The Rangers finally got back to winning ways, defeating the Red Wings 8-2, ending their three-game losing streak. A six-goal third period carried the team to victory. Some of the good signs we had seen the past week-plus or so all coalesced in the contest, especially in the final stanza. Now the challenge is to make sure this is not another one-off event and build off this performance Saturday in Nashville and Sunday at home against Arizona. Plus maybe they need to play in front of their dad's every game after seeing how they performed yesterday.
Game recap:
Lines: Kreider - Zib - Vesey Panarin - Trocheck - Kravtsov Laf - Chytil - Kakko Blais - Goodrow - Gauthier
Miller-Trouba Lindgren-Fox Hajek-Schneider
Shesterkin Halak
A few thoughts: 1) Balanced scoring - Eight players with multi-point games and 12 players with at least one point. Six even-strength goals and one more than scored in the last four games.
2) Puck possession/diligent forecheck - it's amazing what happens when you have the puck and forecheck. New York used a north-south game to generate chances. Then, when stopped, the forecheck created turnovers and additional opportunities. The key, though, is that it wasn't just one line doing it, everyone in the lineup pulled their own weight. That was seen in Mika Zibanejad's second goal, Julien Gauthier's goal and Barclay Goodrow goal, which were three of the four the team scored in a span of 2:57 in the third.
The Rangers also out-shot the Red Wings, 33-20, and out-chanced them, 35-12. Only four of the scoring chances allowed registered as high danger, according to Natural Stat Trick, highlighting a strong defensive effort outside of that blip in the second period
3) Line production - To me, this was the best the fourth line looked all season. They played with purpose, with speed and with a singular focus. Sammy Blais appeared to have a bit more of his jump back. Barclay Goodrow was everywhere in tallying a goal and two assists while Julien Gauthier was rewarded by going to the front of the net to score a greasy goal. With the Rangers looking to cut down to 22 skaters from 23, Ryan Carpenter is in danger of New York trying to pass him through waivers to send him to Hartford. I don't think they would do the same with Ryan Reaves, but you never know.
As Vince Mercogliano noted, the most effective was the top line, which featured Chris Kreider rekindling with Mika Zibanejad after a one-game separation and Jimmy Vesey on the right wing. They produced two goals while out-chancing Detroit, 10-1, including a 5-0 advantage in HDCF. Zibanejad, who was skating in his 700th NHL game in the same city where he made his NHL debut with the Senators in 2011, scored his first two five-on-five goals of the season. The first on a snipe and the second cleaning up at the side of the net after Vesey did the hard lifting. Vesey got his own goal shorthanded late in the third.
The second line also had their moments. Yesterday was the best performance yet for Vitali Kravtsov. He registered his first point of the season while playing with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck and was noticeable in general, but especially in attacking the net, which has been a point of emphasis from Gerald Gallant.
Last, but certainly not least, was the Kid Line. Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko were back in action on a line together for the first time since the preseason. Watching that trio operate was a vivid reminder of why they forged one of the most impactful units during the playoffs last season and splitting that unit apart is so difficult. They held the zone more effectively than any other line had in the last few games, drew penalties and tired their opponents along the walls whenever given the opportunity. Chytil and Lafreniere each finished with two assists, and based on how all four lines played, don't look for any changes immediately.
4) Defense - the six who played improved as the game wore on. The first goal scored by the Red Wings came about after allowing an odd-man rush up the ice and no one picked up Joe Veleno in the slot. Detroit's second goal, scored by Lucas Raymond, occurred after a very poor clearing attempt by K'Andre Miller. One aspect that has been a bit noticeable this year is Igor Shesterkin has not been as good playing the puck as he was last year. We had a goal scored earlier in the year due to his massive misplay, and yesterday, he was unable to stop the shot around the boards which ended up resulting in the scoring chance and goal.
But the team was much better in the second and third. Much of Detroit's nine shots in the last stanza came late. But for about 30-35 minutes, they held the Red Wings to eight shots. Puck possession and strong positioning were the drivers.
Libor Hajek got his first of the year. Granted, he benefited from a deflection off Drew Rasmussen in front, but it counts. Hajek hasn't been great but he has been more solid than Zac Jones, who has not taken a hold of the sixth D spot.
You think Adam Fox missed Ryan Lindgren? He spoke about the comfortability factor after the game. Fox tallied a goal and three assists and just has a way of slowing down the game, never panicking and creating from nothing.