The New York Rangers' 37-year-old veteran offseason addition equaled his 26-game goal output in a single contest, scoring timely goals in an eventual loss to the Maple Leafs.
New York, N.Y: Coming into Tuesday's contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Blake Wheeler had 2 goals in 26 games.
He proceeded to score 2 goals in two periods in his last outing, including a timely goal skating down the right wing to cut the Maple Leafs lead to 4-3.
That goal came in the second period, where the Rangers had a better showing then their sloppy start.
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette was frank following the game, "I have a difficult time with positives after a loss to be honest... The second period was a better period for us. We put more pucks at the net and they actually got to the net and into the net."
Despite the team eventually losing the match in the third frame, the wiser Blake Wheeler knows what this type of loss is indicative of , "You learn about yourself and what it takes to continue to be successful. They are lessons you have to go through...it's a great learning opportunity for our team."
Laviolette also expressed a philosophy of his , "I believe everything is cyclical. There's ups and downs to teams and power plays and penalty kills and players. Everything's a little bit cyclical."
Piggybacking off of that mantra Wheeler may be entering a high point in his cycle as a player. The Rangers will benefit from No. 17 scoring opportune goals as they traverse through this skid.
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