The New York Rangers open the home portion of their 2024-25 season on Saturday by welcoming the visiting Utah Hockley Club, as both teams seek to keep their perfect records intact.
New York opened the season Wednesday night in Pittsburgh with a 6-0 rout of the Penguins. Chris Kreider scored twice, with Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba both adding two assists in the victory. Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves as the Rangers posted their first shutout in an opener in 68 years.
Rangers coach Peter Laviolette told reporters after the game that Shesterkin's strong play early -- the goalie made 10 saves in the first 13 minutes -- was key as the Rangers held a 1-0 lead. They scored twice in the final three minutes of the period and did not look back.
"The last, I thought, maybe, eight minutes of the first period, I thought we turned it on offensively," Laviolette said. "Able to generate and were able to carry that through the second period as well."
For Utah, Saturday's game marks the second of a four-game road trip, with the first three against the New York City area teams. The road trip started successfully Thursday with a 5-4 overtime victory against the New York Islanders.
Dylan Guenther's second goal of the game, with 2:42 remaining in the extra session, gave Utah its second win in as many games. The team that moved from Arizona in the offseason needed to rally twice from third-period deficits to force overtime.
Guenther scored a power-play goal at the 7:37 mark of the third to tie the game at 3. That goal came 45 seconds after Jean-Gabriel Pageau's short-handed goal gave the Isles the lead. Maxim Tsyplakov put the Islanders back on top with less than three minutes remaining, but Josh Doan scored the equalizer with 1:54 left, ensuring Utah would leave with at least a point.
"To go through a game like that this early in the season is huge," said Guenther, who is tied for the league lead with four goals. "To battle back like that, I think it shows a lot about our team. That's a big one."
Shesterkin, one of the game's top goalies and the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner, will likely face a tough test from Utah, which has scored 10 goals in its two wins. According to NHL EDGE, Utah is one of the quickest teams in the league and has already recorded 55 "speed bursts" of 20 mph or more. Guenther has eight of those.
Utah, currently tied with St. Louis at the top of the Central Division with four points, also has created 18 high-danger shots on goal. High-danger shots are defined as shots taken from the slot, between the faceoff circles in front of the goal. Those shots have led to four goals, the second-most so far in the young season behind the Rangers' six.
"I think we have a deep team," Guenther said after Wednesday's win. "Something we take pride in is having four lines that can roll over, keep going, and hem teams in. Throughout the game, we felt pretty confident getting opportunities, and it's one of those things where we got belief in each other in that room."
