Rangers' bizarre Avalanche streak, points from OT losses and more: 11 observations
NEW YORK The New York Rangers are still an imperfect team.
They dug themselves a hole during their 19-game slide earlier in the season, and if the season ended today, they would be out of a playoff spot.
But the team is playing with a new level of confidence since the holiday break.
Confidence helps teams win, and winning leads to more confidence.
Advertisement The feeling in the locker room is way better, said defenseman Urho Vaakanainen , who came to the club in the Jacob Trouba trade.
Obviously, before Christmas, we played like s.
We didnt play well at all.
Mood wasnt that great.
...
Its really picking up right now.
Were playing really well.
Winnings fun, Chris Kreider said after a shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets .
We should keep doing that.
New York is 6-1-3 in its last 10 games and is coming off a week in which it beat the Utah Hockey Club and Blue Jackets and lost in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche and Montreal Canadiens .
Here are 11 observations from the week to match Mark Messiers jersey number.
1.
After having only one overtime loss heading into the holiday break, New York has three since: against the Dallas Stars and at Colorado and Montreal.
Rangers players were disappointed and rightfully so about getting only 1 of 2 possible points in those games, both of which they led in the third period.
Still, managing to grab loser points is a major difference from when the club was in its 5-16-0 tailspin.
The Rangers havent suffered any blowout losses in the past two weeks.
When theyve lost, theyve at least nabbed a consolation prize in the standings.
Columbus has seven overtime losses on the season.
The Boston Bruins have six.
The Rangers are chasing both teams in the standings despite having the same number of wins (22 entering play Monday).
Had New York gotten a couple of losses to overtime earlier in the year, its playoff odds would likely be better.
Banking points, even the less-than-fulfilling ones from overtime losses, will be vital down the stretch.
2.
During his playing days, Peter Laviolette was teammates with Avalanche forward Logan OConnor s dad, Myles, for the San Diego Gulls, then part of the IHL.
Advertisement I really got along with him great, Laviolette said of the elder OConnor, who appeared in 43 NHL games.
Kind of an offensive defenseman that had a bit of an edge to him.
He could snap quick.
He played big.
The younger OConnor played big against the Rangers.
Hes maybe the reason New York left Denver with 1 point instead of 2.
In overtime, OConnor redirected a shot on Igor Shesterkin , beat Mika Zibanejad behind the net for the rebound, made another move to the net, won another puck from Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin , then passed to Nathan MacKinnon , who set up Devon Toews with the overtime winner.
3 .
Laviolette also had a stint in Colorado during his minor-league career.
He played 57 games for the Denver Rangers in 1988-89, the same year he got called up to the NHL for 12 games with New York.
Playing out west meant Laviolette had experience in Salt Lake City before taking on the Utah Hockey Club there Thursday.
He and the Denver Rangers had road games against the Salt Lake Golden Eagles.
4.
Jonny Brodzinski , who is from Minnesota, wore a Justin Jefferson Vikings jersey after practice at the University of Denver on Jan.
13 .
Unfortunately for him, Minnesota got clobbered by the Los Angeles Rams, losing 27-9.
5.
The Rangers have gone to overtime with the Avalanche in five consecutive matchups.
The NHL record for consecutive overtime games between teams is seven, according to NHL Stats.
The Canadiens and Rangers did that over two seasons in the 1930s.
Two other pairings of teams have done it six times ( Chicago Blackhawks New Jersey Devils between 1991 and 1994, and Los Angeles Kings Winnipeg Jets in the 1988-89 season).
The Avalanche visit New York on Sunday, so the Rangers will have a chance to become part of the first six-game streak this century.
6.
Kaapo Kakko has taken off with the Seattle Kraken .
He had 13 points in 14 games for the Kraken entering play Monday, averaging 16:38 of ice time per game.
His 27 total points this season would be fourth among Rangers forwards.
Only Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Zibanejad have more.
Advertisement The Kakko trade could come back to bite the Rangers if the forward keeps up this pace, but his time in New York had seemingly run its course.
Laviolette played him only 13:17 a game in each of the past two seasons, down more than two minutes from his average ice time under previous coach Gerard Gallant and more than three minutes less than hes playing with Seattle.
That didnt appear to be changing if Kakko remained with the Rangers.
Fortunately for New York, its primary return in the Kakko package, defenseman Will Borgen , has settled in nicely.
He has played a steady game, averaging 18:36 of ice time per night.
The Rangers face a dilemma with Borgen heading into the March trade deadline.
As a pending unrestricted free agent, Borgen would likely net the Rangers the most return among any of their potential rentals.
But New York could also look to extend him and keep him with the team beyond this season.
His early fit with the club makes that feasible.
7.
Perhaps we shouldve seen the Shesterkin goalie goal attempt in Salt Lake City coming.
He took a few reps in a drill at morning skate in which he and other players fired one-timers on net.
Igor Shesterkin working on his one-timer pic.twitter.com/YCY8TEhUMf Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) January 16, 2025 8.
Filip Chytil is back from his latest upper-body injury, which kept him out of two games earlier this month.
He did not delve into specifics about the injury but said it was not related to concussions.
Its a little more complicated, he said.
Its hard because you want to be out there every game, said Chytil, who missed all but 10 regular-season games in 2023-24 because of a concussion.
Its very frustrating.
I learned so much last year and went through a lot last year, which helped me mentally.
9.
Despite the Utah Hockey Clubs middling record, the Delta Center had plenty of energy in its inaugural season hosting NHL hockey.
Fans chanted throughout the game, and multiple people chugged beer when shown on the JumboTron.
Since the arena was not built for hockey, some views of corners are obstructed, including the press row in the lower bowl.
That should change with renovations in the coming years.
Advertisement 10.
Zibanejad has had a tough stretch of overtime breakaway attempts.
He had one against Dallas, one against Colorado and two against Columbus but couldnt finish on any of the four.
Then Laviolette put him out for a shootout attempt against the Blue Jackets and he once again got stopped.
There was a quick chat on the bench with him going into the shootout, Laviolette said.
Hes one of our best shootout guys.
He wanted (to go).
Hes a guy we want out there.
Even if he couldnt finish on the breakaways, Zibanejad looks far more confident on the ice.
He even tried to pull off a Michigan goal after deking past Damon Severson .
It nearly worked, but Daniil Tarasov got across his net in time.
Since Jan.
1, Zibanejad has three goals and 7 points in 10 games.
The Rangers have 55 percent of the expected goal share with him on the ice at five-on-five during that stretch.
Its been a down year for Zibanejad, but hes coming around.
I see what you see: a guy who is playing with a little more confidence and attacking the net more, Laviolette said.
He looks good out there.
11.
Columbus Kent Johnson played with Will Cuylle at the World Junior Championships and described him as unreal in a middle-six role.
He obviously has skill and can put the puck in the net and all that stuff, but also he plays really hard, really fast, tenacious on the forecheck, Johnson said.
And then a beauty teammate.
I loved him.
Cuylle cooled off after a fast start, but he scored against Montreal to snap a 15-game goal-less drought.
(Top photo of Will Borgen and Jason Polin: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images).
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