Well, what can I say? I was wrong, I thought the new
look Rangers, at home, on a heater, lost last night to
those pesky, structured as hell, 1st place in the Metro,
Carolina Hurricanes. Most recently, my Wife and I
watched the Canes vs. Flyers game where, with .3
seconds left in the game, trailing by a goal, the Canes tied
it. Then, 30 seconds into O.T. Aho scored on a breakaway, top shelf rifle. It reminded me of when
K’Andre Miller scored with .1 left and Adam Fox scored in
O.T. on a sick move to propel the Rangers and keep them
rolling, a few months ago. The point is, now we got to
watch out for these Canes and what a win like that can
do for the team. We will find out tomorrow night in
Raleigh if this is a bump in the road or if the Hurricanes
are gaining confidence headed to the playoffs.
Now, back to the actual game. The Rangers scored 1st
again, this time it was Tyler Motte and the M.V.G. line
doing work. Goodrow won the draw, Vesey got greasy
and cycled the puck back to Goodrow, who set up Motte
in the slot for the opening goal. It was a hard fought 1st
period where the Rangers could not figure out the Canes
forechecking. The great Dave Maloney stated that the
Rangers needed to play with patience and wait for their
moment. Clearly the message did not reach the dressing
room as the Rangers got outshot 15-5 in the second
period. If not for the continued great goaltending by Igor
Shesterkin, the Rangers could have lost 6-2. The crazy
thing was the Rangers went into the 3rd period leading 1-
0, but as a fan, you knew the Canes were going to make a
play and tie it up. And that they did. On a rush off a
turnover, K’Andre Miller made a mistake by trying to
poke check right at the blueline. He missed and since all
his momentum went forward, Chatfield, a defenseman,
was rushing without the puck. He received the pass off
the side wall and had a clear shot at Igor, he hit the top
left corner. A goalscorers goal. Hats off. The Rangers
best line of the night was the kid line. They, on the rare
occasions the NYR was in the O-Zone, kept it deep, cycled
it, battled and Kaapo Kaako broke his goalless drought to
put the Rangers up 2-1. It happened so quick, I thought
it would deflate the Canes. It did not.
Before the public
announcer could say, “ Rangers goal scored by,” the
Canes scored on their next shot. 2-2. At this point I’m
figuring, just get to O.T. and with the 3-3 format, all that
room on the ice, we can go to work then. Again, I was
wrong. The Canes scored with 2:30 left and it was all but
over. Carolina put up a brick wall at the red line even though the Rangers had pulled Igor and the Rangers had
6 superstars on the ice. With 20 seconds left, the NYR
broke through and got 1 good look when Panarin thru a
shot at the net with 2 seconds left which Fox deflected
down towards the 5 hole, which then goalie F. Anderrson, swallowed up the puck, ending the game 3-2.
The look on Fox’x face said it all. Pure frustration. Lets
hope Gallant watched the tape and figured something
out. Look, the Rangers won the 2 prior games 5-3 and 6-
2, so theres no real cause for panic. The Rangers play
great on the road and should be able to rebound
Thursday night.
One takeaway….. Ryan Lindgren made his much
anticipated return last night and looked ok. The normal
confident, strong on the puck player we’ve known,
looked a little unsure at times and left the game for 5
minutes after a run in with ex-Ranger Jesper Fast. Seeing
him back was great but watching him, I was pining for
Ben Harpur and his size. I know it sounds crazy, but
maybe Lindgren wasn’t ready for the constant contact. I
can’t believe I’m writing this but with the Rangers pretty
much guaranteed a playoff spot, I want Lindgren fully
healthy and ready for the gauntlet that is the Eastern
Conference Playoffs. Harpur has handled the minutes
well of late and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 3 weeks from
now, when the playoffs start, Lindgren would surely be
fully healed, if there is such a thing in hockey. Lindgren is
the heart and soul, the lunch pail guy. I just want him to
be ready, that’s all.
Take 2…..another change by Gallant. On the #1 power
play unit, heres the new line: Mika Zibanejad, Chris
Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Patrick Kane and Adam Fox. It
looks good to me. Kreider can go to the front of the net,
Mika can rip it from his office, Panarin and Kane can work
with Fox on rotations while passing. I think it will
jumpstart the power play which is currently 14th and
needs to be better than that. We shall see.
Crazy note…. Alexander Georgiev. 31 wins and 5
shutouts for the defending champs, Colorado Avalanche.
After a slow start, hes looking like Igor’s doppleganger. 3
shutouts in last 10 starts. Granted he doesn’t face the
same number of shots Igor does, but he does what is
asked of him and that’s all he can do or control. Imagine
a NY Ranger vs Colorado Avalanche finals. Georgiev vs.
Shesterkin. Wouldn’t that be something. But that,
hopefully, is a conversation in June!
NEXT GAME: NY RANGERS@CAROLINA HURRICANES
