The Rangers completed the weekend defeating the Flames 4-1. New York trailed 1-0 after the first period, but tied it in the second and scored three times in the third to pull out the win. With the victory, the Rangers completed their first 10 games with a 6-2-2 mark and a spot in first place, but Washington has three games in hand and the Islanders two.
New York was flat the first 25-28 minutes of the game. For whatever the reason, New York has been flat in too many games, yet are 6-2-2. Against Arizona, the Rangers carried play early, then had a lag in the middle before rebounding to win. The Philly game Saturday was more back-and-forth but while the Rangers had lots of possession in the Flyers’ zone, they were unable to capitalize. In this contest, the tape-to-tape passes were lacking once again and it required the bottom six for the team to pull out the win.
While the third line – JT Miller-Kevin Hayes-Oscar Lindberg was solid and a big reason for the win, the fourth line keyed the victory. Emerson Etem, who replaced an injured Victor Stalberg, had his best game by far as a Ranger, as he made his presence well known in the Flames’ zone. Dominic Moore and Jarret Stoll were highly noticeable as well, creating turnovers and pressing Calgary below the hashmarks. Stalberg has four days to recover before New York plays Toronto, but if he is out again, Etem has more than earned remaining in the lineup.
The goals were somewhat fortunate, but fortune rewards hard work. Lindberg’s goal went off a defensemen. Dan Girardi got the puck in front of the net due to hard work by the fourth line. Kevin Klein’s goal came after a fine stop by Jonas Hiller on Etem, but he left a rebound and Klein’s shot hit Derek Engellland and went behind Hiller. Derick Brassard’s goal was the result of a good screen in front by Chris Kreider, after Ryan McDonagh took a puck off the face in the neutral zone to create the initial foray up ice.
The blue line was up-and-down. Calgary’s only goal was the result of a misplay by Marc Staal, resulting in a snow angel by Girardi. Besides that play, I thought Girardi had one of his better games, rebounding a bit from his early season woes. Sean Hartnett wrote an interesting piece on Girardi, which given all the criticism of him, was a pretty balanced approach (http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/10/26/new-york-rangers-dan-girardi-sean-hartnett/). Jimbo has been in a major twitter war on G this year. It’s hard not to say he has had a horrible year and the advanced stats don’t paint a pretty picture, but there is clearly more to the game than just what the stats show. Girardi will always be the poster boy for the argument between advanced stats and what the eye sees on the ice along with the impact of blocked shots etc.
I thought McDonagh had a very solid game, using his speed to generate chances. Klein was good again and Dan Boyle was okay, not great, but no real glaring miscues. Keith Yandle had one of his worst games after seemingly coming on recently. Overall, after a so-so first, the defense was better the second two frames.
The 6-2-2 mark is mainly due to the play between the pipes. Henrik Lundqvist has been good in just about every one of his eight starts. Coming into the season, one big question was if Antti Raanta could replicate what Cam Talbot gave the Rangers the prior two seasons. So far, so good. Granted, it’s only been two games, but he has been solid positionally, and when a big save has been needed, Raanta has been more than up to the task.
Carp wrote Raanta is 16-0-3, 1.49, .945 with four shutouts in 21 career appearances at home. Other than the first goal, where he had no shot, he was phenomenal. The big two were when the Flames were on a man-advantage, as he stoned Mikael Backlund’s breakaway and then Michael Frolik on the rebound. If you look at how he played Monday against San Jose and then versus Calgary, it looks as if he will nicely fill Talbot’s role and allow Lundqvist sufficient rest.
The positives are that the team is 6-2-2 and that the goalies have been on their game. Offensively, it’s been very hit and miss, with several players searching to find their game and stride offensively. The blue line has been very up and down, and the transition from D to O has been sporadic at best. You have to expect that the goaltending could drop off a smidge, but that’s where the forwards and defensemen need to pick it up. The expectation is that will happen, the question is when. Nash and Kreider have been invisible. Brassard had shown some signs lately but he too has struggled. Stepan started hot and has regressed lately. Thank god for Lindberg, as he has helped make up for Hayes searching for his game. The mixing-and-matching continues. Yet despite this, they are 6-2-2, which you would think bodes well for when the offense wakes up.