The New York Rangers found a way to shut the door on the Minnesota Wild with an offensive masterclass in the third and final period and created a recipe for success down the stretch that will serve them well moving forward.
Pace and Physicality Ignited Rangers’ 3-0 Run
The Rangers improved to 10-2-1 and furthered their lead in the Metropolitan Division after LW Artemi Panarin sparked their scoring onslaught. Entering the third, Minnesota had New York tied at one apiece. The Rangers came out with tempo and Panarin got the ball rolling with a beautiful assist to Alexis Lafreniere on a 3-2 breakaway.
New York got physical with Minnesota and was able to wear down Marc Andre Fleury’s strong goalkeeping with a flurry of shots inside the first 10 minutes. As a result of both, the Blueshirts opened up a two-goal lead after Blake Wheeler found the back of the net following a missed shot from Will Cuylle.
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Continuing to Turn on the Offense Late Will Further the Rangers’ Success
The Rangers put the cherry on top with an open net goal from Panarin with under a minute and a half to play to put the stamp on their highest-scoring home win and highest-scoring third period of the young season.
Most impressively, the Rangers found ways to exploit holes in the Wild’s defense and shift Flurry’s positioning in front of the line. New York played with speed and sound passing which kept Minnesota’s defense moving as a whole. The Blueshirts put up 10 shots on goal to the Wild’s four by the time the game was out of reach with just under three minutes to play and kept their foot on the gas throughout.
The Rangers will look to keep up the torrid scoring against a struggling Columbus Blue Jackets team before facing a daunting test against the New Jersey Devils and their eighth-highest-scoring offense.
