DALLAS — During a lighthearted shootout at practice Thursday, New York Rangers players urged the coaches to take turns on the team’s goalies. Peter Laviolette got stuffed twice by Jonathan Quick, but he wristed a shot past Igor Shesterkin, much to the delight of his players.
“That was a gift,” Laviolette said with a smile. “He gave me seven-eighths of the net.”
The Dallas Stars were less lucky. Shesterkin gave them close to nothing, making 41 saves in an empty net-aided 3-1 win Friday. Twenty-one of his saves came with the Stars on the power play, and he saved 5.37 goals above expected, per Natural Stat Trick.
The Rangers headed into the game on a 3-11-0 stretch. They desperately needed a win, especially with a gantlet of an upcoming schedule. Shesterkin delivered. The team played better in front of him, but he was the key to victory, outdueling a standout goaltender in Jake Oettinger.
“We all know what he’s capable of,” said Vincent Trocheck, who scored the game-winning goal. “Tonight (was) elite goaltending on display.”
Matt Rempe’s penalty Friday could result in a suspension. (Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)
Here are three takeaways from the game, which put the Rangers (16-15-1) back over .500.
Reilly Smith’s shorty provides momentum
The Rangers started the game as they regularly have in this recent stretch. Dallas struck 1:46 in with a Roope Hintz goal, and the Stars continued to control possession and create better scoring chances. After a Mika Zibanejad slash, the Stars went to the power play with a chance to build on their 1-0 lead.
Then the Rangers caught a break. Thomas Harley misplayed a puck at the blue line, and Reilly Smith seized possession for a breakaway. He put a wrist shot past Oettinger’s glove.
“I just tried to beat him low,” Smith said. “He’s really big, you don’t see a lot of net. So sometimes you just try to power one past him.”
Laviolette viewed the goal as a momentum shifter, saying the bench “really fueled up after that.” Trocheck’s goal came less than five minutes later.
“It’s one thing if the power play doesn’t score, but it can’t take momentum from your group, and that’s what it did tonight,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “We gave up the short-handed goal, and it was the difference in the game.”
Smith said the team needed the win, but he kept the focus on what’s to come.
“Right now, we’ve got to try to make up for lost time,” Smith said. “We have a lot of losses in our last few weeks, so we have to really just come together as a team and make sure we’re picking up points.”
Penalty kill pristine
The Rangers killed 17 minutes of Stars power-play time. Since the NHL started tracking power-play ice time in 1997-98, there have been only 49 times in which a team has spent that much time short-handed without allowing a goal, according to NHL Stats. The Rangers were the first team to kill off 17 minutes since 2011.
“Once they start adding up, it gets harder to kill,” Smith said. “Shesty made a ton of big saves. Our D did a great job blocking shots. They cleared the puck. That was the biggest part of our success was making sure they weren’t getting second chances.”
Shesterkin was excellent with the Rangers short-handed. He stopped a Mason Marchment breakaway on one kill and cut off Matt Duchene’s shooting lane after Urho Vaakanainen failed to clear a puck on another. The penalty-kill unit played well in front of him, too. As Smith said, the group managed clears that limited Dallas from getting extra opportunities when up a man.
“We can get a lot of momentum from our penalty kill when it’s playing like it was tonight,” Trocheck said. “It needs to continue to do that.”
New York has successfully killed 17 penalties in a row. The group moved into first place in the league Friday with an 88 percent success rate on the year.
The power play, on the other hand, still isn’t clicking. The Rangers had three power plays against the Stars but managed only four shots on Oettinger.
Matt Rempe returns but commits major penalty
Matt Rempe was close to a strong, disciplined game. Then, seven minutes into the third period, he hit star Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen. His elbow came up, driving Heiskanen’s head into the boards.
Rempe, who looked to the crowd and put his hand to his ear on the way to the penalty box, got a five-minute major for elbowing, plus a game misconduct and a roughing minor, which was offset by a Hintz roughing. The league will surely look at the play, which could get Rempe his second NHL suspension.
Matt Rempe gets an elbowing major and a game misconduct for this hit on Miro Heiskanen. pic.twitter.com/HdmedZb07l
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 21, 2024
“I thought he let off a little bit at the end,” said Laviolette, who told reporters he had yet to watch a replay. “He’s just such a big guy. We killed the five and we’re moving on.”
This was the 22-year-old Rempe’s second consecutive game with a third-period penalty. He committed a roughing minor in a loss to St. Louis on Nov. 25, then was promptly sent back to AHL Hartford. Part of his game is trying to — in his words — be a menace. That’s a good approach with the right balance, but he has crossed the line too much early in his NHL tenure. He has been ejected four times in 22 NHL games.
The Rangers called up Rempe on Thursday. Laviolette noted his improved play with AHL Hartford. Plus, the coach said, the team needed to change something with how it’s been playing.
“I want to be myself, bring a lot of energy, bring speed and physicality,” Rempe said going into the game. “Just play my game.”
Rempe had given the Rangers a strong game prior to his penalties. He had actually drawn three minors, all in the first nine minutes of the second period: a trip by Marchment, a hook by Nils Lundkvist and a slash by Lian Bichsel. The Bichsel penalty came when Rempe got free for a partial breakaway.
“I thought he had a big impact on the game,” Laviolette said. “I’d like to stay away from the five-minute major, but he’s doing his best to hit bodies and make a difference in the game. Our guys really rallied around that.”
(Top photo of Wyatt Johnston attempting to redirect the puck past Igor Shesterkin: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)
