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Rangers rally late to tie and beat Ducks on Fox OT GWG |
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The Rangers weren’t great Tuesday, but rebounded once again to post a 4-3 overtime win over the Ducks. Positive signs did abound in the victory, which came about that is to a strong last 10 minutes or so of the game and extra session. Adam Fox notched the marker that sent the fans home happy and moved the Blueshirts into a tie second place with the Penguins who have played one extra game. Islanders, St. Patrick’s Day, home contest, need I say more?
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1) Artemi Panarin showed the jump we have seen lately from him. He notched three assists, including one on a the game-winner, to increase his total to 55. He has been piling up points, a dozen (1-11) in the last four games, but more impressive to me is his willingness and desire to shoot. Earlier in the year, Panarin seemed reluctant to shoot. Recently, that has not been the case, as his playmaking remains sublime but now teams need to worry about his shooting as well.
2) Fox, who scored on the 2-on-1 with Panarin, read the situation before scoring. Slated to head off ice, he noticed that an odd-man rush was a probability if he joined the play and immediately jumped up the ice. Besides the game-winner, Fox added a pair of assists while seeing 24:27 of ice time. Remember the discussion on limiting his minutes? Yeah, me too.
3) Alexandar Georgiev was good, maybe not great, but good. Clearly, as we have seen in his recent performances, he needs work to be sharp. Georgiev has received that recently, likely contributing to his better play last night.
Of the three goals that beat him, you could argue that maybe two could could have been stopped, but that is nitpicking. On the first, traffic in front resulted in a double-deflection and the puck rebounded past him. On the second, which gave Anaheim a 3-2 lead, he was beaten easily on a breakaway by Derek Grant. That marker came off a blocked shot with Patrik Nemeth pinching and Braden Schneider unable to get back due to a lack of foot speed. But Georgiev didn’t do much to make the shot hard for Grant.
Igor Shesterkin will be between the pipes against the Islanders. What will be interesting to see is how Gerard Gallant plays the back-to-back against Tampa Bay and Carolina this weekend. Does he go with Igor in both or does he continue to use Georgiev and have him between the pipes in one game?
4) Third line - starting to show some signs of being a viable option. I still think we will see changes by the 3pm on Monday, but lately, the trio has been better.
Filip Chytil had his second straight good game. Strong on the puck while also displaying a physical component lacking at times earlier in the season, Chytil is making a case to remain and retain his slot as the third line center.
Part of the reason for the improved play of that trio was the elevation of Jonny Brodzinski. He notched his first goal as a Ranger in the win but almost as important, he has brought some jump and speed to that group. In addition, Gallant has been using him on the penalty kill, where he has fared well as well.
5) Overall, I didn’t think the Rangers were great. Lots of neutral zone turnovers and minimal sustained offensive pressure until the third period. They relapsed late, aided by of course, the power play, with Chris Kreider notching his 39th of the season and 20th on the man-advantage. In fact, their second goal came on a delayed power-play, where New York did to Anaheim what St.Louis did to them, maintaining offensive zone possession on the 6-on-5, leading to Mika Zibanejad’s sharp angle goal.
The Ducks didn’t control play but did force them Rangers to play in their own zone more than one would like. In addition, they were able to create off the rush, though you never got the sense the Blueshirts were in trouble. Games like yesterday work against the Ducks but not against the elite of the league.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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