AP Photo/Kathy Willens
The Isles and Rangers played a relatively fun game yesterday, with the Isles coming out on top by a score of 3-0. Jaro Halak played well, as did Henrik Lundqvist. The difference was that when the Rangers made mistakes, they wound up in the back of their net. Throw in a little luck, and you have a 3-0 win for the Isles. Plus 50 saves from Halak will go a long way towards a win.
The kids played well again. They aren’t going to be perfect, but they sure do look better than the blue line for the first 50 games. They can skate. They move the puck. They get sticks in lanes. They get the puck up to the forwards to transition to offense. That’s what I care about right now, watching the kids to see how they do.
On to the goals:
Isles 1, Rangers 0
https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/964293840659271680
This was a good shot by Josh Bailey. The penalty killers didn’t shift to cover him though, so that’s on them. The shot placement was very good. Shots like that over the shoulder are difficult to stop.
Isles 2, Rangers 0
https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/964312079598604288
This was a mess. The Rangers were running around, even after they cleared the zone. Matt Barzal regained the zone quickly, found Nick Leddy open as Jordan Eberle cut through the slot to get open. Good pass, Peter Holland with the snow angel, no one takes the passing lane. Hank didn’t have a chance.
Isles 3, Rangers 0
https://twitter.com/hayyyshayyy/status/964320305153011712
Thomas Hickey got some luck here, as his centering pass went off David Desharnais’ skate and through Hank.
Score Adjusted Corsi (even strength)
This game was controlled by the Rangers from start to finish. Those mistakes were costly, though. Goes to show that you can play well and still lose if you don’t keep your mistakes under wraps. The Islanders may be a tire fire defensively, but their forwards make you pay for your mistakes. They did this game.
Scoring Chances (even strength)
That’s a whole lotta scoring chances for the Rangers, something we expected coming into this. The Isles are hopeless in their own end, perhaps even worse than the Rangers since the calendars turned to 2018. The good part here is that the Rangers limited the Isles to fewer scoring chances than we are used to seeing. Likely a product of controlling the game for the most part.
The kids are the big focal point during the games right now. Tony DeAngelo, Neal Pionk, and John Gilmour have shown they could very well be the future on the blue line. It’ll be a shame when they inevitably go back to the AHL as the roster heals, but for now it’s fun watching them.
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