary as he went on to say, “In the second period we had four chances, and we scored on all four of them. There’s no doubt that we capitalized on our opportunities. I would say tonight is a good night to use, ‘never critique a win,’ just take the win. It was our fifth game in eight nights, fourth game in six nights; it was also their third [game] in four [nights] so these are really tough on players: tough physically, tough mentally. You’ve got to grind it out. In the third period, we’re just trying to defend. We’re packing it in front of our net, we’re blocking shots, and we’re trying to get the two points, and that’s what we did.”

The Rangers have indeed grinded it out and have managed five wins in a row and four points in two days. When asked about the overall production J.T. Miller went on to say, “You’re not (expecting) to score five goals every night. That’s a lot of goals against the goaltending talent in the league and how good the teams are. At the same time, if we can keep four lines going and out-change the other team and play with speed on every line, it’s hard to stop. The whole team is contributing right now and that’s one of the biggest things, is if we can get every line and the (defense) to contribute, that’s when you’re going to get your production.”

The Rangers will get a well-deserved day off on Monday before returning to action Tuesday at MSG before a Western Canada swing next week. Mores tests await for the Rangers but it seems nothing is too hard for this fast and furious team.

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