Things seem to be falling into place. Similar to last season, the Rangers are coming on in coach Alain Vigneault’s second year. They stayed hot with a 4-1 win over the Ducks in the first of a three-game Californian swing. It was their third straight victory and 11th in 12. With the Capitals continuing to win, it pulled them within a point of third in the Metro Division. They have two games at hand and trail the second place Islanders by five.
The difference was Henrik Lundqvist, who outdueled Anaheim backup Ilya Bryzgalov. The King finished with 24 saves. He made the big ones which is why he’s one of the league’s best. Now, he’ll get tomorrow night off with Cam Talbot getting the start in the Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Kings. That should be an interesting subplot.
On the first of a challenging Western trip, Vigneault made one change reinserting John Moore for Matt Hunwick. Tanner Glass was a scratch for the third straight game. He kept the lines intact. That included J.T. Miller on the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Lee Stempniak. Miller has shown improvement since his recall. He is trending upward. Tonight, he was one of the Rangers’ best forwards. Miller set up Derick Brassard’s goal on a delayed penalty and assisted on Moore’s empty netter with Stempniak picking up a helper. Since being put together, they have really meshed.
With Jesper Fast working with Kevin Hayes and Carl Hagelin, there’s no reason to break it up. You can make the argument that the fourth line has become their third line. At least lately with Hayes and Fast still learning. Vigneault has turned a once weakness into a strength. However, the team can still use some size and a dependable faceoff guy. They’ll probably explore the Coyotes’ asking price for Antoine Vermette. He makes $3.75 million in his final year. Outside of Moore, no other Blueshirt is over 50 percent on draws. That’s a subject for another day.
For now, they’re playing well in every aspect. Defensively, they were again sound against one of the West’s best. The Ducks entered leading the league with 58 points. Boasting two of the best players in Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, they were a good challenge. Ryan Kesler centering the second line gives them a strong 1-2 punch. There were shifts that they controlled for long periods. However, the Rangers were able to keep their chances to the outside. In particular, Marc Staal stood out. He played a whale of a game making some excellent defensive plays. The same can be echoed for Ryan McDonagh, who’s all the way back. Kevin Klein continued his strong play by setting up Rick Nash’s game-winner in the third.
Leading by two, the Rangers ran into penalty trouble. After killing a McDonagh hooking minor, Derek Stepan was called for delay of game. Given another opportunity, it took the Ducks all of 10 seconds to get back in it with Perry and Getzlaf combining to set up a bomb from Francois Beauchemin for a power play goal. His shot deflected off Carl Hagelin frustrating Lundqvist, who couldn’t pick it up. He also had McDonagh moving in front.
On the next shift, the Ducks came close to tying it. Lundqvist was able to get enough of a dangerous chance to prevent disaster. One of the keys to the win were them taking advantage of Anaheim mistakes. On Nash’s 25th, a giveaway allowed Klein to fire a shot that he got a piece of. Mats Zuccarello scored a crucial insurance marker off another turnover. He snapped home his seventh short side increasing to 3-1 with 5:33 left.
That dashed any Ducks comeback aspirations. With Lundqvist getting the job done and the Rangers staying aggressive by outshooting Anaheim 11-7 in the third, they got just reward for a superb road game. Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau pulled Bryzgalov early allowing Moore to score into a vacated net with 2:14 remaining.
The defensive work of Stepan was noticeable. He went up against Getzlaf a lot and fared okay. He was 7-for-15 on faceoffs and held his own. His play away from the puck has always been a strong suit. It’s gotten even better. His chemistry with Nash on the penalty kill makes them a lethal shorthanded tandem. For all the criticism he takes for not being a ‘star center’ who wins draws consistently, you can do a lot worse than Stepan as your top pivot. He and Brassard have formed a solid 1-2. Brassard scored his 11th and Stepan is a point-per-game. It’ll be interesting to see what he gets this summer from Glen Sather.
The Rangers are back at it at Staples Center. It should be fun. A rematch from last June. They’ll get to see Marian Gaborik again. Hopefully, this time they’ll keep him off the board and come out with a ‘W.’ They conclude the California invasion Saturday at San Jose.
NY Puck 3 Stars:
3rd Star-J.T. Miller, NYR (2 assists, +2 in 19 shifts-12:16)
2nd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (24 saves)
1st Star-Marc Staal, NYR (assist, 3 shots attempted, 3 hits, 3 blocks, +1 in 25:35)
hasan4978
Derek
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