With Jonathan Quick searching for his 400th win, the Rangers managed a point in Montreal in a 5-4 overtime loss. It’s a game where the Rangers had two points in their sights, but two fantastic saves by Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes kept it tied in overtime before Montreal got the winner.
The Rangers certainly put themselves in positions to score, but their defensive game left much to be desired after a defensive showcase the other night against Columbus. But with a back to back on a travel day, plus recently returning from a west coast swing, the Rangers at least managed a point and three points in what could have been schedule losses.
Jonathan Quick looked uncomfortable, with rumblings of an injury as he searched for his 400th win. At the time of this writing, there is no news, but he looked a tad off. That said, Quick faced 38 shots, many high danger, and kept the Rangers in it.
As an aside, it’s funny to see the Rangers in a track meet one night after the offense struggled against Columbus. The Rangers played polar opposite games on back to back nights. Nights like these are a tad more polarized with the Rangers still out of a playoff spot. Though it was promising to see Mika Zibanejad scoring on the power play. His struggles have been well documented and he was downright unplayable until two weeks ago. At long last, he looks like this team’s most important center again, which is critical for the Rangers in all situations.
Adam Fox has received some criticism this season as well, notably because he’s not in the Norris conversation this year. Expectations are always sky high for Fox, as he’s one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He too is starting to come alive, with a big hit on Nick Suzuki and passing Brad Park for 4th most multi-assist games (60) in just above 400 NHL games.
An overtime loss to a team ahead of them in the standings isn’t great, but the Rangers are still playing well and can make up even more ground in the next two weeks. Most of their schedule before the break is against teams ahead of them in the standings, and key wins can move them up the standings quickly. Many want to phone in the season, but this is a team that can still make some noise with timely wins and proper roster moves.
