The Rangers kicked off to the 2015-16 season with a 3-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks. A strong first was followed by weak second and third stanzas, but the 3-1 lead NY built after the initial frame was just enough to hold off Chicago. Work still needs to be done, but I am very cognizant it’s just one game of 82, so I will do my best to hold off the blanket judgments.
A few thoughts:
New York looks like it will roll out three solid lines that can score. The makeup of those lines may shift during the year, but as we known coach Alain Vigneault likes rolling four lines and should have that ability to do so again this year.
The two Swedes and a Yank line, Stalberg-Lindberg (goal)-Miller (two assists), was the best trio for New York. Beyond the scoring, they had solid pressure most of the contest and appeared to complement each other well.
There was some questioning as to why Kevin Hayes was shifted to the second line and wing, but we saw some flashes of what he and that line can do. The third and game-winning goal came about due to hard work from Hayes and Chris Kreider with Derek Stepan being in the right place at the right time.
The “top line… was invisible most of the night. Rick Nash had one real nice sequence where he caused a turnover and then was stoned by Corey Crawford. But other than that, the line was meh, though Zucc was solid defensively.
The blueline, which is to be a strength, was subpar. The top duo of McDonagh-Girardi was less than optimal. McDonagh fortunately was not injured when he was hit in the throat by a puck but G was lousy. The soft clear attempt led to the Blackhawks’s second goal by Teuvo Teravainen at 6:55 of the second and after going down too early and making a snow angel, he got lucky the whistle blew before the puck was stuffed past Henrik Lundqvist with a minute left in the third. While the whole team, including Dan Boyle, fell asleep, expecting an icing, which led to Artemi Panarin’s goal on a 2-on-1 rush in the first.
Keith Yandle, save for his pass to Kevin Klein for his howitzer blast goal on a 6-on-5 in the first and take down of Andrew Shaw, was average and I discussed Boyle, who got the least amount of time among the defensemen, just 14:03 that included only 3:51 on five shifts in the third period, above. Marc Staal and Klein were okay and AV switched up pairings in the third. The D needs to be a lot better. If not, Dylan McIlrath may get in sooner rather than later.
Henrik Lundqvist was solid as per usual. He did have the puck under his pad but got fortunate the goal was waived off. With back-to-back games upcoming against Columbus, Antti Raanta is likely to start Friday while Hank gets the nod for the home opener Saturday.
One criticism, late in the game, AV had Stepan take a defensive draw, which he lost. With Stoll and Moore there, why aren’t one of those two on. After the goal was waived off, that duo was on the ice. While they didn’t win faceoffs cleanly, they tied up the center causing additional seconds to tick off. With Moore, Stoll and Lindberg available, use one of them to take a key draw late rather than Stepan.
Other Notes:
As reported in the NY Post, “the Blueshirts have told Raphael Diaz they will revisit the situation at the end of October, but have not promised to release him or assign him to a European team at that point. If Diaz, a Swiss native who represented Switzerland in the 2014 Olympics, does play in Europe during the season, he would have to go through waivers in order to return to the NHL.… Right now, there is no room at the inn, but the situation could change in a month and veteran depth on D is always welcomed.
AV rolled fourth lines, evidenced by his player usage. Ice time for Rangers’ forwards ranged from Viktor Stalberg’s 11:18 to Derick Brassard’s 16:17. That low mark for Brass, Zucc (15:24) and Nash (15:59) might have been driven by their so-so play. The fourth line of Stoll-Moore-Fast all averaged 15 minutes as did the Kreider-Stepan-Hayes trio. AV really did mix and match lines and the ability to roll four lines will help down the road.