New York Rangers: A homecoming for Jacob Trouba and Brendan Lemieux
The New York Rangers open a four game road trip with a key match versus the Jets. Besides playoff implications, it’s also the first return to Winnipeg for Jacob Trouba and Brendan Lemieux.
The New York Rangers contest with the Winnipeg Jets tonight is important for the Blueshirts as they continue to fight for a playoff spot. The other significant storyline is the meaning the game will have for three players.
For Jacob Trouba, it will be the first time he will return to the arena he called home for six seasons. For Brendan Lemieux it will be his first visit to the city where he made his NHL debut.
For Neal Pionk it will be a chance to show the hometown crowd that he was a worthwhile swap for Trouba, something they probably already know.
Trouba’s return
This will be an emotional return for Trouba. He was drafted by the Jets in 2012 and made his debut in the 2013-14 season. For six years he was one of the top defensemen for Winnipeg, but it also a tumultuous time with contract disputes and holdouts. At one point he made it well know that he wanted out of Winnipeg. As a result, his return may be greated with less enthusasm. David Quinn was tactful, saying “It’s not going to be the warmest homecoming for him.”
Trouba’s season has been solid, but considering his $8 million salary, he is under a microscope. He has seven goals and 16 assists and is headed for the second best offensive season of his career. That’s pretty good considering that he is not playing on the top power play unit and he has relinquished his role as the leading righthanded offensive blueliner to Adam Fox and Tony DeAngelo.
He leads the team in average ice time (22:56) and is constantly matched against the opposition’s top lines. Coach Quinn said that Trouba isn’t happy with his performance. “He’s been a little bit frustrated with himself…sometimes we lose sight of the pressure a player puts on himself. Too often a player of his magnitude, they try to do too much. I’m not just talking offensively, I’m just talking in general. I think he feels better about his game today than he has.”
Quinn continued, “One of the things that can happen is he can overthink things and mistakes are gonna happen but I think he takes mistakes to heart and then he tries to go out and do a little bit more to compensate for a mistake that’s been made…no one’s ever played a mistake free hockey game. He’s embracing that mindset and I think he’s gonna have a good night.”
Trouba is one of the more physical players on the Rangers roster and he wasn’t afraid to mix it up with his former college teammate Zach Hyman of Toronto. Quinn says he is becoming a leader on this team. “He does play with an edge so I think guys automatically respect him for it so I think there is that leadership element from the way he approaches the game.”
Trouba showed those qualities on opening night in his first game against the Jets when he scored a goal and added two assists in a 6-4 Rangers’ win.
About the Rangers
This is a very important two weeks in development of this young Rangers team. They have seven games before the trade deadline on February 24 with five of those games on the road. While there is probably no doubt in the minds of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton on whatever deadline strategy they will employ, but we will learn a lot about this team over the next two weeks.
The Rangers are closer than you think to being a real contender. If they were in the Western Conference they would be much more competitive and if only they had been able to get more games to overtime. Their seven overtime games are the fewest in the NHL and 11 teams in the East have double the number of extra point games. Add seven points to the Blueshirts’ season total and they would be in the thick of the playoff fight.
Artemi Panarin is in the first real slump (sort of) in his spectacular season. He has six points in his last eight games and has had a multi-point game only once in his last eight games. As a result, Ryan Strome‘s production has dried up with only three points in his last 11 games. The Rangers are 3-10 when Panarin doesn’t get on the scoreboard.
This will be the final meeting of the season between the two team. The Rangers won 6-4 on opening night at the Garden, scoring three third periods in a come from behind victory. If they can win it will be their first series win against Winnipeg since 2016-17.
The Rangers need to get better on the road. They are 11-11-2 so far this season and they play 17 of their last 28 games away from Madison Square Garden. As David Quinn said, “We’ve had some success on the road. Obviously, we have to have a lot more moving forward, especially over the next 10 games when we have eight of them on the road.”
Winnipeg would be a good place to start a road winning streak as the Jets are below .500 at Bell MTS Place this season at 14-12-3.
About the Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are in the wild, wild Western Conference and as a result, with 63 points in 57 games, they are in the first wild card spot. To compare to the Rangers, the Blueshirts have 58 points in 54 games. If the Rangers win their three games in hand, they have 64 points, one more than the Jets and that would be good for third place in the Pacific Division.
This is the third game of a six game homestand for Winnipeg. They’ve won the first two games and have been playing well at home, undefeated in their last four. They’ve been on a bit of a seesaw. They lost seven of eight games to close out January, but this month have rebounded with a 4-0-1 record.
The three hottest players on the team are Patrik Laine who has five goals in his last three games including a hat trick on Saturday against Ottawa. Kyle Connor who was honored as the NHL’s second star of the week on Monday and goalie Connor Hellebuyck who was the Jets representative at the All-Star game along with Mark Schiefele. The netminder is 3-0-1 since the game with a 1.99 goals-against average and .942 save percentage.
Statistically, as a team the Jets are smack in the middle of the NHL pack. They average 2.98 goals per game, good for 18th in the NHL and they allow 3.00 goals per game, 20th overall. The same goes for special teams. They are 26th best at the penalty kill (75.3%) and 14th on the power play (9.8%). The Rangers are better in both categories.
The Jets are led by their top line of Scheifele, Laine and Connor. Each player has over 20 goals, the only players to hit that mark on the team. Blake Wheeler centers a potent second line, but after that there is not much offense.
Former Ranger Neal Pionk leads all Jets defensemen in scoring, paired with Josh Morrissey. He plays the most minutes on the team and with 37 points he has exceeded last year’s total with the Rangers by 11. Looking at the numbers, he is having a better season than Trouba, but as mentioned, the new Ranger brings something else to the table. That said, Pionk has reversed his minus 16 rating of last season and is plus six this campaign.
Hellebuyck has been a workhorse in net, starting 44 of 57 games. He has a goals against average of 2.67 and a save percentage of .920. second only to Ben Bishop among goaltenders who have started more than 30 games.
Three Keys to winning
- Stop the top line – The trio of Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele have scored 75 goals. That’s 48% of the goals scored by forwards on the Jets. With that line providing half of the offense, stopping them is key. Scheifele in particular has fared well against the Rangers with 10 points in 12 games including six goals.
- Keep the third line rolling – There was a decent chemistry developing between Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Phil Di Guiseppe. David Quinn needs to let the trio play together to see if this could be a viable option the rest of the season. They compliment each other well and this line could be a keeper.
- The prince needs to win on the road – Igor Shesterkin has passed every test the Rangers have thrown at him. Here’s one more as he has yet to start a game on the road. How will he do away from the friendly confines of Madison Square Garden?
Game info
The game starts an hour later than usual, 8pm EST. The game will be televised on the MSG Network with the radiocast on ESPN Radio 98.7FM.
Blue Line Station’s live thread will be up about a half hour before gametime. Join in and talk about the game with fellow Blueshirt fans.
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