It was a special afternoon at Madison Square Garden when the New York Rangers took on the Vancouver Canucks, as the Rangers honored their broadcaster Sam Rosen, who announced this summer that he would retire after this season, with a “Salute to Sam.” Prior to the game, the Rangers honored Rosen—his current broadcast partner, Joe Micheletti, presented him with a jersey featuring the number 40, signifying the number of seasons Rosen spent with the team, and signed by the entire roster. Then, Rosen’s former broadcast partners, John Davidson and Phil Esposito, presented him with a golden microphone. After the ceremonies, the question was whether the Rangers could further honor him by winning an important game, as the season is winding down and the Rangers are running out of rope to make the playoffs. The Rangers would go on to win 5–3 and pick up a much-needed two points.
Game Recap
After the Rangers spent half of the period hemmed into their own zone and being outshot, putting up only one shot at the midway point of the period, Jonathan Lekkerimaki entered the zone and hit Dakota Joshua in stride, but Igor Shesterkin made a big save. The Canucks got the puck back, and Quinn Hughes took a shot that Shesterkin stopped before the Canucks got a third rebound and Joshua beat Shesterkin, giving the Canucks a 1–0 lead. The Rangers got scored on first again, and again, just seemed a step behind their opposition. The Rangers just have not started games well this season. With three minutes left in the period, the Rangers were being outshot 10–1, and the shot attempts were 22–6 in favor of Vancouver.
With time winding down in the period, the Rangers had their best shift of the game. It came from their fourth line and was motored by Matt Rempe, who kept the puck down low, and he and Brennan Othmann kept the puck in the offensive zone but could not find the back of the net. Boos rained down from the stands at Madison Square Garden as the first period ended 1–0 for the Canucks. Shesterkin had a terrific period, but he cannot do everything. Rempe had the only shot for the Rangers in the period. Quite frankly, they deserve the boos. They have lost two straight at home against teams—the Calgary Flames and Toronto Maple Leafs—that were coming off of back-to-backs that they had to travel after. Slow starts, no pressure, no shots. It is inexcusable. If this team does not turn their season around in the remaining 12 games, this…
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