Rangers' Kid Line is ready for the postseason
Kaapo Kakko, center, celebrates his goal with Alexis Lafrenière and Filip Chytil against the Capitals on Sunday. Credit: AP/Nick Wass
Technically, the Rangers could move up in the Metropolitan Division standings before the regular season ends on April 13. But with no games left against the teams ahead of them, the Devils and Hurricanes, they could win all five remaining games and still not improve their positioning.
So for the Rangers, the priority shouldn’t be trying to find a way to get home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but rather to focus internally and try to get everything fine-tuned and ready.
The Kid Line already looks ready.
The trio of Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, all 23 or under, were by far the Rangers’ best line in each of their last two games, Sunday’s 5-2 win over Washington and Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Buffalo. Lafreniere and Kakko scored Sunday as the Rangers built an early 3-0 lead and set the tone.
“They’ve been outstanding,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said Sunday. “They really led the way again tonight and I think they’re playing great. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. So that’s a good sign for us.’’
The three youngsters, all first-round draft picks (Lafreniere was No. 1 overall in 2020, Kakko No. 2 overall in 2019 and Chytil No. 21 overall in 2017), formed the most dynamic line for the Rangers in last year’s playoffs. And though they didn’t start this season together, it was no secret that Gallant always believed the team would be best off with them reunited.
The three have played together the most of any trio on the Rangers this season. All three are having career years, with Chytil parlaying his 22 goals and 22 assists into a new four-year, $17.75 million contract extension signed last week. Lafreniere and Kakko have 16 goals and 38 points each.
According to the analytics website Natural Stat Trick, the three have played together for 477 minutes and 57 seconds at five-on-five and have outscored their opponents 30-18 and outshot them 229-208.
On a team led by Mika Zibanejad’s forceful two-way play and Artemi Panarin’s vision and creativity at the top of the lineup, plus the elite goaltending of Igor Shesterkin, the energy and productivity of the third line, the Kid Line, could be what sets the Rangers apart from other teams when the playoffs begin April 17.
“They’ve been unreal this year,’’ defenseman K’Andre Miller said. “This back half [of the season], they’ve done really well, just how they possess the puck and really work teams down low in the offensive zone. You have Kaapo making guys exhausted with how many cutbacks he does, and Fil and Laf doing that exact same thing. They’re a hard, hard line to play against.
“When you look at them play, you can tell they’re on the same page,’’ Zibanejad said. “They’ve played a lot of hockey together and they’re having fun, they’re working hard, and it’s fun to see them play. I mean, they played some really good hockey without getting the puck in — it hits the post or whatever. Now it’s starting to click. We’re starting to see results.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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