The Rangers continued their stretch of fine play, shutting out the Blues 5-0 on Tuesday. The victory extracted a modicum of revenge for the 3-2 to St. Louis on October 15; a game in which New York outplayed the Blues in the defeat. With the shutout Henrik Lundqvist more than rebounded from a handful of so-so starts by stopping 35 starts, including several spectacular ones, in notching the 60th whitewash of his career. New York is now 5-1 in their last six and has won their first two games in what is a stretch of five contests in eight days and face Edmonton on Thursday.
I could wax poetically on the win but want to focus on three aspects of the victory. Own zone breakout/focus on defense, confidence and balance. The first two will be highlighted from the post-game quotes, taken from the NY Post, the third should already be apparent.
Own zone breakout/focus on defense:
“It’s been a great start to our season here,… said Lundqvist. “A lot of times it starts in our own end, how we break out. That’s really how you get speed to your game — that first pass, close support. I’m super impressed.…
The Rangers' own zone puck movement was something to behold. Quick passes and plays in the defensive zone leading to open space and breakouts. By doing so, New York blunted St. Louis' heavy forecheck. The key is that the forwards are helping out by “pouring back,… as Kreider described it. That was lacking last year. For all the focus on the blueline, at times, we failed to realize or highlight the forwards' inability to get back defensively. Then if they were back defensively, they covered the wrong player or left the front of the net open, which made the D look bad. Now, both groupings look to be on the same page and a cohesive unit, not two separate pieces.
Confidence:
“We have guys that are making plays like they have a ton of confidence and swagger,… Marc Staal said. “Even defensively, we’re making confident plays in our own end and it’s allowed us to get out of our end zone quickly and create those chances quickly.…“We have confidence in our system and one another, and we believe in it and try to execute it,… Lundqvist said. “We will just try to build on this.…
What I noted above above defensive zone coverage and the forwards pouring back helps that confidence. The D believes the forwards will be on the right spot, enabling them to play positionally as they should. The O believes that the D will also be in the right spot, so they don't have to cheat. If something breaks down, then the goalies will clean it up. Plus, the team's ability to score goals gives the entire unit confidence if they fall behind or give up a goal.
Balance:
As noted in the Post, with an assist Tuesday, J.T. Miller leads the team with 10 points. Ryan McDonagh has nine, all assists, Jimmy Vesey has six goals and three assists, Mika Zibanejad (2-7) and Chris Kreider (3-6) each have nine points while Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash both have eight (each 5-3). Add in Kevin Hayes with seven points and Derek Stepan/Brandon Pirri/Micheal Grabner with six points and that balance is apparent.
That balance has resulted in the Rangers getting off to a 7-3-0 start with more than 40 goals (41) in the first 10 games for the first time since 1992-93. New York can roll four lines that has speed unlike we have seen on Broadway for many many years. Eventually a slump will happen, but the balance also means the team isn't dependent on an individual or line to score, which should blunt the length of any slump. In addition, the talent up front has aided the power play, which yesterday went 2-for-6 against the league’s second-best penalty kill.