Things weren’t going well for the New York Rangers heading into Saturday night as the Blueshirts put up yet another embarrassing performance against the Vegas Golden Knights. But things quickly shifted to a positive side as just 24 hours after this defeat, the Rangers were able to explode for seven goals against the Ottawa Senators.
A full team effort had the Rangers looking as elite as they were to start the season
One of the biggest problems as of late for the Blueshirts has been a lack of scoring from the offensive corps. The second line consisting of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafreniere was the only unit consistently producing points, and that has led to a string of losses throughout the last month.
Last night, the Rangers proved how good they can be when their entire roster contributes in the offensive zone. Each of the seven goals scored Saturday night was credited to different players, with 12 different skaters being credited with at least one point. Even Zac Jones managed to record two points, as the young defenseman entered the lineup with Jacob Trouba suspended for two games.
Panarin led the team with three points as he scored his 30th goal of the season
Panarin was certainly the star of the show for the Rangers, as the superstar winger tallied three points in this dominant victory. He recorded two assists on goals from Lafreniere and Jones and scored his 30th goal of the season on an empty net to seal the deal on the win.
This is just the fourth time in his career that Panarin has reached 30 goals in a season, and he’s done so in just 49 games played. He is rapidly approaching his career high of 32, which was reached in 69 games during his 2019-2020 Hart-nominated campaign. Panarin is currently on pace to have a 50-goal season and to finish the year with a whopping 110 points.