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Game 44: STL 5 NYR 2, Mistakes doom Rangers in defeat, Friedman on Georgiev |
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The Rangers saw just how far they may have to go to be an elite team, falling 5-2 to the Blues. St. Louis took advantage of nearly every mistake New York made, making the Blueshirts pay throughout the contest. In an odd scheduling quirk, starting Monday, three of the Rangers' next four games come against the Islanders.
Game recap:
David Quinn Post-Game:
Lines:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich
Panarin-Strome-Fast
Howden-Chytil-Kakko
Haley-McKegg-Smith
Sklei-Trouba
Hajek-ADA
Lindgren-Fox
A few thoughts:
1) Marc Staal missed the game with an upper-body injury. He was replaced by Libor Hajek, who just recently came back to practice and hadn't played since December 5 due to a knee injury. Hajek and ADA struggled in the game.
I know Staal has rightly gotten a bad rap but he has been one of the team's most consistent blueliners this season. His play hasn't been spectacular but I have noticed more physical play from him and fewer mistakes than in years past. Hajek needs seasoning at Hartford, so loom for him to go down if Staal can go Monday.
2) Filip Chytil tallied a goal and an assist. He was noticeable throughout the contest. While not consistent just yet, we have seen signs of life and growth from Chytil this season. The stint in Hartford helped him regain his confidence, which is evident since he got recalled. His line with Brett Howden, who scored the other goal, and Kaapo Kakko was he team's best Saturday, though Kakko clearly needs to get stronger on the puck. The Zib abd Strome lines each had rough outings.
3) Power play - the game clearly turned when New York failed to score on a four-minute power play in the first. Not only failed to score, but really didn't put much pressure on Jordan Binnington. Right after the penalty ended, Robert Bortuzzo scored on a breakaway as the Rangers failed to recognize he was coming out of the box.
4) Henrik Lundqvist wasn't great. Not at fault for all the goals and trying to find his way in this three-goalie arrangement due to less consistent playing time. But he was beaten by Bortuzzo on the breakaway, an all too common occurrence recently, and he was unable to keep New York in it after they cut the gap to 4-2. Look for Hank, whose start Saturday was his first in nine days, to sit a lot for Igor Shesterkin, who could start Monday, and Alexandar Georgiev.
5) Speaking of Georgiev, Elliotte Friedman said this tonight on Hockey Night in Canada:
TPC posted what Friedman said, which makes a ton of sense seeing what New York has currently and what is in the pipeline. ""The word is out now that the Rangers will at least listen” to potential trade offers for Alex Georgiev. They have a lot of good defense prospects coming and they obviously don’t need goalies so teams are under the impression that it won’t be cheap, it will cost you and probably a forward that is either young and ready to play or close to it. They won’t listen to anything that won’t impress them beneath that"
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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