SEATTLE — The New York Rangers’ pending unrestricted free-agent goalie once again put together a brilliant night in net. This time, though, it wasn’t Igor Shesterkin.
Jonathan Quick, 38 years old and in his second season as the backup, stopped all 24 shots he saw for his second shutout in two games, leading New York to a 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken. Quick hasn’t allowed a goal in more than 128 minutes of ice time.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Zac Jones said. “I don’t know how many guys his age would be able to move like that. It’s pretty remarkable how good of a pro he is. He’s one of the backbones of our team.”
The Rangers played a low-event game after a long Saturday of travel. There was only one penalty, a Ryan Lindgren hold, and neither team managed more than 25 shots. The Kraken were probably a tad more dangerous, but that’s where the goaltending advantage came in handy. Here are four takeaways.
Quick continues strong start
Seattle didn’t generate a ton of chances early, but Quick turned away everything the Kraken did manage. Jaden Schwartz had a grade-A look in the first period, gathering the puck alone in front of the Rangers’ net, but Quick got across his crease to make the stop. He halted Schwartz’s follow-up attempt, too.
Quick wasn’t done robbing Schwartz of points. The Kraken forward snatched a puck from Braden Schneider after the defenseman’s stick broke early in the second, then fed Yanni Gourde for a good look. Quick once again made the save. Shortly after, he closed off his net from a Schwartz wraparound attempt.
In general, the Rangers managed to limit Seattle’s dangerous looks, even if the Kraken had a few stretches of extended offensive-zone time.
“When they made it into our end, we were blocking shots, we were taking lanes away, winning draws, getting clears,” Quick said. “It was a really hard-fought road win.”
“Didn’t really give them any good, grade-A chances,” K’Andre Miller said. “And when they were, we have Quickie.”
Quick’s counterpart, Philipp Grubauer, was good but less effective. There was little he could do to stop the Rangers’ first goal, an Alexis Lafrenière tap-in created by Artemi Panarin, but Jones tricked him with a shot in the third period to give New York a two-goal cushion.
Quick is up to a .970 save percentage in five games, and he’s three wins shy of 400 for his career.
“You’re honored to have those numbers,” Quick said. “At the end of the day, as a goalie, you’re very dependent on the team in front of you. All the numbers really mean is I’ve played with some great players and teams that value winning more than anything. I consider myself very grateful and lucky.”
Jones rewarded
The Jones-Schneider pair has been a bright spot for the Rangers lately, and both had scoring opportunities against Seattle. Schneider redirected a Panarin pass on net in the second period, and Jones broke through for his first goal of the season in the third.
Early in the final frame, Jones broke the puck out of his defensive zone. He passed to Will Cuylle in the neutral zone, and the forward whipped the puck into the Rangers’ offensive zone, where it bounced off an opponent and onto Kaapo Kakko’s stick. The Finn fed Jones, who snuck a shot past Grubauer.
“I was trying to use my feet and get up the ice,” Jones said. “The forwards were pretty tired, so I knew they were trying to get the puck in deep. Got a lucky bounce, and Kaapo made a good play over to me. I just threw a puck on net and got lucky.”
It was a big goal on a mental level, too. Seattle coach Dan Bylsma thought there was a “little dip” in Seattle’s energy afterward.
Jones and Schneider had the least amount of ice time of Rangers defensemen, logging 14:54 and 14:29, respectively, but New York had more than 55 percent of the expected goal share with them on the ice.
Offense comes from predictable source
Three of the four Rangers lines struggled to generate much offensively at five-on-five. The trio with the most offensive success was predictable: the Panarin–Vincent Trocheck–Lafrenière line, which generated 10 scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick. Late in the second, Panarin wired a backdoor pass to Lafrenière for the game-winning goal.
“That’s (Panarin’s) game,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “He doesn’t even have to move much sometimes to get people to back off. He seems to find the time and space he needs offensively to make things happen.”
The third line (Cuylle–Jonny Brodzinski–Kakko) was on for the Rangers’ second goal, but it was less potent Sunday with Filip Chytil hurt. The Czech center suffered an upper-body injury after a collision with Miller in Thursday’s game. He’s not traveling for at least the start of the trip.
Big Miller moment
Miller has had a rocky start to the season, but he made a huge play for the Rangers. Jamie Oleksiak sprung Brandon Tanev on a breakaway late in the second period, and Miller tracked down the forward and knocked the puck away before he could get a shot on net.
“I knew I still had him,” Miller said. “Obviously, it didn’t really look like that, but I knew in the back of my head I still had him.”
Said Laviolette: “I thought it was a heckuva defensive play for somebody who had to turn and chase somebody down.”
(Top photo of Jonathan Quick: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
