Well this is bound to be an exciting one. Bet you TNT wishes they had this game instead of the one last night. Not only will tonight be Patrick Kane’s New York Rangers debut, but the Ottawa Senators will have a big debut of their own as Jackob Chychrun, one of the biggest fish of the trade deadline, has finally been moved to the Senators. This is a destination that has been rumored for some time now and after Chychrun was held out of the Coyotes lineup for what feels like months, the trade finally went down. Between the two recent acquisitions on either side, along with the Rangers coming off a big overtime win last night, we should be in for quite an exciting game tonight.
Before we get too into tonight’s action, let's quickly recap how the cookie crumbled in Philly last night. (I guess those board ads really do subconsciously creep inside your mind) After a noticeably tired and less than whimsical regulation effort from the Rangers, Vladimir Tarasenko was the big man on campus as he sent the Flyers home with a point blank shot from the slot in overtime. If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought the Flyers actually were the away team as the Wells Fargo Center was filled with chants of “let’s go Rangers” “IGOR!” and my personal favorite, boo’s to Tony DeAngelo anytime he touched the puck. Imagine being a professional hockey player, on your fifth team in your early career, and in your own team’s barn you’re getting boo’d whenever you touch the puck? It’s never too early to retire. I also hear the European Leagues are quite fun. I digress..
The Rangers got off to a fantastic start as they were awarded an early power play as a result of Scott Laughton slashing the stick out of Tyler Motte’s hands. From Panarin to Tarsenko to Zibanejad in the slot, Mika March got off to a promt start with a beautiful one timer between the slot and the circle. For the bulk of the period’s first half, the Rangers looked great, indicating they were going to be the dominant team in this one. However, the Rangers started getting into penalty trouble which allowed the Flyers to have three separate power play chances. Sure enough, third time was the charm as Owen Tippett put one away to knot this one up at one. Gerard Gallant was quite furious with this one as it was certainly a week call that sent Trouba to the box in addition to the fact that there could have been a stoppage in play prior to the goal due to the puck being played with a high stick.
Nevertheless, the Flyers tied things up to head into the second and more or less took control of the games pace. As play went on, the Rangers looked more and more tired, specifically on defense. As expected, the Rangers were once again playing short handed as they were unable to dress a full lineup due to the cap hit, injuries, suspensions and Kane not yet arriving. Scott Laughton made it a 2-1 game just over the midway mark in the second and from that moment on, it wasn’t really looking great for the Rangers. Thankfully, Kreider tied things up for the Rangers as he deflected a Vladimir Tarasenko shot, giving him his second assist of the night. The Rangers kept themselves in this one and took the game to overtime.
Two and a half minutes in, it was a great zone entry by Tarasenko who put a shot away for his thirteenth of the season and third point of the night. Almost as if after all the Kane stuff he wanted to remind everyone that he was still here too. The Rangers win and get a much needed pair of points to take into a big game where the energy and vibes will undoubtedly be in their favor.
The Rangers will face-off with the Ottawa Senators tonight at the Garden and if Tarasenko’s first game in New York was any indication, the roof should be rockin’ tonight. The Rangers last saw the Sens just before the infamous helmet toss where they split the difference with a 3-1 win and a 3-2 overtime loss. If you’re asking yourself how long ago that was, Vitaly Kravtsov had the first goal of that game! Boy do we have two very different teams now. While the Rangers are still short-handed, they will be back to four full forward line as we will get our first glance at the most skilled Rangers lineup we’ve seen possibly ever:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Tarasenko
Panarin - Trocheck - Kane
Lafreniere - Chytil - Kakko
Motte - Goodrow - Vesey
Wow.
Barring Ryan Lindgren miraculously being available to go again, the Rangers will still be forced to play with five, very tired defensemen:
Mikkola - Fox
Harpur - Trouba
Schneider
With Shesterkin getting the start last night, expect Jaro Halak to be in net for the Rangers as he will be tasked with shutting down a team that is coming off back to back wins in which they put up 12 goals in the process. The Senators are 6-3-1 in their last ten and interestingly enough, those two six goal wins both came against the Detroit Red Wings which puts the Senators ahead of them in the standings, just six points out of a playoff spot. With the Chychrun deal finally happening, there’s a very real chance the Senators could be a more serious contender for one of those two wild card spots in the East and they will look to prove that tonight against the Blueshirt’s.
As for the Sens, they will either have old friend Cam Talbot in net or go with recently named Rookie of the Month for February, Mads Sogaard. Sogaard could be the goalie of the future for Ottawa and certainly clocks in as one of the tallest goalie in the league at 6”7. Whichever one is taxed with keeping the likes of Panarin, Kane, Tarasenko plus more will have some help on the back end as Jakob Chychrun will be ready to finally get going with his new team. I do have to say, between the additions of DeBrincat and Chychrun, on top of their in-house talents, this Ottawa team could be on the brink of growing into something special. The Rangers can’t take them lightly and given all the “Showtime on Broadway” excitement, I’m sure it won’t be difficult for the Rangers to get up for this one.
Chris Feldman
Comments