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Islanders defeat Rangers 2-1 in exhibition contest, my takes |
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The Rangers, in their first "game" since March 11, fell 2-1 to the Islanders. Both teams showed a little bit of rust, though as expected, had the requisite level of hitting we are somewhat used to seeing in a New York-New York contest. Unsure we can take a ton away from this game, but I will touch on a few things below.
A couple of cool pictures from the locker room and the on-ice anthem
Yesterday's lineup. As expected, Brendan Lemieux was the extra forward, who had his requisite fight, and Libor Hajek the extra defenseman. Igor Shesterkin started the game with Henrik Lundqvist relieving him halfway through the contest.
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1) Injuries. No major injuries, but Marc Staal left the game after the second, not to return. After the news came out, we all wondered what was the injury and his potential length of absence. We don't know the former, in addition to when the injury occurred, but on the latter, Staal should suit up against Carolina.
Prior to being sidelined, Staal was okay. He made a major faux pas late in the first but was bailed out by Igor, preventing a goal. With Staal out, Hajek slid into his spot next to Tony DeAngelo. He wasn't particularly impressive, but no major glaring mistakes.
2) Offense. As Rick Carpinello pointed out and we saw, the Islanders' stifling defensive style of play prevented the Rangers from generating any sort of consistent attack the second half of the game. The Blueshirts showed frustration, which didn't help their chances of evening the score or winning the game. None of the other 22 teams in the tournament play that kind of style, which bodes well for the Rangers. This includes Carolina, who have a strong blueline but don't play that suffocating style of defense.
In terms of performance, coach David Quinn. mixed and matched forwards throughout the contest, for example, sliding Kappo Kakko up and Jesper Fast back. The third line of PDG-Chytil-Kakko was the most impressive unit of the team with PDG and Chytil, who scored the Rangers' only goal, generating chances throughout the game. Fast had several good looks, stoned by Semyon Varlamov, who had a very solid contest. Kakko was very visible, darting into open spaces. I have said in a few blogs that I wouldn't be shocked if Kakko moves up to the second line alongside Artemiy Panarin and Ryan Strome with Fast moving down. Quinn likely won't start the series in that manner but a swap during would not be surprising.
3) Defense. I know you don't love graphs and metrics and take the information with a grain of salt because it was an exhibition game, but the below from David Shapiro provides a nice quick look. what you will see if the Brendan Smith-Jacob Trouba pairing had a very solid game while largely matched up against the Lee-Barzal-Eberle line.
4) Goaltending: Shesterkin was solid, though mostly untested. The one goal he allowed was just before he was to exit the net and came when Adam Fox got caught slightly deep and flatfooted, allowing the Isles to break out. Andy Greene made a brilliant pass from his own zone to Anthony Beauvilier, who came in 2-on-1 on Ryan Lindgren and beat Igor shortside.
Lundqvist saw a lot more action while between the pipes and was solid again. That has been his play since training camp 2.0 opened. He has done little to cede the net to Shesterkin and the goal he allowed also came on a similar play where Fox was caught up ice and Lindgren left to defend a 2-on-1 with Devon Toews scoring. We all still believe that Igor will be between the pipes Saturday, but I wouldn't be shocked if Hank gets the nod due to his record vs. the Hurricanes. Quinn has a tough decision, the direction of which we may not know until Saturday AM.
Two more days and then it counts.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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