The rivals of New York close out their preseasons in Bridgeport, CT, resulting in an impressive overtime win for the Rangers. The most impressive part about that being, the Rangers got their win against a full Islanders team without Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider in the line up, and only getting a little more than half game from Ryan Strome. On top of that, the Rangers did it with Alexandar Georgiev in net.
The Blueshirts didn't get off to the greatest start with Anders Lee putting the Isles on the board early, but as the game went on, they found their footing. With a couple minutes to go in the period, NYR head to the power play and Ryan Strome fed Vitaly Kravtsov a pretty pass to tie the game up at one. In the final minute of the period, it was Ryan Strome again, this time finding the net himself to put his team up by one to head into intermission.
After a scoreless second, it was Mathew Barzal tying it up at two just a few minutes into the third. One minute later it was Filip Chytil on a tough angle shot following a nice pass from Jarred Tinordi to regain the lead. Closer to the halfway mark of the third, the Isles head to the power play and Anders Lee gets his second of the night to tie it up again. Two minutes later, the Rangers are back to the power play and it's Filip Chytil once again scoring to give his team the lead.
With time running out, it looked as though the Rangers were going to walk away with the win. It wouldn't be that easy as Mathew Barzal would get his second of the game with 51 seconds remaining and would force this one into overtime. Now in the first period, Sam Rosen delivered the Cadillac Trivia Question: "Who was the last NYR player to score a hat trick in Connecticut?" A fun question for a preseason game taking place in the home state of both teams minor league affiliates. It would almost be as if Sam was predicting the future as Filip Chytil would change the answer from Brian Noonan to he himself as Chytil would complete the hat trick with another power play goal almost half through overtime.
With that, the Rangers head back to the city with an exciting overtime win and close out preseason with a record of 4-2. Not bad at all. Now it did come with a price, Vitaly Kravtsov, Ryan Reaves and Ryan Strome all got banged up, some more seriously than others. The hope seems to be that Ryan Reaves will be ready for the season opener, however it will be close. Vitaly Kravtsov played in last nights game and looked pretty good in the process. Safe to assume he will be ready to go for opening night. Ryan Strome didn't look great when he collided with Scott Mayfield last night, however the consensus is they don't think it's too serious.
On the bright side, Filip Chytil certainly shined in a game where he had a golden opportunity to do so. That is certainly assuring for the Rangers and if Chytil can have a breakout kind of year, the Rangers really don't need to worry about trying to land Jack Eichel for this season. Ryan Strome going down with injury also allowed for Morgan Barron to get more ice time and show for one last time before the season starts what he can do. Injury situation depends on what roster moves will occur but at the end of the day, it's a win win with whatever happens to Morgan Barron. If he stays with the Rangers, he gets NHL experience and has the chance to contribute to this team. If he goes to Hartford, he sees first line minutes and is the first call up when injuries come around again.
Kaapo Kakko looks like he's ready to have a breakout season as well. I mention earlier how the Rangers were able to play with and come out on top against the Islanders, a team they could not compete with whatsoever last season. Kakko for one, was almost skating circles around the Islanders top defenders, who are some of the most underrated defenders in the league. Chytil obviously had a night, Kravtsov found the net, Sammy Blais is proving his value to this team more and more everyday. At the end of the day, it is preseason but if the Rangers keep this type of play up and this team keeps gelling the way it has been early, the Rangers really have the chance to be a dangerous team this season.
So what happens between now and opening night? I'm sure we'll get more clarity on Ryan Strome's status as well as Reaves' which will decide what roster moves need to happen before Wednesday. Expect Greg McKegg to get sent back to Hartford as the only reason he was recalled was to be able to give the Rangers top players the night off. I'd expect Libor Hajek to be placed on waivers, Jarred Tinordi has looked pretty solid throughout preseason and the Rangers wouldn't have gone out and spend a million dollars on him just to play in the AHL.
One of the most anticipated announces for the Rangers this preseason has been the status of the captaincy. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rangers announce a captain as early as tomorrow. Gerard Gallant has made it clear that this team will have a captain this season and the Rangers are notorious for their breaking news Monday's. It has to be a toss up between Jacob Trouba and Chris Kreider with Adam Fox being a long shot dark horse. The only way Mika Zibanejad gets it is if they simultaneously announce a contract extension with him and the parties involved with that don't appear to be close to a deal just yet.
The Rangers open their season on the road against the Washington Capitals, this Wednesday night. With the Rangers new identity and the narrative with the Capitals towards the end of last season, this will absolutely be an exciting game to start the season. I wouldn't be surprised if Jarred Tinordi finds himself on the third pair with Nemeth for game one, saving Lundkvist's NHL debut for the home opener. The last time these two teams faced off, six fights happened in the first period, including a line brawl to start. While I think it's unlikely we see that kind of narrative on opening night, I would expect a couple fights with a lot of physicality throughout the game. The Rangers will get the chance to showcase their grit and will without question, be a game to set the tone for this teams playoff chasing season.
Chris Feldman
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