The New York Rangers opened the season with a dominant 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on the road and it could not have been a better start to the season. However, they would then go on to lose their home opener to the Utah Hockey Club in overtime by a final score of 6-5. Both of these games showed just how dangerous this team can be and also where there are still some flaws in their game. Here a three takeaways from the Rangers’ first two games of the 2024-25 season.
A Tale of Two Different Igor Shesterkins
One day before the Rangers started their season, it was reported that Igor Shesterkin had rejected an eight-year/$88 million deal which would have given him $11 million per season and put him as the highest-paid goalie in NHL history. Many criticized and questioned why he didn’t take this deal. However, it is clear that he wants even more money and he started the season as well as can be expected. He stopped all 31 shots he faced and recorded his first shutout of the season over the Penguins. This was the first time the Rangers had shut out an opponent in a season-opening game since 1956.
Many thought he could build off this amazing start and carry it into the next game. However, this did not happen and Shesterkin had a very poor performance against Utah. He allowed six goals on 26 shots and had a .769 save percentage (SV%). He now has a 2.90 goals-against average and a .895 SV% to start the season. While he didn’t get much help from his defense in that game, Shesterkin also needs to be better than he was. If he wants to prove that he is worth even more than $11 million, he needs to play more like the Shesterkin that got a shutout in his first game and not the one that allowed six goals on 26 shots.
Mika Zibanejad’s Poor Start to the Season
One of the players on the Rangers that really has something to prove this season is Mika Zibanejad. He is coming off a season where he saw his offensive production drop and his season ended by not scoring in the Rangers’ final 10 playoff games. He needs to play better if the Rangers want to win a Stanley Cup and so far this season, he has not looked any better than he was last season. He has zero points so far and has hardly been a factor or an offensive threat when he has been on the ice.
His performance against Utah was very disappointing and he needs to play better than he did in this game. Zibanejad had a plus/minus of minus-4 and was on the ice for the overtime goal against where he left Clayton Keller all alone in front of the net. If he isn’t going to be a goal scoring threat, he at least needs to remain a great defensive player and this game was not great for Zibanejad in either of these regards. He is really going to have to step it up as the season continues if he wants to prove his doubters wrong.
Five on Five Scoring Has Been Consistent So Far
One of the biggest concerns for the Rangers over the past few seasons has been their lack of five-on-five scoring. They have been very reliant on their power-play to score their goals and even though that has worked somewhat, they needed to become a better team at scoring at even strength. So far this season, they have scored 11 goals and nine of them have been at even strength. They started great against the Penguins with each forward line getting a goal. It started with Sam Carrick and the fourth line and Alexis Lafreniere followed it up with a goal from the second line. Then, Chris Kreider got his first of two goals in the game and Filip Chytil got his first goal since the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Rangers have gotten consistent goal-scoring from all four of their lines so far at even strength. If this continues to happen and they can start producing once again on their power-play, they are going to be one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the NHL this season and this could be the catalyst that pushes them over the edge in their quest for the Stanley Cup.
While they have only played two games so far this season, the Rangers have seen some positives and some negatives. They need some of their top players to start playing more consistently and they are going to need to keep up this offensive production at five-on-five. If they can address their issues and continue building on the positives, this could be another great season for the Rangers.
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