The New York Rangers Continue To Look Like Champions

The New York Rangers are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not only do you need the feel, but you need the breaks to go your way. But those breaks come with hard work, and the Rangers are working hard to win in the playoffs. Some nights, they make it look easy, but they earn every victory and every inch of ice out there.

You would have thought it was Madison Square Garden with all the Rangers fans in attendance. PNC Arena is a loud place, especially when the Hurricanes score, but the place erupted when the Rangers also scored. It was a sight to see and hear.

The Rangers are now 7-0 in the playoffs after winning 3-2 overtime in Game 3 of their second-round series with the Carolina Hurricanes. Artemi Panarin scored the game-winning overtime goal in Game 3 early into the overtime session on a play set up by Alexis Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck. That was Panarin’s fourth goal of the playoffs, all of which were game-winning goals.

Photo Credit: Jim Biringer (Full Press Hockey)

After giving up the tying goal late in the third, when Andrei Svechikov tied the game at 2-2, many thought the Hurricanes would end the extra session early. Instead, the Rangers put it behind them and came out looking to take a stranglehold on the series. That is precisely what they did.

You saw the mental fortitude of the Rangers on display as they almost ended the game in regulation. Chris Kreider, who already scored short-handed to tie the game at 1-1, broke it in the dying seconds of the third period and put a nice move on Hurricanes goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov. However, Kochetkov was there to make a brilliant poke check.

It is the first time since, you guessed it, 1994, the last time they won the Stanley Cup. But good teams make their luck and create their breaks. The Rangers are built differently, and head coach Peter Laviolette has them playing a more complete game.

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Defensively, they locked down the middle of the ice and gave the Hurricanes nothing, especially on the power play. The Hurricanes do not have a power play goal in the series. Meanwhile, the Rangers have a shorthanded goal and several power-play goals outside of Game 3; of course, Carolina held the Rangers’ power play at bay.

It does help when a team like the New York Rangers has an all-world goaltender in Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin is on a mission. He came into the playoffs mad and upset with his play last year in losing to the New Jersey Devils in seven games. This year, he has been the difference maker the Rangers need if they are going to win the Stanley Cup. And let’s be honest; they have that feel.

For every big save, the Rangers fans let Shesterkin hear it by chanting, “Igor, Igor, Igor.” Again, these fans were loud. In addition to the Igor chant, multiple times, there were loud chants for “Let’s Go Rangers,” especially when Panarin won the game in overtime.

He is having fun playing hockey again.

“I would say that the last three years, I enjoy hockey more than before, especially today, Panarin said. “I love everyone, but Game 4 is more important.”

The Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere has been electric. Everyone talks about the top line, but this line continues to produce, especially Lafreniere. He now has three goals in the last two games. He is rounding into the player everyone thought he would be back when he was drafted in 2020. Lafreniere continued to show confidence with the puck and gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead before Svechnikov tied it late.

“Unbelievable player. We’re just incredibly happy to have him,” Kreider said of Lafreniere.

“I can’t speak to the past; I can only speak to the last six months or whatever it might be. He’s been pretty much set in stone with a couple of players and that line has been extremely productive for us. He’s a big part of that,” said Pete Laviolette of Lafreniere’s play with the Rangers.

The New York Rangers are looking and sounding like champions. They are playing with determination and a fight that winners have. There is still a long way to go before the Stanley Cup is lifted, but you have to think about how the Rangers play; they will be one of the teams vying for hockey’s ultimate prize.