"Stop me if you've heard this before, Rangers versus Hurricanes, Hurricanes massively outshoot Rangers, Hurricanes win by a goal. Well, it happened again. An underwhelming performance by anyone not named Igor Shesterkin, which seems to be one of the theme of the season. It looked like Igor was going to steal the game, the defense failed him as the Rangers let Carolina get extended looks, and they got one."
"Imagine if Shesterkin were with the Colorado Avalanche, or any other team that has a competent group in front of him. There was nothing he could do last night, or most nights when the offense can barely manage two goals. Carolina is predictable, with goals coming from moving the puck low to high then crashing the net for rebounds and deflections. If it's defended properly, they won't score."
"Gavrikov opened the scoring with his first powerplay goal of the season, which set a new career high in goals in just 41 games. The offense is a nice cherry on top, but the real reason why Gavrikov was signed was for his defense. I can't remember the last Rangers defenseman who had as good a defensive stick as Gavrikov. He makes many smart plays with the puck and also anticipates plays well without the puck."
The Rangers lost a close game to the Hurricanes despite Igor Shesterkin's strong performance because teammates allowed extended scoring chances and the defense failed to limit rebounds and deflections. The offense struggles to produce more than two goals per night and fails to support elite goaltending. Vlad Gavrikov provided a major positive with a power-play goal, strong defensive stick work, smart puck plays, and consistent anticipation in his own end. Prospect Gabe Perreault receives limited top-six 5v5 minutes without power-play or 3v3 deployment. The power play remains ineffective and experimentation with younger offensive options is warranted.
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