RALEIGH, N.C. — The Rangers continue to pile up points in the standings, but their 7-1-1 record over their past nine games seems as much a testament to inertia as the club's relative superiority measured against the rest of the NHL.
For there have been too way many turnovers all over the ice and way too much time spent in their own end of the ice over the past four matches, even if the wins just keep on comin'.
Mats Zuccarello, who got the lone shootout goal to boost the Blueshirts over the Hurricanes 3-2 on Saturday, sure isn't allowing himself to be fooled by the results.
"We haven't played our best hockey over the last week," said No. 36, who came in with speed and scored off a deke against Anton Khudobin in the bottom of the second before Cam Talbot shut the door on Jeff Skinner, Carolina's final shooter. "These things go in stretches over the season, and you lose when playing like this, but we've been able to keep winning.
"That shows we're a strong team."
It shows the Rangers, 19-2-3 over their past 24 and atop the Metropolitan Division by five points over the Islanders with three games in hand, know how to win when the beneficiary of outstanding goaltending, even if Talbot yielded a blooper to Carolina's Elias Lindholm that opened the scoring just 121 seconds into the match.
"Yes, we're struggling to score, but it's important to be able to win this type of game, because this is the way it's going to be played in the playoffs," Rick Nash said. "Everybody seems to be in playoff mode, even those teams [like Carolina] who are going to be out, but are trying to impress management for jobs for next year.
"Every game feels like a battle."
Every game has been a battle for the Rangers, who have scored a sum of 13 goals over their past eight games (excluding this awarded shootout winner) and 24 over their past 12. Nash has gone dry. Derek Stepan, without a point over his past 12 games, is lost with the puck on his stick. Zuccarello hasn't scored over the past 14, Derick Brassard has one goal over his past 21 and now Chris Kreider has gone eight straight since scoring.
Yet, the Rangers win, and they win by keeping the puck out of the net, even when hemmed in for shifts and periods at a time. This third period, in which Carolina tied the score 2-2 on a power-play goal from the top at 14:22, wasn't Florida at the Garden last Sunday, but still, the Blueshirts were out-attempted 30-9 at even-strength while outshot 17-6 overall.
"We have to stay confident and make plays with the puck while we're protecting the lead," Zuccarello said. "We have to play the same way.
"Obviously we have a great 'D' and Talbs has been unbelievable, but we have to make plays. It feels like we're chasing the puck around our zone, and even though we're working, sometimes it feels that you're working hard for nothing."
Zuccarello and Brassard were joined on the left by J.T. Miller, who tied the game at 3:39 of the second off a face-off play triggered by Brassard's win in the left circle. Jesper Fast, who combined with Kevin Hayes and Carl Hagelin on a third line that probably was the Rangers' best much of the night, gave the Blueshirts the lead at 12:59 of the second.
But the Rangers could not add to the lead. What else is new? Over the past eight games, the score has been within one goal for all but 4:34 of the aggregate 486:57 of hockey they have played.
Still, despite the goal-scoring droughts, despite the multitude of mistakes by, notably, Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle, the Rangers continue to win. But the Blueshirts, who have the Ducks at the Garden on Sunday before hosting the Kings on Tuesday, are tempting fate.
"We have a tough stretch coming up," Zuccarello said. "We need to figure this out."
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