The Rangers continued their fine play, holding off the Capitals 3-1 at the Verizon Center on Wednesday. The win pushed New York one point ahead of the Islanders for first in the Metro and the win, coupled with Anaheim's loss, has the Rangers (42-17-7) tied for the President's Trophy with Anaheim, Nashville and Montreal. While that is nice, to me, I am more concerned where the team is in mid-to-late June, not now. In addition and maybe more important is the uncertain status of Kevin Klein.
With about 41 seconds left, Klein was hit by an Alex Ovechkin shot to either the left arm or elbow. Of course, as hockey players do, he remained engaged in the play, but after went off the ice. Klein had X-rays last night and we all are awaiting word. His heading back to NY is definitely not a good sign. Losing Klein would create a huge absence on the Rangers' blue line, as he has been the team's most consistent defenseman. The only mild bit of good news is that it was a wrist and not slap shot from Ovi. If he is sidelined, Matt Hunwick will get in while Dylan McIlrath or Conor Allen or Chris Summers get promoted, though cap issues could prevent that unless Klein ends up on LTIR. I could see either McIlrath or Allen getting a game or two depending on how long Klein is out. Look for Marc Staal to be paired with Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle to be paired with whoever plays in place of Klein.
The Rangers were just okay offensively; the intensity of which declined as the game continued. Maybe it was the three games in four days, but New York was busy parrying rather than creating their own attack. Defensively, they were solid, aided by another stellar effect by Cam Talbot. The glove save on Nicklas Backstrom by going post-to-post on the 5 on 3 plus the saves on Ovechkin and Laich on a 2-on-0 in front of the net in the second were top shelf and beyond.
Talbot is 7-1-1 with a 1.54 GAA and .948 save percentage and two shutouts in his last nine appearances. He also became the first netminder in Rangers history to allow one goal or fewer in regulation in four consecutive games, all on the road. I am also afraid to think where the Rangers would be without him and why all the talk of possibly dealing in this offseason is premature and very shortsighted. The comfort factor of having him in NY to step in if Hank is down or needs a rest can't be overstated and possibly overvalued.
The third line was phenomenal again. Hagelin-Hayes-Miller were by far the best trio on the ice last night for New York. They generated the first two goals and carried play a good portion of the game. Great play by Miller on Hagelin's goal and tremendous work by the line overall to keep puck possession. Then Hayes with patience, waiting for Miller to be open and the snipe by Miller. The other three lines, save for Kreider and St. Louis on the goal to seal it, didn't do a heck of a lot. The growth by Miller and Hayes are the nice surprises, which have taken substantial pressure off the top-six. The anticipation by Kreider made the play but the speed shown by MSL to take with the locomotive known as Kreider might have been even more impressive.
Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller line. My goodness. Been badly outplaying the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Martin St. Louis line. That was some play by Miller on the Hagelin goal. And some play by Hayes on the Miller goal. Hagelin has just been flying for weeks. Hayes gets better every time he plays. Miller’s been physical, skating, and figuring out a bunch of stuff. Big, big, weapon having a third line like that.
Now a bit of the bad before I get back to the good. The Blueshirts’ woeful power play went 0-for-3, falling to 0-for-9 in the last three games and 4-for-38 in the past 15 matches. It's good that they are winning but having a unit who could generate sustained pressure and score would assist the D and goaltending from having to be at the top of their game nightly. Yandle needs to shoot the puck. We know he can pass but change it up a bit, because right now, it's not working.
Back to the good. The overall numbers are impressive. The team is 31-7-3 in their past 41 games with a 12-1-2 in their last 15 and has a 13-2-3 mark in the 18 games since Henrik Lundqvist went down with a blood-vessel injury. They are 16-1-1 during stretches of three or more consecutive road games. Plus, 7-0-1 in the second game of their last eight back-to-backs. They have allowed just five goals in the past five games, which came against playoff teams in Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, the Islanders and Washington
#NYR rankings in NHL:
W: 42 (T-2nd) PTS: 91 (T-1st) PTS%: .689 (1st) ROW: 39 (2nd) DIFF: +46 (T-1st) G/GP: 3.03 (5th) GA/GP: 2.30 (3rd)
But as I said above, all I care about is where they are in about three months time. Now is great, later is much more important.