Despite 2-0 start to road trip, Chris Kreider and Rangers say they need to be better
Chris Kreider #20 of the Rangers celebrates after scoring his second goal of the game against Devon Levi #27 of the Buffalo Sabres during the third period at KeyBank Center on October 12, 2023 in Buffalo. Credit: Getty Images
CALGARY, Alberta – The Rangers have their first winning streak of the young season, having won the first two games of their season-long, five-game road trip.
They woke up Wednesday in first place in the Metropolitan Division at 4-2-0. Their next game is Thursday against the 1-4-1 Edmonton Oilers, who will be without injured star Connor McDavid, so the potential is there for the Rangers to keep winning.
But to do that, they are going to need to play better than they did in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Calgary, according to Chris Kreider.
Kreider, who scored one of the Rangers' two power-play goals in the win, said that it’s all well and good to win games on the strength of two power-play goals, a 4-on-4 goal, and a penalty kill that snuffed all four Calgary power plays.
“But,’’ he said, “I think there's some stuff we want to clean up, 5-on-5.’’
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flames and Rangers each had four high-danger chances at 5-on-5 in the first period. But the Rangers did not have a single high-danger chance in the final two periods. Calgary had nine.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette, who was thankful the Rangers found a way to win Tuesday, acknowledged that the Blueshirts sat back too much once they got the lead.
“There's things that we can definitely do better,’’ Laviolette said. “When we're on our game, we're pressing the issue. We're forechecking, we're beating people to pucks. [But] every game can't be an ‘A-plus’ game. You want it to be, and then if it's not, you try to fix it and correct it, so it is an ‘A’ game. And we'll do that. But you know that in the end, sometimes you're playing you're playing the hand that you're being dealt, regardless of whether it's because of them or because of us. And in the third period, guys were working hard to defend.’’
Kreider was asked if the kind of low-event (the Rangers managed only 20 shots on goal and allowed 25) game they played Tuesday is the blueprint for how the team wants to play under Laviolette, who is in his first year coaching the team.
“I mean, yeah, we don't want to give up high danger scoring chances,’’ he said. “And we want to generate high danger scoring chances. That's the formula for winning.’’
He was asked what the Rangers will need to do to build on the winning start to the road trip.
“Win the next one,’’ he said, stone-faced.
How do you do that, he was asked.
“Score more goals than the other team,’’ he said.
And how do you do that?
“Create more high-danger scoring chances on them; limit theirs. Win the special teams battle; be good 5-on-5. Limit mistakes.’’
Simple.
Blue notes
Laviolette canceled practice in Edmonton Wednesday … Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves, lowering his goals-against average to 2.66 and raising his save percentage to .897. “He was really good (Tuesday),’’ Laviolette said. “The shots (against) were low, but as the game went on, they spent more time in our zone … And there certainly saves that were really important throughout the game … especially in the third period, there was a couple of real beauties.’’ … Alexis Lafrenière scored the other power-play goal and Erik Gustafsson poked in Filip Chytil’s rebound for the other. Chytil had two assists. He has five in the first two games of the trip.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
