The Rangers had their way with the Maple Leafs from start to finish, dominating in all three zones in a 7-1 walkover that made their opponents appear to be nothing more than a House League squad.
But before anyone gets too excited about this team that was walked over 24 hours earlier itself by the Penguins in Pittsburgh, the Blueshirts will have to do it again and again and again.
It isn’t that they need to put seven on the board on a regular basis. It is that they need to play with the hunger, discipline, pace and puck pursuit that manifested itself through the match in which the Rangers dictated the pace from the first minute of play.
“We had talked [after the game in Pittsburgh] about the things we wanted and needed to do,” said Derek Stepan, whose line keyed the Blueshirts’ revival with a swarming down-low shift 45 seconds into the match that proved contagious. “We avoided turnovers, we managed the puck well, we got good dump-ins that allowed us to forecheck better, and we want forechecking to be a big part of our game.”
Stepan and wingers Rick Nash and Chris Kreider’s disruptive shift was immediately followed by a shift on which a Ryan Callahan forecheck created a Carl Hagelin chance. The Rangers were quicker to the puck for the remainder of the match throughout which they won a huge majority of puck battles.
They outskated the Leafs by a decisive margin, ultimately sending 50 shots on net while out-attempting their foes 85-53, and 34-13 in the first period. They drove to the net all night long while playing with a chip on their collective shoulder.
“It starts with execution in our own zone,” Stepan said. “We were able to come out cleanly a couple of times early on, and when you do that, it allows you to manage the puck a lot better.”
It started, actually, with a noteworthy left shoulder save by Cam Talbot on James Van Riemsdyk’s screaming left wing wrist shot on a speed rush just 20 seconds into the match. The Blueshirts seized control on the next shift when Kreider, a force throughout, drove to the net with his linemates crashing behind him.
“It’s good to be tested early but that’s the kind of chance you want to stay away from,” said Talbot, who hails from Caledonia, Ontario, about 90 minutes from Toronto, and allowed that it was special for him to win in front of a collection of friends and family watching in the stands. “Making that save gives you a boost.
“I guess it’s a good thing if you make the save.”
Talbot was in complete command throughout, beaten only by a Joffrey Lupul wrist shot late in the second with the Rangers in front 5-0. The Blueshirts have allowed two goals or fewer in 10 of the 26-year-old’s 12 starts. By contrast, the Rangers have allowed three goals or more in nine of the past 10 games started by Henrik Lundqvist and in 17 of his 30 starts overall.
Dominic Moore scored twice, once on a dandy coast-to-coaster on which he toasted Jake Gardiner. Hagelin scored. Benoit Pouliot got his fifth goal in the last eight games. Brad Richards scored his first goal in the last 13 matches. Brian Boyle scored his first goal in the last 28 games.
Kreider also got one on a left wing speed rush and power move to the net on which he roasted Cody Franson to cap a match in which the rookie jawed and battled throughout with Dion Phaneuf, the players finally dropping the gloves at 13:13 of the third.
“I was saying some really dumb stuff,” Kreider told The Post. “I probably just should have kept my mouth shut and played hockey.”
The Rangers played hockey; strong, dominating, dictating hockey all night long. It’s now on them to do it again, and again, and again.