Battle Of Hudson covers the Rangers and Devils, who's intense rivalry heated up in the 90's. With fresh faces added, they battle for supremacy in NYC and NJ..
Tonight, the Rangers play host to the Devils in the first game of the season between Hudson rivals. Indeed, the Battle Of Hudson is renewed for another year where at least it’ll feel more normal. Even if it’s not quite a sellout at MSG, you’ll have fans from both sides emotionally invested on a Sunday night. Better a 7 PM game than earlier on an NFL Sunday.
The Rangers look to win their third consecutive game. With wins over the Panthers earlier this week and a more complete effort in last night’s victory over the Blue Jackets, they have to feel better about themselves entering tonight’s match. Especially with Artemi Panarin finally getting his first two five-on-five goals against his former team in Saturday’s 5-3 road win. Sidekick Ryan Strome added two apples while Chris Kreider continued his torrid start with a pair of goals including his seventh on the power play matching a career high. Even Jacob Trouba chipped in with his first goal and a primary helper.
Undoubtedly, it’s better when more of the upper echelon players are involved positively. It wasn’t only Igor Shesterkin, who was fine after being taken out due to an incidental collision with Columbus goal scorer Alexandre Texier. They checked him for concussion protocol. Alex Georgiev subbed in and stopped two shots in the final 6:45 as the Rangers shut it down. He’ll make his fourth start of the season against the Devils. Obviously, he’s struggled so far. But this is a chance to get back on track. We’ll see if he’s up to the challenge.
As for the Devils, we still don’t know who Lindy Ruff is rolling with in net. Based on what Hasan posted last night, I would’ve thought Mackenzie Blackwood would get the second game of a back-to-back. But I checked Roto Wire and they had Jonathan Bernier listed as expected. That isn’t confirmation. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Blackwood had a couple of good games last season in Devil wins at MSG where he was bombarded. Let’s assume he gets the nod as he is their starter.
One thing to watch for is the play of rookie Dawson Mercer. A good skater who’s got a little bit of Mat Barzal in him when it comes to elusiveness, Mercer has been rolling lately. In the 5-2 home loss to Boston, he scored a goal and assisted on one. For the season, he’s got 10 points (5-5-10) with every single one coming at home. We’ll see what kind of challenge he presents for the Rangers defensively.
I’ve already covered the continued struggles of Alexis Lafreniere. He remains stuck on three goals and a helper while playing on the third line. Though you wouldn’t know it by the ice time he received yesterday. I really wonder if he wouldn’t be better served playing major minutes with the Wolf Pack. I guess it depends on how things go. It seems like a waste to play him if he’s not able to earn Gerard Gallant’s trust.
Dougie Hamilton makes a difference for the Devils patrolling the blue line. They certainly pay him enough. He’s exactly as advertised. A terrific skater who can control the game at five-on-five and run the power play. Former Rangers’ draft pick Ryan Graves has made a good partner on their top pair. He took the warm-ups and is a game time decision after exiting yesterday’s game with an injury.
I’m still astonished that the old regime run by Jeff Gorton never gave Graves a look following The Letter. He’s proven to be a capable top four defenseman who is a good skater for his size that does a bit of everything. The opposite of K’Andre Miller, who in my view would be better served as a forward. Maybe he needs to be at Hartford. There’s talent there when you see the skating. Sometimes, the decision making is lacking. Miller is young and still learning. Let’s hope he gets it.
The Devils are getting improved scoring from Andreas Johnsson. His ’21 is well documented. He has turned the page and is contributing in the goal department and assists. Nico Hischier has picked it up recently. A good two-way center, the former top pick is more of a playmaker than finisher. He can play even strength, power play and penalty kill. A good overall player, the key for the Devils’ captain is staying healthy. So far, so good.
Jesper Bratt has been mentioned plenty by Hasan as being a streaky player. He can be really good due to his speed, or a non-factor. However, he’s been more noticeable lately. Another player who must be accounted for. The Devils recently recalled first round pick Alexander Holtz. Thus far, he has an assist for his first NHL point. But still hasn’t gotten that first goal. It’s a Rangers tradition to give up first goals. I hope that doesn’t happen again. Holtz has a strong shot and will get a look on the power play.
UPDATE: Scratch that. It looks like former Wolf Pack enforcer Mason Geertsen is in for Holtz. You know what that means. Fireworks 🎆 🎇 🧨.
Mason Geertsen is warming up for #NJDevils against his former team.
Good indication with Holtz not taking warmups, Geertsen goes in.
P.K. Subban is now public enemy number one for the slewfoot on Ryan Reaves in a pointless exhibition game. Originally, I didn’t think it was deliberate. But he did it again during the season and was fined for it. Keep a close eye on what develops here. Subban has been productive too. You still have to not allow too much space for his heavy shot.
I don’t see Gallant making any other lineup changes. They won last night and played two good periods. It wasn’t only smoke and mirrors like previous wins. Julien Gauthier also had an effective game, picking up a key secondary assist on the Trouba goal while also drawing a penalty. He should remain in on the third line with Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow, who so far has silenced critics. He and Sammy Blais have been two players Gallant can count on. Goodrow for his penalty killing and ability to move around and even take face-offs. Blais for his strong forecheck and physicality. I’d also throw Kevin Rooney in there as well. The ex-Devil continues to be a good addition since Gorton added him last season.
So, what to expect? I am not sure on the score. But I feel there will be a bit more intensity that we’ve seen from these two bitter rivals in a while. I’ll have a game story later.
Winning is supposed to be fun. But if you think this is a Cup contender, you need your head examined. Making the playoffs is a goal for this team. By winning 5-3 over the Blue Jackets, the Rangers checked off another two points and their eighth victory against only three losses in regulation (8-3-3).
That’s the encouraging part. The discouraging aspect is again, Alexis Lafreniere hardly played. The 20-year old first overall pick in 2020 is a ghost under coach Gerard Gallant. Despite playing on the third line, he received the least amount of ice time (9:44). It can’t be good for his confidence that the coach doesn’t even have enough belief to play him with the team ahead by three goals.
Lafreniere didn’t have a shot in the win. Would it be the worst thing in the world if they stop jerking him around and send him down to Hartford? At least in the AHL, Lafreniere could get regular shifts including top power play and regain his confidence. The way he’s been handled is like a hand grenade. That’s the direction the organization has taken. They care about wins. Not helping develop a potential franchise player who is lost in the shuffle.
This short-sighted thinking could actually cost the Rangers over the long-term. They won because their highest paid player decided to show up. Artemi Panarin scored twice including his second during a sudden turnaround. Following an Eric Robinson goal that went right by Igor Shesterkin, who didn’t look particularly good on two of the three he allowed, the Rangers responded with three straight goals over a 63-second span.
Jacob Trouba started it when his smart pinch down and perfect feed allowed Chris Kreider to bury his 10th to tie the score 43 seconds later. Kreider had another big game getting his team-leading 10th and 11th including yet another power play goal that proved crucial early in the third. A self-inflicted wound from Columbus starting goalie Elvis Merzlikins led directly to Ryan Strome setting up an open Panarin for his second of the game 36 seconds later to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
They weren’t done. On a strong shift behind the net, Julien Gauthier won a board battle to get the puck over to Barclay Goodrow. Goodrow then centered for Trouba, who actually hit the net for his first goal of the season. Speaking of overpaid players who haven’t lived up to the contract former GM Jeff Gorton gave along with the customary NMC like candy. For once, Trouba looked like the defenseman he was in Winnipeg, recording a goal and assist in the victory. More performances like that and he won’t be an easy target for the fanatics.
That three-goal barrage turned the game around. It really swung on a Merzlikins turnover. He aggressively came out and misplayed a loose puck that wound up going to Strome. He was able to find Panarin for the go-ahead tally. The Rangers never trailed again. Strome quietly had a good game. He had two assists including a key secondary on an odd man rush that saw Adam Fox get the puck over for an easy Panarin finish with 2:31 left in the first period. It was a big goal because they didn’t exactly play well in the first. But a better finish allowed them to tie the score.
It answered a power play goal from Jakub Voracek. Not a known shooter due to his playmaking capabilities as he continues to do with the Blue Jackets as he had with the Flyers, he scored his first goal in his second stint with Columbus at 8:59 of the first period. With Sammy Blais off for a cross check that broke his stick on Alexandre Texier, rookie Cole Sillinger and Oliver Bjorkstrand combined to get the puck over to Voracek, whose sinking wrist shot fooled Shesterkin for the game’s first goal. It was a nice play off the rush with Bjorkstrand staying onside to set Voracek up. The Rangers wisely didn’t challenge.
For a good portion early, the Rangers struggled to sustain much puck pressure. The Blue Jackets had the better of the play getting eight of the game’s first 12 shots on Shesterkin. Outside of the Voracek tally which was stoppable, he made some key saves when his team wasn’t establishing much at five-on-five. Eventually, the Blueshirts settled down to finish the period better thanks to Panarin’s first goal at five-on-five. Shots were 12-9 CBJ.
Sometimes, all it takes for a great scorer is getting that one goal to get the monkey off their back. That’s what I thought after Panarin scored. Even though it was both Strome and a patient Fox, who did most of the work, Panarin found open space and finished. Exactly what Gallant wanted to see. Maybe he needs to face his former team more often. The six shots were a season high. The prior two games, he didn’t register one. Despite hearing the boos, the Bread Man produced. In two games (both NYR wins), he has five points (2-3-5). Too bad they only see Columbus one more time on Jan. 27. That’s the NHL schedule for you. Utterly ridiculous.
In the second, with not much going on, Zach Werenski and Jake Bean got the puck up to Robinson, who simply gained the zone and fired a high shot that sailed by Shesterkin’s glove far side. The shot was good. But it’s one you expect our top goalie to have. It was surprising.
The way the Rangers responded was perfect. Less than a minute later, a smart Trouba pinch allowed him to make like Fox and center for a quick Kreider redirect that beat Merzlikins at 7:39. Kreider is a different player this year. He’s burying his chances with most coming directly in front. If there’s a real positive under Gallant, it’s the play of Kreider. I believe his style fits perfectly under Turk, who prefers grit. Kreider looks every bit like one of the game’s best power forwards. He wasn’t done.
After Panarin notched his fourth from Strome thank to an early Christmas gift from Merzlikins, Trouba got a head start on Thanksgiving by finishing off a Goodrow feed from behind the net to suddenly make it 4-2 Blueshirts. It happened that quickly. If you blinked for a moment, you missed it. The best part is they scored at even strength. An area they dominated in a much improved second that saw them outshoot the Jackets 19-7. A nice turnaround from being down 12-9 after one. They led 28-19 after two.
A foolish interference minor penalty on Blue Jackets’ captain Boone Jenner with 35 seconds remaining in the second put the Rangers on a power play. Although they didn’t convert on the first part to end the period, they made the most of the remainder at the start of the third.
Following a Fox pass down low, Zibanejad patiently waited before sending a great pass across for an easy Kreider tip in at the 52-second mark of the third. Zibanejad is such a shooting threat that he keeps opponents honest. The Columbus penalty kill completely forgot about Kreider, who scored on the backdoor. It was his NHL-leading seventh power play goal. Right now, there isn’t a better net front presence than Kreider, who continues his hot start with 11 goals in 14 games.
Kreider's 7th ppg of the season. We're not even halfway through November, btw pic.twitter.com/Ue74MrgMmE
It got interesting in the second half of the third period. On just a ridiculous play from Patrik Nemeth, who shoved a player right into Shesterkin, Texier scored on a deflection of a Vladislav Gavrikov shot pass to cut the lead to 5-3 with 6:45 left. Somewhat predictably, a hobbled Shesterkin left the game. Gallant indicated that he should be available for the Devils later tonight. Given what’s coming up over the next week, I have no problem with Alex Georgiev getting the second half of a back-to-back. He only faced two shots in the final 6:45 stopping both.
We’ll see what Gallant decides. At least he kept Gauthier in over Greg McKegg, who was a recall from Hartford with the injury prone Filip Chytil going on IR retroactively. I honestly think Chytil should play on the right side with Strome and Panarin, replacing the ineffective Kaapo Kakko. How can anyone argue when he still is without a point? In over 16 minutes last night, he didn’t register a single shot. I’ve seen enough. Put him on another line.
As for Lafreniere, I wish I didn’t see it coming. But when they took him first overall after how hyped he was by Canada, they didn’t take into account the Ranger Factor. They don’t know how to use top picks. Does anyone think they thought they’d wind up winning the two part NHL Draft Lottery? They had already extended Kreider, who’s looking worth it. Panarin isn’t going anywhere. Lafreniere plays the same position as both Panarin and Kreider. That makes him third on the depth chart.
Unless he can learn to play the right side, it looks like a waste. I was concerned about this very scenario. It’s playing out because Gallant quickly scrapped the Lafreniere right wing experiment on the top line early. Now, there doesn’t seem to be a role for him. Is this normal? He can’t even get consistent shifts game to game or power play time. When there’s more defined roles for fourth liners Ryan Reaves and Dryden Hunt, that’s a problem. Don’t expect any other NYR blogger to address it.
Despite all the spin, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. The 8-3-3 start is nice. It allows them to feel good about themselves. Especially in a competitive division where points are tough to come by.
Next up are the Devils. They’ve played some surprisingly good hockey without Jack Hughes. Dawson Mercer was in that same draft as Lafreniere. He’s got 10 points (5-5-10) and plays a real role. His game is eerily similar to Mathew Barzal. All 10 of his points have come on home ice. We’ll see how he fares in his MSG debut.
THREE STARS 🌟 OF GAME
3rd 🌟 Jacob Trouba, NYR (1st of season plus 🍎, 6 SOG, +2 in 22:38)
For all the things that may be changing so far with the Devils, apparently one thing destined never to change is the Devils’ dreadful record in weekend home matinees. It seems as if it’s the same script over and over again, sellout crowd ready to go nuts (albeit a sellout crowd with a noticeable contingent of Bruins fans today), and the team throws out another nothingburger of a game. I wish I had stats to back it up, I know the Devils were 0-9-1 in weekend home games last year but that was with no/little crowd in the stands and they weren’t all matinees. Sure, it’s hard to really get on them in the overall landscape for losing 5-2 to the Bruins. After all, I’d have taken two out of four this week and they already have the first two wins in the bank. Still, there were some troubling things that came out of this game.
First among them was – as much as I like Lindy Ruff – the head coach’s insistence on line matching as if it was 2003 and we had John Madden and Jay Pandolfo at their peak instead of Mike McLeod as our ‘checking center’ against one of the best lines in the league with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, who just ran roughshod around us all afternoon. It’s unconscionable to me how you have a line that’s absolutely cooking right now in Jesper Bratt, Andreas Johnsson and Dawson Mercer and yet they get a grand total of eight minutes of icetime in the first two periods – in which, oh by the way, they scored the team’s only two goals of the game – while the coach keeps running out McLeod and Jimmy Vesey playing not to lose. You know what they say about playing not to lose, you stop playing to win when you play not to lose.
I mean come on now, I’m fine with McLeod as a fourth liner but he shouldn’t be any more than that. You have to have one of McLeod or Jesper Boqvist as your default third-line center until Jack Hughes gets back, I understand that. That does not mean that our third-line center should be getting first line minutes, especially being behind for most of the game. And I get why he moved rookie Alex Holtz off our supposed first line with Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha in the third period, Holtz hasn’t done much so far and if you want to replace him with a vet in crunchtime, fine. But what the heck has Tomas Tatar done as a Devil to earn benefit of the doubt to be moved up when not playing well?! He scored one lucky goal against the Islanders that apparently gave everyone in the locker room warm and fuzzies because he’s ‘popular in the room’. Wonderful, he still hasn’t actually produced points as a Devil (five in thirteen games is actually higher than I thought his total was, but only that one goal among them) and was a -2 in his 17:22 of icetime today.
Not that lineup decisions were our only issue today, although in that vein maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for the head coach to let Jonathan Bernier sit for a week after his hot start to the season, cause he sure cooled off today with a couple of meh goals allowed and a lot of juicy rebounds that extended plays. Bernier even nearly botched away a goal with Cory Schneider-esque puckhandling in the first period. Maybe he was owed some market correction after his 4-0 start to the season, but either way he was gonna get in a game during the back-to-back. Obviously despite Bernier’s start, Blackwood’s still being treated as the clear 1A goalie and having a virtuoso shutout performance Thursday only solidified his hold on the starting job. I don’t want to hear that Bernier shouldn’t have played after Blackwood had a shutout though, you can afford to give Blackwood an extra day off after he hasn’t played all spring and summer. Bernier was gonna play one of these games regardless, might as well let Blackwood play in the four-point division game.
Now that I’ve checked off goaltending and line matching, let’s go back to a familiar problem that unfortunately cropped up again today….hideous special teams. How is it possible that the special teams, which finally showed some signs of life over the last week, can go right back to collectively sucking?! It’s not as if it’s just the power play or just the penalty kill, it’s either they both work, or more often they’re both a tire fire, as was the case today. Regular as clockwork, our power play failed on two straight chances in a five-minute span in the first period and that turned the momentum of what was mostly an even game till then. From there till nearly the end of the second period it was a Bruins rampage. Erik Haula scored just a few minutes after our power fails turned the game, then the hated Brad Marchand scored on the power play early in the second period to really put us behind the eight-ball.
Despite the team being lifeless in the second period, it was the Mercer line that somehow kept the Devils in the game, pulling a goal back just twenty-eight seconds after Marchand scored with some nice tic-tac-toe passing from Bratt to Johnsson to Mercer for a highlight-reel goal that pumped some life back into the Rock. It wouldn’t last long though, as Marchand gleefully took advantage of one of Bernier’s juicy rebounds to restore the Bruins’ two-goal edge barely two minutes later. It stayed at 3-1 for most of the period, and the coach still continued to line match at the expense of the Mercer line until they got a rare shift at the end of the period and inevitably took advantage with another highlight-reel play as Bratt got the puck behind the net and it took a fortunate carom to Mercer in front, who made the patient pass back to Bratt for an open-net goal that pulled the Devils back within one despite being dominated for much of the previous thirty minutes.
Finally it seemed as if the coach got the message early in the third and rolled out the Bratt line more, and while they created our best chances they couldn’t quite get the tying goal. That’s when the refs decided to strike, with a possible cross-check from Taylor Hall on Ryan Graves going uncalled and leading to an odd-man rush at the other end, which the Bruins promptly scored on to basically end the game as a contest, and end Graves’ afternoon as well as he left injured. According to the coach he’s day-to-day so hopefully this actually IS a day-to-day situation and not just an euphemism for we don’t want to give out any info on an injury timeline, heaven forbid. Funny how that goes uncalled while an even clearer boarding of Boqvist minutes earlier got missed. Perhaps the most maddening call of all was actually in the second period when Brandon Carlo got called for interference, but Nico was also called for embellishment! I might be missing something but I didn’t think Nico was in the officials’ black book a la Joseph Blandisi who got called for diving once a month seemingly. So when a guy five inches taller and forty pounds heavier cross-checks you in the back, you also get penalized for what…not getting up soon enough?!
This is something I will never understand.
Boston's Brandon Carlo just got called for interference on #NJDevils Nico Hischier.
But Nico Hischier also gets called for embellishment.
You aren’t the only one Amanda. Especially given with the frequency it’s called. Maybe like one tenth of the dual penalties get called you can actually argue both happened simultaneously, but most of the time it’s either a clear dive or a clear penalty, you can’t apply the wisdom of Solomon to everything and just penalize both sides if you have any doubt. Make a call, one way or the other. But you’d better be sure if you’re calling embellishment, especially if it’s a guy with a seemingly squeaky clean rep like Nico, and he’s fouled by a much bigger player.
It wasn’t even just the on-ice stuff that annoyed me today – since the Prudential Center first opened, sections 7-9 and 17-19 were the club areas, no question about it. There were some front-row seats in other sections that had club access but the actual club section seats are all cushioned, and all blocked off from the rest of the arena. I only come to find out today that in fact it’s only the two direct center ice sections that have complete club access now, while the other sections’ club access only goes up to row 5, or row 8 of the section (I’m not even gonna bother to go through it). Everyone else, you have to enter the section through an adjacent area, go to your seat and then go around again on your way out without passing through the club area. Obviously the seats I got for this game and the Wild game don’t qualify for club access, whatever. Figures that getting club seats on a giveaway sounded too good to be true, it obviously was.
It’s annoying and nonsensical that it’s set up that way, but probably prevented me from eating too much today in the end. Plus I still have my food and beverage card ($150 for the season) anyway, so I tried two empanadas at one of the stands and was done with my ‘gorging’ for the afternoon, and I can use some reward points for other club seats if I wish, which is surprisingly easy this year since club seats are only 1200 reward points and you get 500 reward points just by ‘checking into’ a game, i.e. marking down you’re in attendance, plus you can get other reward points with in-game question and answers on their app. So all in all the season ticket rewards have been fine so far this season, as they should be – you want to make your ticket holders happy, especially after many let the team make interest on their money through the pandemic. I guess the disappointment in not actually being in the club area before the game was a harbinger for what was to come on the ice this afternoon.
We’ll see about tomorrow’s game at the Garden, obviously Blackwood is playing. Graves, who knows? Hopefully more of the players show up tomorrow, if I was doing a three stars it’d be all three forwards from the same line. Can’t say too many other people besides 63, 18 and 11 impressed me today.
The Rangers are finally back in action when they visit the Blue Jackets tonight at 7 PM. It’ll be their first game since a 4-3 home win over the Panthers on Monday.
After missing Monday’s game with an injury due to accidentally colliding with Sammy Blais in the first period of a blowout loss at Calgary, Filip Chytil was placed on the IR by the team. It’s retroactive. With the fourth-year forward again hurt, the Rangers recalled veteran center Greg McKegg from Hartford.
The 29-year old journeyman has already played in eight games for the Blueshirts in his second stint. He appeared in 53 games during ’19-20, tallying five goals and four assists in a secondary role. Last season, McKegg played in five games for the Bruins scoring a goal. He spent most of his time on the taxi squad.
At this point, McKegg is a filler who can play on the fourth line when needed. Given the team’s continued face-off woes, that’s probably why they summoned him. Even without Chytil, who isn’t a true center due to his inability to win draws, the Rangers have four NHL centers on the roster. Behind Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome are Barclay Goodrow and Kevin Rooney. While Goodrow is used mostly on the wing, he can play center and already takes face-offs. Both he and Rooney are over 48 percent along with Strome. Zibanejad is lower despite taking the most draws.
In regards to who gets the start, it’s anyone’s guess. Alex Georgiev was front and center talking to the press yesterday about his bad start. He spoke about getting back to the goalie he was. Truthfully, he hasn’t been the same since the blowup with former teammate Tony DeAngelo following an overtime loss to Pittsburgh. DeAngelo plays for Carolina now and is doing well. Georgiev must rediscover what worked. He’s allowed too many rebounds and been beaten on stoppable shots.
With the schedule picking up over the next 10 days including the Rangers hosting the Devils (5-2 losers to Boston earlier) at MSG tomorrow in a back-to-back, they’re going to need both goalies. That means Georgiev should get at least two starts over the next six games. Igor Shesterkin is the clear number one having played extremely well. However, he’s not a robot. That means he can’t play every night or be expected to save the team like he did Monday when he was under siege. They barely survived a furious Panthers’ rally.
I’m terms of what to expect, Kaapo Kakko continues to practice with Strome and Artemi Panarin. Despite not having any points, he was better against Florida. He lost his first point of the season when a Panarin goal was overturned on a successful coach’s challenge for goaltender interference on Strome. It was incidental contact. Kakko attempted more shots. He must continue to to finally get on the score sheet.
With Alexis Lafreniere struggling to produce, he’ll likely continue to play on the third line. It’ll be weakened without Chytil. On Monday, he played with Goodrow and Julien Gauthier, who again failed to score on a breakaway. Stone hands. If they stay intact, look for Sammy Blais to again play on the first line with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. He had an active game. Blais isn’t a top line player. But he is the kind of versatile player Gerard Gallant trusts. Ditto for Goodrow. Both have been good additions.
Defensively, the team must improve. Part of it is they aren’t spending enough time on the forecheck at five-on-five. If you checked the numbers at five-on-five, it’s scary. There aren’t many players faring well. That includes Panarin, who despite being a point-per-game, isn’t happy with his game. Good. He shouldn’t be. The even strength statistics are atrocious.
Due to that, they spend way too much time defending. That isn’t what Gallant wants to see. He voiced his displeasure following the one-goal win over Florida. The third period was unacceptable. In fact, they’ve been outscored 11-1 over the last four games in third periods. That needs to change.
The Rangers average under 23 shots a game. That’s absurd. They must have more of a shooters mentality. It starts in the face-off dot. A notorious bad team on draws despite having a former linesman work with them during training camp, nothing has changed. Losing face-offs leads to less puck possession. Go check the zone starts for most players. It isn’t pretty. Go by five-on-five on hockey-reference.com. That’ll paint a true picture.
Elvis Merzlikins is starting for Columbus. He’s been excellent so far. In the first meeting, the Rangers got the better of him by scoring four times on 37 shots in a home win on Oct. 29. That’s his only loss so far. He enters 5-1-0 with a 1.98 GAA and .940 save percentage. If it’s Shesterkin again, it’s a high profile goalie match-up. He’s 6-2-2 with a 2.37 GAA, .931 save percentage and one shutout that came versus Columbus.
Maybe, just maybe this is a new day in Newark after all. If you could dismiss the Devils’ 7-3 win against the Panthers on Tuesday as an inevitable road letdown from a team off to a hot start that just lost its first regulation game the night before, you can’t dismiss Thursday’s impressive win over the Islanders so easily. Especially given the Devils’ 2-6 record against (mostly) these same Islanders last year. If the fans are starting to believe in this young team that’s now 7-3-2 despite ostensibly their top center for all but two of those games, it looks as if the team already has that belief in itself.
#NJDevils Mackenzie Blackwood after the Devils 4-0 win: "In the past, you'd see the schedule and go 'ugh' these are going to be tough games. This year, there's a different aura in the room. You don't care who you play bc if you play your game you can compete with anyone."
I admit to having that exact feeling before this four game stretch against the Panthers, Islanders, Bruins and Rangers. However after two impressive wins and seven points out of a possible eight in their last four games, this team’s earning some credibility from the fanbase. Blackwood himself was a big reason why in last night’s game, stopping all 42 shots he faced from an Islander team still on the road for the eleventh straight game until their new arena opens. Tough noogies – we had all the excuses we needed and then some when they killed us last year.
It wasn’t just the Blackwood show in spite of the stats though, it was a team effort last night. To wit, four different goalscorers and ten skaters put up at least a point. Our special teams continued its show of life over the last week with both a shorthanded goal and a power play goal. If there’s one cause for optimism besides now having both goaltenders in gear and playing well, it would be having a sustainable positive contribution from our special teams, which arguably sank us as much as COVID did last year. I’m sure GM Tom Fitzgerald was looking on like a proud dad as all four goalscorers were either signed, traded for or drafted by the Devils’ third-year GM.
Getting Janne Kuokkanen was a masterstroke for Fitz, although he got off to a bit of a slow start this year, he’s starting to heat up with two goals in his last three games. His shorthanded goal last night in the first period opened the scoring and gave the Devils an additional shot of momentum after Blackwood stopped Matt Barzal on an early breakaway that could have completely changed last night’s game. It was a tense first two periods as the contest remained at 1-0 until a late second-period power play goal doubled the Devils’ lead and gave Tomas Tatar his first goal of the season. Sometimes results matter more than looks, as a Dougie Hamilton shot caromed off Tatar’s leg past Ilya Sorokin, but that couldn’t dampen Tatar’s emotional celebration of his first goal this season.
It was prize rookie Dawson Mercer who upped the Devils’ lead to three in the third, off another brilliant feed from a still-sizzing Andreas Johnsson. All Mercer had to do was beat Sorokin on a partial breakaway, which he did for his fourth goal of the season. Yeah I’d say this teen wonder is here to stay. The jury remains out on fellow teen rookie Alexander Holtz, kept off the scoreboard again but as long as the team’s winning and Holtz isn’t hurting matters you might as well see if he can get going at the NHL level. Hamilton himself would finish the scoring with just under four minutes remaining with his third goal of the season. Hamilton and fellow offseason acquisition Ryan Graves have combined to give this team a true first pairing it’s sorely lacked since the days where the two Scotts patrolled the blueline. Maybe you could argue Paul Martin and Brian Rafalski were a legit #1 pairing, or Andy Greene and Mark Fayne resembled one for a hot minute but neither were a long-term solution.
Speaking of Greene, too bad the schedulemakers couldn’t figure out a way to squeeze in one more game for the Islanders so that he’d play his 1000th game at the Rock instead of #999. He played eighteen minutes with an even plus minus, which is about what you can expect from Greene – even in the twilight of his career. On the other hand Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri’s reunion trips at the Rock in Islander uniforms weren’t as placid with Parise getting a -1, Palmieri being a -3 and both committing minor penalties. I always liked Palmieri when he was here so his heel turn in the three or four games against us since going to the Island is a bit puzzling, it’s almost as if he’s playing like he was a pariah here with bones to pick with ex-teammates like Damon Severson, who was on the other end of a roughing matching minor in the second period.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to even watch this game, much less attend seeing as I had my own prior commitment. Not that I really cared since I was happy over the win, and also given the fact I wasn’t likely to go to all three home games in a five-day span anyway. Plus I was just there Tuesday for the goalfest and I’ll be back Saturday afternoon – in all-you-can eat club seats no less – the second of four (currently) such games I’m getting upgraded as a season ticket holder. Well technically two of the games were season ticket holder upgrades and the other two were part of a free ticket giveaway sent to all sth’s, where I happened to notice club seats were available for tomorrow’s game and the pre-Thanksgiving night game against the Wild.
I was in the clubs for the Sabres game already, as much as I like the all-you-can eat aspect, there wasn’t an especially big food selection – chicken tenders, buffalo chicken tenders, fries, small burger sliders, hot dogs that are only lukewarm, baked pretzel pieces, a few other things and assorted snacks. I did like the fact they were portioned out, seeing as I like to have a little bit of everything when I’m there anyway although I might stick to the tenders, fries and dessert for the most part going forward. Sometimes you forget about the tradeoff sitting down low is until you’re there. I was in section 9 for the Buffalo game, only a few rows up from the ice…a great view for the near half of the ice, not so much so for the far end. Plus with club seats you have to pay attention at all times with potential pucks going into the stands right behind the glass, whereas in 120 where I normally sit, your attention can wander and it’s still a great seat. Still, I’m not gonna turn down an upgrade and free food even if I prefer my own seats on some level.
Of course the fact I’m literally getting comped club seat tickets (outside of the actual season ticket rewards) isn’t a great sign for attendance. According to my buddy who was at the game last night it was about 60-40 Islander fans, which makes sense given it’s the closest thing they’ve had to a home game so far this season while it’s the middle of our third home game in five days. At least for once we sent them home angry. Having a bunch of home games early in the season isn’t going to help attendance either, but without much of an NFL season for local fans apart from fantasy/knockout pool/betting interests and MLB likely to go into witness protection in another three weeks, the Devils will have their time to get the fanbase back. It’s up to the team to continue to earn points and belief from the fans that this year will be different.
Devils Three Stars:
Mackenzie Blackwood (42 saves, shutout in his third start of the year)
Coming back from a moderately successful West Coast trip, the omens weren’t great for the Devils before tonight’s game. Personally, I almost forgot I was going to the game tonight – which I didn’t exactly take as a good sign either. Of course I only watched bits and pieces of the California trifecta of games. Hearing about Miles Wood’s hip surgery didn’t help my mood, although at least they finally deigned to let us know what the issue was with the physical, speedy winger. Despite the team’s 5-3-2 record heading into tonight’s game I didn’t exactly like our chances against a sizzling Florida team, who finally hit a speed bump at the Garden last night after a 10-0-1 start to their season. Particularly when I found out Dougie Hamilton was going to miss a third straight game, after word was that he’d try to go in the warmup and they’d decide then I got to the arena and looked down on the ice toward the end of warmups specifically to see if Hamilton was there. Nope, and sure enough it turned out he didn’t even skate in the warmup after all. Just as well since if his availability was still tenuous enough to hinge on a pregame skate then he probably shouldn’t be playing, especially with three more games in a brutally tough week of competition for the Devils.
To paraphrase Chris Berman or whoever he got the quote from…that’s why they play the games.
Not only did the Devils strut out of the Rock with a stunning 7-3 win, but they actually had to come from behind twice in the process! If you told me how this game would eventually wind up before puck drop, I would have been surprised but random blowouts of good teams do happen over the marathon that is the NHL schedule. That said, if you told me after the first ten minutes of the game what the result was going to be, I would have been flat-out shocked. It looked like yet another dreary start for the home side early as Mackenzie Blackwood (in his first home start of the year) gave up a terrible wraparound goal to Sam Bennett, and got no help from Ty Smith who was beaten to the puck and allowed Bennett to stuff home his own rebound from the initial attempt. At about the midway mark of the period the Panthers were outshooting us either 7-3 or 8-3 and my attention was already wandering.
Perhaps even more shocking than the end result was what actually turned the game around – SPECIAL TEAMS. Or to be more precise, the fact special teams actually turned the game around for the Devils in a positive way for a change. I didn’t even think much of it when the Devils killed off a Florida power play although not letting the game get to 2-0 early was huge. Heck, even a bad PK like the Devils can still manage to kill off around 7 of 10. When the Devils’ power play actually struck later in the period though, then you knew something was cooking. More precisely, it was the Jesper Bratt-Andreas Johnsson combo that was cooking, which has been money over the last couple of weeks in general. On this play Bratt’s initial shot eventually rebounded to Johnsson who stuffed home the rebound at 15:46, after starting the give-and-go with a nice feed to Bratt in the first place. If only all our PP’s could operate that efficiently.
At least Johnsson’s fifth goal of the season was well-timed, and the momentum fully shifted our way. Barely two minutes later the Devils cashed in further when Nico Hischier deflected a Ty Smith shot past Panthers goalie Spencer Knight. Up 2-1 and getting cheered off the ice, you would have thought the Devils could carry their momentum through at least a minute of the second period. Instead the quick-strike Panthers temporarily turned the game on its ear with back-to-back goals. First, the talented Alexander Barkov scored off a rebound from a blocked shot to tie the game after just twenty-four seconds. Then barely a minute later, Owen Tippett drifted behind the entire Devils defense and was wide open for an easy tap-in goal off a nice feed from Gustav Forsling. Down 3-2 before you could blink, all my negativity came back in droves.
Almost as if saying anything you can do, we can do too, the Devils shrugged off the two early goals and tied the game just twenty-nine seconds after the Panthers took the lead. It was again Johnsson who was at the center of a key goal, this time off a nice feed from rookie Dawson Mercer through traffic. Johnsson’s sixth goal of the year surpassed his total from the entire 2021 season, after just eleven games! I can’t remember the last time a player went from zero to hero this quickly, maybe Keith Kinkaid during his Cinderella surge in 2018? It’s one of those unlikely redemption stories that make sports the greatest reality TV out there. Where would the Devils be right now if Seattle had taken Johnsson over Nate Bastian in the expansion draft?
Ironically the absolute craziness of the first two minutes in the second period gave way to an actual mundane period after that, almost as if both coaches said okay let’s put the kibosh on this pond hockey. Of course, that still doesn’t mean the goals were about to stop for the night. In another example of a game where what can go right does go right, PK Subban gave the Devils the lead with a slapshot from yesteryear that I’m not sure has actually hit the net or gotten past a goalie since his heyday in Montreal. Still, as good as being up 4-3 felt I didn’t exactly think this was over, especially with the Panthers’ high-powered offense and our suspect late-game defense.
It was another power play that gave the Devils some breathing room early in the third, when Hischier and Mercer both caused a turnover in the defensive zone, then Hischier’s feed at the other end found Pavel Zacha with time and space to get his own rebound past Knight and extend the Devils’ lead for the first time to two goals. If I had time before going to bed I’d try to find out when the last time the Devils had two power play goals in a game was, but it feels like a while. Perhaps the most noteworthy fact about Zacha’s sixth goal of the season was that it was also Alexander Holtz’s first NHL point, off a secondary assist. It was also the rookie’s best game clearly of the three he’s played so far. Hopefully the first goal isn’t too far behind but for tonight, a point will do for Holtz.
After Nico tipped one of his shots past Knight earlier, this time Smith got one in the back of the net himself through traffic just seconds after Zacha’s goal, polishing off a three-point night and a deserved star after a shaky beginning tonight and some uneven games since coming off of IR. Even at 6-3, I wasn’t convinced it was over but the Devils did a fairly good job of holding the lead in the third and keeping their head despite some attempted Panther goonery (what would you expect from a team with Radko Gudas and Patrik Hornqvist on the ice?). Almost as if baking a cake with things you wanted to see from the team tonight, the Devils’ empty-net goal from Jimmy Vesey was the icing on the cake, since the team had struggled in the empty net situation both offensively and defensively so far this year. Yes, I was finally convinced the game was over at that point, despite the nearly four minutes remaining. Ironically the Devils’ win pushed their record to 6-3-2, which was their high water mark last year. Hopefully there’ll be a better end to this year’s story.
Before the game the Devils observed a moment of silence for long-time usher Earl Laycock, who’d become a cult figure at the Rock due to his ‘Dancing Earl’ segments on the Jumbotron. Can’t say I ever knew the man personally or even had any interaction with him but plenty did, and he was omnipresent for everyone due to the popular stoppage of play segments, which will forever be called Dancing Earl’s Dance Moves.
“That’s a little maybe too nerve racking at the end. But we pulled it off at the end and got the win. … You try not to not think about it. They haven’t lost in regulation. We give them the first loss. We take these two points and move on. “-Mika Zibanejad on the Rangers’ 4-3 win over the Panthers, who had previously not lost in regulation.
The Rangers needed a win in the worst way. They got it by scoring four goals in the first two periods and then hanging on literally against the pesky Cats, who never gave up. It all resulted in a 4-3 win at MSG before 14,877.
That halted a three-game losing streak (0-1-2). Like Mika Zibanejad said following the win, they’ll take it. It wasn’t pretty by any stretch. However, you don’t get style points. At the end of the day, it’s a win on home ice against one of the best teams. That’s the positive takeaway along with the brilliance of Igor Shesterkin, who again was Mount Igor by making 42 saves to preserve a one-goal win in the closing seconds.
Coach Gerard Gallant wasn’t too pleased despite getting the win. He was happy with the offense which came on special teams and during a pivotal four-on-four that allowed them to build a 4-0 lead after two periods. Despite being outplayed at five-on-five and outshot by a wide margin (39-8 at 5-on-5) including 45-18 overall, they were very opportunistic to earn the two points.
What Gallant didn’t like was how many wide open chances the dynamic Panthers had. From the slot area, they were credited with 22 chances to the Rangers’ 9. It’s certainly an area Gallant wants to fix with a much needed four day break. Their next game isn’t until at Columbus on Saturday. Then, the schedule picks up again with the Devils the following night and Montreal a week from Tuesday.
One thing Gallant is correct about is that the schedule so far has been tough. He said that the nine games they’ve played on the road were the second most behind the Islanders, who are still on a 13-game road trip before they finally open their new arena in Belmont. That’s true. It isn’t easy to do all that travel and come out ahead. So far, they are thanks to the superior goaltending of Shesterkin and the continued superb play from Adam Fox, who was in the middle of it again tonight. His shorthanded goal with less than six seconds left in the first period was gigantic.
This game was won on special teams and during a crucial four-on-four. That’s where the Rangers hit the jackpot. With Florida coming in having dealt previously unbeaten Carolina their first loss, they had captain Aleksander Barkov back after he sat out with a lower-body injury. They only were missing Sam Bennett. As expected, Filip Chytil didn’t play for the Blueshirts. Instead of recalling Greg McKegg for the umpteenth time, they actually played Julien Gauthier (if you can call 8:46 TOI playing). He was on the latest third line with Barclay Goodrow and ghost Alexis Lafreniere (1 missed shot in 10:07 including a 31-second power play shift).
Moving up to the top line was the versatile Sammy Blais, who again was effective throughout. It doesn’t seem to matter where they put him. He only knows one way to play. He has one more point than Pavel Buchnevich, who some misguided souls are pointing to for the lack of scoring production. He of two goals and an assist on a good Blues team. Maybe he misses Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. This isn’t to suggest they’ve replaced him. Not yet at least. Although Kaapo Kakko had one of his better games.
Before I get to the particulars on the game, it was Military Appreciation Night. I’m glad they honor our veterans, who sure deserve the acknowledgement for all they’ve done for our country. One that remains divided. Maybe if they did more for the vets, there’d be less animosity and a lot more positive support. They’re exemplary people who deserve this honor. Not just on Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day either. Thank you! 💜🙏✨⭐
After they honored a veteran who dropped the ceremonial first puck between Barkov and Jacob Trouba (seriously), there was a great rendition of the National Anthem followed by the game. I thought I heard a smattering of boos for Trouba, who hasn’t exactly been lights out at the start of his third year in the Big Apple. More encouraging was that he had a good game as did much maligned K’Andre Miller, who sure picked a great time to score a highlight reel goal that had Gallant joking that he’d move him up to left wing for next game. If you watch the postgame interview above, Miller didn’t take the bait.
The first period was very fast moving and exciting to watch. One thing about the Panthers. They play a great style that involves skating, speed, skill and a strong forecheck. They aren’t shy when it comes to shooting the puck. The polar opposite of the Rangers, who rank dead last in average shots per game. That’s probably by design under Gallant. But even he knows you can’t get outshot by such a wide margin and have sustained success.
Before five minutes had been played, Patrik Nemeth took another penalty when he grabbed onto Sam Reinhart during a puck battle along the boards. Nemeth has to stay away from those penalties. He’s a key penalty killer who blocks shots. Good thing Shesterkin and the Rangers had his back. It also helped that Carter Verhaeghe got his stick up on Ryan Lindgren to make it four-on-four for 24 seconds. That penalty was one they took advantage of.
Once up five-on-four, it was the Blueshirts who grabbed the 1-0 lead thanks to some splendid work down low from the trio of Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider. It was Panarin who setup an open Zibanejad in front for a quick one-timer that a sliding Spencer Knight stopped. He made a very good save, but couldn’t control the rebound that went right to who else but Kreider for his league-leading sixth power play goal. His team best ninth was a perfect way to start it off after Kreider called out the team for their awful play in Calgary. He has been terrific so far. The true leader of this team.
After leading in shots with eight in the early going, the Rangers started giving up the blue line to the swarming Cats’ attack. They possess a lot of speed through the neutral zone and can transition like a speeding express train. Aside from Shesterkin making some great stops including an incredible pad save on a shot he couldn’t have seen, the Panthers missed the net from point blank range a few times. That even included Barkov prior to the Kreider goal.
With under a minute to go, Kevin Rooney got a strange unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty. He wasn’t happy even mouthing off before going to the box before a stoppage. It looked like a weak call. But rather than be passive, the penalty kill was aggressive. That paid off when on a good Zibanejad rush, he passed for Goodrow, who made a terrific back pass to a cutting Fox for a huge shorthanded goal at 19:54. Goodrow made the play to essentially send Fox in. One on one with Knight, he went to the backhand to beat the rookie for a 2-0 lead. Just brilliant.
In the postgame, Zibanejad felt they played two good periods. Even though they didn’t have the puck a lot in the first, they were only two shots down (9-11) and led by two where it counted. I know the shots for the second favored Florida 17-6. But I felt that was the Rangers’ best period. They didn’t give up as much off the rush and defended better. Most of the shots on Shesterkin came from the outside. If he’s on and can see it, he’s going to stop it most of the time.
Ryan Reaves drew a cross-checking minor on Brandon Montour off some strong work by the fourth line. However, they didn’t do much with the power play. In fact, Knight never even saw a shot. Ironically, he faced three more shorthanded shots including Fox’s foxy shorty. The special teams was much better than the previous losses in Alberta to both Edmonton and Calgary. It proved crucial.
On a battle during a shift, Lafreniere looked to have drawn a power play on Aaron Ekblad. The Cats’ ace defenseman held him. But somehow, they also called Lafreniere for embellishment. I didn’t see him go down. Another iffy call. I wondered if the extra open ice would benefit the Panthers. Much like my score prediction (5-2 Florida), I couldn’t have been more wrong.
First came the goal of the night. On what can best be described as a WTF moment, off a Kreider pass, Miller exploded around Florida defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and then drove hard to the Florida net and made a great move and shot far side to beat Knight for a 3-0 lead at 12:48. That’s one for the highlight reel. He used his speed and strong skating to look like a forward. It was a terrific play. He once was a forward. You never know.
With Florida clearly out of sync, a Trouba lead pass for Panarin started a clear two-on-one rush. He could’ve shot had he wanted to. However, the unselfish Bread Man dished across for Ryan Strome, who easily buried the shot into an open side for a 4-0 lead with 6:42 remaining in the period. It was his second goal of the season and first since Oct. 29 in a win over Columbus. That gave them two goals within a 30 second span during the four-on-four.
Game over? Not so fast. When you face a good opponent, they’re not going to go away that easily. Florida never stopped attacking. Had they put away some of their chances and Shesterkin been human, it could’ve been a different game. By the same token, Panarin had a goal wiped out on what would’ve been Kakko’s first point of the season earlier. A great example of him possessing the puck and going around the net to feed Panarin for a goal. But Florida interim coach Andrew Brunette successfully challenged that Strome interfered with Knight. It was incidental contact. A marginal ruling.
To Henrik Lundqvist’s point following the game, they didn’t let the call bother them. They responded by extending the lead to 4-0 after 40 minutes. Up to that point, Shesterkin was unstoppable. He made 28 saves the first two periods. Shots were 28-15. But the Rangers led in face-offs 23-12. A key category they usually struggle at. Strome had a good night going 11-and-5.
That changed in the nervous third. Before you even could look up, the Panthers scored 20 seconds into the period. Eetu Luostarinen was able to put in a rebound past Shesterkin, who was clearly interfered with by the annoying Patric Hornqvist. How many whacks can he get away with? The ref was right there. Just because he’s a veteran doesn’t make it right. A few Bolts fans went ballistic over it. For whatever reason, Gallant didn’t challenge it. A mistake? More like a miscalculation.
The Rangers spent most of the third period on their heels. They again sat back way too much. The Panthers were allowed to gain easy access and get off good shots on Shesterkin, who was up to the challenge. One thing I’m getting sick of is seeing opponents take hacks and whacks after the whistle at our goalie while nobody does a thing. Shouldn’t the D knock someone down? Where’s the snarl? If someone had knocked Hornqvist on his ass, the controversial first goal never even happens. That must change.
With the whole third played exclusively at five-on-five, Florida dominated. They fired and fired to hold a lopsided 17-3 edge in shots. For the game, it was 45-18. But even worse if you went by total attempts. They out-attempted the Rangers 91-37. That’s absurd. Forty-six never reached the net.
From my count, the Blueshirts had two good shifts to at least take some pressure off. They really need to shore the third periods up. Prior to getting shelled by Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary, it had been their best period. Counting the three Florida got, by my count it’s 11-1 over the past four games. Yikes. It sounds like the old AV play book against LA. Never mind.
Facing a dangerous Panthers offense, they couldn’t run the clock out fast enough. Off a lost defensive face-off, Reinhart finally was able to beat Shesterkin when he took an Owen Tippett feed and buried a one-timer past the goalie to cut it to 4-2 with 1:26 left. Suddenly, you wondered as they controlled play if things were about to get dicey. A Bill Pidto expression.
With Knight off for an extra attacker, it did. On another lost face-off from Zibanejad, a Barkov win back for a quick Hornqvist shot made it 4-3 with still 39.5 seconds remaining. To hear Sam Rosen tell it, he let out a whoa. Exactly how every fan felt watching.
It came down to the final seconds. Shesterkin had to make two more saves before a delayed penalty (at least that’s what was up on MSG) saw a desperate Panthers try for one final shot. Ekblad was unable to control the puck cleanly which helped run off a few seconds. A shot went wide and then the buzzer sounded.
They survived. As scary as the ending was, they got the job done. Thanks in large part to the unflappable Shesterkin, who was named the game’s First Star with 42 stops. He didn’t come out. Maybe he was frustrated. He’s similar to Lundqvist, who hates giving up goals. That’s good. Now, he and the team will get a much needed rest. Hopefully, they can work on some of the issues that must improve.
Let’s take a deep breath. Breathe a sigh of relief. They won. It’s a lot better than losing. So, the Rangers are 7-3-3 with 17 points. Good for second place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve played more games than anyone else in the division. Three more than six teams including the Hurricanes, who remain in first with a 9-1-0 start. We know that Islanders will gain ground. The rest are in the middle aside from the Capitals, who won over the Sabres last night to get to 16 points in 12 games. Alexander Ovechkin tied Brett Hull for fourth all-time in goal scoring. Congrats to Ovi.
As for the Rangers, they just completed their third game over four days with travel across two continents. Maybe that is why they had nothing left in the third. At least that’s what I’m hoping. Gallant said they’ve got to be tougher. He’s right. Let’s see if they make some adjustments for Columbus. Enjoy a few days of stress-free hockey minus our Rangers.
THREE STARS 🌟 OF GAME
3rd 🌟 Artemi Panarin, NYR (2 assists including great feed on Strome goal, more noticeable)
2nd 🌟 Chris Kreider, NYR (PPG for team best 9th of season plus 🍎 on Miller goal)
1st 🌟 Igor Shesterkin, NYR (42 saves on 45 shots including 28/28 in first 2 periods)
A few games ago I said at one point the early part of this Devils season was a study in glass half-full and half-empty thinking. They lived that to a tee on the West Coast, following an ugly loss in Anaheim with a uneven overtime loss at LA on Friday, then culminating the WC trip with a fortunate shootout win at San Jose last night/this morning. I guess you’d take three points out of six on the West Coast in any scenario, particularly after an 0 for 2 on Tuesday, but like with the Devils’ opening homestand it was pretty much just accomplishing a bare minimum required against three rebuilding-mediocre teams. Our schedule won’t be quite as fortunate this week with the Panther-Islander-Bruin-Ranger gauntlet looming over a six-day stretch so clearly they’ll have to play better just to keep up their NHL .500 record since Jack Hughes’ injury.
Still, it could have been far worse. Late tying goals by Pavel Zacha in LA and Janne Kuokkanen in San Jose prevented a trip with three straight regulation losses and the team having 0 points to show for the California week, instead of three. At least the Devils finally have both their goalies healthy and playing after Mackenzie Blackwood made his season debut in LA on Friday with a solid enough performance (26 saves) to get the team to OT, though Blackwood himself admitted he should have stopped the second goal – an unscreened point shot on a Kings power play late in the third. Blackwood wasn’t the ultimate goat on the night though, Damon Severson was, after the most nightmarish twenty-two minutes possible. There’s nothing else you can call playing sieve defense on the Kings’ opening goal late in the second period, then taking no fewer than three straight minor penalties in the third, which helped lead to the Kings’ second goal late on the PP and got Severson benched for the final few shifts of the game. Defensive partner Ty Smith didn’t help matters either, getting outmuscled on a turnover behind the net in OT that led to the Kings’ winner.
Even more than Severson’s meltdown on Friday, the bigger overall concern for the Devils continues to be their special teams. Our PP took the collar in all three California games, going 0-6 in the LA and San Jose back-to-back while the PK also predictably gave up goals in both games. Granted the PK actually went 5-6 in LA with Blackwood giving up an unscreened shot but I can’t say I would have had a lot of confidence at a sixth straight kill regardless. Last night’s third period PK goal allowed was partly bad luck too, as Severson’s stick broke during the defensive zone shift – leaving the Sharks with a virtual 5-on-3.5 that they promptly scored on, right around the stick-less Severson (who did take another early penalty in the first period last night as well). Still, whatever the reason you can’t continually have both ends of your special teams serve as momentum killers.
Despite the Devils’ special teams, plus missing their top forward (Hughes) and defenseman (Dougie Hamilton, who should be back in the lineup on Tuesday), the team did still find a way to rally and get points out of both games despite never holding a lead in either game. Without a functioning power play, there were still some great individual plays to get the goals we did score. Particularly on our first goal in LA, when Nico Hischier caused a turnover in the defensive zone, then Andreas Johnsson sprang Jesper Bratt with a beautiful outlet pass for a breakaway goal. While Johnsson is continuing his zero to hero surge this season, Pavel Zacha is resuming his breakout into one of the team’s top offensive forwards with one of his typical hard wristers through traffic on a 6-on-5 empty net that tied the game in LA with just twenty-three seconds left.
Hischier again had a secondary role in the team’s first goal in San Jose, this time causing a turnover in the neutral zone then taking a return feed from Mike McLeod to find a streaking Ryan Graves(?!) heading toward the net for what wound up being an easy tap-in goal. We all knew Graves was a solid defensive defenseman but his offensive aptitude so far has been surprising. Even though it was only his first goal it was a great read knowing when to pinch, and he’s had several nice assists already as well. Maybe he should start getting PP time, couldn’t be worse than what we’ve been running out there for the most part. Kuokkannen’s tying goal with just over three minutes remaining came off a broken play when a blocked shot got lost in a maze of opposing players and Kuokkanen was johnny on the spot, putting the rebound past a sprawling James Reimer in net.
Bratt continued his sizzling play since his benching with a shootout goal, but it was left up to Severson of all people to put home the winner in the skills competition, barely twenty-four hours after being the goat in LA he turned into the hero in San Jose, against old buddy John MacLean who’s now 2-1-1 as the interim coach in San Jose with head coach Bob Boughner still recovering from a bout with COVID. Still a lot better than his record was here eleven years ago. Our own record is now 5-3-2, matching our first ten games from last season. Of course we know about the great divide that happened last year after our ninth game pre and post-COVID. Hopefully we’re not also looking back at a great divide this year considering the upcoming schedule. But hey, Florida’s due for a letdown sometime right?
Rather than bore you with the details, I highly recommend the postgame interview below given by Chris Kreider on the blowout that occurred in Calgary. The Rangers went from kind of being in it to getting their doors blown off in a 6-0 loss to the Flames at The Saddle Dome. It was their third consecutive defeat.
Everything Kreider said in the above video courtesy MSG Network is true. There are no excuses when you lose. Not even if it’s the second game of a tough back-to-back against a quality opponent that already humiliated them once at The Garden. Or did you forget? Not coming off a bad overtime loss to Edmonton where they blew a three-goal lead and then a one-goal lead late. The best thing Kreider told reporters was how they let down Igor Shesterkin after how great he’s been. If not for him, you’re looking at a three win team tops.
There’s no reason to go further here. The final score speaks for itself. It was earned. Especially when this team has been getting away with nothing close to a complete game. They were getting by thanks to Shesterkin, who covered up a lot of mistakes. On a Hockey Night In Canada, he couldn’t bail out his teammates for their transgressions and regressions. I’m not one to toot my own horn after a bad loss. But this was coming. I felt like Calgary would put up five in this one. I was thinking 5-2 though. Not 6-0. Oh well.
It doesn’t matter what you lose by. A loss is a loss. Maybe this will open some eyes because they weren’t too good against the Oilers before Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl reeled them in. Especially at even strength. There were too many shifts that they got pinned in for long stretches. Plus the sloppy power play and pair of untimely penalties that turned that game around. You can only get away with it for so long.
Truthfully, the Rangers were brutal in third periods of the last three games. The first two blown leads that led to frustrating defeats in overtime. The last being what was a tired team that got outscored 3-0 by the Flames to hang Shesterkin out to dry. This after coach Gerard Gallant saved their starter for the second game. A similar result in the first game when he opted for backup Alex Georgiev in a season opener rout at Washington and the 6-5 loss on Friday night. Shesterkin lost the home opener to a Stars team that isn’t very good in overtime. He wasn’t to blame for the six goals Calgary put up on 37 shots.
I gotta be honest. I’m having a hard time agreeing with Gallant’s decision to go with Georgiev against the high powered Oilers while leaving his ace Shesterkin for a rested Calgary at the conclusion of a four-game Western road swing. I know I’m not alone here. Others have alluded to it. It didn’t make much sense. Or about as much as playing Georgiev for the first game of the season. If Shesterkin is the man, he should’ve gotten both the Capitals and Stars at the start. How that’s been handled since is kind of strange. So are a few other things.
Entering tonight’s match, rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist returned to the lineup Friday night and had a good game. He recorded an assist for his second NHL point. The same as his previous game before he was a healthy scratch. It happened again in Calgary. Jarred Tinordi was indeed in over the first-year player who seems more poised than K’Andre Miller at the moment. I’ve been very critical of Miller’s play. I’m going to lay off tonight. I disagree with the decision to sit Lundkvist, who definitely is the second best skating defenseman they have capable of offense. By refusing to play him, they are misusing Jacob Trouba on the second power play. He also shouldn’t be the second defenseman in overtime. It feels like Gallant is not trusting Lundkvist enough when he’s given him nothing to be afraid of.
There also is the Alexis Lafreniere issue that isn’t going away. Sure. With Ryan Reaves back, he got more ice time on the third line mostly before it got out of hand. However, if the former 2020 top pick is really not being punished when twice the coach called out the 20-year old, then why can’t he get a look with either Mika Zibanejad or Ryan Strome? Why was Dryden Hunt on the second power play before Lafreniere? One is a hard-working role player while the other is supposed to be the present and future of the team.
I don’t get it. I’m not saying Lafreniere has blown anyone away. But has Artemi Panarin? I could care less about his points because it’s a mirage. He’s not the same player since the false accusations came out last season. Something is wrong. He’s a lot more hesitant and isn’t creating the space we’re accustomed to. When he did get two quality scoring chances on a power play, he just missed scoring and then completely fired wide to have the puck go out of the zone. So, what’s wrong with him? Is it a confidence issue or something else? It’s been 12 games. He needs to be better at five-on-five.
That line isn’t getting it done. Especially with Panarin perfectly setting up Kaapo Kakko for what should’ve been a goal. Only his shot was too low allowing Jacob Markstrom to recover. A high shot goes in. Kakko was better, but it’s plays like that which make you wonder if he’s ever going to start finishing. Time is ticking.
Is there anything else we learned? For starters, the Calgary Flames fans haven’t forgotten what Adam Fox did to them. He was originally their 3rd round pick in 2016. Hard to believe he lasted until pick 66. However, he never intended to sign with them, forcing a trade. They wound up dealing the rights to Fox with Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland to Carolina for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin. Both of who still play prominent roles in Alberta. The fans booed Fox mercilessly throughout the game. Wait until he plays Carolina again. He didn’t want them either. We’re lucky Fox wanted the Rangers due to being a fan. Imagine life without him. Don’t bother.
It’s also worth noting that those boos didn’t deter Fox, who had a tying goal wiped out due to a great coach’s challenge from Scrooge Darryl Sutter for a clear offside. I don’t know how the linesmen missed it. It wasn’t even close. Fox put in a rebound late in the first period. But it didn’t count. That wasn’t the only chance the Rangers had after falling behind by a goal scored by Sean Monahan (PPG) on a Kevin Rooney interference minor. More on that.
The second period didn’t start off badly. A strong shift from a determined Kakko saw him outmuscle a Calgary defender and get a good shot on net that Markstrom swallowed up. He wasn’t done. On one of Panarin’s better shifts at even strength, it looked like he had Kakko all set up for a tying goal. He skated into open ice, drew Calgary D over and passed over for a wide open Kakko, who fired a one-timer from a sharp angle. But the low trajectory allowed a sliding Markstrom to get over and make the big save. It definitely was a missed opportunity. Oddly enough, they only credited Kakko with one shot on goal. Either they thought it was going wide or they’re blind. Right now, Kakko has 10 shots for the season in eight games with no points. Yikes.
I’ve felt for a while that Kakko doesn’t fit with Panarin because he’s not able to bury his chances. It looks like he was overhyped. I hate to say that because I really thought highly of him. But he didn’t exactly light up the U20 World Junior Championships aside from his gold medal winning goal for Finland. Maybe being a puck possession player would make him better suited for either the right side with Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, or Filip Chytil and whoever they plug on the third line. Don’t forget Kakko had some chemistry with Chytil before. That’s if they have Chytil available for Monday at home against the very tough Panthers. Chytil accidentally collided with Sammy Blais during the first and left the game. Gallant provided no update. It’s probably another LBI. Just great.
With the Flames still holding onto a one-goal lead, Patrik Nemeth got caught holding the stick of Mikael Backlund. It was a bad penalty. Even though they didn’t score on it, Calgary kept possession long enough to have a fortunate Oliver Kylington wide carom go right to veteran Brad Richardson for a put back that a sprawling Shesterkin just missed getting. It was a back breaking goal for sure. Of course, it was another first goal for someone. Richardson is 36. Nothing else to add. A Ranger tradition continues.
A little over two minutes later, Johnny Gaudreau actually got position in front on Ryan Lindgren and put in a rebound from Matthew Tkachuk. We’re talking about Johnny Hockey. A good scorer who isn’t known for his size or strength. But he had no problem using it to outmuscle the normally physical Lindgren. I got nothing. This was bad. Why is it that opponents have free reign to do what they want in front of our goalies? Where is the defensive structure under Gallant? It’s like they’re still stuck in neutral. The defense stinks right now. That better change soon or the Panthers could put up a touchdown and kick a PAT tomorrow.
The conclusion of the second took a sudden turn when Reaves did a foolish thing. He clipped Andrew Mangiapane from the blind side leading to animosity from a few upset Flames. Luckily, Mangiapane got up and was okay. They gave Reaves a minor penalty for illegal check to the head. It was the right call. The fact he returned and did that means he should be getting a phone call from the NHL about the head shot. That’s what you don’t want to see from Reaves, who is an effective player when he stays under control. I saw a lot of that the past couple of seasons when he played for Vegas.
The end result of the Reaves hit was some fireworks between Tinordi and the very tough Erik Gudbranson. Let’s just say Tinordi absorbed some big blows and stayed in there against Gudbranson, who’s definitely not a player you want to mess with. Tinordi didn’t exactly do well outside of that. Meanwhile, Libor Hajek still has a permanent roster spot while Vitali Kravtsov tears it up for Traktor. His father isn’t much of a fan of Chris Drury.
An early Kylington hi-sticking minor gave the Blueshirts an early power play trailing by three in the third period. Unfortunately, they couldn’t cash in. At least there was a Lafreniere sighting on it. By that point, he didn’t look confident. There was a turnover and a poor entry. I really wonder what he’s thinking at this critical juncture of his development. It isn’t going exactly as he hoped. On his second coach and not getting consistent ice time. Quinn handled him better. Gallant still has a lot of season left to change that.
After the power failure, a harmless Gaudreau backhand got through a surprised Shesterkin for a 4-0 Flames lead. Game over. All he did was take a Tkachuk feed and skate towards the net and throw a weak backhand towards Shesterkin. He just lost concentration. Even Sam Rosen thought it was a save or wide. But I knew it wasn’t. That’s the kind of night it was. The Kylington carom that led to the Calgary second goal was the story of the game.
At that point, I checked out. I went for a drive and listened to Don La Greca call the Milan Lucic goal that made it 5-0. My premonition came true. Lucic has four goals already. He’s done better since Sutter took over last season. Maybe he’s a better fit under the veteran coach who won two Cups with the Kings. He has more goals than Panarin, Strome and Kakko combined. But they never miss a shift. Maybe Gallant can blame Lafreniere for their awful play. Or move up Hunt again. I don’t get the fascination with him. Julien Gauthier can’t crack this lineup.
By the time I gassed up the car and got back inside, Tkachuk had made it 6-0. Apparently, he scored between his legs off a Gaudreau feed. Tkachuk is just the kind of player that gives the Rangers problems due to how hard he is to move. It’s no surprise he had a field day posting a goal and three assists while Gaudreau did whatever he wanted.
There is nothing else to say about this game. These type of games happen due to the schedule. But I’m glad Kreider called out the team for the third period. It wasn’t fair to Shesterkin. They haven’t stuck to the system according to Kreider. We’re still trying to figure out what that is in the defensive end. Kreider doesn’t make excuses. He’s the leader of this team. He doesn’t need a C either. Though it says a lot that Ottawa gave their 22-year old power forward Brady Tkachuk the captaincy. He went out and scorer a goal with nine hits in a loss to Tampa on Saturday afternoon.
What’s the thinking with the Rangers organization? Are they gonna wait to announce Fox next Fall? Is that what’s happening here? Or is it like Ron Duguay thinks? He isn’t a big fan of giving Fox the C. It could weight him down. We saw what happened to Brian Leetch. It all depends on the personality. We’ll see what happens.
At the present, the Rangers are 6-3-3. While it’s still a good record, it’s definitely more in line with how they’ve played. Now comes the true test. A Panthers team that hasn’t lost in regulation fresh off handing the Hurricanes their first loss in a 5-2 home win minus Aleksander Barkov. Remember Anthony Duclair? He’s been on a roll, scoring twice and adding two assists for a four-point game. He has eight goals and looks like a much improved player in his second year with Florida. It took some time. But the sixth team seems to be the perfect fit. Good for him.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of game plan Gallant and company come up with to slow down the Cats. If they aren’t better, it won’t matter who’s in net. Especially with rookie Spencer Knight looking impressive since Sergei Bobrovsky got hurt. We’re gonna find out a lot about the Rangers this week.
THREE STARS 🌟 OF GAME
3rd 🌟 Jacob Markstrom, CGY (22 save shutout)
2nd 🌟 Johnny Gaudreau, CGY (goal plus 2 🍎, +3 in 14:55)
1st 🌟 Matthew Tkachuk, CGY (goal plus 3 🍎 , +3 in 14:57)
A few nights removed from losing to the Canucks in overtime to end their road dominance, the Blueshirts suffered a worse defeat in extras at the explosive Oilers. On a night Edmonton finally retired Kevin Lowe’s number 4, the Oilers came all the way back twice to burn the Rangers 6-5 in an electrifying and at times absurd game before a packed house at Rogers Place.
Three days after a tough 3-2 loss at Vancouver, the Rangers couldn’t handle prosperity against the dangerous Oilers on the fast ice in Edmonton. In a game reminiscent of the Oilers Dynasty days of Gretzky, Messier and Coffey when Lowe played and went onto win six Stanley Cups including the final one while teamed up with Messier in NYC, this was a wide open race track that favored superstar tandem Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Both had a goal and two assists with each making the difference late in regulation and overtime to steal a win away from the Blueshirts.
This was no way to treat backup goalie Alex Georgiev, who made his first start since Oct. 23 at Ottawa. A game he won following a forgettable season opening loss at Washington. This was only his third start. However, look who he faced. It’s no wonder he struggled.
The Rangers were in the game and basically had it until some undisciplined penalties to key centers Ryan Strome and Mika Zibanejad allowed Edmonton to regain momentum. The only two minors the veterans took proved costly. With a rusty Georgiev not having enough reps in net, he couldn’t shut the door on the league’s best offense. Edmonton’s top ranked power play went 2-for-2 against the normally strong Rangers’ penalty kill.
Despite putting five goals past the shaky Mikko Koskinen, the Rangers made far too many mistakes in their second consecutive loss. But at least they got a point. I’m kidding here. You know how I feel towards the National League Of Parity. This was a brutal loss any way you slice it.
The Rangers blew leads of 4-1 and 5-4 with the latter coming late when McDavid undressed four Blueshirts including Jacob Trouba and Patrik Nemeth, who really was turned into a traffic cone by the game’s best player. The highlight reel goal McDavid scored was unbelievable. After they hit the goalpost, the Oilers recovered the puck in the neutral zone. Then Draisaitl and Tyson Barrie sent McDavid on his way and he scored a goal of the year candidate by blowing past everyone before tucking a backhand past a down Georgiev with 2:59 left in regulation. Astonishing is one way to describe him. I’ve seen almost everyone. McDavid is the best offensive player I’ve watched. That said, the stick checking was abominable.
Defense optional. That’s one way to describe the third period. Prior to getting outscored 3-1 in a listless third where they were outshot 15-4, the Rangers were in good shape. After Filip Chytil and Zach Hyman each scored in a seesaw first, three consecutive goals from Kevin Rooney, Chris Kreider and Zibanejad (power play) had them completely in control. But given another man-advantage, the first unit couldn’t take advantage.
Coach Gerard Gallant might have made a mistake overusing the top unit with a back-to-back in Calgary Saturday night. He wouldn’t use the second power play. The refusal along with the questionable lineup decision to play Alexis Lafreniere on the fourth line are mind numbing. So is his stubbornness continuing to use Kaapo Kakko on the second line with Strome and Artemi Panarin. The third-year forward has no chemistry with them. He’s barely noticeable. With no points and only nine shots in seven games, it’s getting late early for the ’19 second pick. At some point he has to produce. He has played 121 games and has 19 goals and 40 points. After the preseason, that’s hard to fathom. So is demoting the 2020 first pick in Lafreniere without any specific reason.
With Gallant prioritizing winning over the important development of the kids, some of his decisions have been puzzling. You can justify it by pointing to the 6-2-3 record which is still pretty good. Especially when you consider how lackluster Panarin has been at even strength. Once a dominant player at five-on-five, he’s been lost. Even the return of his center Strome hasn’t helped. Through 11 games, Panarin has no goals and three assists at five-on-five. His lone even strength goal came in three-on-three overtime off a Zibanejad face-off win. This can’t continue.
Neither can the over reliance on Adam Fox to put up almost every point from the back end. He’s not a machine. At least Nils Lundkvist was finally back in after sitting out for seventh defenseman Jarred Tinordi. Lundkvist was good in his return. He assisted on Chytil’s second goal that opened the scoring at 1:53. He also was on for another goal and even got a regular shift with six minutes left before Gallant again sat the rookie in favor of Trouba and Nemeth. A suggestion I made due to the struggles Trouba and K’Andre Miller are having. It didn’t go as planned. Not when you stick check the game’s most lethal offensive player.
Of the pair from Hell, Miller had a nightmarish game. His inability to pick up Hyman on a rebound off a a clean Zibanejad face-off loss allowed Edmonton to draw even with 1:49 left in an otherwise good road period. It was his turnover at Vancouver that allowed J.T. Miller to come all the way down and score the overtime winner on a play where Panarin coasted back. Barclay Goodrow also went the wrong way which allowed Miller to score on a wraparound past Igor Shesterkin. It’s those kind of head scratching plays that are concerning.
A big positive was the play from Chytil. Having entered with only one goal on the season, he had by far his best game. Aside from sniping in the first period, he made a perfect pass for a Rooney goal that made it 2-1 at 2:52. It was the third for the underappreciated Rooney, who looks more and more like a steal. Hard to believe the Devils let him go. But Mike McLeod has replaced him. A similar checking center. Rooney was bumped up to the Chytil line with the complementary Sammy Blais (assist). They were probably the most effective line at five-on-five.
The only issue is with Gallant opting to play Lafreniere with Greg McKegg and Dryden Hunt. He claimed it wasn’t a punishment a day before the game. What the heck is it then? Is Lafreniere a finished product? No. He knows it and is accountable. However, it’s not the right way to handle a young player who went first overall with considerable hype a year ago. I didn’t see Lafreniere sulk during his shifts. While he was on for a goal against due to a failed Hunt clearing attempt, Lafreniere worked hard. Just not good enough to play 10 minutes. He had one good defensive shift when they got caught on and one effective offensive shift. More than you can say for Kakko, who at this point looks lost. I’d move him off the second line.
With a one-goal lead, a Goodrow outlet for Fox allowed him to find Kreider, who gained the Edmonton zone and beat Koskinen from the right circle for his team-leading eighth at 4:11. Not long afterwards, the Rangers went to work on the power play. Able to control the puck possession for the entirety, eventually Panarin worked the puck over to Strome, who made a nice pass for Zibanejad who deflected the puck legally with his skate for a 4-1 lead at 6:56.
A frustration Draisaitl interference minor on Blais could’ve been the kill shot. Instead, the Rangers first unit bungled the golden opportunity to put the Oilers away. One thing about Edmonton. If you don’t finish them off, they’ll come back with as many lives as Jason and Michael Myers combined. There was still half of regulation left. Not only were they sloppy on that power play, but gave up a couple of dangerous Edmonton shorthanded chances. That penalty kill got the home crowd back into it.
Sure enough, Strome hooked Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. On the first Oilers power play, it looked like the Rangers would get the job done on the kill. However, a quick transition from the Edmonton top unit saw Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse get the puck up to a fast moving Jesse Puljujarvi. An improved player on this year’s Oilers, he gained the Ranger zone and fired a wrist shot past Georgiev short side high glove to cut the deficit to two with 5:19 remaining in the second.
That was the turning point. After the power play goal, the Oilers finished strong. They threatened for more. But the Rangers still took a two-goal lead to the locker room. They were still in control. All they had to do was have a good third and the game was theirs. They entered having outscored opponents 13-9 in third periods. It didn’t matter.
Once Zibanejad took a brutal tripping minor by taking down McDavid inside the Edmonton blue line, that spelled doom. It took only 36 seconds for the Oilers to cash in on another unnecessary penalty. With the dynamic duo of Draisaitl and McDavid dangerous, they finally got the puck up to Barrie at the point. From way out, he let go of a shot that snuck past Georgiev, who was slightly off his angle. While there was a player in front, it was one he could’ve had. Maybe if he’d played more, he would have.
The Oilers knew it was just a matter of time before they tied it up. With Georgiev leaking rebounds in front of a team that decided to back up, eventually that strategy got burned. It was Evan Bouchard and Duncan Keith who applied the pressure. On a long Keith shot that was unscreened, Georgiev was unable to control the juicy rebound. It went right to Puljujarvi, who put it home before Trouba could close him out to tie the score at 3:35. It happened that fast. Trouba was too slow to check Puljujarvi, who was in perfect position. He definitely needs to be split up from Miller, who might need a game off. I haven’t seen any improvement.
By that point, it was obvious what kind of game it was. A track meet. Exactly what nobody wanted to see from a Rangers’ perspective. Interestingly, the Blueshirts knew they could beat the spotty Koskinen. On a better defensive play from Trouba up the boards, the puck came to Kreider, who sent Zibanejad into the Edmonton zone. He simply stepped into a wrist shot from the right circle that Koskinen couldn’t stop for his fourth at 7:18. That allowed the Rangers to reclaim the lead with 12:42 left.
Aside from the Zibanejad minor penalty, the third was played at five-on-five. That included the final frantic five minutes. Trying to protect a one-goal lead, Gallant cut down his defense rotation to Fox and Ryan Lindgren along with Trouba and Nemeth. On what can best be described as a brilliant play from McDavid, or untouched by human hand (old high school reference), he got the puck and skated through four Rangers and then made Georgiev look bad to tie the game at 17:01. It truly was an awful display. Not just from Trouba and Nemeth. But the forwards which included Rooney, Zibanejad and Hunt, who is like the coach’s pet.
I wasn’t too confident it would even reach three-on-three overtime. The way the Oilers attacked a very conservative Rangers, who kept backing in, they nearly didn’t get a point. You had Warren Foegle fire a shot that grazed the outside of the net. Prior to McDavid tying it, Georgiev had to stone Nurse, who was allowed to cruise in. Where is the defensive system under Gallant? I know he wants to forecheck hard. But it’s getting ridiculous. The goalies have to fend for themselves. If Shesterkin wasn’t elite, they’d have three fewer wins. Smoke and mirrors.
Right now, it’s starting to feel like Igor Shesterkin is starring as Henrik Lundqvist and Adam Fox as Brian Leetch. They have to carry the load for this team to be successful. That’s not a winning formula. Not over a full 82 game schedule. Unless some of the players I called out start pulling their weight, it isn’t sustainable.
The overtime was very exciting. Of course it was. Prior to the start, I took Draisaitl to win it. He was due. My other issue with Gallant is using Trouba after Fox during three-on-three. Come on. If you can’t stick Lundkvist out in that, when the hell is he going to get extended time. He’s better than Miller, who looks like he’s being force fed by an arrogant organization full of PR spoken through Joe Michelleti and pompous talking head Larry Brooks. They make so many excuses. Veteran John Giannone wasn’t even allowed to ask Miller what happened on the Hyman goal during the first intermission. It’s sickening.
I’m at a crossroads with how the organization is run. Seeing Vitali Kravtsov put up three points including a highlight reel goal Kakko can only dream of scoring, didn’t exactly thrill me. Sure. It’s nice that Kravtsov can not look out of place in his KHL return at HC Traktor. What is he doing there? And why is Gallant putting Goodrow out in OT? It’s mind boggling. Lafreniere got to play three-on-three under David Quinn. Uh oh. Maybe he wasn’t the problem. Maybe it goes much deeper.
I actually felt bad for Georgiev on the Draisaitl winner. Zibanejad was in the wrong spot which led to a turnover. Nurse got the puck over to a wide open Draisaitl for the overtime winner with 1:33 left. As great as McDavid is, I think the world of Draisaitl. He’s an equally amazing player. If you let it get to extras, you get what you deserve. The Rangers did.
THREE STARS✨ OF GAME
3rd ⭐ Filip Chytil, NYR (goal plus 🍎, +2 rating)
2nd ⭐ Tyson Barrie, EDM (PPG plus 2 🍎)
1st ⭐ McDavid/Draisaitl, EDM (2 goals, 4 assists including game-tying and game-winner in overtime)
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
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