The Rangers felt oh, so much better about themselves after scoring seven unanswered goals and defeating the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday night, 7-2.
That was the way to go into the All-Star break, especially after Friday’s disappointing 5-2 home loss to Las Vegas.
But coach Peter Laviolette — a former Islanders coach who tied Islanders legend Al Arbour for seventh place all-time with his 782nd victory — said: “We needed [Friday] night’s, too. It’s disappointing. We’re in the business of winning.”
Business was pretty lousy before the Rangers erupted for five goals in the second period and two more during garbage time in the third.
Seven goals for seven scorers. The magnificent seven were Alexis Lafreniere, Chris Kreider, Zac Jones, Jonny Brodzinski, Blake Wheeler, Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko.
This is how the Rangers are going to have to play when they resume after the All-Star break at home against Colorado on Feb. 5. No, not scoring seven goals a game, but by getting contributions up and down the lineup.
It’s natural to keep one eye on the March 8 NHL trade deadline and think the cavalry is coming for the Rangers.
It’s not.
General manager Chris Drury is going to have to use all his math whiz skills to add to the roster because the Rangers are too (salary) capped out to make any really big moves.
Sure, Drury can — and most likely will — add some useful pieces, most notably a third-line center. He might be able to use the remaining contract money of injured Filip Chytil to add another player if the Rangers think Chytil isn’t going to return this season after he suffered a scary setback during morning skate on Friday.
But if the Rangers are going to be as good as they were in the first part of the season — when they were very, very good and took the lead in the Metropolitan Division -— for the most part the answers are going to have come from the guys already in the room.
That means the stars, especially All-Star goalie Igor…
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