Keefe To The City

Nov 3, 2023

Rangers Thoughts Presented by Vintage Ice Hockey: Adam Fox Is Irreplaceable

The Rangers kept their winning streak alive in their return home, but it came at a cost, as they lost they lost their best player and a top-six center on Thursday. Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

The Rangers kept their winning streak alive in their return home, but it came at a cost, as they lost their best player and also a top-six center on Thursday.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

1. After beating up on the Western Conference for two weeks on the West Coast (Seattle) and in Western Canada (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg) and setting a franchise record for undefeated length of a road trip, the Rangers returned to the Garden on Thursday for their first true test of the season: Carolina. The odds-on favorite to not only win the Eastern Conference this season, but to win it all, the Hurricanes arrived in New York one win and two points behind the Rangers in the Met.

2. It didn’t take long for the Rangers to get on the board in this one as a too many men penalty on the Hurricanes just 1:38 into the game put the Rangers’ dynamic power play on the ice. A little over a minute into the man-advantage, Artemi Panarin carried the puck up the ice and dished it off to Vincent Trocheck just before entering the offensive zone. Upon entering the zone, Trocheck immediately had the puck knocked away, but it was knocked away directly to Panarin, who was now in the right corner. Panarin one-timed a backhanded pass from the corner all the way through the crease where Chris Kreider was waiting alone to bang it in. 1-0 Rangers.

2. The pass from Panarin may have seemed like nothing other than a perfectly-placed feed for Kreider, but the degree of difficulty was enormous. To put that much strength behind the puck on the backhand, get it from the corner through the front of the net and keep it accurate is silly. Less than two minutes into the game and Panarin had his season-long point streak extended.

3. For the first nine minutes of the first period, the Rangers controlled the play. They had little trouble getting through the Hurricanes’ neutral zone defense and managed to create some high-quality scoring chances, while the Hurricanes were held shotless. But when the Rangers got called for their own too many men penalty, the Hurricanes evened the game.

4. Tony DeAngelo began the power-play rush to a heartwarming chorus of Garden boos and passed the puck off to Sebastian Aho. Aho found a streaking Seth Jarvis with a blue line-to-blue line pass, and Jarvis split a flat-footed Jacob Trouba and Ryan Lindgren, went in all alone and finished with a quick shot over Igor Shesterkin’s glove. 1-1.

5. Later in the first, Adam Fox had a lane down the middle of the ice in the offensive zone to potentially receive a pass for an undefended shot in the slot. Before he could make his way toward the net, Aho, realizing he was out of position to defend Fox, stuck out his right leg and caused a knee-on-knee collision. The play went uncalled by the officials, and after trying to continue to play, Fox went down the tunnel and didn’t return to the game.

“I went in and looked at it after the period,” Peter Laviolette said. “Especially from the overhead, I didn’t like the hit.”

At best, it was clear interference on Aho that resulted in the Rangers’ most important player leaving the game in the first period with a “lower-body injury.” At worst, it was a dirty, disgusting play by Aho that could leave the Rangers without their most important player indefinitely.

6. Fox wouldn’t be the only Ranger to exit the game with an injury. After a first-period collision that looked like nothing other than Chytil awkwardly losing a glove on the hit, he would eventually leave the game as well. His injury is being called “upper-body” and after the Ranger announced they were recalling Johnny Brodzinski early on Friday, it looks as though Chytil will be missing some time.

Chytil has yet to find the back of the net this season, but he has been playing well, creating scoring changes and setting up his teammates (six assists in 10 games). Injuries are always a problem for the cetnerr though, and his career injury log is as long as a CVS receipt.

Undisclosed
Upper
Lower
Upper
Upper
Undisclosed
Lower
Lower
Upper
Undisclosed
Concussion
Lower
Upper
Upper

That’s 14 documented injuries since April 2019. Again, the hit that caused him to leave Thursday’s game looked like nothing at the time and still doesn’t when you watch it back. So maybe he will miss nothing more than a couple of games?

“Chytil and Foxy are really important players for us,” Shesterkin said. “Hopefully everything will be good.”

Yes, hopefully everything will be good. Hopefully Fox’s removal from the game was cautionary and he’s fine now and can return to play unscathed on Saturday. The Rangers are limited in depth as is, and there’s no replacing Fox.

7. From the nine-minute mark in the first until halfway through the third, the Hurricanes took over. The Rangers had trouble generating offense, the Hurricanes began to successfully clog and defend the neutral zone and any Rangers entry was immediately met with a turnover or loss of possession.

“Between periods, I thought we needed more bite in our game,” Laviolette said. “You kind of start to see the buildup back in the third period and go back out there and continue to push on. I really liked our response.”

8. With just over nine minutes left in regulation and the scored tied at 1, Jacob Trouba lost control of the puck at the right point. He was able to regain control and skate around Jarvis and eventually make his way to the right corner untouched when DeAngelo decided to skate past him and defend no one behind the net. Trouba picked his head up and found Will Cuylle gliding toward the front of the net. Trouba fed Cuylle and Cuylle deflected it in.

“I like his straight-ahead speed. I Like his physicality,” Laviolette said of Cuylle. “A big goal at the right time in the third period.”

9. The Rangers hung on for the final 9:39 for a 2-1 win, their sixth straight. Clear Sight Analytics Hockey had the Hurricanes beating the Rangers in expected goals 2.97 to 2.58 and outchancing them 27-22, so it was once again another big performance in net for the Rangers. The win increased the separation between the Rangers and Hurricanes to four points in the standings.

10. Next up is a game in Minnesota on Saturday. (Wouldn’t it have made sense for the Rangers to go from Winnipeg to Minnesota and then return home to play Carolina, rather than go from Winnipeg to New York to Minnesota?) After the oddly scheduled one-game trip outside the time zone this weekend, the Rangers won’t play a game outside the Greater New York City area for more than two weeks.

The Wild are off to a shaky start (3-5-2), but always seem to play the Rangers well, and the trio of Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Joel Eriksson Ek are all averaging a point per game this season. It will be a challenging test for the Rangers to extended their winning streak to seven straight. Let’s hope Fox is there to take it with them.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Podcast

Oct 31, 2023

Rangers Podcast: Ten-Point Road Trip

The Rangers went undefeated on their their five-game, season-long road trip to the West Coast and Western Canada.

The Rangers wrapped up their five-game, season-long road trip with a 3-2 overtime win over the Jets in Winnipeg to go undefeated on the West Coast and in Western Canada. Tom Dianora of Blueshirt Banter joined me to talk about the wildly successful road trip and the state of the Rangers as they return home.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

Blogs

Oct 31, 2023

Rangers Thoughts Presented by Vintage Ice Hockey: Two Weeks of Winning

The Rangers flew west for a season-long, five-game road trip coming off an embarrassing home loss. They return home winners of five straight having swept the road trip after Monday’s 3-2 overtime win in Winnipeg. Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

The Rangers flew west for a season-long, five-game road trip coming off an embarrassing home loss. They return home winners of five straight, having swept the road trip after Monday’s 3-2 overtime win in Winnipeg.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

1. I was worried about what may happen to the Rangers on the West Coast and in Western Canada when they left New York nearly two weeks ago. The Rangers had just laid an egg against an inferior Nashville team, losing 4-1 at home with Igor Shesterkin getting pulled in the loss. After that demoralizing loss, they were set to embark on an 11-day, five-city, five-game road trip to locations and venues they have not played their best at in recent seasons.

2. I think all Rangers fans would have signed up for three wins on the road trip. It would have represented a winning trip, while earning at least six of a possible 10 points. It would have been understandable if the record on the trip were less than that thoguh, given the ongoing learning process of a new system under a new head coach, it being so early in the season, and the trip being so lengthy.

3. Not in the wildest dreams of any Rangers fan could they envision what would transpire: five wins in five games with a clean sweep of Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg. It was the first time in Rangers history the team had gone undefeated on a road trip of that length.

“It’s awesome,” Peter Laviolette said after the team’s trip-ending 3-2 overtime win over Winnipeg. “Anytime you can grab a record like that is pretty special. This franchise has been around a long time. That’s a pretty big record.”

4. The Rangers outscored their five opponents 17-7 on the road trip. They won in five different cities across three time zones. They posted two shutouts and won two overtime games. They allowed one goal or fewer in three games and two goals or fewer in four games.

5. After beating the Canucks 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night to improve to 4-0 on the road trip, it would have been understandable if the Rangers laid an egg on Monday in Winnipeg. Playing the last game of a season-long road trip and tasting a return home (even if just for a single game) is an acceptable reason to not produce the best effort, and yet the Rangers maintained their excellence.

6. The Rangers could have fallen apart against the Jets after giving up the game-tying goal with 28 seconds left in the first period. They didn’t. They could have let up when they trailed by one with less than seven minutes left in regulation with the thought of their chartered return home growing closer. They didn’t. They could have packed it in when Ryan Lindgren was absurdly called for tripping with 19 seconds to go that would give the Jets a man-advantage in overtime. They didn’t.

7. The Rangers didn’t let the Jets’ game-tying goal at the end of the first faze them. They never wavered when they trailed by a goal with less than seven minutes remaining and used a power-play opportunity to tie the game on a Chris Kreider deflection. When Lindgren was wrongfully called for tripping, they killed off the 4-on-3 advantage in overtime, and with 26 seconds left Artemi Panarin fed Mika Zibanejad for a game-winning one-timer.

“It seems like we’ve been on the road a long time,” Laviolette said. “For the guys to throw in an effort like that in the last one and to come back is pretty amazing.”

8. After not scoring through the first seven games, Zibanejad now has scored in two straight following his overtime game-winner on Monday. It was made possible by Panarin’s open-ice creativity and otherwordly playmaking abilities.

“Some of the things he does are pretty special,” Laviolette said of Panarin. “The game-winner, just to be able to part the way down the middle of the ice like that, that’s a unique player and he’s playing really well for us right now.”

Panarin scored the first goal of the game, assisted on the game-tying, power-play goal and then set up Zibanejad for the game-winner. The three-point night pushed his season total to 15 through nine games (a 137-point pace) as he has tallied at least one point in every game this season.

9. The game-winning goal wouldn’t have been possible if not for the Rangers’ penalty kill stepping up and killing off a 4-on-3 for the opening one minute and 41 seconds of overtime, an unfavorable scenario that typically leads to a loss.

“I thought our penalty kill did a really did a really good job, Laviolette said. “They were in lanes and didn’t really allow much of anything.”

10. With that, the Rangers can fly back home knowing they won’t have to visit any of those venues again this regular season. They can rest easy knowing they won’t play another game on the West Coast for nearly three months.

“Big win,” Laviolette said of the overtime victory over the Jets. “It’s a great way to end the road trip.”

Now it’s back home, where the Rangers left on bad terms in that effortless performance against Nashville. The Rangers sit atop the Met, where one win and two points separate them from Carolina, who they will play on Thursday at the Garden. If they play at home like they just did on the road, they won’t have to worry about that one-win, two-point gap being closed.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

Podcasts • Rangers • Rangers Podcast

Oct 27, 2023

Rangers Podcast: West Coast and Western Canada Winning

Unlike past seasons, the Rangers are racking up West Coast and Western Canada wins, having won won their first three.

The Rangers left for their season-long, five-game road trip after a dismal performance against Nashville at home. Unlike past seasons, the Rangers are racking up West Coast and Western Canada wins, having won won their first three games with two to go. Chris Lopresti of WFAN and SNY joined me to talk about the first-place Rangers and their impressive start to the season.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

Blogs • Rangers • Rangers Podcast

Oct 27, 2023

Rangers Thoughts Presented by Vintage Ice Hockey: Preseason Proved Meaningless

The West Coast and Western Canada are typically an issue for the Rangers. But not the Peter Laviolette Rangers. The Rangers remain undefeated on their road trip. Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!

The West Coast and Western Canada are typically an issue for the Rangers. But not the Peter Laviolette Rangers. The Rangers remain undefeated on their road trip to both locations.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

1. Igor Shesterkin stole two points for the Rangers in Calgary and his strong bounceback performance coming off being pulled against Nashville made it seem like he would get the start in Edmonton. He didn’t. Peter Laviolette opted to give Jonathan Quick his second start of the season as a result of his strong play in Seattle, his Western Conference familiarity and his success against the Oilers.

“Things like that always factor into it,” Laviolette said. “His career numbers vs. Edmonton are really good. He’s coming off a pretty good performance as well.”

Quick rewarded his head coach’s decision with a 29-save shutout and the Rangers beat the Oilers 3-0.

“I’m very glad that we have him on our team,” Braden Schneider said of the Rangers backup.

For all of the preseason discussion about Quick being washed up and unfit to be the Rangers backup, his play through three games and two starts is the latest reminder that preseason play is meaningless. Quick stopped every shot he faced from the Oilers, including several high-quality, dangerous chances in the first period, and has allowed one goal in 145:52 this season. His .982 save percentage is silly.

2. The Rangers continued their winning ways on their season-long, five-game road trip to the West Coast and Western Canada, remaining undefeated through three games. After winning 4-1 in Seattle on Saturday and 3-1 in Calgary on Tuesday, their 3-0 win in Edmonton on Thursday has them atop the Met. If not for Stuart Skinner’s play in goal for the Oilers, the game could have easily been 6-0 or even 7-0 with the amount of odd-man rushes the Rangers had.

“I thought we could have had three more,” Laviolette said.”

3. If you had told me through the first seven games of the season that Mika Zibanejad and Filip Chytil would have zero goals, I would have followed it up by asking you how many losses the Rangers have. The two top-six centers being held scoreless through the first two-plus weeks of the season and the Rangers having a 5-2 record is a testament to how deep and well rounded this roster is. And also how good the power play has been.

4. With seven power play goals in seven games, the Rangers have converted 30 percent of their man-advantages. Adam Fox’s power-play goal in Edmonton to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead was the team’s first non-net-front power-play goal of the season. The Oilers’ likely pre-planned approach to tighten their box on the penalty kill around the slot and front of the net to prevent Chris Kreider deflections led to Fox being able to quietly find a place alone at the left hash mark for his eventual goal. The Rangers’ ability to change and shift their formation on the mid-power play has made it hard for the opposition to defend and is a major reason why they currently have the sixth-best power play in the league.

5. Midway through the second, Schneider scored his first of the season with a beautiful snipe from the middle of the ice to make it 2-0, and near the end of the second, Alexis Lafreniere scored for the third consecutive game.

While Quick endured his share of criticism in preseason, Lafreniere was right there in terms of drawing the ire of Rangers fans who put any stock into preseason with his play in late September.

Here is what I wrote about Lafreniere after the Rangers’ win over the Flames on Tuesday.

Lafreniere is currently on pace for a 41-goal season. It’s unlikely he will keep that pace up, but for a player who has averaged .20 goals per game in his 216-game career, the early-season total is exciting. League history has endless examples of high first-round picks who found their game for good in their fourth season, and you don’t have to look any farther than Zibanejad for comparison. Zibanejad was the sixth overall pick in 2011, and it wasn’t until his fourth season in the league when he put together his first 20-goal campaign after a 16-goal campaign in his third season. Lafreniere’s third-season goal total? 16.

Well, that 41-goal pace is now up to a 47-goal pace after Lafreniere scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.

6. “He seems confident to me,” Laviolette said. “He seems like he’s having fun.”

Confidence seemed to be an issue for Lafreniere in his first three seasons in the league. David Quinn and Gerard Gallant were always quick to punish him with playing time, demote him in the lineup or even outright scratch him, never being able to properly utilize or get the most out of the former No. 1 pick. It’s been the complete opposite under Laviolette, who rightfully included Lafreniere in the top six from the moment he arrived, and has let him play on the opposite wing of Artemi Panarin in every game this season.

7. “Every night that line is in the positive in a lot of different ways,” Lavioelte said, “and certainly on the scoreboard is a big one.”

It was another ho-hum, two-point night for both Fox and Panarin, who assisted on the Fox and Lafreniere goals. The two assists extended Panarin’s every-game-of-the-season point streak. The Lafreniere-Chytil-Panarin line continues to impress

“When they’re moving, they’re really dangerous,” Laviolette said. “They read off of each other well. I think there’s a good mix of different types of player in there. They were on point tonight. They had a really strong game.”

8. Overall, it was a good, but not complete game from the Rangers. They had trouble finishing (as Laviolette said), and they relied on Quick to get them through the first period. Through seven games, the Rangers have had a tendency in most first periods to come out sluggish and essentially weather the storm until the first intermission. It’s usually after an 18-minute trip to the locker room when they begin to play their game and take over. The Rangers have been outscored 6-5 in the first period this season, but have outscored the opposition 16-7 in the second and third periods. On this road trip, they have outscored the Kraken, Flames and Oilers 8-0 in the second period. All three of their goals in Edmonton came in the second.

9. Will Cuylle nearly had his second goal of the season after the puck deflected in off his right skate. It was called a goal on the ice, but after review it was overturned for a kicking motion, an idea that remains the grayest of gray areas. Despite only one point (a goal) in seven games, Cuylle has played well, and his linemate Blake Wheeler finally played well too on Thursday. Wheeler played his bet game of the season, and his head coach commented, “He was really noticeable all night … He could have had two or three goals.”

10. Outside of a letdown performance in Columbus and a complete no-show against Nashville, the Rangers have played extremely well this season. The fear of falling behind early in the standings as the team learns a new system under a new head coach has been put to rest.

There are two games left on the road trip (Vancouver on Saturday and Winnipeg on Monday),and thankfully just one more late-night start (Vancouver). It’s impossible not to feel good about the state of the Rangers through seven games, and if they can do the unthinkable and pull off a five-game sweep of the West Coast and Western Canada, it will be impossible not to feel great about them.

Vintage Ice Hockey is the only company that sells premium-quality jerseys, apparel and team merchandise for defunct minor league hockey franchises. It’s a family-run, hockey fan-driven company that’s committed to celebrating and preserving the legacies of defunct minor league hockey franchises. Check out their collection spanning over 100 years of minor league hockey and use code KTTC for 15% off your order!