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The Rangers are now first in the LEAGUE. The Knicks have won 7 of their last 8. The Garden dwellers are on fire.
The Garden dwellers are scorching hot heading into the final couple of weeks of the regular season. Enjoy it, folks. These are the good times...
New York Rangers
The Games
Saturday, March 23rd | Win 4-3 (SO) vs. Panthers
A gritty comeback win against a Stanley Cup contender. The Rangers fell behind early, with the Panthers scoring 20 seconds into the second period to go up 2-0. That seemed to spark the Rangers, however, because for the rest of the period they completely dominated. Adam Fox struck on the power play and Panarin buried a one-timer less than two minutes later to tie things up. The teams traded quick goals late in the third period and took things all the way to a shootout victory. Not a bad night's work.
Tuesday, March 26th | Win 6-5 (OT) vs. Flyers
This game was drunk. I mean chugging Red Bull and vodkas all night long kind of drunk. There were seven (7!) goals in the third period as both teams completely stopped playing defense and started trading odd man rushes for 20 straight minutes. I'm sure the coaches hated it, but it was super entertaining television. Tyson Foerster kind of killed the vibes, scoring late for the Flyers third comeback of the period and forcing overtime. But then Fox blew the roof off of the Garden with an awesome OT winner.
Thursday, March 28th | Win 3-2 (SO) at Avalanche
Stop me when you've heard this before: a gritty comeback win against a Stanley Cup contender. Shesterkin led the way for the Rangers, making 38 saves plus two more in the shootout to propel the Blueshirts to victory. After giving up a tough one late in the second, Kaapo Kaako had a nifty bank shot to tie it early in the third. Kreider scored on the power play to give the Rangers the lead, but the Avalanche struck shortly after on a scramble play in front to even things up. Great hockey all the way to the shootout.
The News
With the win over the Flyers, Peter Laviolette notched his 800th career win as a coach and the Rangers officially clinched a spot in the playoffs (becoming the first team in the NHL to do so). Artemi Panarin crossed the 100-point threshold for the first time in his career and has an outside chance at reaching the 50-goal mark. It's pretty incredible stuff for the Breadman and it's laughable that fans were actually suggesting we trade him in the offseason.
The Good Signs
Fucking Ryan Lindgren is Iron Man and is back from the injury he sustained against the Islanders (checks notes) less than two weeks ago. Man, when that injury happened it looked like it was season-ending. This guy is tough as nails. Oh, and clinching a playoff spot and being in first place in the entire NHL is also a good sign I think. So is Panarin being absolutely scorching hot and Mika's game coming around. Igor looks solid too. The vibes are immaculate right now.
The Red Flags
Defenseman just can't stop getting hurt on this team. Yes, Lindgren came back. But Trouba is still out. Gustafsson took an elbow to the head in overtime against Florida and looks like he's going to miss some time. Then in the Colorado game Ruhwedel, Fox, and Miller all spent extended time in the locker room getting attended to. They all eventually returned to the bench, but holy crap, can we stop it? The President's Trophy isn't all the important, might be time to rest some guys down the stretch here.
The Play of the Week
Adam Fox caps off an insane game against the Flyers with the OT winner.
New York Knicks
The Games
Saturday, March 23rd | Win 105-93 vs. Nets
In an early afternoon battle of NYC, the Knicks cruised past the Nets once again. DiVincenzo was on fire with 31 points, and McBride wasn't far behind with 26. Hartenstein was back in form, contributing solidly. It was good to see the rest of the team step up in a game where Brunson actually looked human for once. We really turned up the heat in the fourth, pulling away with a decisive 12-0 run, thanks to DiVincenzo's sharp shooting.
Monday, March 25th | Win 124-99 vs. Pistons
Okay, sure, the Pistons are bad. But the Knicks are actually fun again! DiVincenzo lit up the court with a franchise-record 11 three-pointers, scoring 40 points as we blew out the Pistons. The atmosphere was electric, with the crowd totally aware of the record as he got close to breaking it. And shoutout to Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart for their stellar contributions. This victory marks the Knicks' 15th straight win over Detroit, and elevated them to 3rd place in the Eastern Conference.
Wednesday, March 27th | Win 145-101 at Raptors
Hopefully Jontay Porter bet the over in this one. The Knicks scored their most points in a game since 1980 and notched their largest margin of victory of the season against the reeling Raptors. A scorching hot McBride led the team with 29 points, and Brunson added 26 of his own. The team's energy is just through the roof, especially with Robinson's return adding to the depth. Just a solid week all around for a team that seems to be peaking at the right time.
The News
Mitchell Robinson appeared in his first game in more than three months. Conversely, Alec Burks has a sprained shooting shoulder and missed some time this week. DiVincenzo set the Knicks record for most 3-pointers in a game and the Knicks scored the most points in a game since 1980.
The Good Signs
All W's this week, baby. As the team gets healthier, they definitely have their swagger back. Sure, they beat up on pretty bad teams. But it wasn't long ago they were eeking out 1-point wins over the lowly Pistons. So seeing them actually take care of business is a great thing.
The Red Flags
Not too many things to complain out during an unbeaten week. Obviously, injuries are still an issue for the team but they seem to be improving on that front. There will be controversy at center now that Mitchell is back and Hartenstein continues to play well. But depth is a good problem to have. Hopefully Thibs uses it to his advantage and doesn't run the team into the ground before the playoffs start.
The Play of the Week
Think this team is feeling confident lately or what?
Garden Memory
Meant to just watch this game at Foley's in Midtown with some friends, but the corporate suits next to us got pretty drunk while pre-gaming and decided they didn't feel like walking over to the Garden. So they gave us their tickets in exchange for a round of beers. We walked in midway through the second period and got to see Lundqvist's 200th career win (in style)!
Sphere Watch
This week featured a benefit concert held by Diddy for himself. Shohei Ohtani and Jontay Porter were in attendance as well. They seemed to be hovered over a stopwatch timing the length of the first song in the set. According to my sources, Ohtani's interpreter left in a huff.