The Rangers used special teams to defeat the Panthers 5-2 on Tuesday. Outplayed 5x5, New York scores twice on the man-advantage and once short handed to beat Florida. Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello each scored twice to lead the Blueshirts to the win. New York kicks off a four-game road trip in Chicago on Thursday.
Game recap:
David Quinn Post-Game:
“The penalty kill gave us some energy, that shorthanded goal gave us a lift and I thought we got better as the game went on.… - #NYR Coach Quinn pic.twitter.com/6QqxdrUZPO
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 24, 2018
Lines:
#NYR in warmups:
— Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) October 23, 2018
Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello
Chytil-Hayes-Fast
Vesey-Howden-Buchnevich
McLeod-Namestnikov-Spooner
Skjei-McQuaid
Staal-Pionk
Smith-Shattenkirk
Georgiev (Lundqvist backup)
A few thoughts: 1) ZZ Top - that name was coined by John Giannone in the post-game broadcast. Zib and Zucc each tallied twice with Zib also adding a pair of assists. Zucc has yet to score on the season before last night while Zib has gotten red hot over the past week. Zibanejad’s first goal, which came short handed, helped change the momentum of the game. Moving Zucc to the top power play unit and first line worked out well yesterday.
2) Chris Kreider - the last three power play goals scored by New York were aided broadly by CK20. Tremendous screens in front of the netminder. Kreider’s timing of when to move to maximize the screen played a major role in each tally.
3) Neal Pionk - despite what Quinn said, he still has lots of growth required defensively. I am not slave to advanced metrics but his possession numbers and shots against while on the ice both are pretty bad. But he can really handle the puck and shows a second sense as to when to rush the puck and join the attack. Pionk has been the perfect PP trigger, maintaining possession in the zone, using head fakes to create space and dishing to his teammates at the right moment (see video below)
Replays of that power-play goal by Mika Zibanejad. Great play by Pionk at the blue line to shake Barkov and a terrific screen in front by Chris Kreider #NYR pic.twitter.com/vZ2icz2imk
— Fitz (@FitzGSN_) October 24, 2018
4) Even strength and power play - as Larry Brooks noted, the Blueshirts were only able to score once at five-on-five, making it four in the last five games and six in the last six. But the power play, which went 2-for-6, is 6-for-18 over the last four contests. New York must do a better job of generating pressure and scoring 5x5. Against Calgary, they peppered the Flames with shots 5x5, but yesterday, Nee York didn’t create many even strength chances.
5) Alexandar Georgiev - steady in net. Made the key save, including a few on high-danger chances. Much better performance than against Carolina, though he wasn’t aided much by his defense in that one. With Henrik Lundqvist dealing with what has been called a minor upper-body injury, getting a solid game between the pipes should provide Quinn some confidence that he can turn to Georgiev if needed.