Rangers 2, Capitals 1
Game Summary:
The Rangers beleaguered power play, still terribly pedestrian and sometimes down-right bad, was the difference tonight with a gorgeous third period goal by Derek Stepan that sealed a 2-1 win.
What wasn't gorgeous was how the Rangers started the game. Early in the first period, after an Eric Fehr shot that hit the post and then almost deflected back in by a Ranger defenseman, (missed the name, sorry) the puck found its way to a wide open John Carlson at the top of the right circle and wired a shot far side past Lundqvist just 1:19 in.
The Rangers did settle down after the early goal, controlled play for a vast majority of the first period and managed to pepper Braden Holtby with 20 shots in the period, who looked much like the goaltender who gave the Rangers fits in the playoffs last year.
The Rangers got on the board at 7:39 of the second period, following a Ryan McDonagh slap-pass from the point, redirected in by the white hot Carl Hagelin for his sixth of the year.
Just after Stepan buried go-ahead power play goal in the third period, you may have heard a loud thud of 18,200 jaws hitting the floor at MSG. Set up by a Richards faceoff win, Del Zotto funneled the puck to a wide open Stepan at the far post, beating Holtby four and a half minutes into the final frame.
Observations:
Perhaps the Rangers should've had a morning skate, they came out very sluggish and it cost the Rangers an early goal...
The Rangers did an excellent job limiting the Caps scoring chances after the go ahead goal and not letting a very dangerous team free wheel the puck, which got them into trouble over the last two games against Boston and the Islanders.
We could be talking several weeks before Darrol Powe takes the ice again. No doubt he sustained a concussion tonight. That collision looked awfully similar to when Brendan Shanahan and Mike Knuble ran into each other back in 2007.
Speaking of 2007, tonight's game gave me Tom Renney flashbacks when he was coach... a ton of shots and less than 2 goals a game.
Welcome back, Chris Kreider. Gotta make the most of this new opportunity.
Last time I wrote a recap, I hurled some criticisms at Carl Hagelin who went 35+ games without scoring. Hags has 6 goals since. You better believe having Nash at his opposite wing has everything to do with his recent offensive outburst.
Brad Richards was going to draw my ire tonight, he had an "ok" game, but redeemed himself after drawing the penalty and winning the faceoff which led to Stepan's game winner.
Next game is at home against the Habs on Tuesday.
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Two thoughts: first - this is the first time all season I saw the Rangers play for an extended period of time with the passion, speed and hitting that I saw last year - perhaps not the entire game, but most of it. Second - Callahan has become one of my all-time favorite Ranger players. He is not the biggest player on the team, yet he hits the most and the hardest. He is not the fastest player on the team and yet he always seems to be the first to the puck, or play. He is never out of position, never gets caught up ice, plays in front of the net despite his size and blocks shots for his own goalie at a ridiculous rate. Even on a night when the Rangers are all playing hard and fast his effort STILL outshines the rest. I often think that if I were a coach I would take a video day and have the entire team watch his highlights from the night before and simply say..."that....THAT is how I want you to play...if you can't bring that...let's find you another team." It would be a short session with no other teaching. Messier and now Callahan? The Rangers are spoiled in the Captain department...
A few quick observations;
Callahan was an animal in that last minuet throwing his body around to help secure the victory. The Captain leads by example again!
There wasn't any mention of this but Miller was out there the shift before Callahan's clinic. I thought he did a good job of helping keep Washington on the perimeter and also threw around his body as well.And if I recall, he won a one on two battle in their own corner on that shift.
That save that Lundqvist made with 5 seconds to go.......
Nice PP goal by Stepan with the pass coming from Del Zotto. But lets not make this out to be MacInnis to Hull.
With the usual exception of Lundqvist, Hagelin is by far the Rangers best player over the last 2 weeks or so. His speed is killer!
Powe, if out for a while, will be sorely missed.
While everybody keeps talking about Nash, Hagelin, etc. I didn't notice anybody mention how badass Cally has been. He is nonstop and his penalty killing/forcing turnovers ability is scary good. If it wasn't for Holtby's ridicdulous play, Cally would be all we were talking about today cause he was robbed of at least 1 goal and an assist to Gaborik. He is well earning his "C".
Rich I was thinking that same thing. Why doesn't that happen more often? And I must say that I shouted in a Sam Rosen voice, "It's a powerplay goal!"
Rich I was thinking that same thing. Why doesn't that happen more often? And I must say that I shouted in a Sam Rosen voice, "It's a powerplay goal!"
That was incredible! 4 passes in 6 seconds & it was in the back of the net - perfect!!!
Thought they outplayed the caps, deserved to win, got holtby wasnt playing like patrick roy this game coulda easily been 4-1
IMO it was a good effort tonight...Caps PP has been hot lately and they were kept off the board tonight.....It wasn't perfect but I thought the defense was better tonight, and will get better as time goes on....Hank was sharp.....game kind of reminded me of the 1 goal games we would win last season......Lets hope Powe is ok but yea it looks like he can b out a while with a concussion .....a step in the right direction IMO....Bring on the Habs on Tues. night.....LGR
Although he skates better, Hags' situation with Nash reminds me of Pert Prucha's good fortune playing on a line with Jagr. He scored when he was set up- which works for me - Other difference is Pru hit like Cally
@TheNYRBlog I never wanted to do that but then again I don't always think rationally when it comes to Step lol
Surprised JT got back on the ice after his penalty, also did not like that he was on the ice with less than a minute left and almost had a key turnover in the defensive zone. Gaborik line looked better, but the third line still looks slow as molasses. Kreider could shake that up on Tuesday against a speedy Montreal team.
@slapshot13j Really not a fan of that third line. Hopefully Kreider return puts an end to it.
you can tell they made that play up amongst themselves. Stepan pintes directly at DZ and had that " IT WORKED" look on his face.
@TheNYRBlog Per Dater, they also want a top prospect so it would be Stepan and, say, Thomas or Fasth as their system is weak on the wing.
@TheNYRBlog maybe trade threat powered his goal. Not a bad idea now and then when slack off.
This was a pretty solid game, although I wouldn't assume Kreider is the one in right off the bat. I think Mashinter may be in play here if Powe will be out for an extended period of time. Mashinter had another goal tonight, he keeps playing well. I feel like he would fit in a bit better on a line with Asham and Halpern then Kreider would. And to be completely honest, I don't want Kreider on the 4th line at all. I think he should get big minutes in the AHL so he could improve.
@JoshKaye boyle goes down to the 4th, Kreider miller callahan line reunited and Pyatt up to the first
@JoshKaye If Kreider stays (which I think he will) he'll likely be on the 3rd line with Boyle sliding down to the fourth. 3rd line could be nice with Kreider-MIller-Pyatt.
@KevinDeLury Yeah I know there could be other line shuffling. I just really want to see Mashinter play dammit.
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@JoshKaye You know I'd love to see Mashinter and yes he'd fit very nicely on that 4th line.
Guess we're not going to hear about how Rangers fans want O'Reilly over Stepan for at least week after this one.
@KevinDeLury Steps great but O'Reilly is the better player...still would trade step for him anyday
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@thelink44 Stepan is a homegrown guy, so Colorado can take O'Reilly and shove him up their ass.
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@JoshKaye @thelink44 If I was an Avalanche fan I'd be so disgusted he's holding out. Brooks said Colorado offered him 2 years at $3.5 million per. Which is more than fair for a player of his talent.
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@KevinDeLury @thelink44 I also don't feel like paying O'Reilly 25 million for five years. Guy had a good year but is not 5 million per year. He's out of his mind.
Craps go down swinging... Good building block and good to see Hags, Step, and Nashty still play a dominant roll. I wonder if we'll see the all american line again? Capt. America as always in the thick of things at both ends, and was that Boyle actually taking the body? Ritchie and gabby the ghost were still shaky, but DZ showed up (must have heard all the trade talk). Sure hope Powe is ok NBC didn't show a good angle but I am half guessing he was out at least for a moment. Lots of things to work on but also some positives too. Is it just me or are they more tentative in the defensive zone as a whole? Is that why they seem to have such difficulty clearing the zone? All in all a good game and two points!
"Welcome back, Chris Kreider." Sorry, I missed the game and caught the highlights. Did he play? If he did, how'd he do? How did JT Miller do? Boyle?
@_Jack entire third line looked listless... Boyle had a couple nice hits, but not much else. miller turned the puck over a couple times, he's definitely not the same guy from his first couple games.
@thenyrblogneill @_Jack Amazing what adrenaline can do for a player. Miller back down to earth, but I still like him.
@KevinDeLury @thenyrblogneill @_Jack
4th line looked good. I cant get over how fast Asham is
@_Jack powe was knocked out of the game with a concussion. Nothing dirty, just 2 players who didn't see each other in the neutral zone and collided, with powe receiving the worst of it. Kreider was a healthy scratch tonight and is pretty much guaranteed to miss the next game, and probably a handful down the road
Big win tonight. Rangers were the better team by far in that one. I'm confident that goal will kickstart the PP
