Quick Hits – Rangers vs Capitals 4/5/17

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Here is my recap of the Rangers 2-0 loss to the Washington Capitals

  • Depth Players – In a game where Alain Vigneault decided to sit six of his regulars, the much-hailed depth of the Rangers was put to the test. Tanner Glass made his presence felt with four hits, Matt Puempel had three shots on goal and Brandon Pirri had two shots and three hits. As for the defense, Clendening, Kampfer, and Klein as a group did not have such a good night. In an attempt to block Alex Ovechkin’s PPG in the second, Klein deflected the shot past Henrik Lundqvist. Clendening got beat a lot in the corners, and aside from one takeaway, Kampfer didn’t do a whole lot himself. This game was not one that the Rangers “needed”, but it did allow the coaching staff to see what they have waiting in the wings.

    • “Because we had a little bit of cap room, we were able to call up a few guys. I think this is gonna help us here moving forward. It’s given everybody a chance here to get a little more ice time and keep our bodies fresh.” – AV

  • Michael Grabner – I don’t know what has happened to the Austrian born winger,
    but he has lost all of his early season magic. He has had numerous chances in the last few weeks but has only scored once since February 9. He is in some kind of funk, and he will need to figure it out when the playoffs start. He gets at least one breakaway a night and is going to have to start putting the puck in the net. Otherwise, it just becomes a giant waste of time.
  • Dan Girardi/Marc Staal – On a night where the two elder statesmen of the blue line needed to step up,
    they both played solid games. While Girardi was on the ice for the Kuznetsov goal, he was the second man in on the forecheck and wasn’t covered for properly. Aside from that, he played well in shutting down the opposition. As for Staal, he had four shots, two hits, and three blocked shots. He has been steady this season on the back end
    and has bounced back nicely from his struggles last year.
  • Henrik Lundqvist – All things considered, Henrik had a solid night himself. He made 23 saves on the night, including a couple of beauties like this one in the first period. Henrik kept this game within reach and made some key saves. It wasn’t the result he may have wanted, but it was a good building block for the playoffs.

    • NEXT GAME: The Rangers will play their final road game of the season on Saturday when they head north of the border to face the Senators. Puck drops at 12:30!

    LET’S GO RANGERS!!

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