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Rangers right wing Blake Wheeler celebrates his goal with left...

Rangers right wing Blake Wheeler celebrates his goal with left wing Chris Kreider in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

Blake Wheeler's performance in Tuesday's 7-3 loss to Toronto was the bright side for the Rangers.

The team hopes Wheeler's two goals were a sign of things to come for the 37-year-old winger, who started as cold as ice after signing a one-year, $800,000 free-agent contract on July 1.

“I told him immediately after the LA Kings game [a 4-1 victory on Sunday in which Wheeler did not have a point], I thought that was his best game,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “He was moving his feet. He was physical. He was making things happen.

"I thought he followed that up in the [Toronto] game. Take the goals out of it. Obviously, the goals are the visual and they're good. He did a lot of good things, but he was doing a lot of good things still away from goals. He was physical. He was competing. He was skating. He was moving his feet. He generated chances away from goals and he scored the goals.”

Wheeler is a 16-year veteran and former Winnipeg captain who played the last 12 1/2 seasons with the Jets. Winnipeg bought out Wheeler’s contract over the summer.

Wheeler admitted it has taken him some time to adjust to his new surroundings. He said returning to Winnipeg on Oct. 30 and getting a hearty welcome from his former fans helped him to settle in as a Ranger.

“I think it's more and more [comfortable] as time goes by,” Wheeler said before the Rangers hosted the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night at the Garden. “I think, certainly, the first 10 games were challenging. After we went back to Winnipeg, and then came back here, I started, I felt like, this was more home now. So that was kind of a turning point, for sure.

"I think now I feel like I have the systems down, I have the expectations down. I’m learning my teammates a lot better. So I'm feeling more and more comfortable every day.”

Wheeler scored his first goal on Tuesday with the Rangers trailing 2-0 in the first period. They were down 4-1 after one and suffered their third loss in four games despite Wheeler’s second goal, which made it 4-3 in the second period.

“I think certainly that affirmation of getting results is important and it feels good,” Wheeler said. “But I think more importantly, as long as your game is going in the right direction, those things tend to take care of themselves.

"It can go both ways. There’s times when you’re not playing well and you're still finding the back of the net. It feels good, but it doesn't feel as good. But as long as our line, I think, plays the way we did the other night, we're capable of creating opportunities and these guys have shown a knack for putting the puck in the net. So I think that's kind of our mindset.”

Wheeler has 316 goals and 930 points in his career, and had 16 goals and 55 points for Winnipeg last season.

Laviolette moved Wheeler to the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider early last month.

“I think those two guys skate really well,” Wheeler said on Nov. 6, when the move was made. “And if we're playing together, we’ve got to be playing fast, going north, and hopefully that translates into some offensive looks and offensive zone time, and creates some chances.’’

Zibanejad scored the Rangers’ other goal Tuesday night on the power play.

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