The Rangers may have had their best defensive effort in the 2-0 win over Nashville on Saturday. After allowing 91 shot attempts - which includes shots on goal, shots blocks and attempts on net that missed - the Rangers allowed just 35 Saturday, including a season-low 17 on net. Granted the Predators' offensive players as a whole lack the same skill level as the Stars, but 17 shots allowed is still just 17 shots allowed.
I highlighted three things that made yesterday's contest a bit different, which I will touch on below.
1) Dads. The Rangers improved to 2-0 with their dads on the road trip. The players all spoke about how great it is to give something back to those who helped indoctrinate them in the game. In addition, no one wants to look bad in front of their parents, which may have given the team a bit of a boost.
2) Team USA. The Predators GM, David Poile, is also Team USA's GM, so it was a chance for several players to impress him and the USA brass. While Ryan Callahan is a mortal lock for the team, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider each could take major steps forward into locking down a spot or putting their name firmly into consideration.
McDonagh may have sewn up a spot last night. Mack Truck was all over the place, both defensively and offensively. On defense, he reads plays and situations and almost never appears out of position. He played 25:58 and gets stronger as the game wears on. On offense, he knows when to jump into action, seen in him going to slot and tipping in Dan Girardi's point shot for the first goal.
Stepan also likely went a long way to bolstering his chances, scoring on a gorgeous feed from Mats Zuccarello. The Kreider-Stepan-Zucc line were buzzing all night, with Kreider strong on the forecheck to help generate lots of chances.
3) Talbot. A heck of a quasi-homecoming for the goalie who played about 90 minutes away in college Poised between the pipes. Able to come up big when needed, like he did on Paul Gaustad in the second. Has the capacity to play the puck and help the defensemen out. It's nice having a back up goalie who can step in and give Lundqvist a rest without a major fall off between the pipes.
The lines last night were: Nash-Richards-Callahan, Kreider-Stepan-Zuccarello Hagelin-Brassard-Pouliot Boyle-DMoore-Dorsett
McDonagh-Girardi, Staal-Stralman, JMoore-MDZ
Talbot
I thought Hagelin-Brassard-Pouliot had a strong game, possibly Hagelin's best in a while. With Pyatt back shortly, someone will have to come out of the lineup and it may be Hagelin or Pouliot. Right now, it's a coin flip as to which one should sit but Hagelin has more offensive upside, so he should play.
Del Zotto had the two egregious turnovers on that one shift but other than that, I thought he was solid enough. I know he is clearly in the trading block but as said in the blog, with Stralman and Girardi free agents and the depth in the minors okay but not great, giving up on MDZ could be very dangerous. I have said a few times Girardi has been so-so while Stralman continues to be steadier than any of us could have expected just a few seasons ago. I wholeheartedly agree with locking him up for three years and somewhere between 2.75 to 3.5 mil would seem to be more than fair.
The only change I expect for Monday is Henrik Lundqvist to be back between the pipes.
One nice aspect to the season so far is that for the most part, each time the team has struggled in an aspect of play, they have made the adjustment by next game. Yes, I know that was not the case on the opening road trip, but with the team dealing with multiple injuries and learning a new system, that gets a mild pass. Since then, the team has shown a resiliency and ability to adjust. Look no further than how badly they were outplayed in Dallas after a good effort against Boston and then righted the ship last night.
Off to the Sunshine State for two contests against the Lightning and Panthers.