lias andersson
Photo Credit: AP / Bill Kostroun

Hockey season kicked off yesterday, with the Rangers taking the ice for the first time since April. Preseason hockey has a different feel for the Rangers this season, since they are not expected to be Cup contenders. It’s a shift from preseason to get back into games to preseason to see how the kids have grown, what the Rangers have in new kids, and what we will see in the revamped forward group.

Last night’s game was likely a microcosm of what to expect from the season. The Rangers will have defensive structure. They will have flashes of brilliance, flashes of dullness, and a lot of in between. It’s the preseason, so I’m avoiding the full goal breakdowns for now. Here are some thoughts.

  • Chris Kreider was killing penalties. Get used to it. The best thing to have on the PK is speed and awareness. Kreider has both. He did not look out of place. The best teams use their best players in all situations, and the Rangers will need to use Kreider like that as well.
  • On the first penalty kill, I was really focusing on how the Rangers approached it. The system really doesn’t matter, since PK systems are pretty standard. What I did notice was the defensemen took a much more traditional approach to the PK. The strong side D would follow the play while the weak side D was planted in front. When the puck crossed the ice, they switched. Much more traditional, and much easier to adopt.
  • At even strength, the defense was very similar. If there is one thing to take away from this game, then it’s this. The defense will have structure.
  • The power play was a clear 1-3-1. The major difference is that the skaters actually, you know, moved around and created different looks. This is something last year’s PP style lacked. They just stood around and passed. This game they moved and forced the goalie to move.
  • On the Lappin goal, it was a classic breakdown. There were three guys caught on the forecheck, but it didn’t matter much as it wasn’t an odd-man rush back. Neal Pionk kept the play to the outside, and Marc Staal took the first man low in Brian Boyle. Both were proper moves. It was Cody McLeod who was following the puck and not the play, leaving the man open in front for the shot.

  • The Quenneville goal was much different. There was no breakdown of any sort that I saw. It was a clear case of being shorthanded. The Blueshirts forced Quenneville to take the shot from the outside of the circle. It was just perfectly placed.

  • The Lias goal was a thing of beauty, going top shelf short side on the breakaway while shorthanded. But it was Jesper Fast who created the turnover by pressuring Taylor Hall in the neutral zone.

  • Remember when Kevin Hayes couldn’t win faceoffs? He has really rounded out his game well. I hope I’m wrong and that he’s a part of the future, and not just trade bait.
  • It was tough to see how the Rangers are going to be on the forecheck because most of the game was played on special teams. It’s standard for the refs though, call everything in the preseason and then slowly begin swallowing whistles until June. Par for the course.
  • I didn’t think the hit on Boo Nieves (by Eric Gryba) was a headshot. It certainly wasn’t clean, but it didn’t look like a headshot. The main point of contact looked to be the chest, but their heads collided.
  • Lias Andersson and Tony DeAngelo both had strong games. However they will make the roster based on their last two games of the preseason, not the first two.

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