If the New York Rangers were looking for an identity, they may have found one in the unlikeliest of places: the building of the conference’s top team, while sitting in last place themselves.
This was a game they couldn’t afford to let slip, not after getting blanked by these same Carolina Hurricanes earlier this season and certainly not with the Metro standings compressing like an overstuffed suitcase. Yet, despite being outshot, outskated, and out-everything’d for long stretches, the Blueshirts walked out of Raleigh with something much more valuable than two points and a 4-2 win. A reminder that they do, in fact, have a pulse.