Daily Report – 1/22/25

Yankees

Yesterday marked a monumental day for New York baseball. Literally. CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, and Billy Wagner were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Suzuki received 99.7% of the vote. Of the 394 voters, 393 voted for Suzuki. Someone didn’t vote for him, just like one person didn’t vote for Derek Jeter. Sabathia received 86.6% of the vote (342), and Billy Wagner received 82.5% of the vote (325). Suzuki and Sabathia are both first-ballot Hall of Famers.

Sabathia is a former southpaw, workhorse, and Yankees ace. He helped them win the World Series in 2009, and he played in New York from 2009-19, in Milwaukee in 2008, and in Cleveland from 2001-08. He recorded a career 62.3 wins above replacement (WAR) with a 251-161 record, a 3.74 career ERA, 3,577.1 innings pitched, and 3,093 strikeouts. Ichiro Suzuki is a former outfielder who played in Miami from 2015-17, the Bronx from 2012-14, and Seattle from 2001-12. He recorded a career WAR of 60.0, 3,089 hits, 117 home runs, 780 runs batted in, and a career average of .311. Remarkable!

I cannot wait to discuss CC Sabathia more as this week continues. Congratulations to all three members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025!

Rangers

This is what he does. The funny thing is it only happens in January, March, and April. In the biggest moments, Igor Shesterkin comes to the rescue.

He has recorded five back-to-back shutouts in his career. Last night, the Rangers gained traction in the Wild Card race with a dominant 5-0 win over Ottawa, allowing a season-low 20 shots on goal. The Blueshirts have now accumulated 50 points this season (23-20-4) and have extended their point streak to nine games. Interestingly, they actually scored eight goals in this game, but were called for two offsides and a high stick.

Shesterkin’s five back-to-back shutouts are tied for the second most in Rangers history, behind Lorne Chabot (6) and tied with Ed Giacomin (5). Henrik Lundqvist managed to achieve this feat only once in his illustrious career. The fact is that no one streaks like Igor, who is 5-0-1 in his last six starts.

It seems like Shesterkin earns back-to-back shutouts every season, especially during the Spring. His previous consecutive shutouts occurred in mid-April of 2021, early January of 2022, mid-April of 2022, and mid-March of 2024. A common trend among these dates is that the shutouts happen after an extended break, whether due to injury or the All-Star Game. They typically follow challenging stretches of the season and sometimes come after intense shootout performances. Last season, the Rangers played poorly in December and January while Shesterkin was frequently on injured reserve. In the All-Star Game, he successfully denied five or six of the NHL’s best forwards in a shootout, and when he returned to the Rangers, he resembled the Vezina winner he had been two years prior.

This season, an extended stretch of losing combined with Nurse's injury led Shesterkin to shut out Columbus in a shootout on Saturday. This pattern echoes his experience last season. Adding to the pressure is a looming record-setting contract extension; he must perform well enough to justify it, as it won’t go into effect until next season. In mid-December, there was concern that if Shesterkin continued to struggle, the Rangers might consider trading him. Whether the Rangers choose to retool or rebuild after this season, they have the best goalie in the world to build their future around.

I don’t want to cast a shadow on a 6-0-3 stretch that has revitalized the Blueshirts' season, but I feel it's necessary to share a warning I’ve recounted many times before. The last time the Rangers built around a goaltender, they didn’t win a Stanley Cup. Although the current roster was mainly constructed around Artemi Panarin, Shesterkin's excellence was a crucial part of the plan set in 2018. Unless there is a sudden turnaround this season, that plan has faltered, and, like the current Rangers core, Shesterkin is aging. His prime will not last another decade. While his contract doesn’t heavily burden the Rangers—especially given the recent changes to the NHL’s salary cap—it does require them to treat the next five seasons with urgency. This urgency can either be beneficial or detrimental. Given the current state of the Rangers' core, despite their winning streak, the organization may need more time to construct a championship-caliber roster.

I felt it was important to address this. I am, of course, fully supportive of the Rangers’ efforts to secure a playoff spot, and I hope they can continue winning and playing solid defensive hockey. Once you make it to the playoffs, anything can happen, and last night’s game was one of the best of the season.

The Rangers effectively shut down a streaking Senators team with their young, talented goalie, Leevi Merilainen, who struggled in the Garden spotlight. His team didn’t support him well in the first period, allowing Alexis Lafrenière to score on a clean rebound into an open net. Early in the second period, Arthur Kaliyev netted a goal from a tough angle, which analytics would classify as a “bad goal” from the goalie’s perspective. Merilainen also allowed another questionable goal to Kaliyev, which was later ruled offside, but only just. This prompted Ottawa to pull Merilainen, but by then, his team was already deflated.

Meanwhile, the Rangers capitalized offensively, displaying impressive physicality, especially in the third period. With 12:51 remaining, Shesterkin made a glove save, leading to some on-ice scuffles. Brady Tkachuk was pushed into Shesterkin’s crease, prompting Matt Rempe, Braden Schneider, and Filip Chytil to respond. Given Tkachuk’s reputation, I assume he made some remarks toward Shesterkin or Schneider as he tussled with both Rempe and Schneider. Suddenly, Shesterkin jumped out of his crease and body-slammed Tkachuk into the boards, throwing punches and gloving Tkachuk’s head until a linesman intervened.

Matt Rempe shared his feelings about Shesterkin confronting Tkachuk, saying he was “a little nervous because I don’t want anything to happen to [Shesterkin], but I love it. Just because he’s a competitor.” During the third period, Rempe scored his first goal of the season, assisted primarily by Adam Edstrom. This tied the NHL record for the tallest combined height of a goal scorer and primary assister. The Rangers now have the most unique goal-scorers in the league with 23 players.

The Tkachuk scuffle led to a power play for the Rangers after Shesterkin received a penalty for leaving his crease. Soon after, Michael Amadio tripped Shesterkin, rewarding the Rangers with a two-man advantage. Artemi Panarin scored during the 5-on-3 and Will Cuylle added another goal during the 5-on-4, marking two power play goals within 56 seconds. The Rangers also achieved their fifth perfect penalty kill in the last seven games.

Since January 2, the Rangers have led the NHL in goals scored (37), thanks in large part to their strong defense. Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen have brought much-needed consistency to their team’s defense. Interestingly, the roster appears stronger without Jacob Trouba or Kaapo Kakko, as Borgen’s pairing with K’Andre Miller has minimized turnovers.

Tomorrow night, the Rangers will face the Flyers at Madison Square Garden, with both teams tied at 50 points. This game could be crucial for the Rangers in the Wild Card standings.

Here are some more postgame notes from the Rangers website:

In last night’s win, Adam Fox recorded two assists, reaching 346 points in New York, now fifth all-time among Rangers defensemen. Artemi Panarin’s goal was his 20th of the season, making him the sixth Ranger with four consecutive 20-goal seasons since 1990-91. Panarin has 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in his last 13 games.

Alexis Lafrenière scored his second consecutive goal and added an assist, while Sam Carrick recorded his 10th assist of the season.

The three stars of the game were RW Arthur Kaliyev (3: 1 G, 0 A, 1 P), LW Alexis Lafrenière (2: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P), and G Igor Shesterkin (1: 0.00 GAA, 1.000 SV%).

The Rangers lead the season series over Ottawa 2-0 and the two teams will face off again in Ottawa on March 8.

Knicks

I like to refer to the current Brooklyn Nets as the clowns of the NBA. There is literally a player on the team named Noah Clowney.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant once chose Brooklyn over Manhattan, and then they parted ways with New York City altogether. The result: the Nets are tanking while the orange and white are blooming, and the battle of the boroughs has shifted in Manhattan’s favor.

I suppose that the Knicks struggled in this game because it was the second half of a back-to-back. They will get three days of rest before their next game. The score was 99-95 in favor of the Knicks, who led by as many as 13 points before letting Brooklyn back in. The Nets are intentionally tanking, but not in this game. Never in a rivalry.

The Knicks were held to just three points in the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter as Brooklyn crept back into the game. “We’re still figuring it out. We got a little bit of growing as a team and personnel,” said Josh Hart after last night’s win. It wasn’t very pretty.

Some nights the Knicks look like the best team in the NBA. They have the third-best offensive rating in the NBA, but their defensive rating ranks 14th. They have not improved much defensively throughout these last few months. I understand that the NBA season is a grind, but defending first matters in this league. With the All-Star break quickly approaching, the Knicks need to rediscover their identity soon.

I understand that the uncrowned champions of the East are not as close to a coronation as I thought. Naturally, many players are battling injuries, and the lack of depth at center makes things more challenging. Karl-Anthony Towns is still finding his place on the team, although he is an outstanding player and an MVP candidate. He scored 25 points and added 16 rebounds in last night’s win.

Overall, there is not much to critique about the Knicks, who appear to at least be trying to address their defensive woes, but the more they allow opponents to take shots from three-point range, the more challenging it will be for them to find their true identity and beat the toughest teams. A break feels like the best thing for them right now.

In this game, the Knicks had a biggest lead of 13 points while Brooklyn led by as many as two points. The score was tied six times with eight lead changes and a longest run for 10.

The Knicks will play their next game on Saturday night when they host Sacramento.

There is nothing scheduled for tonight, so that will conclude this report. Have a good evening.