The New York Rangers finally secured a victory in their west coast road trip by routing the San Jose Sharks 6-1 on Saturday.
Unlike previous efforts, the Rangers won puck battles, outshot the opponent and found ways to strike the back of the net, scoring six unanswered goals.
After having lost five of their last seven games, they quietly moved into the second Eastern Conference wild card spot.
"Tonight, I thought there was a directness to our game," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. "Moving the puck north, getting pucks to the net. We were pretty consistent with it the entire game."
The Rangers held Sharks' star rookie and 2024 No. 1 overall pick Macklin Celebrini off the scoresheet at SAP Center, though that wasn't the worst part of the 18-year-old's evening.
According to a witness, Ashley Frame, the Rangers' team bus backed into Celebrini's Range Rover in the player's parking lot. Celebrini was not in the vehicle.
Frame posted a video of Celebrini on his phone in while standing next to his car following the incident.
The vehicle wasn't severely damaged other than some paint getting scraped off.
Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun was also almost hit by the Rangers' bis while leaving the lot in his car.
The Sharks wasted no time departing San Jose, taking a charter flight to Los Angeles ahead of their Sunday night matchup against the Kings.
Before Sunday’s game, Celebrini ranked as the Sharks’ second-leading scorer with 53 points in 60 games. He remains a top contender for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s rookie of the year.
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