The Rangers completed their homestand and head into the three-day holiday break on a high, winning back-to-back games. Monday, New York played another solid defensive game, limiting Toronto to just 26 shots while generating 43 of their own against Jonathan Bernier in picking up a 2-1 shootout victory. Sunday and Monday might have been the best two structural games played by the Rangers this year, rolling four solid lines while not taking their foot off the gas pedal all night. The team is now 18-18-2, not great obviously, but eons beyond where they started the year and finish the season- and history-long nine-game homestand at 3-4-2.
Game Highlights:
A few subplots to talk about:
1) The whistle/non-whistle. We joke, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, about the screw the Rangers button at the NHL HQ and in Toronto. Four kicking/non-kicking motion calls have gone against this team, and given what we perceive as tilted and stilted treatment at times, it's hard not to feel that way. Monday was no difference.
I am unsure how long Cam Talbot would have had to hold the puck to have the whistle blown, but the several seconds he did have it should have been enough. If what coach Alain Vigneault says is accurate, it makes the call on the ice look even worse. "In my opinion, that was the wrong call. The referee had told Brad [Richards] on the ice that if they didn't score on [David Clarkson's] wraparound it wasn't a goal," Vigneault said. "They didn't score on the wraparound. (Nazem) Kadri came in from the middle and poked it in underneath Cam's pad."
In the video, you can actually see Clarkson peeling away after the wraparound try which is a pretty good indication that Talbot had control of the puck. In addition, per league rules, if the official loses site of the puck, he is supposed to blow the whistle. There is no way that referee Jean Hebert did not lose sight of the puck, mandating a whistle which never came. Once that happened, unfortunately, there is nothing the NHL office can do on that call, meaning the blown one on the ice had to stand.
2) Talbot. Once again, he played a solid positional game. Nothing fancy, just seemingly always in the right place. When he has to come up big, he did, like on his save against Nikolai Kulemin about three-and-a-half minutes into the third period to keep the game at 0-0.
The big talk heading into the holiday break is should Talbot start Friday and do we once have a goaltending controversy on our hands like earlier in the year. It's pretty clear the Rangers play a different - more controlled - game when Talbot is between the pipes. The records between the two goalies are close to opposite ends of the spectrum, with Talbot 8-2-0 with a 1.60 goals against and a .938 save percentage while Lundqvist is 10-15-2 with a 2.77 goals against average and .905 save percentage. That said, as good as Talbot has been, Lundqvist has a history and $59.5 million dollars coming that are hard to ignore.
Confidence, even among elite athletes, can be fleeting. Right now, Lundqvist is fighting it. You can see it on the ice and have to wonder if the burden of being almost perfect nightly has caught up to him a bit. In addition, since the team has relied upon him so much, the mentality when on the ice may be, don't worry if we make a mistake, Hank will clean it up, while with Talbot is we need to play better and smarter in front of him to allow him a chance to win.
I can understand the view of going with Talbot on Friday, based on how he has played overall and the past two days while Lundqvist is trying to get mentally right. However, long-term, the view has to and likely is that Lundqvist the main man between the pipes. But, as Larry Brooks wrote if Lundqvist falters Friday or on the road against Tampa, Florida, Pittsburgh and/or Toronto, then a switch to Talbot may be necessary. If that happens, Vigneault has lived through, not particularly well, the Luongo-Schneider battle in Vancouver, another such open competition could be in the offering.
3) Rick Nash. As mentioned above, the Rangers rolled four lines all game. Kreider-Stepan-Nash. Brassard-Richards-Zuccarello, Hagelin-Miller-Pouliot, Boyle-Moore-Dorsett. All four contributed to the win, but I though the op line was really good yesterday, especially in the first two periods.
Nash had six shots in the first two frames. But what impressed is he seemed to be driving to the net more, rather than peeling back and trying to create or avoid contact. The goalie interference call was a joke, but I almost liked it as it showed he was going hard to the net. If Nash does more of this, it really helps him and the team's chances at winning.
Of course, the Kreider conundrum continued again. Great throughout. A big reason why the Rangers scored the first goal, as his patience behind the net and vision created the opportunity for J.T. Miller, then a penalty in the third, when he tried to do the right thing and chip it out but put the puck over the glass. So how does he get rewarded, pine time in the OT. I really would love to know AV's thought process here. Does he just not trust him in the OT? Is he concerned about a giveaway or penalty? Whatever the reason, it has to change as Kredier would seem to be the perfect person to go coast-to-coast or create a scoring chance with his size and speed.
4) Ryan McDonagh - beast. Saved a goal by Phil Kessel in overtime, which eerily looked like the play he made on Cal Clutterbuck when the phantom penalty shot was called. Oh never mind, I forgot about the screw the Rangers button :). In addition, I thought Dan Girardi had one of his better games of the season yesterday.
Good for the NHL upholding the 15-game suspension to Shawn Thornton, only wish it could have been more, same with James Neal. Start punishing the act and getting some consistency and maybe the garbage that is going on with stop or at lest be minimized.
Merry Xmas to those celebrating, hope you get all the gifts you want.