The Kids Are Alright

Two games do not a season make, I realize. But they do represent a rather significant improvement and, hopefully, a turning point for a team that was relying way too much on the heroics of its goaltender Igor Shesterkin to bail them out.

The statistics don't lie. A 5-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, followed by a 4-3 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils, in which the New York Rangers not only won more face-offs, they out shot, out hit and out scored their opponents, is about as one eighty a turnaround as you can expect. 

More significant, the play at even strength, the one metric by which successful teams are measured, has improved considerably. Of the 12 goals they scored over the last three games, all but 3 came at either 5x5 or 4x4. That comes out to an average 3 even-strength goals per game. Extrapolated over the course of an entire season, that would tie them with the Florida Panthers for the league lead.

But last night's thrilling win over the Devils was more than just the second consecutive strong showing by a group of players looking to deliver on the promise of a four-year rebuild that was seriously in doubt; it was the coming out party for one Kaapo Kakko, the second overall pick of the 2019 Draft, who had gone ten games without scoring a single point. The Finnish winger set up fellow milk carton contestant Alexis Lafreniere's fourth goal of the season in the second period to put the Rangers ahead 2-1. And in the third period, his first goal of the season, off a beautiful give and go with Ryan Strome, allowed his team to regain the lead before the Devils tied it late. He would later score on a backhander in the shootout.

The goals were sorely needed. Let's face it, as brilliant as Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and, to a lesser extent, Mika Zibanejad have been throughout the season, they cannot continue to carry the load all by themselves. Sooner or later, Kakko and Lafrenirere have to step up and start pulling their weight. They don't have to be stars, but they can't continue to be missing in action game in and game out. Not if this team is going to succeed.

Fortunately, that won't be the case here. Seriously, did anybody really believe for a moment that Kakko was going to go the entire season without scoring a single goal? Or that Lafreniere was going to score only 15 goals? The Twitter mob notwithstanding, these two players simply have too much talent. My advice for the restless and the weary is to chill and stop comparing them with other first rounders. It'll only give you a headache and it won't accomplish a damn thing.

It's easy to forget that Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere are only 20 years old; K'Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist are barely 21. Even with all the changes Chris Drury made during the off season, this is still a very young team. Despite their early-season struggles, they are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals, and two points behind the league-leading Panthers. Imagine where this team will be when they start clicking on all cylinders.

Gerard Gallant finally appears to be getting through to his troops, and assuming Sammy Blais isn't too badly injured after his collision with P.K. - slew foot - Subban, Rangers fans might be in store for a very exciting and rewarding season.

I, for one, am pumped.