With a lineup that rivaled the end of the 2017-18 Alain Vigneault Rangers, the kids made it a very fun and enjoyable win on home ice, in regulation no less. On the anniversary of his 5 goal performance in 2020, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere both put in stellar performances with a goal and 2 assists apiece. It isn’t necessarily great for the Rangers to win hockey games right now with draft positioning a looming storyline, but this was honestly a game the Rangers deserved to win, capped by Jaro Chmelar’s first NHL goal.
With Sam Carrick and Vincent Trocheck held out of the lineup for roster management purposes, the Rangers re-called Jusso Parssinen and Chmelar, also inserting Jonny Brodzinski as the second line center. Luckily for the Rangers, the Leafs may actually be even more of a disaster, leading to the 6-2 win. Chmelar looked fine in his first recall, and now with roster space and a goal already, it’s likely he stays through the rest of the season. Or at least he should, since he has the same amount of goals as Brennan Othmann in 35 fewer games.
We have waxed poetic about Mika Zibanejad all year, and rightfully so. With most of the roster checked out, he’s had a resurgent season and essentially put the team on his back. It’s ironic that the second Vincent Trocheck and JT Miller, these two “alpha males” who will “drag you into the fight” are out of the lineup, Mika, Alexis Lafreniere, and Gabe Perreault all have fantastic games and completely dominate. Mika is turning into the leader many expected Miller to be. With Carrick traded, he’s also the only real vote for the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award.
Don’t sleep on Lafreniere, who has been on a mission since the calendar turned. Now that he has been getting more and more ice time, suddenly the production is following him, a novel concept that I have been screaming into the void ad nauseam since 2021. There isn’t much out there in terms of rumors for Lafreniere’s Rangers future, but if he stays, I hope Sullivan is taking notes of how these final games are going. He should be running Perreault, Zibanejad, and Lafreniere as a line for the rest of the season and probably into next season, barring any unforeseen trades.
Sullivan is going to be forced to play what amounts to a 2nd line and three 4th lines on paper after the deadline, so the fact he was allocating more and more ice time to the kids for this game was an encouraging sign for the immediate future. Obviously, he’d love nothing more than to be coaching a team bound for the playoffs, but the need to shift to a developmental mindset is crucial for these remaining games. It always helps to have Igor Shesterkin cover up mistakes in the meantime, hopefully boosting confidence in the kids in the process.
Wins are not going to come at a premium down the stretch here, nor should they. But we can be happy about a win in a lost season when the kids are at the forefront for the result.