Rangers Russians Run Over Islanders
Entering tonight’s contest, the Rangers had not seen the positive end of the scoreboard, with the Blueshirts falling twice to the Devils and once to the Flyers in the last week. That all changed in this one, as David Quinn’s squad got goals from Artemiy Panarin and Vitali Kravtsov en route to a 3-1 win over their crosstown rivals.
Artemiy Panarin – The Bread Man delivered once again, netting two goals, including an empty netter with 16 seconds remaining in the tilt. Panarin’s opening goal was a gorgeous give-and-go play with fellow Russian forward Pavel Buchnevich to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead midway through the second period.
Panarin capped off his fantastic night with an empty netter from inside his own defensive zone, splitting the posts to seal the victory for his team.
Vitali Kravtsov – In the preseason battle of the 2018 NHL Draft first round, it was the Rangers rookie Vitali Kravtsov that got his team on the board. The 19-year-old Russian finished off a great pass from Brady Skjei at the side of the net to give the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead early in the middle frame.
Adam Fox and Marc Staal – The defensive pairing of the offensive-minded youngster and the defensive-minded veteran worked very well together. Fox got the short end of the stick when his clearing attempt hit the referee leading to the lone Islanders goal from Jordan Eberle. But aside from that bad break, the two defensemen looked solid alongside each other.
Goaltending Battery – Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev combined to stop 29 of the 30 shots they faced, with Georgiev facing 17 of those attempts. Lundqvist looked solid in this one, making a handful of quality saves against his former teammate Derick Brassard in the first period.
Not to be outdone, Alexandar Georgiev had a couple of fantastic stops as well, including a post-to-post robbery of the aforementioned Eberle in the third period.
Next Game: The Rangers play their penultimate preseason game, and their final one at MSG, on Thursday night when they host the Flyers. Puck drops at 7!
LETS GO RANGERS!!
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