Would have been the easiest 3 stars vote ever, except...There were 4. But do you go with Lafreniere, or do you go with Zibanejad? I mean a game winner always put you in contention for a star of the game. An OT game winner though...That's real tough to beat unless someone puts up a 3 point night. Well, yeah. Zibanejad did just that. With that said, vote goes to the kid. He needs momentum!
Positives;
Was arguably the most entertaining game of the year. Everyone is talking about it. Like the physicality or not, its It's good for ratings because Its more for exposure which in turn is good for revenue.
Chytil was amazing! Like, really showing confidence with the puck. Skating has been tremendous. Rangers can't draft well, and develop well crew is really going to have to start digging deeper.
Trouba Um, who are you and what did you do to Jacob Trouba? He was Scott Stevens last night. So impressed with the physicality he displayed.
The Kid line combined for 4 points even though the OT winner wasent from that line. They were a combined plus/minus +5 in a very close game. Lafreniere was credited with 5 hits. Chytil was credited with 3 takeways. Kakko with 1. The line only had 1 giveaway all night.
Zibanejad quietly had a 3 point night with 8 shots on net!!! Big performance for him, and very much needed. He was blanked in his last 2 games with a combined 5 shots over 40 Mins of hockey.
Blais has 116 hits in 39 games this season. That's almost 3 hits per game. Last night however...that hit was the first time post-surgery that Blais threw a real Sammy Blais hit. To do it on one of the toughest hombres in the league is saying something to your teammates. Like an "I want to be back" statement.
Halak made some beauty saves. Then missed on some stinkers. With that said, he got the W. 6 wins in a row for him. 7 out of his last 8 games.
Ben Harpur doesn't get much credit, yet he blocked 4 shots on the night, Thats solid for a 5/6 D with 14 Mins of icetime.
Per Vince; Columbus, Calgary, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago, Winnipeg, Tampa, Seattle, Colorado, Anaheim, Arizona all had scouts at the game last night. CGY already indicated they are going to buy at the deadline, but im pretty certain that many of them were in the building to look at some NYR players that may be available at the deadline. This could also be a Negative!
Negatives
Filip Chytil is going to make it hard for Drury in the off season to keep him affordable. 8 goals, 4 assists in his last 12 games while averaging 14 Mins of icetime and very little PP time over that span.
4 Giveaways last night for Artemi.
The Rangers top line, gave up a goal against the CGY 3rd line, and they did it being lacksidasical on the backcheck.
Im not a Gallant hater, but the post game was a little concerning. When asked about the clubs physical play, i thought for sure he revved them up in the room saying. "Take a look around you. Not all of you are going to be here March 3rd. Club is going to look to make some additions, to play in a heavier game, and to add some scoring on the top lines." But...Gallant actually said. "I have no idea what got into them and why they played so physical" Was it a players meeting or did Drury have a say? Weird!
Per Vince; Columbus, Calgary, Nashville, Dallas, Chicago, Winnipeg, Tampa, Seattle, Colorado, Anaheim, Arizona all had scouts at the game last night. CGY already indicated they are going to buy at the deadline, but im pretty certain that many of them were in the building to look at some NYR players that may be available at the deadline. This could also be a positive.
