A revitalizing January took the Rangers to the 50-game mark of their 2024-25 season, which was essentially hanging in the balance just a month ago.
The way it ended, however, had shades of the dismal 4-15 stretch that nearly doomed their playoff hopes.
“I think we’ve been playing some good hockey here in January,” Mika Zibanejad said after the Blueshirts were blanked 4-0 Tuesday night against the Hurricanes. “Think about this one, feel whatever you feel after a game like this and then we move on.”
After the Rangers’ ugly loss to the Hurricanes, Mika Zibanejad said the Rangers had been playing good hockey and was confident they can bounce back and regain their winning form.
The consensus in the Rangers locker room was to focus on how well this month has gone for them.
Given how drained team morale was from mid-November through December, that’s a must for this Rangers team.
And they aren’t in the wrong for celebrating their 8-2-3 record to start 2025.
The numbers tell a story of a team that rediscovered its resilience, willed itself back into contention and tightened up its overall game in order to do so.
As of Wednesday morning, the Rangers scored more goals (47) than any other team so far this month.
They were tied for third in points with 19, and sat in a five-way tie — with the Blackhawks, Penguins, Devils and Capitals — for the most overtime loss points (3).
Their .679 points percentage was good for 10th in the NHL, while also picking up one shootout victory along the way.
With 39 goals against, the Rangers are in the middle-to-upper tier of that category comparatively speaking.
A 25.8 power-play percentage and 80 percent on the penalty kill also ranked the Rangers among the top 15 teams. This all while averaging 29.4 shots per game and finishing 52 percent inside the faceoff circles.
“We’ve done a pretty good job of just focusing on the game that we’re playing and the points that are available and trying to play the best version of our game to collect those points,” head coach Peter Laviolette said before Tuesday’s loss. “I think for the most part, even some of the games we didn’t win, I think we’ve done that. That’s where we’re at.”
The Rangers have a notable weekend of games coming up, first in Boston for a Saturday matinee against the Bruins and then at home against the Golden Knights on Sunday.
Peter Laviolette believe the Rangers will rebound from their ugly loss to the Hurricanes and will get back to playing good hockey.
It’ll be an opportunity for the Blueshirts to show how much they’ve grown since getting their season back on track.
After giving up the game winner to the Avs with 14.7 seconds left in regulation, the Rangers followed it up by allowing the Canes to score 56 seconds into their matchup, as well as with 31 seconds left in the second.
That’s the team’s focus, according to Artemi Panarin, who is coming off a four-game point streak but can also make much better decisions with the puck.
Igor Shesterkin makes a save during Rangers’ loss to the Hurricanes on Jan. 28, 2025.
The star Russian wing is far from the only one, with his linemates Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere in the same exact boat. Lafreniere also had a four-game point streak, but has left so much to be desired since signing a seven-year extension with the Rangers in October.
Adam Fox has just three goals on the season, two of which are empty-netters.
And when you see Cale Makar on the other end of the ice, the conversation of the two being revolutionary blueliners when they first came into the league has since dwindled to one.
Something probably has to change regarding the Rangers power play, which is ranked 21st in the NHL at 19.9 percent.
The Rangers can’t keep letting points pass them by, but that also means taking advantage of the opportunities in front of them.
“I know it’s a team game, but personally I feel like there was three massive plays that I had the ability to impact the game positively and it swung the other way,” Chris Kreider said Tuesday night. “So, it’s hard.”
