Kids impress in preseason loss to Devils

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Well, the Rangers and Devils put on a show last night in a rare exciting preseason game. The Rangers lost on a pretty bad goal by Adam Henrique in the final minute, but wins and losses don’t really matter as much in the early going. I only got home in time for the third period, so my reaction points are only from that period. If there was something I missed, definitely let me know.

• J.T. Miller really impressed me. He looked a lot more poised with the puck, he didn’t look lost without the puck, and he overall played like a kid who is looking to make this club. It will be interesting to see how he does it later in the preseason as more cuts are made.
• Ryan Malone also played very well. It was nice to see him in front of the net on the powerplay, looking for rebounds, deflections, and screens. It’s something that only Chris Kreider really does on a regular basis. Malone is another guy who I’d like to see continue the strong play against teams as cuts are made.
• Danny Kristo had his moments, and that feed to Matt Hunwick was a thing of beauty. Kristo is someone who Alain Vigneault singled out as “putting it all together.” His skill is NHL ready, but it was the three zone game that held him back.
• Speaking of Hunwick, he made a great read on that play (where Kristo fed him, and he hit the post). I didn’t notice him much before or after, but I guess that’s a good thing.

• Jesper Fast looked like he wants that 3RW spot, same with Bourque and that 4RW spot, as both looked good. Fast had some balls when he lined up his slap shot from 10-feet away for the tying goal. Clearly he learned from Derick Brassard.
• Tanner Glass made a great effort on that Fast goal, fighting off two Devils players. I didn’t see much of him, but that play was a nice one. I was initially going to call him out on the Eric Gelinas goal, when he was blatantly out of position even though Marc Staal was pointing him to where he needed to be. But then I saw the replay, and although Glass was out of position, there were three Devils behind the Rangers there. That was an epic fail.
• Kevin Hayes looked good, especially on that pass to Kristo in front that was robbed. He knows there are spots to win too.
• Didn’t like what I saw from Mike Kostka, Matt Lombardi, or Chris Mueller. But it’s just one game.
• Dan Boyle looked rusty, but it was worth noting he was the point man on the powerplay. It’s what we expected, but I don’t believe Boyle has played a 1-3-1 PP before.

Cuts are coming on Wednesday after the rookie game, but I don’t think it will be anyone from this game. It will be kids headed to Juniors and guys we know are headed to the AHL.