Rangers Score Four Unanswered En Route To Fourth Straight Win

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After the opening 20 minutes at MSG, the Original Six matchup between the Rangers and Canadiens was tied at one. But with the Blueshirts trailing 3-2 entering the third, David Quinn’s team turned up the intensity and scored three goals in the final frame to secure their fourth consecutive victory.

Chris Kreider – With the Rangers trailing in the first period, Chris Kreider was the beneficiary of some excellent work by Kevin Hayes and evened the score. Hayes forced a neutral zone turnover, carried the puck into the zone and hit Kreider with the second pass for a tap-in past Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price. The goal was Kreider’s team-leading seventh of the season and his third tally in his last four games.

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Kevin Hayes – Speaking of Hayes, the Rangers center notched an assist on each of the first three Rangers goals. Hayes set up Tony DeAngelo for his goal that brought the Rangers within a goal in the second period. In the middle of the third, Hayes got the secondary assist on Pavel Buchnevich’s tying goal. Hayes has been playing much better as of late, and he seems to have bought into what David Quinn expects from his players.

Tony DeAngelo – When Adam McQuaid went out with an injury, it gave the Sewell, NJ native the opportunity to show the Rangers coaching staff and management exactly what they had in Tony DeAngelo. It’s safe to say that DeAngelo has taken full advantage of the opportunity. DeAngelo wired a wrist shot off the crossbar and over the goal line to start the Rangers comeback in the second period. Aside from the goal, DeAngelo added four hits and two takeaways to round out a good night at the office for the 23-year-old defenseman. If DeAngelo can continue to play this way, it will very hard for David Quinn to justify taking him out of the lineup.

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Pavel Buchnevich – After being scratched for two games, Pavel Buchnevich has had a bit more energy on the ice. And in this one, he used that energy to get the game tied up in the third period. With Kevin Hayes rushing up the ice, Buchnevich drove to the net to open up the seam for Hayes to hit Marc Staal with a pass. Staal’s shot was fumbled by Price and Buchnevich was right on the doorstep to put in the rebound. Much like DeAngelo, if the young Russian can continue to build on his game night after night, David Quinn won’t be able to send him to the press box.

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Neal Pionk – Pionk got off to an unfortunate start when the puck bounced between his legs at the Rangers’ offensive blue line and Tomas Tatar would give the Habs the lead just 23 seconds into the game. But Pionk bounced back and had himself a solid night. Pionk had four blocked shots and led the Rangers with 25:04 of ice time.

Oh, and he scored a goal that will be on every highlight reel for a long, long time. It was so good, I’ll just let you watch and enjoy.

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Pionk has been an excellent addition to the Rangers since being called up after last year’s trade deadline. He has used his skating ability, hockey sense, and offensive skills to bring some stability to the Blueshirts’ back-end. He seems to be turning into a cornerstone of the blue line for years to come.

Mika Zibanejad – For the proverbial icing on the cake, Mika Zibanejad got the Rangers an insurance goal just 56 seconds after Pionk gave the Rangers the lead. Zibanejad’s attempted pass for Vlad Namestnikov came right back to the Swede and he made no mistake putting the puck over the outstretched Price.

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Lack of Discipline – One area of concern for the Rangers in this one was the way the team played in the second period. I’m not referring to the fact that the Rangers ended the middle frame on the wrong side of a 3-2 game; rather, I’m talking about the Blueshirts being sucked into retaliatory penalties and making unnecessary plays that could’ve cost the Rangers in the long run. Lias Andersson, who was making his season debut, had two high-sticking calls against him, the second of which resulted in a PPG for Max Domi. Cody McLeod, who has been a point of conversation amongst Rangers fans all season, received 16 minutes in penalties on one sequence. And finally, Brendan Smith stuck his knee out and took down Joel Armia which gave Montreal a 5v3 advantage. The Blueshirts were able to overcome their lack of discipline in this one, but it isn’t a recipe for sustained success throughout the season.

Next Game: The Rangers will look for their fifth consecutive win on Friday night in Detroit. Puck drops at 730!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

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