Rangers

New York Rangers Face Critical Five Game Stretch

by
New York Rangers, Artemi Panarin

The New York Rangers are facing a critical five-game stretch coming off the NHL holiday break. The Blueshirts are sitting eight points out of the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and must make a strong showing during these key match-ups in order to keep that wild card spot within reach. The challenge for these next five games comes in two parts.

Part One: Back-to-Back Games

The Rangers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in their only home matchup of this stretch. The Hurricanes are 23-13-2 on the season but are facing a two-game losing streak after giving up eight goals in their last game to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The good news for the Rangers is that Carolina has gone 5-22 in the previous 27 meetings in New York.  Nonetheless, the Rangers will have to deal with one of the better offenses in the league. The Blueshirts will then travel to Toronto on Saturday to face the Maple Leafs in an Original Six, “Hockey Night in Canda” matchup. The Leafs defeated the Rangers last week 6-3 at MSG.

Part Two: Trip to Western Canada

Leaving their golf clubs behind, the Blueshirts head out west for three games against Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.  These teams sit in third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively, in the mediocre Pacific Division.

On New Year’s Eve, while many of us are preparing to watch the ball drop in Times Square, The Rangers will square off with the Oilers in a 9 PM (ET) face-off. After a strong start to the season, the Oilers are 3-6-1 over the last ten games. On January 2nd, the Rangers will travel to Calgary to face the Flames, who have been shutout twice in their previous five games. The Rangers will then be the late game feature for “Hockey Night in Canada” when they travel to Vancouver on January 4th for a 10 PM (ET) game against the Canucks.  Vancouver came into the holiday break on a three-game win streak, with their most recent victory coming against Edmonton.  We will all get a clear idea of where the Rangers playoff hopes stand after these five games.

 

New York Rangers Have a Power Outage on Their Power Play

by
New York Rangers, Mika Zibanejad

The New York Rangers and parts of the state of California have had similar problems recently. Parts of California have been cutting electricity so that their electrical equipment would not start widespread fires. One such shutdown affected 25 counties around the San Francisco area. The Blueshirts are having an outage on their power play, going 0-3 Friday night to make it nine straight times they have failed to score on their man-up opportunities.

Too much passing on the power play for the New York Rangers

In Friday’s loss to Toronto, they went 0-for-3 on the power play, extending their streak to nine man-advantage opportunities without a goal. One of the criticisms of the Blueshirts has been the reluctance to take shots during their man-up situations.  Their head coach agrees. “Our problem — whether it be five-on-five or five-on-four — is we too often will only shoot the puck if we think we’re going to score,” coach David Quinn said. “We will not shoot the puck if we think we’re going to create a chance for somebody else. And that’s why, over the last year-plus, our shooting percentage has been so high in the league. It’s because too often we only shoot when we think we’re going to score.” The Rangers’ hesitancy to shoot has been amplified in the last three games, where a timely goal could have made a drastic difference.

How can the power play improve?

Head Coach David Quinn and his coaching staff have tried to get the message across to their players about the recent power play performances.  Quinn wants the Rangers to be more committed to getting the puck and bodies to the net instead of playing on the outside while in search of the perfect goal. He has stated in the past that “We talk about where people are [on the ice] and whatnot, but I mean, you have to have pace on your power play. You have to be ready to shoot — you can’t stand there and stick-handle it. ”

Sunday’s chance to turn things around

The Rangers will get an opportunity to fix their power play and end their three-game losing streak when they host Anaheim on Sunday afternoon. The Ducks are situated at the bottom of the Western Conference standings but do rank in the top ten in power plays defended.  Henrik Lundqvist will get the start in goal for the Blueshirts.

 

New York Rangers top Winnipeg Jets in wild home opener

by
New York Rangers

The New York Rangers opened their season having high expectations in which they beat the Winnipeg Jets 6-4 in a wild back-and-forth home opener.

“It was exciting,” said Mika Zibanejad. “It was a hard-fought game… we didn’t play that well in the first two, I thought we did some good things but not often do you get a good 20 minute period and get a win from that.”

Marc Stall scored the first goal of the season in the first period to give the Rangers a lead and then the game was tied up with a goal by Mark Scheifele in the remaining three minutes of period one.

In his first game as a Ranger, Artemi Panarin gave them a 2-1 lead 27 seconds into the second period and then the game was all tied up 30 seconds later by a goal from Blake Wheeler. Jacob Trouba scored his first NHL goal later that period and then again was quickly followed by another goal from Blake Wheeler.

The Rangers broke open the game in the third period with three unanswered goals, one being an open-netter. Mika Zibanejad, who only had 30 goals last season, scored first followed by Brett Howden and Brendan Smith.

Beginning his 15th season in the NHL, Henrik Lundqvist allowed the four goals on 47 shots.

“I feel really good,” said Lundqvist before the game. “I’m happy with where I am physically, technically and mentally. My timing is good. I’m moving well.”

The New York Rangers will play their next game Saturday against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Center.