Tag: New York Rangers

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

After snapping a five-game losing streak, the Rangers set their sights on their rivals, the Devils

New York Rangers (NHL)

The New York Rangers looked different on Saturday, and even though they made it tough on themselves in the third period, they ended their five-game losing streak with a big win.

After a tough season and their first win in 11 days, the Rangers hope to start a winning streak on Monday when they play against the New Jersey Devils.

During their five-game losing streak, which was their first since the end of the 2020-21 season, the Rangers were outscored 21-10. This stretch was marked by few power plays, slow starts, and a lack of physical play.

In their 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Rangers started a five-game homestand and matched a season-high with three power-play goals, including the game-winner by Kaapo Kakko with 24 seconds left on a four-minute man advantage. New York also led after the first period for the first time since November 9 in Detroit. They had 17 penalty minutes in the game, their second-most this season.

The penalty minutes showed a different attitude from the Rangers, as struggling defenseman Jacob Trouba fought Josh Anderson 1:58 into the game, and there was a big fight late in the second period.

Artemi Panarin scored a power-play goal in the first period and assisted Mika Zibanejad’s goal late in the second period.

“Sometimes when you’re trying to get out of something, that first one you get out of might not be the prettiest, and it wasn’t,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said.

Washington Capitals and New Jersey Devils

“But we’ve got to draw on the positives of what we were able to do from the physicality and the start, the fact that we kicked it up, and we came back and won it. The specialty teams factor into it. I think you just pull all those things out of it and you continue to work your way out.”

The Devils had a one-point lead over the Rangers after New York’s 4-3 win in Vancouver on November 19. Now, the Devils are ahead by seven points, though they’ve played four more games.

New Jersey has gone 11-5-0 in the 16 games since they lost four straight from October 19-25. During that stretch, the Devils were shut out four times and played five one-goal games.

Recently, New Jersey played two high-scoring, one-goal games against the Detroit Red Wings and Washington Capitals. After a 5-4 win in Detroit on Friday, the Devils lost 6-5 to the Capitals on Saturday. They gave up a season-high three power-play goals in the last 10 minutes of the second period.

The Devils allowed four power-play goals on nine chances over the two games, and opponents have scored 7 goals on 24 chances in their past seven games. The struggles against the Capitals happened before Stefan Noesen scored two power-play goals in the third period.

Nico Hischier and Justin Dowling scored, and Jesper Bratt added a tying goal before the Devils gave up two goals in 10 seconds, losing the lead.

“We take a lot of pride in our penalty kill and tonight it arguably cost us the game,” Brett Pesce said. “So, just learn from it and we’ve got a big (game) Monday. And hopefully we can bounce back.”

The Rangers outscored the Devils 17-8 in all four meetings last season. The last game on April 3 saw a combined 166 penalty minutes after a line brawl just two seconds into the game.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Blues face red-hot Devils after solid debut under new coach

St. Louis Blues (NHL)

Jim Montgomery quickly made a difference with the St. Louis Blues after taking over as head coach from Drew Bannister. In his first game, Montgomery led the team to a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers.

“It felt like something,” said Blues captain Brayden Schenn. “It felt like we were having fun out there. That’s the main part. It felt like we weren’t sitting back and we played with energy tonight, and we played with the puck. Just wasn’t a couple chances we were able to generate. Power play had a couple good looks. It was just fun to be out there.”

The Blues will try to keep their momentum going on Wednesday night when they face the New Jersey Devils in Newark, N.J.

St. Louis lost 3-1 to the New York Islanders on Saturday, dropping their record to 9-12-1. On Sunday morning, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong hired Montgomery to replace Bannister.

Montgomery, who was let go as the head coach of the Boston Bruins last week, had previously worked as an assistant coach for the Blues and had formed connections with many players on the team.

“He brings a ton of energy to the rink,” Schenn said. “He likes to have fun. At the same time, he’s detailed and he’s serious and he’s respected. It’s our job to bring the energy with him.”

At the time of the coaching change, the Blues were struggling, ranked 26th in the NHL standings by points percentage, 25th on the power play, and 24th in penalty killing. They were averaging just 2.48 goals per game, the fifth-worst in the league.

“This is a talented roster,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with really good offensive hockey sense. If we’re committed to checking like we were, the offense is going to come.”

Igor Shesterkin
Igor Shesterkin – New York Rangers

The Blues will face a New Jersey team that has been playing very well. The Devils have won three straight and eight of their last 10 games. After starting the season 5-4-2, New Jersey has gone 10-3-0.

They are coming off a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Monday at home.

“Every game, we have a plan,” said Devils captain Nico Hischier. “If you execute it, it gives ourselves a chance to win a hockey game. The plan switches, depends who you’re playing.”

Hischier led the Devils in Nashville by scoring his first NHL hat trick.

“Just happy for him,” said Devils center Erik Haula. “He’s just such an important player for us, obviously. Eight years and first hat trick. You’d think he has five or six of them.”

Before his hat trick, Hischier had gone 10 games without scoring a goal.

“He starts the season on absolute fire, and then he goes cold for a while there,” said Devils coach Sheldon Keefe. “His demeanor didn’t change, his game didn’t change, most importantly he didn’t cheat the game. He continued to meet the tough matchups every night head on, continued to lead the way for us in the faceoff circle and penalty kill.”

New Jersey will be without forward Timo Meier on Wednesday as he has been suspended for one game after cross-checking Nashville’s Zachary L’Heureux and drawing blood.

Categories
NHL (National Hockey League)

Hurricanes and Rangers heading in opposite directions ahead of playoff rematch

Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)

The Carolina Hurricanes are in a strong position to secure home-ice advantage in the playoffs, while the New York Rangers seem far from the team that won their second-round playoff series last season in six games.

On Wednesday in Raleigh, N.C., the Hurricanes will try to extend their home win streak to nine games, while the Rangers aim to avoid a fourth straight loss. This will be the first matchup of the season between the two Metropolitan Division teams.

Last season, Carolina fell short of winning the division by just three points, finishing with 111. The title went to the Rangers, who also claimed the Presidents’ Trophy after earning a league-best 114 points.

A little more than a month into the current season, Carolina is in third place in the league with 31 points. At home, they have outscored opponents 41-16 since a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in their home opener on Oct. 11.

The Hurricanes have scored at least four goals in each game of their home win streak and have reached that mark 16 times in 21 games this season.

They kept the streak going with a 6-4 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday. Carolina scored five goals in the third period, including a tiebreaking power-play goal from Martin Necas with less than three minutes left, after trailing 3-1.

“I already know what we have,” said Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour. “It’s just, can they grasp how we have to play every shift? I think sometimes we get a little off and try to do things differently, then all of a sudden, we get to the way we have to play… We don’t always get the result like that, but you’re giving yourself a chance. Really, a game like that, that’s what you’re hoping you get out of it.”

Carolina Hurricanes and Dallas Stars

Sebastian Aho scored the first goal in the third-period comeback and had three assists. Seth Jarvis scored in his first game since Nov. 9 and added two assists, including one on Necas’ goal.

Despite uncertainty in goal, the Hurricanes continue to win. Frederik Andersen is still recovering from knee surgery, and Pyotr Kochetkov is in concussion protocol after a collision with defenseman Sean Walker during Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Spencer Martin started in goal on Monday.

The Rangers started strong with a 5-0-1 record but have struggled since, going 7-7-0 in their last 14 games and losing three in a row. They ended a four-game road trip with a 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, then suffered another loss at home, 5-2, to the St. Louis Blues on Monday.

Will Cuylle scored twice, but key players like Vincent Trocheck, Artemi Panarin, and Mika Zibanejad combined for only six shots on goal and were a combined minus-7, as the Rangers were outshot 44-29.

“We need to be better,” said New York coach Peter Laviolette. “Everybody needs to be better. It’s not good enough what we’re doing.”

Monday’s loss came after reports that Rangers general manager Chris Drury had told other teams he might be open to trading forward Chris Kreider and defenseman Jacob Trouba, who has a no-move clause for 15 teams.

Kreider missed his first game since Jan. 16, 2023, on Monday due to an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. He has nine goals in 19 games this season. Trouba was on the ice for two goals in Monday’s loss and has only two points since recording four assists in the first three games of the season.