Stan Fischler US Hall Of Fame MSG It's "Maven Official" -- Nobody can beat the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/features/igor-shesterkin-new-york-rangers-stan-fischler-first-place-peter-laviolette]. Okay. Okay. Make that "Semi-Official." "We win different ways," says Adam Fox who scored his ninth goal of the season last night. Yeah, one day they win before more than 79,000 fans and last night they beat Dallas at The Garden, 3-1 despite the fact that there were 61,000 fewer witnesses to the Blueshirt excellence. Let's not kid ourselves, right now the only problem for coach Peter Laviolette is who to play in goal. Clearly Igor Shesterkin has dumped his Rip Van Winkle act that depressed thousands in January. Iggie made 41 saves and was so good that losing coach Peter DeBoer had to get his two cents in with this pithy puck comment. "Shesterkin is an elite goaltender; one of the best in the business." (Thank you, Pistol Pete for verification.) Stars left wing Jamie Benn will second the motion -- maybe even third and fourth it. Benn might well still be shaking his head in disbelief after Shesty robbed him three straight times late in the third period. No question, Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick now provide New York with the best one-two combination in the league. Shesterkin: "We play our best every night. We're on page one right now." (See that; even more verification.) Really, this roster -- even with Blake Wheeler gone for the season -- should not be touched. GM Chris Drury has everything he needs to win The Stanley Cup. Even one time whipping boy Kaapo Kakko scored a goal and was named second star. (This should once and for all end -- I said END -- any KK trade talk. Why not? Double K's got a five-game scoring streak (two goals, three assists) and finally has found his game. Lavvy admits that he should play Kaapo more and The Maven definitely buys that. The eight-game winning streak could be nine on Thursday when the Blueshirts visit The Rock. And from this view, no team can catch the Blueshirts in the Met Division. And if they keep this up, we might as well say, "no one in the entire league can touch them." Fox's goal earned him the third star. "These points are so crucial," Fox adds. "We can't take our foot off the gas." With everyone in the lineup clicking, it's impossible to find a weak spot. And let's not overlook Vincent Trocheck who's collected five points -- four goals and one helper -- in his last three games. Looking at replays of Shesterkin's saves, I have to say that Jonny Quick may not be getting as much goal time as we thought he might. What a nice "headache" for Laviolette. Or, to put it another way, 31 other NHL coaches should be so lucky! TOP STORIES
