Here are the latest rumblings around Rangerstown.

Vladislav Namestnikov

The Rangers didn’t make a lot of noise on the first day of NHL free agency, but they did re-sign C/W Vladislav Namestnikov to a two-year deal.

The Rangers are hoping that Namestnikov can regain the level of play he had while in Tampa. Granted that he was playing on the same line as Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, but he does have the talent to last in the NHL.

Fredrik Claesson

The Rangers made one UFA acquisition yesterday, signing former Senators defenseman Fredrik Claesson to a one-year deal. Claesson is a stay at home blue-liner that saw time playing alongside all-star defenseman Erik Karlsson.

This is a low-risk move by Gorton with the Rangers blue-line uncertain coming into training camp. Aside from Kevin Shattenkirk, Brady Skjei, and Marc Staal, the opening night defense corps is up in the air. Will Neal Pionk, Tony DeAngelo, or John Gilmour be able to extend their stay on Broadway? Will Brendan Smith have a good camp and get back to MSG? Time will tell, but bringing Claesson aboard gives the Rangers another NHL-level defenseman.

Rangers Alumni On The Move

There was plenty of action yesterday involving former Rangers heading to a new club for the 2018-19 season.

Michael Grabner, who the Rangers traded to the Devils at the deadline, signed a three-year contract with the Coyotes. Former Rangers teammate, and now current teammate, Derek Stepan welcomed Grabner in the most hockey way possible; by chirping him.

https://twitter.com/DerekStepan21/status/1013510871409184768

Former Rangers blue-liner John Moore signed a five-year contract with the Boston Bruins. A mobile defenseman, Moore will give the Bruins another great skating defenseman who knows how and when to jump into the play.

Adam Clendening, who spent 31 games on the ice for the Blueshirts, was signed by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Clendening’s roster spot won’t be guaranteed for John Tortorella’s club, but he could crack the opening night lineup as the team’s sixth defenseman.

Paul Carey was signed by the Senators after spending last season with the Rangers. Carey was a solid fourth-liner last-year and will bring hard work and consistency to Ottawa, even if they thought he was a defenseman.

The Penguins are bringing back Matt Cullen who, once upon a time, spent a season with the Rangers.

Aside from signing John Tavares, the Maple Leafs signed two former Rangers in Josh Jooris and Adam Cracknell. Neither player spent much time with the Blueshirts, but as they say: “once a Ranger, always a Ranger.”

Finally, the Vegas Golden Knights signed defenseman Nick Holden to a two-year deal. Holden started off well with the Rangers back in 2016, but his play declined significantly and he became an asset that needed to be moved. Vegas also brought back Brandon Pirri on a one-year deal.

In non-NHL signings, David Desharnais has signed with KHL club Lokomotiv. There had been rumors that Desharnais was heading over to the KHL when the Rangers season ended, and now it is official.

Chris Kreider has all the tools to be a huge threat in the NHL. His combination of size and unbelievable speed can put defenders on their heels and push goalies into the back of their nets.

While either flashing his quick shot or deflecting shots while being a nuisance for opposing goaltenders, Kreider has shown that he can score when needed. The opposing crease has been his office and he always puts himself in a position to score. But now, at the ripe age of 27, Kreider hasn’t gotten over the 60-point and 30-goal hump.  With an initial look at past seasons – 2016-17 being his best with 53 points – the Rangers as a collective don’t rely on just one player to push them over the top. The most points the Rangers have had in recent seasons have been at the hands of Rick Nash in the 2014-15 season with 69 points. Apart from this year, where a blood clot sidelined him for a significant portion of the season, Kreider has been on pace to outscore himself almost every year. Unfortunately, Kreider hasn’t elevated his game in the way most of us have expected he would. We all hear “the potential is there” and “this next season he’ll be a monster” but we haven’t seen it from him. What he should do to become that bonafide star is to focus on what he’s good at and maybe have a few linemates that can keep up with him.

Kreider has no speed limit

A big part of Chris Kreider’s game is his ability to break out with his speed and leave defenders in his dust. If Kreider truly wants to take a step to the next level as an NHL power-forward, he needs to utilize his speed. Getting those gritty goals deep in the crease helps establish your presence, but speed is a huge factor when it comes to Kreider’s game. Sometimes we forget how fast he really is when he’s busy crowding the front of the net trying to get that lucky bounce or redirection.

Catching sleeping defensemen or beating someone to the puck can easily put a goal in the net if you have the hands to back that up, and Kreider does. The video show Kreider pushing past defensemen with ease. Combine that speed with his size and he’ll be steamrolling everyone. The problem becomes trying to do too much and trying to be too fancy; if he simplifies his game he will be one of the biggest scoring threats in the league.

Using physicality, the right way

As I’m looking for examples of Chris Kreider’s physicality I am seeing a lot of big hits against him. Some of the hits I do see from him is either dirty or not at full force.

One of the problems when Kreider first came to the league was trying to stay out of the box, which in turn most likely diminished his playing time. Last year, we saw a rise in his average time on ice and coincidentally a rise in his points. Kreider has become a smarter player; and though he doesn’t dish out many hits when he’s scoring at a higher rate, he still uses the body to properly forecheck and create chances.

To elevate his game, he needs to keep his physical side in tact by crashing the net, crowding the crease and protecting the puck. We’ve seen this from Kreider while talking about his speed, he tries to do too much. Simplicity will elevate his game to the next level. Jeff Gorton said that the team lacks grit and physicality, but that isn’t an open invitation for Kreider to start knocking heads. If he focuses on using his size for offense and not as a fourth-line goon, he can flourish as a goal scorer.

Getting the band back together  

I found a post from right before the 2016 season where Larry Brooks states that the best line the Rangers had in training camp was Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. This article still applied to this past season through the Rangers hot streak, when Alain Vigneault’s best line was the KZB line. The chemistry between teammates is a huge factor to a player’s success and overall team success. Breaking up a line that is consistently scoring can be the grounds to a firing…or at least it should be. The KZB trio clicks so well that it’s starting to become more of a given than an assumption for this Rangers team, and most likely will be the top line going into this next season. Though both Mika and Chris missed some time this season, they still produced when together along with Pavel.

Though this video has David Desharnais in for Zibanejad, it still shows the type of play that can be accomplished with a line that clicks. While this is the case for all players within all sports, chemistry enhances your game and makes everyone around you better. Kreider would be better off

Captain Kreider

One of the looming questions since the Rangers traded their captain to the Tampa Bay Lightning, again, is who will assume the role next season. Well, one of the candidates is Chris Kreider. Ever since he started his tour with the Rangers after winning the NCAA Frozen Four Championship for the Boston College Eagles in 2012, he’s been a fan favorite.

In the video above, Kreider flashes the speed to score on a perfectly placed slap shot past Braden Holtby. Since then, he has shown that the Rangers can trust him in high pressure situations in both the regular season and playoffs. Younger players look to him, and Kreider leads by example as he balances scoring, physicality and even the occasional fight or two.

Chris Kreider shows that he can be a solid captain for the New York Rangers. Being the captain can push Kreider to the point where he’ll need to come in clutch when it counts the most, even if he already has enough experience in that department.

Kreider has proven that he’s able to produce in big moments, so maybe the pressure of a captaincy can elevate his game even further. We don’t know who will eventually get the stitched ‘C’ on their sweater, but if it’s Kreider, it’ll be a solid choice.

Now we wait and see

Time will only tell if Chris Kreider has hit his ceiling or not, but for the sake of the Rangers and their fans, let’s hope he still has more left to show us. Kreider has speed, size, skill, leadership and isn’t afraid to get into a fight to defend himself or his teammates. He plays with heart, even if it gets him into trouble. Simplifying his game will most likely be the best course of action for him moving forward, and with the right teammates by his side, he will become one of the best weapons the Rangers forgot they had in their arsenal. But, if he doesn’t progress within the next season, then he’s got until 2021 to prove us otherwise.

Former Rangers center David Desharnais has signed a deal to play for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl next season.

Desharnais spent just a single season with the Blueshirts, posting 28 points (6G, 22A) while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time. Desharnais played top line minutes when Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes were sidelined with injuries.

Per Igor Eronko, David Desharnais is headed to the KHL. 

Hearing David Desharnais is heading towards the #KHL #NYR

— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) April 22, 2018

RANGERS EXPERIENCE

The Rangers signed Desharnais to a 1 year, $1M deal to be their fourth line center in 2017-2018.  At the time this was a great move as Desharnais had the offensive upside to be a great 4^th line center on a competitive team.  Plus, at only $1M for one year, it was a zero-risk signing that the Rangers have become known for.  However, Desharnais spent time as the center on all four lines and even played on the top line for a few games, late in the season.  While not his fault, Desharnais is not cut out to be the number one center on any team in the NHL.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYCq7yyryFs]

In 71 games for the Rangers this season, Desharnais put up 28 points (6G, 22A).  For a fourth line center these are great numbers  and would have been exactly what a playoff New York Rangers team would have needed from their bottom pivot.

THE FUTURE

By moving to the KHL, Desharnais will receive more playing time in a larger role.  Plus the larger ice in Russia will complement his game better.  Although we don’t know where he is going yet, we at Forever Blueshirts wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

Keep it right here at Forever Blueshirts as we learn more as well as for all your Rangers news.

Folks, let’s talk New York Rangers. The opinions of this article will be unpopular, but there are so many Rangers hot takes out there, I might as well share my own. Between the post-deadline team, Alain Vigneault and the “tank”, it seems like at every turn a ‘stupid’ decision happens. Let’s get to it folks.

Post Trade Deadline

Personally, I was pro-sell, admittedly for I hath too much pride. Trading away rentals for picks/prospects I was all in; the big trade of Miller/McDonagh? It took a while to buy into.

However, let’s address the elephant in the room. Selling and acquiring Ryan Spooner and Vladislav Namestikov doesn’t really ensure “tank”. Both are top-six players in the NHL and it has shown.

Even post-deadline, the Rangers still had nine bona fide NHL caliber players. Three full lines to put out on the ice. The team has “succeeded” since the deadline by winning 17 points in 17 games. Apparently, as a fan, this is a big sin.

Look, the Rangers were not good enough to make the playoffs and not bad enough to go full tank. Like a college student on a Sunday morning, one day Jeff Gorton and Co. looked in the mirror and wondered where it all went wrong, and what are they doing?

Alain Vigneault

Before I get pinned as a pro AV guy, I am not. Before this season I had the unpopular opinion, at the time at least, of him being accountable of them coming up short. He has made plenty of decisions in his tenure that have really hurt the team. My points against him were realistic and there was proof.

Now it seems AV is to blame because, well it’s obviously him. The reality is that Alain Vigneault generally succeeded as a Rangers head coach but plenty of his choices cost him the highest level of success, a championship.

It is not on Alain Vigneault that this season the team wanted Filip Chytil to be NHL ready at 18 because of a shortage down the middle of the ice. It’s not his fault that Kevin Shattenkirk and Brendan Smith were expected to produce greater than they did. It’s not AV’s fault that Mika Zibanejad got concussed and David Desharnais had to play top-line center’s minutes. It’s not on AV that Brady Skjei is young and still needs to mature on the ice.

He is at fault for potentially stunting the growth of players like Pavel Buchnevich. However, he can be praised for getting the most out of players like Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, and Mats Zuccarello. Under former head coach John Tortorella, Kreider was unliked and Zuccarello never got a shake until AV came in.

AV is at fault for MANY parts of the team falling short. Just not for what the fans want to blame him for.

Believing the Rangers were a playoff team is a crazy, insanely wrong take by AV. Even so, a coach that believes in his team will never let that falter. I agree with AV saying after the letter came out that strong goaltending is the remedy for the team’s struggles. That’s what made them borderline at one point this season.

This final result had already been written on the wall. I do believe Jeff Gorton when he says he believed AV was the right coach at the deadline. I also think that AV was put in a bad position in the media. Even when the fans were calling for youth, he started Georgiev and that hurt the team in fans eyes.

The fact of the matter is that a coach’s inability to take credit for success AND failure hurts the players and team. This was Vigneault’s biggest detriment, not his system or style, but his refusal to take all the blame is why he was let go.

Tank SZN

The front end of the Rangers has stepped up their game to make up for the abysmal back end. How this is met with anything other than pure optimism is baffling. The team had five 40 point players, one of which, Chris Kreider, missed significant time. Jesper Fast had 33 points. If your third or fourth line winger had 33 points, the team is in a good spot.

The goal at the deadline was to start a rebuild, not clean house a la Derek Jeter and the Miami Marlins. The team would have had to go basically pointless to end up with the best draft lottery ODDS. IF they only managed ten points from the deadline-end of the season, they would have fifth best ODDS.

Ironically, the fan base that wanted nothing but success, immediately wanted the team to fail for extra ping pong balls. Disagree if you want, but there is literally no true reason to tank in the NHL. All 15 teams that miss out on the playoffs have a chance to move up and to move down. Last year, the Devils had 22 points more than the worst team in the league and got the top pick. Philadelphia was the 12th worst team and got the second.

The point here is that everything is left to luck, to chance. If the NHL did a draft like the NFL, then tanking is an argument. They don’t they use a lottery where the worst team in the league isn’t guaranteed a top three pick, let alone a top pick. Nor a team that is in between bad and really bad is not completely without hope.

Not saying that the Rangers will luck out, just saying when nothing is guaranteed then why would a fan base prefer seeing their team lose?

Summer to remember

This is the most important summer in recent memory for the Rangers. Every day, a report comes out with more and more intriguing news. There’s a boatload of questions, a boatload of moves and a boatload of pressure on the front office. Finding a team that will keep them competitive for the future is the objective. How they go about that will remain to be seen.

One thing is for certain: this season, while being a down year, was still productive. The season took a lot out of Henrik Lundqvist. Asking this guy to tank is like asking a fish not to swim. Impossible. 

The 2017-18 New York Rangers, disappointing but promising.

CENTER OF ATTENTION

Chytil and Andersson will both be playing their natural center position. Allowing Chytil and Andersson to get experience at the position they were drafted and which they will be expected to contribute is most important. While there is a case to be made to allow them to get their feet wet on the wing, the Rangers need them to play center, and moving them back and forth between wing and center will only hinder their development.

MOVES

With Chytil and Andersson taking the second and third center slots, Kevin Hayes was moved to the wing on the second line with Chytil and Mats Zuccarello.In addition, Vladislav Namestnikov will be centering the fourth line with Cody McLeod and Pavel Buchnevich. The three main surprises here are Cody McLeod, Kevin Hayes, and Pavel Buchnevich. Someone was going to have to move to wing and someone was going to have to move down. With Namestikov’s overall lack of production since joining the Rangers, just three points in his 12 games on Broadway, it is understandable that he was dropped to the fourth line while allowing Kevin Hayes to remain in the top-six.

Pavel Buchnevich continues to be the guy getting the short end of the stick. However, if you take a closer look, it is not necessarily because of poor play. Jesper Fast has been tearing it up on the top line. He was not going to be sent down while playing this well. Ryan Spooner and Kevin Hayes have also been playing extremely well, producing at an elevated clip since the deadline. They deserve top line minute, and AV isn’t moving Mats Zuccarello out of the top-six. This leaves Buchnevich and Jimmy Vesey. I would prefer to see Buchnevich over Vesey, but Vesey has been scoring at a high rate over the past few weeks, highlighted by a hat trick and nearly a second hat trick since the trade deadline. Dropping Vesey would be rewarding his high production with a fourth line demotion.

Cody Mcleod is the real surprise. The Rangers have David Desharnais, Paul Carey, and Peter Holland available to play but chose to go with McLeod. McLeod is as much of an enforcer as you will find in today’s game and seems to fly in the face of the speed/depth game that the Rangers and NHL are heading. However, one could argue that a tough guy in the lineup will provide some level of protection for the prized youngsters. Personally, I believe the Rangers should have gone a different route, however, it is not as big a deal as we all think it is. At the end of the day, as Dan Rosen points out, the 12th forward is not a huge deal.

McLeod will probably see between 6-10 minutes of ice time and the remainder of his minutes will be split with a rotation of the top-nine wingers.

DON’T FREAK OUT

Regardless of how the rest of the season shakes out, the Rangers lineup will continue to change and we will continue to gripe about every detail. I am not an AV supporter, however, this is not as bad as you think. The Rangers have eleven “top-nine” forwards. Different players are going to get the short end of the stick. But at the end of the day, Chytil and Andersson’s development is of the utmost importance.

Here is our recap of the Rangers 4-3 loss to the Flyers.

Top Line – Whether or not you think Jesper Fast deserves to be on the top line for this current iteration of the Rangers, he has been the perfect complement to linemates Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Fast brings the never-say-die attitude to a duo of highly skilled and motivated players. This line would score all three goals in the losing effort, with each player extending their respective point streaks.

Mika Zibanejad got the Rangers on the board in the first period, tying the game after Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead. Zibanejad took Jesper Fast’s pass in the neutral zone, faked a shot and then slid the puck through the legs of goaltender Alex Lyon. The goal was Zibanejad’s 26th of the season, which is a career best for the Swedish center, as well as extending his points streak to six games, and points in eight of his last ten. Mika will be this team’s number one center for the foreseeable future, and as long as he’s healthy, he will be a top point producer for the Blueshirts.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/976966800863891457

As for Jesper Fast, he wasn’t content with just helping out on goals and picked up a pair of tallies that brought the Rangers to within one on both goals. On his first goal, Fast won the board battle in the corner and threw the puck towards the net where it banked in off of Ivan Provorov.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/976982003223617536

Fast got the game to 4-3 early in the third, depositing the rebound of Rob O’Gara’s shot from the half-wall. The goals were the 12th and 13th of the year for Fast, who tied his personal best year in points with 30 in the game against the Flyers. Quickie is going to be a part of this team in the coming years, and his work ethic and “never take a shift off” attitude is something that the young players entering the lineup should learn from and impart into their own games.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/976988343522258944

Line Juggling – For everything that you can criticize Alain Vigneault for, add constant line juggling to the list. Cody McLeod played 6.7% of the game playing alongside the significantly higher-skilled Pavel Buchnevich and Ryan Spooner. Meanwhile, Vlad Namestnikov was spending time playing on the fourth line with David Desharnais and Paul Carey. If you are juggling lines early in the season to try and find chemistry between potential linemates, that’s fine. But when Cody McLeod is taking the spot of Vlad Namestnikov in a “meaningless” game with two weeks left in the season, there really is no defense for such an asinine decision.

Alexandar Georgiev – The young goaltender made some stellar saves to keep his team in the game, including this sequence in the first period with his team already trailing. Georgiev has shown he has what it takes to back up Henrik Lundqvist next season, and he did so last night with Ondrej Pavelec backing up the young Bulgarian goaltender. Unfortunately for Pavelec, he will be remembered as the guy who gave his crease to Georgiev; but with the Rangers having a bevy of young and talented netminders in the pipeline, Pavelec’s days in the Rangers sweater were numbered.

Next Game: The Rangers host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night in one of their final home games of the season. Puck drops at 7!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

Here is our recap of the Rangers 3-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Chris Kreider – The Rangers got off to a quick start when Chris Kreider scored the opening goal just 54 seconds into the first period. John Gilmour did a great job to keep the puck in at the blue line while back-skating into the neutral zone. The puck came right to Mika Zibanejad who feathered a soft pass to Kreider at the far post for an easy goal. The tally was Kreider’s first since coming back from his blood clot injury, despite having numerous high-quality chances since his return. The goal was his 12th of the season and we can only hope he continues to bury these “Grade-A” scoring chances.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/970144949672054784

Mika Zibanejad – Already with an assist in this one, Zibanejad scored a power-play goal to restore the Rangers lead in the second period. Mats Zuccarello had his shot from the point blocked in the high-slot. Pavel Buchnevich flubbed the rebound, but the puck bounced to Zibanejad who beat Talbot to the near post. The goal was the 19th of the season for the Swedish center and is third on the team in scoring.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/970162025820237824

Paul Carey – The fourth line for the Rangers had a very good game, to say the least, totaling eight shots on net including the game-winner. David Desharnais kept the puck in at the blue line and dished to Cody McLeod. McLeod had his shot subtly redirected by Carey, and the shot squeaked through Talbot and over the goal line. When he’s been in the lineup, Carey has been a consistent worker and is the kind of bottom-six player that any coach likes. Seeing him score, especially a game-winner is an added bonus.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/970164040755568640

Offense is the best Defense – Two consecutive games of 50+ shots against and two games of heroics from Henrik Lundqvist gave the Rangers two wins over Vancouver and Calgary. But the Rangers were finally able to sort out some of their defensive issues and held the Oilers to a “relatively small” 37 shots on net. Part of the reason for this is that the Rangers actually had a similar number of shots on the opposition’s net. It may be a novel concept to Alain Vigneault, but when you spend a lot of time in the offensive zone it prevents your opponent from getting shots of their own. The Blueshirts had 34 shots on Cam Talbot’s net and when you force your opponent into playing defense, it not only limits their chances of scoring, but it gives your goaltender some time to rest during the action.

“It felt unreal, and something like a dream,’’ Georgiev said of earning his first NHL win. “Amazing feeling, and I will remember it for my whole life.’’ – Newsday/Colin Stephenson

Alexandar Georgiev – Speaking of the man between the pipes, Alexandar Georgiev recorded his first NHL win, backstopping the Blueshirts with 35 saves. Conor McDavid snuck a shot by Georgiev that he’ll want back, and the second goal Patrick Roy wouldn’t have stopped. Other than those two blemishes, it was a very good night for the rookie goaltender.

Here is our recap of the Rangers 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders.

Special Teams – One reason the Rangers lost this game was the play of their special teams. The Rangers power play was fruitless in three attempts, while the Islanders were able to convert on the power play for the first goal of the game. And with the Rangers needing a goal to get back in the game, the power play looked about as bad as it looked all season, not being able to even get set up in the offensive zone. The special teams have been good as of late but were unable to step up when the team needed it most.

Defensive Blunders – The Islanders would tack on two more goals in this one, and you could argue both of them happened because of blown coverages. The second Islanders goal came after an Islanders flurry of chances that started with a neutral zone turnover by Cody McLeod and ended with a tic-tac-toe goal for Jordan Eberle and a sprawled out Henrik Lundqvist. The Rangers had a complete breakdown in defensive responsibility on this goal and they won’t want to watch the film of this one.

“I feel like the second period, it’s a 1-0 game and we get out of that big scramble,” Lundqvist said. “We don’t get it deep and they come back and they score the second goal. That felt like the game right there.” – NY Rangers/Matt Calamia

As for the third Islanders goal, the breakdown wasn’t as noticeable, especially when you consider that all five players seemed to be in position. But, the problem was that you had those five Rangers skaters all in the same corner of the ice with nobody picking up the point men. This “puck watching” allowed the newest Rangers killer Mathew Barzal to saucer the puck to Hickey. Hickey eventually threw the puck to the net and it banked in off of David Desharnais and past Lundqvist.

Henrik Lundqvist – On two of the three Islanders goals, a strong case can be made that Lundqvist was “helpless” to prevent the puck from going in. However, the first goal was a clean shot that beat Lundqvist from the faceoff circle to the goalie’s left. Was it a bad goal for Lundqvist? Probably. Was it a really good shot by Josh Bailey? Yes. But the bigger issue for me is that the goal came on the fourth shot of the game for the Islanders. And this is something that has been going on all season for Lundqvist and the Rangers, giving up early goals to put the team behind. This is not to say that all blame here falls on the Rangers goaltender, but making a key save isn’t just about when the team is down by one in the third period. The Rangers have given up the first goal a whopping 32 times in their 58 games, and have won just nine of those 32 games. We all know the importance of the first goal, and when you are trailing early in over half of your games, it is not a sign of future success.

Fun Fact: The Rangers have had 50 or more shots against the Islanders three other times since the 2004 lockout, going 2-0-1 in those three games.

Next Game: The Rangers will look to bounce back on Saturday when they head north of the border to face the Ottawa Senators. Puck drops at 2!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

Here is our recap of the Rangers 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

David Desharnais – The lone goal for the Blueshirts in this one came from David Desharnais, but it started with a defensive play from Vinni Lettieri. The recent call-up from Hartford took the puck away in the neutral zone while Dallas was trying to make a line change. Lettieri worked a give-and-go with JT Miller and fired a shot-pass that was redirected by Desharnais towards Dallas goaltender Ben Bishop. The initial attempt was saved, but Desharnais followed up the rebound and gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead after the opening twenty minutes.

https://twitter.com/4BNYRGameday/status/960700867077951488

Special Teams – The difference on the scoreboard in this one was the special teams play of both clubs. Unlike the Rangers, who couldn’t convert on their three man-advantage opportunities, the Stars converted once on the power play, as well as scoring during a delayed penalty call. The Rangers have been burned a few times this season when they’ve taken multiple penalties in a game, and that was certainly the case against Dallas.

Henrik Lundqvist – The only reason the Rangers were in this game and took the lead in the first period, was due to the play of their goaltender. King Henrik made 21 saves in the opening frame, including this stop just twenty seconds into the game, to give his team a chance to win the game. Lundqvist made 39 saves on the 41 shots he faced and furthered his claim as the best player to lace up the skates for the Rangers this season.

Next Game: The Rangers will look to get off the schneid on Wednesday as they play host to the Bruins. Puck drops at 8!

LETS GO RANGERS!!