New York faces Vancouver tonight in the second game of their three-game Western Canada road trip. Monday, the Rangers continued their pattern of close games and earning points with either overtime or shootout losses by falling 3-2 in overtime to the Oilers. These points earned will impact the number of ping-pong balls for the lottery, which could result in New York picking towards the lower middle part of the lottery without getting lucky as Carolina did last season. Brett Howden snapped his 35-game goalless drought, helping the Blueshirts rally from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game. Alexandar Georgiev was excellent again in the loss.
The question for tonight is whether Tony DeAngelo gets back in the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch Monday. Was one game sufficient for something that was called "not-negotiable" resulting in him sitting? If he does get in, which one of the other blueliners sit as part of the rotational program?
Lias Andersson also sat, but I could see him riding the pine again. Connor Brickley plays a very straight forward game and his willingness to take the body might allow him to remain in the lineup again. Brendan Lemieux has brought that physical quotient to the lineup since he has arrived, with the key for him not to go over that line.
Close games story of the season:
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Four of the Rangers' last five games, six of their last eight games, and 38 of their 69 games this season have been decided by one goal. The Blueshirts' 38 one-goal games are the most in the NHL in 2018-19. #NYR
— NYR Stats & Info (@NYRStatsInfo)
March 12, 2019
As seen above, New York leads the league in one-goal games. That shows that the team has taken on David Quinn's desire for continuous fight game after game. But to me, anyone who says because the Rangers were in so many games they are just one piece away is looking at the team with rose colored glasses. The effort is commendable, the talent needs to be upgraded, especially following the trades of Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes. Hopefully this occurs this offseason, both in free agency and in the draft. This is the point made by Dave Maloney on the broadcast and highlighted by Carp in his column,
The Rangers’ struggles in overtime (now 1-9) continued, and let’s face it, this is often a matter of the Rangers not having the top-end skill of its opponent. Dave Maloney, who usually hits it out of the park, homered again when he noted that their last three OT losses have come at the hands of Draisaitl from McDavid, Victor Hedman from Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos, and Evgeny Kuznetsov from Alex Ovechkin. That’s a seven-man NHL All-Star team, folks.
K'Andre Miller's Wisconsin season over:
This is from Carp. If accurate, and he usually is, I think this is the right move. Let Miller develop in college and gain more experience as a defenseman. Another solid year of growth and acclimation to playing from the blue line and he might be ready to go pro then,. If not, even if he needs a third year, especially if we see growth, then so be it, allowing Miller to be really ready to join the Rangers. Morgan Barron is looking like a sixth-round steal. If he goes pro, as Carp suggests he might, Barron to me projects as a third line winger with upside as a possible top-six, second liner.
Now comes the decision, and I’m hearing that it’s almost certain that Miller — the big, strong-skating defenseman chosen in the first round of the draft last June, and who made gigantic strides in his freshman season — will not turn pro and will remain at Wisconsin for his sophomore year. Miller is expected to be healthy and attend the Rangers’ prospects camp after the ’19 draft.
But another lesser-known commodity, big, skilled winger Morgan Barron, whose Cornell team has not yet begun its ECAC playoffs, may turn pro after this season. That decision is not in stone. But Barron has had a fabulous season after being the Rangers’ sixth-rounder (174th overall) in the 2017 draft. Barron’s not just a smart guy who finishes checks, but he’s a shoot-first forward of which the Rangers are in need (his 4.52 shots per game rank third in the NCAA this season), who has 13 goals, 17 assists in 29 games.
Brooks on Kreider:
So Chris Kreider’s rather extended walkabout in which he was bounced off the first line, shuttled to the fourth unit for a time and has settled well, who knows where, either complicates the issue or confirms it for management.
Because no one can tell me this stretch in which the winger has no goals and two assists in the last seven at exactly the wrong time is not going to factor considerably in the decision whether to sign Kreider to a pricey, long-term contract extension or trade the 28-year-old (as of April 30) at the draft before he gets into his walk year.
Brooks did note that Mika Zibanejad has also struggled with no goals and two assists in the last half-dozen matches. Since Zuccarello has been moved, that duo has really suffered. Zucc provided a creative winger who helped Zib set up Kreider but who also was able to get into prime shooting spots or set up Zib. Jimmy Vesey didn't look bad in the one game there while Vladislav Namestnikov has been okay there. But to me if new York bases their future decision on Kreider on just seven games, that's amazingly shortsighted. Now, if he disappears the next 12 games, I can understand being up in arms a bit. Though the lack of a true fit opposite Kreider and especially if Zib struggles should serve as a notice that the issue is broader than just CK20.
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