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‘He can play offense’: Rangers learn there’s more to Vlad Gavrikov’s game
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- ‘He can play offense’: Rangers learn there’s more to Vlad Gavrikov’s game
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The New York Rangers signed defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to be the defense-minded partner for Adam Fox, and he's done everything they could have asked of him when it comes to making life easier for goalie Igor Shesterkin. But they're getting more offense than they ever could have expected.
"He's a great defenseman, and he can play offense," Shesterkin said Tuesday after his fellow Russian's overtime winner gave the Rangers a 3-2 victory against the Dallas Stars at Madison Square Garden. "I'm not shocked he scored the OT goal."
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Gavrikov didn't score more than six goals in any of his first seven NHL seasons. The six-goal season came in 2023-24, two years after he set a career high with 33 points. But the overtime winner Tuesday was his fifth goal in 28 games this season, matching his total for all of 2024-25 with the Los Angeles Kings . His two goals and two assists in the Rangers' past five games are a big reason they are on a 4-1-0 run ahead of their game against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
On the winning goal, Mika Zibanejad fed Artemi Panarin, who teed up a shot from the slot. Dallas goalie Casey DeSmith made the save but couldn't control the rebound; Gavrikov was alone in front, grabbed the rebound, and backhanded the puck into the net for the win.
It was a victory the Rangers desperately needed after they no-showed in a 4-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
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This one didn't come easily. They trailed 2-1 with less than three minutes remaining before Will Cuylle scored with Shesterkin on the bench for an extra attacker – the first time they tied a game in the final three minutes of the third period since March 2, 2024.
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Cuylle's goal gave Gavrikov the opportunity to be the overtime hero, and he delivered.
"Mika and 'Bread' (Panarin) made a great move and I saw an opportunity to jump in front of Bread and create a little confusion," Gavrikov said of his goal . "He got a shot. Obviously, I thought he was going to score, but the rebound, got it done with that."
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Coach Mike Sullivan is among those who's been pleasantly surprised by Gavrikov's contributions on offense.
"I don't know that we thought 20-something games in he'd have five goals," the coach said postgame. "Obviously, his core competency is his ability to defend. He's hard to play against. He's one of the better defending defensemen, we think, in the League. Having said that, we believe has the ability to help our offense, whether it be with outlet passes or joining the rush or being active off the offensive blue line.
"I won't lie. I'm surprised with how effective he's been just with his instincts — in particular, the way he jumps off the offensive blue line."
Vladislav Gavrikov giving Rangers unexpected offensive boost
The winning goal came on a play that saw Gavrikov go to the front of the net, something the 30-year-old defenseman's been doing effectively of late. He scored on a deflection from in front during the Rangers' 6-2 win against the Bruins in Boston on Friday, and displays more willingness to get involved in the attack in New York that he did in his previous stops in Columbus and Los Angeles .
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"Turns out he's also one of our better net-front guys, too," center Vincent Trocheck said. "He's always at the net now. Two tips, he scores a rebound goal in overtime. Just stick him there."
The Rangers need more from Gavrikov with Fox on long-term injured reserve. Braden Schneider moved up to partner with him on the top pair against Dallas, and Sullivan used a five-forward setup on his top power-play unit. The Blueshirts overcame the loss of their top puck-moving defenseman and power-play quarterback for one night, but Gavrikov said over the long term, compensating for Fox's absence must be a group effort.
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"It's going to be probably on all of us, I would say," he said. "Every single one of the D got to make a step in the game. Obviously, 'Foxy' is big for our team, playing big minutes offensively, on the power play. So it's hard to replace him, but we got to try and [that] responsibility [falls] on all of us."
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To that end, veteran defenseman Carson Soucy also scored in the win Tuesday.
"We showed (Tuesday) how we can play. Raise the bar. Got to keep the standard like that and play like that every night"
Sullivan is confident that Gavrikov will continue to be the tentpole for the defense corps while Fox is sidelined.
"We have a lot of faith in him," he said. "He's helped us on the offensive side more than we had expected. He's confident and the way he's jumping off that offensive blue line is certainly instinctive."
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