The early candidate for game of the year has arrived. The story of the Rangers’ early struggles to score, improved defensive play, and sound process made for a fun game in which the Rangers actually scored. After a shaky start that could have easily ended up with a bevy of goals against, the team responded and finally got some big goals by big guys who have been quiet so far this season. Montreal has historically never been a friendly place for the Rangers, and this team exorcised those demons. Now just need to get rid of those scoring demons at home.
The top six arrived, scoring all 4 goals for the Rangers. Artemi Panarin arrived with four points. The Rangers needed a massive response from him after the start, and they got it. On special teams, Mika Zibanejad and JT Miller scoring on the power play were huge for both the team and the individual. Miller has been very vocal in the media how the team needs to stay the course and the offense would eventually come. Zibanejad is hopefully returning to vintage form with the powerplay one-timer from his spot.
I, and many of us, owe an apology to Matthew Robertson. It seemed he was only sticking with the team to avoid losing him on waivers. Since he’s entered the lineup alongside Will Bogen, they’ve become an ideal 2nd pairing behind Vlad Gavrikov and Adam Fox, small sample size notwithstanding.
Robertson had a rough first period on the opening goal against by Juraj Slafkovsky, but he ended up getting the last laugh scoring his first NHL goal on a missile of a one-timer from the blue line late in the 3rd period to put the Rangers up 3-2. Robertson is making a case to stick in the lineup when Soucy returns, perhaps scratching Urho Vaakanainen instead. Homegrown cheap defensive help that can actually contribute goes a long way in this league.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention play-by-play caller Alex Faust. If you’ve followed me on social media for a long time, my adoration for the way Faust calls a hockey game has been well documented. When Sam Rosen announced he was going to be retiring last season, there was a major part of me that wanted him to get this play-by-play gig full-time.
Kenny Albert paid his dues with many many years of radio calls on ESPN radio and is a fantastic announcer. There are not many other announcers, if any, that can call all 4 major sports. There is just an energy that Faust brings to a call that is hard to put into words, but you can just tell you’re watching a big game. Faust may not have the full-time duties on the TV broadcast, but I am glad we get to hear his call from time to time. He’s so good at what he does.
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