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In case you missed it, and if you did, I’m sorry you missed it. The New York Rangers defeated the NJ Devils in Game 1 last night by a score of 5-1. It wasn’t a dominating effort, as the Devils certainly had a bunch of chances, including several powerplays, but it was good enough in 5v5 with special teams and Igor Shesterkin did the rest. I stuck with the formula, which has been key to not only winning the Rangers Game 1, but how the Rangers make it to the playoffs.
1. Stick to the formula
Highlights Rangers Game 1 The Formula winTM He mentioned Rob Locker for some time now. Average 5v5 play with good strength and good/great aiming is enough to keep them in the game. Getting all three brings them close to stopping. The Rangers were good enough at 5v5, limiting the Devils’ chances to 12 high-risk chances, For each natural statistic trick, to 10 opportunities in HD quality. That’s good enough.
Add strength, penalties, and goalkeeping, and you have a 5-1 win.
2. Igor Igor Igor
It was cute when Devils fans said getting into Igor’s head by chanting his name, because he did so well in last year’s series against Pittsburgh. As if they ignored the Rangers’ comeback to win the series. Igor was contacted, making hard balls look easy. He did everything he needed to do.
If this is Igor the Rangers he gets over the next 2-3 months, he can steal a chain.
3. Matters of Defense
The Rangers Game 1 win may have been highlighted by FormulaTM But it was the team’s defense that really made that possible. It wasn’t perfect, but the Rangers did their job of limiting rushing chances against HD chances in general. In particular, allowing just two HD chances in the first period was a big win for the Blueshirts and set a real tone.
Once again, the Devils are a very good team and they will get their chances. It’s impossible to limit a team with this kind of firepower to nothing. If the Blue Shirts can continue to limit rush chances and pass the hole line, then they could potentially come out on top.
The Rangers Game 1 win was good enough even on the force, as noted. That’s all they need. If this is the worst we see Rangers playing in 5v5, watch out.
4. Timed powerplay targets
Rangers got 2 Powerplay goals last night in 3 chances. They will not continue to reach 66%, it is unrealistic. But the key part in Rangers winning Game 1 was the timing of their goals. Chris Kreider’s first goal gave the Rangers a two-goal barrier. There is no safe thread against the Devils, as they are notorious for returning late in the game. Giving themselves breathing room to allow a foul to hit the back of the net was key. It also set the tone for the young Devils’ early falling behind team.
Kreider’s second goal put the game out of reach for the Devils. Again, timely goals with a man advantage.
Something to watch: The Devils were actively guarding against the icy cross-pass to Mika Zibanejad on the Powerplay, so the Rangers instead went for an open Kreider up front. Will the demons adapt to cover Craider, making that corridor to Zibanijad more accessible?
5. Kill the elite penalty
Perhaps the biggest mood factor in the Rangers’ Game 1 victory was the shootout early on. Before Vladimir Tarasenko could open the scoring, Rangers kicker Vincent Troshek killed off a penalty kick. Before Kreider’s first goal, they killed a penalty kick from Adam Fox. Finally, the Rangers had 4 penalty kills with no shots on goal.
Of course, not allowing doses in 8 minutes of kill is not the norm, and that will change. Demons runner won’t be on the series’ powerplay either. But that again set the winning tone for Rangers 1. The Devils came in expecting to have a game of speed that killed the Rangers. They don’t, and that message was sent way too soon.
The Rangers had special teams that accounted for 14 of the 60 minutes in a game (approx). formulaTM Right, with the Rangers owning 23% of the game and simply being good enough at the other 77% of the game. Add Igor, and outrun the demons in Game 1.
But as they say, there’s a reason it’s a seven-game series.
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