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Rangers begin crucial California Road trip in Anaheim; Raanta in net
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a tough run and four losses in the last six games, the Rangers (39-23-7) begin a crucial road trip on the west coast with a game against the Anaheim Ducks (38-21-9), presenting a chance for them to get rolling as the season comes to a close.
The Rangers have lost back-to-back games for the first time since December 20th, and have lost four of the last six games. Recently they have been out possessed, generating very little scoring chances (8 SOG in last 40 minutes versus Penguins), and relying way too much on goaltending. It’s reminiscent of November and December, when the team was scoring on an extremely high percentage of their shots but allowing too many scoring chances. Eventually it caught up to them and the team went through a massive slump.
This is the last time a team wants to start slumping. Going into the playoffs with momentum and confidence can make the difference between a first round exit and advancing to the second round.
Last season the Rangers swept their California road trip, winning games against the Kings, the Sharks and the Ducks. While they were already playing well before that, the success from that road trip was a turning point in the season and helped propel them to the Presidents’ trophy. A good road trip here could be just what the Rangers need. And with the Islanders and Penguins right at their heels, points are crucial right now.
At the start of the season, the Ducks looked like a disappointment, and they didn’t look like a playoff team. They just snapped a three game skid with a 7-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. But prior to that, they put themselves right back in the playoff race by winning 20 of 23 games (20-2-1) since January 13th. Everyone is playing well, they’re scoring goals again, and they’re a strong team in the Western Conference.
This is the second and final matchup between these two teams this season. The Rangers won the first meeting at MSG in overtime thanks to a goal from Mats Zuccarello, giving New York a 3-2 win. Derick Brassard scored twice and the Rangers were 1-5 on the power play. Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves for the win.
One of the moves that helped spark the Ducks’ run was trading for David Perron, shipping Carl Hagelin to the Penguins. Both teams have benefitted from the move, but The Ducks have gotten a lot of production out of Perron. In 25 games he’s collected 19 points (8-11-19), which is more than what he had in Pittsburgh in 43 games. He’s fit in really nicely alongside Ryan Getzlaf on the top line and he’s injected some life into the Anaheim lineup.
The Ducks have also seen a lot of growth in one of their better young prospects, Rickard Rakell. The 22 year old Swede has set career highs in goals (18) and points (39), and is one assist shy of tying his career high there as well. Rakell is second on the team in goals and third in points, behind Getzlaf and Corey Perry. He also has six game winning goal and brings a strong, two-way game along with physical play. Rakell will likely skate alongside Perry, who leads the team with 29 goals.
Bruce Boudreau has been starting his goalies in two game stretches, and if that trend continues, John Gibson will start tonight. Frederick Anderson won his last start against the Devils, and is 9-1-1 in his last 11 decisions. But the rookie Gibson has been very good this season, posting a 16-9-3 record along with a .919 save percentage and a 2.23 GAA. He’s lost his last two starts (0-1-1) but has won seven of his last 10 decisions (10-2-1).
For the Rangers, Antti Raanta will be in net against the Ducks, his second career appearance against them. Raanta made 34 saves in his last start, a 4-2 win over Buffalo, and he’s continued to play well as of late. He has allowed two goals or less in four of his last five starts, and the one loss came in that crazy game against the Islanders. Raanta is 8-5-2 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.46 GAA.
While the Rangers are cooling off, Chris Kreider is heating up. At times he has been inconsistent and quiet, but his five goals in the last nine games, including goals in both weekend games, show a move in the right direction. Kreider has also improved in front of the net, and has been much more noticeable on screens, deflections and getting to the dirty areas, which is exactly what the Ranger need from him.
Derick Brassard made his triumphant return to the Rangers lineup on Sunday, scoring a power play goal for the third consecutive game. He leads the team with 25 goals as well as in power play points (8-11-19), where he has formed a formidable pairing with Keith Yandle at the point. Brassard has been reunited with Mats Zuccarello, the team’s leading scorer (22-31-53), and Rick Nash in an attempt to reignite the line that caused so much damage last season.
The Rangers and the Ducks will faceoff at the Honda Center at 10:30 PM. The game will be broadcasted on MSG+.
EXPECTED LINEUP
Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Jesper Fast
JT Miller-Eric Staal-Kevin Hayes
Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Viktor Stalberg
Ryan McDonagh-Kevin Klein
Keith Yandle-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Dan Boyle
Antti Raanta
Lundqvist stellar as Rangers fall to Detroit in overtime
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
The Rangers (39-22-7) came within an inch of beating the Red Wings (34-23-11), but instead came up on the short end of the stick with a 3-2 overtime loss at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
Ryan McDonagh had a chance to win the game in regulation with the Detroit net empty, but his shorthanded shot from the other end of the ice hit off of the post. Detroit would score on the power play with less than 40 seconds remaining, and wind up winning the game in overtime.
Henrik Lundqvist made his return to the lineup, and the Rangers made him work entirely too hard. Lundqvist faced 43 shots, making 40 saves. He was the sole reason why this game wasn’t 7-2 or even worse. Read the rest of this entry
The Return of the King; Lundqvist back in net as Rangers battle Red Wings
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After missing the last three games with neck spasms, Henrik Lundqvist is ready to take back his spot in the crease as the Rangers (39-22-6) take on the Detroit Red Wings (33-23-11) at the Joe Louis Arena in an Original Six matchup.
Likely joining Lundqvist will be Rick Nash, who has been out of the lineup since January 22nd with a bone bruise. He’s been skating and practicing this week and should be good to go for today’s game. In the likely event that Nash does play, he’ll skate with Eric Staal on the third line, marking the first time they’ll be playing together on the Rangers.
With the good news also comes some bad news. Center Derick Brassard is a question mark for today’s game due to the flu. He’s doubtful, and Kevin Hayes would slide to center if he doesn’t play.
The Rangers are coming off of a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, with goals from Brassard, Zuccarello and Jesper Fast. However, they played pretty poor down the stretch and to start the game. The Rangers were outshot 36-26 and Raanta bailed out the team. They’ve split the last four games (2-2-0) but have won seven of the last 10 games.
This is the second of three meetings between the Rangers and Red Wings this season, and the first in Detroit. Back on February 21st, Henrik Lundqvist and the Blueshirts outdueled Jimmy Howard and Detroit in a 1-0 overtime win at the Garden, with Kevin Klein scoring the only goal of the game. Hank had 22 saves and Howard made 29 saves, benefitting from a disallowed goal from Kevin Hayes. Three of the last four games have been decided in overtime, and eight of the last nine games have been decided by one goal.
The Red Wings won their last game on Thursday against the Jets, but they had lost their last three games before that, getting outscored 14-6. The Red Wings are in a fight for their playoff lives, holding just a two point lead over the Philadelphia Flyers for the last playoff spot. Every game is crucial and the Red Wings need all the points they could get.
The 19 year-old rookie Dylan Larkin started out his season producing and hasn’t stopped, sitting in second place on the team in scoring with 40 points. He scored a goal on Thursday, giving him 20 for the season. He’s the first Red Wings rookie to reach that mark since current Captain Henrik Zetterberg did so 13 seasons ago. He’s a great skater and an offensive catalyst, and the Rangers will need to keep an eye out for him.
Detroit has another talented young player on their team named Andreas Athanasiou, a rookie taken in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL draft. Athanasiou hasn’t been up in the NHL for that long but his presence has been felt. He’s an incredible skater with blistering speed that can catch you off guard and enough skill to put one past the netminder, scoring three goals in the last five games.
For the Rangers, Rick Nash’s return will be a huge boost to the lineup. Alain Vigneault had him skating on a line with Eric Staal and Viktor Stalberg, creating a big line with speed and skill. Doing so will create matchup problems for opposing teams, because they’d have to figure out how to stop the two 300 goal scorers in Nash and Staal while also stopping the lines centered by Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard/Kevin Hayes. It’s probably be a game or two before Nash is back to his usual self, but pairing him with Staal and Stalberg puts him in a position to succeed.
It looks like Derick Brassard will be unavailable, which gives Kevin Hayes a big opportunity. Hayes has been stuck on the fourth line for the past few games, but he would be centering Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast today. He’s shown some signs of a resurgence before being thrown onto the fourth line, and he’ll get another chance to produce in the top-six today.
The Rangers and the Red Wings will faceoff at the Joe Louis Arena at 2 PM. The game will be broadcasted on MSG Network.
EXPECTED LINES
JT Miller-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Jesper Fast
Rick Nash-Eric Staal-Viktor Stalberg
Oscar Lindberg-Dominic Moore-Tanner Glass
Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle-Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
Raanta fantastic as Rangers fend off Sabres comeback to avoid back-to-back losses
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Yet again, the Rangers (39-22-6) answered a loss with a win taking down the Buffalo Sabres (27-32-9) by a final score of 4-2, extending their win streak to nine games against the Sabres.
The Rangers have now won 11 straight games immediately following a regulation loss, marking the longest stretch in one season in team history. The last time they lost back-to-back games was December 18 and 20.
This wasn’t the best played game of hockey for Alain Vigneault’s club. In fact, they didn’t play that well at all. The only time where the Rangers dominated play was the first six or seven minutes of the second period. Other than that, they were outplayed by the Sabres for a vast majority of the game. Read the rest of this entry
Alain Vigneault criticism and properly re-assembling the Rangers lines
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After last night’s loss to the Islanders, Alain Vigneault was getting A LOT of criticism, from both fans and even some pointed questions from reporters. His team didn’t show up at the puck drop, played terrible defense and weren’t prepared for one of the biggest games of the season yet.
There was criticism about his usage of JT Miller, about why Stepan took the faceoff, and just about anything else people felt like complaining about.
JT Miller didn’t play because he wasn’t that good last night, plain and simple. Everyone is insisting he gets top line minutes because of the streak he went on, scoring practically a goal a game for a span of 12 or 13 contests. But he hasn’t scored 13 games now, and hasn’t been nearly as effective or dangerous as he was back in January.
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