Three end of October takeaways for the New York Rangers
By Jim Lynch
The New York Rangers had an up-and-down run during October, with many takeaways to discuss. The team is currently 5-3-2, good enough for second place in the division with 12 points.
The Rangers started the year on the right note when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on opening night. It looked like this team was going to go on a firey terror after that, beating the Wild 7-3 in their second game, but after that, they went 1-3-2 during their next season’s games.
Despite some struggles, the New York Rangers are still one of the top teams in the league. They have won their last two games and have gotten back to playing consistently good hockey. To them, just making the playoffs could be the only thing that matters right now, not having the best regular season in franchise history. Let’s jump in with some takeaways.
Three end-of-October takeaways for the New York Rangers
1. Artemi Panarin could very well be in the Hart Trophy conversation.
Artemin Panarin leads the Rangers with 16 points, including five goals int the team’s first 10 games. Panarin has elevated his game pretty much every season in New York and his team-leading seven power-play assists are adding another big element to the team.
2. This team is the real deal.
The Rangers have a really deep lineup. They have the kids line of Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko continuing to take strides, despite Chytil’s injury this past week.
They also have Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox playing great hockey. Most importantly, though, the Rangers still have Igor Shesterkin in the net, who has proven he is an elite goaltender who can steal games for his team.
3. The Rangers are no longer an underdog team.
Last season, few really thought the Rangers were going to go on a run to the Conference Final. Now that this team has done it, they will have to take things to another level in 2022-23. This team has expectations this year following a run to the Conference Final is not going to be easy, and now other teams really have their eyes on them when they see the Rangers on the schedule.