The Rangers took it to the Blues early and often, then held on in a turnover filled second period to ultimately prevail 6-3 Thursday. New York jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals by Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes, chasing Jake Allen. St. Louis tallied the next two, including a howitzer by Vladimir Tarasenko in the second, to cut the lead to 3-2. The two sides exchanged goals later that frame but the Rangers added a PPG by Ryan McDonagh early in the third and closed it out with an empty-better for the final margin.
Remember when we were concerned about the play of the top line? I think for now we can push that way to the background. Brassard has found his game while Rick Nash is racking up points as well. But the driver has been Zuccarello. With eight goals and seven assists, he leads the team in scoring, but possibly more important, he is a major weapon each time he is on the ice. As his teammates have said, his level of competition is at an all time high. It's trite, but maybe last year's injury and scare about his career and ability to function drove him even more.
Of course, it also helps to have Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes. While he gave up three goals, one of which could be deemed weak, he was phenomenal again. The stick save he made to rob Alexander Steen should be on the highlight reel all season. For all the talk about PDO and likely regression, why that might not happen is between of the guy in net.
This was a fun game to watch and listen to, as both teams can really get up the ice. New York had eight turnovers in the second period, which is something that has to get cleaned up. But when they go form D to O, as we saw on the Zucc and Hayes goals, they are a nightmares to play against.
I thought Keith Yandle struggled tremendously in this one while Dan Boyle was pretty good. McDonagh is back to his top notch status and Dan Girardi, despite a few mistakes, was pretty solid as well. Marc Staal and Kevin Klein are a pretty darn good second pairing.
Up front, Chris Kreider was okay, but there is still a lot more to his game we haven't seen. JT Miller is showing signs of mixing the needed physical play with his skill, but I still believe NY will look to get a second line winger. In the bottom six, Jarret Stoll was real good Thursday while Emerson Etem, who should have loved this game since it was based on speed, struggled throughout and only saw 8:37 in ice time. As Larry Brooks wrote, don't expect him to play Saturday, as Dominic Moore, who was scratched for the second straight game, should be back in the lineup.
I know you guys tester day covered Brooks' need for more grit column. I don't disagree with his premise. As we saw in '94, skill plus grit is the necessary combination. The same has been evident the past few years, especially as attrition is a major factor on who wins or loses the Cup. In terms of those mentioned - Eric Staal, Shane Doan, Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien - I don't see most as a true fit. I like Staal, but don't view him as gritty and do you move Stepan or Brassard to the third line? Doan would be a fine add but unless he pulls a Ray Bourque, he likely retired a Coyote. I would love Ladd and he would be the perfect guy to get, but would Winnipeg trade their captain? Buff is an interesting one to get and I could that being who they pursue.