Ek's Note: Dealing with some Family Health Stuff this morning....Here's a great piece from Jan to start you off...
The Rangers (44-19-5) rallied from a deficit to notch a win for the 24th time this season, defeating the Red Wings 5-4 on Wednesday, their fourth straight victory. New York won despite subpar at best goaltending from Alexandar Georgiev. The Rangers captured the win thanks to a stifling defense. allowing only four high-danger scoring chances against in regulation along with an attack that generated 34 shots and 18 high-danger scoring chances. The stars shone when they had to, as Artemi Panarin, and Chris Kreider played huge roles in the victory, supported by Flip Chytil and Michigan native Andrew Copp.
Last night was a clear trap game, off a hard-fought win in Pittsburgh the night prior and the contest versus the Isles looming Friday. Late game magic was needed, but a win is a win and the victory extended the Blueshirts’ lead to three points over the Penguins for second place in the Metro Division. The Rangers next face the Islanders at MSG on April Fools Day.
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) Panarin is so good, we sometimes don’t even realize just how talented he is. The goal and two assists gave Panarin eight points (two goals, six assists) during his current five-game point streak. Panarin, in what some believe is a down year, has potted 18 goals with 62 helpers and sits with an outside shot at 100 points for the season.
When you see him score as he did Wednesday going top shelf, wide side, additional fodder is provided to the theory that he does not shoot enough. A sweet dish by Frank Vatrano, extending his point streak to four games, set up the attempt, but Panarin beat Alex Nedeljkovic with a nearly unstoppable shot. In addition, just the threat of him shooting more creates additional time and space for Panarin to display his creativity in the offensive zone.
2) Coach Gerard Gallant is giving Igor Shesterkin plenty of rest to keep him fresh for the postseason. Georgiev has started three times in the past 10 days, kicking off that stretch with a 44-save shutout against the Hurricanes on March 20. The last two outings have been somewhat woof bad. Georgiev was bailed out Sunday by the offense after he allowed four goals on 17 shots against the Sabres. Last night, was a similar performance and outcome, as the offense picked up a brutal Georgiev.
You could make the easy argument that three of the four goals allowed - Michael Rasmussen’s, Tyler Bertuzzi’s and Adam Erne’s markers - should have been stopped. Rasmussen’s might have been the more egregious, setting the tone for the evening. At least Georgiev was honest post-game and realized just how bad he was in the contest.
"The guys were really good today and bailed me out," the backup goalie said. "It was not the best game for me, but they kept scoring every time the other team got the lead."
3) Penalty kill - special teams have been a key to what has been a tremendous season to date. The power play has become a huge weapon, but their impact has been blunted a bit lately, partially due to the team’s better performance 5x5 coupled with a decline in drawn penalties. With that shift occurring, the penalty kill takes on increased importance.
Recently, that unit has not been up to the task. Detroit was successful in their first two chances in the man advantage before New York finally notched a stop. Nine of the last 10 games an opponent has scored on the power play. I get that Gallant is trying new personal post trade deadline looking for the best combinations. But this is an area that has to be cleaned up and quickly, especially leading into the post season.
4) Kreider does it again. Granted, the PPG was a little lucky, as his pass deflected off the skate of Moritz Seider - boy, did Steve Yzerman get that draft pick correct - past Nedeljkovic. But all that matters is the puck crossed the goal line, tying the game late in the third.
The power play goal was number 24 for Kreider, tying Jaromir Jagr’s franchise mark for a single season set in ’05-06. With 14 games remaining, CK20 sits four markers away from the 50 Goal Club. If Kreider can hit that mark, he would join Vic Hadfield, Adam Graves and Jagr in that exclusive Rangers’ club. In addition, CK20 is now eight goals shy of tying Jagr’s single-season goal mark.
5) Line shifting - Detroit matched up Seider against Kreider, neutralizing him a good part of the game. To help balance the lines and make it harder for the Red Wings, Gallant made a late-game switch, moving Panarin up to Mika Zibanejad's line with Vatrano while pushing Kreider down with Copp and Dryden Hunt.
As Vince Mercogliano reported, the Panarin-Zibanejad-Vatrano trio only received a few shifts together, but they generated a goal, three shots and two high-danger chances without allowing any of the above for Detroit, according to Natural Stat Trick. I don’t expect this trio to start the game together Friday, but a similar swap could occur if the top two lines struggle at any point moving forward. When Ryan Strome, who missed his second straight game with his lower-body injury, returns, look for him to slide back onto that second unit, pushing Hunt back down to the fourth line.
"They were matching lines there a little bit with their one line, so I just said, ‘Let's make them think a little bit over there and switch it up a little bit,'" Gallant explained.
6) Chytil and Copp - C2 - each played huge roles in the win. Chytil has played a lot better lately. He has been more physical, driving play while creating on the rush, all of which were lacking. The deflection goal on Patrik Nemeth’s shot came off a set play from the faceoff, giving Chytil a goal and two assists his last four games and was his seventh of the season. Having solid wingers opposite him, including Alexis Lafreniere, certainly has helped.
Copp has fit in seamlessly. If there is one criticism, it’s been his propensity the last two games to take silly penalties. But that is kind of nitpicking. Copp moved into the 2C role again with Strome out. He has been solid in that role, but I do think he is better on the wing than at center but nice to have a player who can easily swap back and forth if needed.
The game-winning goal came off a nice read by Copp. His small delay in center ice mildly deked Bertuzzi, who was lazy in his backcheck, allowing Copp to blow past him for the 2-on-1 chance and goal. Copp moved the puck to Panarin with a nice cross-ice pass, then headed to the net and beat Nedeljkovic for the game-winner. Pretty nice return home for Copp, who extended his point streak to five games (two goals, five assists) since he was acquired in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on March 21.