NHL Game of the Week: New York Rangers vs Vegas Golden Knights
The red-hot New York Rangers host the first-place Pacific Division leader Vegas Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 27th in this week’s NHL Game of the Week.
New York Rangers (26-14-7, 3rd in Metro)
Recently the New York Rangers have been on a tear since entering the new year putting behind them their shaky start to their season. With all the energy going in their favor the Rangers have gone 7-2-1 in their last 10 games to open up 2023.
Head coach Gerard Gallant put Artemi Panarin back on the first line after playing with Vincent Trocheck and Jimmy Vesey. Gallant moved the lines around due to day-to-day injuries, Panarin and Mika Zibanejad have combined for 10 points in their last five games.
Gallant has also reunited the “Kid Line” of Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko. Kakko and Lafrenière were getting top-line minutes with Chris Kreider being day-to-day.
Since being reunited the Kid Line has had a combined 15 points in their last five games, with each of the three players picking up two points each in a 6-2 win over the Florida Panthers. The Blueshirts are now 2-0 on the season against the defending President’s Trophy Winners.
New York’s defense has been strong recently with Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren leading the group at the top pair, with Captain Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller bringing more of the physicality as the second pairing.
Fox has two goals and four assists in his last five games and is 4th in defenseman scoring with 48 points. K’Andre Miller has been involved on the score sheet recently as well, scoring a huge game-tying goal against the Dallas Stars with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.
Goaltending has been phenomenal for New York to open the year as backup Jaroslav Halak has picked up his slack when getting the nod in games that superstar Igor Shesterkin needs his rest. Halak, who was a hiccup to start the year in net, has gone 3-0 in 2023 and 4-1 in his last five.
While Igor Shesterkin has gone 4-2-2 to start his 2023 campaign, the Rangers netminder was named to the 2023 NHL All-Star game that will be taking place Feb. 4th in Sunrise, Florida. Shesterkin is ranked ninth in goals against average with a goals against average of 2.45, and 11th in save percentage at .918.
Vegas Golden Knights ( 29-17-3 1st in Pacific)
While Vegas is at the top of the Pacific Division they have had a rocky start to their new year with the Los Angeles Kings and Seattle Kraken knocking on the first-place door over out west.
The Golden Knights in their last 10 campaigns have gone 4-5-1 to start 2023, with four of the six losses coming against other Western Conference teams. The Knights also suffered a third-period collapse in their last game on the road in New Jersey, eventually losing 3-2 in overtime.
The Knights are without their star captain Mark Stone who has been out since January 12th sustaining an upper-body injury in a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers. In 43 games played this season, Stone has recorded 38 points with 17 goals and 21 assists for Vegas.
Vegas has also struggled to find the back of the net since Stone went down, minus a 6-2 win over the Washington Capitals. In their last five of six games, the Knights have struggled to score more than three goals, only scoring two or less in four of those five.
Vegas’ rookie goaltender Logan Thompson has not been pleased with his play lately.
After the fall to the Devils in overtime the netminder shared, “That’s unacceptable,” Thompson said. “I haven’t been good my last 10 games. I got to start winning hockey (games). That’s what I’m here to do, and I haven’t done my job.”
The stars will be out at the Garden as Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox and The Rangers. get set to host Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo and the Golden Knights
Matt Cabram is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email mwc5817@psu.edu.
