New York Rangers beat Devils 5-2 with the roster of the future
The New York Rangers won a matinee at the Garden against a flat New Jersey Devils team with a roster that fans should get used to. It’s the team that will play the rest of the season.
It was finally confirmed this morning that Kevin Hayes, Mats Zuccarello and Adam McQuaid would be sitting out this game. That confirmed what everyone has known for weeks, that all three are about to be traded. That meant that the team the Rangers fielded will be team we will be watching, unless some NHL talent comes the other way in these imminent deals.
Jimmy Vesey was elevated to the top like (the ZVK line?) and responded by scoring a goal. Vlad Namestnikov saw heavy minutes as did Ryan Strome who scored two goals. The Rangers went with the seven defensemen lineup with Brendan Smith the extra man. Boo Nieves and Connor Brickley were the fourth liners and saw about seven minutes of ice time each.
The Rangers ran over an unusually flat New Jersey Devils team. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period as the Devils showed nothing. Perhaps they were down from losing Ben Lovejoy, traded to Dallas just before the game. They were coming off a convincing 4-0 shutout win over the Senators with Cory Schneider finally rounding back into form, but for New Jersey, this was a bad game.
The good news was that the Rangers lineup without Hayes, Zuccarello and McQuaid, was solid. In fact, they were much better than the Rangers team that lost to Minnesota on Thursday when all three players did play. The encouraging fact is that this is a better Rangers team than the one that was gutted last season. The post-deadline Rangers were often a ragged bunch and the skill level was lacking. This team is much better.
They were led by the top line and that is the biggest difference. The Zibanejad line didn’t lose a step with Vesey replacing Zuccarello and all three players were outstanding. The question of whether Vesey can keep it us has not been answered, but he will have the opportunity.
It was positive to see this rejiggered New York Rangers team be as dominant as they were against the Devils. A much bigger test will be Sunday’s match in Washington. Washington was spanked by Buffalo 5-2 on Saturday so they will be looking for a comeback.
Notes on the game
The Rangers got off to a great start. They outshot the Devils in the first period 15-4 and were swarming from the opening faceoff. When Brett Seney was called for boarding Brendan Smith, Jimmy Vesey scored what they thought was a power play goal. It cames milliseconds after the penalty ended. Four minutes later they did notch a power play goal on some brilliant passing by all five Rangers. Ryan Strome put it into a wide open net. The newly reconfigured top line finished the first period scoring on a Chris Kreider goal.
Rangers fans, miss the 1st period? We got you covered 🙌
Watch #NYR take a 3-0 lead 👇 pic.twitter.com/5Gki9yD8hc
— MSG Networks (@MSGNetworks) February 23, 2019
The funniest moment of the first period was the “fight” between Brendan Smith and Kurtis Gabriel. Both teams had been jawing at each other and right after a faceoff, the two squared off. Smith grabbed Gabriel who slipped and fell and Smith took mercy and didn’t hit him. Both got five minutes, but it should have been for delay of game.
Two minutes into the second period the Devils scored on a Kenny Agostino goal after a giveaway in the Rangers zone. The rest of the period was scoreless.
In the third, the Rangers got their three goal lead back with Brady Skjei’s first goal in 28 games. Skjei’s shot from the point was screened by Chris Kreider and Eric Gryba who were jousting in front of the net. Both players were ultimately penalized for roughing.
Andy Greene scored in the third to get to within 4-2, but a Ryan Strome empty net goal iced the victory.
Compared to recent games, this was a walk in the park for Georgiev. He faced only 21 shots and only had to make a couple difficult saves. It was his tenth win of the year.
Tony DeAngelo extended his assist streak to six games. It appears that this young man is finally living up to his promise. If he can keep this up, it will make the trade with Arizona a win for the Rangers no matter how Lias Andersson does in the future.
It was a chippy game with a lot of slashing, cross checking and jawing. The teams clearly don’t like each other.
My three stars of the game
- Chris Krieder played a dynamic game with a goal and two assists. He had five shots on goal and he was a physical force the entire game. His blind behind the back pass to Ryan Strome for a power play goal was amazing. Clearly, he is not going to be traded unless someone comes in with an amazing offer. Steve Valiquette mentioned that Toronto has been interested, but today’s game showed how important he is to the team.
- Mika Zibanejad had another outstanding performance. He had two assists and five shots along with three hits and 50% faceoff winning percentage.
- Ryan Strome finished with two goals when he scored an empty netter in the waning seconds. His first goal was a beautiful power play goal. He now has three goals and four assists in his last seven games.
The official three stars of the game
- Chris Kreider
- Mika Zibanejad
- Jimmy Vesey