On Thursday night, the Rangers extended their win streak to three games after a 3-1 goalie battle. Igor Shesterkin recorded another near-perfect game, and Alexis Lafrenière led the Rangers with a goal and an assist. Predators’ goalie Juuse Saros had a strong outing, but came up short. 

Filip Chytil opened the scoring in the first against the Predators, with a slick backhand shot that snuck by the Predators’ goalie, Saros. The rest of the period was filled with the Rangers’ usual physical play, and the Predators were able to match that level of intensity. Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow combined for five of the Rangers’ fifteen hits, while the Predators recorded ten. 

Predators’ forward Philip Tomasino recorded the only goal for his team in the second period. The Rangers had drawn two penalties near the beginning of the period which earned them a 5 on 3 advantage, but they couldn’t capitalize. 

The first powerplay line of Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Lafrenière, and Adam Fox were able to fire lots of shots, but none of them hit the back of the net. In games like these, the Rangers need to find a way to capitalize on their offensive chances in man-up situations. It was by no means a blowout, and this could have cost them the game if not for the late goals. 

Midway through the third, Adam Fox, Sammy Blais and Lafrenière connected on a tic-tac-toe passing play which ended in a goal for Lafrenière. He scored his second game-deciding goal of the year, proving to be an important piece of the Rangers’ offense in this early stretch of the season. Barclay Goodrow scored the final goal for the Rangers on an empty net late in the period. 

Though the Rangers were propelled by another stellar performance from Shesterkin, I have to name Lafrenière the top performer in this game. He contributed with a helper on Chytil’s early goal, and scored his own in the third to decide the game. Tomasino was without a doubt the Preds’ best player, not only scoring the only goal but recording five shots and winning 75% of the faceoffs he took. 

Shesterkin’s performance in the last three games can’t be glossed over – 99 saves on 102 shots is pretty incredible. Rangers fans will look for him to start in Saturday’s tilt against the Ottawa Senators. It’ll be exciting to see if Lafrenière can keep up his dominant play, as well. Needless to say, the Rangers are putting the league on notice after this three game stretch.