Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
The San Jose Sharks, one of the leagues better teams, came to The Garden yesterday on the heels of back-to-back and three-in-four nights. Regardless of the fatigue factor (all teams have stretches like that), the Rangers put on a dominating performance, blanking the Sharks 4-0 and taking advantage of some critical defensive mistakes. Alex Stalock, who had been solid in net for San Jose, had rebound control all game and got burned on a pair of them.
Kevin Hayes notched his first NHL goal, Carl Hagelin and Martin St. Louis notched their first goals of the year, and Rick Nash continued on his hot start to provide the offense for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist made 33 saves as he appears to have regained his form after a slow start. After three losses in a row, the Rangers have won two straight to put them back to .500.
On to the goals:
Rangers 1, Sharks 0
Carl Hagelin got a quick shot off the rush from the blue line that Stalock had some issues handling. With the big rebound in front, Mirco Mueller made a rookie mistake in looking at the puck instead of taking the body on Hags, who split the D, got his own rebound, and put it past Stalock for the eventual game winner.
Rangers 2, Sharks 0
Two separate pinches by Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi were both well-timed and well executed, ensuring that the Rangers were able to keep the zone and continue the board battles. Eventually MSL collected the puck between three Sharks, and got three whacks at the loose puck by the post before it was tucked under Stalock.
Rangers 3, Sharks 0
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Rangers 4, Sharks 0
Nash, Hayes, and Chris Kreider all had a very strong forecheck on this shift, which eventually forced Brent Burns into a turnover near the corner. Hayes picked up the puck, and his first attempt on the wrap around was stopped, but Mueller got turned around on the play, again watching the puck instead of taking the man. Hayes collected his own rebound and put it over Stalock for the first of his career.
Shift Chart:
Courtesy of war-on-ice
In the early going, Alain Vigneault and Todd McLellan played a bit of a cat-and-mouse game. AV tried to get the McDoangh-Girardi pairing out against the Patrick Marleau-Logan Couture-Matt Nieto line, but McLellan found a few opportunities to change on the fly and get that line out against Matt Hunwick and John Moore. Meanwhile, Marc Staal and Kevin Klein drew the Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski-Tomas Hertl line.
The fourth line of Tanner Glass-Chris Mueller-Ryan Malone mostly lined up against the Sharks third line of Tye McGinn-Tommy Wingels-Chris Tierney. A bit of a dangerous matchup, but they came out ahead.
Fenwick Chart:
Courtesy of war-on-ice
The Rangers really dominated this game when it was close (+/- 1 goal in periods 1 and 2, tied in period 3). They held a 57% Fenwick advantage in close situations, which was essentially two-thirds of the game. At even strength in all situations, the Rangers held a 54% Fenwick advantage, so they laid back a bit once they took that four goal lead in the third. It was a very strong showing that illustrated the Rangers ability to use their speed to control the play and capitalize on mistakes.
The Rangers have a game Tuesday against the finally-able-to-score Devils, but then have three days off before heading to Montreal. That three game losing streak may be a thing of the past, as the Rangers got their much-needed strong showing against an elite Western Conference team. Any point they get right now is just fine by me, as they are dealing with two significant injuries. Treading water, at least right now, is fine by me.
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