Kevin Weekes breaks down the wild conclusion to last night’s game


The end of last night’s game is still being discussed in some hockey circles. Why not? It’s not everyday that you have such a wild conclusion to a game.

Fortunately, the Rangers held on for the 3-2 win over the Pens to move into second place in the Metropolitan Division. I doubt they had missing at least four empty nets and needing a gigantic Igor Shesterkin save on Jake Guentzel in coach Gerard Gallant’s manual.

The ridiculous sequence where Andrew Copp passed over for Mika Zibanejad followed by Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow was how not to close out an opponent. But it sure was entertaining. If you can stand the excitement.

Kevin Weekes broke it all down on NHL Network. The best part was the praise he gave Rickard Rakell for how he played goalie by getting up against the near goalpost. Yes. It’s okay to acknowledge that. Even if it drove our fans nuts. Here is Weekes’ illustration below.

My response got a like from Weekes. Hopefully one day soon, he’ll be hired as a Team President or GM. He deserves it. The former goalie is a wealth of knowledge. He has many contacts around the league and is now breaking trades. He’s the man!

Do you think if Copp did it over again, he would take the shot instead of being unselfish by passing over for Zibanejad? It was open! Hopefully, Gallant had the team go over how to score into an empty net prior to tonight’s game in Detroit.

The game isn’t on MSG. It’s on TNT which means face-off isn’t until 7:45 PM. That’s national TV for you. Hopefully, there won’t be any weird camera angles that make the viewer feel drunk.

Enjoy the game. See you later.

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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