New York Rangers: Five keys to the Edmonton game

Anticipation has been building for the New York Rangers first game in a week.  The team has been practicing ad nauseum and even Henrik Lundqvist has admitted it feels that training camp all over again.  Here are five keys to the game.

#1 – Secondary scoring

Aside from Brett Howden‘s rebound goal in the first game, there has been no scoring from the second, third of fourth lines.   Every other goal from a forward has been on the power play or has been scored by the first line,  Mika Zibanejad to be precise.

The second line will be getting a lot of scrutiny with the focus on Ryan Strome. Given the responsibility for centering the line between Chris Kreider and Kaapo Kakko, it’s a heavy burden and he needs to produce.  If they are ineffective in this game, look for David Quinn to start shuffling personnel in an effort to jump start Kreider and Kakko.

#2 – The new defense combos

After a rocky first game, David Quinn shook up his defense pairings and got much better results in Ottawa.  It will be Jacob Trouba with Libor Hajek and Brady Skjei with Adam Fox again. The jury is still out on whether these combinations will work and the question is how long will Quinn stay with them if they are not working.

One effect of the new pairings is a reduction in ice time for Anthony DeAngelo.  He played over 20 minutes in the opener and 16:28 in the second game. He also didn’t see any time on the power play in the Ottawa game.   You can’t argue with the success of the power play (they lead the NHL with a 60% success rate), but Trouba cannot be the only defenseman on the power play.

#3 – Can Lundqvist keep it up?

This seven day hiatus was longer than any break Lundqvist had last season except for the mandatory bye week and All-Star weekend.  After his 43 save performance in game one, what will he do for an encore?

In particular, Lundqvist will have to stop Connor McDavid, who stole Zibanejad’s NHL scoring lead with two points against New Jersey. He now has ten points in four games, tied with Patrik Laine.  He has lit up the Rangers for four goals and nine points in six career games.

#4 – Stay out of the penalty box

The Rangers are averaging five minor penalties a game. Only two NHL teams are averaging more (Carolina and Calgary).   The Oilers have had eight power plays on the road this season and have scored four times.  Overall, they are fourth in the league at 40%. The Blueshirts cannot keep tempting fate, against an offensive powerhouse like Edmonton, it could burn them.

Kreider and Strome have each taken two minors and they were avoidable. Playing smarter is essential, especially in this game.

# 5 – Life without Namestnikov

The post-Namestnikov era begins against Edmonton with Greg McKegg making his Rangers debut. In his first game as a Penguin he had an assist.  In his first game as a Hurricane he had a goal and an assist.  Hopefully that means he will get three points in this game.

Namestnikov had  been on the third line with Howden and Fast and  he will be replaced by Brendan Lemieux with McKegg on the fourth line.   In his post-practice remarks on Friday, Quinn did say that Lemieux needs to stay away from dumb penalties, referring to the roughing penalty he took in the opener.

While it can be argued that Namestnikov was an offensive bust, he was responsible defensively and  helped make that third line a very strong shutdown trio.

#5A – Kakko vs. Hughes

Continuing the silliness, it’s back to work for Kaapo Kakko in the greatest rookie rivalry since….

So far, the competition hasn’t lived up to the hype. Both players have not gotten on the scoresheet, though admittedly, Kakko’s sample size is smaller.

In two games, Kakko is averaging 18 shift per game with 14:43 of ice time. He has averaged 1:10 time on ice on the power play. He has attempted seven shots with three on goal.  His Corsi For percentage is a decent 48.4%.  His plus/minus rating is -1. He has yet to lose in the NHL.

Jack Hughes has played four games for the Devils.  He is averaging 18.3 shifts per game with an average of 15:26 per game. His average time on the power play is 2:20. He has seven shots on goal on nine shot attempts. He has taken part in two shootouts and has not scored. His Corsi For percentage is 42.3%.  He is minus three on the season. He has yet to win in the NHL.

The top rookie forward so far this season is Victor Olofsson.   Olofsson is a right winger who has scored four goals and five points in five games for the first place Buffalo Sabres.  A trio of defensemen are also off to impressive starts in Ville Heinola of Winnipeg, Quinn Hughes of Vancouver and Cale Makar of Colorado.   It’s early.