New York Rangers: About Last Night 9/30/14
By Kenny Belvin
Last night the New York Rangers played the Philadelphia Flyers in their third match-up of the preseason which saw the Rangers walk away with a 6-3 victory under the bright lights at Madison Square Garden. In a victory that big (well in any victory, really) there’s always going to be big story-lines. Lets check out some of the ones from last night.
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The Youth: This seems to be the theme of the preseason so far, and last night was no exception. Young names like Anthony Duclair, J.T. Miller, Ryan Haggerty and Jesper Fast all did their part last night. Haggerty and Fast each with two goals, and Duclair with the first goal of the game. Miller won 7/10 face-offs last night, which is good news for the Rangers who currently have a gaping hole at center ice. Duclair once again proved that he can play at this level and showed it even on a line with players who weren’t so established. Haggerty is probably the underdog of youngsters to make the roster come opening night. However his speed, size, and two goals last night certainly are not going to hurt his chances at becoming a part of the team. I’ve never really been a fan of Fast, but last night he put me to shame. He parked himself right in front of the net to get the deflection off of Dan Boyle‘s shot on the first goal and and again with a beautiful one time shot over Steve Mason for his second.
The Defense: Allowing three goals in one game is not exactly what the Rangers and their fans are hoping for; but we’ll blame the preseason and look at the brighter side. Dan Boyle played very well last night, which I was happy to see because he didn’t play all that well during his first outing. He moved quickly, and he moved the puck very well and he even tallied two assists on the night. He only played 17:34 last night, which was only three seconds less than his partner Marc Staal and two minutes less than star defense-man Ryan McDonagh. The veteran defense-man all got limited minutes last night, which I suppose makes sense. McDonagh also tallied two assists which is good and got into a fight which is probably not so good, last thing the Rangers need is McDonagh fighting and getting injured.
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Tanner Glass: Probably a little weird for him to have a category all on his own but I think he’s earned it. Glass got a lot of heat over the summer even before he donned a Rangers sweater because of his contract. However he’s seemed to prove us all wrong so far, I’m not saying he’s earned 4.5 million over three years yet but I’m saying he’s made a good case for himself. He skates hard and gets to the puck, plays hard to the body and last night he engaged in a never-ending fight which we can call a victory for the veteran. Maybe we should all cut Glass some slack and see what he can do.