Chances are that if you ask the average fan to describe the Rangers’ identity, he or she would simply point to a picture of Artemi Panarin — which would be perfectly understandable. But that’s not quite it.
Well, at least not all of it.
Because though Panarin’s latest rampage, through which he has collected 12 points (4-8) over the past three (yes, three) games, has elevated him to fourth in the Art Ross race with 67 points (26-41), the Rangers did more than admire his five-point outburst in Monday’s 6-2 rout of the Islanders at the Garden.