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Game 27: NYR 5 VAN 1, McD/Staal w/ 1st G, @EDM Tonight, Update: Brassard has Mumps |
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Update: Brassard was sent home from Edmonton with the mumps. From what it sounds like, vaccines are not always 100% effective, so even though Brassard had the vaccine when Tanner Glass came down with illness, it didn't help. J.T. Miller will move to center in place of Brassard, Chris Kreider once again plays in the top-six and Glass to get back in. Also, Henrik Lundqvist will be between the pipes.
Nash-Miller-Zucc
Kreider-Stepan-St. Louis
Hagelin-Hayes-Stempniak
Glass-D. Moore-Fast
The Rangers kicked off their three-game Western Canada swing in fine fashion with a dominant 5-1 win over the Canucks. All four lines contributed to the goals while the defense was solid, especially over the first 40 minutes and Henrik Lundqvist had a relatively easy time of it, but was solid when needed. With the East tightening up, there is no time or chance to rest on the laurels of back-to-back victories and New York is right back in action Sunday against the Oilers.
Game Highlights:
The coaching staff wanted the team to come out strong early last night; they got that in spades. Three odd-man rushes in a bout a 50 second span led to two goals within 43 seconds, The first was off a good defensive play by Ryan McDonagh, who got the puck in his own zone to Chris Kreider. CK20 had little room to make a play but nicely went off the boards to Dominic Moore, who got it to Jesper Fast. That pass could the d-man pinching in deep and Fast showed great patience with the puck, waiting for McDonagh to join the zone and he got it to him for the easy tap-in and the Captain's first of the season.
The second goal was similar in that it caught Vancouver's d-men pinching deep. Martin St. Louis put the puck towards Derek Stepan, who was able to get past the Canucks' blue liner. Stepan went down the right side and found J.T. Miller streaking to the net. Miller caught the puck in full stride, went forehand to backhand and beat Ryan Miller. Offense to defense and it was 2-0. Miller has three goals his last five games and is making a strong case to remain on the send line, let alone in the lineup.
The third goal was more of the same. Lundqvist made one of his few tough early saves, stopping Radim Vrbata. Derick Brassard played a bouncing puck and was able to nudge it to Rick Nash, who streamed down the left side. Nash found Mats Zuccarello on the right side and Zucc blasted it wide side past Miller. Three goals, all three lines contributing, points by nine players and it basically was all she wrote.
The Rangers continued their strong play in the second. The fourth goal came about due to good hard work by Lee Stempniak and Kevin Hayes, each of whom battled to maintain possession of the puck. Hayes got it to left point to Marc Staal, who got it on net and scored, taking advantage of the good screen by Carl Hagelin in front of Miller. This was Staal's first goal of the season and second straight solid game, so maybe he too is starting to round into form.
The last Rangers' goal was the result of great communication.McDonagh got it to Brassard in the defensive zone. Brass put it up the right side to Nash, who sealed the d-man with his body. Per John Giannone, Brass was screaming all the way up the ice to let Nash know he was coming. Nash went to his backhand and made a nice pass to Brassard, who found Zucc heading to the net for the easy tap-in. Defense to offense, good communication, speed through the neutral and hard driving to the net and it was 5-0.
New York did take their foot off the gas pedal, allowing Vancouver to get as many shots in the third, 15, as they did the first two periods. Lundqvist lost the shutout 4:20 into the third on a goal by Nick Bonino following some average plain the neutral zone. But that was it for Vancouver, as Lundqvist was good when needed in the third. One thing I would love Lundqvist to stoop doing is heading the puck with his head. Either let it go over the net or blocker it but one day he is either going to miss and get beaten or take the puck off the wrong spot and get hurt.
I thought Kreider was okay in his return to the lineup. The good news about the big lead was that it enabled him to get decent ice time, as AV rolled four lines throughout with all 12 forwards between Hayes' 12:49 and Brassard's 16:47. Kreider needs to find another move besides dipping the shoulder and going wide. I would love to see him pull up and shoot, even if he doesn't score because it would give the defenseman something else to worry about. With the solid win, I don't expect any changes so look for the combinations and lineup to be the same as Saturday. The only question is if Cam Talbot plays as originally expected or since Lundqvist wasn't overly tested, he plays again?
Nash-Brassard-Zucc
Miller-Stepan-St. Louis
Hagelin-Hayes-Stempniak
Kreider-D. Moore-Fast
McDonagh - Girardi
Staal - Boyle
J. Moore - Klein
Lundqvist or Talbot
Tonight is a classic trap game. New York played a good team, albeit one a bit leg-weary Saturday and face a very solid Calgary squad Tuesday. In between those two contests is tonight's game against the Oilers, who are once again struggling. The coaching staff shouldn't have that much difficulty showing the players what happens when they overlook this opponent, as they can just cue up the video from the embarrassing 3-1 loss to Edmonton on November 9. Ignore the Oilers' one win in their last 15 games, turmoil surrounding that team and game Tuesday against Calgary by focusing solely on the task at hand, beating their opponent on the ice.
Win tonight, then go to Calgary with a shot a four-game win streak with home-and-home contests against Carolina to follow. With Columbus on fire and Washington playing well, the East will be even more crowded. It's time for a run.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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