A cool Staal quote on the new top line


Mika Zibanejad wears the Broadway Hat following his hat trick in Ottawa. AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy New York Rangers.

Plenty of people have already took notice of the new Rangers top line. And why not? Through two games, they’ve been dynamic.

It looks like for now, Pavel Buchnevich will stay with Mika Zibanejad and early Christmas present Artemiy Panarin. The cohesive trio have great chemistry. They already created some magic with a Panarin pass leading to one of the prettiest goals so far from Zibanejad on a tic tac toe play with a unselfish Buchnevich.

Even their teammates are noticing. Take Marc Staal, who heaped high praise on what he’s seen in two games.

When you can move the puck around like magicians, it makes it look easy. Not every game will be like that. Especially against tougher opponents. However, for Zibanejad to record his third career hat trick against his former team was special.

Here’s how it looked and sounded on MSG from the underappreciated John Giannone and partner Joe Micheletti last night.

It’s pretty cool that Zibanejad got his three goals in different situations. The first came on the power play on the rebound. The second during a seamless transition started by rookie Adam Fox with puck wizardry from both Panarin and Buchnevich leaving Zibanejad speechless. The third one off a terrific defensive play from Brendan Smith to cause a two on one shorthanded with Zibanejad using a perfect toe drag and laser top shelf to turn the trick.

It definitely could be a fun season. It’ll be interesting to see these guys go up against two of the game’s best players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl later this week.

About Derek Felix

Derek Felix is sports blogger whose previous experience included separate stints at ESPN as a stat researcher for NHL and WNBA telecasts. The Staten Island native also interned for or hockey historian Stan Fischler and worked behind the scenes for MSG as a production assistant on New Jersey Devil telecasts. An avid New York sports fan who enjoys covering events, writing, concerts, movies and the outdoors, Derek has covered consecutive Staten Island Yankees NY Penn League championships in '05 and '06. He also scored Berkeley Carroll high school basketball games from '06-14 and provided an outlet for the Park Slope school's student athletes. Hitting Back gives them the publicity they deserve. In his free time, he also attends Ranger games and is a loyal St. John's alum with a sports management degree. The Battle Of Hudson administrator and chief editor can be followed below on Twitter and Facebook.
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1 Response to A cool Staal quote on the new top line

  1. Michael Serra says:

    AMP line!

    Liked by 1 person

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