The Rangers, led by Tony DeAngelo and Igor Shesterkin, defeated the Devils 6-3 at MSG. ADA notched his first career hat trick and added a pair of assists while Shesterkin made 46 saves to pick up his second straight win. New York was fairly solid in both ends of the ice, including defensively, though New Jersey did a good job of jamming the net and getting traffic in front of Shesterkin. Losing Ryan Lindgren after the first period due to an injury after blocking a shot didn’t help. The Blueshirts take on the Blues on Saturday and Henrik Lundqvist gets the start with Alexandar Georgiev as the backup and Shesterkin in the press box.
Game recap:
David Quinn Post-Game:
"He's had a pretty special season in a lot of ways."
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 10, 2020
Coach Quinn on Tony's big night: pic.twitter.com/mw5yxDVojX
A few thoughts: 1) Tony DeAngelo: The one-year, $900K contract new York basically strong armed ADA in signing due to a lack of cap room sure will end up backfiring on the Rangers. We discussed at the time that a two-year deal likely made more sense even with the lack of cap room. But ADA bet on himself and has come up Black Jack, seeing his season to date.
Larry Brooks noted that ADA has experience playing the left side, which could be the route to keep him in town. I know all the talk about the blue line depth - and it sure looks enviable - but hard to move on from a player who finally seems to be putting it all together, on both ends of the ice. His defense, including net front presence, still needs polish. But the overall package and upside is evident of why he was a first round pick. In addition, he has made major progress in limiting and working on the maturity problems that plagued him in the past.
DeAngelo's hat trick is the ninth instance of a Rangers defenseman recording a hat trick in franchise history. His five-point game is the third by a defenseman in franchise history, and the first by a defenseman other than Brian Leetch. #NYR https://t.co/b8uBKCnsRr
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) January 10, 2020
We think the computers would say this is pretty good. 🤷…â™‚ï¸ pic.twitter.com/dsqsDW9Q6Z
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 10, 2020
In addition, love the recognition by ADA to try the play that Chris Kreider scores. Understanding of the game and willingness to be daring in a controlled environment. Plus CK20 speed on the pass and play, plus the move, wow.
The filthy set play that was Tony DeAngelo to Chris Kreider. #NYR pic.twitter.com/uiyuPV8ATg
— ESNY (@EliteSportsNY) January 10, 2020
2) Shesterkin - what’s noticeable immediately is his calmness in net. As Quinn said, pucks hit him and basically die with minimal rebounds. In addition, he has a quick glove hand, though don’t love the snapping motion of it.
How Quinn and the team figure out who plays nightly and also who will be the backup, relegating the third goalie to the press box, will be an area to watch. Quinn didn’t give much insight when asked that question again. That’s because I think it’s an ever-changing situation with no set pattern in mind. All three goalies will play and each one will be disappointed in sitting. The situation isn’t ideal but Shesterkin’s play warranted a call up and neither Lundqvist nor Georgiev were so dominant that they forced the team to keep Igor down.
3) Lias Andersson - the tweet below has a link to what John Davidson did today. His responses, at least to me, showed the team was trying to handle this in the right way. I am glad they haven’t shut the door on him and won’t deal him in spite. My areas of disagreement are in. It going to Sweden, as I think that would be the right move, and/or offering mental health assistance. The latter might have been made available and the lack of mentioning in the transcription due to the question not getting asked or asked directly enough.
Here's everything #NYR team president John Davidson had to say about Lias Andersson's trade request and recent comments to Swedish media: https://t.co/G7cS4S0dLv
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) January 10, 2020
"I can’t really figure out exactly what the issue is, other than disappointment."#NHL @lohudsports @TheRecordSports
4) Devils’ third goal - below is the rule from the NHL as to why the goal counted. I don’t think it was an imminent scoring threat, as per the rule. Contact was between both parties in the crease as well as others, thought Trouba did initiate. Last, don’t think puck would have crossed the line if not for the contact, which wasn’t solely on Trouba.
Why the Devils third goal tonight was a goal: pic.twitter.com/m3vrmCmRHI
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) January 10, 2020
5) Artemi Panarin - see the tweet below, all that has to be said.
Per NHL Stats and Information, Panarin is the sixth Ranger in franchise history who has recorded 60+ points in the team's first 43 games of a season: Boucher (1929-30), Ratelle (1971-72), Gilbert (1971-72), Hadfield (1971-72), Jagr (2005-06). #NYR https://t.co/gPCc6fm6WH
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo) January 10, 2020
6) Questions to keep in mind for the future for JD, Gorton and management from the blog comments. The Lias one has been partially touched on. I have added in a few mores. Feel free to add more in the comments and I will keep a running list and provide updates as needed.
Whats he gonna do with Kreider and Fast? How does he lock down Strome and ADA with the cap hell next year? (Does this mean Staal or Smith get bought out) If you sign Strome and/or ADA, is it a two-year bridge deal? Will Kravtsov be up before the end of the season? How is Hajek reincorporated in the mix? How long can he keep 3 goalies happy? What does he say and do about Lias Andersson? How does he keep the rebuild going but show the veterans they are still in on their playoff push? In relation to the prior question, if the team is in playoff contention, do they look to acquire a fourth line player or two?