Things have changed for the better for the Rangers who took care of the Jets 6-3 on Thursday night in Winnipeg.

As has been evident over the past two weeks, they continue to show improvement entering the weekend. By doubling up a desperate Jets, who are trying to chase down a wild card in a lousy West, the Rangers silenced Canada Life Centre by scoring five times on 16 shots against Olympic hero Connor Hellebuyck.

Once again, familiar faces were key factors in their fifth win over the last seven games. Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault each had a goal and assist to remain hot.

Noah Laba and Tye Kartye both had a goal and a helper to continue their roll with veteran Conor Sheary, who picked up an assist. The new third line looks like they should stay intact, even when Taylor Raddysh returns.

Head coach Mike Sullivan made a slight tweak to the lines by promoting Adam Edstrom to the second unit and dropping Jonny Brodzinski to the fourth unit. The move paid dividends with Edstrom getting his first goal since Nov. 24.

Igor Shesterkin returned to the net following Jonathan Quick’s 65th career shutout. He outdueled Hellebuyck by making 23 saves to pick up his 21st win to make it four victories over the last five starts.

The game started well for the Rangers, who benefited from a tacky call on Gabe Vilardi for hooking Braden Schneider 59 seconds in. It took them only nine seconds to grab the lead on an Adam Fox power-play goal. Mika Zibanejad moved the puck back for Fox, whose shot through traffic went high blocker on Hellebuyck.

They only registered two more shots for the remainder of the period. In what was a defensive minded first 20 minutes, the Rangers limited the Jets’ six shots to the outside. When Winnipeg applied pressure, they found it difficult to get inside thanks to some tight checking.

Things opened up more in the second period. Former Sabre Isak Rosen got his first goal as a Jet to even the score.

The Rangers went back ahead when Lafreniere was able to deflect in a Will Borgen point shot for his ninth goal in 10 games. Perreault provided some dogged work to set up the goal for a secondary assist.

Ever since Artemi Panarin sat out before he was dealt to the Kings, Lafreniere has been a different player. He has 15 points (9-6-15) since Jan. 31, including five multi-point games. Prior to that stretch, he had 29 points in his first 50 games. Now, up to 19 goals and 44 points, he’s well within reach of a second 50-point season in his career. With 17 games left, it’s even possible for Lafreniere to chase down his previous career-high in points (57) that came while playing with Panarin in 2023-24.

The difference is that Lafreniere is now being treated like the Rangers’ number one option. Instead of deferring to others, he has the puck more and is utilizing his talent to make plays for linemates Perreault and Mika Zibanejad. At 24, it’s not too late for the 2020 top pick to become the kind of reliable player that the Rangers envisioned when they gave him a contract extension worth a $7.45 million cap hit in October 2024.

With the Rangers still hanging onto the lead, the Jets re-tied the game thanks to some splendid work from Kyle Connor, who took a Mark Scheifele feed and went around Fox to score his 29th. He caught Fox flat-footed before beating Shesterkin.

The Rangers regained the lead over a minute into the third. Following a Sheary faceoff win, Matthew Robertson took a Braden Schneider pass and had his shot tipped in by Kartye to make it 3-2. He has six points over the last four games.

Once again, the Jets came back to tie the score thanks to Vilardi getting his 25th when he put in a rebound of an Adam Lowry shot.

But like they had throughout the game, the Rangers answered back to retake the lead over two and a half minutes later. On a strong take from Lafreniere, he stuck with it after his pass for Zibanejad came back to him. He then moved it back for a Schneider shot pass that Perreault steered in for his seventh. He’s up to six points over his last three games. With 17 points in 32 games, he’s showing why the Rangers selected him 23rd overall in 2023.

With less than nine minutes to go, Edstrom finished off a pass from Vincent Trocheck from the high slot to increase the lead to 5-3. Sheary provided some strong work on the forecheck to set up the goal. It was a gritty effort.

From there, Shesterkin locked it down. All that remained was some great hustle from both Kartye and Laba that led to the latter’s empty netter. It was a terrific effort that typified how much harder the Rangers are playing.

It’s been much more fun to watch. With each win, their lottery odds could go down. They’re now 29th in the NHL with 62 points. That’s tied with both the Blues and Jets. However, they have fewer regulation wins. The thing is that if they continue to play well, they could pass the Devils and Maple Leafs in the standings.

While some observers have expressed frustration over the Rangers’ improvement due to the timing, it’s crucial for the growth of the team to continue playing the way they have. They’re building something under Sullivan. The culture change seems to be finally taking place.

No matter where they finish, they’ll be in the mix for either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg. Don’t forget that they’ll have Carolina’s first round pick to dangle if they so choose. As the off-season gets closer, we’ll delve more into the draft.

There are a lot more positives entering what should be a tough test at the Wild on Saturday. Those are the kind of games that you want to see this team in. We’ll see how they fare in a hostile environment against a playoff contender.