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Rangers rally for a wild comeback win; Miller stays red-hot
Bobby Bevilacqua
Derick Brassard celebrates after scoring the eventual game winning goal. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After eight minutes, things did not look good for the Rangers (28-18-5). The Minnesota Wild (23-19-9) had scored twice and looked to be taking control of the game. But after the first intermission, the Rangers played some of their most dominant hockey of the entire season, culminating in a 4-2 Rangers win.
In the Tuesday loss against the Devils, the Rangers played well at even strength, but were poor on special teams. Today, they were dominant at even strength, and improved on the penalty kill. They gave up one power play goal, but fended off the next two.
The Rangers have now won four of their last six games, and are starting to play a better overall game. If they can string together these performances consistently, and solve their penalty kill issues, the Rangers could be trending upwards. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers look for important rebound game without Klein and Nash
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Just about everything that could have went wrong, went wrong for the Rangers (27-18-5) on Tuesday night. They lost an important interdivision battle against the Devils, lost Kevin Klein indefinitely to a fractured thumb, and are just two points away from being out of the playoffs entirely.
After that, it was announced that Rick Nash’s bone bruise hasn’t really healed, and he’ll miss tonight’s game as well. In the wake of the injuries to Klein and the continued absence of Nash, the team decided to call up Jayson Megna again as opposed to a defenseman. That tells me two things;
- They have faith in Dylan McIlrath to play in Klein’s role, and they should
- Nash’s injury is probably more serious than initially thought, or AV wants to shake up the lineup to try and slap some sense into this team.
Rangers Update: Klein suffers fractured thumb, Nash still sidelined; How this effects the Rangers defense
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers suffered another serious blow to their team, as it was announced that Kevin Klein had suffered a fractured thumb and will be sidelined indefinitely.
Now Klein has not had the same offensive success as he had last season, but he’s really helped solidify the top pairing when playing with Ryan McDonagh. For the most part, he’s played consistently solid defense with solid possession numbers, and along with Keith Yandle, Klein has been one of the best defenseman this year. And now he’s gone.
This is bad. I don’t know if you realize how much of an effect this will have, but it’s bad. On one hand, it’s wonderful that Dylan McIlrath will be an everyday player. He totally deserves it and he will do well. But it’s terrible that it comes at the expense of Klein. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers must bring in reinforcements for bottom six forwards
John Dundon
Dominic Moore needs some help on the fourth line. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
It is impossible to predict what rookie GM Jeff Gorton will do with the trade deadline looming exactly one month away this Friday. One thing is certain: a team dressing Danny Paille is not one that is going to contend for a Stanley Cup. Sure, Paille is only playing because Rick Nash is out with a leg injury, but injuries happen in the playoffs too. If the Rangers first answer for an injury is Danny Paille, or Jayson Megna for that matter, they are in trouble.
The thrusting of Paille into the lineup by head coach Alain Vigneault seems like a desperation move. Paille was passed up for over a full season by all other 29 NHL clubs and putting up mediocre numbers in the AHL when Gorton came calling and offering him an NHL job. He’s been really bad since he was brought in on Jan. 22nd to play in what was a 4-1 Rangers win against Carolina. It’s a small sample size, but the Rangers have been out-chanced 10-2, and outshot 47-20 while Daniel Paille has been on the ice in the last three games. Gross. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers need to avoid a bridge deal and extend JT Miller now
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
So in his third season, instead of signing him to a bridge deal, the Panthers went all in, inking him to a six year, $34.5 million extension, an average of $5.75 million per year. This isn’t the first time the team has signed a young forward to a big extension right off of their ELC. Florida did the same with Nick Bjugstad last year after he scored 24 goals, giving him a six year extension with a cap hit of $4.1 million.
The thought process here is to immediately lock up the most talented young forwards, and get them under contract before they get better and can command more money. If Bjugstad pans out and becomes a consistent 20 goal, 50+ point scoring center, $4.1 million will seem like a very reasonable price. Read the rest of this entry
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