The Rangers defeated the Capitals 1-0 on Wednesday. Scoreless through regulation and the overtime, thanks to tremendous goaltending by Ondrej Pavelec and Phillip Grubauer, goals by Mats Zuccarello and Mike Zibanejad and a save on T.J. Oshie followed by an Alexander Ovechkin attempt that missed the net gave the Rangers the shootout victory, The one negative is that Chris Kreider didn't return to action after the first period in what has been termed an upper-body injury.
Game recap:
Heading into the game, most of the talk centered on coach Alain Vigneault's lineup tweaks and decision to play Pavelec between the pipes. For one game at least, those moves paid dividends, as all four lines meshed nicely, the defense was solid and Pavelec was brilliant when needed, despite not seeing a ton of quality chances. He got lucky when John Carlson's wrap-around in overtime slid across the crease and hit the far post, but when needed, he made the key save. Kreider's injury resulted in Pavel Buchnevich playing in his place with David Desharnais and Jimmy Vesey, while Paul Carey and Boo Nieves saw their ice time substantially reduced.
The best trio on the ice for either team was the Rick Nash-Zibanejad-Zuccarello line, which combined for 14 of the Rangers’ 37 shots on net for the net. Nash was dominant throughout, creating chances for himself and others, willing to take on multiple defenders and go hard to the dirty areas. But Grubauer was up to the task, especially early in the third when he robbed J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes in a row, then stooped two attempts from Zuccarello, made a face-mask save on Brendan Smith and then stoned Nash in front on a power play. For a while it looked like this could be one of these games where New York loses on a fluky goal, but Pavelec was up to the task when needed, but the defense did a great job limiting Washington's chances.
The second best trio might have been the Michael Grabner-Hayes-Miller line. That group was entrusted as the shut down line and they lived up to that task. Hayes has become a solid, two-way center, though I would like to see a bit more offense from him. But his improvement between the dots is noticeable and the offense will come.
As said above, the one negative was Kreider's injury. When he first went out, speculation was rampant that he was about to be dealt. A good source mentioned to me during the game that this was a possibility. After the game, news of the injury was released, the extent of which to be known better Thursday. If CK20 is out joining Jesper Fast (quad) on the sidelines, look for Peter Holland or Vinny Lettieri to be promoted with whoever is called up on the fourth line and Buch likely remaining with Desh and Vesey. One more negative, the Isles, Devils, Penguins (in shootout over Blue Jackets, who get one point) and Hurricanes all won. The Metro Division is a nightmare.
McDonagh, playing in his 500th career NHL game, led all skaters with seven blocked shots and tied for the team-high with four hits while skating in a game-high 25:28 of ice time tonight. Look at those verbs, led, tied, skated a game-high, none of which comes as a shock with Mac Truck. Congrats to McDonagh on 500 games.