The Rangers extended their winning streak to five games with a 2-0 win over the Flames. Offense was at a premium as both Igor Shesterkin and Jacob Markstrom were on the top of their games and put on a performance in net. A hard driving goal by the third line, scored by Will Cuylle, was the only evens-trength goal. Jimmy Vesey sealed the win with a strip in the offensive zone and empty-net tally. New York faces Montreal at home on Thursday.
Game recap:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Wheeler Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière Cuylle-Brodzinski-Kakko Vesey-Edstrom-Goodrow
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Gustafsson-Schneider
Shesterkin Quick
Scratches: Pitlick, Rempe, Jones LTIR: Chytil
A few thoughts: 1) Shesterkin - whatever work goaltending coach Benoit Allaire did with Shesterkin was on display last night. Early on, you could tell he was locked in. The glove hand, questionable at best this year, was on point. Calgary kept challenging him up high and Igor was up to the task. It got the point where he was almost daring to try another shot there.
Igor was in control of his rebounds and of the game. He didn't get rattled and made every big save, each of which was needed. Last night's performance was the norm two years ago. Now, it's become a rarity. The key is for him to build off this game and not make it a one-time occurrence. I expect Jonatha Quick to start Thursday vs. the Habs and Igor in net for the Stadium Series game Sunday.
2) Cuylle-Brodzinski-Kakko - ladies and gentlemen, we look to have a third line. The trio appears to complement each other well. Brodzinski has speed and has shown a willingness to shoot. Kakko is solid along the walls and defensively, and as we saw last night, can drive to the net. Cuylle just gets better nightly, showing a different skill. He is rarely out of position and is now up to nine goals.
New York is going to make a move at the deadline, the only question is where. Brodzinski is not your prototypical third center. But seeing how well he has played and how the trio has meshed, why mess with success? Let them remain together and try to build off what we have seen.
3) Power play - the combination changes lasted two periods and then the old units were restored. Not that it helped, since both groups did little. Part of that is due to Markstrom, but I didn;t see much that impressed me last night on the man-advantage.
4) Edstrom - we had a feeling Tyler Pitlick's days were numbered. The hammer fell today as Pitick was placed on waivers. Edstrom did not look out of place yesterday. What impressed me most is that with a one-goal game and five minutes to go, coach Peter Laviolette put that line on the ice, showing confidence in the kid. Edstrom remains while Matt Rempe was sent down today.
New York will give Edstrom every chance to show he can be the 4C. Nothing is set in stone and I expect a depth move there as well. But Edstrom now has a chance to earn a full-time spot and stick in the NHL, at least in the short-term.