Lots to digest in this busy back to back weekend for the New York Rangers. The Rangers let one slip and fall short to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1. The Flyers definitely came out hungry and with a chip on their shoulder, outshooting New York 17-8 in the first period. Still, it was the Rangers and Mika Zibanejad who stroke first, on the power play from Ryan Strome and Adam Fox for their 20th and 24th assists of the season. Not bad stats at all at this point in the season.
Special teams would once again be a key factor, about halfway through the second, Nolan Patrick scored on the man advantage on a tip-in. Despite being outshot again in the second, this time 12-9, the Rangers still had some chances and generated some offense. If there is one positive to come from this game it was Igor Sheshterkin who had another stellar outing and kept the Rangers in this one as much as possible. Happy to see that he appears to be at full health and the Rangers didn't rush him back. His groin has certainly been tested the past few games and it appears to be holding up well for him.
To the third we go and for most of the period it seemed this game was destined for overtime. That was until the final five minutes when Sam Morin, or Sam Moron according to Stevie V.. scored on a snap shot from the low point that may have gone through a screen and past Igor Sheshterkin. Although Morin has been around for a couple years now going back and forth between the AHL and NHL, this would be his first NHL goal, a long time coming.
The Rangers would pull Shesherkin with under two to go but for whatever reason, we had Brendan Lemieux and most of the fourth line still out there. They could clear the zone or get any sort of puck possession going on and by the time we had our top guys out there, there just wasn't enough time to generate anything. The Rangers would fall short 2-1 but luckily, are right back at it this afternoon to try and get back on track.
With the unexpected strong play of Colin Blackwell and Kevin Rooney this season, on top of the arrival of Vitaly Kravtsov, the Rangers found themselves at a surplus of depth forwards. Brendan Lemieux established himself as a hard working, grinding fourth line player with goal scoring potential last season after being acquired by the Rangers as part of the Kevin Hayes deal. Yes people forget Kevin Hayes was a Jet for like ten minutes. However this season it just wasn't there. Two goals and a lot of penalties so far this season, Brendan Lemieux just hasn't brought to the table what it was hoped he would. I'm an old school hockey guy through and through, always think it's good to have a guy that's willing to drop the gloves. Lemieux literally hasn't picked his fights well at all this season. There's been many times we could've used a fight to attempt to change the momentum of a game and he just wasn't there. Instead, was dropping the gloves after the buzzer of a game we lost.
The upcoming expansion draft has a lot to do with this deal as well, the Rangers were clearly not planning on protecting him from it and his cap hit is much higher than other guys aka Brett Howden. With all this in mind, it was a good hockey move to trade him in exchange for a 4th round pick. He joins Lias Andersson in LA and the Rangers now have more flexibility on their fourth line to work Kravtsov into the mix.
The Rangers are back at it this afternoon in Washington as they will face the Capitals for the third time in a week. Washington are 9-1 in their last ten, coming off a 4-0 win against New Jersey on Friday. On the bright side, their only loss in those ten games came from the New York Rangers. There is some uncertainty going into today goaltending, coaching and 4th line wise. As far as the goaltending situation it is hard to wrap your head around the idea of starting Sheshterkin in back to back games just coming off injury. The best guess is that Alexandar Georgiev will get the start despite losing to Washington 2-1 a week ago from Friday. It was Keith Kinkaid who got that one win against Washington a week from yesterday. With Sheshterkin back though Kinkaid is back on the taxi squad and it is very unlikely they will call to him for this game, expect Georgiev.
Some of the coaching staff has begun to make their way back on the bench but it is still Kris Knoblauch serving for David Quinn who still remains on COVID-19 protocol. It is a very day to day process so it is up in the air whether or not Quinn will remain out. Additionally, with Lemieux now on his way to LA, the Rangers have an open spot in their line up on the fourth line. They could look for Vitaly Kravtsov to make his season debut or they could look at bringing Phil Di Giuseppe back into the mix who has been skating with the team and cleared from COVID protocol. As I mentioned yesterday, had New York continued to win, I would say don't change anything but since we lost and quite frankly have to make changes due to the trade. I think today should be Kravtsov's chance.
Look for the Rangers to stay poised and come out hungry in this game. Washington is a good team but we were able to skate with them both nights last weekend. With Mika scoring again and the team seeming to gel more and more everyday, this is a big test for this team to continue to push at a playoff spot and be seen as a threat to teams above them in the standings. For the Rangers, it's a must win if they truly want to make that push.
Chris Feldman
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