Infection in his left eye, benchings in his very recent past, an uninspiring stat line through the first 16 games of his second NHL season — and now, the Broadway Hat atop his head.
Jimmy Vesey had to ask exactly the proper way to wear the fedora bestowed upon the Rangers’ team-picked best player from each win, because it had been a while. But his two goals in 29 seconds late in the first period propelled the Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the Bruins on Wednesday night at the Garden, and kept the Blueshirts rolling with five straight wins.
“I consider myself a goal scorer, I’ve been that my whole life,” Vesey said, now with four goals and one assist on the season. “I think I’ve had the chances some games and it hasn’t necessarily fallen for me. But got a couple greasy ones tonight and hopefully it’ll start falling for me.”
As he was speaking, J.T. Miller walked by and jokingly said, “Nice game, Jimmy. A couple tap-ins.”
Truth was, Vesey’s goals were tap-ins — maybe more jam-ins — but it was hard work that got him to the front of the net to give him the chance. And that is a microcosm of how the Rangers (8-7-2) have turned their season around after that disastrous 1-5-2 start, by continuing to work hard and put themselves in positions to win.
The injury-ravaged Bruins (6-5-3) just could never beat the sharpening Henrik Lundqvist when they pushed in the latter stages of the third period, and now things are starting to turn for the better on Broadway.
“I think we all know you can lose it fast and you can gain it so fast,” said Lundqvist, who finished with 31 saves, none better than the diving stop he made on Patrice Bergeron about five minutes into the third period and less than two minutes before Bergeron would cut the Rangers lead to 3-2 on a goalmouth spin-around to increase the pressure in the final moments. “That’s the good thing about this game — you play so many games that you have a chance to make up for a bad performance the next night or two nights later.
“So it comes quick. It can turn for you fast. You just have to stay humble and honest about your own game.”
The Blueshirts could be nothing but honest as they were losing in droves to start the season, and Vesey was looking a bit like a scapegoat when coach Alain Vigneault benched him for long stretches at the end of three recent games, including Monday when he sat for the final 22:45 of regulation as the Rangers came back for a 5-3 win over the Blue Jackets.
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“I think that’s also part of my development,” Vesey told The Post Wednesday morning. “So in a couple years or whatever maybe I’m the guy on the ice all the time because of what I’ve watched and learned or gone through and made mistakes and learned from.”
The game started with Pavel Buchnevich and David Pastrnak trading goals just 21 seconds apart midway through the opening frame, but then Vesey got his first at 14:41 and his second at 15:10, the quickest succession of goals scored by a Ranger since Jaromir Jagr in 2006. It turned a 1-1 tie into a 3-1 lead, and it was more than just the finishing that impressed Vigneault.
“Before he scored the goals, he made a couple real strong plays along the wall in our end that permitted us to get the puck out,” Vigneault said. “There’s a complete 200-foot game, and tonight, the positive thing and the confidence-builder for him is he was able to finish.”
So were the Rangers, who were able to relax and celebrate yet another win once Rick Nash buried one into the open Boston net in the waning seconds. It was hard work that got them here, for both Vesey and his teammates.
“I’ve been trying to have good habits in my game — finishing checks, stopping in front of the net,” Vesey said. “I had two pucks just land there for me, but I’ll take them.”