Rangers’ Electrifying First Impression: A Blaze of Brilliance
The Rangers Special Teams Spectacle:
The Rangers delivered on both sides in special teams. They pounced on a hooking penalty late in the first period by Zach Benson, who was making his NHL debut after the Sabres selected the 18-year-old with the thirteenth overall pick in this Summer’s draft. It only took the Blueshirts 16 seconds to tally on their first power play of the season.
The Blueshirts wasted no time, scoring just 16 seconds into their first power play of the season. Chris Kreider’s stick deflected an Adam Fox point shot and found the back of the net. This power-play goal marked Kreider’s 35th since the 2021-22 season started, putting him on par with his linemate, Mika Zibanejad, in that category. The assist was also the 200th of Adam Fox’s career.
In his NHL debut, 18-year-old Benson hit the ice for 14: 27, mainly playing on the right wing alongside center Casey Mittelstadt and Jordan Greenway.
Benson made quite an impact, firing two shots on goal and even managed to get under Zibanejad’s skin when he made contact with Shesterkin’s glove.
“After the first three shifts, I think, settled in, but I think we played a good game overall,” Benson said. “Just a couple bounces the other way and it ended up in our net.”
Benson and the Sabres also struggled against New York’s penalty kill, who held firm in the third through consecutive penalties.
Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren blocked shots before Mika Zibanejad picked up the puck and raced into the offensive zone. He avoided a Dahlin check and found Kreider, who scored a shorthanded goal to make it 4-1 with 8:26 remaining. It was his eighth shorthanded tally since the 2021-22 season, the most in the NHL.
Laviolette praised their “courageous” penalty kill. Yet the team was also courageous at even strength with 23 blocked shots, 13 coming in the third period.
Peter Laviolettes’ Tactical Brilliance Shines Through:
The Rangers held it down defensively, locking down the neutral zone and keeping a tight grip on Buffalo’s time with the puck. The Sabres were left scratching their heads after the game. They couldn’t get anything against the Rangers’ 1-3-1 neutral zone trap.
They didn’t even manage a shot on goal in the second period until there were just 6:10 remaining. It was a tough nut to crack for Buffalo’s offense.
“We obviously have struggled against the 1-3-1 in the past, and we got to figure out how to play a simpler game when we play it because we just overcomplicated it tonight,” Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said.
The Rangers also dominated Buffalo at the faceoff dot, winning 63.7% (38/60) of the draws. Vincent Trocheck led the team with 12 wins, while Nick Bonino, who also had four blocks, won nine.
However, according to Sabres coach Dan Granato, their main struggle was getting the puck to the net. They only managed to score when winger JJ Peterka found the back of the net at 18:30 into the second period.
It happened swiftly after Trouba blocked Owen Power’s shot. It was a quick response. Speaking of Power, this was the defenseman’s first game after signing a 7-year, $58.45 million ($8.35 million AAV) extension on Wednesday.
“It was a shot, it was blocked, but it pulled them out of structure,” Granato said. “… We did not have the ability or execute tactically the right ways to pull teams out of structure and get a random and speed game going, and that has to do with an unwillingness to shoot a shot initially.
“So, again, if you look at the goal, it was a shot. And any chances we had, there was a shot prior and it creates a random situation we can jump on.”
Speaking of shots, Buffalo had 25 of them, including 13 in the third period. Yet they couldn’t solve Igor Shesterkin, who made 24 saves with a +1.23 goals saved above expected and collected the 100th win of his career.
Laviolette’s hard work during training camp was evident on the ice. He commented, “There’s a lot that went into training camp. They worked really hard, and it’s nice to – we called it before the game – take it for a test drive.”
Except this wasn’t a test drive; it was real. These Blueshirts were outmuscled and outplayed by the Sabres in their meetings last season. Here, they were stronger, faster, and wiser. They bested Levi, who made 26 saves on 30 shots with a -0.86 goals saved above expected.
New York’s fifth goal came on an empty net shot from Trouba. The captain, who had a game-high eight blocks on the evening, scored as a result of hard work by his teammates.
After Zibanejad lost the defensive zone draw, Kreider came to his aid and forced a Buffalo turnover right to Trouba, who sent it on a straight line toward the yawning cage at the other end of the ice.
With a 5-1 victory, the Rangers got the season off to a roaring start, and now they’re headed to Columbus on Saturday night at 7PMET for their next challenge against the Blue Jackets. It was a fantastic performance with a lot to look forward to. Let’s keep that fire burning!