Better Against Bruins

After being thoroughly outplayed last Tuesday, the Rangers returned to MSG for their preseason home opener against a Bruins team with just six established NHL players in their line-up and the likes of Joe Thornton, Sergei Samsonov, Brian Leetch, Glen Murray and Andrew Raycroft staying home.  By contrast New York once again iced their top line of Jagr, Straka and Nylander and also dressed several other NHLers as they looked for their first preseason win.

You could have been forgiven if you thought the line-ups were reversed after the first period, as the Bruins outworked and outclassed a Rangers team that once again looked disorganized, managing just two shots on goal and giving up a 2-0 lead in the first twenty minutes.  Once again it was a case of the team giving up two many power plays, but without their offensive leaders the Bruins were unable to fully capitalize going 1 for 5 in the first period.

Kevin Weekes played the entire game in net for the Rangers, and looked steadier than Tuesday night’s game against the Islanders.  There were still occasions where he allowed the puck to get by him and looked uncomfortable as he scrambled to contain the puck and the rebounds, but he was particularly strong down low.  The first goal he gave up was through a partial screen and beat him high on the stick side, and the second was largely a result of a poor pass by Maxim Kondratiev from behind the net straight to Patrice Bergeron who beat Weekes before he could react.

On defense, Darius Kasparaitis played a smart game after taking a penalty on his first shift.  Kasparaitis found ways to continue to use the body in the defensive zone without taking penalties and played smart positionally.  His partner, Maxim Kondratiev also used the body well early and was very involved in the game, but did look a little nervous after making the mistake that lead to the Bruins second goal.  Thomas Pock too was a leader on the blueline, springing Nylander and Straka for breakaways and feeding the puck well out of the defensive zone.  Lampman, Rullier and Strudwick played steady games with little flash, and Strudwick did manage to get the decision in the first fight of the preseason, a fairly ineffective affair that was the result of Colton Orr checking Lampman hard in the defensive zone.

At forward, the top line once again played together, and it was clear that they were much more on top of their game.  With the extra space created by the lesser opposition, Jagr, Nylander and Straka combined for three of the four Rangers goals.  The first score came off of a breakout pass from Pock to Nylander who broke in alone before putting a shot on goal that the Bruins netminder couldn’t handle, allowing Jagr to jam the puck in.  Martin Rucinsky tied it up on the power play in the second with a sharp shot that beat Thomas high on the short side, and perhaps would have been stopped by an NHL goalie.  The Rangers jumped to a 3-2 lead as the second period expired, when he stole the puck from Hal Gill on the Bruins blue line and took a shot from wide out that beat the goaltender through the five-hole with 1.4 seconds left on the clock.  Jagr added an insurance goal late in the third when he was allowed to skate out into the slot and take on the goaltender unmolested.

Amongst the remainder of the forwards, Ville Nieminen had an involved game, making two nice passes to set up sharp scoring chances directly in front of the net, as well as using his body to make some well timed hits.  Petr Prucha too saw a little more ice time this game and seemed to be involved in the offense almost every shift.  He capped it off as the third player selected for the shootout, the only Ranger to beat Tim Thomas in the first three attempts and allowing the Rangers to come back and win the shootout.

Nigel Dawes did not look out of place in the line-up, playing well positionally and constantly moving when he didn’t have the puck.   Still seems unlikely he’ll make the squad with the players in front of him, but perhaps will get a chance to stick around a little longer in the preseason and get some more playing time.  Steve Rucchin was dependable in the face-off circle, and was involved at both ends of the ice as was his line mate Martin Rucinsky.  Jozef Balej was fairly quiet in his first action this preseason and will likely need to step it up if he hopes to beat out Prucha for the vacant right wing spot.

Overall there continues to be some worrying signs for the Rangers, particularly in the first period.  The team needs to get more shots on net and simplify their offense a little…shooting more, passing less.  The power play looked better, though the penalty kill still looked shaky at times, particularly defending against the shot from the defensemen.

The Rangers next game is Tuesday night against the Devils