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Rangers host the Penguins and attempt to sweep the home-and-home series
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images.
After scoring five unanswered goals in a fantastic comeback win in Pittsburgh, the Rangers (14-5-1) now get to host their Metropolitan Division rivals at Madison Square Garden, looking to beat the Penguins (11-5-3) for the second consecutive game.
The Rangers surrendered two goals to rookie Jake Guentzel in the first period, with the first goal coming on his first NHL shift and his first NHL shot. However, the last 40 minutes were very impressive from the Rangers, seeing them do a better job defensively while scoring five unanswered goals from five different players.
Now the two teams faceoff for the second of five matches this season, and the first of three at Madison Square Garden. Kevin Hayes led the Rangers with a goal and an assist on Monday, Ryan McDonagh picked up a pair of assists, and Michael Grabner scored his 12th goal of the season, tied for the league lead. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers battle Laine and the Jets at MSG and aim for fifth straight win
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
After another five goal effort against the Bruins last night, the Rangers (9-3-0) take on the Winnipeg Jets (5-6-1) at Madison Square Garden, with the team looking for a season best five game win streak.
The Rangers erased an early deficit yesterday with another five goal game, including Nick Holden’s first as a Ranger, Stepan’s first of the season and Pavel Buchnevich’s first career NHL goal. Antti Raanta had another great performance, turning aside 35 shots for his second win of the season.
The Jets won their last game, beating the Red Wings 5-3. Two rookies shined in the game, with 2016 second overall pick Patrik Laine scoring his seventh goal of the season, and Brandon Tanev scoring his first two NHL goals, including the game winner. Connor Hellebuyck made 30 saves. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers win streak comes to an end in Carolina; Zuccarello scores twice
Alexandra Russo
Photo courtesy of Greg Forwerck/NHLI.
The Rangers broke their three-game winning streak with a 3-2 road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night. They had a strong attempt to come back in the third, but Ward stood tall in net for his team and helped give them their first home opener win in eight years.
After two bad giveaways, the teams traded chances but failed to capitalize. Soon after, Faulk’s delay of game penalty allowed the Rangers to really get their offense going on the power play. After a few attempts, Mika Zibanejad thought he put the puck behind Ward, but it somehow came back out, and Zibanejad fed an open Zuccarello. He ripped a shot from the circle that found its way past a sprawled Ward. The Hurricanes challenged for goalie interference, but in looking at the replay, it seemed as though one of the Hurricanes’ own players fell on top of Buchnevich in front of the net, so it was ruled a good goal.
Carolina responded fast, though, and put one past Lundqvist, as there was no defender in front of him. Jeff Skinner received credit for the slap shot that tied the game at 1. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers score seven goals in win over the Sharks; Vesey scores the game winner
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers continued to showcase their new offensive style and forwards, getting scoring from throughout the lineup in a 7-4 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Two of the goals came on empty netters, but the Rangers put five goals past Martin Jones, who had only allowed three goals in the last two games. I’m not quite sure what Alain Vigneault has done, but this forward group is meshing so well together. The breakouts are improved, the depth is tremendous and the power play looks fantastic.
Here are my thoughts and observations from the game; Read the rest of this entry
AV spreading ice time and opportunities will be key to Rangers success
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers opened their season with a 5-3 win over the Islanders, showing signs of improvement in many aspects of their game that was expected of them following their offseason moves. The power play looked great, the defense and penalty kill looked structured, and all four forward lines were effective.
With the addition of players like Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey, Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner, the Rangers added a lot of speed and talent to their forward groups, which seemed to make Alain Vigneault structure his lines differently.
Rather than opting for a traditional structure, with a physical, checking fourth line and placing all of the talent on the top two lines, Vigneault had a balance of scoring, defense and skill across the four lines. Having four lines was something that many blogs, including my own, wrote about as a possibility. And last night, it worked extremely well. Read the rest of this entry
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