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Game 44: NYR 2 NYI 1, Strong play by Georgiev and penalty kill key win |
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The Rangers ended their five-game losing this season and 0-6-1 mark at the Barclays Center with a 2-1 win over the Islanders on Saturday on the back end of a home-and-home. Missing Kevin Hayes (missed fifth straight with an upper-body injury and will sit Sunday as well) and Neal Pionk (lower-body), with Tony DeAngelo, who played a pretty good game, in for Pionk, the Blueshirts lost Fredrik Claesson to a shoulder injury during the contest. But strong play between the pipes by Alexandar Georgiev as well as on the penalty kill coupled with a goal off Mats Zuccarello was just enough for the Rangers to get the win. New York is back in action Sunday in Columbus.
Game recap:
Lines:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Zuccarello
Chytil-Strome-Fast
Vesey-Howden-Namestnikov
McLeod-Nieves-Buchnevich
Skjei-McQuaid
Staal-DeAngelo
Claesson-Shattenkirk Georgiev
A few thoughts:
1) Georgiev was brilliant in the win. His best save may have been the one that-preserved the lead with 14 seconds remaining when he gloved Anders Lee's redirection of Ryan Pulock's shot from the right point. But Georgiev had several key saves in a sequence with about five minutes to go in the third when he stopped Brock Nelson and a handful of other shots. If it was up to me, I would start Georgiev against Columbus, sitting Henrik Lundqvist, though that is unlikely to happen.
2) Fredrik Claesson left the game with an upper-body injury after a hit from Matt Martin at 6:28 of the third period. I saw lots of comments about the hit. It may have been a hair late, but not my much and it didn't look too egregious of a hit, but it caught Claesson when he was off his edge and he went into the boards and left the game with his right shoulder dangling. it would not be surprising if he has a separated shoulder and misses several weeks. If Pionk can play, look for him to be back Sunday, if not, Brendan Smith, scratched again Saturday, will opt back into the lineup.
3) Penalty kill - after scuffling so badly the bad 15-20 games, the Rangers blunted six power plays. The Blueshirts were much more aggressive while shorthanded, which hasn't been the case in this stretch. I much rather see errors when too aggressive than too passive, as way too often, the point has been open as has the front of the net. Neither was the case Saturday.
4) Chris Kreider was benched for the final 13:20 of the second period after he took an offensive-zone holding penalty. Quinn sent a strong message but put him back in for the third period. Kreider played a strong third period, reacting well to the benching. I like that Quinn didn't change his philosophy even though it was Kreider who committed the penalty. That shows the team that no one is immune from paying the price for mistakes.
Other news:
Rick Nash, who announced his retirement Friday, will drop the puck before the game today:
A little history:
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