The Rangers ended 2017 on a losing note, falling 3-2 in a shootout to the Red Wings. New York was unable to hold or build on a pair of one-goal leads, allowing Detroit to tie the game both teams, leading to the defeat. In their final four games to close the season, the Rangers went 1-1-2, earning a point in three of the games largely thanks to stellar goaltending, as the defense had holes and the offense has been a shell of its former self.
Game recap:
MSG Post-game:
Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant again - and in fact throughout the contest - allowing New York to stay in the game. Hank stoned several Grade A chances early in the game, preventing Detroit from taking the lead. Thanks to Lundqvist’s fine play, the Rangers ended the period up 1-0. Jimmy Vesey made a great read of the play, stealing the puck behind the net and feeding David Desharnais across the crease for the easy tap-in tally at 17:35 of the first.
In the second, Andreas Athanasiou outmuscled Nick Holden on a lob pass into the offensive zone. Lundqvist overplayed the play to the short-side and was beaten when Athanasiou went far post and in to make it 1-1 at 7:46 of the second. Holden enabled Athanasiou to get inside position and his stick on the puck. Lundqvist got his revenge later, as he robbed Athanasiou off a sure goal.
Vinni Lettieri, who brought his shoot first mentality with him to New York from Hartford, scored at 2:35 in the third period, becoming the first Ranger to score in his debut since Derek Stepan. Lettieri’s Gila came in front of his family, including his grandfather and Hall of Famer, Lou Nanne. New York was unable to capitalize on several 5v5 and power play chances to move the lead to two goals, which would come back to haunt them. Detroit got the equalizer off a Boo Nieves turnover just inside his defensive blue line, as Henrik Zetterberg’a first shot was stopped. But the rebound came back to him and he beat Lundqvist to tie it, 2-2, at 7:05 of the final frame.
In the overtime, Brady Skjei was taken down on a breakaway, leading to a penalty shot. Jimmy Howard, the owner of a 1.73 goals against average and a .950 save percentage in 12 career games against the Rangers, stoned him, portending yo success in the shoutout. Howard stopped all three shots while Frans Nielsen scored in the first round onnwhat proved to be the game winner. Why AV insists on continually going. With Kevin Shattenkirk rather than maybe Michael Grabner or Rick Nash or maybe even Skjei to try a different move is beyond me.
A few takeaways, positive and negative from the game:
The powerless, power play went 0-for-4 and is 6-for-57 over their last 20 games. To me that’s a huge key and component in the team's recent offensive struggles. This is what AV said after the game on the PP, "it's doing everything but scoring now, it's moving the puck, getting people to the net, getting pucks at the net, getting some looks. Unfortunately we didn't finish, PP had a chance to make it 3-1 and put us in a good spot. It didn't but it is close, in my estimation, to clicking there."
Originally, we thought the PP was struggling due to absence of Mika Zibanejad, as the removal of his slap shot from the left dot made New York too easy to defend. Since his return, the PP has continued to struggle and now will miss Chris Kreider's physical net front presence, both in terms of gathering up rebounds and creating screens in of the goalie. I am happy AV thinks they are getting good looks, but the combinations may need another change. Maybe try Michael Grabner or go with two d-men and use Brady Skjei at the point, because all that matters is success and New York is not any.
Penalty Kill: On the flip side, the PK continues to excel. New York went 5-for-5 (9:41) on the penalty kill against Detroit, only allowing five shots on goal while shorthanded. Per the post-game notes, the Blueshirts have not allowed a power play goal in eight of the last 11 games (36-for-39; 92.3%) and in nine of the last 13 games (40-for-44; 90.9%). In addition, the Rangers have killed off 76 of their opponents’ last 86 power play opportunities (88.4%). The Rangers have not allowed more than one power play goal in 37 of 38 games this season, including each of the last 36 contests. That success along or because the play of the goalies is why most have these have been close rather than New York trailing by 2-3 goals. Grabner, Nash, Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes have each been excellent up front while McDonagh, Holden and Marc Staal have seen most of the time on the backline, aided b Brendan Smith.
Faceoffs: If there is one major area of improvement on the team this season, its between the dots. Per the post-game notes, the Blueshirts won 39 of 75 faceoffs (52.0%) Friday. The Rangers have posted a faceoff win percentage of 50.0% or better in eight of the last nine games. When is the last time the latter happened? Desharnais, Miller, Zib and Hayes are all over 50%. Nieves is only at 45%, but he likely won't be on for late draws.
World Juniors:
Lias Andersson scored twice, added an assist and was named Player of the Game for Sweden, who beat Switzerland on Saturday. Andersson is tied for tournament lead in goals with four.
Pretty high praise for Andersson:
Swedish coach Tomas Monten on Lias Andersson (NYR), today’s player of the game: He is the role model for how we want to play.
— Chris Peters (@chrismpeters) December 30, 2017
Corey Pronman from the Athletic is providing commentary on some players after each game. He discussed Andersson and Chytil in his Saturday update. Below is what he wrote on Andersson and the argument will be did andersson play well because of his linemates or did Andersson make his linemates better and succeed because of that:
Andersson was named the top player in this game. He scored twice, made some great subtle plays to win battles and maintain possession, and set up a few chances. He hasn't been great prior to this game, but Sweden moved him in between Elias Pettersson and Alexander Nylander for lengthy portions of this game and the top three Sweden forwards made for a great power line.
Filip Chytil finished Saturday's game with two points (one goal, one assist) and led all skaters with six shots on goal and 15 faceoff wins (15-for-18, 83.3%) in 17:24 of ice time as the Czech Republic defeated Belarus, 6-5. He has two goals and two assists for four points through three games
Pronman on Chytil:
"Chytil was quiet in his second game, but a lot better here. He created with speed and skill, and played hard — including one shift where he steamrolled into the crease and collided with the goalie. “If he keeps getting as banged up as he has the past month, he's not going to survive the season,… said one NHL scout. In discussions with scouts around the building about Chytil, I found many fans of Chytil, but the question with him is how elite is his skill.
Based upon what we saw i the AHL after the demotion and his play so far at the WJC, I think NY did incredibly well getting Chytil at 21. When you also factor in his age and if he hadn't been barely eligible for this past year's draft and was eligible for the 2019 draft, he would likely be a top-five pick this year. The growth potential is still enormous, and with that, hopefully will come better use of skills and size, minimizing the wear and tear on his body.
As of Sunday morning, New York sits in the first wild card spot. The Rangers are six points behind Washington for first in the division with two games in hand, five behind NJ, who have also played the same number of games as New York at 38, and two points behind Columbus with a game in hand. Good but not good enough, especially when we think of the recent contests where points were lost. Forty-four games remain, 12 in January and 14 in February; the heavy part of the schedule looms and it all begins on New Year's Day.
I will hopefully post a Winter Classic preview before the game, likely tonight, as need to be out early in the AM and then will head to the game. My seats are in section 427 row 6 and if anyone wants to meet up before the game, just let me know. Thanks to all the readers and comments again for a great year.