Fives are wild and the beat rolls on. The juggernaut that has been the Rangers offense racked up five goals for the fifth straight game in defeating the Jets 5-2 at Madison Square Garden. Five different goal scorers contributed the markers, helping lead New York to their fifth straight win and eighth in their last nine contests. It’s the first time the Rangers have scored at least five goals in five consecutive games since Dec. 26, 1978-Jan. 14, 1979, when they did it in nine straight games
Further evidence of the hot streak: the Rangers are 8-0 when scoring at least five goals this season, have 55 goals in 13 games and are outscoring opponents 25-7 in the second period after their 4-1 second period Sunday. In addition, this is the third the Rangers have won 10 of their first 13 games, opening 10-2-1 in 2008-09 and 10-3 (and 11-3) in 1990-91. Finally, Blueshirts lead the NHL with those 55 goals and a goal-differential of plus-26. The numbers are great, but as we have discussed, it's still early in the season with an incredibly long way to go. But, the team's ability to roll four lines should mean that if one or even two trios struggle, the other groupings should be able to compensate and fill the breach.
The win was far from a work of art. Winnipeg carried play for stretches of the contest, including all of the third period. But, as has been the case most of the early part of the season, the Rangers found a way to get it done. Once again, the second period, which as noted above is where the Rangers do most of the damage, was the difference maker.
The Blueshirts tallied in four goals on six shots within a span of 7 minutes, 3 seconds — the final three on consecutive shots within 4:04 — to take control of the game. That brief burst of action was enough to earn the victory in a game where Henrik Lundqvist was strong overall, especially early on, and the Rangers blocked a ton of shots in the third. In that period, during which New York hung on for dear life while the Jets seemingly spent all the frame in the Rangers zone, Winnipeg out-attempted New York 28-6 as the Blueshirts blocked 14 shots packing the defensive zone in front of Lundqvist.
Part of that can be explained by New York playing their third game in four nights on the tail end of a back-to-back and fifth game in eight nights. Once they got a big lead, New York went into a shell, collapsing in their zone. But, the Rangers took advantage of their early opportunities, affording them the ability to play that style on a night where energy clearly was lacking.
As noted in the paper, Kevin Hayes and J.T. Miller stayed hot, scoring their sixth and fifth goals of the season, respectively. Mats Zuccarello netted his sixth, Jesper Fast his second and 21-year-old rookie Pavel Buchnevich scored his second goal one night after tallying the first of his career, Sunday’s on an incredible display of skill to get by the last man and fool goalie Michael Hutchinson. If you haven't seen that goal, go to You Tube or twitter and find it (here is one link to it: http://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/795442328068616192) But as you seen and I noted above, five different goal scorers once again, evidencing the balance and depth on this team.
In the paper, it stated Mika Zibanejad’s line with Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello seemed to be the only unit even close to the top of its game. Personally, I thought they were okay, not great, though no line was last night. The jump - save for the 4:04 stretch - was mostly gone, but New York did enough to hold on. Lundqvist and defenders who did a decent job staying in shot lines, not reaching and taking stupid penalties and maintaining assignments were other keys.
Brooks noted that coach Alain Vigneault giving Dan Girardi a maintenance night off evidences a philosophical change from last year to this. Last ear, despite all the data highlighting that G or Marc Staal should have been rested, AV was reluctant to do. Whether due to the groin injury or a smarter approach this year, sitting G was the prudent move to keep him fresh. By doing so, AV sends the right message to the team, enabling him to sit Staal or Kevin Klein or anyone else when warranted.
With G sitting, Nick Holden moved up to play with Ryan McDonagh with Adam Clendening sliding in to play with Staal. This left the Brady Skjei-Kevin Klein tandem together and AV had the duo matched up against the Jets’ top line featuring the Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine. Despite each of those two scoring a goal, the Skjei-Klein pairing for the most part held their own, which allowed the other combinations to stay intact during the game. Offensively, Skjei had another assist and has seven in the last eight games. AV noted about his play, “What I like about Brady’s progression is he’s skating away from the hard pressure and being able to beat the forecheck.… Whatever illness or issues Skjei had in training camp are long gone, as he has been extremely impressive, to the point where you forget he is no longer a rookie.
The Rangers play Vancouver on Tuesday and then head out for their Western Canada trip. At Calgary on Saturday, then at Edmonton on Sunday, so look for Antti Raanta to play one of those two games. It's possible that G or Staal or Klein get one of those games off, my bet is on Staal, with Clendening in for whoever sits. Offensively, I don't foresee Oscar Lindberg getting in, as he will remain a healthy scratch. The trip concludes at Vancouver on Tuesday and Rangers will be on the road Friday at Columbus before returning home to play at MSG on Sunday against Florida.