Peter Laviolette's adjustment immediately benefited the Rangers.
A day after Capitals winger Anthony Mantha got burned by breaking free and scoring the go-ahead goal in the Rangers' 3-2 loss to Washington on Saturday, the Rangers won 2-1 on Sunday, ending their fourth straight loss. He was preparing to suffer. It slips.
“You can't blame us for scoring first.” [Saturday]” Laviolette said after Sunday’s win. “We're in the offensive zone, we're pressing, we're doing what we're supposed to do. We took shots from the point, but they never took a step forward and we got knocked down between the hash marks. It's not like we were trying to play blatantly bad defense. They created somebody, got an opportunity out of it, and took advantage of it.
“We talked about that today, and maybe the weaker side of the ice moves a little bit to protect its guts if something happens.”
It paid off, giving the Rangers' defense the foundation to take an early 2-0 lead.
They were also helped by a traditional performance from goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin.
But Laviolette pointed out that a big part of Shesterkin's performance Sunday was his defensive work and lack of chances in front of him, which has been an issue during his four-game losing streak.
“I thought I was pretty good tonight,” Laviolette said Sunday. “The goals they scored were like the two goals we had last night. They were pucks that came over the crease from the side of the net, and they didn't necessarily score chances, but they hit something. It ended up on the internet.
“We have a few games before that.” [Saturday] For me, I said we have to get better defensively.I thought we were better. [Saturday], I thought tonight would be better. ”
Artemi Panarin scored in Sunday's victory, becoming the 19th Rangers player to score at least 400 points.
He is also the fastest player to do so in just 310 games.
Panarin currently has 27 goals and 32 assists, both the most on the team.
His 59 points are fifth most in the league.
“I feel like he's scoring every night,” Alexis Lafreniere, who plays on the second line with Panarin, said Sunday. “He's been a really good player for us. He's been dominant in every game this year, so we're really happy to have him.”
Capt. Jacob Trouba announced in an Instagram post Monday that the defenseman and his wife, Kelly, welcomed a son, Axel.
