Rangers Roundup: Georgiev And Hartford, Kreider Keeps It Simple

Updated:
Getty Images

Georgiev Returns Between The Pipes

With Henrik Lundqvist getting the majority of the playing time for David Quinn and the Rangers, goalie prospect Alexandar Georgiev has spent a lot of time watching the future Hall-of-Famer from the bench. However, that isn’t good for the development of any player, let alone a goaltender. As a result, the young Georgiev has spent a lot of time this season shuttling back-and-forth between the Rangers and their AHL team, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

In speaking with Colin Stephenson of Newsday, Georgiev said that he doesn’t mind making the numerous trips to the minor leagues, something which most other players wouldn’t take with such a calm demeanor.

“The general manager [Jeff Gorton] told me that I need a lot of playing time, as much as possible, so if there is a chance to get games at Hartford, then it’s going to happen. I’m really glad that this is happening. I want to play as many games as possible.’’

Georgiev has played in just eight of the Rangers’ 32 contests, the last of which was a December 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-2. In that time, Georgiev allowed a total of 17 goals and had a save percentage of .884%. Those numbers aren’t anything spectacular, to say the least, but for Georgiev, it’s more important that he is getting consistent playing time.

“It was great to get that kind of workload and just get into the rhythm,’’ Georgiev said. “It’s a bit easier to get into the game when you play every few days.’’

With the Belarusian goaltender expected to return to the net tonight against the Anaheim Ducks, it’ll be interesting to see how he responds after playing four straight in the AHL.

Getty Images

Kreider Keeps It Simple

Coming into this season, the knock against Chris Kreider had always been that he seemed to take shifts off and wouldn’t use his abilities to their full potential. However, under David Quinn and his coaching staff, we have seen Kreider break out and become the player Rangers fans have been waiting to see. The 27-year-old winger leads the Rangers with 15 goals, putting him on pace for the best goals production of his career.

“I think I’ve been playing pretty simple lately, running into people, getting to the net, getting pucks to the net,” he said. “Do that consistently, do that as a group, just the law of averages.”

The BC alum has acknowledged to his head coach David Quinn that he can overthink the game just a bit too much, but Quinn has also said that Kreider has done a very good job of keeping his game simple this season,

“He’s a very smart guy, and I think sometimes he can overthink it,” Quinn said. “He and I have talked about that, he acknowledges that. And I think sometimes that can get in his way of being the player that he needs to be. I think he’s done a really good job of not overthinking the last few games, and we’ve seen the results.”

Kreider, a player that some thought would make a good choice for team captain this year, has shown the Rangers and their fans the kind of offensive powerhouse he can be when he plays the right way. And as the quote below from #20 illustrates, playing the right way as a team will ultimately lead to success for the Blueshirts. Doing the little things, the simple things, will help the Rangers get back into the win column sooner rather than later.

“Play hard, try to lead by example, finishing checks, focus on the details. Those are the things that are going to help us get out of this little rut we’re in. It’s making the simple play crisply, over and over again. We talk about not getting bored making the right play. We’ve seen that in spurts, but we need to get back to that.”

Editor’s Note: For the full Georgiev article, click here. For the full article on Chris Kreider, click here.

Mentioned in this article:

More About: