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New York Rangers Stay Hot, Sweep Western Canada

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The New York Rangers capped a perfect 3-0 road trip to Western Canada with a 5-2 win against the Calgary Flames Tuesday night. New York has now won four in a row and seem to be building momentum. Prior to the win in Calgary, the Rangers defeated the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks in their previous two games.

To put the success of the last three games in perspective, it’s the first time in Rangers history that they defeated all three West Canada teams in the same road trip. While that interesting stat is nice and all, the more important thing besides the win streak is that some key Rangers broke out of offensive slumps.

Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan both snapped goalless streaks against the Flames. For Stepan, it had been eight games since he scored, while Kreider snapped a 13-game drought. These are two Rangers who must produce more goals and it’s important that they each scored in Calgary.

Kreider and Stepan scored 17 goals apiece last season, but have combined for just eight so far this season. Stepan missed 12 games recovering from a broken leg, but he’s the key to getting his line hot, a line that includes Kreider. Each should build confidence from their goals Sunday night, and it’s important that they keep it up.

Derrick Brassard is still recovering from the mumps, and Stepan’s line has to produce in his absence. Both Kreider and Stepan have played well of late, they just haven’t been able to put the puck in the net. Kreider had an especially good game against the Flames and played well defensively. His hard work finally got rewarded on a goal that was created purely by Kreider’s hustle.

The Rangers also continued to get stellar play from Rick Nash during their Western swing. Nash had four points in the three games and scored twice against the Flames. There have only been five games this season in which Nash has not recorded at least one point. Nash’s consistent goal-scoring has made up for offensive slumps of other players, but at some point guys like Kreider have to step up.

The Rangers are hot right now and are playing with high chemistry. The team defense has looked much better the last two weeks and the Rangers have an opportunity to break away from the pack of teams that are jockeying in the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Rangers get three days off until they play a home-and-home with the Carolina Hurricanes this weekend, and they’ll be playing with plenty of rest and confidence.

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