Derrick Brassard, John Moore, And Ryane Clowe: First Impressions

Apr. 3, 2013; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers left wing Ryane Clowe (29) receives the first star of the game award against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. Rangers won 6-1. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

So the Rangers destroyed the Penguins last night all with the help of the newest Rangers. Each of them potted a goal and they all combined for 9 points. It was definitely unexpected to see and but was extremely refreshing at the same time. No one wanted to see Ryane Clowe’s offensive struggles continue, and Moore and Brassard struggle with their new team. Seeing them all score a goal in their Rangers and Garden debuts was pretty cool actually and the odds of that happening must have been extremely low. Must be in the millions or something.

Ryane Clowe- From the opening shift of the game I think every Rangers fan fell in love with Clowe. He dumped Deryk Engelland in the corner and got a nice shot on goal. He had a secondary assist taken away from him on the goal by Brian Boyle, but it was clear he was doing every thing he could offensively. Love the way he got on the board with his first goal. His second goal was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time (something the Rangers rarely do on the power play). I thought Clowe played a fantastic game and he can be exactly what this team was missing. He brings energy, some grit, and now some goal scoring.

Derick Brassard- It was love at first sight also with Derick Brassard. He showed off his nifty hands on the first goal of the game drawing to defenders to himself and passing it to Brad Richards who one timed it to the goal. He also showed off his hands again on Clowe’s second goal. Brassard didn’t really reach his true potential out in CBJ and now has a great opportunity to do just that with the Rangers. He clearly showed he has tons of ability last night and hopefully he can stay consistent. I liked a lot of what I saw from him.

John Moore- John Moore quietly played 14 minutes for the Rangers and didn’t look out of place at all. He was quick with that first pass out of the zone and didn’t blow any coverages defensively. He also scored a goal which is something you don’t really see from the Rangers defenseman (I know, I know, McDonagh scored too last night). Moore has potential to be the biggest part of this trade and is by all accounts expected to be a top 4 defenseman down the road. His skating is McDonagh-esque and there wasn’t a whole lot not to like about him last night. Anyone who dumps Matt Cooke in the corner is cool in my book. Anyway, the knock on Moore is his decision making which Blue Jackets fans and scouts say is weak. That I think can be worked on and  can be erased in the future because of his ability. For the time being though Moore won’t have tons of responsibility on the 3rd pairing with Eminger and he’ll have even less responsibility if Staal gets back this year (He was skating yesterday so we’ll see what happens). Not such a bad situation to put a young defenseman in.

The Rangers added some serious depth to their lineup and we’ll see how it goes the rest of the year. At the very least it’s going to be fun to watch this team now until the end of the season.

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