The real lineup dominates in a 6-2 win

Okay, it was a Devils lineup that was half made up of prospects and tryouts, but that doesn’t take away from the dominant performance (for the most part) by the New York Rangers.  They took the lead and never looked back in a game that was entertaining and had more than a few story lines worth following.

There’s only one game left in the preseason and everything starts for real in a week,but if tonight was any indication, the Rangers are a team to be reckoned with.

They didn’t come out unscathed.  Ryan Reaves suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in the first period.  With the Rangers just a week away from their reunion with Tom Wilson, that is definitely bad news.  However, there were more positives than negatives from this game.

Apart from the well balanced offensive explosion there were four highlights.  First was the outstanding play of Sammy Blais who is doing his best to make Ranger fans forget Pavel Buchnevich.  Second was the emotion shown by Chris Kreider, something fans have been seeking for years.  Third was the Fox-Zibanejad connection that looks to be ready to really be a game changer this season.  Finally, it was a very solid effort from Igor Shesterkin, his best in a while.

Here is a five minutes video recap of the game if you didn’t watch.

Notes on the game

The Rangers fielded their entire starting lineup except for the third defense pairing of Nils Lundkvist and Jarred Tinordi.  Julien Gauthier was in the lineup as right wing on the third line in place of Vitali Kravtsov who is still recovering from an injury suffered last week.

Igor Shesterkin played the entire game and was totally dialed in. He was very, very good in the first period when the Devils had the Rangers on their heels and outshot the Blueshirts 13-6.  He earned and deserved the third star of the game.

The injury to Reaves came after 10 minutes of the first period.  It appeared to be sort of a slewfoot by P.K. Subban that caused the Ranger to topple awkwardly, twisting his knee in the process.  Reaves could put no weight on his right leg as he was helped off the ice.  After the game Gallant said it was day-to-day and it didn’t look took serious.

Subban was a marked man after that with Chris Kreider and Jarred Tinordi verbally confronting him right after the injury.   He was then hit by multiple Rangers anytime he was near the boards.

Chris Kreider showed more emotion  in this game than has been seen for years.  He attacked Subban at the drop of the puck to start the second period and after sitting out a ten minute misconduct, repeatedly hit Subban whenever he had the opportunity. The two scrapped at the beginning of the third period as well.

The shenanigans with Subban ended 10 minutes into the third period when both he and Barclay Goodrow were sent off with misconduct penalties, ending the game for the Devils defenseman.

After the game Gerard Gallant said that he thought it wasn’t a dirty play or a slew foot by Subban, but he did say he was pleased with the response from the team.  Subban address it as well and said that he was just trying to brace himself and their legs got caught up. He did say that he understood the Rangers’ reaction though it “surprised”him.

Early in the game, the fourth line was hemmed in their own zone, something that has happened in the past.  They’ve been solid in the offensive zone, but their own zone they had their challenges.

All six goals by the Rangers were outstanding.  Mika Zibanejad scored twice on one-timers.  Remember that last season, he didn’t connect on a one-timer for almost half the season.  He looks to be in mid-season form.

Kaapo Kakko was able to steal the puck when Michael McLeod tripped at the blue line.  Kakko had a breakaway and outraced Subban to the Devils’ zone and put it past Jonathan Bernier.

Sammy Blais scored the prettiest goal of the preseason, stickhandling through the Devils’ zone, cutting to the net and putting the puck past Bernier.  It was a sublime move and coming from a fourth liner, it was pure gravy.  After the game, Blais called it a little “magic.”

20 seconds later it was Barclay Goodrow putting in  the rebound of a Jacob Trouba point shot with Blais screening the goalie.

Artemi Panarin is never one to miss a goal scoring party and he put one home on a n excellent steal by Ryan Strome for the sixth and final Rangers’ goal.

Filip Chytil and Julien Gauthier both had numerous opportunities and never failed to go to the net, but they are snakebit and couldn’t score.  If going to the net is what Gerard Gallant is looking for, these guys are doing it.

Gauthier didn’t do anything to dissuade Gallant from keeping him around next week.  Except for an inability to finish, he has done everything asked of him.  Can he score? He’s had only two goals in 47 NHL games over three seasons.  Yet, he scored 26 goals in 44 AHL games three years ago and he had 69 goals in 184 AHL games over three seasons.

Nils Lundkvist had a solid game on defense, but with Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba in the lineup, he didn’t have as many opportunities to control the offense like he did in other games.   He didn’t do anything to lose a chance to stay in the NHL.  Gallant said as much after the game saying “I thought Lundkvist played very well tonight.”

Same goes for Jarred Tinordi who played his best preseason game.  The Reaves injury might be an opening for Tinordi if they are looking for more toughness.

Speaking of Adam Fox, he made an excellent keep-in that led to the first period Zibanejad goal.  It was a sublime pass from Fox to the Swede for the one-timer.

The Devils dominated the last ten minutes of the first period and it showed statistically. The outshot the Rangers 13-6 in the first period.  The Blueshirts had 26 shots to the Devils’ 21 over the final two periods.

The Rangers outhit the Devils 36-31.  Goodrow and Alexis Lafrenière led the way with five hits each. It’s worth noting that the Rangers haven’t lost when they have had over 30 hits.

The first period was a faceoff disaster, with the Devils winning 10 of 15 draws.  The shift in the Rangers’ focus the last two periods showed with them winning 23 of 40 faceoffs the rest of the way.  You may want to sit down when you read this.  Filip Chytil won nine of 12 draws.  Zibanejad and Kevin Rooney were both well over .500 with Ryan Strome the only sub .500 faceoff man.

The Rangers actually scored a goal with a two-man advantage.  It was Zibanejad’s second goal and came off another feed from Adam Fox.  The Rangers were 1-3 on the power play and killed both Devils’ man advantages.

The win improved the Rangers preseason record to 3-2.  It was the Devils’ first loss after four wins.

Next game

The final preseason game is Saturday night versus the Islanders in Bridgeport, Connecticut, home to the Islanders AHL team.  The game will be televised on MSG Plus and nationally on the NHL Network.

Look for Zac Jones, Libor Hajek and Morgan Barron to get into the game and for Alexandar Georgiev to get the start in goal.