The Rangers were looking good coming into Friday’s game, the team had won four in a row coming into tonight, being in the top three in the league for point percentage. They beat the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday night 4-1.

The Sharks also came in strong winning four of their last five games, this was the tail end of a back-to-back for the team as they beat the New York Islanders 2-1 in overtime Thursday night.

The first period was very tightly played, neither team gave up much defensively. The shots were tied at 10 a piece, the Sharks played well in their own end taking away a lot of good chances from the Rangers while also blocking 10 shots.

The defensive hold would end as Ryan Strome capitalized on a booming slap shot from the top of the circle opening the scoring of the game. Adam Fox assisted on the goal improving his point streak to five games, with seven assists during this stretch.

The second period was much of the same, neither team gave an inch. Strong play from both Igor Shesterkin and Adin Hill would keep the game at 1-0 for the Rangers. The San Jose penalty kill unit showed why they’re second place in the NHL out playing the Rangers powerplay all night.

The offensive struggle continued into the third period with both teams having powerplays and numerous chances. There are some signs of worry for the Rangers as star goaltender Igor Shesterkin went down with an apparent lower body injury halfway through the third period. His 2.15 GAA and .935 SV% are just proof of the stellar year he’s having and has been a big reason behind the Rangers success this season. Alexander Georgiev replaced Shesterkin in net.

But the game would go down to the wire as both teams had several chances down the stretch, Georgiev had to make some big saves as the clock winded down. Georgiev would make nine saves in the third period to hold the shutout for the Rangers.

Box Score:

1^st period

G: Ryan Strome (4) A: Adam Fox (19) Mika Zibanejad (14)

The New York Rangers went into Wednesday night’s game on a roll, they are getting contributions from across the lineup and Igor Shesterkin has only been getting better as this year rolls on. On the other hand, the Philadelphia Flyers had lost six in a row, their last win being November 16^th against the Calgary Flames.

The first period was all Rangers, they had a number of high-quality scoring chances that were stopped by Carter Hart. That was until Jacob Trouba took a shot from the point on the powerplay and beat Carter Hart. Dryden Hunt would make a good move and beating Hart on the forehand, after being found by Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox. This was Fox’s 18^th assist of the season, tying him with Quinn Hughes for first in defensemen assists, and tied with John Carlson for first in defensemen points.

Being down 2-0 heading into the second period, the Flyers came out with a force, Igor Shesterkin had to make 15 saves in the second stealing the period for the Rangers. Chris Krieder capitalized on a pretty passing play set up by Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko. This extends Kakko’s point streak to seven games as the young forward continues to produce more consistently, alas Rangers fans’ cries have seemed to be answered.

Morgan Frost scored the lone Flyers goal off a weird bounce in front of the net and was able to tuck it under Shesterkin. The Flyers outshot the Rangers in the second period 16-5.

The third period didn’t have a lot of offense with shots being 8-7 in favor of the Rangers. The lone goal scored in the third was an empty-net goal by Artemi Panarin, his sixth of the year.

Box Score:

1^st period

G: Jacob Trouba (4) A: Kaapo Kakko (4) Nils Lundkvist (3)

G: Dryden Hunt (3) A: Artemi Panarin (17) Adam Fox (18)

2^nd period

G: Chris Krieder (16) A: Kaapo Kakko (5) Mika Zibanejad (13)

G: Morgan Frost (1) A: Cam Atkinson (5) Claude Giroux (11)

3^rd period

G: Artemi Panarin (6)

By Neil Becker

In what was a possible Stanley Cup finals preview, the red-hot Toronto Maple Leafs made a statement on Wednesday night by cruising to an 8-3 triumph against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Leafs who just returned from sweeping their three-game California road trip and have won 15 of 17, now sit two points ahead of the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals for first place in the overall standings.

Once again, playing a solid game in the Leafs net was Jack Campbell who was solid in a 28 save performance as he improved to 12-4-1 on the season with a 1.64 GAA. This beloved Leaf has no doubt played his way into being considered for Team USA at the upcoming Olympics.

Staying red hot was forward Austin Matthews as he contributed by scoring the fourth hattrick of his career. Matthews, who was a +2 on the evening, had a team-leading 8 shots in 17:48 of ice time.

Also coming up big was Leafs captain John Tavares who scored a goal and had a three-point game and linemate William Nylander who also scored in what was for him a two-point performance.

Heading into action, Toronto wasn’t facing Colorado’s steady number one goalie Darcy Kuemper who was nursing a lower-body injury.

Looking for that fast start, Toronto took 13 of their 41 shots in the first period and were rewarded with three goals starting with Nylander who scored 4:31 into regulation. Following up that opening goal was veteran Jason Spezza who notched his fifth at the 7:57 mark followed by Matthews who scored his first of three 14:24 into regulation for Leafs 3-0 lead.

Colorado would grab some momentum as grabbed some momentum as they defenceman Samuel Girard scored his second with two seconds left in the first to cut the Leafs lead to two goals.

Late in the second period, former Leafs forward Nazem Kadri his 8^th and first of two 11:57 in to make it but not for long a close one-goal game.

 Toronto regained full control and never looked back as they struck for consecutive goals from defenceman Travis Dermott with his first at the 12:44 mark followed less than four minutes later by Tavares with his 11^th which improved the Leafs lead to 5-2 after 40 minutes of play.  

Meanwhile, Matthews showed why he is considered an elite forward as he scored consecutive goals starting at the 44-second mark of the third and followed with his hattrick goal which came at 8:41 to give Toronto a five-goal margin.

Rounding out the Leafs scoring was forward Pierre Engvall who capitalized at 10:08 as Toronto would go on to earn that fifth straight win and remain the hottest team right now in the NHL.

 SCORING SUMMARY

1^st. period

4:31 William Nylander (10), John Tavares (13), Alex Kerfoot (11)             Col 0    Tor 1

7:57 Jason Spezza  (5),    Nick Ritchie (5), Wayne Simmonds (6)            Col 0    Tor 2

14:24 Austin Matthews (11), Mitch Marner (14), Michael Bunting (9)       Col 0    Tor 3

19:58 Samuel Girardi (2), Nathan MacKinnon (10), Logan O’Connor (5)  Col 1  Tor 3

2^nd period

11:57  Nazem Kadri (8), Jack Johnson (2), Valeri Nichushkin (4)          Col 2  Tor 3

12:44  Travis Dermott (1), William Nylander (13), John Tavares (14)   Col 2  Tor 4

16:28  John Tavares (11), Alex Kerfoot (12), T.J. Brodie (5),               Col 2  Tor 5

3^rd period

0:44 Austin Matthews (12), Mitch Marner (15), Michael Bunting (10)   Col 2 Tor 6

8:41 Austin Matthews (13), Jake Muzzin (7)                                     Col 2 Tor 7

10:08 Pierre Engvall (3), Michael Bunting (11), Morgan Rielly (12),   Col 2 Tor 8

16:36 PPG Nazem Kadri (9), Gabriel Landeskog (15), Nathan MacKinnon (11) Col 3 Tor 8