First off, here’s what Mika Zibanejad said after the Rangers became the first team in the NHL to qualify for the playoffs thanks to Tuesday’s wild and crazy overtime 6-5 victory over the Flyers at the Garden. Said.
Same as #1.
“Carolina won the division. What, three years in a row?” No. 93 asked rhetorically. “We want that.
“With all the effort we’ve put in this season, we’re right there and we want to win the division. Of course.”
There are 10 games left and the division lead is 3 points over Carolina with a game in hand. The Canes’ loss in Pittsburgh served as a reminder that teams actually play games for a reason.
The benefit to the division champion is simply guaranteed home ice advantage until the second round, but if the Rangers can get a shutout, the psychological factor is much more meaningful than Game 7 at the Garden. may exist.
The Rangers have won three in a row and five out of six games, thanks to the heater they have been playing since before the All-Star break. In the season opener, they were 18 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw, but since January 27th, they are 19 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw.
They overcame Filip Sitil’s season-long absence and a season-ending injury to Blake Wheeler in mid-February. They survived the dangerous winter of Igor Shesterkin. They are currently playing without three of their six regular defensive players.
Yet they persevered.
Yet they thrived.
And they have made the playoffs three straight seasons, finishing 15th out of 19 teams in the hard cap era, only missing out in 2010, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Yes, with 16 teams participating each year, that may not seem like a huge accomplishment. But — hello — Buffalo has been out since 2011, the Senators have been out since 2017, and in some cases the rebuild does not include the ability to sign Artemi Panarin and trade for Jacob Trouba. There is also.
This coincides with the 2011-12 Black and Blueshirts as the franchise’s first clinch in the hard cap era that began in 2005-2006. This is a luxury for both the club and its head coach, Peter Laviolette, whose appointment following the dismissal of Gerard Galant was ridiculed in many quarters, and There was also some fatigue and skepticism from other quarters.
“Based on the season we’ve had so far, there’s an assumption that we’re going to be out there at some point, and that’s not an issue anymore,” Laviolette said after finishing his 800th career win as an NHL coach. “The important thing is to play the right way and feel good about your game heading into the playoffs.”
The Flyers desperately tried to hold on to their standings throughout this game, which involved more than just pond hockey. Laviolette broke down his line in the second period, using Artemi Panarin, who surpassed the 100-point barrier with three assists to reach 102 points, and Alexis Lafrenière on a line centered around Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck. . Kaapo Kakko moved around. Will Quill didn’t get much ground in the third period. Matt Lempe was held scoreless as the coach reduced the bench.
Zibanejad was impressive in the game, scoring a point on the power play, his second time on the man advantage in the last 15 games. Lafreniere scored twice in the third period to improve his career-high 21 points.
The number 13 said: “It’s difficult, but getting into the play-offs is definitely a step in the right direction for us. But there’s still a lot of work to do and we know that.”
When Panarin went up with Zibanejad and either Lafreniere or Chris Kreider, Laviolette hit Jack Roslovic to his left on Trocheck’s line and went through a number of shifts. It looked as if the head coach was running a lab to experiment with the rest of the process.
But perhaps not after hearing Laviolette’s story.
“I think it’s good to have something fresh,” the head coach said. “If you do the same thing for a month and then on the 32nd day it’s different, it might create a little bit of excitement.
“But for me, I want to stick with what I’ve been doing. The year has gone in a direction I’m happy with so far, so I don’t want to change too much. I don’t want to move things around just to try something. I don’t want to.
“We want to get back to what we know and what we know works.”
The Rangers have strived to become the first team to reach 100 points and the first team to reach the playoffs. It was a brave performance from a team that seemed to be drifting after losing to the Devils in the first round last spring. They lead the Metro by three points and lead the league by one point over the Bruins with nine points to go.
“I don’t know if there was a big celebration, but this is what every team is fighting for,” Zibanejad said. “I think we have bigger goals, but if we want to win the Stanley Cup, we have to make the playoffs first.”
end.
