Crisp passing, players shooting, Igor saving and tenacity from all lines!!
Woo!! It did not come easy in trying to close out the under-manned Washington Caps, but a win is a win, just like the 2 shoot out wins and an O.T. loss that allowed the NYR to secure 5 of 6 possible
points on the most recent road trip. Just ask Trocheck and Mika. It’s the NHL, man, teams are good.
Who wouldn’t take those points, at any point of the season, but especially during the playoff push?!
Now, the 5 game homestand has begun, my best estimation, prior to last nights win, was, that with these 5 games in NYC, we would see the Rangers of the playoffs. They get to practice together, continue
coming together as a team, and letting the 4 lines we saw yesterday, STICK. That’s right, these are the Rangers we should expect to see moving forward. Mika, Vladdy and Bread. Kane, Trocheck, and
Kreider. LaFreniere, Chytil, and Kaako. Motte, Vesey and Goodrow. Rolling those 4 lines, distributing the minutes perfectly, looked to energize all lines.
There was some giddyup in Kane, a spinarama, no less. Zibanejad, Paanarin and Tarasenko, looked unstoppable at times. Kane, creating space, Trocheck
bouncing around, and Kreiders speed and size in front of the net, all created the opportunity for Trouba
to walk in and pick his spot from 6 feet, to push the lead to 3. Besides Kaako and his recent
indecisiveness with the puck, Lafreniere is looking much like the #1 overall pick and Chytil keeps putting
himself in positions to shoot and score. His goals will come, they come in flurries, he just needs to pot
that 1st one, I am not worried one bit. That line, even when not scoring,, is a puck possession machine,
cycling and maintaining O Zone time. What can be said about the MoVinG Company line, that hasn’t
been said? The 4Th line has been a force of nature, speed, saavy and skill. Being on during the 1st
defensive zone face off, leading 4-3, all they did was win the draw, retrieve the puck and backhand the
game icing goal to make it 5-3 and end Washingtons comeback. No wonder the Rangers re acquired
Motte at the deadline, signed Vesey for 2 more years and added them to the Coaches favorite player in
Goodrow. Chris Drury gets an A+ just for that….
Patrick Kane scored his 1st home goal and just looking at his celly, the man is happy and comfortable
in his new digs after 16 years in Chicago. He and Tarasenko look like Rangers. It’s a tight group, as these
guys get more and more acclimated to that dressing room and that home rink, continue to see
excellence.
Igor looking like Vezina Igor. Big saves at big times. As we all know , a hot Goalie can carry a team on his back. Oh, yeah, how about that outlet pass to Panarin on Mika’s 2nd goal? Vintage Igor.
Special teams continue to play well. Another PPG goal. PP1 looked great with high shot opportunities, PP2, great puck movement, culminating in Kanes slapper. Penalty Kill Units, shut out
Washington all 4 times.
Harpur, Goodrow and Motte, all, kept Tom Wilson in check and The Trouba Train was rolling, levelling
an unsuspecting(????????????????) Capital, keeping the lanes open all night for the Rangers skill
players.
What a start to the homestand!!! EVERY Rangers fan has got to be stoked to see what we all saw in the first period vs Washington.
