The Rangers completed their two-game Sunshine State swing with a 5-2 win over the Panthers. New York dominated the first two periods before Florida made a big third period push. Henrik Lundqvist was more than up to the task, stopping 43 shots in earning the victory.
The Rangers continue to be road warriors, winning their fifth straight road game to improve to 24-8-0 away from MSG. Now if they could exert the same effort and play the same way at home. Maybe it is as easy as simplify their style of play at MSG to mirror how they play on the road.
It's Tanner Glass' world and we are all just living in it. Say what you will about his talent and skill level and if you believe he deserves to be up in the NHL, but he brings 100% effort every night while also willing to stand up for his teammates. That latter part at times gets overlooked and is hard to quantify with a measuring stick but is noticed in the locker room, on the bench and on the ice. He more than deserved the Broadway Hat.
J.T. Miller and Antti Raanta remarked after Monday's game how they felt Glass' fight sparked the team. Yesterday, his goal came as a surprise to all, but more impressive was his screen on Nick Holden's tally. Glass got into position in front of James Reimer, creating traffic in front, helping lead to the goal. The desire to get to the front and carve out room has been lacking at times and Ryan McDonagh recognized the effort.
"It was huge. It's great for him," McDonagh said on Glass' goal. "More importantly the example that he sets. Going to the net and stopping and using his speed backing off guys. Going to the net on Holden's play and putting a screen. We've been missing that at times this year and haven't been doing it enough. I think it's setting a good example for the rest of our forward group of going to the hard areas, paying the price and making it tough on them."
The other story line was Lundqvist. The win was his 30th victory of the season, and the 404th of his illustrious career to pass Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr for 10th all-time in wins by a goaltender. In addition, by picking up 30th win of the season, Lundqvist passed Martin Brodeur for the most wins by a goalie in his first 12 NHL seasons, as well as becoming the first netminder to reach the 30-win plateau in 11 of his first 12 NHL seasons. He became just the third goalie to reach 30 wins in at least 11 seasons. Pretty, pretty good numbers and Lundqvist clearly earned the win with his play, especially in the third period.
A few quick thoughts:
- It was good to see Kevin Hayes get his first in 11 games.
- You can tell Derek Stepan is fighting it, as he failed to convert a golden chance, extending his goalless streak to 21 games.
- Pavel Buchnevich tallied the empty net goal, but the play was made by Rick Nash at the defensive blue line. While Nash may not be scoring, he has been a beast the past few games. Now the production hasn't made the salary, but in my opinion, all the other things he does won't always show up in the scorebook but can't be overlooked. Keep this in mind when the clamoring to dump his contract starts in earnest this offseason.
- Chris Kreider is getting hot again. He isn't dominating action, as we would like to see. But he is going to the dirty areas and scoring, as he did last night. Kreiser's goal gave him 25 on the season, extending his career-high in that total, deflecting in Steven Kampfer's shot.
- I was critical of the Kampfer call up, but through two games, he has proven me wrong. Kampfer has been more than solid in his own end while chipping in offensively. When the walking wounded return, AV will have a tough time deciding who should sit. Marc Staal has been better since move up to the left of McDonagh. Brendan Smith and Nick Holden, who got his 10th of the season, have meshed nicely while Skjei is paired with Kampfer.
- Brady Skjei just continues to grow and impress. The 29 assists are great as he became the first Ranger to register at least that number in his rookie season since Tony Amonte in 1991-92. But more impressive has been his growth defensively, both in terms of positional play and stick work.
- The power play. Ick. It was 0-for-4 last night, making the powerless play 0-for-26 the past 10 games. In addition, the man disadvantage is 1-for-40 over the past 16 contests and 3-for-59 the past 22 games. Those are unfathomable numbers, and we all likely believe that it could cost the team a playoff game, where instead extending a one goal lead to two, the opportunity is wasted and a late goal ties the game, which is then lost in overtime. The looks on the PP, once the zone is gained, which is a major issue to itself, hasn't been bad, but they can't convert. Use Skjei on the top pairing. As crazy as this sounds, try Glass in front as a deterrent. What do you have to lose?
- On the injury front, Michael Grabner, who missed his fourth straight game yesterday, could play Thursday against Carolina. Brandon Pirri, enjoy the bench. Dan Girardi, out for the past five games and seven overall since the hole was created in his right ankle blocking a shot February 7, is close to skating. He is probably 3-5 days away, which means he will miss about another 7-10 days before he is ready to return. The news is not as good on Kevin Klein, whose back injury has sidelined him eight straight games, as the injury isn't improving, so there is no set timeframe for his return.