The Rangers' offense finally woke up with six goals to defeat the Stars 6-3. New York's struggling power play went 2-for-5 while the penalty killing was a perfect four-for-four. Unfortunately, Vitali Kravtsov was injured again, putting him out at least tomorrow against Arizona and likely longer than that. The Blueshirts play at 8pm tonight against the Coyotes at Mullett Arena before returning home to face the Flyers on Tuesday.
Game recap video to be posted once NHL.com enables embedding of the highlights, though because the game was aired on NHL Network, it's possible that video may not be available.
Lines: Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere Vesey-Goodrow-Kravtsov Blais-Carpenter-Gauthier
Miller-Trouba Lindgren-Fox Jones-Schneider
Filip Chytil missed the game due to an upper body injury suffered last Sunday. He did not travel with the team and will be out again tomorrow. Since he left practice slightly early Friday, I would put his chances of playing Tuesday at less than 50-50. Ryan Reaves was a healthy scratch. With Kravtsov out tomorrow, look for Reaves to be back on the fourth line with Gautheir moved up to the third trio. After being a scratch for two games, Zac Jones was back in place of Libor Hajek.
A few thoughts: 1) Offense - Vincent Trocheck had two goals and an assist, Mika Zibanejad had a goal and two assists, Chris Kreider, Julien Gauthier and Jones - 19 seconds apart - each had a goal and an assist with Jones scoring the first of his career. A welcoming stat noted by Vince Mercogliano was that the Rangers' top line of Kreider, Kaapo Kakko and Zibanejad was by far their most effective, generating 14 scoring chances − seven of which registered as high danger − while allowing only one, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The scoring was needed but the puck movement on the power play was just as nice, same with the forecheck, which led to several of the tallies. After scoring five goals in four games, New York finally broke out Saturday. The key will be to build or maintain this effort Sunday and beyond so it's not just a one-off aberration.
2) Gauthier - good for Gauthier. As seen by his comments below, Gauthier went down to the minors with the right attitude, willing to work to force his way back to the NHL. Contrast what he said to how others have acted and you see why it's easy to root for Gauthier. The goal showed his speed to get to Sammy Blais' pass, power to get through two Stars d-men and skill in scoring. Given his struggles scoring, I would not be surprised to hear most expected him to miss the empty net in general and due to the sharp angle. But he completed the play for his first of the season, Gauthier should remain in the lineup, even when Chytil returns, partially aided by the injury to Kravtsov, but largely because he deserves the spot.
What a play by the Gaut. #NoQuitInNY | @JagermeisterUSA pic.twitter.com/o2xf1LoStO
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 29, 2022
I didn't really pout or anything. I wanted to get back up here as soon as possible." (2/2)
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) October 29, 2022
3) Kravtsov is an easy target to root against. He did himself few favors by his actions last year as well as the 2019-20 when he went back to the KHL which firmly put him in the crossfire of much of the Rangers' faithful. Kravtsov didn't impress in training camp but earned a spot since he would require waivers to go down. Opening Night he suffered an injury on a Victor Hedman check, sidelining him for four games. His second game back in the lineup. Kravtsov was injured again, this time to his arm/wrist, forcing him out against the Isles.
Saturday, Kravtsov was crunched by Jani Hakanpaa while chasing a loose puck in the second period, with his head slamming into the boards as he went down. On the play, he showed his speed and willingness to take a hit to make a play, But, it's also clear that Kravtsov needs to get a lot stronger as he can't stay on his skates and is easily knocked off the puck. When ready to return, he could be a healthy scratch but won't be sent down as that would require waivers and he will be claimed.
#NYR pic.twitter.com/atY5ItHMtj
— David (@DaveyUpper) October 29, 2022
4) Defense: New York had 13 turnovers in the win. Their penchant for sloppy plays, particularly on defensive zone breakouts and neutral-zone turnovers, extended Dallas possessions leading to a couple of goals against. Whether it was because of the ice, - as TommyGTrain wrote in the prior blog comments, - poor play or both, Jacob Trouba and K'Andre Miller were a minus-three while paired. That duo has so far been a far cry from what we saw a good portion of the year last season, as each has had their difficulties. Calls to separate the duo have grown louder during the four-game losing streak.
Saturday, coach Gerard Gallant had enough. The third period saw the blender come out. Adam Fox saw time with Jones while Ryan Lindgren was paired at times with Braden Schneider. Later, it was Miller with Schneider and Jones with Trouba, the latter a fairly effective pairing. You wonder if Gallant will go with that duo against Arizona or if this was just a one-time event in response to the poor play Saturday.
Now Jones is out with Trouba. The kids are getting paired with veterans in this final period. #NYR https://t.co/z9Kd675PRz
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 29, 2022
5) Igor Shesterkin was solid in the winning, stopping 30 shots. He would love to have Jason Robertson's shot that went under his pads back. But beyond that, good as usual. Igor was knocked down late in the first with the team immediately coming to his defense in a show of unity. With the win, Shesterkin (4-0-2) became the first Rangers goalie to start the season without a regulation loss in his first six games since Eddie Mio (5-0-0 with two ties in 1981-82).