The Rangers must be thankful for small blessings:
SMALL BLESSING ONE: They got a point in Toronto. SMALL BLESSING TWO: They scored a goal in Toronto. SMALL BLESSING THREE: Igor Shesterkin saved them in Toronto. (Well, almost).
"Our game is in a good spot now," says defenseman Braden Schneider who somehow believes a record of 2-3-1 is a good spot. (He found the silver lining; until overtime.)
The Maven will give Brother Schneider a quick "Good Spot" lesson: Tell your buddy Artemi Panarin to wake up, live and score goals – or go sit in the press box.
Or, as Maven Roundtabler Bernie Rohode says: "Breadman's dough ain't rising."
Ah, but Jusso (Just Call Me Yussy) Parssinen, the club's fourth center, was better than
centers one, two and three – J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Sam Carrick. Why Parssinen’s third period goal saved the Rangers from a shutout. (A silver dollar for the silver lining.)
But is coach Mike Sullivan downhearted? NO! (His scorers will rule the waves – eventually.)
"It's easy to be discouraged," says Mikey, "but we're on the right route." He's right, if you like toll roads and advanced arithmetic.
The Rangers goals against average is a league leading 1.50. it's sixth best out of 32 on the penalty kill and eighth for shots allowed. (These little things mean a lot.)
They outshot Toronto 29-24 but Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz stole the game while Iggy allowed one goal too many – to Auston Matthews in overtime.
Time For The Blueshirt Hand-Wringing To End
This is not a sob story; this is a smile story.
So it's on to Montreal for tomorrow night's game against the happy Habs who are sporting the NHL's third best record (4-1-0) and a pretty fair goalie in Slingin' Sam Montembeault. Which means that the Rangers better hope that Not-So-Slingin' Jake (The Rake) Dobes is in goal.
ALUMNI NOTE: Chris (Remember Me) Kreider is second leading scorer on the Anaheim Ducks with four goals and an assist in four games.
Panarin has no goals and is minus 3. Fats Lafreniere has one goal and is minus-3. Maybe Chris Drury should trade for Kreider. (Just a thought.)