The sun is shining, the sky is a little brighter, well somewhere other than New York as it's raining today, but you get the point as the Rangers are finally coming off a victory. Despite a slow start, the Rangers might have played their best and most structured game of the year Sunday in the 4-1 win over the Wild. Granted, Minnesota, which has now lost four of six, has netted only 13 goals in eight games, making then the perfect opponent for the Rangers. But beggars can't be choosers, and given how the Blueshirts have played lately, it would not have been shocking for them to lose, so they will take a win anyway they can get it. With the victory, the Rangers improved to 3-16-1 after allowing the first goal. Tonight will be a different story, as they face a Maple Leafs team that can score but is having trouble shutting down others, so it be interesting to see what transpires at MSG.
Game Highlights:
New York allowed a goal 4:08 in after looking out of sync leading up to the tally. A faceoff loss, when Chris Kreider wasn't even set and the official dropped the puck, a blown assignment by John Moore, who allowed Jason Pominville to get inside position and boom, it was 1-0. That poor play continued for another six minutes or so, before as Larry Brooks pointed out, a real good shift by Hagelin-Miller-Pouliot changed the tone of the game. Pouliot got the evener on the power play exactly 12 minutes later, but by then, the Rangers had started to dominate positional and zone play, forcing the Wild deep in their own zone. The PP goal was a result of real good work by Mats Zuccarello - where have we heard that before and more to come from him - to get the puck on the boards, feed it to Brad Richards, who got the puck to Derick Brassard and then over to Ryan McDonagh and Pouliot showed the hands that made him a fourth overall pick with a great deflection.
That solid play continued into the second, where the Rangers outscored the Wild, 2-0, and outshot them, 17-5, to take a 3-1 lead and a 29-16 edge in shots. The goal-scorers were Hagelin, who was jumping all over the place and showed why his speed is such a weapon, with a top-shelf snipe and Zuccarello, who found open space to convert a brilliant Brassard feed from behind the net, giving him points in 10 of 15. Brassard had his best game in a while, including the coast to coast rush while being hooked to set up the goal. Pouliot, who has goals in two and points in four straight, and Brassard, points in three straight, once again teased us with their talent. The questions with both are consistency, though lately, each have been a lot better than they were earlier in the home stand, so maybe, just maybe, though it could be wishful thinking, the tide is turning for each.
Cam Talbot was solid positionally, which is a general theme for him, making the saves he is expected to make. His ability to stay calm and confident on the ice is something that has become his hallmark. All you need to know is the last time the Rangers held an opponent to less than three goals was December 5, when they beat Buffalo 3-1 with Henrik Lundqvist in net fresh off him signing his seven-year, $59.5 million extension. Because of how well he played and how well the team plays in front of him coupled with Lundqvist's struggles along with three days off until the Rangers play again Friday versus the Capitals, in my opinion, Talbot should get the nod again tonight.
Of course, not all was perfect. The Kreider-Nash-Stepan line which was reunited had another difficult game. Nash has so little confidence on the ice. In the past, when he came down 1-on-2 or at even odds, he would use his speed and strength to create chances. Now, he peels top either wing or from half-boards to center ice looking to make a pass or dump it off rather than powering to the net. Maybe he still is injured, as he looked a bit out of sorts early yesterday, or a combination of an injury and lack of confidence really is plaguing him. But right now, he is a shell of his former self despite ringing one off the puck and getting an assist. Kreider rode the pine a lot again Sunday, another general theme lately, especially on this homestand. The big winger played just 11:22, the lowest amongst all forwards for New York, but did get a lucky goal as his fanned shot slipped between Nicklas Backstrom's five-hole. Add in the struggles by Stepan in the face-off circle - losing 10 of 13 face-offs in the game, many cleanly, as Carp pointed out - plus he also looks to be out of sort and you have a top line playing nowhere close to that moniker. In addition, Dylan McIlrath is awaiting the MRI results on his knee, which he injured Saturday and is the same one he dislocated in 2012.
The one potentially really good news is that as Pat Leonard and others reported Marc Staal skated on Saturday and Sunday for the first times since his Dec. 8 concussion and told reporters there was “no comparison… between this injury and the symptoms that caused him to miss the first 36 games of the 2011-12 season. Staal does not have a timeline for a return but anticipated he would continue working out through the Christmas break if he doesn’t experience any setbacks from skating. Best case, no setbacks, maybe he escalates to practice the first week of January, then to contact a week or so later and possibly a return in the middle of the month. Of course, given the multiple concussions, that guess is in pencil and can be erased at any time.
New York is now 17-18-2 and a win Monday evens their season record. Not a great mark, especially when you had a nine-game homestand, but to end with back-to-back wins would at least provide a little bit of a salve to going 3-4-2 and send the Rangers on the three-day NHL break on an upnote. When they return, the Blueshirts play five on the road starting in the US Nation's Capital on Friday, followed by contests in Tampa (Sunday), Florida (next Tuesday) ending with back-to-back affairs in Pitt (Friday) and Toronto (Saturday).