Alexis Lafreniere opened the scoring, Chris Kreider added two goals — including an empty-netter — Artemi Panarin added another empty-net tally and the New York Rangers held off the Toronto Maple Leafs’ comeback attempt in a 4-1 victory. The score isn’t reflective of the competitive nature of the contest and Igor Shesterkin was phenomenal in a 34-save effort for New York.

Here are five observations from the Rangers’ 4-1 victory over the Maple Leafs.

Igor Shesterkin submitting an outstanding performance perhaps isn’t revelatory, but he was the main story on Saturday night. New York entered Saturday’s slate averaging a league-best five goals per game and in truth, Alexis Lafrenire and Artemi Panarin were putting on a clinic, before Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies attempted to rally back, but Shesterkin shut the door.

We have more on Shesterkin’s performance here but he improved as the game went on, making a sprawling save on David Kampf in the second period, before shutting the door on Matthews, William Nylander, Nick Robertson and several other Maple Leafs forwards looking for a goal in vain.

Shesterkin saved nearly two goals above expected and made at least six saves that left the Scotiabank Arena crowd in disbelief. He drew “IGOR!” chants from some rowdy Rangers fans in the upper deck and richly deserved all the praise heaped on him post-game.

“It doesn’t really get in our heads, but we got to find ways to beat him,” Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies said of Shesterkin post-game.

“Obviously, we try to communicate that. It literally just started with getting to the paint, being around there. Like you saw on Auston’s goal, it was right by the net, just traffic and chaos and that’s kind of what we need more of.”

Anthony Stolarz was stellar for the Maple Leafs in a game where he lost his skate blade in the final minute of the second period, and appeared to have an issue with his blocker during a stoppage in play during the third period — he finished the game without further incident, and recorded 25 saves in the losing effort. Stolarz continued his strong run of form, and the two empty-net goals belie the goaltending battle that played out on Saturday night. Stolarz was solid, but Shesterkin was spectacular with 34 saves, and ultimately, he’s more than earned the distinction to become the NHL’s highest-paid goaltender.

Many fans were wondering if Ryan Reaves would drop the gloves against Matt Rempe, New York’s enforcer that drew national attention throughout the second half of the 2023-24 campaign. Reaves and Rempe threw down on March 2, but ultimately avoided a confrontation during Saturday’s game.

Reaves still brought the physicality that is valued in Craig Berube’s system. He delivered a team-high five hits, he was closing out on Rangers’ defencemen on the forecheck and tried to bully his way into the paint against a disciplined Rangers’ team that attempted to clamp down in the slot. He almost ran over Braden Schneider, he lost the handle on a good chance stemming from an Oliver Ekman-Larsson rebound and though it wasn’t up for debate, he’s maintained his place in the lineup.

It wasn’t a banner night for the fourth line — in some respects, it may have been its worst performance of the early season, but Reaves did his job well, even if it didn’t result in the prize fight that many were clamouring for.

Mitch Marner was a Selke Trophy finalist two years ago and his defensive performances are always lauded in the abstract, but he’s rarely given credit for how much energy he truly expends on the other side of the puck. Toronto used first change to keep Marner, Matthews and Matthew Knies against New York’s sizzling line of Alexis Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Both lines deserved stellar results and in truth, it was probably a draw, but suggesting that Marner and Matthews got the best of New York’s top line would be a pyrrhic victory at best, and using data to manipulate false conclusions at worse.

Marner was the primary defender on Panarin, playing exactly 15 minutes against New York’s star winger in all situations, with 11:52 at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick and Panarin emerged with a plus-two shot differential in their shared minutes. Looking between the numbers, Marner also received some untimely luck, as an official got in the way of his clearing attempt, New York retained possession and Lafreniere cleaned up a rebound for the game’s opening goal.

Marner and Toronto’s top line evened the individual matchup on Auston Matthews’ wrap-around goal, where Toronto’s captain spun off Adam Fox behind the net, then reached all the way around the slot for the Maple Leafs’ lone goal. And once again, for the fourth time in five games, the Knies-Matthews-Marner line outshot their primary opponents, while generating results that would indicate they were due for greater than one goal — Shesterkin’s heroics are accentuated in the end result once again. Knies-Matthews-Marner finished with a plus-seven shot differential, while Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere emerged with a plus-three result at 5-on-5.

But this is academic: Panarin scored an empty netter with 14 seconds remaining and a few weeks from now, very few people will remember the even ebbs and flows of the game, where the Rangers received elite goaltending and two empty-net tallies in the final minute. Panarin and Marner probably played to a draw, but tie goes to the actual winner on Saturday evening.

We all collectively want to forget 2020 as a whole, but the Rangers’ draft class from that year is a vintage they’ll look upon fondly. Lafreniere, Schneider, Rempe and Will Cuylle (who led all players in individual expected goals at 5-on-5 prior to Saturday’s slate) all made their imprint on the contest, where the Rangers won in the margins and through superior goaltending.

Lafreniere opened the scoring and continues to strengthen his case for a spot on Canada’s Four Nations Face-Off roster. He kept his five-game point streak to start the season alive, while Schneider outplayed his main partner, Rangers captain Jacob Trouba, while pushing Knies at the last second to deny what would’ve been a highlight-reel goal. Rempe didn’t fight anyone, but his presence on the forecheck forced Toronto into quicker decisions, while Cuylle threw a team-high five hits and showed flashes of why he could be one of the league’s breakout power forwards in 2024-25.

It’s still early in the season, but New York’s 2020 draft class is already paying dividends for a leading Stanley Cup contender and its imprint was felt in all facets of the game Saturday.

Chris Tanev skated directly to the locker room in the final minutes of the second period, but he returned shortly after the third period resumed, and his teammates spoke about his resolute character following the 4-1 loss. Tanev is one of the NHL’s premier shot blockers and the Maple Leafs will have to be mindful of mitigating some of his risk in the opening weeks of the season.

“It’s good to see one of your defenceman come back. That was a very difficult thing to watchit didn’t hit him in the right spot but he’s a warrior,” Matthew Knies said of Tanev post-game.

“The way he plays, he puts his body on the line every night. He’s a warrior,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson said of Tanev post-game. “We all know what type of player and what type of a guy he is.”

Tanev has formed a true No. 1 partnership with Morgan Rielly and it’s imperative to make sure he remains healthy in the early stages of the year, but head coach Craig Berube seemed to indicate that his diminished minutes were a result of the game situation.

“Yeah, he came back. Tough guy. He could’ve probably played more in the third, but we were down a goal,” Berube said of Tanev post-game.

“He’s a great defender, he’s a great shot blocker, penalty killer. Solid player all around, character guy, leadership. He brings a lot.”

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