The Rangers got a late third-period goal from Jimmy Vesey to defeat the Red Wings 3-2 at MSG on Wednesday. Down 2-1 midway through the third, K’Andre Miller evened the score for the home team off a feed from Mika Zibanejad. Another successful penalty kill by New York sprung Alexis Lafreniere from the box, leading to the rush up ice and goal by Vesey, who batted his own rebound out of the air past Ville Husso for the game-winner.
Game-winning goals and Vesey go together like peas and carrots. Of the 88 goals he has scored in his career, 25 have been GWG, good for 28.4% of his total. Granted, a game-winning goal scored in the first period of a blowout does not have the same weight as one, for example, like he scored last night. But that stat is representative of how Vesey has been in the right place, at the right time in his career, especially recently. Vesey is perfectly cast in the bottom six, but he has shown the ability to move up in the lineup when needed. He could get the chance again to fill a top-six role with Kaapo Kakko sidelined.
Yesterday was Jacob Trouba’s 700th career game. Barring catastrophic injury and/or trade, Trouba could reach 900 by the time his contract with the Rangers ends after the 2025-26 season. After getting off to a rough start in his Blueshirts tenure, Trouba has ably filled the role as a first-pair defenseman. Not fleet of foot, Trouba relies on positioning, smarts, physical play – and yes, intimation from being close to and at times over the line – to make up for his lack of skating speed. At one point, the team’s faithful would have shipped him on a one-way trip anywhere. Now, he has become indispensable, seen again yesterday with his two huge blocks on the penalty kill down the stretch.
New York is 16-4-1 as November ends, and know they still can play better. Artemi Panarin has been a major reason for their early season success. The team has received little output from their top-line right-wingers. Zibanejad and Chris Kreider have yet to produce much 5×5, partially impacted by the first point I made. Adam Fox missed 10 games, yet the team was still able to hum along. Kakko is now out, Filip Chytil remains sidelined, Igor Shesterkin was out a handful of games and the team just put on their work boots, dug in and found a way to win. If cap room remains at the trade deadline, the Blueshirts could add to fill the holes, making them even more dangerous down the road, barring any additional major injuries and/or absences.
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