On Tuesday night, the Rangers skated away with a 3-1 victory over the Flames in Calgary. The win improved them to two-for-two on a five-game road trip that concludes at Winnipeg on Oct. 30.

After a sluggish start that saw them fall behind on an early Blake Coleman goal, the Rangers finally picked up their play in the second half of a sloppy first period that included several odd man rushes. Fortunately, Igor Shesterkin was sharp, making a couple of big saves on high-quality chances.

Lafreniere Finding Chemistry with Panarin

One player who continues to improve is Alexis Lafreniere. The 22-year-old former 2020 top pick is showing more confidence during shifts while playing with Artemi Panarin. They are finding chemistry with Filip Chytil, who, after a blown assignment on Coleman’s goal, bounced back by setting up two of the Rangers’ three goals.

Related: Panarin Rewards Laviolette’s Faith With A Dominant Performance

Although they were far from their best in a period where each team had eight shots, the Rangers were led by the second line. On a takeaway made by Lafreniere in the neutral zone, he then gained entry and sent a good backhand pass into Panarin’s wheelhouse for a one-timer that just missed over the top. It was a great read that nearly resulted in the tying goal.

Shesterkin Comes Up Big

After allowing Coleman to score before two minutes had been played at the start, Shesterkin was at his best. He made some timely saves to keep the Rangers within a goal. On a Nazem Kadri blow-by past a stationary Braden Schneider, Shesterkin stayed right with Kadri to force his backhand over the net. He’d also stop Kadri a bit later.

His best work came during the third period. With the Rangers protecting a two-goal lead, they played cautiously. That allowed the Flames to open it up. They created several quality scoring chances. Shesterkin was there to shut the door, making nine saves in the final frame to earn his third win of the season.

Shesterkin’s best stops came on Kadri and Nikita Zadorov, who had a nice rush in transition that the Rangers’ goalie thwarted. He also got over to deny Mikael Backlund.

There were some close calls. With the Flames pressuring, Elias Lindholm hit the goalpost. Later in the period, Kadri just missed a tip-in. Andrew Mangiapane whistled a dangerous shot from the slot wide.

When it was over, Shesterkin finished with 23 saves. While that wasn’t a lot, he had to be very good due to the quality of the Flames’ shots. That’s why he gets paid the big bucks.

Zibanejad Getting Closer

If there’s a key player to the Rangers’ offense, it’s Mika Zibanejad. The top center hasn’t scored a goal yet in six games. However, he’s getting closer.

Late in the first period, some strong defensive work led to Zibanejad getting a mini-break on Jacob Markstrom. After taking the puck from his own zone, he turned on the jets to move in on Markstrom. But Zibanejad’s forehand shot missed over the crossbar.

On the same shift, a good keep in by Kaapo Kakko created a two-on-one down low for Chris Kreider and Zibanejad. Kreider set up Zibanejad for a quick wrist shot that Markstrom made a good save on. If he continues to get chances like that, it won’t be long before Zibanejad scores and gets hot.

Lafreniere Rewards Laviolette on the Power Play

Entering the season, one of the hot topics was how much time the second unit would get on the power play. Underutilized by former coach Gerard Gallant, that’s no longer the case. Rangers’ coach Peter Laviolette has played that unit and gotten early results.

On a key power play during the second period, Lafreniere rewarded Laviolette on the power play. After the top unit couldn’t muster anything, the second unit came on and tied the game.

It was Lafreniere who was able to tip in an Erik Gustafsson shot for his third of the season. After Chytil passed up top for Gustafsson, he let a wrist shot go that Lafreniere redirected past Markstrom for the game-tying goal.

Even better, the power play goal featured four Rangers 24 or younger. On the scoring play, rookie Will Cuylle was also set up in the slot looking for a deflection. Only 21, he’s played with enough confidence for Laviolette to trust him. With the exception of Gustafsson, who would later score a big insurance marker, it included Chytil (24), Cuylle (21), Kakko (22), and goalscorer Lafreniere (22).

That didn’t happen the last two years.

Kreider Delivers His Specialty

After killing off a pair of Flames’ power plays earlier in the second period, the Rangers cashed in on theirs to take the lead. Kreider delivered his specialty.

Following Laviolette rewarding the second unit by starting them on the man-advantage, the first unit came on for a change. Once they got set up, Adam Fox passed the puck over for a Panarin shot pass that Kreider neatly redirected for the go-ahead power play goal with 5:51 left.

One of the best in the business when it comes to scoring on tips in front, Kreider simply got position to Markstrom’s side and scored his team-leading third power play goal. He also leads the Rangers with five goals.

The goal was the 270th of Kreider’s career. He’s fifth on the all-time franchise goal scoring list. Rangers’ legend Andy Bathgate is fourth with 272. It won’t be long before he overtakes him. Then, Kreider can chase down Adam Graves (280) for third.

By the time his career is over, he’ll go down as one of the greatest finishers in Rangers’ history. Kreider is up to 95 power play goals, which ranks fifth on the franchise list. He’s five shy of Graves for fourth.

Gustafsson Comes Through

It’s been a good start for Gustafsson. He was signed by general manager Chris Drury to bolster the blue line. After having an impressive training camp, the 31-year-old veteran has been steady so far.

In last night’s win, Gustafsson came through. After picking up the primary assist on Lafreniere’s tally earlier in the second, it was some hustle from Gustafsson that led to a big goal during a four-on-four.

K’Andre Miller got the puck over for Chytil, whose long wrist shot rebounded off Markstrom. With a scramble in front, a diving Gustafsson put the loose puck in to give the Rangers three straight goals in the period. His goal and assist were a key part of the win.

Chytil is Heating Up

Another positive over the last two games has been the play of Chytil. Now the Rangers’ second line center, he’s continuing to improve as a player. After a slow start to the season, Chytil is heating up.

After setting a new career high with three assists in the 4-1 win over the Kraken on Oct. 21, he was a factor in helping the Rangers improve to 4-2-0.

He made up for a coverage mistake on the Coleman goal by elevating his play. That included setting up Gustafsson for his shot that Lafreniere scored on to tie the game. He added a primary helper on Gustafsson’s goal that made it 3-1 with just over three minutes left in the second.

For the season, Chytil has a team-leading six assists in half a dozen games. Although he hasn’t found the back of the net, he’s been coming close. He was dominant against the Kraken to earn the game’s second star. Aside from setting up three goals, he had five shots and 11 total attempts.

With five assists in the last two games, the former 2017 first round pick is progressing nicely.

No McDavid For Oilers

With three games remaining on the road trip, the Rangers will visit the Oilers on Thursday night at 9 EST. The Rangers won’t see Connor McDavid. The three-time Hart winner is out for the Oilers due to suffering an upper-body injury against the Jets on Oct. 21.

McDavid has done pretty well against the Rangers. In 12 career games, he’s had six goals and 12 assists for 18 points. That included a memorable goal he scored two years ago in which he went through a maze of Rangers to highlight a 6-5 comeback win in overtime on Nov. 5, 2021.

While it could be a good thing that they won’t have to deal with McDavid, it’s unfortunate that the game’s best player will miss some time. He’s a joy to watch. A breathtaking superstar who one day could be in the same class as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Sidney Crosby.

The Rangers will still have to contend with Leon Draisaitl. Arguably the second best player in the world, he can have a big impact on games. It’ll be interesting to see what Laviolette comes up with to slow him down.

We’ll have a better idea late tomorrow night.

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