The Rangers played their first game following the trade deadline Saturday versus the Blues. New York put together a complete 60-minute effort, shutting out St. Louis 4-0 at MSG. All four lines contributed to the victory, with Igor Shesterkin making 26 saves to notch his second shutout of the season.
While “trade week,” seemingly the new term, since trade deadline day is clearly insufficient, did not bring the big names that many Rangers fans had hoped, GM Chris Drury bolstered the lineup with three smaller acquisitions. In terms of the arms race in the Eastern Conference, Florida added Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa and Kyle Okposo from Buffalo to the Eastern Conference-leading lineup, while Carolina made the biggest splashes, importing Jake Guentzel from Pittsburgh and Evgeny Kuznetsov from Washington, though the latter is not without risk. Drury, though, was unwilling or unable to move a first-round pick and/or high-rated prospects to nab the sexy names.
Wednesday, Alexander Wennberg was acquired from Seattle to fill the third-line center role. Friday, just before the trade deadline expiration, Jack Roslovic was brought in from Columbus. Roslovic can play center and wing but will mainly play right wing for New York, as he did Saturday, skating with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. He was clearly thrilled to be in New York, as was Wennberg, and Roslovic brings speed and hands to the lineup. The hope is that he gets a bump like Frank Vatrano two years ago, fitting onto the first line. Roslovic came in hot with 15 points in his last 13 games in Columbus and was not shy in his first game as a Ranger, putting six shots toward the net.
Wennberg is centering Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko on the third line. He has played second line center previously while seeing copious ice time on the penalty kill. The one negative is his poor face-off percentage, which likely will mean Barclay Goodrow will join that trio late in games to provide additional defensive ballast and a better option between the dots.
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The fourth line Saturday was Jimmy Vesey-Goodrow-Matt Rempe. Vesey scored in the last minute of the first period thanks to strong defensive work by Goodrow. Rempe got the first chance to play on the fourth line, resulting in Adam Edstrom remaining in the minors after he was demoted Friday and Jonny Brodzinski servicing as a healthy scratch. Rempe was all over the ice and appeared to have scored in the second, though the goal was overturned. He played a career-high 11:08 and is most certainly a Garden favorite and their new cult hero.
Jacob Trouba will be sidelined 2-3 weeks with what looks to be a foot injury, missing his first game since the injury Saturday. Chad Ruhwedel, added from Pittsburgh on Friday to provide depth on the blue line, was a healthy scratch. Moving up to play with K’Andre Miller was Braden Schneider, and the pair had a solid game. Stepping in for Trouba was Zac Jones, who showed he deserved to be in the lineup while paired with Erik Gustafsson. Overall, the defense was up to the task of shutting down the Blues, though they were certainly helped out by the performance of Shesterkin between the pipes.
Shesterkin has been on a roll. He needs to be as the Hurricanes continue to win, and the Rangers’ lead in the division is just four points, with 19 games remaining for each team. The 28-year-old netminder has been excellent since the All-Star break, going 8-1-1 with a .948 save percentage over his last 10 outings. When Igor is locked in like this, New York is a tough team to play. Drury added players that complement the current lineup. Time will tell if the group plays like the 2022 squad that went to the Eastern Conference playoffs.