The Rangers had a big win at MSG on Wednesday, rallying then holding on for a 3-2 win over Boston, who came in 8-1-1 over their last 10 games. This was a kind of a gut check win, earned without Henrik Lundqvist, who is sidelined with a neck injury. Cam Talbot was solid between the pipes while New York blocked 20 shots to earn the win. They now sit one point behind the Islanders with a game in hand for second in the division and two points back of Pittsburgh for first in the Metro with two games in hand. In addition, the win moved the Rangers three points ahead of Boston for the eighth spot in the East with two games in hand and has them five points behind Tampa Bay for first place in the Eastern Conference with three games in hand.
A few takeaways from me:
Strong start. The past few games, New York rallied from a slow start to find a way to win. Wednesday, the Rangers came out fast, driving play and took a 1-0 lead on Rick Nash's 32nd of the season. A great breakout pass by Martin St. Louis to Nash on the far wing and Nash did the rest, fending off a slash by Adam McQuaid to beat Tuukka Rask to give the Rangers a lead. We are running out of superlatives for Nash, but if he isn't a Hart Trophy candidate, the voters must be watching another league.
Reconstitued lines. AV shifted up the lines the other night and kept them together Wednesday. Nash-Derek Stepan-MSL were solid, tallying two of the three goals along with a pair of assists. The best line again was Kreider-Brassard-Zucc, as they were a force much of the night. The bottom-six is still a work in progress. I actually thought Hagelin-Hayes-Fast were good, especially Fast, and could get better as they play more together to build up chemistry, so I have no issues with that grouping staying together, but the fourth line was so-so. Moore wasn't bad but Glass was fairly non-descript despite the six hits and Stempniak, who took a stupid penalty, was subpar and can we please get JT Miller back in. we have spoken about getting one forward, i wouldn't be shocked if they are looking for two.
Speed kills but they can play physical when needed. Boston is a strong team while New York's best aspect is their speed. The Rangers took advantage of that speed to score the first and third goals, counterattacking through the neutral zone to score. On the second, the United Nations line used their ability to cycle and forecheck along with skill to score. Kreider has become a beast, and if he is able to slow the game a bit mentally while using his speed and it continues to come together, watch out. Conversely though, the first goal against was lousy work by the fourth line as they were outmuscled. That said, they did match Boston's physical play, especially Dan Girardi, who blew up Brad Marchand twice.
McD-G. Something is off with that pairing. On the first goal, McD was outworked and muscled with the own zone coverage subpar, enabling Milan Lucic to score, though the fourth line didn't help matters. The second was worse. I have less an issue with G as he went to cover Loui Ericsson, but McD was late getting to Patrice Bergeron and it was 2-1. Now, granted, you can also blame MSL for the O-zone turnover and Stepan, who was with Eriksson, but let up a bit when he hesitated and should have stayed with him. Once he let him go, he should gone to the front of the net, but McD was late in getting over.
What I highlighted above were the two instances that ended up in goals, but that doesn't even cover the myriad of other problems that dup has had. Maybe G is wearing down a bit. Maybe McD is struggling with the weight of carrying the blue line or misses Anton Stralman, who helped balance out the second line and took some pressure off the top duo. Whatever the problem is, it needs to be fixed and quick. i have suggested putting Marc Staal with McDonagh with Mac going to the right side and playing Girardi with Kevin Klein, presuming his right hand isn't hurt after blocking a shot late Wednesday.
Staal etc. Another solid game. Since Staal has signed the contract extension, his game has gone to another level. Staal had a block on Torey Krug's attempt right before the buzzer to preserve the win and he seems to be in the right place at the right time more frequently lately. I thought Klein was pretty good and John Moore used his speed and jumped into action throughout. Of course that leaves Dan Boyle, who once again was pretty lousy, as he was only noticeable for his poor play rather than really generating any sort of consistent attack.
Stepan and Zucc. The Rangers locked up Staal and he has taken his game to another level. The biggest of their free agents is Stepan, who regardless of what the cap is, needs to be re-signed and soon. To me, beyond MSL, who is a UFA, and Hagelin, who is an RFA, the one I want signed is Zucc.
He wants to be here. We have seen the past three games what he brings to the team and how much bigger he plays than his size. AV made it pretty clear how much he wants him back. Now that could be posturing as a way to boost Zucc's confidence or may be how he truly feels but regardless, I am biased, and want him here.
Bob McKenzie of TSN was on NBC Sports Intermission report and said the below on Zucc. I hope he is right and something gets done, as I have said before. He is making $3.5 mil this year, making you get him on a short-term deal with a slight bump to get him without blowing up the cap, or a longer-term deal with a smaller cap hit but more guaranteed cash based on lifecycle of the contract.
“The Rangers have reached out to Zuccarello and said they are interested in trying to do something with him. And as I said, he wants to stay in New York. But the question becomes how much money, how much term can they give him. Especially when they don’t know what the cap is going to be. So there’s been no substantive negotiations or talks to this point in time, but those things will happen and we’ll see if they can find a way to get this done.“It may be one of those situations where the Rangers simply say, ‘This is all we’ve got. It’s not going to be much of a negotiation. We’ll give you this many years for this amount of money. If you want to stay, that’s what we can do. If you don’t want to stay, and you want to go to unrestricted free agency, then that’s up to you.' "
Talbot/Lundqvist. Talbot wasn't overly tested but he was good enough when needed. He made a few key saves and was fairly strong the first two-thirds of the third period, when Boston carried play until the Rangers PP. Lundqvist may not play Saturday against Nashville or Sunday against Dallas, so if Talbot can at least earn a split, it would be a huge boost. Having a solid back up goalie like Talbot enables the Rangers to be cautious with Hank and not rush him back, again.
I use the term again because the Rangers have to be taken to task a bit for how Lundqvist was handled. He should have been removed from Saturday's game, even though he said he was fine. Presuming he had no major symptoms Monday, I get why he played, but after the injury, precaution might have been the wise choice. The injury is being called a neck injury, which is odd as he was hit in the throat, though maybe it was a whiplash type ailment, as his head did go back after the puck hit him. It's possible he was hurt or injury exacerbated when Tomas Kopecky knocked him over, but whatever the origin of the ailment, the team didn't do a great job of handling their franchise player.
Faceoffs. Still a major issue. Yesterday, it didn't burn them, but if you have the puck, you can't score. It would be great to start with it instead of having to forecheck to get it. Plus, defensively, as good as you may be, having to constantly retreat into a d-mode because you lost an own-zone draw instead of being to have the puck and break out will eventually come back to bite you. Hayes won a late draw that was big, but overall, Boston dominated between the dots.
Power Play. I use the term "power" loosely as that's the furthest from the truth. the player and puck movement has been non-existant along with the production. The combinations may need to be shifted again, as it would be half bad if they were getting great looks and not scoring, but that is far from the case. There is little positive to write about it and it's time to get J.T. Miller back on the second unit.