The Rangers defeated the Blackhawks 4-1 on Thursday at MSG in a contest that didn't have that much vibe despite the pre-game hype. Connor Bedard was for the most part shut down by the newly constituted fourth line and early in the game, bodied off the puck by Vincent Trocheck, leading to the first goal of the game. Brennan Othmann was noticeable throughout the contest in his debut, seamlessly setting into the lineup. New York heads to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Saturday night.
Game recap:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Wheeler Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière Othmann-Bonino-Brodzinski Cuylle-Goodrow-Vesey
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Gustafsson-Schneider
Shesterkin Quick
A few thoughts: 1) Othmann, the 16th overall pick in the 2021 draft. finished the game with five shots on goal and three hits. What I liked most about his performance is that he was not awed by the moment. Post-game, he gave credit to his linemates, Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski, for helping to settle his nerves. Whatever they said, worked, as Othmann was visible in the offensive zone but also in his backchecking during the game. That line was also dominant, as they posted its match a 72.2 attempts share, an 88.89 shots share and an xGF measured by Natural Stat Trick at 81.5 percent.
Othmann had one prime scoring opportunity, which Petr Mrazek stopped, on a back-door feed from behind the net. Defensively, on a backcheck, he got up to 21 mph, making the pre-draft comment by some that skating was an issue look a bit foolish. Coach Peter Laviolette showed faith in Othmann putting him on the ice with Mika and Kreider for a 38-second shift when Blake Wheeler was in the box. In addition, he got a 31-second pairing with Vincent Trocheck in a 4-on-4 situation.
Bumps in the road will exist. But with Tyler Pitlick out week-to-week and Kaapo Kakko just skating for the first time with the team since being injured in a red non-contact Thursday, Othmann should stick around for a while. When the team gets healthy, that's when Laviolette and GM Chris Drury will have decisions to make.
2) All Star - Igor Shesterkin was voted as the Rangers' representative to the All-Star time for the second time in his career. In my view, he hasn't had the most dominant of seasons, as he has been very up-and-down, but he has righted the ship recently. He wasn't overly tested last night by a Chicago team missing several regulars and somewhat overmatched.
In earning a selection for the second consecutive season, Shesterkin becomes the sixth Rangers goaltender (Henrik Lundqvist, Gilles Villemure, Ed Giacomin, Gump Worsley, Chuck Rayner) to obtain All-Star Game honors in back-to-back seasons. #NYR https://t.co/Zw4RaGEOqG
— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) January 5, 2024
When the news came that Igor - and not Artemi Panarin - was named, many of us were scratching our heads and ready to storm the NHL HQ to find out why. Post-game, we found out that Panarin is not attending the game in Toronto as his wife is due then with their second child. He is certainly deserving of the bid, as his goal and assist extended his point-streak to six games with the two points giving him 17 multi-point contests. Panarin has 12 goals and 10 assists in his last 15 games and points in 31 of 37 contests this season.
One way to vote is to retweet #NHLAllStarVote. In my opinion, while New York has several deserving candidates, Vincent Trocheck should be the one receiving the votes and nod. Trocheck had a three-assist performance yesterday for the fourth time this season, giving the Rangers’ second-line center six games with three or more points this season. He is now up to nine goals and 27 assists in 37 games, the majority of that production since he replaced Filip Chytil as the center on the line with Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. As a side note, Laf was dominant also last night, highlighted by the beautiful cross-ice feed to Panarin for the one-time slapshot goal.
Here's why Artemi can't go to All-Star - but he says "PLEASE RETWEET NOW TO VOTE FOR MY TEAMMATES "#NHLAllStarvote
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 5, 2024
Mika Zibanejad
Chris Kreider
Alexis Lafreniere
Vincent Trocheck
Jacob Trouba
Adam Fox pic.twitter.com/nF6acTnrVw
3) Fourth line - with Othmann up and Pitlick out, Will Cuylle was moved down to the fourth line to skate with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey. That trio did a phenomenal job against Bedard's line. In addition, they chipped in offensively, with Vesey scoring the final tally of the game on a fine cross-ice feed from Cuylle. Defense again led to offense.
If the fourth line can play like this defensively, New York becomes a really dangerous team to face. This is especially so if Othmann helps the third line become more offensive minded. In addition, when Kakko returns, the lineup could get even deeper.
4) Defense - overall, a solid performance. For the most part, didn't give Chicago much, though a few possible odd-man rushes were fumbled by the Blackhawks. The one goal against was a late change by Erik Gustafsson resulting in K'Andre Miller getting on late, allowing a 2-on-1 and goal by ex-Ranger Colin Blackwell. Shocker, an ex-Ranger scored against them.
One concerning aspect though is the play of Adam Fox. Since returning from the lower-body injury that cost him 10 games, Fox does have 13 assists in 17 games, eight of those points coming on the man-advantage. But he does not look like his pre-injury self.
Fox has been beaten wide at times and does not have the same quick change ability he did previously. You have to wonder if he is far from 100% and if the injury is still lingering. The eight-day All-Star break starting at the end of the month will hopefully help Fox heal a bit. Right now, he looks like a shell of his All-Star self.
5) World Juniors: Gabe Perreault, Drew Fortescue and Team USA defeated Finland 3-2, rallying from a 2-0 deficit. They go for the Gold today against Sweden who defeated Czechia 5-2 in the early game Thursday. The game in on the NHL Network at 1:30pm eastern today,