Blue Line Station
Fansided

A thrilling opening night 6-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets

By Steve Paulus

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: Henrik Lundqvist #30 makes the third period stop on Kyle Connor #81 of the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden on October 03, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Jets 6-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 03: Henrik Lundqvist #30 makes the third period stop on Kyle Connor #81 of the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden on October 03, 2019 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Jets 6-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Brendan Smith #42 and Brett Howden #21 of the New York Rangers celebrate a goal in the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden on October 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Brendan Smith #42 and Brett Howden #21 of the New York Rangers celebrate a goal in the third period against the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden on October 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Notes on the game

The Rangers simply cannot keep allowing 47 shots on goal.  Lundqvist was outstanding despite allowing four goals.  He had no chance of stopping two goals, one was iffy and he almost had the fourth.  He looked to be under siege quite a few times.

In his postgame comments Quinn didn’t beat around the bush saying.  “that certainly wasn’t a Picasso out there but we found a way to win and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.”

Mika Zibanejad was the best player on the ice and the scoresheet reflected it as he ended up with a goal and three assists, seven shots and a plus four rating. He was just under .500 in the faceoff circle (11 of 23) and led all forwards with 20:39 of ice time.

Jacob Trouba showed what he is capable of.  He played a team high 24:46, scored a goal and had two assists.  He was a plus three on the night and led the team with five hits. If this was the real Jacob Trouba, the Rangers got themselves a stud defenseman. It was a very impressive performance.

The penalty kill was pretty solid, going 1-5.  The Jets spent a lot of time in the Ranger zone with the man advantage, but the Blueshirts did a good job of keeping them on the perimeter and Lundqvist was there to stop the shots that got through (except one).

The Rangers power play is going to be lethal.  The first unit of Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider, Buchnevich and Trouba look unstoppable.  If they don’t score, out comes Kaapo Kakko, Tony DeAngelo and Adam Fox.  It’s not going to take long for other NHL teams to realize that they cannot take dumb penalties against New York who finished one for two with the Trouba goal coming seconds after the second penalty ended.

  • David Quinn really likes Brendan Smith. He played wing on the fourth line and killed penalties as a defenseman.  Quinn had him on the ice killing the penalty at the end of the game and Smith was able to get the empty net goal.  It was also a shorthanded goal.  You cannot deny the flexibility he gives the team.
  • The rookies looked good for the most part.  Adam Fox started very nervous, but got better as the game went on.  Libor Hajek made a few mistakes in his own end and finished the game stapled to the bench.  That will happen to a rookie.

    • Kaapo Kakko made some nifty moves, but was stopped. Don’t worry New York, he will score.

    When asked if Kakko was nervous, Quinn said “he looks pretty stoic…He doesn’t show a lot emotion.  I don’t think he gets nervous.”  He added “I don’t think he’s going to have many of bad nights…he may not have a great night, but he’s not going to have a bad night. And that what makes you a pro….it’s not so much how good is your good, it’s how bad is your bad.”

    Lias Andersson centered the fourth line and only saw 5:56 at even strength.  He did see over two and half minutes on the penalty kill on the second unit.  He did what he was supposed to do. He did account for the funniest moment of the pregame when he tripped and fell as he was introduced.

    Vlad Namestnikov had a very active first period, wasn’t so visible after that.  He had some fabulous scoring opportunities, but couldn’t convert.  Sound familiar?

    Brendan Lemieux didn’t see much ice time, but on the game winning goal he drove to the net and helped cause the chaos that allowed Howden to get to the rebound.

    Howden had a bad night in the faceoff circle, winning only four of 14, but he won the draw that led to his goal.  Ryan Strome led the team winning 69% of his 13 draws

    The Jets have a loaded offense and spent a lot of time in the Rangers zone.  Patrik Laine missed a one timer that would have beaten Lundqvist.  Having missed the entire preseason his time was probably off, a good thing for the Blueshirts.

    Jets rookie defenseman Ville Heinola had a very solid NHL debut.  He’s only 18 and was the player the Jets selected  in the first round of the Entry Draft with the pick they traded to the Rangers for Kevin Hayes and got back in the Trouba deal.  If Heinola keeps playing like this it will be tough to keep him out of the lineup when Nathan Beaulieu comes back from an injury and if Dustin Byfuglien returns to the team.

    Neal Pionk didn’t get on the scoresheet, but played over 20 minutes on the first defense pair with Morrissey.  The Jets got a good player when they acquired Pionk, but the Rangers won that trade.

    The Rangers didn’t name Zibanejad the captain as had been rumored.  Instead, they announced that Jesper Fast, Marc Staal, Chris Kreider and ZIbanejad would continue as alternate captains.

    The Rangers healthy scratches were Greg McKegg and Micheal Haley.  In the pregame introductions, Haley didn’t look too pleased to be in civvies.

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