The Rangers faced a big challenge head on, defeating Pittsburgh 5-0 Tuesday. If you asked most Blueshirts' fans, the initial hope was please don't get embarrassed but many of us felt that the team would respond well after two subpar games in a row. I don't think any of us expected the end result, but the effort put forth did not shock me, because teams have a tendency to raise their game when presented with an upgrade in competition.
Right off the opening faceoff, we knew Tuesday would be different. The laissez-faire, catch-as-catch-can attitude was replaced with a purposeful one. New York used their speed to create chances, and when chances were not available, that speed translated into a better forecheck. That forecheck didn't last just a shift or two, or minute or two or even period or two but was a constant throughout the 60 minutes. For one game at least, the style of play that the organization believes it was evident on the ice.
It's great the Rangers responded as they did. However, while I realize it's human nature not to get up for all opponents, to have that vast of a discrepancy in attitude from Sunday to Tuesday is unacceptable. Hard work should be a constant. Execution will waver but as I wrote the other day, effort should not. Tuesday, the effort resulted in the execution and the execution helped lead to the fine effort. The mission and job of the coaching staff and players is to have that effort nightly not sporadic.
Somewhat lost in the overall score was the play of Henrik Lundqvist. Looking at a 5-0 final some might think he had an easy night, far from it. Pittsburgh, despite the good work of the Rangers' forwards and defense, had quality chances but Lundqvist stoned them. Whether it was stopping an odd-man rush, deflections from in close or in the slot or standing tall between the pipes, Lundqvist was solid positionally and spectacular when needed. When he was beaten, Tanner Glass was there to sweep the puck off the goal line, preventing goal.
As noted above, the forecheck and speed were huge. The first goal by Mats Zuccarello came off a faceoff win by Derek Stepan and blast by Zucc. The second, off a gorgeous feed from Rick Nash to Martin St. Louis was due to good dump in and then pinch by Marc Staal, who got the puck on net. Nash and St. Louis outmanned Pittsburgh in front and it was 2-0. The third came following excellent work in front of the net by Kevin Hayes and on the boards by Lee Stempniak. Hayes' pass back to Kevin Klein was more of a flub than a pass, but his effort before that led to the point shot and goal by Klein. The fourth goal was a howitzer by Derick Brassard on the PP while the fifth was a good clear by Staal, strong skating by Stepan to outwork Evgeni Malkin to the puck behind the net and hustle by Nash to get to the front of the net and notch his league-leading 12th of the season. Several of the goals were due to effort, while even those shots that did not result in markers also had hallmarks of effort in them.
Defensively, Staal did yeoman work matching up with Sidney Crosby. He was strong and decisive on-and-off the puck and allowed Crosby minimal room to operate. John Moore played like the John Moore after he came to New York from Columbus and how many of us thought he would play this year in taking the next step forward. His skating ability and transition of the attack from D to O were two keys in the win. The forwards backchecked effectively while the defense pinched when needed and created offense from the blue line; aspects lacking the past few games. There were few open Penguins' in the offensive zone, and when they were open, Lundqvist prevented any damage.
It's one game but a necessary win boosting what might have been the shaken confidence of New York following the lost weekend.
Ryan Wilson (@gunnerstaal) and I (@airjan23) got into a twitter war on his use of the term "throwaway" game, which he used in his blog today. I understand his view, though disagree with the terminology. I never believe a game against a division rival, especially one that knocked you from the playoffs last year can be a throwaway game. Even if you believe the loss won't impact your ability or fact you will win the division, you never want to give a division rival an edge, even in an early-November game. To me, the term throwaway is reserved for contests that really have little impact and is more times than not against a team you believe you are superior to and rationalizing the loss, For NY, it's one game, they need to repeat this Thursday against Colorado and then Saturday in Pittsburgh. A win there clearly won't be one classified as "throwaway."
Separately, Dan Boyle looks likely to return from his broken hand tomorrow. Given that he was playing on the first PP with Stepan, Nash, Brassard and St. Louis, it's a pretty good he will be in even though he isn't 100%. On defense, Boyle looks to be paired again with Staal, while to me, Klein should skate again with Moore and Matt Hunwick remain with Dan Girardi. However, today, Moore was with Girardi and Hunwick was with Klein, so it remains to be seen how the pairings will work.