3 takeaways from the Rangers' four-game road trip

Ten days ago, the Rangers left for their longest road trip of the season after an awful 6-5 overtime loss to the Sharks, the only remaining winless team in the league. They then started the trip with a 5-1 loss to the Flames, the lowest-scoring team in the league and the team at the bottom of the NHL standings.

But they turned it around to win the last three games of the trip — 2-0 in Vancouver, 4-3 in overtime in Edmonton and 3-2 in overtime in Seattle — and returned home above NHL .500 at 6-5-2 and feeling good about themselves.

“Was it three out of four wins?’’ asked Will Cuylle, who scored the game-winner in Seattle. “I’d say that’s a pretty successful road trip.”

Here are three takeaways from the Rangers’ swing through the Northwest:

1. They really have bought into the whole playing defense thing

Against Seattle, they allowed only 13 shots on goal, the third-fewest in franchise history since the NHL began tracking shots on goal in 1959-60. In the last three games of the trip, they allowed a total of five goals, and their 2.38 goals against per game is the lowest in the league.

“The thing that I’m really proud of [about] the group is just their commitment to play defense,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said after the win in Seattle. “And that’s something, because we haven’t scored a ton of goals at this point, [and] there’s a tendency, I think, to want to chase offense . . . But we can’t do it at the expense of playing defense. I think our defensive game has been the foundation of the success that we’ve enjoyed at this point.’’

2. Return of the Kid Line

In putting his top three offensive players — Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller — together on the top line, Sullivan also has created a new version of the old Kid Line, with 22-year-old rookie Noah Laba centering 24-year-old Alexis Lafreniere (an original Kid Liner) and the 23-year-old Cuylle. That line produced two goals and two assists against Seattle and, according to Natural Stat Trick, outshot their opponents 4-1, out-chanced them 4-1 and outscored them 1-0.

“I thought we controlled play,’’ said Cuylle, who said he is feeling better now after having been under the weather for a while. “Nor many ‘D’ zone shifts, and I didn’t feel like many chances against it. I felt like we were getting . . . a lot of chances off the rush. I mean, I think Labs drives the play so much with his speed and Laf’s so creative with the puck. And I think I can do a good job in front of the net. So I think we all kind of complement each other pretty well.’’

“I thought their line was good,’’ Sullivan said. “So we’re getting contributions, I think, throughout the lineup right now.’’

3. They could be about to get better

Center Vincent Trocheck, who is on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury, is eligible to be activated and has been skating since last Monday. He could return to practice this Monday and theoretically could return to the lineup as soon as Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes — who will be without injured former Ranger K’Andre Miller — at the Garden.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.