The Rangers got back to winning way, scoring twice on the power play and once shorthanded in a 5-1 win against the Red Wings at MSG on Wednesday. New York’s performance wipes some of the stink away from the 6-2 loss to Ottawa. The Blueshirts are right back in action, traveling to Carolina to face the Hurricanes tonight.
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) Contributions throughout the lineup: Tony DeAngelo (PPG), Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome (PPG) each had a goal and an assist, and Henrik Lundqvist made 35 saves in his first start after sitting three straight games. Greg McKegg tallied his first as a Ranger, scoring short handed.
Cool stat on Panarin:
Artemi Panarin is one of five @NYRangers players in the last decade to average at least a point-per-game through their first 13 games with the franchise. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/hhTJbcf4Gp
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2019
2) Lineup - the lineup was basically the same as the other night with McKegg replacing Lias Andersson, making the fourth line a riveting Michael Haley-McKegg-Brendan Smith. On defense, Marc Staal replaced Ryan Lindgren, lining up paired with Adam Fox, wiry that duo very good (as seen by below). Overall, the lineup had a solid game, though the defense was bailed out a bit by Lundqvist, who was very strong between the pipes.
McKegg should be in the lineup tomorrow too (I'd say over Haley, with Andersson to see what the fourth line can do). Jesper Fast, as always, is quietly effective for the Rangers. Fox, still good. Not Trouba's night. pic.twitter.com/V73Dez6K7J
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) November 7, 2019
3) Libor Hajek-Jacob Trouba - one major woof moment. After New York to make it 3-0, Hajek got caught up ice, creating a 2-on-1. Trouba misplayed the break, by for some reason, choosing to play Andreas Athanasiou at the blue line. As Carp wrote, Athanasiou just blew past him and set up Valtteri Filppula for a no-chancer against Lundqvist to cut the Red Wings’ deficit to 3-1. Horrific play by both members of the duo. If coach David Quinn decides to get Lindgren back in the lineup tonight, Hajek could be the odd-man out.
4) As Carp noted, “it’s a pretty good guess that Lundqvist will be back in net in Raleigh because of his absurd numbers in regular-season back-to-backs. He’s played in both ends of 84 of those in his career, going 53-23-8 with a 2.12 goals-against average, a .928 save percentage and nine shutouts. However, he hasn’t played a back-to-back since Oct 16-17, 2018.… Coming off of how Lundqvist looked last night and Georgiev played on Monday, I would roll with Hank. The bigger question will be if he plays well and beats Carolina, do we see Lundqvist on Sunday against Florida?
5) Interesting question posed by Carp on the Patrice Bergeron hit on Mika Zibanejad. It’s one I debated about also. Would love your views on it? “ how was that hit on Zibanejad not illegal? I mean, first of all, it’s high, always. Usually to the head. Second, the guy who’s being hit doesn’t have the puck, so it’s interference at best. And it should be a penalty because of the way shoulder pads are now shoulder weapons. There’s no good reason why it’s allowed. But it is. This is the NHL. Tap a guy on the gloves, it’s a penalty. Crank him to the skull, play on.…
6) This tweet shows just how good ADA has been offensively this season. Signing him to just a one-year deal sure looks like it will pay off well for DeAngelo and not for New York. But if he continues to play as he has, that may be an exchange the Rangers will be happy with on one end but rue on the back end.
Tony DeAngelo is the first @NYRangers defenseman to score five goals through his first 13 games since Brian Leetch (5-10—15 in 1988-89). #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/1MR1Req13v
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) November 7, 2019