New York Rangers Stock Market: Risers and fallers from 12/17-12/23
Up: The Fourth Line
The fourth line came up huge in the Anaheim game. Paul Carey had the first multi-goal game of his career and played the best game he has played all season. Scoring two goals off of beautiful feeds from David Desharnais, the fourth line has really started to click.
As bad as the Rangers were against the Devils, the fourth line still contributed. Jimmy Vesey scored his 7th goal of the year assisted by Carey and Desharnais. They were also not on for any goals against. While it may seem obvious that this is a good thing, the main thing you want from your fourth line is good defensive play. Any points scored by the unit is a bonus.
Against the Leafs, the fourth line was split up. This due to the loss of Jesper Fast to injury. The current fourth line consists of Carey-Nieves-Miller. While I am happy J.T. Miller is back on the wing, I do not like him on the fourth line.
I’ve been fairly apprehensive about the team putting Jimmy Vesey on the fourth line, but he seems to be hitting his stride. If the fourth line continues to be as much of a powerhouse as they were this past week, the Rangers should have no problems rolling four scoring lines into the playoffs.
Down: The Brendan Smith-Marc Staal Pairing
Now, I haven’t been happy with this pairing since the beginning.
Plain and simple: Brendan Smith and Marc Staal do not work well together as a defensive pairing. While it seems redundant to keep talking about defensive issues, defense wins championships. The Rangers need to fix any defensive holes if they want to truly compete in the playoffs.
The three top defenseman the Rangers have (McDonagh, Skjei, and Shattenkirk) have been playing very well recently and even Nick Holden has been fine. Smith and Staal have no chemistry. They keep trying to compensate for each other and wind up both being in the wrong position, thus allowing goals. Throughout the games, you can even see Henrik Lundqvist trying to tell them where to be.
Separately, Marc Staal has actually looked quite good this year. Brendan Smith, however, has not looked like the defenseman he was in the playoffs last year. Coming into training camp, there were even questions about his fitness level.
I am a firm believer that Brendan Smith can pick up his play. As much as we get ahead of ourselves, it is only December and he has started to look better. I do not think his playoff performance was a fluke. I think the best way of getting Smith to pick up his play is pairing him again with Brady Skjei and try to recreate their outstanding playoff performance.
Up: Henrik Lundqvist
Henrik Lundqvist is back to playing like a King. After a slow October start, Henrik Lundqvist has gotten on a roll lately.
This week, he played a near perfect game against Anaheim. He kept the Ducks from scoring in the first period where the Rangers didn’t quite have their footing. He made many key saves until the Rangers got the first goal at the end of the first period, turning the momentum in the Rangers favor.
Unfortunately, Ondrej Kase ended what would have been a deserved shutout near the end of the third period. This did not prevent Lundqvist’s save percentage from getting back up to .920 percent.
Against the Devils, Lundqvist had another amazing outing and was the reason the team came away with a point. Despite the shootout loss, Lundqvist made 45 saves on 48 shots. Even when the Rangers looked like they don’t have their legs, Henrik Lundqvist keeps them in the game and has done so for the entire time he has been in the NHL.
Against the Leafs, Lundqvist had another amazing outing. He once again kept the listless Rangers in the game time and time again. He showed a lot of emotion this game, even more than he typically does. Fans can tell that the goalie is hungry for a win.
Down: The Power Play
At the beginning of the year, it seemed as if the Rangers power play could not be stopped. The power play unit of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich, Mats Zuccarello, and Kevin Shattenkirk was (and still is) one of the best power play units the Rangers have had in years. However, it has fallen off a bit recently.
Against the Anaheim Ducks, they went 0-for- 2. Against the New Jersey Devil, they were 0-for-3 and against the Leafs they were 0-for-3 once again. Power play goals are pertinent to winning a hockey game. A man advantage is a gift and you should be able to convert on this chance. While I don’t think the Rangers will never score a power play goal again, I am starting to get a little worried about their unit’s recent lack of production.
Before Saturday the 16th where they scored two power play goals, their last PPG was against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 1st. I do believe that the reason for a reduced amount of PPGs are related to one thing: the loss of Mika Zibanejad. Now that Zibanejad is back in the lineup, the Rangers should go back to being a threat on the power play.
Down: the loss of Jesper Fast
While this is not a tangible “thing” per say, the loss of Jesper Fast will be felt in this lineup.
It was announced Thursday following the game against the New Jersey Devils that Fast suffered a quad strain and will be out 2-3 weeks.
This past summer, Fast had surgery on his hip and was supposed to be out until around the middle of November. Fans were pleasantly surprised to see the winger make his return much sooner than originally expected as he was sorely missed in the line up.
Jesper Fast is a player you rarely notice in a good way. He is a hard worker who is a perfect bottom six winger. He plays a defensive game but can also chip in points fairly frequently. With all four lines having started to really get going against the Anaheim Ducks, this is a small hit to the line up that will hurt, even if most people don’t think it will.
Up: The Penalty Kill
Contrary to the power play being down, the Rangers penalty kill has been very good this week. With four power plays by the New Jersey Devils, two by the Anaheim Ducks, and six by the Maple Leafs, the Rangers only allowed two goals on 12 oppurtunities this past week.
I talk a lot about Cup contention because at the end of the day, until they decide to rebuild, the Rangers’ goal is to win the Stanley Cup. A strong penalty kill is a factor every Cup-contending team should have. Last season, the Rangers had an absolutely horrific penalty kill. If another team had a halfway decent power play, they were nearly guaranteed to score a goal.
Luckily, the Rangers have started to turn that around this season. They kill penalties at an 83.2 percent clip which is good enough for 6th in the league.
There continued rise up the penalty kill ladder is one good sign to take away from the poor games played this week.
Next: Can this Rangers team win the Stanley Cup as is?
As of Sunday, the NHL starts their break for Christmas. The next time the New York Rangers play is Wednesday, December 27th at Madison Square Garden against the Washington Capitals. With three days off and having a home game to follow, the Rangers should come out hard and strong against a divisional rival. This game will be a true test of if the Rangers are contenders or pretenders.