Rangers shut out Senators to win President's Trophy

NHL

by Molly Walker

The Rangers represent the NHL's holy trinity.

With a 4-0 victory over the Senators on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the Blueshirts officially clinched the Triple Crown of regular-season honors: first place in the Metropolitan Division, first seed in the Eastern Conference, and the Presidents Trophy. acquired. It capped off a franchise-high 82-game campaign.

This Rangers team carved out its own destiny through hard work, on-game determination and the chip that grew on its shoulders in the aftermath of last year's first-round loss to the Devils.

This season led to one of the Rangers' most prolific seasons in recent memory, capping it off with a decisive victory over Ottawa and securing home ice advantage during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

No team finishes with more points than the Rangers' 114, but this is a new team high in addition to a record-setting 55th win.

No team reached 100 points faster.

No team has qualified for the playoffs sooner.

And no team faces higher expectations than Rangers in the coming weeks.

However, on Monday night and Monday night only, the Rangers will celebrate their first Presidents Trophy since 2014-15.

Rangers went into this game with the same unwavering intent they had at the start of the season.

There was a task in front of me and an unparalleled emphasis on executing to complete it.

As a result, goaltender Igor Shesterkin earned his fourth shutout and his sixth shutout for the team with 26 saves.

Jack Roslovic's 19 games on the Rangers' top line isn't necessarily dazzling, but the trio certainly shined on Monday.

It was his unit with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad that set the pace for the rest of the home team.

Roslovic jumped out on a 2-on-1 rush with Kreider, who got his stick on an errant pass from the Senators and sent the puck flying in the opposite direction. buried. game.

The Rangers didn't produce a surplus of odd-man rushers, but they took advantage of the rushes they did produce.

Adam Fox and Kreider found themselves in a short-handed rush relatively early in the second period, when Kreider got the stick on an errant pass from the Senators, sending the Rangers into a tailspin.

The 26-year-old defenseman sank it, doubling the Rangers' lead.

In the third, Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin scored two goals, his 49th of the season, and the Rangers cruised to victory.

The Rangers took control of their own destiny to close out a historic regular season, reaching out and taking what was theirs.

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