The Rangers dominated action from start to finish Friday, notching a 5-1 win over the Penguins. New York now sits a point behind Pittsburgh with a game in hand. The Capitals, who have gotten hot again, are three points shy of the Blueshirts but have played two additional contests.
Today is a classic trap game. The Rangers face a Sabres team who have played better lately with New York off an excellent win Friday and possibly looking ahead to another matchup versus the Penguins on Tuesday. The Blueshirts need to take care of business, forcing Buffalo to play their game and carrying play throughout rather than having to chase.
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) The lineup - as we discussed Friday, movement took place up and down the lines. For one game at least, the switches paid dividends. Chris Kreider had a pair, giving him 44 goals on the season, leaving him just six shy of the magic 50-goal mark with 17 games remaining. Frank Vatrano potted his second as a Ranger. Andrew Copp notched the final tally of the game on a sublime pass from Artemi Panarin. Alexis Lafreniere tallied the first marker of the game off a 2-on-1 rush with Flip Chytil. In addition, Mika Zibanejad added three assists and has now scored 502 points (226 goals, 276 assists) in 669 NHL games with the Rangers and Senators.
Kreider - Zib - Vatrano Panarin - Strome - Copp Laf - Chytil - Goodrow Motte - Brodzinski - Hunt
On D, Justin Braun was scratched, leaving Patrik Nemeth and Braden Schneider as a duo. The advanced metrics were not kind to both though I thought Schneider had a fairly solid game. Will be interesting to see who plays tonight.
2) K’Andre Miller - the talk and whispers that maybe the Rangers should deal Miller for an elite forward at the deadline rightfully died down weeks before March 21. Miller has taken a quantum leap forward this season, mixing improved physical play, coupled with better reads on when to jump in and use his offensive skill along with solid play in his own zone.
Time still will tell if Miller should remain paired with Jacob Trouba. For now, though, that duo has been more than solid this season. I have no issues with those duo lining up as the first or second pair come the postseason.
3) Laf - his goal extended his point streak to five. The criticism lobbed his way has in many cases been warranted. Lafreniere has not yet lived up to his status as the first overall pick but that does not mean he is a bust.
His output 5x5 has been one of the best on the team. As we know, his PP TOI has pretty been non-existent, adversely impacting his overall production. In addition, he has been moved to his off side, resulting in a material adjustment to his style of play. Laf still needs to improve his skating and also be more physical, but we have seen signs that he can reach the next level.
4) Penalty kill - the win was sealed by a four-minute penalty kill late in the first period. Dryden Hunt took a double-minor with New York leading 3-0 and 4:10 remaining in the stanza. I am sure all those watching thought, here we go, Pittsburgh will score twice and they will be on their way. But New York killed it off thanks to stellar play shorthanded, which was a theme Friday.
As the NY Post noted: “Andrew Copp, who was acquired from the Jets on Monday, led all Rangers forwards with 3:17 of shorthanded ice time. Motte, the Rangers’ other trade deadline acquisition, who is expected to have a role on the penalty kill, logged an energetic 1:55 on the PK.
The Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad penalty-killing forward duo remained intact, while Copp lined up with Barclay Goodrow and Motte skated next to Ryan Strome.…
Copp is proving quickly to be a jack of all trades with the ability to slide up and down the lineup and fill several roles. When New York acquire Motte, many remarked that the Rangers faithful would fall in love with him. To date, that has been the case. Motte has brought speed and energy on the fourth line.
I am not going to start on who the Rangers should re-sign. That is a discussion for down the road. You knew my view on Copp even before the deadline and Motte would be a great future component. But that will depend on their salaries and other moves made. For now, let’s just focus on the short term and in future, the postseason, then worry about the rest.