Sam Rosen's Ceremony, J.T. Miller's War And A Wild Performance Headline Rangers' Win Over Canucks

It wasn’t always going their way to put it lightly, but the New York Rangers managed to squeak out a 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday afternoon.

It was Sam Rosen day at Madison Square Garden as the Rangers organization honored the legendary play-by-play announcer before his retirement once the season ends. 

When speaking to the media before the game, Rosen talked about his desire for the Rangers to make the playoffs. 

"I look forward to every game now till the end of the season," Rosen said. "I'm trying to drag this team into the playoffs with me. I walk around the locker room at practice giving them encouragement, ‘Come on, guys, you can do it!’ They're not listening to me, but hopefully that'll change in the next couple of weeks."

The mood during the pregame ceremony was festive with Rosen giving a heartfelt speech to the crowd while fans roared excitedly. 

Watching Rosen speak couldn’t have been a better motivator. However, the Rangers clearly did not get the message. 

The first period was a complete disaster for the Blueshirts. They recorded a grand total of one shot on net. 

There was no fight from this Rangers team. New York spent practically the entire opening 20 minutes on their heels holding on for dear life. 

It still leaves a bad taste in Peter Laviolette’s mouth. 

“Can’t start a game like that, can’t start a period like that,” Laviolette said. “They were just quicker than us, they had the puck on their stick and we were chasing them.”

In the second period, Laviolette completely switched up the lines. He gave Jonny Brodzinski and Brennan Othmann top-six roles, which would pay dividends later in the game. 

Through the second frame, the Rangers picked up the pace, but it was their physicality that was the most noticeable.

Igor Shesterkin led the charge by basically tackling Kiefer Sherwood. It may have resulted in a roughing penalty, but it sent a clear message to the Blueshirts and reignited the crowd. 

The Rangers escaped the second period tied 1-1. There was still work to be done though with New York still not at the top of their game. 

During the intermission, the Rangers players had a spirited conversation in the locker room, something that was necessary. 

“We need points right now and we’re still in this run,” Brodzinski said. “I think everybody after those first two periods, there was a little bit of yelling in the locker room. I think we figured it out as a team. We gotta stop turning pucks over and shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Following all of the “yelling”, the Rangers came out like a completely different team in the third period. 

It went back and forth through the final period. The Rangers took the lead twice and the Canucks managed to climb back two separate times. 

Late in the contest though, the Blueshirts hit a different gear and were too much for Vancouver to handle. 

Gutsy is the key word to describe New York’s critical victory. 

“A little bit of shade from last year, so many come from behind wins,” Brodzinski said. “A lot of the same players on this team. Just being resilient. We need wins right now, so I think everyone is just buying in.”

Brodzinski thrived in his expanded role. The 31-year-old forward scored two goals in the third period, helping propel the Rangers in a huge way. 

It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for Brodzinski. He’s a player who’s been scratched on multiple occasions this year and mostly has played fourth-line minutes. 

Recently, Brodzinski has really found his game. He continues to earn trust from Laviolette. 

“He’s been really valuable just in the fact that he’s played all of the positions,” Laviolette said of Brodzinski. “He’s moved up and down the lineup. He certainly has a capability to play offense and deliver. He’s a skater, he can move and get involved in offense. I think his speed can really be an asset for him.”

When things were looking grim, Shesterkin kept the Rangers alive, especially early on in the game. He finished the day with 36 saves.

There’s no doubt that the Rangers should be thankful for the heroics of Shesterkin. 

“There’s a reason why we pay him so much money,” Brodzinski said about Shesterkin. “He’s the best goalie in the league. The reason why you do that is he makes saves like that… He’s making big-time saves and he makes it look easy, so it’s always nice knowing he’s back there.”

Another big storyline was the fact that J.T. Miller was playing against his former team. 

Miller had a crucial assist in the third period while closing out the day with an empty-net goal to send his former teammates home empty-handed. 

Despite some of the anticipation for this matchup due to Miller’s messy ending in Vancouver, the veteran forward downplayed the whole situation after their victory. 

“For sure, it’s a fun game. You want to win this one,” Miller said on if this win had more meaning for him. “ This time of year though it’s more about the team and where we are headed, what we are trying to accomplish, it’s not just because me and Soucy were playing against our former team today. Ya, it’s nice to beat them for sure. You want to win that one, but it’s just another game at this time of year.”

New York remains in the playoff hunt holding on by a thread, so these two points certainly help them. 

The Rangers will be back in action on Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings.