New York Rangers: Lessons learned in dominant 6-2 win over Carolina

The New York Rangers played their most dominant game in weeks for a 6-2 win as they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes for the 16th straight time at Madison Square Garden.

They listened.  New York Rangers coach David Quinn lowered the boom on his team Sunday night and made it clear what his expectations were.  Then, they promoted Ryan Lindgren from Hartford, sending another message, about NHL mortality. The team listened and played a game where they won puck battles, drove to the net, took shots and did better on faceoffs.  The result was a dominant win over a good hockey team.

It was a comeback night for a number of Blueshirts and it started in the first period. The Rangers came out flying and Immediately started winning few puck battles.  They got on the scoreboard when Tony DeAngelo scored just 1:16 into the game.

It came off a faceoff win by Boo Nieves.  Jimmy Vesey got the puck to DeAngelo at the blueline and he didn’t hesitate, taking the shot and it eluded Curtis McElhinney.  A quick goal was just what the Rangers needed and they continued the physical play.

They gave away the lead eight minutes later when Brett Howden couldn’t control the puck and it was stolen by Saku Maenalanen who put it past Lundqvist for an unassisted tally.

As deflating as the goal was, the Blueshirts kept the pressure up and when Greg McKegg tripped Vlad Namestnikov, they went on their first powerplay. One minute in, it was Mika Zibanejad’s turn.

It was a set play with Kevin Shattenkirk shooting the puck into the Carolina zone from behind the red line.  Chris Kreider used his speed to get to the puck and he made a great pass to Zibanejad.  The Rangers had been called for icing on an identical play earlier.

Zibanejad added his second goal on a marvelous pass from behind the net by Mats Zuccarello.

They had to kill a soft  slashing penalty against Sebastian Aho and  did so easily.  So the Rangers ended the first period with a 3-1 lead.  Shots were even 13-13, but they won 52% of the faceoffs.  The outhit Carolina 13-7 and blocked 11 shots to Carolina’s five.  It was a hard working period for the Rangers.

The only scoring in the second period was a power play goal by Pavel Buchnevich at 3:41. .

It was outstanding passing from Zuccarello and ZIbanejad to Buchnevich who was in front of the net.   The penalty was a hooking penalty on Andrei Svechnikov on Boo Nieves who drew the penalty through hard work.

The Rangers controlled play, not allowing a Carolina shot on goal until the 9:23 mark.  The Hurricanes came on in the second half of the period, even outshooting the Rangers 11-8.   Lundqvist made the save of the game with just under three minutes left in the period.

It was robbery as he stretch to stop a shot by a wide open Warren Foegele. It was vintage Lundqvist and key as it kept it a three goal game.

In the third period the Rangers backed off their physical game a bit.  Filip Chytil drew a penalty on a rush and the power play added another goal as Buchnevich scored his second of the game.

Buchnevich got to the rebound of a shot by Zibanejad that bounced off some players in front and it was 5-1

After the lead grew to four goals, the third period was kind of a fire drill, with both teams exchanging scoring opportunities.  Saku Maenalanen scored his second of the game off a scrum in front of the Ranger net.   Tony DeAngelo wrapped up the scoring with his second of the game at the 12:55 mark.

It was a two on one that became a four on two when DeAngelo streaked into the zone and got to the loose puck and put it past McElhinney.  After that it was garbage time and the Rangers took home the two points and a much needed win, 6-2.

Notes on the game

• The Rangers really won this game in the first 30 minutes.  Their play definitely slacked of a bit (understandably) when they got to the 4-1 lead.
• For the game, the Rangers won only 37% of the faceoffs, not a good percentage. After the first period when the Rangers won 11 of 21 draws, they won only 28% (10 of 36) and the coaching staff cannot be pleased about that.
• The Rangers were outshot for the game 36-28.
• The Zibanejad line had nine points (2 goals, 7 assists).
• The third line (Nieves/Vesey/Namestnikov) really stood out at even strength with four assists and a plus five rating, better than the Zibanejad line in five minutes less ice time.  They were on the ice for both DeAngelo goals.
• Special teams were special this game.  Both the power play was and penalty kill were flawless, 3-3.
• This has to be a boost to Pavel Buchnevich’s confidence, but you wouldn’t know it by his demeanor after scoring. He has to be the unhappiest player in the NHL.  It was so noticeable that Sam and Joe were laughing about it.
• This was the first time the Rangers had three players with two goals since December 22, 1996.  The trio at that time were Mark Messier, Alexei Kovalev and Niklas Sundstrom.
• Ryan Lindgren had a quiet, but effective debut.  He finished with three hits, three blocked shots and one shot on goal.  He played 15:22, partnered with Kevin Shattenkirk. He was minus one. He tied up Foegele in front of the net as Cody McLeod was outmuscled by Maenalanen for the deflection when he  scored his second goal of the game.
• In his post-game remarks Quinn was gracious,but not overly enthusiastic about the win. He singled out Lindgren and Zuccarello for their play.
• Brett Howden and Filip Chytil were held off the scoresheet, but they were both affective and had some scoring opportunities.
• That’s sixteen wins in a row at Madison Square Garden against the Hurricanes.
• There was a nice tribute to the late Mel Stottlemyre before the game.