New York Rangers: A come from behind 4-2 win over the Devils

Notes on the game

• The Devils came into the game 0-24 on the power play, but scored on their second attempt.  Blake Coleman scored with only 11 seconds left in the first period and Hajek in the penalty box for high sticking.
• The Rangers power play was completely inept, going 0-5.  They have now failed on 21 straight.  In his post game comments, Quinn actually said that they had a good first period until they went on the power play and at that point they lost all momentum.
• It was a chippy, hard hitting game.  There were numerous dirty hits by the Devils that were not called.  Blake Coleman viciously cross checked Namestnikov in front of the Devils’ goal and it wasn’t called.  Coleman and Blake Pietila were noticeable for their stickwork. At times it felt like a pre-season game with the Devils’ rookies trying to make an impression.
• The Devils were credited with 39 hits. The Rangers had 26.
• Rick Nash was honored by the Rangers before the game and dropped the ceremonial first puck.
• Brandon Gignac made his NHL debut for the Devils and Michael McLeod has appeared in only seven games.    Eight Devils in the lineup had played fewer than 80 games in the NHL.   Six Ranger starters had not reached the 80 game mark.
• Brett Howden has to be the most snakebit player on the Rangers.  His scoreless streak has reached 35 games and he had two excellent opportunities to score tonight.
• Marc Staal was scratched, suffering from a flu bug.  Fredrik Claesson remained in the pressbox as well along with Connor Brickley.
• Ryan Strome has six goals and six assists in his last 14 games.
• Vlad Namestnikov has six goals and five assists in 12 games since ending a 23 game scoreless streak.
• The Rangers have won three games versus New Jersey this season.  The only other team that they have beaten three times are the Florida Panthers.

My three stars of the game

1. Ryan Strome had a dynamic three point game.  He has become a go-to player for the Rangers and his net front presence resulted in the crucial first goal for the Blueshirts.  He played a physical game and was fully engaged in the chippy behavior during the game.
2. Mika Zibanejad continues to be a one-man wrecking crew for the Rangers.  Playing on a top line with Filip Chytil and Vlad Namestnikov, he lead all Rangers in ice time with 23:54.  He was finally rewarded with an assist on the game winning goal, finding Namestnikov in front of the net.  He added another helper on the empty net goal to seal the victory.  Zibanejad never gives anything less than 100% and it was gratifying to see him rewarded with two points.
3. Libor Hajek had yet another solid game and added his first NHL goal to tie the score in the third period.  The goal was actually only Hajek’s second goal as a professional as he had been held scoreless so far this season in the AHL.  He did score one goal with Syracuse as a Lightning prospect in 2017.  It’s very unfortunate that he suffered the shoulder injury.

The official three stars

1. Ryan Strome
2. Vlad Namestnikov
3. Libor Hajek

The Lottery Look

The Rangers win over New Jersey meant that they moved back into 8th place, passing Edmonton who lost to 3-2 to Toronto.  The Rangers’ match-up Monday night with the Oilers will mean a lot when it comes to the lottery standings.

On the good news front for the Rangers, the Black Hawks beat Dallas 2-1 and remain only one point behind the Rangers.  The Flyers beat the Islanders 5-2 and Arizona defeated the Kings 4-2 so both Philadelphia and Arizona maintain their cushion over New York.

On the worrisome side, Buffalo were shutout 3-0 by Colorado and are now only one point ahead of the Rangers. The Sabres have now lost four in a row and are a definite threat to finish below the Rangers.

As for the remaining lottery teams below the Rangers, Ottawa, Los Angeles and Detroit all lost so the odds of the Rangers catching them becomes more doubtful.

Finally, Columbus won a crucial game over Pittsburgh 4-1 and are back in the wild card, pushing the Montreal Canadiens into the lottery field.

The standings (Worst is first)

Teams                    GP      W-L-OTL    PT    ROW
1. Ottawa               69     23-40-6       52     23
2. Los Angeles      68     24-36-8       56     22
3. Detroit                68     24-34-10    58     21
4. New Jersey        69     25-35-9      59     24
5. Anaheim             69     27-33-9      63     24
6.  Vancouver        69     28-32-9       65     25
7. Chicago              68     29-30-9       67     27
9.  Edmonton        68     30-31-7       67    27
8. Rangers             68    28-28-12      68    22
10.  Buffalo           68    30-29-9        69     26
11. Florida             68     29-27-12    70    26
12.  Colorado        69     30-27-12     72     29
13.  Arizona          68     34-29-5       73     30
14. Philadelphia   68     33-27-8       74     31
15. Montreal        69     36-26-7        79     34

Second East Wild Card Cut Line:  79 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line:  74 points

Who to root for

There are five games on Sunday, with only two involving lottery teams.

Red Wings @ Panthers – With a ten point gap between Detroit and New York, it is more important for Florida to win as they are only two points better than the Rangers.

Kings @ Ducks – Los Angeles is 12 points worse than the Rangers so there is no hope of catching them.  Meanwhile, the resurgent Ducks  have closed to within five points of New York.  The Rangers still have a chance of finishing below Anaheim and cracking the bottom five, so root for the Ducks to beat their SoCal rivals.

Monday night looms large when the Rangers take on the Edmonton Oilers.  Only fourteen games left in the season and time is running out for the Rangers and their hopes for a bottom five finish.