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The Rangers were business as usual Monday night back at Madison Square Garden.
On the heels of two frustrating road losses, the Blueshirts handily defeated the Ducks 5-2 to remain undefeated on home ice and match the second-longest season-opening home win streak in franchise history at six games.
At the very least, in a moderately challenging schedule to start the season, the Rangers are taking care of the teams they’re supposed to.
Against the clubs projected to finish near the bottom of the standings — such as the Red Wings, Canucks and Ducks — the Rangers have won by a combined margin of 13-4.
Injuries have forced the Rangers to make recalls and dress a lineup noticeably different from opening night in Boston, but this hasn’t slightly influenced how the team is playing on home ice.
The team game that was missing in New Jersey and Columbus returned as soon as the Rangers stepped onto the ice in Manhattan.
Rookie goalie Dylan Garand played his role to the fullest, stopping 28 of the 30 shots he faced.
Scoring within the first two minutes after puck drop for the third time this season, the Rangers controlled the pace of play frequently.
Sean Durzi’s shot through traffic from the top of the zone gave the home team a 1-0 lead just 1:18 into the first period, marking the second time in franchise history the Rangers have scored in the opening two minutes in three consecutive home games.
The Rangers could’ve easily had a multigoal lead by the first intermission had Pavel Dorofeyev put away either one of his two grade A opportunities in the opening 20 minutes. Dorofeyev continues to find scoring opportunities, but the finish hasn’t quite been there thus far.
Not only did he hit the post on a wide-open net during a 5-on-3 power play, but the 25-year-old Russian also missed entirely when on the doorstep later in the first period.
With one goal through his first 11 games as a Ranger, Dorofeyev is still looking to find his stride with his new team.
From the start of the second period, however, the Rangers absolutely dominated play.
The top power-play unit converted less than five minutes into the middle frame, after captain J.T. Miller redirected an Adam Fox shot from the top of the zone for his second goal of the season.
Jump-started by Alexis Lafrenière’s cross-ice backhand feed, a Rangers tic-tac-toe passing sequence ended with Gabe Perreault tapping the puck in at the side of the net. The game seemed to get out of hand from there, with the Ducks struggling to maintain possession.
Oliver Bjorkstrand then capped the second period with his third goal o