Rangers Recap: Duck Hunt

Who doesn’t love a gold old-fashioned duck hunt? The Rangers needed a massive response game after the embarrassment that took place on Tuesday against the Leafs, and they got it. With an even more depleted roster with Nick Bonino out with an illness, the rookie Adam Edstrom took his place on the third line. He would later score his first NHL in the dying seconds of the game.

The story of this game though was the continued brilliance of Jonathan Quick, who made 29 saves on 30 shots. It’s no secret that he has been outplaying Igor Shesterkin to this date, it’s great to have such a solid backup goalie though again. Wins with a depleted roster come from many places, and backups and call ups answered the call last night.

The Rangers powerplay has really carried the team with all the injuries, and last night was no different. It is their “Break in case of emergency” if you will, that many teams in the league have no answer for. There are too many elite weapons for the opposing penalty killers to cover. If you’re not covering Fox, you gotta cover Panarin, who will just pass it over to Zibanejad, who in turn will either one-time it on goal, or make a slap pass down low to Kreider for the deflection.

From all of those years ago, when there were some years where you wanted the team to decline the power play it was so poor, enjoy this power play every chance you get. Kreider got NHL point #500 early, then #501 on his 100th PPG of his carer. We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: See you at the raising of “20” to the rafters. Scoring goals 280, and 281, he is now 3rd all time in Rangers goal scoring.

He’s been brought up in the recap before, but it has been a pleasure to have Jimmy Vesey in a Rangers jersey again. He is the ideal 4th liner in the modern day NHL. Plays a fantastic defensive game, and of course, he scored yet another goal that ended up becoming the game winner. Amongst his 90 career NHL goals, 27 of them have been game winning.

Coming full circle, how about that Jonathan Quick? If there was ever more evidence that Benoit Allaire is a wizard, look no further than this season for Quick. His 9-0-1 record, a 2.06 GAA, and .926 SV% is vintage Quick. You couldn’t have a better option as a backup this season. For years, when Rangers backup goalies were a sure fire 4-5 goals against, Jonathan Quick has been calming to watch.

I used to despise this guy, he’s responsible for one of the saddest days of my sports fandom. His play though is forcing me to forgive him, and honestly, it doesn’t hurt to have an incredible backup like this should things go awry for Igor further down the stretch.

Now the Rangers have a showdown in Boston while still shorthanded. Let’s hope some confidence travels with them.