New York Rangers World Championship update and medal round preview

[caption id="attachment_81667" align="aligncenter" width="590"] KOSICE, SLOVAKIA - MAY 13: Chris Kreider #18 of USA looks on during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group A game between United States and Finland at Steel Arena on May 13, 2019 in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo by Lukasz Laskowski/PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)[/caption]rn The medal round at the IIHF World Championships begins on Thursday and all six New York Rangers are still going to be in action. There will be some marquee match-ups for Blueshirts fans starting on day one. rnThe six New York Rangers players along with presumptive first round picks Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko will all be in action on Thursday when the medal round begins. Russia and Canada finished atop their respective divisions in the preliminary round. Here's how the top four teams finished.rnrnIn a complex points system the teams were awarded three points for a win, two points for an OT win and one point for an OT loss.rnrn Group A (W-OTW-OTL-L) rn rn t Canada 6-0-0-1 18 points rn t Finland 5-0-1-1 16 points rn t Germany 5-0-0-2 15 points rn t USA 4-1-0-2 14 points rn rn Group B (W-OTW-OTL-L) rn rn t Russia 7-0-0-0 21 points rn t Czech Republic 6-0-0-1 18 points rn t Sweden 5-0-0-2 15 points rn t Switzerland 4-0-0-3 12 points rn rnThe tournament begins in earnest on Thursday with the top teams facing off now that all of the pretenders are out of the competition.rnrn[nextslide teaser="How%20did%20the%20Rangers%20do%3F" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_81668" align="aligncenter" width="590"] BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA - MAY 18: #30 Goalie Henrik Lundqvist of Sweden makes a save during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group game between Sweden and Switzerland at Ondrej Nepela Arena on May 18, 2019 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo by RvS.Media/Robert Hradil/Getty Images)[/caption]rn How did the Rangers do? rnRanger players had varying degrees of success. No one had a bad series, but some players contributed more than others.rnrn Russia - Alexandar Georgiev started two of the seven games Russia played. He couldn't have played better than he did, posting shutouts in both games. He played very well in Russia's 3-0 win over Switzerland, stopping all 31 shots he faced. Switzerland was much tougher competition than Austria, the other team he faced.rnrnUnfortunately for the Ranger netminder, he will be not be the starting goalie in the medal round as Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy started the other five games, also posting two shutouts and a GAA of 1.40.rnrn United States - Chris Kreider had a very solid first round, scoring three goals and four points in the seven games, playing on the top line. He finished with a plus three rating and did his usual effective job of standing in front of the net playing about 13 minutes per game.rnrn Brady Skjei also played all seven games and finished with one goal and was named star of the game in Team USA's overtime 3-2 win over Finland. That win was the best game of the tournament so for for the United States.rnrnRookie defenseman Adam Fox also played in six games and finished with one assist. Fox saw his playing time diminish from a high of 18:06 in his first game to barely over ten minutes per game. When Zach Werenski joined the team for the final preliminary round game versus Canada, Fox was a healthy scratch.rnrn Sweden - Henrik Lundqvist started five of the seven games for Sweden. He finished the first round with a 4-1 record and a 2.42 GAA and a save percentage of .899. His performance was uneven, ranging from an 8-0 shutout over Italy to a 5-2 loss to the Czech Republic. He allowed seven goals in his last two starts, wins over Switzerland and Latvia.rnrnVancouver's Jacob Markstrom started the other two games for Sweden and finished 1-1 including a 7-4 loss to Russia in the last game of the first round.rnrnIt's unclear why Markstrom got the start instead of Lundqvist in what was clearly the toughest game of the opening round. It was the team's second game in two days so it could have been the matter of simply giving Lundqvist more rest. Sweden had already clinched a spot in the medal round so the game was meaningless for the standings.rnrn Czech Republic - Filip Chytil played in four of the team's seven games. In those four games he a goal and an assists and was plus four. It's undetermined as to whether Chytil will be in the starting lineup for the medal round.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Hughes%20vs.%20Kakko" /]rnrn rnrn[caption id="attachment_81430" align="aligncenter" width="590"] KOSICE, SLOVAKIA-MAY 13: Kaapo Kakko #24 of Finland and Jack Hughes #6 of USA clash along the boards during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group A game between United States and Finland at Steel Arena on May 13, 2019 in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)[/caption]rn Hughes vs. Kakko rnKaapo Kakko definitely won the statistical battle between the two young stars. However, as the tournament went on, Kakko was surpassed by a number of more experienced players.rnrnKakko finished with six goals and one assist in the seven games with 32 shots on goal and one game winner. Three players scored seven goals in the first round, so Kakko finished tied for four. He finished tied for 24th in points. He ended up with a shooting percentage of 19% and all of his goals were scored at even strength.rnrnJack Hughes played in the first six games for Team USA and notched one assist. He was a healthy scratch for the team's final first round game versus Canada when Johnny Gaudreau returned from an injury.rnrnWhile it's easy to try to draw conclusions about the future of these youngsters, their overall performance in the tournament drove home the fact that they are both still young and are developing. Kakko jumped out to a blazing start and slowed down, but displayed the talents that have scouts salivating.rnrnHughes was less impressive, but show off his speed and skills at times. Hughes was only 17 when this tournament began and at time he showed his age (as did Kakko).rnrnIn the long run, I don't know that their play in the preliminary round did anything to change perceptions about the two players. The medal round is another matter as the level of competition increases dramatically and it will be interesting to see how they respond.rnrn[nextslide teaser="Games%20to%20watch" /]rn rn[caption id="attachment_81576" align="aligncenter" width="590"] KOSICE, SLOVAKIA - MAY 18: Jack Hughes #6 of USA, Chris Kreider #18 of USA and Adam Fox #8 of USA wait for face off during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group A game between Denmark and United States at Steel Arena on May 18, 2019 in Kosice, Slovakia. (Photo by Lukasz Laskowski/PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)[/caption]rn Games to watch rnThere are two key games for Rangers fans on Thursday as the knockout medal round begins. Both have fascinating storylines to follow. One other game has some interest for fans of the Blueshirts.rnrn USA vs. Russia - The United States finished fourth in their pool while Russia steamrolled the competition in their pool. With Alexandar Georgiev and Adam Fox likely to be watching, it will be Chris Kreider and Brady Skjei who will be the Rangers reps in this game.rnrnGametime is 1015am EST. According to USA Hockey's website, this game will be televised on the NHL Network.rnrn Sweden vs. Finland - This will be intriguing for Rangers fans for one reason. Henrik Lundqvist vs. Kaapo Kakko. So long as Lundqvist is in net for Sweden (it's doubtful that Markstrom will start), he will be playing against the young star who will presumably be his teammate in September. As fans, we tend to overhype this kind of meeting, but the ingredients are there for this one to be fun to watch.rnrnThe game is 2:15pm EST. We believe that this game will be televised on the NHL Network.rnrn Czech Republic vs. Germany - The question is whether Filip Chytil will b in the lineup for the Czech Republic. This game will be at 215pm EST.rnrnThe games to be televised on the NHL Network have not been announced yet. USA-Russia is at the same time (1015am) as Canada-Switzerland. Similarly, Sweden-Finland is at the same time (215pm) as Germany-Czech Republic. There is a subscription streaming service called FloSports if you want to see the game that is not televised.rnrn[story_link_team_logo league="7" division="34" team="95" select_cta="must_read" description="Seven%20reasons%20to%20root%20for%20the%20Blues" url="https://bluelinestation.com/2019/05/22/new-york-rangers-seven-reasons-root-st-louis-blues/" /]rnrn

Blue Line Station

New York Rangers World Championship update and medal round preview

The medal round at the IIHF World Championships begins on Thursday and all six New York Rangers are still going to be in action. There will be some marquee match-ups for Blueshirts fans starting on day one.

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