This was not an easy game to watch. The Rangers did not look like they had their best game tonight, and there was a lot of disjointed play as it looked like they were not comfortable yet. A fair number of good things happened, which should give all Rangers fans hope for this season. There will need to be a lot of steps taken in a hurry, especially in the back end, if they expect to keep up with the high powered offenses in their division.
PHX Goal #1: Chipchurra from Klinkhammer and Ekman-Larsson
First off, this is probably one of the best scoring combinations name-wise we will see this year. Second, this goal could have been prevented had Stepan stayed with his man and Richards had done some skating to cover his teammates.
This is where Step turns the puck over to OEL. This play was definitely indicative of Stepan’s conditioning and general playing level, because after losing the puck, he immediately starts to chase it behind the net to Klinkhammer. Del Zotto ends up behind the net first with Moore covering the wraparound, so Stepan floats in no man’s land. Notice Richards hanging out in the upper corner looking for the breakout pass.
Chipchurra is Stepan’s man, especially with Richards blanketing OEL so closely. With so much space and time in front of the net, it was too easy to slide the puck behind Moore’s skates for the one-timer home.
Like I say, I think we can chalk this up to Stepan missing camp and not playing up to capacity just yet. It’s a shame, but it is what it is. But let’s also look at Richards. He has not skated a single stride since the turnover. How is he helping out there? His teammates are caught out of position, and he is not collapsing to help. It may not have prevented the goal, but it would have looked a little better for him at least.
NYR Goal #1: Staal from Nash and Stepan
I hope we see a lot of this under Vigneault. Quick, smart passing and moving to the net is going to get all three of these players success. Staal has been hot coming off the preseason, and that is fantastic to see. I was one who wrote his career off when the eye injury first happened, and I’ll have you know that the crow I’m eating is delicious so far.
It started with a normal breakout, like so many failed power plays before it. Richards carried the puck to the top of the circles and fed the puck to a very open Stepan along the boards.
The pass itself was not a complicated play, nor did it make or break this particular goal. But it did set off a mistake by the two forward Yotes, as the both collapsed to Stepan. If the other goal showed Step’s weakness from missing camp, his play to Nash shows why he thinks he is so valuable to this team. Nash splits the seam and Stepan finds him for the zone entry (carry).
At this point, the chase is on in the back end as Nash crosses the blue line. Both defensemen come straight for him, as does the forechecker scrambling back to help but still far behind the play.
Not that you can blame them. They’ve probably seen as many Nash highlight reels as us, and aren’t about to let him past for a breakaway at full steam. Another interesting thing to notice between these two shots is how far Nash skated east-west before crossing the blue line. I’m willing to believe this was intentional, as he can see Staal wide open backside as well as us. He draws the crowd….
… And lays it to Staal who has half the ice to himself….
And buries it over Smith’s far side. Again, quick passing to cause chaos in the back. I hope to be saying that a lot this season. Now, look at Nash when Staal lets the shot go. He is moving straight to the net. Even if Smith gets something on Staal’s shot, Nash is first in line for the rebound. This is good news for Rangers’ fans, because if he can consistently use that size and speed, and keeps crashing the net, he will create goals.
PHX Goal #2: Vrbata from Hanzal and Morris
There’s just not much to say about this one. If McD isn’t on the ice for two minutes leading up to this goal, he’s got enough left in the tank to clear the puck out before Vrbata can get his own rebound.
This is a play we’ve seen him make countless times before to clear a puck off the goal line. Girardi on the other side is in the same boat, gassed after a long shift. The Coyotes took advantage, and that’s all there is to it. Nothing else to see here.
PHX Goal #3: Vrbata from Yandle and Vermette
Staal has to clear the area in front of Henrik on the power play. He had been doing alright with it up to this point, but left his man to screen the shot. The puck is already off the Vrbata’s stick and Hank is looking for it. In fact…
This is the moment Henrik reacts to the puck. It is already almost in the net. There’s nothing else to see here.
PHX Goal #4: Vrbata from Hanzal
Ugh, this was brutal. And it falls squarely on Nash’s shoulders. Just as Stepan made a mistake after his turnover for Phoenix’ first goal, Nash lets Vrbata chase the puck after committing an embarrassing turnover. Vrbata would make Nash pay of course.
This is exactly what it looks like. Nash gives the puck up to Vrbata very close to the net. Let’s look at where each player is when Vrbata ends up lifting the puck over Henrik’s pad…
Although Nash never had an inside position on Vrbata to prevent the goal, he failed to even make it difficult. And that just can’t happen, even if fancy stats says you shouldn’t be playing in the defensive zone.
So there you have it. Four goals for the bad guys, only one for the good. There were good things and bad things that happened in this game, and there’s no doubt they did not play anywhere near a full 60 minutes. But that will happen, and hopefully on Monday we will see more of the happy Rangers pictures than we did tonight. If you saw a goal differently or feel like all four were really Del Zotto’s fault, argue with me about it.
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