It doesn’t come easy, as Mr. Richard Starkey once remarked about goal-scoring hockey teams that score goals, and he was sure he was right.
But there is no column in the ranking that represents [corporate name deleted] degree of difficulty. Each victory looks as beautiful as the next, even if it is obtained in a tooth pulling contest.
So, the Rangers embraced their 3-2 victory in Philadelphia on Thursday night, which caused a series of losses, which increased to four games, although with a point of defeat thrown in the mix.
True, they were forced to the maximum by a team that has not played for 11 days and was left without six regulars on the COVID protocol list, but the idea is that Blueshirts persevered and came out on the other side with a couple of essential points for mental health of the club, even if the Flyers tied the contest with only 1:14 left in regulation with the additional striker. The rangers were not about to talk.
“I just think we didn’t break up,” said Brendan Smith, who scored 2-1 from the mouth of the goal at 8:21 of the third. “With a lot of younger teams, you will see that they break after a team reaches the equalizer, but it was a good resistance, it was a good effort to respond and not let ourselves down.
“I needed it. I really needed that. We just have to keep pulling the same chain. ”
Alexandar Georgiev did not face a large volume of shots, in fact only 22 in the night, but he was exceptionally sharp in breaking his own string of losses of four games (0-2-2) while giving up half a dozen golden occasions. Artemi Panarin, who missed the previous two games with an upper body problem, launched a tour de force, launching a total of 16 attempts, eight on the net, before becoming decisive in the shootout in which Kaapo Kakko turned from lead spot.
The strong game even scored a goal, his first since then – checking the notes here – Doug Harvey was about to be and Camille Henry was preparing at the gate for the type-ins. Well, wait, no, not even six decades had passed, but only six games since February 1st. Colin Blackwell’s big-slot forward defeating Carter Hart at 3:24 of the second period to nullify the Flyers’ opening score in a 59-second fight.
Check the scorers again: Smith and Blackwell. Blueshirts have scored six goals in five games. Two from Blackwell, one from Smith, one from Kevin Rooney, one from Julien Gauthier (scratched on Thursday) and one from Pavel Buchnevich. This is not a plan for Rangers success. However, the need to extrapolate is diminished by the importance of this victory, which, at least temporarily, revived good feelings.
“I’m very proud,” said coach David Quinn. “It was a difficult test for us. The loss can be on you. I don’t care … how beautiful it looked or what. I don’t care how it was done, but I needed two points and I got two points and that mattered. ”
I told you the Flyers were an exhausted club. The fact is that the Rangers had a defense that included guys who were sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth in the top depth when the season started: Smith, Jack Johnson, Anthony Bitetto and Libor Hajek. All were needed in the absence of K’Andre Miller (eliminated for a second consecutive game with an upper body problem), Jacob Trouba (missing the first one with a broken thumb, claimed to block a shot on Tuesday) and Tony DeAngelo (no explanation) required).
Smith was overshadowed when he was suggested that the Rangers made an “impromptu defense” and was probably right. But still, it was Adam Fox (30:17 career ice) and Ryan Lindgren (23:39) at the top, with Johnson-Smith and Bitetto-Hajek below.
“So what happens is that when the boys have a chance to get in there, you want to prove yourself and stay in line. It’s been like this for years and years and years, “Smith said. “I know you said ‘Makeshift,’ but everyone is trying to get better, and they’re trying to get that job and keep it.
“For us, it was not like trying to simplify it. We want to play a simpler game and bring pucks on the net and help each other forward. I don’t like the whole impromptu thing, but I like the way I responded. We thought we played well as a D-body. ”
Smith cited colleagues Johnson, Bitetto and Hajek for their strong play before referring to Fox and Lindgren as Batman and Robin.
Holy Makeshift, Rangers won a game. It may not have been nice and it didn’t come easy, but they definitely won.