Red-hot Rangers keep rolling as history must wait for Fleury
CHICAGO » History would have to wait for Marc-Andre Fleury.
Artemi Panarin wasn’t as patient.
The Rangers forward posted a four-point night, potting two goals and two assists, to become the 507th player in National Hockey League history to reach the 500-point plateau en route to helping his team to a 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center on Tuesday night.
He beat Fleury, who was looking to become just the third goaltender in league history to achieve 500 wins, twice and, in doing so, required the fifth-fewest games (457) to reach his 500-point milestone among active players in the league, trailing only Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin.
Panarin, who was not made available to the media postgame, as his translator usually does not travel with the team, collected his first 151 career points as a member of the Blackhawks during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons before being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and then ultimately signing as a free agent with the Rangers prior to the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
“He was unbelievable today,” said teammate Mika Zibanejad. “Big game from him.”
It was yet another big performance from the group as a whole, which has now won seven straight and 11 of their last 12 heading into Wednesday night’s scheduled conclusion of a back-to-back slate of games, this one against the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden.
With starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin still on injured reserve, it’s been Alexandar Georgiev who’s needed to carry the load, and he’s done so with flying colors; in his second straight start, he stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced on Tuesday night, and would seem to be in line to get a chance to repeat that performance on Wednesday over rookie Adam Huska, who has yet to make his NHL debut.
Rangers head coach Gerard
Gallant wouldn’t commit to announcing a starter for Wednesday’s game while in Chicago — he cracked that it’ll either be Georgiev or Huska — but it seems inarguable that Georgiev has seemed to turn a corner on his season, doing so in part by finding the kind of rhythm that can only come with consistent playing time.
“It feels nice to be back in action, play in a few in a row,” said Georgiev, who has now posted consecutive games of allowing two goals or fewer for the first time this season.
“It’s been a while, and I’m enjoying that, and thankfully the guys are playing awesome too, making my job a little easier…it’s just being in the game rhythm,
practices are not the same. You’re facing like one guy at the time, and in the game there’s ten players in front of you and the puck is going fast. Today, I felt much better than the previous games.”
Shesterkin, who is likely set to be activated off the IR sometime in the next few days, is unquestionably the team’s number one goaltender moving forward. But it would seem Georgiev has, at
least for now, answered any questions about whether the team needed to look at upgrading the backup position as they continue to solidify their position as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
“He was solid tonight,” Gallant said. “I thought he played strong, made some key saves at key times on their power play. Good, solid game. Real happy with him. Good opportunity for him to play some games.”