Last night a wrong was righted. Jayson Megna who made an impression during the preseason but was sent to Hartford due to limited roster spots and waiver risks, seized his 2nd chance. He did so by coming out of the gate flying and picked up a secondary assist on his first shift (a goal by Derek Stepan). Megna finished the game with a goal and an assist.

You see, Emerson Etem whom did nothing to warrant even making the team was made a healthy scratch. This was a conscious decision by Alain Vigneault who likely has had enough of watching Etem have one good shift followed by 3 or 4 completely ineffective ones.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was his horrendous turnover, much like his first game against Montreal, led to the Panthers first goal (and game winner) on Saturday. In that game, Chris Kreider hurt his hand in a fight, meaning Kevin Hayes could simply slide in. Instead, the Rangers opted to call up Jayson Megna and give the 25 year old another chance.

Now being a right handed shot was another reason he was called up due to a lack thereof in the lineup. Also because of Kreider’s absence, he was simply slotted onto a line with Derek Stepan and Rick Nash. Call it luck, but the kid worked his tail off and finished as one of the stars of the game. In one contest he did what Etem couldn’t in 19…make a real impact. Bottom line is this, in hockey, luck is where hard work meets opportunity.

Now, you know I am very opinionated and made my thoughts known which led to those who believe in fancy stats (mostly) to attack my opinion. In essence, I was creating a narrative based on no real facts according to them.

Here were some of the arguments made at me:

• “Etem was never given an opportunity like this (playing on a top line).”
• “Etem didn’t get PP time.”
• “Etem has been stuck playing with Tanner Glass, he can’t succeed.”

I argued all three, but was limited to basically 140 characters on Twitter. So I decided to fight fire with fire (or red hot liquid Megna).

Let me first lay out how Emerson didn’t even warrant making the team. In 5 preseason games he had ZERO goals and ZERO points. He was a -2, mustered a little over a shot a game in an average of 15 minutes of ice. He was averaging nearly 17 minutes in his first three preseason games until AV had to start thinking about readying his true starting lineup.

Jayson Megna only played 3 preseason games and finished with 2 goals and a +2. in only 14 minutes of average ice time. However, he was sent down and Etem was allowed to continue to stay with the big club because he was part of the Hagelin deal, had potential and could be lost to waivers. So when we talk about luck or fairness, remember these facts.

So, did Etem ever get an opportunity like Megna did? Anyone remember Rick Nash’s back issue that cost him some games? Yes, Etem was given a chance to play more minutes with better players. Here’s a look at minutes he’s played with NYR forwards showing how false the 1st argument is.

As you can see, he received nearly 30 minutes with arguably the Rangers top lines in Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello. Just to add some salt in the wounds of analytics folks who use CF% as a means of indicating true quality play, his best numbers come with…what? huh? Tanner Glass? Yup! This also kills their 3rd argument.

As for the PP time Megna received last night. He played the PP in the preseason because he is a RH shot which the Rangers don’t have many of. He actually scored in the preseason on the PP also. He did so on average of 2.5 preseason PP minutes. Emerson Etem was given an average of 2 minutes in his first 3 preseason games and produced nothing. So why on Earth should he be given any during the season?

When Etem was in Anaheim, coach Bruce Boudreau‘s chief complaint was that the kid has the talent but isn’t consistent. The NHL is not a developmental league and these these coaches are paid to win. So you really need to earn your ice time and you do that with hard work and hustle everytime your blades hit the ice.

Last night, Jayson Megna seized his moment by doing just that. Something that Emerson Etem never really did. The kid is only 23, so maybe he will learn something from what Megna did.

Maybe.

Oh and one final thought since this will get twisted on some other blog’s message boards…Jayson Megna is a nice player. He is NOT a top 6 forward. The theme of this post is simple, it’s about how Megna played hard and seized and opportunity and how Emerson Etem to date has not.

Let’s Go Rangers.

The Stars came into tonight’s game having not lost three games in a row so far this season, and with losses to the Devils and Islanders previously in the weekend, they were in danger of that tonight. The Rangers were in desperate need of a good team win and with Jayson Megna making his Rangers debut tonight, the team was ready to start the year off right at the Garden against Lindy Ruff’s squad.

1st Period:

2nd Period:

3rd Period:

Rangers win 6-2

That was a monster win for the Rangers simply due to the fact that they showed they can still compete with any team on any given night, they just need to continue to have these full 60 minute efforts from all four lines. Even after the Stars tied the game at 1-1, the Rangers didn’t get frustrated like they had been the last few games, instead they bounced back and scored right away to take the lead again. I really loved the way Jayson Megna played tonight, and I think every Rangers fan will tend to agree with me. He was all over the ice, and contributed his first assist and goal in a Rangers uniform tonight. I hope we get to see more of Megna, and less of Emerson Etem. You know AV was loving Megna as well, due to the fact that he saw power-play time during the Rangers very first attempt. I still wasn’t impressed with Henrik Lundqvist tonight seeing as he still looked very shaky to me and his puck vision is starting to becoming a glaring issue, but hopefully this win instills some confidence back in the king. This can’t become a win then lose team, no, they need to find consistency in their game and play like this every single night against every single team they face.

The Rangers will have the rest of the week off and then they will get to face division rival, and the best team in the league, the Washington Capitals. The Rangers will look to avenge the embarrassing blowout from the last time these two teams met not too long ago.

This afternoon, the Rangers reconvened for the the first time since their disappointing 3-0 loss on Saturday Night at the hands of the Florida Panthers. The Rangers play the Dallas Stars tomorrow at Madison Square Garden.

One forward missing from practice today was Chris Kreider, who suffered a laceration to his hand on Saturday Night. He is listed as day-to-day. Taking Kreider’s spot on the second line alongside Derek Stepan and Rick Nash was none other than Emerson Etem, who has been the subject of much scrutiny over the last few days for his horrendous game in Florida.

Etem doesn’t belong anywhere near the top-six, and so his position today was just to fill in for Kreider. Kevin Hayes will return to the lineup following a two-game stint in the press box after Alain Vigneault publicly called out the sophomore’s lack of effort. Hayes centered a line with Oscar Lindberg on the left and Jesper Fast on the right.

Some changes of note on defense: Ryan McDonagh was paired with Kevin Klein and Marc Staal was paired with Dan Boyle, leaving Dan Girardi with Keith Yandle.

The more important thing to look at however, is not what took place on the ice, but rather what information surfaced after practice. AV and Jeff Gorton were looking at a call up from Hartford and the Rangers announced one soon after.

OFFICIAL: #NYR have recalled forward Jayson Megna (7-11–18 in 34GP in 15-16) from @WolfPackAHL. Full Release: https://t.co/atFwNSOjrM

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 4, 2016

Talk about a vote of no confidence for Etem. Instead of simply inserting Hayes into Kreider’s spot for Tuesday’s game, the Rangers have basically conceded the fact that the Etem experiment has failed. As to what they can hypothetically do about it, see Anthony’s article from yesterday here.

The debate can go on for days as to whether Etem has a future with the Rangers, but it seems pretty unlikely that he is part of any short-term plan with this team. It’s a real shame because he was the centerpiece of the trade that sent locker-room and fan-favorite Carl Hagelin to Anaheim. Remember that Etem must clear waivers in order to be sent down to Hartford. There’s no way I see the Rangers risking losing him for nothing, as plenty of teams with fancy stats specialists (i.e. Toronto) will salivate over Etem.

Call up, Jayson Megna in 34 games played down in Hartford, has registered 7 goals and 11 assists. It will be interesting to see where Megna fits in the lineup tomorrow night, that being if he suits up at all depending on Greider’s hand.

This could just be an emergency move. We’ll leave the decision making to AV and Jeff Gorton, but the certainty now is that Etem might have reached his “tipping point” with the Rangers organization.

Follow me on twitter: @ekwestel

Here are some quick notes from around the web today:

OFFICIAL: #NYR have recalled forward Jayson Megna (@Jayson_Megna) from @WolfPackAHL. pic.twitter.com/dseeme0uUn

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 30, 2015

Megna, 25, is 5-7-12 in 21 games with the Wolf Pack and leads team in shots on goal. Has played 48 NHL games with Penguins — Steve Zipay (@stevezipay) November 30, 2015

Ranger Rants: Rick Nash says ‘overconfident’ #NYR were relying on talent, bounces and thus lost structure https://t.co/j5r1wYBelQ

— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) November 30, 2015

Presuming that Stepan will be placed on retroactive IR. 10 games/24 days. Gives room for callup. — Steve Zipay (@stevezipay) November 30, 2015

Derek Stepan is out indefinitely with broken ribs. He was seen yesterday after the game walking around with a flak jacket to protect them. Today, the Rangers will simply reinsert Viktor Stalberg into the starting lineup, but what will they do for the foreseeable future?

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I reached out to Wolf Pack play-by-play announcer, Bob Crawford and here are his list of candidates.

I’d say among good candidates would be Megna, Bourque, Gibbons, Adam. https://t.co/iocGdpIYcl

— Bob Crawford (@HawkCrawford) November 28, 2015

Jayson Megna: The 25 year old center may be the best fit, because he’s right-handed and the Rangers lack RH forwards. No one in Hartford is lighting up the AHL, but he may simply make the most sense from a position and shooting/passing/PP standpoint. If called up, he would likely see some action.

Ryan Bourque: He’s a LW but has some experience with the big club and the coaching staff. He could simply ride the pine the whole time he’s up and be used in case of emergency.

Brian Gibbons: The former Penguin impressed during camp and seems to be doing an adequate job down in Hartford. He plays center but is a left-handed shot, will that be why Megna gets the nod ahead of him? He has excellent speed and can kill penalties which is something Stepan did, so maybe that gets him the call.

Adam Tambellini: The only reason I can see Tambellini getting the call is if the organization would like a closer look in what they have in this kid. At 6’3″ the kid has size and we’ve seen his skill at the minor league levels. At LW, he could slide on to the third or the 4th line and not be put into too difficult a spot. I doubt he gets the call.

Unlikely but very possible candidate goes to fancy stats blogger’s favorite (where is that sarcasm font?), Tanner Glass. I don’t think so, but won’t rule it out.

Before the exhibition season began, I wrote on 5 things to keep an eye on this training camp. You can read that here, but let’s see where we are after 2 exhibition games.

The Battle for the Bottom Six

I wrote that Emerson Etem, J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast, Tanner Glass, Viktor Stalberg, Dominic Moore, Jarret Stoll, and Oscar Lindberg are the 8 names vying for the 6 spots (and a reserve for a total of 7). After 2 preseason games I still believe that Etem, Miller, Fast, Moore and Stoll are a lock to make the team.

Of the other three names mentioned above, Stalberg and Lindberg have had a really strong early showing while Glass is who Glass is. However, will it be enough to bump the veteran and a locker room favorite off the team?

The fact that Lindberg (2 GP: 2G 1A +4) would be surely lost on waivers if he were to not make the team and the fact he has 2 goals in 2 games makes me think it is highly possible. Stalberg (2 GP: 1G 1A +2) has also impressed with his size and speed. He can be used as either a 4th line checker or a third line energy guy. That certainly makes him more versatile than Glass who is a 4th line grinder and enforcer at best.

Of course, when it comes to Lindberg, where will he slot in? He certainly looks comfortable at center and has won 8 of 13 draws for 61%. Still, you have to assume that if Stoll makes this team (he won 9 of 17 draws for 53% against the Flyers) he will be a center. Dominic Moore looks fairly cemented as the 4th line center, so could Lindberg hack it at the wing? Certainly a concern and one that will need to be monitored as the preseason continues.

Who Else is Making Noise?

While the focus is justified on all the names mentioned above, you can’t disregard what speedsters Brian Gibbons (1 GP: 1G 2A) and Jayson Megna (2 GP: 2G) have done. Against the NJ Devils, Gibbons was a standout and scored a goal on a wicked shot. Megna has also been highly noticeable as MSG color analyst, Joe Michelletti pointed out how Megna “knows how to use his speed…”

Brian Gibbons is certainly a guy who could threaten players security like Jesper Fast, Emerson Etem and J.T. Miller if they for some reason slump badly. A start in Hartford is likely for both Gibbons and Megna but they should be first in line for call ups during the year.

So Who Does The Fighting if Glass is Gone?

Enforcing by committee is most likely the answer here. We are all aware that fighting is not only frowned upon today but in decline. Guys like J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Emerson Etem will certainly have to get their noses dirty from time to time.

Still, if you are looking for a candidate to throw more fists look to defenseman, Kevin Klein. Optimus Klein can certainly handle himself and step up should their be a Ranger being overly abused. Dan Girardi can also answer the bell, but Alain Vigneualt and fans know their real value is on the ice and not in the box

Is This The End of Tanner Glass?

In short, yes. There simply is too much going against Glass this season to make the Rangers. Look for GM, Jeff Gorton to try and find him a new home before the season starts. Possibly a team like the Florida Panthers or Arizona Coyotes that have a lot of kids that could use protecting.