Alexandar Georgiev

The New York Rangers mid-season report card

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With the New York Rangers playing just over half of their games for the 2020-21 season, it is time to assess how the Blueshirts have played to this point.

Going into Sunday night’s action, the Rangers are 13-13-4, sitting in sixth place in the East Division. They are six points behind the Boston Bruins for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Having one of the youngest teams in the league, inconsistency was to be expected, and it has happened.

New York Rangers forwards grade: C

Much of the forwards issues center around Mika Zibanejad. To be fair, his slow start could have been due to his bout with COVID-19 during training camp. Even though he will not say it, this appears to have been a huge factor in his slow start.

Nevertheless, the Ranger’s offense was not as it was last year, even though they have many of the same cast, along with the addition of the first overall pick.

In 2019-20, the Rangers averaged 3.33 goals per game to rank fifth in the NHL. This year, they are averaging 3.00 goals per game, good for just 15th place ranking in the league.

It has not helped that Artemi Panarin missed 11 games with an injury and a personal leave of absence. He was sorely missed during this time.

The Ranger’s power play has struggled, possibly missing Tony DeAngelo who did do a fine job of being the quarterback for that unit. Lost

Lost faceoffs have been an issue for the offense and the power play. too many times this season, the Ranger’s power play seems to be chasing the puck back in their own end, after losing a faceoff and having their opponents clear the puck.

New York Rangers defense-grade: B+

New assistant coach Jacques Martin has done an outstanding job of getting this unit ready for the season.

In addition to Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller has been a pleasant surprise in his rookie season.

Last year under defensive coach Lindy Ruff, the Rangers ranked 23rd in goals against (3.14 per game) and 30th in shots allowed (34.0 per). This season, the Rangers rank 11th in goals against (2.68) and eighth in shots allowed (28.6). This is even with some inconsistent goaltending.

The penalty kill has been superb. A group that finished 23rd last season is ranked fourth this year. They are pressuring the puck more and force opposition power plays to move it quickly. The defense still needs to be a little tougher in front of the net (think Alex Ovechkin‘s two goals Friday night), but overall this unit has been very solid.

New York Rangers goaltending grade: C

The Rangers can thank Keith Kinkaid for receiving even this high of a mark.

Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev were supposed to be the one-two punch in the net for now and the future. Besides the Islander’s shutout, Georgiev has given up way too many soft goals. He is also getting himself out of position, leaving the net open for opponents. (Again, reflect back on Ovechkin’s first goal on Friday)

While Shesterkin still recovers from a “minor” groin strain, he has also been guilty of giving up too many soft goals.

Think about it, have the Rangers won a game this year when they were outplayed? No, because the goalies have been unable to steal even a single one in the first half of the season.

New York Rangers coaching grade: Incomplete

While basing head coach David Quinn has been fashionable, the reality of what is going on in the world has made it necessary to not evaluate a coaching staff until the entire season has been completed.

Plus, it would be a bit insensitive to grade a coaching staff who is sitting home due to the NHL COVID protocols. It is possible that one or even more of the coaches have contracted the virus.

While it is great to win games, one of the other tasks of a coach is to teach and develop players. One can argue that he has done that with some, and not so much with others.

Overall, Quinn and the Rangers are sitting exactly at the point in the standings that many pundits thought they would be at, and where they will be at the end of the season.

After the season is the best time, especially during a pandemic, to look at how the coaching staff has done their jobs.

 

 

 

 

New York Rangers fall on two Ovechkin third period goals

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The New York Rangers took a one-goal lead into the third period, but Alex Ovechkin scored twice in the third period and the Washington Capitals rallied for their seventh consecutive win by the score of 2-1.

Artemi Panarin scored the first and only Ranger goal at 16:42 of the first period. Per the fine people at NYR Stats&Info, Panarin extended his point streak to four games. He has also registered a point in each of his last eight games against the Capitals and has tallied 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his last five games against Washington.

Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev allowed just those two goals to Ovechkin on 18 shots in the loss.

The New York Rangers were done in by Ovechkin

Coming into the game, Ovechkin had six goals and one assist over the last 10 games for Washington.  He recorded his 147th career multi-goal game and tied Gordie Howe for fourth place on the League’s all-time list. Ovechkin has seven goals in his past seven games and 720 in the NHL, 11 behind Marcel Dionne for fifth place in NHL history.

After the game, Jacob Trouba talked about the game and the Ovechkin goals in his post-game Zoom conference. “We had some breakdowns but we liked how we played. He had a couple of rebounds in the last five minutes, it’s tough to lose that way. That is a team that has been playing really well and they have some high-powered offensive weapons.”

Acting coach Kris Knoblauch said in his post-game Zoom conference that “I think on the first Ovechkin goal it was a matter of sorting out who was the first man back. Goal scorers find a way to score goals and usually it is around the net. It was a small mistake but ultimately you can’t keep him off the score sheet all the time.”

There was a little bit of good news on Friday, as the Rangers reported that goaltender Igor Shesterkin skated Friday morning and remains day to day with a strained groin. Keith Kinkaid backed up Georgiev while Shesterkin missed his eighth consecutive game since getting injured on March 4.

The two teams will square off again in Washington with a 7 p.m. puck drop.

 

 

New York Rangers rally behind substitute coaches in beating the Flyers 9-0

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On an unusual night, the New York Rangers showed some unusual offensive prowess in beating the Philadelphia Flyers 9-0.

What made this game unusual was that head coach David Quinn and assistants Jacques Martin, David Oliver, and Greg Brown were not available for the game. They are were out due to the NHL COVID-19 protocol guidelines.

Kris Knoblauch, coach of Hartford of the American Hockey League, the Rangers’ affiliate, replaced Quinn as acting coach for the game. Hartford associate coach Gord Murphy and Rangers associate general manager Chris Drury were the assistants.

The Rangers responded in a big way with their 9 goal output. In his post-game Zoom interview, goalie Alexandar Georgiev said of the nine-goal effort: “I have no words, to be honest. It was surreal. I obviously tried to focus on my job but you could not ignore how unbelievable the guys were playing.” Georgiev stopped all 26 shots to earn the shutout victory. This was a big win for the young goaltender after being pulled in his last two games.

Mika Zibanejad tallied six points in the New York Ranger victory

Mika Zibanejad was nothing short of brilliant in tying an NHL record by scoring six points in the second period of the New York Rangers’ win. Zibanejad scored a natural hat trick and had three assists to join former New York Islanders center Bryan Trottier as the only players to score six points in a period of an NHL game.

Pavel Buchnevich scored four points (two goals, two assists) after missing the game Monday, a 5-4 overtime loss against the Flyers because he was on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list. Buchnevich was only told of him being eligible to play this morning. After the game, he told the media that “I don’t know what was going on there, I have the antibodies.”

Artemi Panarin, Brendan Lemieux, and Filip Chytil also scored goals for the Rangers.

In his post-game Zoom conference, Zibanejad talked about how the team came together after hearing about the coaches who were placed on the list. “You get a little shock when you hear that, you just have to be able to adapt. We came together as a group and played for each other.”

They will need to come together regardless of who is on the bench as the Rangers travel to Washington on Friday and Saturday to take on the division-leading Capitals.

 

 

 

 

The New York Rangers shutout in “frustrating” loss to Boston

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New York Rangers, Mika Zibanejad

Normally, an article about the New York Rangers would start with a little summary of what happened in the game. Not tonight. This article is going to jump right into post-game comments after a very poor showing in a 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins.

In his post-game Zoom conference, Jacob Trouba explained that the Rangers were trying to give it their full effort on the ice. “I don’t think it spiraled out of control. Obviously, we had some breakdowns that led to goals, but I don’t think it totally fell off a cliff.”

“Frustrating.” head coach David Quinn said in his post-game Zoom conference. “I thought we had a good start, was playing well, and had some chances early. The short-handed goal was the backbreaker in a lot of ways. You could kind of sense it. They got goals on their chances and we didn’t.”

Quinn was also disappointed by the lack of production from the Ranger’s power-play. “Our power-play obviously has to be fixed. They get a power-play goal and special teams were really the difference tonight.”

Echoing Jacob Trouba’s comments, Quinn said that “We kept competing right up to the buzzer. We got down 4-0 and it could have got ugly but we kept playing. There are certainly some positives to take out of it and we have to dust ourselves off and get ready to play Saturday afternoon.”

Quinn also mentioned that a lot of the issues for the Rangers was that when they make mistakes, they are big mistakes. This helps explain why the Rangers have been outscored 13-3 in their last three losses.

Takeaways from the New York Rangers loss to Boston

For the second straight time that he has started, Alexandar Georgiev was pulled during the game with just under five minutes gone in the second period. The young Russian gave up four goals in fourteen shots. On the four goals, Boston scored shorthanded, even strength, and on the power play.

Keith Kinkaid finished the game for the Blueshirts by stopping all 13 shots he faced.

Up until tonight, the Rangers had been outstanding in killing penalties. They had not allowed a power-play goal in 15 of their last 17 games, including nine of the last 10 games and each of the last seven games. The Rangers had killed off 54 of their opponents’ 58 power-play opportunities over the last 18 games and have held their opponents to only 73 shots on goal during their opponents’ 58 power-play opportunities over the span.

The two teams will play again Saturday afternoon.

 

 

Who will the New York Rangers start in goal on Tuesday night?

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The New York Rangers have a bit of a quandary for Tuesday night’s matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. After Alexandar Georgiev was pulled in Sunday night’s loss, many will wonder if head coach David Quinn will give the young Russian another chance. However, the decision is not quite that easy considering that Kieih Kinkaid played very well in relief. He did give up two goals on odd-man rushes but otherwise was quite solid in net.

After Sunday night’s game, Quinn said that it has not given any thought on who would start in net on Tuesday night. As the Rangers did not practice on Monday, we have no idea who will start. If Igor Shesterkin is healthy, he would probably get the nod. But we may not know what is going on until the morning skate at the earliest. Even though Shesterkin’s groin pull was listed as minor, it would still appear that playing Tuesday night might be rushing things too quickly. So the decision may come down to Georgiev vs. Kinkaid.

Why the New York Rangers would start Keith Kinkaid

The biggest reason would be that he played well on Sunday night, even though he had not seen NHL action since  Nov. 30, 2019, as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

Teammate Jacob Trouba had some good things to say about Kinkaid’s game during his post-game Zoon conference. “Especially me over the last two weeks, I got to see him a lot in practice and how he’s working and staying sharp,” Trouba said. “He got a chance to get in there, and he made some big saves for us and definitely kept us in that game as long as he could. He made some huge saves and it’s good to see out of him, seeing how hard he works and knowing the kind of guy he is. It’s positive for everyone to see.”

Quinn knows about Kinkaid from their college days when Kinkaid was the goaltender for Union College. The Rangers signed him for two years the last offseason.  While having an extra goalie during COVID-19 was needed, they wanted to have a qualifying goalie under contract to expose in the Seattle expansion draft. This way, they could keep both Shesterkin and Georgiev.

Even despite the three goals in 61 seconds against Pittsburgh, Georgiev was a little shaky against the Devils on Saturday afternoon. MSG analyst Steve Valiquette made a very solid point during the telecast. He pointed out that on P.K Subban’s slapshot goal from the blue line, this was a shot the Georgiev usually stops. Valiquette stated that Georgiev, when he has a clear view, had not allowed a goal on 257 shots from that distance in the last three years.

Why Georgiev will start for the New York Rangers

From a confidence standpoint, Quinn may want to start Georgiev so that the young netminder does not lose confidence in himself. At this point, everyone knows what Georgiev is capable of doing in goal. Putting him right back in there would signal that the Rangers have confidence in his abilities.

It should also be noted that Georgiev is not solely responsible for these goals. In the second New Jersey goal that temporarily tied the game, Adam Fox got caught up ice on a turnover, and Filip Chytil was beaten to the net.

The second of the three Penguin goals happened in part because K’Andre Miller fell at the blue line. On the third goal, Sidney Crosby split two defenders and beat Georgiev. Crosby has beat many of a goaltender during his time in the NHL.

So the Rangers have a bit of a small goalie controversy going into Tuesday night’s game. It will be interesting to see who the Rangers decide on to be their goalie when the puck drops at 6 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New York Rangers doomed by poor stretch of 61 seconds in loss to Penguins

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New York Rangers

The game started well for the New York Rangers. After scoring an early first-period goal, the Pittsburgh Penguins scored three times in a matter of 61 seconds late in the first en route to a 5-1 victory.

Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring for the Rangers with a goal at the 1:18 mark of the first period. Pavel Buchnevich had the primary assist, which was his 100th career NHL assist. After a slow start to the season, Zibanejad has tallied a point in three of the last four games (one goal, two assists). He has now registered six points (two goals, four assists) in the last eight games.

Zibanejad was not really in a celebrating mood after the game saying in his Zoom conference: “It didn’t really matter this game, so we’ll just move on.”

Penguins quick three goals doom the New York Rangers

That was because the Penguins scored those three goals at the end of the first period. John Marino tied it 1-1 at 16:13, two seconds after a Penguins power play expired. Kaspari Kapanen then scored on a breakaway to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 16:52. Sidney Crosby made it 3-1 at 17:14. After taking a pass from Brian Dumoulin, Crosby split the Rangers defense before scoring.

After the three-goal outburst, Alexandar Georgiev was pulled in favor of Keith Kinkaid, who had 16 saves in relief. He gave up two late third-period goals on odd-man rushes but was solid throughout his time in net.

Head coach David Quinn did not commit on which goaltender he would start on Tuesday night.

The Rangers played well in the second period and for most of the third period after the disastrous minute in the third period.

Jacob Trouba said after the game in his Zoom conference that the Rangers tried to regroup after the first period but added “Give the Penguins some credit too, they got the lead and they played a pretty tight game defensively.”

The Rangers and Penguins will tangle again on Tuesday night, part of NBCSN’s Hockey Happy Hour. The puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m.

 

The New York Rangers have another strong offensive game in defeating the Devils

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New York Rangers, Ryan Strome

The New York Rangers scored six goals in a game for the second time in two games against the New Jersey Devils. On Saturday, this resulted in a 6-3 victory over the Devils. The Rangers have tallied at least six goals in two consecutive road games against the Devils for the first time since they moved to New Jersey prior to the start of the 1982-83 season.

Ryan Strome scored twice while Adam Fox, Kevin Rooney Libor Hajek, and Filip Chytil also scored for the Blueshirts.

Alexandar Georgiev stopped 24 shots and also picked up an assist on Fox‘s coast-to-coast power-play goal. It was his fourth career NHL assist.

Julien Gauthier had two assists, posting a multi-assist game, and a multi-point game for the first time in his NHL career.

Not only was it the second straight game with six goals, but the Rangers have also had many players contribute to the effort. Five different Blueshirts have tallied a goal and 11 different NYR have recorded at least one point. The Rangers have tallied 9 goals over the last 4 periods, and 9 different players have tallied a goal over the span (Kreider, Buchnevich, Smith, Lafrenière, Fox, Strome, Rooney, Hajek, Chytil), per NYR Stats&Info.

Many of the young Rangers contributed to the effort in the win. Per NYR Stats&Info, six Ranger players 23 years old or younger have tallied a point in the win (Fox, Kakko, Chytil, Gauthier, Hajek, Miller). At least one player 23 years old or younger has recorded a point on each of the team’s four goals thus far in the game.

Head coach David Quinn praised his young players during his post-game Zoom conference. “Look how quickly they have adapted,” Quinn said. “I give these kids a lot of credit, it is not easy to develop in the National Hockey League. This isn’t a league where you develop. It’s a dramatic change in their hockey life.”

Filip Chytil makes a welcome return for the New York Rangers

Chytil had a goal and an assist, playing in only his ninth game this season after suffering an injury. After the game, he talked about returning to play after not playing in five weeks in his post-game Zoom conference. “Today it felt like a good game from my side, but it could have been better. Of course, I am playing wing now instead of center, but I am happy for the two points for the team.”

Quinn also talked about the return of Chytil to the team. “There was certainly more flashes of his speed, the things he can do for us offensively, pushing people back and generate offense. He is still finding his way with the injury he had.”

Hockey Day in America takes place this Sunday, March 7 with a quadruple-header on NBC and NBCSN. The Rangers will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins in the finale of the four games, with a puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New York Rangers will be without Igor Shesterkin for at least Saturday

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After practice on Friday, New York Ranger’s head coach David Quinn confirmed that goaltender Igor Shesterkin will miss at least Saturday’s game at New Jersey. Shesterkin suffered the lower-body injury late in the third period of the Ranger’s 6-1 victory over New Jersey. Shesterkin seemed to hurt his right leg with just under six minutes to play when he stretched to stop a 2-on-1 break and shot by Damon Severson. He went down without contact and had to be helped off the ice, dragging the leg.

Shesterkin did not practice on Friday. Alexandar Georgiev and Kieth Kinkaid were in the net for the practice session. Quinn did confirm that Georgiev will start against the Devils on Saturday afternoon while stating that they have yet to get feedback on Shesterkin’s injury.

Later on Friday, the Rangers updated his status and reported that Shesterkin is day-to-day with a mild groin strain.

Quinn also shared after practice that Kaapo Kakko will play for the first time after being placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 List.

The New York Rangers expected to elevate Kinkaid from the taxi squad.

For this season, due to the pandemic, the NHL created taxi squads consisting of between 4-6 players per team, including a minimum of one goalie. The players will practice and travel and be available in case a team needs to recall a player on short notice.

Mollie Walker of the New York Post reported through the Rangers PR department that Kinkaid will backup Georgiev on Saturday.

Kinkaid, the veteran NHL goalie was signed by the Rangers for just such a purpose. He signed as a free agent to a two-year, $1.65 million contract with the New York Rangers on October 9, 2020.

The Long Island native signed an entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils in April 2011 after his sophomore season with Union College.

After time in the Devils and Columbus Blue Jacket’s organization, Kinkaid spent last season as a member of the Montreal Canadiens organization. He played six games for the Canadiens, posting a .875 save percentage. Kinkaid was placed on waivers on December 2, 2019. After going unclaimed off waivers, he was assigned to the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, Laval Rocket. In his first return to the AHL since the 2014–15 season, Kinkaid collected just 3 wins in 13 games with the Rocket. On February 29, 2020, Kinkaid was re-assigned on loan by the Canadiens to the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, the primary affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes.

 

 

 

 

Chris Kreider’s hat trick leads New York Rangers to win over New Jersey

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New York Rangers

You are not reading the game reports from Feb 24. Chris Kreider did get another hat trick on Thursday night to lead the New York Rangers to a 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils. Pavel Buchnevich, Brendan Smith, and Alexis Lafreniere scored the other goals.

The Rangers have tallied five goals in a road game at New Jersey (not including the 2014 Stadium Series, which was technically a Rangers road game at Yankee Stadium) for the first time since Dec.12, 2008.

Igor Shesterkin had 32 saves before leaving late in the third period due to an injury. Alexandar Georgiev came to relieve him and recorded three saves.

After the game head coach David Quinn said in his Zoom conference that Shesterkin has a lower-body injury and that the team will know more tomorrow morning.

If Shesterkin has to miss any time, Keith Kinkaid would likely be called up from the taxi squad.

Chris Kreider gets the second hat trick of the season for the New York Rangers.

With his second hat trick in his last five games, Kreider has recorded a goal/point in five of the last six games. Coming into the game, he was tied for eighth in the NHL in power-play goals and is tied for 13th in the NHL in goals this season, and will be moving up those ranks after tonight’s performance. In addition, Kreider is one of only two NHL players who have registered at least 10 goals and 40 hits this season. He is easily been the catalyst for the Blueshirts recently, has nine goals and two assists over the last 11 games.

There are other New York Rangers who extended streaks.

In addition to his own goal, Lafreniere earned an assist on the Buchnevich goal. He has tallied a point in five of the last six games. He also tallied his first multi-point game in the NHL. Speaking of Buchnevich, he has tallied eight points (four goals, four assists) in the last eight games. He leads the Rangers in points at 5-on-5 this season, and he has notched a point in eight of the team’s nine wins in 2020-21.

Mika Zibanejad spends a large period of time on the New York Rangers bench.

After having only just over three minutes of ice team in the first period, Mika Zibanejad spent the first part of the second period on the bench. He finished with just over 13 minutes of ice-time for the game but did get an assist on the Lafreniere goal.

When asked about Zibanejad’s playing time Quinn said: “I think he’s letting the stats and all the pressure slow him down a little bit. I think it’s getting to him. This is a guy that’s been a fearless and courageous player. He is just trying to find his game.” Quinn also added that he thought Zibnejad played better after the benching.

The two teams will play again on Saturday with a 1 p.m. puck drop.

The New York Rangers fall flat in matinee loss to the Boston Bruins

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After scoring a season-high six goals on Friday night, the New York Rangers could only muster one goal, falling 4-1 to the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins looked more like a first-place team after losing four of their last five. They did not allow the Rangers to get many solid scoring chances, and only giving up a Colin Blackwell goal in the third period.

After the game, Brendan Smith said in his post-game Zoom conference that “They came out playing pretty hard. They defended really well. You’ve got to tip your hat to them.”

New York Ranger’s goalie misses a large part of the first period due to an injury

In the first period, the Bruin’s Nick Ritchie “fell” on Ranger’s goaltender Alexandar Georgiev during a scramble in front of the net. Georgiev has a cut around the eye and required some medical attention before returning to play.

However, after Charlie Coyle scored the first Boston goal, Georgiev was removed from the game due to concussion protocol and was replaced by Igor Shesterkin. Georgiev returned for the second period and finished the game.

In his post-game interview, Georgiev said that he is ok and that the injury did not have any impact on Coyle’s goal.

Head coach David Quinn was asked after the game why Georgiev was not pulled directly after the injury. “I was told he was OK, so we kept him in.” Quinn said “(Head trainer Jim Ramsay) worked on him and said he was fine. Then the NHL buzzed down and said they wanted to look at him.”

Whether or not the fall on Georgiev was accidental, Brandan Lemieux made it very clear that it was not appreciated. Lemieux and Ritchie engaged in a little scrum at the closing minutes of the third period.

Shesterkin was tagged with the loss, giving up one goal on two shots. Georgiev ended the game with 31 saves.

The Rangers return to action Tuesday night when they host the Buffalo Sabres.