New York Rangers vs. St. Louis Blues: 5 Players to Watch
As the season progresses, the New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues are still trying to figure out how they’re new players fit their systems.
After a strong offensive showing by the New York Rangers on Thursday night against the Islanders, the Blueshirts will travel to St. Louis to take on the Blues. The Blues are 2-0 through their first two games of the season after defeating the Blackhawks and the Wild in back to back days.
5. Nick Holden
After a horrible first game of his Rangers career, Holden will look to have a bounce-back game against the Blues tonight. As we stand, it appears that Holden will be back on a pairing with Marc Staal again tonight.
Even though he had a bad defensive showing against the Islanders (seriously, though, what was he doing on Brock Nelson’s goal?) he still was able to tally an assist and a +1 rating. If Holden has another bad game tonight, maybe Alain Vigneault gives Dylan McIlrath a crack at the lineup.
4. Chris Kreider
On Thursday night, Kreider followed up his outstanding preseason play with a regular season gem. For the first time in a long time, Kreider was finally able to put his outstanding speed, size and shot to beat Jaroslav Halak on a breakaway. He also had an unbelievable behind the back pass to Brandon Pirri on the powerplay that ended up in the back of the net.
When Kreider plays the way he has, using his size to get to the front of the net, it makes a world of a difference. The biggest knock on Kreider has always been his consistency. Hopefully, Kreider has actually figured it out and will have another strong game against the Blues tonight.
3. Carter Hutton
Hutton signed a two-year contract with the Blues on July 1st, leaving the Nashville Predators after 3 years. Hutton had the best season of his career last year, posting a 2.33 GAA and a .918 SV% in 17 games.
The Blues no longer have a 1A and 1B tandem with Brian Eliott being shipped to Calgary. It’s Jake Allen’s net, but Hutton will get his first start of the season, hoping to get off on the right foot with his new team and instill them with some confidence in hopes that he may earn a 1B role with the team.
2. Vladimir Tarasenko
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The man the Rangers are routinely reminded could have been a member of their team in the 2010 instead of press box bound Dylan McIlrath, Tarasenko has 5 points against the Rangers in six games in his young career.
The NHL 17 cover-boy will look to continue to feast on the Rangers in this one.
Tarasenko had 3 points against the Blackhawks on opening night but didn’t tally any against the Wild the next night.
He may have the sickest wrister in the entire league, so the Rangers will need to defend him closely. If I am playing daily fantasy hockey tonight, I want him in my lineup.Yakupav
1. Nail Yakupav
The former Edmonton Oilers 1st overall draft pick was traded to the Blues for 50 cents on the dollar just a week ago. The 23-year-old had been linked to the New York Rangers for the past few years after not living up to expectations in Edmonton. It has been a tough transition for him mentally, but on the ice, he seems to be doing quite well.
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The Blues have him playing on a line with Magnus Paajarvi and Patrik Berglund, and they seemed to find some chemistry pretty quickly. Yakupov notched a goal and an assist in the Blues victory against the Wild on Thursday night. It will be interesting to see how this progresses, because it appears the Blues made a great acquisition.