NEW YORK — The Rangers are rolling. It’s almost as if 4-15-0 didn’t happen, as long as you don’t look at the standings too closely.
The 5-0 shelling of the Senators on Tuesday moved the Rangers to 7-1-3 in January, moved them within two points of a wild-card spot and moved them further away from that 19-game run of awful, disinterested play in November and December. There are still a couple teams to hop over before getting above that playoff cut line but the way these Rangers are playing, from a bottom six that’s producing to rejuvenated special teams to Igor Shesterkin’s shutout streak to standing up for one another in scrums, those few hurdles are a low bar to clear.
“It’s the same team, same guys,” Will Cuylle said. “When you’re losing it’s tough. Everyone’s kind of grumpy, we’re very competitive and we want to be winners in here. When we’re winning it helps. We’ve kind of come together and it does feel like we’re a lot closer now.”
On to the takeaways after a night of nothing but positives:
Rempe on the board
Rempe’s 9:12 of ice time was his highest total since he came back up from Hartford two weeks ago and yet it felt like he was on the ice more than that. Probably because he was doing things to impact the game in a good way, highlighted by his neat forehand-backhand move to beat Anton Forsberg early in the third to make it 3-0.
“Puck came in the D zone. Kicked out to (Adam Edström). Eddy’s a super fast player,” Rempe said. “Chipped it. I got on my horse. Drove to the middle. I beat the guy, I screamed for it, he made a beautiful pass. I went to my backhand and was really happy it went in.”
That’s Rempe’s second career goal in 29 games and a sign that he can play the right way. Rempe, Edström and Sam Carrick have been jelling well as a line, with Rempe negating a Carrick first-period goal by being a couple strides offside. As long as those three are playing up the ice and being responsible without the puck, the extra shifts should keep coming.
Matt Rempe‼️
He finds the back of the net and extends the lead for the @NYRangers! pic.twitter.com/18bavSEISO
— NHL (@NHL) January 22, 2025
Kaliyev snaps one (two, really)
Arthur Kaliyev scored his second as a Ranger with that vaunted shot of his, one that “has some steam behind it,” as Peter Laviolette said. It was a quick release from the side wall that changed a bit of direction off Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven’s stick and crawled up and over Leevi Meriläinen for a 2-0 Rangers lead in the second.
Kaliyev had another, even cleaner snipe later in the second that was wiped on another offside challenge. But the big young winger will stay in the lineup as long as he’s moving his feet and using that heavy shot of his.
Goals from the bottom six have been hard to come by for the Rangers this season. But with the top two lines not exactly lighting it up at five-on-five — Alexis Lafrenière got one at even strength in the first — that depth scoring is more important than ever.
Arthur Kaliyev extends the lead for the Rangers! 👏 pic.twitter.com/BUIH7nVQ7p
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 22, 2025
Feisty Shesty
The real story is Shesterkin’s 164:03 shutout streak, dating back to the opening minute of the second period in Salt Lake City last week. The Rangers are playing so much better in front of their goalies this month that their numbers are bound to be better, but Shesterkin is also very much on point after his brief absence at the start of January.
The headline off Tuesday will be his tussle with Sens captain Brady Tkachuk, who stirred things up with a bump on Shesterkin midway through the third. The Rangers on the ice — Rempe among them, in a lucky bit of timing — all converged on Tkachuk. The scrum drifted behind the net and, when Tkachuk reached out to try and pull Braden Schneider off a teammate, Shesterkin jumped into action.
He skated over and exchanged some shots with Tkachuk as Rempe tried to fight through a phalanx of players and a linesman to intercede. Shesterkin probably gives up about 35 pounds to Tkachuk but the goalie stood his ground.
“To be honest, it just was a hit on me and I don’t really enjoy that because I was between the pipe and him,” Shesterkin said. “I didn’t want to jump there, but I saw he got in between our guy and their guy, so I just tried to hold him, but he wanted to fight. It’s tough for me because I cannot drop my gloves — if I do that I go to locker room. If I gave up one (goal) I could go fight.”
Rempe knows he shouldn’t be fighting any old time but in defense of his goalie, he knows his role.
“I’m like ‘Oh my God, I can’t let anything happen to him,’” Rempe said. “I tried to get in there. I had about eight guys holding me back and the linesman and stuff. I was just trying to get in there. Igor’s the best goalie in the world and I want to do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to him. When he’s getting involved — he’s a feisty guy — it’s great to see.”
Matt Rempe’s thoughts in this scrum: “I can’t let anything happen to (Shesterkin). I had about eight guys holding me back. … Igor is the best goalie in the world. I want to do everything I can to make sure nothing happens to him.” pic.twitter.com/VDULJLi39q
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) January 22, 2025
A wild scrum is a good sign?
Sure, if it demonstrates something that was missing for 19 games: Togetherness. The Rangers weren’t just bad during the 4-15-0 slide, they were broken. They played as if they didn’t care what happened to the team or its players. Very few stood up for one another.
That’s been one of the biggest changes, right behind the better commitment to team defense, during the 7-1-3 run. You saw it in Montreal on Sunday when Canadiens players got too close to Jonathan Quick or too rough. And you saw it on Tuesday, even if Shesterkin was in there trying to wail away himself.
“Oftentimes a scrum or sticking up for each other, blocking shots, all the little things that can bring a team together can always help,” Laviolette said. “At the end of the day, I think winning is one of the keys to coming to the rink feeling good about what you did on the ice and that builds confidence, that builds smiles, showing that attitude of being successful. I like the fact we hung in there in that scrum together.”
The Flyers, tied with the Rangers at 50 points with one more game played, come to the Garden on Thursday. Another chance for the Rangers to show the teams they’re packed with that they are a rejuvenated bunch.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
