New York Rangers hustle their way to big win over Sabres

In what was arguably their most complete performance of the year so far, the New York Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak after cruising to a superb 6-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.

After dropping five straight, the New York Rangers were looking to make the most of home comforts by beating the red hot Buffalo Sabres and tasting that winning feeling for the first time since the opening week of the season.

To help them accomplish that mission, Head Coach David Quinn decided to mix up his lines with the most notable change coming on the top line, where Kaapo Kakko was finally promoted to play alongside stud center Mika Zibanejad.

Chris Kreider also slotted in on the top line with Artemi Panarin playing on a second line with Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich.

After suffering slow starts in their last two outings, the Blueshirts were hoping to avoid doing the same against a Buffalo team who had scored the first goal in eight of their 10 games.

Henrik Lundqvist got the start in net and he was going up against the undefeated Carter Hutton, who had carved out a 6-0-0 record with a 1.65 Goals Against Average and a .943 Save Percentage.

And the Rangers certainly learned their lesson from the first period horror shows against the Vancouver Canucks and Arizona Coyotes, putting in a much more solid and disciplined effort in the opening 20 minutes.

The Blueshirts reaped their rewards, too, with Artemi Panarin combining substance with style to pot his fourth goal in his last three games with a stunning effort after winning the puck back.

It only got better for the Rangers who made it a 2-0 game at 14:32 after hustle along the boards from Brendan Lemieux allowed Jesper Fast to set Brett Howden up for his second goal of the year.

They were not done there, either. After stymying the fourth best power play in the NHL, the Blueshirts put themselves firmly in the driving seat by adding to their lead thanks to Ryan Strome’s tip-in from a Brady Skjei shot.

Buffalo came to play in the second period and they got on the board at 4:17 after Marco Scandella took full advantage of a defensive turnover.

However, the Rangers were just quicker with and without the puck and they made it a three-goal game again at 13:20 as Tony DeAngelo rang in his third goal in two games and his fourth of the year.

Buffalo did grab a lifeline late in the second period, though, with Vladimir Sobotka squeezing a deflected shot by Lundqvist.

It was only the second time the Rangers had taken a lead into the third period, they won that encounter against the Ottawa Senators, and it was only the second time the Buffalo Sabres went into the final period trailing, and they also went on to lose that game.

So the omens were certainly there for the Blueshirts and they gave themselves a three-goal lead for the third time at 7:57 in the third period with the lethal combination of Howden and Strome paying off yet again.

There was time for Chris Kreider to get on the board for the first time in 2019-20, and that was the crowning moment on what was a hell of a night for the New York Rangers.

The Game

First Period – The Rangers had an opportunity to draw first blood with an early power play but they were unable to strike while the iron was hot, with the team’s biggest bugaboo of not shooting the puck rearing its ugly head on occasion.

There was one play in particular when the new-look second line of Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich won the puck back in the offensive zone but they overplayed the puck and a Buffalo defenseman was able to break up the play.

It was a free-flowing first period with very few stoppages and the Blueshirts were doing a good job of containing a Sabres team who came into the game ranked 4th in the NHL in scoring (3.70).

Marco Scandella did ping a shot against the crossbar and that seemed to do the trick in terms of giving the Rangers extra motivation as they would land the first blow moments later.

Artemi Panarin made an outstanding defensive play to strip the puck from a Sabres defenseman, he moved into the offensive zone, faked a shot and then deked Carter Hutton before backhanding the puck in the net at 11:41.

It was a sublime goal and it featured a hell of a lot of hustle from the remodeled second line.

And hustle was the name of the game for the Rangers’ second goal of the night, Brendan Lemieux playing hard along the boards to retrieve the puck to Jesper Fast who fed Brett Howden at the backdoor and the young center finished the play with a wrist shot.

Henrik Lundqvist made a big save on a Sam Reinhart snap shot on the power play, with the Sabres having scored a PP goal in eight of their 10 games prior to tonight.

Jack Eichel, who had recorded 13 of his 14 points on home ice, was looking dangerous but he could only put a shot wide of the net late in the first period, as did Panarin for the Rangers.

However, a superb first 20 minutes was capped off in stunning fashion for the Blueshirts who added a third goal at 19:22 as Ryan Strome tipped-in a Brady Skjei shot for his first goal of the year and his 200th career NHL point.

It was an almost complete period from the New York Rangers as they backchecked well, they applied the pressure on the forecheck, they had their sticks in the right spots and they outshot the Buffalo Sabres 10-7.

Second Period – The amount of hustle from the Blueshirts was encouraging to see with Pavel Buchnevich skating back into his own zone to break up a play, while Henrik Lundqvist came up with a huge save to stop a Jimmy Vesey shot on a rare odd-man rush.

But all of the Sabres’ early pressure eventually told and they clawed a goal back thanks to a Marco Scandella rocket after Kaapo Kakko had coughed up a turnover.

Buffalo had outshot the Rangers 8-0 early in the second period but the Rangers eventually found their feet again.

Brett Howden, who was excelling on an impressive third line with Brendan Lemieux and Jesper Fast, was denied by Carter Hutton following a nifty give-and-go with Artemi Panarin after Pavel Buchnevich had laid on a big hit.

Hutton came up big again to this time rob Fast who was the beneficiary of a delicious cross-ice feed from Lemieux, while Panarin pinged a shot off the post following a superb spell of pressure.

But, that shift would get the reward its effort so deserved after Marc Staal kept the puck in following Panarin’s near miss, and Pavel Buchnevich fed Tony DeAngelo right through the crease for the defenseman’s third goal in just two games at 13:20.

Buffalo made it a two-goal game again, however, at 19:11 as a Vladimir Sobotka shot took a deflection of Jacob Trouba and found its way past Lundqvist, with the Sabres boasting a gigantic 15-4 lead on the shot board.

Third Period – The Rangers went on the power play early and it nearly yielded a fifth goal as Kaapo Kakko displayed some filthy moves tight in on goal, but the rookie phenom was robbed by the goalpost.

And Jeff Skinner, who had taken the previous penalty, was given two minutes for high-sticking and another two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Rangers a four-minute power play.

However, Chris Kreider was given two minutes for goalie interference and that made it a 4-on-4 for two minutes.

Rasmus Dahlin waltzed through the Rangers blueline before unleashing a shot on Henrik Lundqvist who stopped the shot, and the goalie also made a stop on a Jack Eichel shot seconds later.

And that laid the foundation for what happened next with Jacob Trouba pulling off a superb defensive play to set up a two-on-one with Brett Howden playing a game of tic-tac-toe with Ryan Strome and the latter snapped a shot beyond Carter Hutton at 7:57.

Artemi Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich were forming good chemistry and they nearly combined for a goal with the latter’s one-timer kept out by Hutton after being fed by his wing.

Lundqvist made a couple of good saves with the Sabres on the power play late in the third, including one to deny the dangerous Victor Olofsson, and then the Rangers decided to add a cherry on top of the cake with Chris Kreider grabbing his first goal of the year.

The Rangers were narrowly outshot 11-10 in this period with the Buffalo Sabres boasting an overall 33-24 advantage on the shot board.

Notes On The Game

Here was the New York Rangers lineup to start the game:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Strome-Buchnevich
Lemieux-Howden-Fast
McKegg-Andersson-Smith

Staal-Fox
Hajek-Trouba
Skjei-DeAngelo

Lundqvist

And here are some notes on the game:

• The New York Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak thanks to a complete team effort and they are now 3-4-1 on the year.
• It was arguably the best showing of the year so far from the Rangers, who got huge contributions up and down the lineup.
• They were outshot 33-24 but they were clinical with the high-danger chances they did create and they did a good job of shutting down Buffalo’s key men.
• Although the Blueshirts went 0-for-4 on the power play, they did a superb job on the penalty kill and completely shut down what was the fourth best man advantage unit in the NHL.
• The Rangers outhit the Sabres 34-28 and also blocked 22 shots, compared to Buffalo’s five blocked shots.
• The Blueshirts were outdone in the faceoff circle, however, winning just 41 percent of their draws compared to Buffalo’s winning percentage of 59 percent.
• Henrik Lundqvist was solid and he came up big when he was called upon, stopping 31 of the 33 shots flung at him.
• The amount of the hustle from the Rangers was evident throughout the game, with every player putting in the work in the defensive zone when needed. It was encouraging to see after some of the early season struggles.
• Libor Hajek looked very composed alongside Jacob Trouba and the young blueliner finished with a plus/minus rating of +1, one hit, five blocked shots and one takeaway in 16:23 minutes of total ice time.
• Ryan Strome now has points in three straight games but he really exploded into life tonight, potting two goals and he was all over the ice for the Rangers. It was his best game of the year so far.
• And his first goal, scored at the end of the first period, also marked his career 200th point in the NHL.
• Tony DeAngelo had a 24th birthday to remember after recording his third goal in two games, and his fourth tuck of the year. The defenseman also picked up an assist on Ryan Strome’s goal.
• Artemi Panarin continues to impress with his defensive work, stealing the puck in the offensive zone before scoring the Ranger’s first goal of the night, while he also made an impressive play in the second period to jump on a puck from a faceoff to allow his team to make a line change after he had iced the puck.

• It was Panarin’s team-leading fifth goal of the year and he now has seven points on the year.
• Brett Howden recorded a two point night with a goal and an assist, while he also won 50 percent of his faceoffs and was +3 in over 16 minutes of total ice time.
• Brady Skjei quietly went about his business and finished the night with two assists, three shots on goal, two hits and a plus/minus rating in 21:34 minutes of total ice time.
• Brendan Lemieux bounced back from a horrible outing against the Arizona Coyotes and he was critical to the Rangers’ success, tallying an assist and meshing extremely well on a line with Brett Howden and Jesper Fast.
• Adam Fox picked up his first-ever point in the NHL with a primary helper on Chris Kreider’s goal in the third period, with Kreider no doubt relieved to have got that first one out of the way no matter how scruffy a goal it was.
• Pavel Buchnevich came out fighting and he played with a real hunger throughout the game, getting pucks on net, laying the body on and he also picked up an assist on Tony DeAngelo’s goal.
• Jesper Fast, who has been so impressive in the last week or so, began the third period on the top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad – a line that meshed so well together last year.
• And Fast tallied two assists to take his points total to six (two goals, four assists) through seven games. He has arguably been one of the Rangers’ best players to start the year.
• Jacob Trouba, who did a little bit of everything, gave MSG something else to cheer for late in the third period when he laid a huge hit on Buffalo forward Sam Reinhart.
• The Rangers were much better coming out of the zone and with the transition game in general, and a lot of players put that down to better communication.
• Henrik Lundqvist said in his postgame interview that the Rangers have to do the little things right, and they certainly did that against the Sabres tonight.
• Head Coach David Quinn’s decision to tweak the lines again largely paid off, with the new-look second line in particular showing a lot of promise.
• Kaapo Kakko had a mixed night with a -2 rating in just 11:47 minutes of total ice time, but he hung on in there, battled hard and nearly scored a goal on the power play after hitting the post.
• Jacob Trouba was an absolute horse on the blueline again and the defenseman led all Rangers skaters by quite some distance in average total ice time with 26:46.