The Rangers took down the points-leading Bruins on Thursday night, countering the notion that the club struggles to beat upper-echelon teams — despite the fact that they are 11-8-1 against the other nine teams in the league’s top 10.
Just like the 5-2 victory in Boston, however, none of it would be possible without Artemi Panarin.
That is the core of what the Hart Memorial Trophy is awarded for, and that is why the star Russian wing should be the frontrunner for the honor.
“Just trying to get him out there,” head coach Peter Laviolette said with a chuckle after Panarin recorded his third hat trick of the season Thursday, giving him point No. 97 en route to what will be his first career 100-point campaign. “More and more because you can tell he’s creating every time he’s on the ice. He’s in the offensive zone. Sometimes, the more he plays, the better he gets. And so you just got to try to find him a little bit of ice time. Big game like this and he really stepped up.”
This season in particular, Panarin has not only been at the heart of one of the most lethal lines in the NHL, but he has been a playmaking force in a way that has dazzled on a game-by-game basis.
The 32-year-old is the first Rangers player since Jaromir Jagr to post 40-plus goals and 50-plus assists in the same season. He is also just the fifth undrafted skater in the past three decades to score 40 goals in a season.
The hat trick against the Bruins was just the latest game-changing performance from Panarin against top teams this season. There was a goal and the primary assist on Mika Zibanejad’s overtime-winner against the Jets in October. Another hat trick Dec. 30 against the Lightning in a 5-1 win.
Who could forget the game-tying goal in the third period against the Avalanche last month, when Panarin circled the whole zone with Cale Makar on his hip before sniping one through traffic to allow the Rangers to win in overtime?
From his two-assist effort in a shutout win over the Oilers on Oct. 26 to his no-look pass on Vincent Trocheck’s OT-winner against the Bruins on Dec. 16, Panarin is surely “adjudged to be the most valuable to his team,” as per the Hart Trophy’s description.
He’s played an integral role in Alexis Lafreniere’s best season as a Ranger. The Blueshirts’ power play would not be ranked sixth in the NHL without Panarin’s fourth-ranked 36 points with the man-advantage. His lighthearted presence has an effect on the Rangers every day, for that matter.
“The way he’s taken his goal scoring to another level,” Zibanejad said. “Everyone knows how good of a passer he is. He’ll find guys where you didn’t think it was possible. Now, he’s been shooting way more this season. It’s really paying off. He has a great shot, so why not use it? He’s been big for us all year.”
It’s true, Panarin is in a deep pool of worthy candidates for the award. He might have three hat tricks, but Toronto’s Auston Matthews has six. Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov (122), Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (117) and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (112) are all producing points at even higher rates than Panarin and are crucial components of their respective teams.
There is, however, already an award for the points leader in the Art Ross Trophy.
Consider this: Panarin doesn’t have a Brayden Point to also chip in 40 goals like Kucherov does. He doesn’t have a fellow 90-point producer in Leon Draisaitl, William Nylander or Mikko Rantanen like McDavid, Matthews and MacKinnon do.
The next highest contributor on the Rangers is his linemate Trocheck, who has 31 fewer points than Panarin does.
This may be about the MVP award for this season, but Panarin has been the Rangers’ most valuable skater since his first season in New York.
He is why the Rangers’ rebuild was sped up multiple years. He is why the Rangers can keep up with elite scoring teams.
The Rangers would not be where they are now — and will not get to where they want to go — without Panarin.
