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Game 14: NYR 3 BUF 1, Lundqvist brilliant in win, concern over Howden |
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The Rangers held onto a late, third period lead in winning their third straight contest, 3-1 over the Sabres on Sunday. Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant in the victory, likely the solely reason why New York pulled out the win. In the contest, Lundqvist took a blow to his neck/arm, while the broader concern is the extent and type of injury suffered by Brett Howden late in the second period.
Game recap :
A few thoughts:
1) New York was grossly outplayed in the win. Besides the 14 shots allowed on the power play, all of which were stopped by Lundqvist, the Rangers were widely outplayed 5v5. Fortunately, Lundqvist was brilliant also at even strength. Overall, the Blueshirts were outshot 40-21 and managed just five shots in the first period and six in the third. But I thought New York was much better in the third, though they appeared to be too content with chipping the puck out of their zone rather than trying to counter attack and create chances of their own.
Rangers 5v5:
2) The concern is the injury to Howden:
Driving hard to the net to try and convert a centering feed from Jimmy Vesey, Howden make contact with the Sabre defenseman as well as Carter Hutton’s stick and then Vesey behind the net with 6:34 remaining in the second period. The original concern was Howden’s lower body, but upon watching the replay, Howden’s face slammed into the boards and the impact appeared to cause a whiplash effect.
Howden was wobbly when he tried to get up on his own and had to be helped off the ice and into the locker room. He was ruled out with a lower-body injury and did not return to the game due to “precautionary” reasons. Howden is likely he had to go through the NHL-mandated concussion protocol. Coach David Quinn said they will reevaluate Howden before Monday’s practice.
If Howden is out Tuesday, Ryan Spooner, depending on his his health, as he missed yesterday’s game with a lower body injury, could opt back in. If not, Boo Nieves, if he is ready to come off IR could be activated. The other options, depending on how long Howden will be sidelined, are Lias Andersson, but that might only be if Howden will miss a whole, or Steven Fogarty, as the latter has earned a promotion and could be rewarded for his fine play.
3) Lundqvist collision with Rasmus Dahlin :
Ignored the headline of the tweet. Lundqvist, terrific in making 39 saves, took a shot to the head/neck from fellow Swede Dahlin late in the second period when Hank attempted to poke the puck off Dahlin’s stick. Outside the blue paint, Lundqvist took a shot to the neck/arm that might have numbed the area. Fortunately, Lundqvist was able to stay in the game, and New York prevented any shots the final 1:59 of the period, and Lundqvist was able to use the break between the periods to make sure he was good to go in the third.
“It was kind of my fault,” Lundqvist said. “When he started going around, I tried to attack him and he kept going, so I think I got his knee or his hip right into my head or neck. So we’ll see how it feels [Monday]. It’s not a great feeling.”
4) With Howden out, Quinn juggled his lines the remainder of the game. Cody McLeod was minimal time the final 26 minutes of the game. On the negative side, Filip Chytil didn’t see as many shifts as I would have liked, especially in that situation. On the positive, Pavel Buchnevich, back in the lineup after a two-game stretch as a healthy scratch, played a total of 17:04, including 1:14 on the first power-play unit. After starting on a line with Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes, the 23-year-old Russian saw some time back with Mika Zibanejad and Kreider, as Quinn juggled lines. Buch sure looked a lot better on the ice, which was noticed by Quinn, who said: “A lot more zip to his game. A lot more purpose and pace, for sure.”
5) Vlad Namestnikov had another solid game. He made a nifty play to set up Neal Pionk for a snap shot in the left circle that beat Carter Hutton at 0:41 of the second period, 19 seconds before Vesey made it 2-0. Nam has been good the past 10 days of so in all three zones. He also sprung Zib for a breakaway, following a good defensive play by each of them, on which Zib thought the puck was in but hit the crossbar. Quinn will likely remind the team to put the puck in the net to make sure its a goal rather than just raising their hands in the crease, as Nam did on the play.
6) Vesey also tallied the empty net goal to clinch the win, scoring from 150 feet away. Quinn is not a way of that type of shot due to the risk of missing the goal for an icing but in this case it worked. Another solid game by Vesey, who despite having five goals, has been unable to convert the myriad of chances he and his line mates have created. But Vesey has played with a lot more of a lunch pail attitude which is now becoming more of the norm for this team.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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