Quick Hits – Rangers vs Kings 3/26/17

Here is my recap of the Rangers 3-0 win over the LA Kings

  • Derek Stepan – Derek Stepan’s struggles the last few months have been well documented, but he has not let his goal scoring woes take away from the rest of his game. And in this one, he got the Blueshirts on the board. After linemate Mats Zuccarello negated an icing, he fed the puck back to the point. Brendan Smith took the pass and fired one wide off the boards, and the carom landed right on the stick of Stepan. It was the alternate captain’s 14th goal of the season, and his 50th point. He may not be scoring goals as often as he would like, but he is playing well in all three zones and that is what matters most.

https://twitter.com/NHLDaily365/status/845853082084892672

“I thought we had six D and four lines playing really well.” – Derek Stepan

 

  • Dan Girardi – After missing the last 12 games with an ankle injury, the night couldn’t have gone a whole lot better for the Rangers defenseman. And while he did make some mistakes, including three giveaways, he was in good position and put his body on the line to block a couple shots. The icing on the cake would be the assist on the empty netter from Nash, which came after Girardi took a hit to make the pass. Girardi being back on the ice gives the Rangers defense a little bit of stability, and the willingness to block shots helps out the goaltenders.

READ: GIRARDI’S ROAD TO REDEMPTION HERE

  • Special Teams – Whether the goal gets credited to Ryan McDonagh or Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers power play cashed in when they needed a goal. After Zibanejad won the faceoff, Zuccarello passed the puck to McDonagh, who fired one past Jonathan Quick. It looked like it was deflected by Zibanejad, but either way, it was the Rangers eighth power play goal in the team’s last eight games. As for the penalty kill, it went a perfect 3/3, including two penalties in the third period. Hopefully this performance by the PK will get them going back in the right direction as the season winds down.

https://twitter.com/Kingsgifs/status/845857360841064448

  • Antti Raanta – In what may have been the Finnish goalie’s last performance of the season, he turned in a dandy of a night. Raanta stopped all 30 LA Kings shots, including a few breakaways and odd-man rushes. He picked up his fourth shutout in 30 games this year, and is showing why the Rangers have arguably the best goalie tandem in the league.

 

 


NEXT GAME: The Rangers head south to Anaheim to face the Pacific leading Ducks on Sunday night. Puck drops at 9!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

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