Every team in the NHL will have an off night where they are beat by the opposition. Any coach will tell you the important thing is to follow up that defeat with a victory. The good teams find a way to do this with consistency and the Rangers (16-7-1) are a prime example of that. The Blueshirts have not yet lost 2 consecutive games carrying a record of 7-0-1 following a defeat this season. They followed up a tough 2 nothing shutout loss to the Ottawa Senators Sunday night with a spirited come from behind victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night at the Garden.
Forward Rick Nash fueled the win with a 2-point evening including his 10th goal of the season to tie the game early in the third period. “That’s huge, it shows we can bounce back from losses,” Nash said. “The one thing I love about playing here is when we have 1 loss, it’s serious. It’s a big deal when you lose games and that’s when it’s fun to play.”
Forward Jimmy Vesey who scored the game winner on the power play late in the game said the consistent winning sheds some light on the kind of internal makeup the Rangers have so far this season. “It says a lot about our group,” said Vesey who leads the team with 3 game winning tallies. “We always talk about responding well to adversity and I think every time we lose, we regroup and come back stronger the next game. I definitely think that’s a sign of a good team.”
The Rangers continued an interesting streak of their own Tuesday as they have now won 12 consecutive home games over the Hurricanes dating back to January 5, 2011.
New York has won 11 of their last 16 games and will look to make it two victories in a row in a road game going up against Jack Eichel and the Sabres in Buffalo Thursday night.