On Halloween morning, the Rangers had three wins.
That’s almost hard to fathom, and maybe it’s because these months leading up to the New Year go so fast, both inside and outside the NHL. So maybe it happened without too much fanfare that these Rangers beat the Golden Knights that evening at the Garden in their first matchup ever, and starting with that win, have gone 15-5-1.
“We’re playing some pretty good hockey,” coach Alain Vigneault said after his team’s latest triumph, the completion of a back-to-back sweep with Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win against the Bruins in Boston. “Like I mentioned before, our body of work here for the last 20-something games has been pretty good.”
Now some of those losses were real duds, and they have pulled off the scabs to reveal the memories of that historically bad 3-7-2 getaway. The prime example was the 2-1 shootout loss to the Stars on Monday, a performance that lacked energy and execution — and yet was still one that produced a point on the terrific 44-save performance by backup goalie Ondrej Pavelec.
It’s hard to think that those bad times are ever going to be too far from the surface this year. But they are slowly being buried, the Rangers piling on bounce-back performances that show nothing if not resiliency and fortitude.
“Since Dallas, I think we’ve responded really well,” forward J.T. Miller said Saturday night. “Getting four points in the last two nights is awesome for us.”
The team was off Sunday, and Monday it’s very likely that top-line center Mika Zibanejad will join his mates for a real practice at center as he nears a return from a delayed onset of concussion symptoms. If it’s David Desharnais who comes out of the lineup for Tuesday’s Garden match against the Ducks, then Zibanejad can slot right back into his spot between Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich — a line that has been volatile (both good and bad) in his absence since Nov. 28.
Yet maybe the most encouraging sign was the play of captain Ryan McDonagh against the skilled and heavy Bruins. McDonagh has had a few of these good games along the way during the first three months of a season that has been subpar, in part because of an abdominal strain that eventually kept him out of four straight games in late November. But Vigneault went out of his way to single out McDonagh, as he continues to do most (if not all) of the heavy lifting alongside partner Nick Holden.
“I thought Ryan McDonagh had one of his best games,” Vigneault said, unprompted. “Had a lot of energy.”
From there, Vigneault went immediately to his most important player, goalie Henrik Lundqvist, whose revival has not coincidentally coincided with his increased workload. For the second time in a week, Lundqvist played both games of a back-to-back and was outstanding.
“Again, Hank made some big saves,” Vigneault said. “It was a team win. When we win, it’s about the team.”
Now the question for the Rangers is how to keep it going. Despite this run since Halloween, they might still be more of the team that is 3-2-1 in its past six. It might still remain a bubble playoff team in a Metropolitan Division that is so competitive, the six teams in action Saturday took 12-of-13 points, with Carolina beating Columbus in overtime.
But Sunday morning had the Rangers in the first wild-card position, tied in points (33) with the Islanders, but one game ahead in wins in regulation or overtime.
Halloween might not seem that long ago, but since then, the entire Rangers season had done an about-face.
“I think we righted the ship a while ago,” Miller said, and he was right. Now it’s to be seen how far this ship can sail.