As the NHL season passes the midway point, the New York Rangers find themselves at the top of the Metropolitan Division with a 28-15-2 record. After a hot start to the season including a six-game win streak at the end of October, they have begun to cool off with only four wins in their last 10 games. The Philadelphia Flyers are hot on the tail of the Blueshirts in the division standings, which comes as a surprise as the original six rivals finished second to last in the division just last season. With just 36 games remaining, the Rangers look to build on their division lead.
The beginning of January was not a favorable stretch for the Blueshirts, as they started off 2024 with five losses and only one win against the struggling Chicago Blackhawks. They bounced back with wins against the Washington Capitals and Seattle Kraken two weeks ago before traveling West for a four-game road trip, in which they lost the first two but picked up a comeback win against the Anaheim Ducks.
The win against the Caps came on the heels of a loss to them just the day before, with goals from star forwards Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere in the 2-1 win. Vincent Trocheck contributed an assist in the game as the Panarin-Lafreniere-Trocheck line continue to be the most productive for the Blueshirts this season. 2020 first overall draft pick Lafreniere has had a breakout season after struggling in his first three, and is on track to shatter his previous career-high in points at 39. The game saw goalie Igor Shesterkin break out of his slump as he let in only one goal on 25 shots, and he put up a similar performance against the Kraken just two days later.
The game against Seattle ended as a 5-2 win, with two goals from Blake Wheeler and tallies from Trocheck and Kaapo Kakko. Despite minimal ice time on the fourth line, Wheeler has steadily increased his productivity for the Rangers. He still has yet to establish a solid role with the Rangers, as the seasoned veteran was a top-six forward for the Winnipeg Jets last year but finds himself in the bottom six, where he has little experience. On a one-year contract, he may be moved at the trade deadline or released at the end of the season if he fails to find a place within the organization. His 17 points at the midway point of the season isn’t awful for a bottom-six forward, but he remains one of the question marks on this Rangers team.
To start their West Coast road trip, the Rangers dropped the first game to the Vegas Golden Knights in a 5-1 blowout. Mika Zibanejad scored the only goal on the powerplay in the beginning of the final period, his 15th of the season. Shesterkin let in four of the five goals, ending his two-game win streak. Jonathan Quick earned the start against his former team, the Los Angeles Kings, in the next game, and he let in two goals on the way to a 2-1 loss. Chris Kreider scored the only goal for the Rangers. The loss could be defined as a sloppy defensive effort and an abysmal offensive output, with only 23 shots on goal despite their usual 30 or above. Looking to bounce back after the two straight losses, the Rangers found themselves down 2-0 to the Ducks on Sunday night. They scored five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to cement the win, and add to the gap between themselves and the Flyers in the standings.
With the trade deadline just around the corner, the Rangers need to address their weak points in order to make another run for the Stanley Cup. Youngster Kaapo Kakko continues to underperform, and the bottom-six forwards with only a year or two left on their contracts could be made available. General Manager Chris Drury set the bar high last year with star acquisitions like Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, leaving fans eager to see what he’ll do this year.
