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The Rangers get good Igor back! The Knicks get healthy Anunoby back! There are some crooked numbers in the win column! It's warm out! Life is good.
Between the weather and the wins, this past week has had playoff vibes. Let's keep them rolling.
New York Rangers
The Games
Saturday, March 9th | Win 4-0 vs. Blues
This was as stress-free a game as I've watched in a while. Trocheck and Vesey struck in the first period to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead and they never looked back. Yes, the Blues are a very bad team. But it's always nice when you take care of business against the lousy opponents on the schedule. It was also great to see Shesterkin come up with the shutout. He's been looking dominant lately, answering many of the questions that started to pop up in January about him. One thing that kind of stunk is that Matt Rempe appeared to bury a nice feed from a semi-resurgent Barclay Goodrow, but it was waived off after review. I'm not sure how to explain the physics that were involved in keeping this one out of the net, but it was sad.
Monday, March 11th | Win 3-1 vs. Devils
Another game where the Rangers felt in control all night long. They dominated the first period possession, but couldn't get one past Kaapo Kahkonen in his first start as a Devil. But midway through the second, Mika Zibanejad finally scored his first 5-on-5 goal since December 23rd. You could definitely see the relief on his face as he got the monkey off of his back. Then came an absolutely bonkers sequence, summed up by the New York Post beat writer Larry Brooks: "The final minute of Rempe’s game included an o-zone faceoff win over Hischier; going to the front to set screen for 2-0 goal; elbowing Siegenthaler in head to get major and game misconduct before waving to NJ bench while leaving the ice with 0:30 remaining in second." Yes, it was as crazy as it sounds.
Tuesday, March 12th | Win 1-0 at Hurricanes
If you can call the wins over St. Louis and New Jersey "relaxing", this one was anything but. It was a huge game against a Hurricanes team that is nipping at the Rangers' heels for the Metro Division lead, so it really did have a playoff feel to it. Adam Fox benefited from sort of a lucky bounce funneling a puck to the net with 8 seconds left in the first period to give the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Shesterkin made it hold up. The Rangers were absolutely under siege for large portions of the second period, as playing on back-to-back nights seemed to catch up with them. But Igor made some ridiculous saves to keep his team in front and to secure his second-straight shutout. As Larry David would say, "Pretty good".
Thursday, March 14th | Loss 6-3 at Lightning
Things continued to look pretty rosy for the Rangers, who went up 2-0 early in this one and looked really sharp in the first period. But as everyone who watched the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals knows, 2-0 leads against Tampa are not very safe. Their star players absolutely took over the game beginning early in the second period. We made a bad turnover that ended up in the back of the net and then, because this always happens, former Ranger Anthony Duclair buried one to tie the game. In the third, Roslovic got his first as a Ranger to reclaim the lead, but then the wheels completely fell off. Brayden Point went absolutely nuts and finished the game with 3 goals and 3 assists. Fucking video game numbers.
The News
The big story of the week was Matt Rempe's four-game suspension for elbowing Jonas Siegenthaler in the head during Monday's game against the Devils. It seems a bit harsh for a first-time offender, although Rempe's earlier antics probably did not help his case. Bad hit from a young player who hopefully will learn to not cross the line as much in the future. It's obviously a bummer, especially as the Rangers will be playing a 6 game in 9 night stretch, you don't want to thin out your depth. Jacob Trouba is also missing 3-4 weeks with an injury that came as a bit of a surprise.
The Good Signs
Winning 3 out 4, including an absolute monster of a game against Carolina on the road after playing the night before. They showed they are capable of winning in a hard-checking playoff atmosphere against a quality opponent. Igor posted back-to-back shutouts. Mika finally broke through with a 5-on-5 goal. The deadline acquisitions seem to be fitting in nicely. There's a lot of good things to focus on after this week.
The Red Flags
When the Rangers were losing games left and right in January, they were doing it in similar fashion to Thursday's loss against Tampa. Everything seemed to be going okay and then the wheels would fall off in a hurry. One game on the road against a good team isn't a big red flag, but just need to make sure it doesn't become a pattern again. Also, multiple Rangers got hit in the face with pucks in that Lightning game. Couple that with Trouba going down with an injury and all of a sudden the squad seems a bit banged up and has another back-to-back to play over the weekend.
The Play of the Week
Shesterkin shuts out the Hurricanes.
New York Knicks
The Games
Friday, March 8th | Win 98-74 vs. Magic
Oh, look, the Knicks finally decided to show up! Brunson came back with a bang, dropping 26 points and suddenly, New York looks good again, crushing the Magic's win streak with a 98-74 laugher. They went bonkers from downtown, starting the game by going 6-for-7 from three in first quarter. After jumping out to an early lead, the Knicks put on a defensive clinic, holding Orlando to a season-low in points. It's a miracle, folks! They climbed back to fourth in the East, and the morning shows on WFAN have already resumed planning the parade. Just a typical Knicks rollercoaster – losing to everyone and then pulling off a win when you least expect it.
Sunday, March 10th | Loss 79-73 vs. Sixers
In a game that set basketball back 25 years, the Knicks erased all of Friday's good vibes and lost to the 76ers. During the snooze fest of the season, each team was so offensively challenged that fans were actively booing both squads. Philly, even without their star players, somehow managed to be a tad less terrible than the Knicks, who shot a stomach-churning 32.5% from the field. The 68 points in the first half was the lowest total in the NBA in 5 years. Brunson looked like the only Knick who was working hard for long stretches, but he couldn't buy a bucket — finishing just 6 for 22. The Knicks' defense tried to pick up the slack, but alas, you actually need to score to win games.
Tuesday, March 12th | Win 106-79 vs. Sixers
In a weird scheduling quirk, the Knicks and Sixers ran it back at the Garden two days after the Sunday slopfest. This time, the Knicks once again held the Sixers to under 80 points. And thankfully, they were able to actually score some points on the offensive end as well. With Anunoby back on the court after what felt like a century and Hart pulling off an impressive triple-double like it's his day job, the Garden was actually buzzing for a change. Philly without Embiid kind of looks like 22 year-old me wandering around the West Village at 3AM on a Saturday morning. But hey, we'll take the win.
Thursday, March 14th | Win 105-93 at Trailblazers
A standout Brunson performance, with the MVP dark horse (?) putting up 45 points on Portland (who played without Simons and Grant). DiVincenzo and Anunoby both chipped in with a dozen points each, the latter of course was seen grabbing at his surgically repaired elbow and requiring some time on the bench to ice it. The Garden faithful are starting to believe again. Let's hope they can keep it rolling and that friend-of-the-site Satan can stop cursing them with injuries.
The News
OG Anunoby is back after sitting out since January 27th and undergoing elbow surgery. Jalen Brunson also seems to be back to playing normal minutes after nursing an injury. With all the injuries on the team, Josh Hart put up a bit of an ironman stretch. He played for 40+ minutes in nine consecutive games, the longest such streak since James Harden in 2016.
The Good Signs
They won 3 out 4 this week and climbed back into fourth place in the standings. It's crazy how much better they look when most of their players can actually stay on the court. They seem to be heading in the right direction (away from the play-in game).
The Red Flags
Still no real progress report on Julius Randle who has missed 20 games now. Allegedly he is shooting and practicing? The team hasn't really said when they expect him back, so hopefully it happens some time soon. The Knicks will play 11 of their final 17 games on the road, so it's going to be a tough stretch without them at full strength.
The Play of the Week
Brunson puts up 45 against the Blazers.
Garden Memory
My six-year-old self somehow got brought along to the 1995 Big East Championship at MSG. Villanova posted a decisive victory over a UConn team that had been ranked Number 1 during the regular season. I had to Google that because clearly I did not care when I was six. I'm sure I spent a lot of my dad's money at the concession stands though. Also, I didn't hate Villanova then. But I do now.
Sphere Watch
This week The Sphere hosted a celebrity Monopoly tournament in which vice-presidential hopeful Aaron Rodgers competed. On multiple occasions, the New York Jets' embattled quarterback decided to wait until it was his turn to take a bathroom break. He purchased (and promptly mortgaged) Electric Company, missed rent several times because he was busy texting Joe Rogan, and kept skipping his piece over Pennsylvania Avenue — citing election anomalies in Montgomery County.
It was about as impressive of a performance from Rodgers as his Monday Night Football debut for the Jets. After rolling three sets of doubles in a row, he refused to go to jail and claimed that rule was a liberal conspiracy to prosecute him for his beliefs. Shortly after that, he was bankrupted by Luxury Tax, failing to make it out of the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.