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The Zib show again, joined by several of his teammates in rout of Flyers |
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The Rangers won their third in a row, defeating the Flyers 8-3 on Thursday. New York blitzed Phlly again, jumping to a 6-0 lead early in the second and basically cruising the rest of the way. The Blueshirts took their foot off the gas after the big lead, taking silly penalties, allowing Philly to make a partial game of it, but they were never really tested, though at 6-2, we all got a little concerned. Seventeen goals the last two games against the Flyers, who the Rangers face again Saturday.
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1). I think we can say Mika Zibanejad is back. Consecutive six-point games against the Flyers, , becoming the first player in NHL history to have six or more points in consecutive games against the same opponent in the same season. Seven goals, 17 points in his past 17 games) and up to 26 points in 32 games. Plays a full 200-foot game, and now fully over COVID-19, looks like the player who dominated last season.
2) Adam Fox had five assists Thursday. Calm, patient, analytical, plays the game at his own pace, high panic and patience threshold. Solid in own end, able to avoid checks and make the breakout pass. Running out of superlatives for him.
3) Pavel Buchnevich, the Rangers’ most consistent forward all season, had two goals, including his first career short-hander, and has eight goals and 18 points in his past 12. For all the talk of should he be part of the future and on the team next year, all Buch has done lately is produce. In addition, the penalty kill time has him better focused defensively than he had been in years past.
4) The third member of the KZB line, Chris Kreider has 12 goals and 18 points in his last 17 games. Another player who can be streaky but has raised his game as well.
5) We all know about Artemi Panarin, who has now been joined by Kaapo Kakko on the second line. The pivot on that, the much-maligned Ryan Strome had a goal and three assists and, after a slow start, has 11 and 19 for 30 points for the season. More important is the way he has raised his game and become more of a vocal leader.
6) Igor Shesterkin, in his first game after missing 10 contests with a groin injury, was solid, stopping 41 of 44 shots. He allowed three markers, but came up big when a big save was needed. Philly carried play much of the last two periods, testing Igor, who was more than up to the task. In addition, he showed no ill-effects of the injury, going post-to-post effortlessly to make saves.
7) Laf-Chytil-Gauthier - need to see more from this line, especially the first two. They got a late goal, but really not noticeable.
8) Nice hair pull by Samuel Morin on Brendan Lemieux. Thank god he didn't slam his head into the ice, though it wasn't for a lack of trying. Saturday could be interesting if another blowout.
As a reminder, due to the way Passover comes out this year, I am out of pocket starting about 6:30 pm tonight to Monday night. The following week, same from Friday about 6:30 to Sunday night. Appreciate you all carrying the blog.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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