The Rangers won their second straight contest, defeating the Hurricanes 6-1 on the road Wednesday/ Three goals in the first seven minutes of the first period set the tone, matched by a trio of tallies in the third. After a somewhat shaky first period defensively, during which New York surrendered 17 shots and was bailed out by extremely strong play by Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers tightened up in the final two stanzas, only allowing a combined 16 shots.
Game recap:
MSG Post-game:
Up-and-down the lineup, the team played well. Offensively, they created chances with their forecheck and took advantage of yawning gaps in the Carolina zone. In addition, Scott Darling’s whiff on Mika Zibanejad’s dump in from the red line resulting in a goal didn’t hurt. Defensively, in the last two periods, the blue line and forwards were each in the right position in all three zones, squelching ant chance of a Carolina comeback. In goal, Lundqvist was a wall. He set the tone in the first, bailing the team out after a few initial turnovers. Then later, after taking a Justin Faulk shot off the shoulder, Hank stoned Jordan Staal. Steve Valiquette pointed out in the MSG post-game show that Lundqvist's center of gravity is now over his feet rather than falling backwards, allowing him to recover quicker and track the puck better.
Vally also pointed out that J.T. Miller is much engaged when playing center. The extra responsibilities may force him to focus better and stay sharp on the ice at all times, rather than drifting, as he might do while at wing. I still don't love Jesper Fast on the second line, but he is a true swiss army knife, able to fill any spot in the lineup. Fast scored twice, the first coming on a brilliant feed from behind the net on the backhand by Kevin Hayes - who has been excellent lately - and the second on a similarly gorgeous pass by Steven Kampfer, this one cross-ice. on both plays, Fast got lost in the offensive zone, then found open space for the shot.
Chris Kreider also scored twice. The first off a cross-slot feed by Brendan Smith, who is rounding into form. On the second, a brilliant rush up ice on the power play by Mats Zuccarello, who went wide right and then put a backhand on the tape of the stick of Kreider, whose first shot was stopped by Scott Darling, but he put the rebound. Kreider was robbed of a hat trick twice late by Darling, who also stoned Fast one, as New York tried to get each winger their third goal.
The defense didn't miss Ryan McDonagh much, An exam of McDonagh revealed a mild ab strain. While he will be out Friday against Detroit, it's possible he plays Sunday against Vancouver. That's a 2pm start, so we will know early if the captain can go. If New York beats Detroit, my view is that is becomes less likely that Mac plays against Vancouver. Better to make sure he is fully healed rather than rush him back, creating the risk of an exacerbation. All six blueliners played well. As noted above, Smith seems to rounding into from, while Nick Holden was good again, playing 4:18 while shorthanded. Holden was mainly paired on the PK with Marc Staal, who was on for 5:44 killing penalties, and Brady Skjei was especially good on the PK in the first.
A very solid overall team effort by New York, who are now 8-2 in their last 10 and sit one point from a Wild Card spot. The Rangers now come home for three straight at MSG. The Rangers come home for contests against Detroit, Vancouver and Florida. If the Rangers play as they did Wednesday, all three games should end up on the left side of the ledger.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Thanks for all the comments and reading. Nice to have a team that lately has made it pleasurable to watch and write about each contest,
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