The Rangers closed out their preseason with a 4-2 win over the Flyers. Goals by Vinni Lettieri, Brett Howden, Vladislav Namestnikov and Kevin Hayes powered the victory. Alexandar Georgiev completed his strong preseason with a 26-save effort to notch the win. as New York went 3-2-1 in games that don’t count.
Yesterday’s lineup :
PROJECTED #NYR LINEUP TONIGHT VS PHILLY:
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 27, 2018
GOALTENDERS
Tokarski
Georgiev
SKATERS
McLeod
Hayes
Fast
Shattenkirk
Vesey
Schneider
Lindqvist
Fogarty
Smith
Hajek
O’Gara
Howden
Andersson
McQuaid
Lindgren
Meskanen
Namestnikov
Lettieri pic.twitter.com/rgS1aV2YxD
Lines :
Namestnikov-Hayes-Letteri Vesey-Howden-Fast Schneider-Andersson-Meskanen Lindqvist-Fogarty-McLeod.
Lindgren-Shattenkirk Smith-O'Gara Hajek-McQuaid
Georgiev Tokarski
A few thoughts :
Georgiev went the whole way, 26 saves in the win. Aided by both posts on a Radko Gudas shot in the second and crossbar off an Ivan Provorov blast in the third. But played well again. The decision on the backup, which is between Georgiev and Marek Mazenec, comes down to do you want Georgiev to play almost every day at Hartford or back up Henrik Lundqvist. I think New York starts the season with Georgiev here but I wouldn’t be shocked if that’s fluid during the season.
Kevin Shattenkirk notched a pair of power play assists and finished five assists in the three games he played this preseason. He is still working out the rough edges on his game, especially defensively. But the improved mobility thanks to good health should be evident on the ice.
Lettieiri with a PPG deflection off a gorgeous pass by 'Kirk. He has done everything needed to make the roster, capped by the goal last night. Lettieri has played physical, created opportunities on the ice, ventured into the dirty areas and is willing to shoot, which is a skill lacking on this team. In addition, he can move up and down the lineup as needed.
Brett Howden with a slam dunk goal following a turnover created by the d-zone forecheck and dish by Jimmy Vesey. He also won 10-of-18 faceoffs. Howden got better and better as camp wore on. He likely is on the bubble and will open the season at Hartford. If Vesey wasn’t around, I think Howden would make the team. New York isn’t exposing Vesey, despite his poor camp, to waivers to go down, so my guess is Howden starts the season at Hartford. But a strong beginning to the year likely lands him on Broadway sooner rather than later. In addition, if the Rangers did decide to move on from Cody McLeod, Howden could break camp. I would prefer to see him play 18-20 minutes a night in the top-six at Hartford rather than fourth line minutes in New York.
Namestnikov gets his first in the pre-season on the PP and added an assist on Kevin Hayes' ENG. Hayes returned the favor on Nam's goal. Namestnikov desperately needed to show something. Even with that goal, I would say there is an outside shot he opens the season in the press box. Though I expect him on the third line come October 4.
"Shell" in third period as New York was out-attempted 28-3. Sorry, had to throw that in. Just to hearekn is back to the last few season.
Per the post-game notes, “the Blueshirts were 2-for-2 (2:39) on the power play. New York recorded 10 power play goals in six preseason games this year and tallied at least one power play goal in each game of the preseason, as well as two power play goals in four of six preseason contests. The Blueshirts were 10-for-27 on the power play during the preseason this year (37.0%).… Nice to see the PP look good. Key now is to carry this into the regular season.