Radim Vrbata is greeted by hats from happy Coyote fans after his hat trick against the Rangers.
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The Rangers dropped the season opener to the Coyotes 4-1. Not exactly the start you wanted to see under Alain Vigneault. Similar to preseason, they never led and were undisciplined. Another theme was the superb play of Marc Staal. He scored the only goal connecting on the power play tying it up in the second period. By far he’s been their best player. Staal made several strong defensive plays including a great takeout along the boards.

Staal wasn’t the only bright spot. Brad Richards had a very active game. Playing with more confidence, he attempted several shots and had some good passes that set up chances. I liked how he was used on the power play. Instead of holding the puck at the point, the coaching staff had him sneak in. Once, it almost worked with Derek Stepan setting up a one-timer that Mike Smith stopped. Rick Nash had a similar opportunity that also was snuffed out by the Phoenix goalie.

Staal’s goal came on the rush. Stepan and Nash combined to feed the on-rushing defenseman, who blew a wicked shot short side. At Applebee’s with my brother Justin, it was nice to hear Sam Rosen say his trademark “It’s a power play goal.” Hopefully, that’ll be a harbinger of things to come.

The ‘Yotes were led by Radim Vrbata’s hat trick. An underrated finisher, Vrbata managed to do in the Rangers for a litany of errors. With John Moore out of the box, they were caught with three defensemen including a spent Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi. Moore’s poor clearing attempt was intercepted by Derek Morris, whose shot caromed off Henrik Lundqvist to Vrbata who had two whacks before putting it home. A frustrated McDonagh slammed his stick.

A good majority of the second was spent in the Ranger zone. Once Phoenix went ahead, they got momentum. At one point, they had the next 11 shots. Clean slate doesn’t necessarily mean old habits die. There were instances where they were slow to the puck and outworked by a more determined opponent. If not for the play of Lundqvist, it could’ve been much worse. He gave them a chance.

Girardi took a selfish roughing penalty early in the third which immediately led to Vrbata’s second. Off a faceoff win, Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle combined to set him up. He completed the hat trick at 7:23 finishing the Rangers off.

The only other bright spot was Nash challenging Martin Hanzal after a hit on Stepan. Nash stood up for a fallen teammate. The first ounce of passion from him in a Ranger uniform. It was better than the lazy play we’ve grown accustomed to. This team has no enforcer. That could pose a problem.

Final thoughts. I wasn’t expecting much tonight. Without Callahan and Hagelin, they’re a very easy team to play against. They get 3 days off to practice before taking on the Kings Monday. Lets wait and see.

In what can only be seen as poetic justice, Tort’s Canucks lost by an identical score against the Sharks.