Rangers’ young talent finding the right chemistry

NEW YORK » As their youth continues to show up, the New York Rangers simply won’t go away.

A unforgettable month of March for the Blueshirts was capped off on Tuesday night with a come-frombehind, 5-2 win over the NHL’s East Division leading Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden.

It was a victory that marked their ninth since the page on the calendar turned 30 days ago, and also pulled them to within five points of the Boston Bruins for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division with 21 games left to play in the abbreviated season.

While the Rangers relied on key contributions from many of their top players in their most recent win — they got goals from Artemi Panarin, Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox, Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil — it was the performance of Kakko that perhaps raised the most eyebrows.

The second overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, the 20-year-old Finn forward has yet to provide the kind of production to match the expectations that come with being picked where he was, but has shown flashes of late that it’s coming. Perhaps being put onto a line with Panarin and Ryan Strome by head coach David Quinn has given him his best chance to do so more consistently; he scored the team’s second of five straight unanswered goals with the finish on a tic-tac-toe passing play set up by his linemates.

If nothing else, playing with dynamic players and seeing that kind of ice time — he played 15:13 on Tuesday night, all of it coming at even strength — may force him to put more pucks on net and drive to the net more often, both of which have been frequent complaints about his game.

“At this level, the simple things are really going to be the foundation of creating offense, and when we do those simple things, our talent takes over and we’re a lot more productive offensively,” Quinn said.

“He’s doing a lot of good things, he’s really grown up in a short period of time…he’s going to the net more. He was a key component in two goals; obviously his goal, but I think the next one, where he went to the net and drew a defender with him, created some space, and we got the Fox goal, those are two big plays by him in key times, and it’s a lot of fun watching him grow the way he is.”

Kakko has just five goals and two assists in his first 28 games this season, but is hopeful to see those numbers increase as the chemistry with Panarin and Strome continues to grow.

“I think playing with those guys, we’re getting chances and spending time in the offensive zone,” he said. “I’m getting more confidence, feeling better.”