The Rangers won their second straight game, notching their fifth win in six contests, with a 4-0 whitewash over the Red Wings. Alexis Lafreniere, after sitting the prior game as a healthy scratch, notched a pair of tallies, including the highlight reel goal of his career. Igor Shesterkin stopped all 20 shots to earn the shutout. The only negative was the injury to Kakko Kappo, who looked to have suffered a lower-body injury in the first period.
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) Lineup: Kreider-Zibanejad-Vatrano Panarin-Strome-Copp Goodrow-Chytil-Kakko Lafrenière-Rooney-Hunt
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Nemeth-Schneider
Shesterkin
Scratches: Motte (upper-body injury), Reaves, Braun, Brodzinski, Gauthier, Hajek, McKegg
Lafrenière, as promised by coach Gerard Gallant, was back in the lineup. He opened the game on the fourth line but moved up when Kakko was injured. The highlight reel goal was our instinct and talent, putting the puck between his legs to deke Dylan Larkin, then beating Thomas Greiss with a backhander.
What a goal from Alexis Lafrenière. His second of the game #NYR pic.twitter.com/ISsfGsg7Zk
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 16, 2022
Laf has scored all 17 of his goals at even-strength, tied for the lead on the Rangers. We can argue that he has yet to live up to his draft status, which is fair. But the flip side is that he is being brought along differently than most first overall picks, who are more times than not just thrown out there and see ice time regardless of how they play. His performance has been uneven for sure. My hope was that he would become Jonathan Huberdeau-like on the future. Laf needs to work on his skating and be more physical, but the talent and skill are there. He will need time for all of it to coalesce and we will see snippets as we did the other day.
2) Kakko - just when he has a good game, scoring twice in his third contest back after missing 31 games, he gets hurt again. No word yet as to the severity of the injury. Hopefully we hear something today, but I would be fairly shocked if he is in the lineup tomorrow. The same Thursday against Islanders and Saturday versus the Bruins. Best case is the injury truly is minor and at worse, Kakko is back the last week of the season.
If Kakko is out, look for Laf to move up to the third line as he was Saturday following Kakko’s departure. Opting back in is most likely Ryan Reaves. This is where the deadline additions of Frank Vatrano and Andrew Copp - as well as Motte before he was injured - pay dividends. While the absence of Motte and Kakko force line reshuffling, the presence of those otters brought in at the deadline lengthen the lineup and options for Gallant.
Here's the Kakko injury #NYR pic.twitter.com/L8nxgKZRLG
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) April 16, 2022
3) From the post-game notes with my thoughts added: Frank Vatrano’s goal was his seventh in 16 games to go along with four assists and a plus-10 rating. To say he has fit in seamlessly would be an understatement. The question is how much do you value this, presuming it continues, come the off-season. Is it Brendan Smith 2.0 and fools gold or is it right place, right time, right situation for Vatrano and the Rangers?
New York has killed 18 straight penalties in the past eight games. That stretch where they struggled sure looks to be a thing of the past. Not all of the games have come against easy opponents, making that performance look even better. With this hot streak, New York is now ninth in the league in penalty kill success at 82.1%
Zibanejad (goal, assist) set an NHL career high with 77 points this season (28 goals, 49 assists). He scored 75 in 2019-20. Zib has morphed into a true #1 center. He has become better between the dots, a 200-foot player who plays in all three zones and a major weapon offensively.
Shesterkin leads the league in goals-against average (2.05) and save percentage (.937). His shutout was his fifth of the season, tied for third in the league, while his 35 wins has him in a tie for fourth. Vezina Trophy winner?
4) The prospect pipeline, which has provided a steady stream the last few years, is far from dried up. We all know about the depth in the blue line and to a certain extent between the pipes. While center could use some support for the future, the wing sure looks to have a few nice possible options for down the road: Brennan Othmann, selected 16th overall last year, tallied four goals in a game this past weekend to hit the magic 50 number. Overall, 50g 47a (6th in OHL scoring, 2nd in goals)
Will Cuylle, taken in the second round in 2020 with the pick acquired from LA for Lias Andersson, 43g, 37a (17th in OHL scoring, 7th in goals)
Ryder Korczak, a mild surprise at 75th overall last season, has shown more offense than expected. Viewed a slow play, Korczak, who could remain at center but more likely ends up at wing, has had a better than expected campaign with 25g, 54a (18th in WHL scoring)