The Rangers stay hot through the new year as they extend their win streak to three with a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens. In a game that was more or less controlled by the Rangers aside from a couple sparks from Montreal, the Blueshirts stuck to their game and as a result of an explosive second period, got the win to keep the vibe train going. Not only was this a big win in terms of building toward another win streak, but the Rangers are now one point behind the Devils in the standings, making for this weekend’s matinee to not only be significant for the team’s involved, but one of the biggest games of the weekend around the league.
There was a bit of a question mark going into last night’s game as the Rangers announced that they had recalled forward Gustav Rydahl from the Hartford Wolf Pack. With Chytil being under the weather the last game, immediate thoughts had me thinking that it was his status being up in the air but as it turned out, Jonny Brodzinski’s wife was going into labor, which explained the roster move. Rydahl did take warm ups and NHL.com had listed Julien Gauthier as the healthy scratch initially so for a moment, it seemed like Rydahl might’ve been gearing up to make his NHL debut. Nevertheless, the move proved to be precautionary as Rydahl was indeed the scratch and the lineup remained intact.
The first period of this one went by rather quickly but there wasn’t a whole lot of action going either way. The Rangers dominated play, were moving the puck well but weren’t generating a ton of intimidating offensive chances. Despite monopolizing play and holding Montreal without a shot for almost the entire period, the Rangers only registered six shots on goal themselves. Finally, with about three minutes left the Canadiens found a spark and managed to muster up four shots, however, Halak was equal to the task. For what it’s worth, it is very difficult for a goalie to stay involved when they aren’t seeing any shots. Especially a back up goalie who doesn’t play all that often to begin with. There’s something to be said for Halak’s ability to have as good a game as he did, seeing as little action as he did from the start. The Canadiens showed some flashes throughout the night that added up to 18 saves from Halak but it certainly wasn’t looking like a busy night from the start.
After an incredibly uneventful first period limited to 10 shots from either side, no goals and one lone too many men penalty from Vitaly Kravtsov, we head into the second period, where the Rangers continued to run the show and began to get rewarded for their efforts. About halfway through the second, Artemi Panarin was sent off for tripping Jordan Harris which led to a Montreal man advantage. Joe Micheletti, who was on an absolute roll all night between playful comments on how boring this game more or less was and by snapping at Kaapo Kakko and the Rangers to stop being so selfless and shoot the puck, made note that Montreal was one of the few teams in the league to not allow a shorthanded goal yet this season. Sure enough, Christopher James Kreider found himself on a breakaway and tucked it past Jake Allen to get the Blueshirts on the board. Credit Joe with an assist on that one.
About five minutes later, it was Braden Schneider letting a shot go through some traffic that found its way to the back of the net, extending the lead 2-0. For a minute, it looked as if the puck may have gone in off a redirect but sure enough, it was a clean shot and Schneider would be credited with his fifth on the season. As per the Rangers Stats and Info Twitter account, that goal left Braden Schneider tied for second most goals for NHL defensemen since November 22nd. He didn’t have the best of starts to the season but boy, has Schneider been having a great sophomore season. Similarly to many of the praises Jimmy Vesey has received, you rarely see Schneider making a mistake or notice him in a negative way.
On the topic of strong seasons, Filip Chytil would slam one home just 59 seconds after the Schneider goal to make it a 3-0 game. Chytil would also capitalize on the empty net towards the end of the game for his second of the night and second power play empty net goal in a row, not very often do we see those. Chytil is now two points away from tying his career best as he is definitely on pace to pass it. For as much as you love to see Chytil shine, you have to begin to wonder what career highs mean for him in terms of a contract extension. While it’s no secret the Rangers are focused on this season and this season only at the moment, it may be wiser for Chris Drury to take care of business sooner rather than later as shown in the Jimmy Vesey conversation.
The Rangers continued to outplay and outshoot the Canadiens through the third period but as the game went on, their surges became more frequent. Joel Armia, who hadn’t scored since last season, found the back of the net with just over five minutes to go, spoiling the shutout that Halak probably deserved on the night. It would be too little too late for Montreal, who pulled Allen for the extra attacker to try and get back in it but Chytil’s second of the night put this one to bed and gave the Rangers two more points to add to the collection. The Blueshirts are back at it a hop and a skip away from home Saturday afternoon as they take on their Hudson River Rivals for their third meeting of the season in a battle for second place in the Metro.
Chris Feldman
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