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Game 2: NYR 4 OTT 1, Zibanejad hat trick and team's early goal of the year

October 6, 2019, 12:28 PM ET [86 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Rangers improved to 2-0 with a 4-1 win over Ottawa on Saturday. The AMP line was all over the scoreboard, with at least one player of the trip playing a role in all four goals. Alexandar Georgiev was very solid between the pipes, stopping 31 of 32 shots to pick up the victory. new York is now off until facing Edmonton on Saturday, after which the Rangers don't play again until Thursday in New Jersey.

Game recap:


1) The Mika Zibanejad-Derrick Brassard trade was a pure heist that looks more and more lopsided daily. This paragraph from Rick Carpinello sums up Zib's start nicely. Reading these facts make your realize just how special Zib has become.

He had a goal on the power play, one at even strength and one on the penalty kill. He has eight points in two games, all of them either goals (four) or primary assists (four). Zibanejad is the second Ranger with eight points in the first two games of a season (Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert in 1975 was the first). He has been on the ice for nine of the Rangers’ 10 goals. Oh, by the way, he won 18 of 22 faceoffs (not including the ceremonial puck drop by ex-Sen Chris Phillips).


Zibanejad is the third season of the five-year, $26.75 million contract he signed with the Rangers in July of 2017. How amazing does that contract look now? Ziv will be 29 when that deal ends, how soon do you consider extending him if you think that the combination of him Artemi Panarin, whose presence has resulted in Zib taking his game up a level, and Pavel Buchnevich will continue to excel? In addition, as seen by the quote by coach David Quinn, he is a leader and in my opinion, should be given the C on his jersey.

“I’ve said everything — I mean, he knows how I feel about him,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “I’ve told everybody what a great player he is, and he’s gotten to a level I know he’s capable of getting to. I couldn’t be happier for him because there’s not a better guy, and he’s put an awful lot of work into it. I’m not surprised he’s getting the results he’s getting.”


To show the dominance of the trio, as Carp noted, "the Panarin-Zibanejad-Buchnevich line has not been on the ice for an opponent’s goal in two games, Panarin and Buchnevich each on for seven goals by the Rangers." The Bread and Butter Line’s power-play work together, with Chris Kreider retrieving pucks, screening goalies and tying up defensemen, and Jacob Trouba playing power play up top, is at times breathtaking. If you need an example of the skill the AMP line has, just watch this goal on continuous replay, ridiculous talent, along with the breakout pass off the boards by Adam Fox.



2) As good as the top line has been, you would like to see more from the second to fourth lines. Granted Quinn has ridden the top line and special teams' play skews the minutes and performance somewhat, but Ryan Strome and Chris Kreider haven't done much yet. Quinn moved Brendan Lemieux up to the third line and Vladislav Namestnikov down to the fourth line. I like Lemieux with Brett Howden and Jesper Fast but will like seeing Lias Andersson there even more. Brendan Smith looks to be a fixture on the fourth line for now, based on his ability to play defense, with Michael Haley and Greg McKgg scratched each of the first two games.



3) Defense - Quinn moved Libor Hajek, after his rough game Thursday, up to skate with Jacob Trouba, hoping Trouba's veteran presence would aid the kid. Brady Skjei therefore was moved down to be paired with Adam Fox. Ironic that Skjei, who isn't that old, would be sage blueliner in that duo. Skjei was okay while Hajek was better paired with Trouba.

The benefit of two games in 11 days is the additional practice time afforded Quinn. Look for him to work on the blue line but also the offense getting back to help the defense. Handoffs in their own zone is still an issue for New York. On the positive, the team is 9-for-10 in killing penalties, including 5-for- 5 yesterday, which also had a goal scored by Zib after he waited and picked his spot.

4) Georgiev - very good when needed. Solid between the pipes again, especially on a pair of saves in the second period, one of which was a robbery of Artem Anisimov on the door step. If the first two games are any indication, we may see him and Henrik Lundqvist split the next two games. Nice to have a back up that can step in seamlessly.

5) K'Andre Miller - Carp has the following in his blog. The good news is that the suspension doesn't look it was for a major rule violation. In addition, it's just for one intrasquad game.

There was some news about top Rangers defense prospect K’Andre Miller being suspended for breaking team rules at the University of Wisconsin, where he’s a sophomore. There weren’t many details, and when there are no details you wonder how bad his transgression might have been. So I checked with Badgers coach Tony Granato, who said, “Nope. Nothing major. I have done the same with probably seven or eight guys already. … It is exactly what it is. He broke a team rule and is suspended for (Sunday’s) inter-squad game. Nothing more.”


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