The New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Monday night as there were multiple key contributors. Going into this matchup, the Rangers were coming off of a hectic 6-5 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club. The Rangers started off the contest on fire. Artemi Panarin displayed his flashy stick handling moves and found Alexis Lafrenière in open space for a goal. Panarin has five points while Lafrenière has four points through the first three games. It’s clear that this is a duo to watch out for going forward. A big question leading into the night was what exactly is going on with Mika Zibanejad? Through the first two games, Zibanejad just didn’t look like himself and seemed to be struggling in terms of his confidence. However, Zibanejad came back in a big way on Monday night. He recorded a beautiful assist to Chris Kreider on the power play while being able to tally an empty net goal late in the third period. Overall, he just played like the Zibanejad we all know and love. Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was never worried about Zibanejad’s slow start though. “This was only our third game of the year,” Laviolette said. “It’s not like we were in game 12. I thought in Pittsburgh that line (Zibanejad’s line) played a heck of a game and tonight they were productive. Beautiful play on the power play. You got Mika walking in and seeing Kreider on the back door.” Reilly Smith is another player who scored his first goal of the year and his first with the Rangers. Right off of a face-off, Smith ripped the puck top shelf, scoring in epic fashion. With the line of Smith, Zibanejad and Kreider starting to find their groove, the sky's the limit for what the Rangers can achieve offensively. Zibanejad feels that they are just cracking the surface and the trio is yet to play at their highest potential. “I think we are close to clicking, but we are working on it,” Zibanejad said. “We want this to work as much as anybody else. It’s frustrating when we don’t connect, but obviously we’ll keep working on it.” Igor Shesterkin had yet another stellar performance. He recorded 31 saves and made some flashy stops that only guys like Shesterkin can make. When the Rangers’ play dropped off a little bit in the second period, Shesterkin was there to bail them out and breathe new life back into the team. Untitled video - Made with Clipchamp Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde now understands why Shesterkin is demanding so much money. "He's special,” Lalonde said. “I can see why he turned down the 88 (million dollars). Good agent." The Rangers are set to play the Red Wings again on Thursday in Detroit.
