Rangers Vs. Capitals: Notes From The Win
Notes from the Rangers' win over the Capitals.
- We can start with Carl Hagelin, who has been every bit as amazing as the Rangers have needed him to be the past few games. Hagelin now has six goals and three assists for nine points in 14 games. He's done a little bit of everything for the Rangers. Hagelin is the type of player who is useful because he does all the little things right. When he's scoring like he is, however, he's even more invaluable.
- Derek Stepan. The goal he scored wasn't impressive, honestly. Michael Del Zotto fed him a perfect pass for an easy finish. What was impressive about the goal was his positioning. He moved to a dangerous area of the ice, sat there and waited for the pass. Stepan has a great hockey IQ and he used it there. If him and Hagelin keep scoring the Rangers are going to be fine.
- Rick Nash has another great day. Another game where he creates tons of chances and walks away with an assist. Eventually those pucks are going to start going into the net. And when they do, look out. Still, three goals and nine assists on the year.
- Henrik Lundqvist had a really good game as well. He wasn't overly busy for most of the game, but when he had to be he was there.
- The power play goal the Rangers did score is an example of why their power play has been so frustrating. That's what it can and should do on a daily basis. Also, Nash won't get an assist on the Stepan goal, but he should have. The move to feed the puck to Brad Richards for the goal was brilliant.
- I have a feeling we won't see Darroll Powe for a while, which means we'll probably see Chris Kreider. Hopefully Powe is OK.
- Speaking of the rookies, I thought J.T. Miller was OK. He wasn't great, made a few mistakes and also made some nice plays. He's got a bright future for sure. I'm glad he played 13 minutes, though. He needs those if he's going to stay up.
- The Rangers are now 4-0-1 in their last five games. I always said this team needed a training camp, and they sort of got one with their slow start. Now they're starting to click and it shows.
Thoughts?
