Something is brewing in The Big Apple as the New York Rangers suddenly are winning again.
The Rangers secured a decisive 6-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, marking their fourth victory in the last five games.
To start the contest, the Rangers were sluggish and gave up a quick goal, putting themselves in an early hole.
However, once Braden Schneider scored nine minutes into the period, the floodgates opened and the Rangers regained their confidence.
After a shaky start, the Rangers managed to escape the first period with a 2-1 lead as Adam Edström added another goal.
Philadelphia recorded 17 shots in the second period, but Igor Shesterkin stood tall and allowed the Rangers to maintain their lead.
Shesterkin has given up just one goal in New York’s past three games. He continues to be the driving force in the Rangers’ recent success.
“He made some really big saves and allowed us to build on that,” Peter Laviolette said about Igor Shesterkin. “He was fantastic in the second. He’s been playing like that, right on point with his game and that has given us a chance.”
The Rangers put the game out of reach in the third period. Everybody seemed to step up in this victory.
While Shesterkin had to do some work, the rest of the Rangers etched their mark on the night and Laviolette was pleased with the team’s effort.
“It seemed like everybody had some contributions out there tonight,” Laviolette said. “I thought all the lines played really well and the D pairs.”
Just a few weeks ago the Rangers were sitting close to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with their season in complete disarray.
Now, the Blueshirts find themselves one point out of the second wild card spot and have recorded a 7-0-3 record in their past 10 games.
There was always a belief within the Rangers locker room that they could turn things around.
“I think everybody in this room knew what we were capable of and how good of a team we were,” K’Andre Miller said. “It was just a matter of believing honestly.”
Last season the Rangers were known to be a team with heart. That heart didn’t just go away and they are beginning to display that level of passion through this month.
“Even in the tough moments which we had, I think we didn’t lose our heads because we know what team we have and we just didn’t forget to play hockey in a couple of months,” Filip Chytil said.
“Sometimes you have stretches like this in a season. It’s just about the team and our response. I think in the last month we are responding in a good way and that’s why we are winning these hard games. We have to keep going like that.”
The Rangers will be back in action on Sunday afternoon against the Boston Bruins.
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