New York Rangers: Top 5 Plays in October

In the midst of a rebuild, the New York Rangers 5-7-1 start though the first 13 games in October was anticipated.

The Rangers went 0-3-0 through in their first three games, and despite having won four games, they have only won one game in regulation.

Although there have been many losses so far, there have not been many blowouts. The Rangers have been a fun team to watch, with many close contests under their belt so far.

Eight of their 13 games have been decided by a difference of just one goal. And obviously all five of the games they have won have been decided by just one goal as they have come in overtime or a shootout.

While the Rangers offense has been producing, their defense has been bleeding shots. This was a common theme during the course of the 2017-18 season when Henrik Lundqvist made over 40 saves in 13 appearances last season.

This trend has continued into this season, with Lundqvist making over 40 saves in two of their contests already this season.

This is likely in part due to the team adjusting to a new defensive system under first year coach David Quinn, but also shows that the Rangers have a lot of ground to make up in this area as they make decisions for the future.

Lucky for the Rangers, they have a veteran goaltender who will go down as one of the best to play the game, who, even at the age of 37, can keep them in games.

So the bottom line is that despite this season’s losses, the Rangers are playing some fun hockey to start the year.

Here are some of the top plays from the month of October.

Number 5 – Brendan Smith’s game-tying-goal

With action behind the net, a wide open Brendan Smith manages to finish off a great pass from Pavel Buchnevich and tie a close contest against the San Jose Sharks at MSG.

In this play, the Rangers enter the zone and Filip Chytil controls the puck along the boards. Boxing out San Jose’s Evander Kane, Chytil skates into the corner and with more pressure, manages a pass along the boards further into the corner for Jesper Fast.

Now nearly behind Aaron Dell in goal, Fast passes the puck off to Buchnevich who, upon gaining possession, has his back to the net. Once clearing the cage, and with his defenseman behind him, Buchnevich makes what is basically a no look pass into open ice in front of the net.

Smith had stepped up past his man (Kane) and came in full speed from the blueline. He connected with Buchnevich’s pass at the exact right moment and hammered a shot above Dell’s shoulder on his blocker side.

Despite there being four Sharks in the vicinity of the net, there was no chance for them to stop the wide open Smith from netting this shot.

This goal tied the game at three, and forced the game into overtime where Brady Skjei gave the Rangers their first win of the 2018-19 season in overtime.

Smith has been the Rangers most consistent defensemen throughout the Rangers’ first 12 games. This comes after he was put on waivers midway through 2017-18 and spent the remainder of last season in Hartford.

Number 4 – Brett Howden’s between-the-legs finish

Another highlight from the Ranger’s first win of the season against the Sharks came off the play of rookie Brett Howden.

In this scenario, Mats Zuccarello enters deep into the zone and controls the puck behind the Rangers net.

Howden was not far behind and helped poke the puck out to the right side of the goal. Zuccarello came up with possession. He made an attempt on goal which Sharks’ defenseman Joakim Ryan managed to get a stick on, causing the Rangers veteran to whiff.

With Ryan and Timo Meier focused on Zuccarello and the puck, Howden had managed to sneak into dangerous ice in front of the net, and Zuccarello’s shot attempt rolled right out to him.

With his back to the net, Howden controlled the puck in front of his body, and, with pressure from Brent Burns now on him, took a shot between his legs.

Either not expecting or just not closing up on the shot, the puck slid between Dell’s legs to tie the game at one.

This was Howden’s second NHL goal, after he tallied his first in the Rangers 3-1 loss against the Buffalo Sabres.

Though the goal should have probably been able to be stopped on Dell’s end, the fact is this that play shows just how much poise and creativity Howden possesses.

Howden has recorded two goals and four assists for six points through the first 12 games. The game he as put out on the ice should make us excited to see what he brings to the table throughout the rest of the season.

Number 3 – Filip Chytil’s perfect pass

Filip Chytil is one of the Rangers’ most highly anticipated prospects in the pipeline, and he showed his skill in the Rangers’ very first game.

This is another play that started in deep. A good forecheck led to a turnover in Nashville’s zone and Fast controlled the puck just to the left of Pekka Rinne in net.

With pressure, Fast takes a shot on net and it rebounds to the back boards behind Rinne where Chytil picks it up.

As Mattias Ekholm and Nick Bonino pinch in towards Chytil with the puck, Fast makes a move behind P.K. Subban who was also focused on the puck in the corner. While Subban manages to regain some of his positioning on Fast, it is not enough.

Chytil delivers a perfect cross-body pass, right on the tape, despite the two-man coverage. Fast released a quick one-timer off this pass and beat Rinne high on his blocker side.

This was the Rangers’ first goal of the season, and tied the game at one.

Though Chytil has been relatively quiet since his early success, it is in part due to the fact that he has seen limited ice time, averaging just 13:04. (He played just 8:53 in the Rangers game against San Jose on Oct. 30).

Chytil has shown that he has high-level skill — he just needs the opportunity to show that he can put it on display consistently.

Number 2 – Lundqvist’s sprawling blocker save

Of course we have ended up here with Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist has been the cornerstone of the New York Rangers franchise and has established himself as one of the most consistent goalies in the NHL over the past 13 seasons.  He is a big factor in why the Rangers have seen the level of success they have — even when they were potentially at their worst last season.

In this crazy sequence, Avalanche forward Matt Calvert enters the Rangers’ zone and passes off to Matt Nieto. Nieto possesses the puck and glides behind the back of the net, coming up on the left side of Lundqvist. He chips the puck up to Nikita Zadorov on the point and the defenseman releases a long, quick shot through traffic that makes it through to the net.

Lundqvist fights it off, but allows a big rebound off to his right side, and meanwhile he floats to the left. Smith and Calvert were tied up directly in front of the net, and neither saw the puck floating in open ice, however, Nieto came crashing in toward the net, totally alone.

Luckily, with all those years of experience, upon realizing he was sliding in the opposite direction of the rebound, Lundqvist had already started to push himself back into position. Sprawling out wide, he managed to land a blocker on what would have been a wide open net for Nieto.

This is one of countless saves through the first 12 games where Lunqvist has shown he’s still got it.