For most of the 2024-25 season, the New York Rangers seemed off. The offensive players were not contributing, the defense was average, and goaltender Igor Shesterkin was not playing elite hockey. The team was down on their luck early and before they knew it they were in a big hole. Traded away were captain Jacob Trouba and forward Kappo Kakko, and now the Rangers have a nine-game point streak to bring themselves back into the playoff conversation.
Rangers claw their way back into relevancy
New York beat the Ottawa Senators 5-0 at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night and 13 players had at least one point. Their hot play continued, but the play of Shesterkin was the talk of the town. He posted his second straight shutout and extended that streak to 164:03 of scoreless hockey, only three minutes short of a new career high. This was the fifth time in his career he has had two straight shutouts and became only the third Rangers goalie to do so.
During the nine-game point streak, the Rangers are 6-0-3 and have outscored the opposition 33-21, allowing only 2.33 goals per game while scoring 3.66 goals per game. For point production, defenseman Adam Fox and forward Artemi Panarin have each contributed 10 points over the past 10 games. Shesterkin is 6-3-1 with a .922 save percentage and a 2.19 goals against-average. In his last five, he is 4-0-1 with a 1.36 goals against-average, a .951 save percentage and two shutouts.
This is the type of Rangers team we expected early in the season; offensive team with a tight defense and elite goaltending. New York needed this stretch to get back into the playoff picture as they were struggling for most of the first half of the season. A shakeup was needed as they shipped Trouba and Kakko and brought in former Los Angeles Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev in for depth scoring.
New York still has work to do. They are in third place in the Metropolitan Division, 19 points out of first place. They are also in fifth place in the Wild Card race but sit only one point behind the leading Tampa Bay Lightning.