Happy New Year! It was a busy night in the NHL with the highlight for New York Rangers fans being the dramatic win over the St. Louis Blues. The victory helped their playoff aspirations, but definitely cost them in the draft lottery sweepstakes.
First, a quick update on the WJC Tournament as the preliminary round ended with three games featuring Ranger prospects.
In the first game, Sweden defeated Kazakhstan as expected. The big story is a flu bug that knocked five players out of the game. They still won 4-1 with a skeleton crew. Ranger first round pick Nils Lundkvist scored the third goal unassisted for his first tally of the tournament. He recovered the puck at the blue line and fired a snap shot that eluded the Kazakhstan goalie.
.@NYRangers prospect Nils Lundkvist gives @Trekronorse a 3-0 lead over Kazakhstan at the @iihf_wjc #LGR #NYR pic.twitter.com/SmDxtBJBQS
— Zak (@Zak4B) January 1, 2019
In the second game, Russia beat Canada 2-1 to finish first in Group A. Ranger prospect Vitali Kravstov had an assist on the first Russian goal. He played 18 minutes and also had a minor penalty. You can see Kravstov’s (#14) pass here:
Grigori Denisenko (@hc_lada) scores a powerplay goal to tie the game at 1-1 for #Russia! 🇷🇺@russiahockey #WorldJuniors #CANvsRUS pic.twitter.com/mAFE9D4XGc
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 1, 2019
In the third game, Team USA beat Finland 4-1 to lock in second place in Group B. Ranger draftee K’Andre Miller did not play as he has been hit with the same flu bug that has decimated the Swedish team.
The first round of the quarterfinals are set. Here is the schedule for games featuring future Rangers:
Wednesday, January 2
4pm – Switzerland (Gross) vs Sweden (Lundkvist)
8pm – Czech Republic vs. USA (Miller)
10pm – Slovakia vs. Russia (Kravtsov)
Vitali Kravtsov is the 10th leading scorer at the tournament with two goals and three assists for five points. He is the top scorer among Russia forwards. Nils Lundkvist has a goal and an assist and is +1 in four games. K’Andre Miller has one assist and is +1 in three games. Nico Gross has appeared in all four of Switzerland’s games and has one assist and is +1.
From the future Rangers, we move on to the current Rangers. With two wins in a row, the Rangers remain very much in the playoff picture.