The Rangers rallied against Wednesday, tallying three goals in the third to pull out a 5-3 win over the Blues. New York notched their league tying 18th comeback win of the season to give them a six-point lead over Washington for third place in the division with a pair of games in hand. The Blueshirts, 34-15-15, sit three points shy of the Penguins with two games in hand and six points back of the Canes, who also have played 54 contests. New York faces New Jersey, who has been up and down, solid on offense but struggling between the pipes, on Friday
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) St. Louis outmuscled New York throughout much of the contest. In addition, they dominated between the dots. Neither comes as a big surprise as the Blues are a heavy team to play against and strong down the middle. A game like this is further evidence to me that reinforcements are needed badly in the bottom six. Despite faltering in both aspects, as we have seen so often, as well as falling apart, giving up three goals in 2:14 last in the second, the team refuses to quit, resulting in comeback win #18 on the year.
2) Pavel Buchnevich - first, a pretty weak tribute video by the team. Buch appears to hold no grudges against the team for the trade, recognizing it was a likelihood. In addition, New York doesn't seem to have ill-will towards Buch, yet a meh video. In the game, Igor Shesterkin said "not in my house," stoning Buch on a breakaway.
3) Chris Kreider scored his 35th of the year and league leading 18th on the man-advantage to give New York the 4-3 lead. Alexis Lafreniere continued his hot play with a goal, his fifth in nine games, showing again that he is a fit to right of Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Artemi Panarin tallied a goal and two assists while Adam Fox posted three apples in the win. Igor Shesterkin was big when needed, making 13 of his 39 saves in the third period to secure the victory.
4) injuries - Kevin Rooney left the game in the first with an upper body injury. After one shift in the second, he was shut down the rest of the game. Thursday, he landed on IR and will likely be out a week or two.Tim Gettinger was called up, joining Jonny Brodzinski, who recently signed a two-year extension, who was promoted Tuesday.
Ryan Lindgren limped off the ice, basically lifted up by Shesterkin to his skates late in the game after he blocked a shot with an unprotected part of his body. Lindgren has recently looked a step slow, like he has already been dealing with an injury. Now, on top of this, he adds in whatever happened after blocking the shot, resulting in him missing practice for a "maintenance" day Thursday.
Kappo Kakko, who last played on January 21 against the Hurricanes, will be out a few more weeks, per coach Gerard Gallant. When Kakko first landed on injured reserve, the hope was that he would miss a few weeks, maybe a maximum of four. Now, Kakko, who is out with a left wrist injury, likely is out until at least the March 21 trading deadline and quite possibly beyond. No way to tell when he might be back and/or if the injury is tendon or ligament or bone, but he does have a cast on his wrist.
Patrik Nemeth, who returned to the lineup against the Blues, had the game-tying goal. Now that baby Vincent has been born, a weight has clearly been lifted from him, as that was apparently the driver of the personal reasons he was sidelined. Nemeth should be in the lineup nightly opposite Braden Schndier, at least in the short term.
5) Lineup - with Kakko and Rooney sidelined, plus Sammy Blais already lost for the year, below was the practice lines. Even with those players out, Morgan Barron still can't get in consistently. Dryden Hunt had an okay game against the Blues, but could we maybe see Barron get a shot there. If not, move Goodrow up to that second line and play Barron at wing or center on third. Happy to see Brodzinski get a shot in the lineup to see what he can do.
Kreider - Zib - Laf Panarin - Strome - Hunt Goodrow - Chytil - Gauthier McKegg - Brodzinski - Reaves
Barron and Gettinger are skating as the extras.
6) Trade talk - TSN Insider Trading covered the Rangers in their discussions today. New York is still heavily in on JT Miller, though it would take a major haul to land the winger/center since Vancouver is not really looking to dela him unless they are blown away with an offer. Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser are more likely to be available.
The Rangers are also in on Rickard Rakell, who most of us would be very happy if they landed, cost dependent. In addition, New York is still looking for defensive depth, focusing on Ben Chiarot, who had a big game with a pair of goals, including the game-winner, Thursday. Why they want him, given what we have seen to date, is not really clear, especially since Montreal was rumored to be asking for a first round pick in return.
INSIDER TRADING: #TSNHockey Insiders discuss…
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) March 3, 2022
- Kuzmenko still focused on end of season NHL decision
- Leafs’ Gilman scouted two #Canucks games
- Boeser, Garland could be on the move
- Where #NYR are looking at for help
- #Blackhawks & Kane
WATCH : https://t.co/Z2bCZeKcCr pic.twitter.com/UYSO25NPye
7) PK Subban - the last time these two teams met, way back on Nov 14, Subban slew footed Sammy Blais. That "legal play" resulted in a season-ending torn ACL for Blais. Will be interesting to see if there is any response by New York tonight.