Daws’ sensational debut leads the Devils over Buffalo in OT

Posted on October 24, 2021 by hasan4978

For all the talk about the younger players already on the Devils’ roster – including teen rookie Dawson Mercer who had a point in his first three NHL games – and guys like Alexander Holtz and Luke Hughes in the pipeline, I never gave a moment of thought to Nico Daws past reading a little bit on him when he was drafted. Why would I, when the Devils had a 24-year old Mackenzie Blackwood as the starter, plus a solid veteran backup in Jonathan Bernier? Especially given that goalies usually take longer to make an impact at the NHL level regardless, and the German-born Daws was a 2020 3rd round pick with exactly one game of AHL experience before last night’s stunning NHL debut. Daws wasn’t even taken in his first year of draft eligibility in 2019, as he was a backup on his own OHL team. And yet, here we were last night watching him in his NHL debut after the Devils’ top two goalies both started nursing injuries at once.

Seeing the 20-year old Daws announce his presence to Devils fans by making 24 saves last night including some high-quality stops early, just reminded me once again that there’s no better reality TV than professional sports. You just can’t script this stuff in Hollywood and be believable.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1313943430662422536?s=20

Reading Daws’ scouting report in the YT video, you see why the Devils brass (including legendary goalie Martin Brodeur above) liked the kid enough to use a third-round pick on him. A Devil goalie that’s calm with good lateral movement and can play the puck…who else does that sound like to you? Obviously it took the perfect storm to shuttle him to the NHL last night as the Devils’ third different starting goalie in four games this season – and none being the presumed #1 in Blackwood – and he’ll likely spend most of the season in Utica once Blackwood and Bernier start playing again, but for one sensational Saturday night Daws became an instant fan favorite, backstopping what can only be described as a grinding 2-1 OT win.

Last night’s Hollywood moment looked more like a Same Old Devils game through two periods. You would have thought the Devils would come out with their hair on fire after both the desultory effort on Thursday and coach Lindy Ruff taking his team to task over it. Particularly with the kid in net. And yet, almost every Devil aside from Daws was straight trash in the first period. You couldn’t have had a worse first five minutes to the game with the inevitable result of an early holding penalty by Jonas Siegenthaler being yet another power play goal allowed by our not-so-special teams to Dylan Cozens, one of the Sabres’ own prized younger players (#7 OA in 2019).

In some ways what happened less than a minute later was worse, when the Devils were about to go on the power play but Ruff made a foolish challenge to a disallowed goal that was never going to be overturned considering it was an official’s judgement call. Asking the refs to overturn a goal they waved off due to a player being thrown into the goalie is like asking NFL refs to overturn their own pass interference call – which few did, thus it stopped being reviewable. The fact we got a bench minor over it, to turn our PP into a 4-on-4 just made it worse. Coach Ruff predictably took full responsibility for the challenge after the game, admittedly I was impressed with his recall during the post-game presser comparing it to a disallowed goal against the Bruins last year (god knows I don’t remember a lot of in-game details from last season), but it didn’t help the team last night.

Things didn’t improve a lot as the Sabres dominated the first while the Devils continued to skate with their head in the clouds – exhibit A Yegor Sharangovich having two lazy, mindless turnovers in a five-second span, though it didn’t truly bottom out until early in the second when the Devils’ PP proved (again) as inept as their PK, not only failing to convert on back-to-back Sabre penalties but failing to even keep the puck in the Buffalo zone or get quality chances during the four minutes with an extra man. A botched keep by PK Subban drew particularly loud boos as everyone there was just fed up in general watching this team’s PP. It’s especially galling when other team’s PP’s score so easily on our PK and there’s no built-in excuse of a lack of practice time this year.

As if embarrassed into action by their own ineptitude or the fans’ dissatisfaction, the Devils picked their play up and started outskating the Sabres (on the second night of a back-to-back) from there, but it looked like it wouldn’t matter after a period where the Devils hit no fewer than three posts, including an absurd double save by Dustin Tokarski off of Marian Studenic after a breakaway in an extended sequence where the Devils could have had goals twice and even got the goal horn ringing for half a second. After that happened, I was convinced the Devils weren’t scoring all night.

Even though the Devils’ play improved for the rest of the night, Daws still had to be on point – particularly in one sequence late in the second when he stopped a breakaway by Drake Caggiula, then made another couple of point-blank saves soon after, including one off a deflection. As daunting as 1-0 looked at the time, we were never coming back from 2-0 last night. Things looked especially bleak when Nico Hischier was briefly forced off the ice late in the second, after a brutal uncalled spearing in the ribs made the rest of the night painful for the captain.

Not only did Nico return for the third (despite pain that made him wince the rest of the night), but he was johnny on the spot early in the period when Dougie Hamilton’s point shot missed the net, but Nico deflected the rebound off the back boards past Tokarski for not only the tying goal, but also a goal on the power play at that. Will miracles never cease? Despite outshooting the Sabres 29-12 in the final forty minutes, tying the game was the best the Devils could do over sixty minutes. However it did set up another dramatic three-on-three goal, this one by Pavel Zacha, who took a nice spinaround feed from Damon Severson and beat Tokarski with a laser of a wrister to win it. Sadly no stick toss from Pavel, but the goal will do just fine.

Unlike the Kraken game, the three stars were farcically easy last night, it’s just a matter of what order you want to put them in. I do want to shout out Studenic for a strong game too, especially being in and out of the lineup so far this season, though given the coach’s comments in the postgame about him adding speed that we’re missing with Jack Hughes and Miles Wood out of the lineup, I’d expect to see more of the 22-year old Studenic for the immediate future. At the arena, the three stars were Zacha, Hischier and Daws. I’d reverse that order.

Devils Three Stars:

  1. Nico Daws – 24 saves, win in his NHL debut and as the coach said after, two Nicos were indeed better than one
  2. Nico Hischier – PPG, clocked a shade over twenty minutes despite playing hurt after the second
  3. Pavel Zacha – GWG in OT

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Kreider sparks historic comeback win as Rangers get gritty goals to stun the Senators late, Goodrow nets game-winner

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Derek

For more than two periods, the Rangers had little going on in the final game of a four game road trip at Ottawa. After Josh Norris beat Alex Georgiev from way out 64 seconds into the third to put the Senators ahead by two, it looked like it would be another sleepless matinee loss at Canadian Tire Center.

However, Chris Kreider and a resilient bunch of Blueshirts had other ideas. It was Kreider’s power play goal with 5:23 remaining that sparked a stirring 3-2 comeback win over the Senators in Kanata, Ontario this afternoon. Not only did they get off the deck to rally from two down by scoring three straight times within a 3:20 time period. But they made history. As hard as it is to believe, it’s the first time in franchise history the Rangers have ever won a game in which they faced a multi-goal deficit with six minutes left in regulation.

If you want to be successful during a season, sometimes you have to find a way to win tough games you have no business winning. This isn’t to suggest the Senators are a good team yet. But they aren’t exactly a pushover anymore. With Brady Tkachuk back after finally signing a big extension, Ottawa is a team with some good young talent like Tim Stutzle, Norris, Shane Pinto (missed game due to injury), Thomas Chabot [Shalom], Drake Batherson and Artem Zub that should continue to improve. So, I wasn’t surprised it was a nail biter. Especially with it being the fourth and final game of a great road trip. By show of hands, who had the Rangers winning all four? This was the one I thought they’d lose.

For some reason, playing Ottawa on the weekend with an early start time usually means curtains for the Rangers. It’s like a scene in Halloween where you already know the character is getting killed off by Michael Myers. I’m glad they found their game just in time to steal two points. Even if the comeback was helped by an embellishment call on Stutzle that resulted in a four-on-four goal from unlikely source Ryan Lindgren to shockingly tie it 75 seconds following Kreider’s team-leading fourth (third on power play). It also didn’t hurt that an injury to Ottawa starting goalie Matt Murray forced backup Anton Forsberg into the game without any chance to warm up. There still wasn’t much he could do about the two goals that beat him on three shots. They were good deflections from Lindgren and Barclay Goodrow, who made it two consecutive games with a goal.

As if to prove that point, it took the Senators only 41 seconds to score the game’s first goal on Georgiev. Making his first start in 10 days, he looked rusty early. On a rare play at five-on-five where a pinching Adam Fox got caught, Stutzle started a quick transition up the ice. Taking a Connor Brown feed, he blew into the Rangers zone and made a perfect pass for Nick Paul, who beat Georgiev from the circle with a high rising shot past his glove for a 1-0 Ottawa lead. It definitely irked me. I’m already down on Georgiev, who isn’t consistent behind Igor Shesterkin. I figured that goal was gonna be the start of a long day.

Give Georgiev credit for settling in. His teammates didn’t have a good first period. After Ryan Reaves drew a tripping call on Norris, the power play continued to be an eyesore. The first unit did nothing. It was the second unit that encouraged me. In particular, Jacob Trouba who I’m not a big fan of having on one point with rookie Nils Lundkvist. He was good in this one. He even made a nice spin-o-rama and got his shot through to force a save from a sharp Murray, who was making his second consecutive start. I felt like the second unit worked hard to generate chances. Even though they didn’t connect, it was an improvement.

At even strength, I liked the new second line in the opening 20 minutes. Even though neither Filip Chytil or Alexis Lafreniere did much in the game, it seems like they have good chemistry with meat grinder Sammy Blais. Blais continues to impress with his strong work ethic. He’s making more fans as I predicted. Pavel who? Relax. I’m kidding. Blais won’t put up the offensive numbers Pavel Buchnevich will with the Blues. But he doesn’t have to. He brings a very hard-working honest approach that rubs off on teammates. If someone deserves a goal soon, it’s him. He’s still off to a good start with three assists in five games. The three have come over the last two. But it’s more than that with the 25-year old Swede, who’s very active during shifts and makes things happen. That includes heavy hits and even the occasional scrap which we saw earlier.

Blais wasn’t the only one to get into it. After a good clean check from Trouba, Tkachuk didn’t like it and challenged the veteran defenseman. Trouba obliged. Even though the very tough Tkachuk got the takedown, Trouba did okay. He took the Senators’ best player off the ice for five minutes. They could’ve used him moments later with Kreider off for holding Stutzle. The Rangers got the job done on the penalty kill. Tkachuk returned for Ottawa’s second power play of the period. But the penalty kill gave them very little all game to go 4-for-4, only allowing two power play shots on Georgiev. Give credit to the work players such as Goodrow (3:09) and Patrik Nemeth (2:58) did. Both are fitting in well.

Just to follow up on Georgiev, I thought he did a good job the rest of the period after the stoppable goal to Paul. He made some key saves to keep the Senators from extending their lead. They outshot the Rangers 10-8. When the period concluded, I felt relieved. It didn’t feel like a one goal deficit.

In fact, Georgiev kept his team in the second period. Ottawa held a 10-4 edge in shots during it. However, they were unable to beat Georgiev and take advantage. For the game, he finished with 26 saves on 28 shots to even earn the game’s Third Star. It’s never easy for a backup goalie to play after going over a week without a game. So, that shouldn’t be overlooked. He’s not going to get as many starts with coach Gerard Gallant making it clear that Shesterkin is the man. Figure him to be back in for Calgary on Monday. The Rangers will finally be home.

One of the things that hurt past Rangers teams that missed the playoffs were our goalies giving up goals early or late in periods. In today’s case, it happened twice to Georgiev. On a seemingly nothing play, Norris gained the blue line and fired a wrist shot from distance. Sure enough, it snuck by Georgiev, who should’ve had it. This one came 64 seconds into the third period to give the Senators a 2-0 lead. The goal was unassisted. At that point, I feared the worst. Fortunately, the Rangers never quit.

If there’s one thing we know from recent teams, this is exactly the kind of game they never win. It would’ve been easy for them to say, ‘It’s not our day. We can still take satisfaction going 3-1 on the road trip.’ Not this team. They weren’t satisfied.

Able to pick up their play, the Rangers got more pressure on Ottawa. The only trouble was Murray wasn’t cooperating. He made some good stops to keep his team ahead by two. It looked like the last ditch effort wouldn’t get rewarded. But in a determined final period where Blais fought Paul to take him off the ice with less than 10 minutes left, the Blueshirts didn’t go quietly.

Following a Parker Kelly hook on K’Andre Miller, who had a second straight better game that included six blocked shots, this time the power play made it work. On just a superb play started by Mika Zibanejad, he got the puck to Artemi Panarin. It was his turnover that resulted in the Norris tally earlier in the period. This time, he made up for it by making a perfect shot pass for an open Kreider in front. He was able to tip in his team-leading fourth and third power play goal to cut the deficit in half with still 5:23 to go.

On the Kreider goal, Murray was injured. The above replay might indicate that it was a lower-body injury that caused him to exit the game. That meant Forsberg had to come in cold to try to preserve the Ottawa one goal lead. Like I said earlier, it wasn’t his fault. It was the Rangers’ gritty effort that stole this game. One they could look back on if things continue to go well.

Then came a critical moment that helped the comeback. With the shifty Stutzle skating by in the neutral zone, Trouba took him down with an obvious trip. However, the officials decided that Stutzle helped sell the call. That resulted in him getting a coordinating two for embellishment. Of course, the 11,167 fans in attendance voiced their displeasure. You be the judge.

I guess it depends on your perspective. Whatever you feel, instead of the Senators having a 5-on-4 power play with 4:38 left, the teams played 4-on-4. That made a huge difference. Right away off a face-off, the Blueshirts scored when Fox made another great play. After taking a Kreider feed, he found open space down the right side and sent a great pass towards the net that partner Ryan Lindgren redirected past Forsberg to suddenly tie the score with 4:08 remaining. What made it so shocking is it was Lindgren in front. The defensive defenseman had enough sense to go to the dirty area and get his first of the season from Fox and Kreider. The game-tying goal came seven seconds into the 4-on-4.

Ottawa never recovered. You never know how a young team is going to respond to blowing a game they had won. It was the more experienced Rangers who took it away. With just over two minutes left in regulation, Goodrow was able to get his stick on a long Blais shot for the game-winner. Trouba helped set it up. It gave Goodrow goals in two games in a row. He sealed the win over Nashville on Thursday with an empty netter. This was pure determination with him able to neatly deflect home the Blais shot with 2:03 remaining.

The Rangers were able to protect the lead for the remainder of regulation to earn their fourth successive win on the road. Just call them the Road Warriors. Cue Hawk and Animal with manager Precious Paul Ellering. He’s the only one still around. Both Hawk and Animal live on in spirit for wrestling fans like myself and my brother Justin, who celebrates his birthday. Happy Birthday 🎂🥳🎉!!!!! I bet he’ll love the wrestling reference. He’s the biggest Road Warriors fan I know. I still think they were the best tag team even if I was preferential to the Midnight Express.

Right now, the moniker Road Warriors fits the Rangers. They just finished a perfect road trip going 4-for-4 by defeating the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Predators and Senators. That’s quite a statement after going 0-1-1 in the first two games. They’re now up to a Metro Division best 4-1-1 with nine points. Don’t forget the Hurricanes are looking to stay undefeated while the Capitals picked up their eighth point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Flames, who visit MSG Monday. Getting off to a good start is important. They’ve found ways to win without two top six forwards. Maybe Kaapo Kakko and Ryan Strome will be ready in two nights.

With both Panarin and Zibanejad still each with only one goal, the roster balance that Gallant and Team President and GM Chris Drury has come through. When they can get solid contributions from a supporting cast that at the moment includes Greg McKegg, Dryden Hunt and Morgan Barron, you have to feel good. Blais and Goodrow are getting it done so far. So is Nemeth, who very quietly goes about his business playing third pair with Nils Lundkvist and killing penalties. There’s a lot to like. They have character.

The Rangers host the Flames on Monday and then get a needed three day break before the Blue Jackets visit The Garden on Friday. Then, it’s back on the road including the first ever meeting against the expansion Kraken on Halloween. What a way to close October. It doesn’t get any easier with games in Vancouver and Edmonton before concluding a four game Western swing at Calgary.

BATTLE OF HUDSON 3 STARS 🌟

3rd 🌟 Jacob Trouba, NYR (🍎 + fight, plus-1 in 19:39, 3 SOG in 7 attempts)

2nd 🌟 Barclay Goodrow, NYR (GWG 2nd straight game with a goal, plus-1 in 16:40)

1st 🌟 Chris Kreider, NYR (PPG + 🍎, 6 hits, 5 SOG in 8 attempts, plus-1 in 20:22)

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Devils’ injury situation continues to mount as reality hits against Caps

Posted on October 22, 2021 by hasan4978

Let’s just start with the good news, I’m glad I couldn’t even watch last night’s game, let alone attend what was always going to be a predictable beatdown by the Caps, who’ve owned us the last several years. Sure, we don’t have a good record over a lot of teams in that stretch, but we were 0-6-2 against the Ovechkin gang last year and have been particularly dominated by them since at least 2014-15. You would think there would have been a good effort last night given that backdrop and the team’s 2-0 start, but apparently not. Maybe we’ve accepted the fact the Caps are our daddies. Sure we had people missing – which I’ll get to – but when you have the coach indirectly calling out our stars for a lack of effort and switching around the lines in Game 3 because of a no-show against a rival that’s dominated you, that’s…not good.

I kind of beg to differ with the coach in one respect because this team IS outskilled against the Caps at full strength, never mind with the joke of a lineup we put out there last night, partly because of the injuries and partly by choice due to overcompensating against the expected physicality of the game with guys like Mason Geertsen. Nothing against a kid playing his second NHL game but the Caps laugh at guys like that being in another team’s lineup. Of course he’s gotta say we have enough talent to match up with anyone though. Especially if the effort is clearly lacking. You would think with a lineup that is full of guys with stuff to prove that wouldn’t happen, but maybe that’s an example of why certain guys have something to prove.

Has Jesper Bratt even been alive for the first three games? As much as the spreadsheet warriors like to claim Bratt’s a great defensive forward, I don’t see it – either by the eye test or the lack of PK time. When he’s not scoring he’s borderline useless, possession or no possession and he tends to have streaks of four points in fifteen games followed by streaks of twelve points in the next fifteen. Bratt was clearly one of the guys being singled out last night due to his 14 minutes of icetime though, and this isn’t exactly the first time a coach has had to put the spurs to him. So was Yegor Sharangovich, who’s clearly not gotten off to a good start this season. He had an assist but was also a -2 in just 11:30 last night. I’d give him a little more time before getting the search party out, but as this roster is currently constituted, we’re gonna need this guy to score upward of 20 goals and play a good all-around game. Janne Kuokkanen had a junktime goal last night but has overall been just as invisible as the first two guys on the opening homestand.

It’s not just the kids that have to pick it up (though sadly I’m not expecting PK Subban to pick it up at this point), although it’d be nice if the kid captain started scoring again. Nico Hischier’s offensive production has gone down every year since his strong debut stapled on a line with Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall. I get he hasn’t played a lot of hockey since the pandemic started, I get that he was milliseconds from scoring against Seattle but one assist in three games is just now gonna cut it from a supposed franchise center. Especially now that we’ll need guys like Nico to pick up the load even more with Jack Hughes on the shelf due to a separated shoulder, and likely week-to-week at the very least.

Not that Hughes was our only actual missing Devil last night. Miles Wood and Ty Smith are still on the back of milk cartons, and due to the vagueness of reporting and information on their injuries god only knows when they’ll be back. You could say the same for alleged starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood but hey, he skated yesterday. Get out the confetti and balloons! With Blackwood out, the Devils could ill afford having Jonathan Bernier also getting hurt, but apparently his ‘minor camp issue’ cropped up again and he had to miss last night’s game, giving the crease once again to Scott Wedgewood. So much for having a full lineup in the first season post-COVID breakout with all but one roster player now being vaccinated.

Last night may have been a reality check in that the Devils certainly aren’t on the level of actual top teams in the NHL, but Saturday is another acid test against a currently surprising 3-0 Sabres team. I get the Sabres might not know they’re supposed to suck yet, plus there’s a little ‘thank god we don’t have to deal with that guy’ backlash towards Jack Eichel, who’ll likely be traded for Ben Simmons or Deshaun Watson anyday now (kidding), but if you’re the Devils looking to take a step forward this is the kind of game you gotta win at home. Especially with the Sabres on the rear end of a back-to-back. Whoever’s in net on Saturday, we’ll need a better effort from our D-core and PK, and more of our forwards to get going.

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Backed by Shesterkin, Rangers continue successful road trip in wins over Toronto and Nashville, Panarin finally scores and Chytil clicks with Lafreniere and Blais minus Kakko/Strome

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Derek

Sometimes, it’s as simple as the goalie standing tall against good opponents. Since giving up the Miro Heiskanen overtime winner in his season debut that he felt he should’ve had last Thursday, Igor Shesterkin has been on a roll. It’s been the brilliant play of the third year netminder that’s propelled the Rangers to three consecutive wins on the road.

After stoning the Maple Leafs on Monday with 40 saves including 16 in a lopsided second period, Shesterkin played another excellent game to help backstop the Rangers to a well earned 3-1 win at Nashville last night. He was able to outduel Predators’ starting goalie Juuse Saros to improve to 3-0-1 in four straight starts this season. Unlike Monday night when he was under siege due to the Leafs’ face-off domination prior to Mika Zibanejad going forward with a draw that resulted in a surprising Artemi Panarin overtime winner, Shesterkin didn’t have to face a barrage against the pesky Preds. He was good enough to make 28 saves which was one better than Saros, who also had a good night.

The difference in this one proved to be the newly formed second line anchored by Filip Chytil. After he had success by moving Panarin up to the right side to play on the top line with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, coach Gerard Gallant decided to keep the trio intact for last night. Without Ryan Strome and Kaapo Kakko, maybe he felt it was the best way to go for the time being. Although they didn’t hit the score sheet, that forced Nashville coach John Hynes to match his top line and number one pair against them. Perhaps that matchup helped the second line of Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere and Sammy Blais, who combined for five points (2-3-5), 12 shots on goal and a plus-six rating.

Following a good successful coach’s challenge from Hynes that negated a Ryan Lindgren goal due to Panarin being offsides, Adam Fox led a quick transition into the Nashville zone. After going wide to take a player with him, he was able to find a cutting Blais down the middle where instead of shooting, he made a nice pass across for a wide open Lafreniere, who buried the chance for the game-winner with 9:07 remaining in regulation. On that same shift, Lafreniere used some deception to get off a tough shot on Saros that he repelled. This time, the improving sophomore got his second of the season on some great passing from both Fox and Blais, who had his best game so far by recording a pair of assists.

When asked about the opportunity to play with Lafreniere, who was seated right next to him at a postgame conference call, he called the former top pick an “unbelievable player.” Some nice praise for a second year kid who’s not just relying on his skill to make a difference. He has a tremendous work ethic. Lafreniere isn’t all finesse. He will go to the hard areas to score goals. That amount of hustle will get rewarded. We know about the skating and speed he possesses. But he shows great maturity with his effort and the way he handles himself. He has the same calm demeanor as a great player he probably looks up to who plays in the division.

Unlike the game at Toronto where Shesterkin had to deal with the relentless shooting sniper Auston Matthews (8 SOG in 16 attempts), the Rangers got off to a better start in Music City. On a good play in the defensive zone started by Lafreniere, he moved the puck to Blais who then was able to find Chytil in transition. Using his explosive speed, the former ’17 first round pick was able to break in on Saros to create a two-on-one. Looking pass, instead Chytil surprised Saros with a backhand that beat him far side to the glove (he catches right) at 2:12 of the first period. It was the first of the season for Chytil. He needed it. He had some chances, but hadn’t gotten anything to go. That should give him a confidence boost entering Saturday’s 1 PM matinee at Ottawa.

The first was pretty back and forth between the two teams. They combined for 22 total shots. Nashville outshot the Rangers 12-10. Although they generated quality chances, Shesterkin was there to deny them. His best save came when he got across to deny a point blank opportunity from Mikael Granlund that looked like a certain goal. Not so fast. That’s how locked in Shesterkin is right now. In the last three wins, he’s stopped 99 of 102 shots. Not much is getting by him. The only Toronto goal three days ago came on a fluky Michael Bunting rebound in the second period. It was again another strange one from 20-year old rookie Philip Tomasino, who of course became the latest player to get his first NHL goal versus the Rangers. It came off a funny Ryan Johansen carom. That tied it 7:01 into the second.

The frustrating aspect of the game was the power play. They went 0-for-4 including blowing a two-man advantage earlier in the period. Part of the problem is without Kakko and Strome, Gallant is limited in his options for the second unit. He used the top unit a lot more than the second one which is lacking. That meant more of Zibanejad, Panarin, Fox, Kreider and Lafreniere. In the four opportunities, they managed eight shots on Saros, who stopped them in their tracks. Sound familiar? It’s like the groundhog seeing his shadow. Cue Bill Murray as Phil Connors in Groundhog Day. It doesn’t matter who coaches. Let’s hope things improve once Strome is cleared and Kakko returns. He did take the morning skate. He isn’t eligible for tomorrow’s game. But would be for Calgary when they are back at MSG after the weekend.

After 40 minutes, the game was tied at one. The shots favored the Predators, 24-22. Each side had a dozen in the middle stanza. Credit both Shesterkin and Saros, who as I said were good throughout. They’re both young number one goalies. Ironically enough, each was taken in the fourth round of their drafts. Saros went 99th in 2013 while Shesterkin was picked 118th in 2014. They took different routes with Saros coming over from Finland by age 21 to back up Predators’ legend Pekka Rinne, who just retired. Shesterkin stayed home in Russia where he played in the KHL until finally coming over in ’19-20 at age 24. Both have a cap hit of at least $5 million. Shesterkin gets $5.666 million AAV. Each have pressure to perform with Saros replacing Rinne and Shesterkin trying to fulfill expectations after getting a new contract. There’s definitely some similarities. Saros is 26 while Shesterkin turns 26 on December 30.

In the third, the Blueshirts killed off a Barclay Goodrow roughing minor to keep the game tied. Predictably, it was a bit tighter. You didn’t have as many shots or scoring chances. In fact, the Rangers clamped down to hold the Preds to only five shots. That along with some strong play in the neutral zone allowed them to earn their third consecutive win. After starting the season with back-to-back losses including a tough OT defeat to the Stars, they’re up to 3-1-1. An important thing considering how competitive the Metropolitan Division is. Both Carolina and Washington are off to quick starts. So are the Blue Jackets, who seem to be out to prove they can compete without a star player. Elvis Merzlikins is the biggest reason for that. He’s dedicated the season to close Latvian friend Matiss Kivlenieks, who tragically passed away on the Fourth of July. He’s been great so far.

On kind of a strange play, the Blueshirts thought they had the lead when Lindgren had a shot take a good bounce off a Predator to sneak past Saros. However, Hynes immediately challenged for offsides. He got some good input from his video replay staff as Panarin was pushed over the blue line before the puck fully entered play. That made it offside. There was no protest from the Rangers bench. They probably knew it. It would’ve been a lucky bounce. That’s not exactly how a well played game should be decided. Especially in net. Instead, you had a better ending.

Shortly after, Fox made another one of those subtle plays that really reminds me of a Hall Of Fame defenseman that played for a bitter rival. No. He doesn’t compare to any former Rangers legends. It’s another player, who Fox plays eerily similar to. I won’t say at this moment. It’s not the right time. On the winning play, Fox smoothly skated through the neutral zone, gained the Nashville blue line and was able to thread a perfect seam pass for Blais while being covered. That led directly to Blais feeding Lafreniere for his game deciding goal at 10:53 of the third period. It really was a great passing play. Fox was the reason why. This far, he’s got four points (1-3-4) in five games. He’s also a plus-five while logging the usual enormous minutes at five-on-five and on the penalty kill against the best players with overlooked partner Lindgren. They’re becoming one of the league’s most dependable tandems. Both are 23. Fox will be signed to a rich extension soon.

I could go on about Fox. I didn’t take him to repeat for the Norris. I thought Cale Makar would win it. He’s off to a lousy start along with the Avalanche. However, things can change. Don’t expect Colorado to continue to struggle. I’m sure Makar will be in the conversation with Fox. However, I’m going to now ask the question. Who would you rather have? I didn’t think Fox was in that category a while ago. But the way he plays the game has changed my mind. It’s number 23 who is the Rangers’ best player. Without him, they’d be lost. If you subtracted Fox from the lineup, the Rangers would crumble. He’s proving it daily.

Goodrow, who was strong in the third defensively, earned his first as a Ranger when he scored into an open net. It was the consistent play from the supporting cast that decided it. Lines two through four got it done. That even includes Greg McKegg, who got key minutes at even strength and the penalty kill. Morgan Barron played on the fourth line while Julien Gauthier sat out. Gauthier is becoming another team ornament. If he can’t break into a lineup without two top six forwards, what’s he still doing on the roster? Nothing is ever as it seems with this team. Chris Drury kept Gauthier, Libor Hajek and Dryden Hunt. How can they justify that? At least Hunt plays the kind of edgy style Gallant prefers. Hajek is AHL fodder. Gauthier is the new Brett Howden. Stone Hands Part II.

Meanwhile, a little update on Vitali Kravtsov, who remains home in Russia. He’s waiting for the Rangers leadership to do something. It is apparent he’ll never play another game for them. Not as long as Drury is around. Especially after finding out he berated the former first round pick twice. I think he knew once they made the organizational changes, he was gone. More is coming to the surface with Arthur Staple now doubling coverage on the Rangers despite being an Islanders insider on The Athletic. He took over for Rick Carpiniello, who retired. Gallant did call up Kravtsov to try to change his mind. But it was too late. If the Rangers don’t come off their demand of a top six forward, it won’t be easily resolved. For the time being, it doesn’t matter as it doesn’t affect the roster moving forward. Time will tell if Kravtsov is right. I’ll never understand how he didn’t make the roster.

At least the Rangers are off to a good start. That matters. You don’t want to fall behind early in such a division where every point is so valuable. That includes the one they got against Dallas. I wonder about Alex Georgiev. How many starts will he get? Would you start him at Ottawa with a quick turnover? Or do you ride the hot hand in Shesterkin? I like that Gallant made it clear who his starter was. A huge difference from David Quinn, who never committed to Shesterkin. It’s obvious that he’s the guy. They’re going to depend on him a lot this season.

It’s refreshing to see a supporting cast take some pressure off the top guns. Panarin remains stuck on one goal. So does Zibanejad. You need balance to be successful. Guys like Blais, Goodrow and the underrated Kevin Rooney really help. Lafreniere and Chytil came through. They’ve won three of five without getting anything from Kakko. That is a net positive.

So was the defensive play from Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller, who both had their best games. They were strong defensively and reliable. Trouba had some key shifts late and prevented a potential tying goal by taking away a Matt Duchene pass when he probably should’ve shot. He was on his backhand. Trouba stayed home to break it up. Patrik Nemeth also gavwe the Blueshirts 20 big minutes. As usual, Nils Lundkvist was on the bench down the stretch. He didn’t do anything wrong. At some point, they have to trust him.

That’s gonna do it for now. I’ll have more either later today or Saturday.

BATTLE OF HUDSON THREE STARS

3rd ⭐ Sammy Blais, NYR (2 🍎, 4 SOG, +2 in 12:06)

2nd ⭐ Alexis Lafreniere, NYR (GWG 2nd goal plus 🍎, 4 SOG, +2 in 16:07)

1st ⭐ Igor Shesterkin, NYR (28 saves on 29 shots, 3-0 in last 3 starts with 99 stops on 102 shots)

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Devils grind their way to 2-0 despite Hughes’ injury

Posted on October 20, 2021 by hasan4978

Normally a second home game of the season can be a sleepy affair, especially when it’s between interconference teams (and ones that have never met before last night at that). Last night’s 4-2 win over the Kraken was anything but sleepy, due in large part to physical play and erratic refereeing – but at least it was entertaining for me and the nearly 14,000 in attendance and another nail-biting Devils win, and a necessary one at that with the Caps coming up on Thursday followed by the shockingly hot Sabres on Saturday.

It might prove to be a costly win though, as the first period rough stuff culminated in Jeremy Lauzon driving Jack Hughes into the boards near the end of the opening frame, costing the Devils their franchise center for the remainder of the night at least. Hughes is reportedly day to day with further testing due on a likely shoulder injury this afternoon. Was it dirty? I still haven’t seen a replay where it didn’t look that way tbh, but coach Lindy Ruff tried to tamp down the temperature after the game by saying it there wasn’t much wrong with the hit. Certainly the refs didn’t think so either, but all night the refs seemed inclined to let physical play go even when it veered on dirty, while calling every ticky-tack obstruction foul known to man (particularly ours). Arguably the refs missed a far worse boarding call minutes earlier in the first period by Seattle, but at least that one didn’t injure a key player.

Obviously with the Kraken having been blown out in Philly the night before, the staff seemingly sensed this kind of thing could happen and dressed enforcer Mason Geertsen for his first NHL contest. Michael McLeod’s fight with Brandon Tanev 2:27 into the game was a harbinger of things to come. Geertsen’s inevitable fight with Lauzon in the second period – which the refs didn’t actually let become a real fight – took both players off the ice for much of the second period but things didn’t calm down for a while in a game that had a combined 76 PIM’s in it.

Maybe the refs wouldn’t have had to call half as much of the other stuff they did if they nipped the rough stuff in the bud during the first period, or even if they let Geertsen and Lauzon have a real fight in the second. To be fair at least, when it came to physical play the refs let go a possible boarding penalty from Jonas Siegenthaler late in the second period as well, only calling Seattle’s Ryan Donato for an instigator penalty after the teams’ third fight of the evening. Then again what can you expect from a league that employs a former goon as its head of public safety?

And yes, everyone was glad Geertsen did what he did responding to the Hughes hit, god knows the Devils have had too little of that pushback in recent years, and are going to need pushback to deal with continued targeting of key franchise players like Hughes. Still, people that are stuck in the ’80’s think goons are some kind of deterrent, clearly they’re not – particularly when the refs act like three blind mice once the rough stuff starts. This isn’t the ’80’s Oilers where Marty McSorley could give Wayne Gretzky free reign to score nine thousand goals, the game is officiated differently now (though you wouldn’t know it by a couple of the things that were let go last night) and the instigator penalty cut out a lot of the Slapshot-esque bench-clearing brawls of the past.

Not to mention having a um, specialist hinders you on the ice at a certain point. Without Hughes for the last two periods and with Geertsen playing only 3:07 total, the Devils basically had ten forwards for much of the night. Rolling three lines (for the most part) is fine when you have three days off before the game and another day off after, but it would be tricky to do on a back-to-back or a fourth game in six nights situation. Goons at this point basically just provide empty emotional calories for the team, rather than actually helping tangibly on the ice. Which isn’t totally insignificant in a long 82-game season, but gives you limited value certain nights.

The shame of it is, all the unpenalized rough stuff and Hughes’ injury kind of overshadowed what was a good game, or at least became one. We looked ready to run Seattle out of the building in the first with two early goals, including Dawson Mercer’s first NHL goal. As happy as I was for Mercer getting the goal (and eventually the game’s first star), really the play was all about the passing – Ryan Graves’ terrific outlet pass and Tomas Tatar’s seeing-eye feed off the ensuing 2-on-1 gave Mercer the far easier part of the goal, and he wouldn’t waste his chance at glory. Mercer’s goal also added to a nice piece of symmetry among the young Devils:

Less than two minutes later Damon Severson doubled the Devils’ lead in his return to the lineup, being johnny on the spot when a Hughes point shot came loose in front of the crease for Severson to poke home the rebound. While the Devils clearly grabbed control of the game, they could not put it away with Jesper Bratt wasting a wide-open chance minutes later to make it 3-0. At the other end Jonathan Bernier was holding down the fort when things did break down, stopping Jordan Eberle on a breakaway in the first period among his 27 saves on the night. With coach Ruff admitting before the game it was becoming increasingly unlikely that Mackenzie Blackwood will play on this homestand after an apparent re-aggravation of an offseason hip issue, might a hot start give Bernier an inroad to taking the job from under Blackwood’s nose? Stranger things have happened, but at the very least Blackwood’s gotta be available first before it’s even an issue.

Penalties that weren’t called were the bane of the Devils’ existence in the first but the penalties that were called hurt more in the second period, with back to back penalties against McLeod and Yegor Sharangovich resulting in the Devils needing to kill nearly four minutes of the Kraken power play. Shockingly they did kill the penalties off but couldn’t get the puck out of the zone while still running around seconds after the penalty ended, and Riley Sheahan scored a quasi-power play goal not actually on the power play. With the game now up for grabs, the Devils didn’t take long to restore their two goal lead after Jimmy Vesey finished off a nice tic-tac-toe play started by Andreas Johnsson and Colton White for his first goal as a Devil, scoring less than five minutes after Sheahan’s goal. Thankfully the Devils were able to maintain their two-goal lead after Alex Wennberg’s apparent goal shortly thereafter was overturned on review, following a successful offside challenge from the Devils. Perhaps some karmic retribution after Nico Hischier’s apparent goal at the end of the first period had to be overturned because the puck hadn’t quite crossed the line at 0.0 yet.

I was shocked the officials actually gave us a power play late in the second after Siegenthaler’s edgy play earlier referenced, but perhaps the instigator being called on that sequence finally quelled the rough stuff in the third. Or maybe it was just the game situation with the Devils trying to sit on a two-goal lead. Not surprisingly the refs decided to insert themselves one more time, after ‘letting the boys play’ for much of the third period they called back to back minors seconds apart against Severson and Pavel Zacha as if they wanted to try to get Seattle back in the game. Not so surprisingly our 5-on-3 gave up a goal to Jared McCann, though it came after nearly a minute of holding out. A tough break to be sure, but it’s still not gonna help the early PK stats.

At least unlike the opener, there was no empty-net goal to break the home fans’ hearts, instead it was Zacha getting redemption by putting one into the empty net to finish the game off and giving the Devils their necessary 2-0 start. I admit if the media wanted to give Mercer the first star to make the fans feel good, it worked for me. I’m not sure he necessarily deserved it only playing twelve minutes and not really being the key to his own goal but so be it, hopefully it’s the first of many more to come (both goals and first stars), but quite honestly I had a hard time coming up with three stars for this game. Guess you could call this one winning by committee. Coach Ruff may have had the best answer of all as to who deserved the first star of the night:

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1450662833474187264?s=20

So the coach decrees, so it is

Devils three stars:

  1. Our video review team: A successfully overturned goal
  2. Ryan Graves: 2 assists and a +3 in 22:27
  3. Jonathan Bernier: 27 saves
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Kravtsov goes home to further complicate messy situation, Barron recalled for tonight

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Derek

Even when they finally get a win, things aren’t as they seem for the Rangers. With key right wing Kaapo Kakko suffering an upper body injury on a hit from Alex Romanov during the first period in Montreal, he was placed on the injured reserve. At minimum, the third year forward is out a week.

That means he’s out for tonight’s game at the Maple Leafs, Thursday at Nashville and Saturday in Ottawa. He won’t be eligible to return until the Blueshirts are back home next Monday versus Calgary. Without Kakko, that weakens the Rangers at right wing. Once a team strength, it no longer is thanks to the Vitali Kravtsov Saga. An unnecessary distraction that was created by both sides. The latest after TSN insider Elliotte Friedman said that the Rangers were trying to get Kravtsov to come back and play in Hartford is that the disenchanted former 2018 first round pick went home to Russia.

All of this could’ve been prevented had the organization communicated better with the self entitled Kravtsov, who hasn’t done himself any favors. It was in 2019 that he pulled a similar stunt after failing to make the roster. After initially going down to Hartford, he didn’t like playing there. Eventually, the Rangers agreed to reassign him to his KHL team Chelyabinsk Traktor. It went poorly for him that he was demoted in Russia. Eventually, Kravtsov had a change of heart and finished his season with Hartford. COVID complicated the hockey season and sports world with many leagues cancelling the rest of the schedule.

A year later, Kravtsov stayed home and played better for his KHL team. He produced well scoring 16 goals and 24 points in 49 games for Traktor. After they were eliminated from the playoffs, the Rangers finally brought him over. In 20 NHL games, he tallied two goals and two assists while mostly playing on a bottom line under former coach David Quinn. There were moments where he was bumped up. He didn’t look out of place. It’s my opinion that Kravtsov deserved more ice time. Unfortunately, he was behind recent first round picks Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. That made it hard for him to get the opportunity he had hoped for. Quinn trusted Colin Blackwell, who performed admirably on the second line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome.

Somewhat curiously, the recent information the organization fed the New York Post about Kravtsov’s exit interview didn’t come out until last week. I find it very strange that suddenly, there was an issue they knew about during the summer. If that was indeed the case, why didn’t Chris Drury make Kravtsov available? He had more trade value. Instead, following an injury that kept him out most of the preseason until he scored a power play goal from Strome in a win over the Islanders, the Rangers mysteriously cut him and kept depth forward Dryden Hunt and team ornament Libor Hajek, who’s behind Jarred Tinordi.

That decision was perplexing. Nothing against Hunt, who had a solid showing in training camp. But they preferred not to expose the veteran to waivers. Ditto for Hajek, who looks to have no place in the club’s plans. Supposedly, Drury tried to trade him with no success. That’s because Hajek has little value. It never made sense to re-sign him. Especially with the knowledge that Nils Lundkvist was being given a spot in the top six with both Tinordi and Patrik Nemeth signed as veteran presences.

Both young defense prospects Zac Jones and Braden Schneider impressed in preseason. Even stranger, they’re not paired together for the Wolf Pack. Instead, Jones plays with veteran Anthony Bitetto while Schneider works with Matthew Robertson. Interestingly, coach Kris Knoblauch has Jones playing the right side on the top pair. Maybe that’s by design. Happy Birthday to Zac!

Given that the defensive depth is excellent, I don’t understand the Rangers’ reluctance to let Hajek go. He’ll likely not get another opportunity here. It isn’t fair to him. So, he isn’t quite what they hoped for. Put the blame on former GM Jeff Gorton. He didn’t exactly do well getting both Hajek and former Ranger Brett Howden in return as part of the Ryan McDonagh/J.T. Miller trade. At least it netted Lundkvist, who will play his third NHL game later. A gifted skater with offensive potential, he’s still searching for his first NHL point. Right now, he gets around 14 minutes depending on how much power play time there is on the second unit. Hopefully, he’ll gain the coaching staff’s trust and receive more shifts in close games. The Rangers are being cautious with him thus far.

As it pertains to Kravtsov, who isn’t helping himself by quitting on the Rangers, you subtract what should be a player on the third line and suddenly the team is paper thin at right wing. What’s more. Julien Gauthier has only played one game. That’ll change tonight with him likely slotting in for Kakko on the second line. Having recalled veteran Greg McKegg, who served as the team’s fourth center in the win at Montreal, they have brought up Morgan Barron. Another center who is decent in the face-off circle, he scored goals in the Wolf Pack’s first two games. Barron had a good enough camp to possibly make the team. But was blocked by checking center Kevin Rooney.

At the moment, Chris Kreider continues to play the right wing to allow Lafreniere to stay at his position on the left wing where he scored the game-winner back home in front of family on Saturday night. So far, it’s working out well. Kreider has scored in all three games and leads the team in goals (3) and power play goals (2). However, when you take out Kakko, who’s expected to have a good season in his third year, there’s not much scoring depth on the right side. Gauthier has yet to prove himself as a reliable scorer. When Hunt plays, it’s not to provide offense. Barclay Goodrow had been used a lot by Gallant at all three positions. He can be moved around due to his versatility. However, he’s not known for his scoring, but rather his checking and grit. We know what Ryan Reaves is here for.

Add it all up and there seems to be a void without Kravtsov. Unless Lauri Pajuniemi performs well in his first year in the AHL, there’s not much available. Both Will Cuylle and Brett Berard are playing for their junior teams. Each should have a bright future. Especially Cuylle, who Gorton at least got back in return as a second round pick for Lias Andersson. Another former first round pick the organization mishandled. He thought he did enough to make the roster a couple of years ago. Instead, they sent him down where he had a mental breakdown.

While the cases of Andersson and Kravtsov are different, you have to ask why this keeps happening with the Rangers. While they went out of their way to gift 2019 second overall pick Kakko a spot even though he wasn’t close to ready, he never played one game for Hartford. Neither will Lundkvist if everything goes well. It’s a bit inconsistent for the organization to treat certain prospects better than others. Jones could be here, but isn’t due to a numbers game.

I still haven’t figured out what all the fuss is over K’Andre Miller. He spent his entire first season with the Rangers. There were ups and downs. Something you’d expect from a young defenseman. Last season, he played on the penalty kill. An area I believe he should continue to receive shifts. Instead, Gallant has stuck with Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox while Nemeth and Jacob Trouba comprise the second shorthanded pair. So, Miller is only being used so far at even strength. That should change. He and Trouba have had some issues. They struggled in the third period against the Canadiens. They were caught out of position on the tying Jonathan Drouin goal. That second pair remains a question mark. They’re depended on for key minutes at five-on-five.

If they can’t work it out with Kravtsov, then they must trade him. This can’t be a distraction that lasts all year long. The Rangers have plenty of room on the cap to add an NHL player. But it’s awfully hard to see them getting a top six forward in return for an unproven prospect, who needs an attitude adjustment. Would they trade with Chicago and acquire the suddenly out of favor Dylan Strome? The problem is the younger brother of Ryan Strome [COVID protocol] isn’t a right wing. Unless Gauthier can start finishing around the net, right wing will be a concern. Hopefully, Kakko isn’t out too long with his injury. They need him.

For the time being, we don’t know how the complicated Kravtsov situation will play out. If he’s eventually dealt which is looking more and more likely, can Drury still get a good enough return to improve the roster? Or will the mismanagement of another prospect hurt the team? Halloween is right around the corner. Trick or Treat.

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Foxy effort not enough in tough overtime loss to Stars in emotional home opener

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Derek

It started the right way. Every Ranger wore the classic home white jerseys with the number 7 and the name Gilbert on the backs as they skated during warm-ups. Prior to last night’s game,the Rangers paid tribute to franchise legend Rod Gilbert, who passed away earlier this summer.

It was an emotional moment for Madison Square Garden. Following player introductions and the announcement of the new coaching staff that includes Gerard Gallant, they had a seven second moment of silence for No. 7. Then, Gilbert’s entire family came out to a great ovation from over 17,000 who attended the home opener. Wife Judy was brought out to drop the ceremonial first puck at center ice. Both Stars captain and Rangers alternate Mika Zibanejad posed for a picture and then shook her hand. She smiled which was nice to see. A video tribute was also shown of what made Gilbert so special to New York City hearts. It was wonderfully done.

Following the pregame ceremony that probably brought a lot of tears in the building as well as for those watching at home, there was still a game to play. In what can best be described as a better effort than the Wednesday’s clunker at Washington, the Rangers outplayed the Stars for two of three periods. However, a bad start put them in a two goal hole before Adam Fox took over the game to help rally the team along with Chris Kreider to a 2-2 tie. Despite probably deserving a better result, the Rangers lost in overtime 3-2 to the Stars on a Miro Heiskanen goal.

One of the surprises was that Sammy Blais didn’t play. He’s already nursing a lower-body injury from the Washington game. Shocker. He had a few ferocious hits. Hopefully, he isn’t out for Saturday at Montreal. With the Canadiens losing again, you know they’ll be amped up to play the home opener tomorrow night at Bell Centre. In other words, it won’t get any easier. Not with the Maple Leafs to follow on Monday.

The starting lineup included Dryden Hunt and Julien Gauthier, who didn’t play in the season opening dud that was a total waste. But Hunt did. It’s incredibly mystifying why he’s on the roster. Sure. He plays an honest game and is physically involved. But is that really who they chose over the exiled Vitali Kravtsov? Speaking of him, the father of the former ’18 first round pick put up an interesting Russian article. The English translation is a bit perplexing. This isn’t to suggest what Kravtsov decided to do is right. It’s not. But I think there’s more than meets the eye here.

Also making his true NHL debut was former first round pick Nils Lundkvist. He received over 14 minutes including some point duty on the second power play. As expected, he had a new number. Instead of number 53, he rocked number 27. Best remembered for former Stanley Cup champion Alexei Kovalev and recent captain Ryan McDonagh. Not for Jack Johnson, who astonishingly scored a highlight reel goal in a Colorado home win over Chicago that had me laughing. I thought Lundkvist looked confident for his first game. He created some scoring chances off the rush. There was one hiccup that cost a goal against. But that wasn’t entirely his fault.

Unlike Wednesday, Igor Shesterkin was in net for the second game of a back-to-back. He got a nice ovation from the crowd. Fans are excited for this team. We all want to see them succeed. There are more expectations. Obviously, they don’t want to get off to a slow start. At 0-1-1, they need to right the ship. As Kreider said afterwards during a postgame press conference sitting next to Fox, they only get a two game slate when asked about adjusting to the new system Gallant installed. He didn’t stutter. Kreider has done his part so far scoring in both games on tip ins. Exactly what you want from the longest tenured Blueshirt. Fox was unbelievable on Friday night, nearly willing the team back to a win. One of six alternates, the 23-year old Norris winner looks even better so far. With points in the first two games, there’s no telling what he’ll do. He sure is exciting to watch.

After an initial good start that earned them a power play, the Rangers found it difficult to score on veteran Braden Holtby. The former Caps goalie played very well before exiting due to dehydration. He made 25 saves before giving way to Anton Khudobin, who did a good job coming in cold to pickup the win by stopping all six shots he faced.

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Hometown kid Lafreniere gets game-winner to give Rangers first victory of season over Canadiens, Shesterkin stands tall

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Derek

The biggest story entering the third game of the season was the return home for Alexis Lafreniere in Montreal. Although the former 2020 top pick is from the Province of Quebec, that’s right outside the big Canadian city. Playing in front of his family and friends for the first time, Lafreniere didn’t disappoint. He scored the big game-winner with over 10 minutes left to help the Rangers get their first victory of the season over the Canadiens at a packed Bell Centre.

What made it even more special is that he did it with his proud parents in attendance. Due to the pandemic, they never got to see their son play in the abbreviated ’20-21 season. For Lafreniere, it was a special moment for sure. Up to that point following Jonathan Drouin tying the game 26 seconds prior to put the sellout Habs crowd in a frenzy for their own inspiring player who’s overcome anxiety and depression off the ice, Lafreniere had come on strong during the game. Even better, the recently turned 20-year old left wing stepped up in a key moment to provide the spark the Rangers needed to get out of Montreal with a win. It gave them points in two straight and made their record 1-1-1 with an even tougher test tomorrow night at Toronto.

Playing the game without the COVID stricken Ryan Strome, the Rangers did okay even though it was their third game in four nights. They got stellar goaltending from number one starter Igor Shesterkin, who made some huge stops on his way to 31 altogether to earn the game’s First Star. He really came up big when the Canadiens started to press the action during the second half. That’s the kind of performance the Blueshirts will need from the aggressive Russian netminder to succeed. He tracked the puck well and also handled it to help his defense out.

A key area that was better was the special teams. Over the first two games, the Rangers had allowed four power play goals and only scored once on the man-advantage. In this one, they won the battle by killing off all three of Montreal’s power plays and went 1-for-4 on the power play. Once again, it was Chris Kreider, who did the dirty work to score for a third consecutive game breaking a scoreless tie nearly halfway through the contest. It was his second power play goal. Coincidentally, all three of his goals have come directly in front of the opposing goalie. The first two on tip-ins and the third on a rebound that he chipped past Habs starter Jake Allen. Of course, Allen is the Montreal number one with Carey Price getting help for an off ice issue in an NHL program. Hopefully, he is able to return.

Without Strome, Filip Chytil moved up to center the second line with Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko. Hartford call up Greg McKegg played mostly on the fourth line with Dryden Hunt. To make room for McKegg, Julien Gauthier was scratched. Barclay Goodrow wound up with Sammy Blais and Ryan Reaves on an effective checking line. Reaves had a particularly strong game drawing two penalties and making a nice defensive play in the neutral zone late to get a puck in deep. One issue coach Gerard Gallant ran into was that Kakko suffered a lower-body injury. He took nine shifts (6:16) before exiting the game. Right now, he’s day-to-day. We’ll know more tomorrow. If he can’t go against the Maple Leafs, that leaves the Rangers in a bind if Strome isn’t ready by Monday. Gauthier could be back in unless they recall Morgan Barron, who’s off to a quick start with Hartford having scored in both games. This is where you really wish Vitali Kravtsov was available. More on that later.

Due to being short a man, Gallant mixed and matched. He wasn’t shy about double shifting Zibanejad, Kreider or Panarin on a makeshift fourth line. That’s what good coaches do when their bench is short a forward. I thought he did a nice job managing the minutes. Of course, he leaned heavily on his top players while Chytil also received over 21 minutes. He didn’t hurt himself in the extended look on the second line. He also was the only Blueshirt who had a good night on face-offs, going 6-and-5. As a team, the Rangers lost 34 of 56 draws to the Canadiens. But it didn’t matter.

Following a long opening ceremony which MSG Network chose not to show for whatever reason (who would want to see the Canadiens with a great introduction to their first capacity crowd in over a year), the teams took to the ice and dropped the puck around 7:25 PM. So, it was almost like a 7:30 game on a Saturday night in Montreal. What’s better than hockey up north on a Hockey Night In Canada? Exactly. MSG really isn’t the same since Dolan put the screws to the viewers. I guess I would’ve preferred to see the pregame ceremony. I’m glad someone I follow posted a video from her seats. Awesome.

The Rangers took a couple of penalties in an otherwise solid road period. Even though the call on Reaves was tacky, the penalty kill got the job done. They didn’t allow many Montreal shots. Ditto for K’Andre Miller, who was off for a trip on the very elusive Cole Caufield. He really will be a rookie to watch. He’s got explosive speed and a great shot which he’s not shy about using. Someone oughta fill Panarin in. He had a lousy game. I know he got a secondary assist on the Kreider goal. But not once did he look to take a shot. If that’s how he’s gonna play, he’s stealing money. He hasn’t exactly gotten off to a strong start. I expect much better from him.

At least the Rangers did a good job defensively. In particular, Ryan Lindgren had his best game to date. He was physical and blocked a game high six shots while teaming with wunderkind Adam Fox to play 3:26 shorthanded. Each third year defenseman played shutdown hockey at even strength. They also were on the ice for two Ranger goals. Well, Fox was on for all three including the Kreider power play tally and Kevin Rooney’s empty netter at 19:50. What else would you expect from the rating Norris winner, whose game looks even better. He’s on a different level.

It wasn’t until midway through the second period that someone scored. After failing on their first two tries, the Rangers got a third consecutive power play when Jacob Trouba was hooked by Mathieu Perreault. This time, they made it work. With Panarin feeding Zibanejad for a quick shot, the loose puck caromed to Kreider as he got just enough of it to squeak it by Allen for a 1-0 lead at 9:59. That stick to it mentality is something he’s done in all three games. I think his style really fits the way Gallant wants to play. Maybe I was smart to grab Kreider in my fantasy league. He’s really backing up his words. It’s nice to see him silencing the critics. He has an important role on this team and is a good leader.

Following his goal, the desperate Canadiens pushed hard. However, every time they created a good scoring chance, Shesterkin stopped them in their tracks. He was very good taking away shots down low while controlling rebounds and using his quick glove to take away anything high. He made 13 saves in the second and then held it together in a busy third where he turned aside 13 of 14 shots for a combined 26 saves the last two periods. That was after only facing five in the opening frame.

Despite being outshot 13-9 in the second, the Rangers had four straight power plays. Had they taken advantage of some undisciplined Habs’ penalties, they could’ve put the game away. Especially with Montreal struggling to score in the early going. Instead, they took a one goal lead to the locker room.

It was during the third that that lack of killer instinct nearly cost them. With Montreal continuing to carry the play against a tired Rangers team, they were more on their heels. After again successful killing a penalty on Lafreniere for tripping, the Rangers got a little sloppy. Ninety seconds later, Drouin tied the game when he took a nice feed from Christian Dvorak and quickly beat Shesterkin from in front at 9:24. On the play, Brett Kulak passed the puck for Dvorak, who went wide on Miller behind to he net. With Trouba occupied with another Habs forward, that meant both defensemen were behind the net. A no no. No forward made the switch on a wide open Drouin, who buried his second of the season. It had to feel great. He sure got tremendous support from the crowd. Why not. They listed it as 21,105. A sellout.

Regarding Trouba and Miller, they need to be better than the shenanigans we saw in the third. It wasn’t only the goal against they were on for. Following the clutch Lafreniere goal on just an outstanding passing play started by Fox with Zibanejad perfectly setting up the young forward for a nice belated birthday present, the dynamic duo were out for another shift where they nearly got victimized. After Miller turned over a puck, Trouba got completely faked out only for Shesterkin to bail him out with an easy glove save. Let’s put it this way. He made it look easy even though it was a good chance. That’s a credit to how well he played.

Predictably, Gallant opted not to use Nils Lundkvist down the stretch. While I get the logic behind the move, could he have been any worse than Trouba? I want to see the rookie learn. We know he’ll put up points due to his skating and skill. But they also must learn to trust him defensively. It’s going to be crucial. Partner Patrik Nemeth got more ice time. That was understandable. But Gallant went with his horses in Fox, Lindgren and Trouba. Miller and Lundkvist are keys to the season. One former first round pick is in his second year while the other just completed his second game. It’ll take some time.

Following the Trouba scare, the Rangers did a sound job protecting the lead. They got two key soft clears off the boards that weren’t iced from Kreider and then Fox. That allowed them to get changes. Those are very smart plays from two of the team’s best players. They also trusted Reaves late with Rooney and Blais. It’s good to use different players and feel confident that they can get it done in close games. We know how bad this team was in one goal games last year. This was a step in the right direction.

With time winding down, a clear to the neutral zone allowed Rooney to get the loose puck and gain center ice before skating and firing his first into a vacated Montreal net to seal the win. Exhales for the bench and the fans. All in all, it was a solid performance. Any time they win in the House of Horrors, that’s a good thing. We can feel better about Halloween.

BATTLE OF HUDSON THREE STARS 🤩

3rd ⭐ Fox/Kreider, NYR (🍎, PPG, 5 SOG, combined +4)

2nd ⭐ Alexis Lafreniere, NYR (game-winner at 9:50 of 3rd, 1st goal of season, 5 SOG, 3 hits, +1 in 16:16)

1st ⭐ Igor Shesterkin, NYR (31 saves on 32 shots including 26/27 final 2 periods for 1st win of season)

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Hughes’ stick toss punctuates a scintillating OT winner

Posted on October 16, 2021 by hasan4978

Many times Opening Night can be misleading or just a one-off in a long season. There have been a few times where the Devils’ opener portended things to come – 2009 and 2019 when they blew huge leads in craptacular fashion certainly served to foreshadow disasterous starts that got both coaches fired by midseason. Conversely in 2017, the Devils’ young guns sent a message to the league in a convincing win over the Avs and that wound up foreshadowing a surprising playoff year. Of course, in most other years Opening Night really is just one game – for example the Devils started 0-3-1 in their first Stanley Cup year of 1995, and suffered a desultory 3-0 season-opening loss at the Rock to the Flyers before their last season of May and June hockey (2011-12).

Hopefully last night, we’ll at least look back at the opener as a statement made by one individual player…Jack Hughes who scored two huge goals, including a gorgeous OT winner that saved the Devils’ bacon after blowing a late 3-1 lead against the Blackhawks in the final minutes of the third. Make no mistake about it, the Devils are gonna need their meal tickets – Hughes, recent free agent acquisition Dougie Hamilton and fellow #1 overall pick Nico Hischier to lead the way out of the wilderness for this franchise. So far so good last night with two of them scoring three of our four goals, Nico was within a couple of inches of scoring off the post in the third, but hopefully many better days are ahead for him.

Before recapping the dramatic finish, let’s start at the beginning, or rather before it. There was a lot of anticipation for last night’s game, being the first one with unlimited fan attendance at the Prudential Center since the pandemic started last Spring. As much as I was looking forward to be back and glad to be back for my first home game in over nineteen months, I was also a bit annoyed the Devils were one of the few teams in the NHL without any kind of COVID policy or restrictions until a couple of days ago. The half-baked policy they rolled out at the last minute is an insult to our intelligence tbh, ostensibly you can enter the arena without a mask if you produce proof of vaccination and with a mask if you don’t, plus you’re only supposed to take off your mask for food and drink once you’re in the arena. Let’s face it though, you can’t really enforce a mask policy with over 15,000 people in the arena – everyone’s basically on their honor once they enter the building. Just adding in having to produce proof of vaccination ‘or a negative test in the last 48 hours’ would do so much more, and is actually enforceable unlike what basically amounts to a toothless mask request, but god forbid we annoy the chuds in our crowd such as the one a few rows in front of me that wore an ‘everything woke turns to ****’ shirt last night.

All that aside, it was nice to be back and enjoy the better elements of the crowd. Even if I didn’t miss the bumper to bumper foot traffic during intermissions and walking out after ‘sellout’ games. Sure, last night was called a sellout and it was closer than I thought it was going to be a few days ago, but I’m always skeptical of that when pockets of the upper corners had plenty of room in them. Those were about the only suspect areas though, it was definitely a solid turnout and a bit of a celebration all around. If the Devils made one mistake in the pregame, it was during their montage of a post-pandemic world when the governor’s voice was the first to be heard, and got met with sound boos. Pretty much any governor pre or post-pandemic would get booed, but especially with the current political climate that’s just something that potentially invites backlash all over the place. You don’t even need an excuse for that among certain people, like the yahoos that chanted ‘**** (our current president)’ on the way out of the arena after the game. Without getting into it much, that’s a rare bothsides issue that’s actually bothsides, but presumably most of the ones last night are people that don’t want politics mixed with muh sports, and yet they go and do it themselves.

That said, it was still a nice montage that fit the moment:

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1449072580468543488?s=20

In a sense, last night felt a little like coming back after the 2004-05 lockout, although slightly different since there was no hockey at all in that eighteen month interim. We had hockey last year, albeit from a distance for all but a small portion of the people who chose to go to games last year with limited attendance. I obviously wasn’t going to do that, especially before being able to get the vaccine itself. I wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I could have been last night, in part because most of the time when you’re stuck in a crowd indoors it’s only for a couple minutes at most, you’re almost never in front of the same person except actually at your seat, which could have been an issue last night. Especially with the motormouth season ticket holder behind me who I noticed was at least wearing some kind of face covering for the moment. And fortunately for me and the guy next to me (who immediately commented that the guy in back of us was an *******), he left our section after the first period anyway. At least having an aisle seat I’m not stuck in the middle of a row, so there’s that.

Given what I’ve already said about the crowd last night, it should be of no surprise that Mackenzie Blackwood got cheered unconditionally, just as every other player did during the pregame intros. I didn’t want to see him get booed last night in spite of my annoyance over a certain issue that will hopefully be rectified soon, but I was tempted to go all Baez/Lindor New York Mets-style and give him the thumbs down but I didn’t want to needlessly incite any of the clowns in back of me so I didn’t. Ironically Blackwood missed the game for non-COVID reasons with his heel still giving him issues after offseason surgery, so Jonathan Bernier got the start. Also missing last night were Damon Severson, Ty Smith and Miles Wood though hopefully at least one or two of them will be back by the time the Devils next play on Tuesday. Perhaps this has been the only season where I don’t mind the Devils’ habit of having spaced out games early, entirely due to the walking wounded.

Also in the pregame warmups, the Devils and Blackhawks wore special Jimmy Hayes-centric jerseys with the number he wore for each team on them. I was glad they left the actual montage of a tribute to the first stoppage in play since it would have been a bit awkward to put that and/or a moment of silence in the middle of getting the crowd revved up for their first home game in many months. Especially so when they showed his family in the crowd after the montage. How could you not just have a lump in your throat after that? Talk about bittersweet, the family gets to see the tribute and the crowd to their credit chanted his name after it, but I can’t imagine having to be at a hockey game months after an unspeakable tragedy like that given Hayes (and his brother Kevin) have both been long-time NHL players.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1449154269337341960?s=20

I’ve managed to go this far without commenting much on the actual game itself, which got off to a rousing start just seventeen seconds in when Hamilton scored on his first shot as a Devil. Talk about a grand entrance. It was a bit of an illusion though, as the Devils’ rink rust (not having played at all in nine days due to a late start to the regular season plus the final cancelled preseason tilt) started to show and play slowed down for much of the first two periods. One bad habit from last season that carried over to Opening Night this year was a terrible PK that went just 2-4 last night and were lucky to kill off the first one with Hamilton in the box in the opening period. Our luck ran out after Janne Kuokkanen’s penalty late in the first gave the Blackhawks fresh ice for their second-period power play, which Alex DeBrincat promply converted after a couple of cross-ice passes made it through the crease unimpeded by our top defensive pairing of Hamilton and Ryan Graves. Do we even try to coach the PK anymore?

It was mostly dull stuff in the second period until Hughes’ first moment of individual brilliance on the night, or perhaps brilliance with a slice of luck mixed in as his turnaround shot found the screen in front by Yegor Sharangovich and made it to the back of the net to give the Devils back the lead at 17:58. Hughes’ first goal seemed to spur the Devils on as they picked up their play late in the second and early in the third, where an unlikely hero gave them some insurance. Or really two unlikely heroes – Dawson Mercer (playing his first NHL game) put a hard wrister on net that got loose in the crease, and Andreas Johnsson actually made a nice play to go around Connor Murphy on the inside to poke the puck in. For Johnsson it was redemption after he missed the net on a shorthanded breakaway in the first period. After his awful season last year I bitterly joked – with a tinge of truth – that I would have been just as confident in Colin White or Anton Volchenkov on the breakaway than Johnsson…for you younger fans, White and Volchenkov were lead-footed stay-at-home defensemen not at all likely to score on a breakaway. Hopefully more moments like his goal in the third will show up the doubters like me.

Johnsson’s goal gave the Devils a cushion they seemed likely to maintain until geting a tough break on a double minor high sticking call on Mercer, where he wasn’t even looking at the player and on first glance his stick seemed barely waist-high but if the officials want to call that and let an obvious boarding penalty go at the end of regulation then that’s the game we gotta play. Shockingly, we killed off the first part of the double minor without incident but when the Blackhawks pulled their goalie to make it a 6-on-4 the PK predictably caved in, though Michael McLeod came oh so close to putting in an empty-netter that would have ended the game as a contest. Of course instead of the game being 4-1, it was 3-2 after Kirby Dach scored with just under four minutes remaining. And also of course the game would come down to another empty-net extra-man situation in the final moments. I wasn’t even that fatalistic, somewhat nervous but I thought we’d get the job done – and of course we didn’t. Dominik Kubalik’s goal with just twenty-six seconds remaining in regulation led to my first outburst of the season (well, if you want to call a one-word curse and kicking my own seat an outburst) and I had visions of the 2009 and 2019 blown lead openers dancing in my head.

Fortunately the 3-on-3 OT – and against a non-conference foe at that – provided a chance for instant redemption and it came with one of the best individual efforts you’ll see all year. Open ice helps but still, Jack skated circles around both defensemen and Blackhawks goalie Kevin Lankinen while Graves stood at the side of the net as basically a spectator with a bird’s eye view for both Hughes’ brilliant goal and his awesome celebration, tossing his stick into the stands. Finally hockey has its own version of a bat flip celebration although I suspect it’ll be met with the same stuffiness from the suits and traditionalists that the bat flip is by the baseball traditionalists.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1449191239438458882?s=20

This was definitely a glass half-full/half empty type of game. You don’t like giving up the 3-1 lead late or surrendering two PK goals, but you do like outscoring the Blackhawks 3-0 in five-on-five action and the fact that two of your go-to players scored three of the four goals. Bernier was solid in his debut and for the most part the Devils’ D held up against a decent offense despite missing an entire middle pairing’s worth of starters. I can’t say I have much faith in our special teams right now but at least there are other things to potentially build on for the moment until and if they ever get straightened out. At least the Devils managed to win a home game, which they didn’t do a lot of last year.

Devils Three Stars:

  1. Jack Hughes – 2 goals, a +1 and one spectacular celebration
  2. Dougie Hamilton – goal and a +3 in 25:54 of icetime
  3. Yegor Sharangovich – assist, a +2 and a screen in front of Hughes’ first goal

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Tough Lineup gets exposed by Ovechkin, Caps in forgettable Season Opener

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Derek

This was one to forget. It’s a good thing the Rangers have another game tonight when they play host to the Stars in the home opener. Everything that could go wrong did in a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Caps on Wednesday night in hostile territory.

For some reason, coach Gerard Gallant opted to start backup Alex Georgiev over starter Igor Shesterkin in the first game. It made no sense whatsoever. They’re paying Shesterkin to play the majority of these games. You’re telling us he can’t make back-to-back starts in the first two games? Granted. The Rangers start off with a busy schedule that includes a visit at Montreal Saturday for three games in four nights. It definitely was a head scratcher. The

Even though Georgiev allowed five goals on 27 shots, this wasn’t his fault. As Gallant pointed out afterwards, they were undisciplined taking too many penalties. The Caps scored three power play goals to take full advantage. That included T.J. Oshie putting in a rebound to open the scoring with Patrik Nemeth watching following a slashing minor. The penalty kill left too much space down low for a cross ice pass that Oshie was there to knock in.

Even though they trailed early on, the Rangers had the better of play for most of the first period. At one point, they led in shots 13-6. But that soon changed. The Capitals began to take over. They would turn things around by getting 15 of the next 16 shots.

Maybe playing the tough lineup was a mistake. If Gallant thought there would be bloodshed with Tom Wilson, he was sadly mistaken. While Sammy Blais established himself with some thunderous hits, there were no fisticuffs to the amazement of Wayne Gretzky on the NHL On TNT. In fact, the highlight of the first game on the station was a funny intermission segment featuring NBA analyst Charles Barkley, who wore recently retired Predators goalie Pekka Rinne’s glove and blocker to try to stop Gretzky on five shots. He was lucky enough to make one save. That was more fun than the game.

Most of the chances for the Blueshirts came in the first half. Vitek Vanecek stayed right with Adam Fox to deny his early bid. He also denied Kaapo Kakko, who was one of the best Rangers finishing with five shots. He looks a lot more confident. On one opportunity, he took an Artemi Panarin pass and shot quickly only to see Vanecek get across and make the big stop. If Kakko continues his progression from preseason and the first game, the goals will come.

But while the third year Finn was very noticeable throughout, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Ryan Strome and Panarin were barely identifiable. Neither Panarin nor Zibanejad registered a shot on goal. Kreider eventually did when he was able to tip in a Strome feed down low over Vanecek for a power play goal that broke up the shutout. However, none of the four leaders were good. In fact, a missed keep in from Panarin resulted in a Caps goal from rookie Hendrix Lapierre off an odd man rush. His first NHL goal came thanks to a nice feed from Oshie, who took advantage of Jarred Tinordi to help set up their third goal.

Previously, another penalty allowed the Caps to go to work on the power play. This time, Alex Ovechkin combined with Evgeny Kuznetsov to set up Justin Schultz for a one-timer that deflected right off Zibanejad and past Georgiev. There was nothing he could do about it. It was just bad luck. The only goal he should’ve had was the Lapierre tally 24 seconds later. Even though it was a tough chance due to only Tinordi being back, Lapierre snuck his wrist shit through Georgiev to become only the sixth Washington Capital to score his first goal as a 19-year old. Not bad for a player who dropped in the 2020 NHL Draft due to injury history. The Rangers traded out of the pick to select defenseman Braden Schneider. Lapierre is a center who will be good. So will Schneider. But he’ll have to wait.

The penalties took the Rangers out of the game. Their inability to avoid putting a historically good opponent on the power play really cost them. For every hardworking shift from Ryan Reaves, there wasn’t enough fluidity. They want to get in on the forecheck and wear opponents down. That wasn’t the case Wednesday night. Instead, there were a combined 34 penalty minutes and 11 power plays. No fireworks. The Rangers won at the physicality out-hitting the Caps 27-12. The problem was while they did finish checks, Washington focused on playing smart hockey. Even lightning rod Wilson didn’t step out of bounds. Unless you consider an accidental trip of Blais where his stick got caught in Blais’ skate something to heinous.

It wasn’t as if the Rangers didn’t have chances. Even as they got dominated at five-on-five where the Caps held a 17-12 edge in shots and scored once, the New York guests had looks on the man-advantage. But they didn’t cash in on their first four. The Caps got the saves from Vanecek (stopped 8 of 9 shorthanded). Unfortunately, Georgiev didn’t make the stops (6 shorthanded saves on 9 shots). Not that he was to blame. The first one was a smart passing play started by Ovechkin for a Kuznetsov shot that Oshie put home. The second was Kuznetsov finding an open Schultz at the point for a one-timer that went right off Zibanejad and in. By the time the third period rolled around, all Blais could do is watch from the penalty box as Ovechkin pounced on a weird carom off Anthony Mantha’s chest to surprise Georgiev, who lost sight of the puck. It was another bad bounce. That’s hockey.

By that point with 17:23 remaining in the third, the Caps were ahead 4-0. A Dmitry Orlov cross-checking minor on Jacob Trouba finally handed the Rangers another power play. This time, they made a simple play to get on the scoreboard. After Panarin slipped the puck to Fox, he moved it over for Strome, who looked pass all the way. His perfect shot pass for Kreider at the side of the net allowed the longest tenured current Ranger to do what he does best. He neatly deflected the puck over Vanecek into the net for his first of the season at 9:13. That cut the deficit to 4-1.

There was some brief hope that they could make it a game. Following Barclay Goodrow, who was quiet, hi-sticking Orlov, eight seconds later, Oshie took down Fox to even it up. That created a four-on-four. But even in a situation that likely benefited them, the Blueshirts couldn’t get much going. There wasn’t any room. Credit the Caps for playing strong defensively. They were diligent checking and didn’t allow Panarin, Zibanejad or Fox to create anything.

Shortly before the Oshie penalty expired, Kuznetsov made a smart read. Noticing that Ovechkin was still on with the Rangers only having an abbreviated eight second power play, he made a diagonal pass off the corner boards. With the Great Eight flying, K’Andre Miller got turned around. His late reaction allowed an attacking Ovechkin to recover the puck and break in on Georgiev and easily beat him with a nifty backhand for goal number 732. That allowed the living legend to pass Marcel Dionne for fifth all-time in goal scoring. In a game he was questionable for, the amazing 36-year old Russian sniper again reminded the hockey world why he could someday challenge Gretzky’s record. Not only did he get his first two goals, but helped set up a pair as well for a four-point effort to earn the game’s First Star. Remarkable.

That was it for the scoring. Not much else happened of note. Once a game is decided, you always wonder if things will turn nasty. Other than a few scrums, there wasn’t much. No message sending. Not enough intensity shown. Dryden Hunt, who they chose to play over Julien Gauthier, logged less than 10 minutes. I fail to see why he’s on the roster over the exiled Vitali Kravtsov. Libor Hajek sat out along with Nils Lundkvist, who watched Tinordi get turned around and turn over the puck a few times. No doubt he’ll make his NHL debut tonight. Hopefully, that means no Trouba on the second power play. Gauthier should get in and play third line, which was ineffective except for Blais. Filip Chytil was also very quiet.

Not enough players pulled their weight. If they do that on an emotional night where they’ll honor the memory of legend Rod Gilbert, it’ll be cause for concern. Gilbert was front and center long after his Hall Of Fame career all spent with the Rangers. The all-time franchise leader in goals and points was the team ambassador who always greeted adoring fans with a big smile. Whether at games or Rangers special events, he was a prideful man of class. His number 7 was the first jersey the franchise retired. It will hang from the rafters with pride all season. Hopefully, the players representing the Blueshirts remember that by honoring him the right way.

They have to turn the page. The Stars should be good. It shouldn’t be an easy game. We’ll see how they respond.

The Rangers did show improvement in one key area. They dominated on face-offs winning 61 percent by going 31-and-20. Kevin Rooney was the best center winning 8 of 10. Chytil went 6-and-2 while Zibanejad won 8 of 13. Goodrow went 5-and-2. Only Strome struggled finishing 4 of 12. This is an area to follow. They’ll get tested by a good face-off team later.

THREE STARS OF THE GAME

3rd ⭐ T.J. Oshie, Caps (PPG plus 🍎, +1 in 14:57)

2nd ⭐ Evgeny Kuznetsov, Caps (3 🍎, +1 in 21:22)

1st ⭐ Alex Ovechkin, Caps (2 goals and 2 🍎 including goal number 732 to pass Dionne for fifth all-time)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment