Let’s get this Bread! The New York Rangers have got two great vets and a youngster on the first line. The future seems bright, but we’ll seee what they’ve done well as the season’s started off. Reading the play, pretty setups, vision, passes through traffic… are just a few examples of what this line is showing off so far.
Firstly, we’ll discuss the Blueshirts two most recent games. They were both against the Detroit Red Wings, one at home on October 14 and one away last night. The games ended up being back-to-back decisive wins, 4-1 and 5-2 for the Rangers respectively. In light of that, let’s take a look at some more specific gameplay aspects.
New York Rangers Top Line Flows Together
Next, let’s talk about a youngster – one who’s already had multiple good seasons with the Blueshirts and is only getting better and better every year: 23-year-old winger Alexis Lafreniere. The star has the honour of skating on top with 31-year-old star centreman Vincent Trocheck and the Rangers star skater, left-winger Artemi Panarin. We saw the Russian’s trick in the last game, and let’s go over how it started.
It was this top forward line that opened the scoring in last nights game, and the story starts with Lafreniere. There was a turnover from Wings defenceman Olli Maatta to Laffy, who made a pass behind him in the direction of star Rangers defenceman Adam Fox and Trocheck. Lafreniere found Trocheck despite Wings centreman Tyler Motte trying to intercept the pass. In the lower offensive zone faceoff circle, Trocheck showed immense vision and passing ability by sending a slick feed through the opposition across to Panarin. He took the puck at the top of the upper offensive zone faceoff circle, and scored a wrister.
Takeaway: Lafreniere can play chess and spot the ideal player to pass to in order to make beautiful setups. Those setups may involve players in a very different section of the ice.
Panarin and Lafreniere Work Together On Top Group
Beautiful Lafreniere Setup & Goal
On Monday, Panarin showed his ability to read the play and hold on to the puck. He threaded the needle between huge Red Wings centre Michael Rasmussen and defenceman Justin Holl. Three Red Wings, Rasmussen and Holl plus the large 21-year-old Wings defenceman Simon Edvinsson, stood in the way between him and Red Wings netminder Alex Lyon. Lafreniere stood to the right. This was a compliment to both Panarin’s and Lafreniere’s play-reading abilities. If there is too much traffic for Panarin to make the shot, the alternative is to pass to Lafreniere who has a clear path between him and the net. This snap shot opened the scoring in the game and made it 1-0 Rangers. All in all, Lafreniere seems off to a good start this year.
Takeaway: Panarin and Lafreniere have good chemistry on the top forward lineup and can work together to find openings for each other.
Panarin ranked number one for goals among Rangers players last regular season (2023-24) with 49 in 82 games. This was an NHL-career high for him. The same held true for his points, at 120. The 32-year-old Panarin and 23-year-old Lafreniere, plus Trocheck, seem good together so far this year. Even if the veteran stars are getting up there in age, the aforementioned two (Panarin & Trocheck) likely still have a lot of time left in their careers. Also, don’t forget the promising future that Lafreniere has, in addition to other youngsters such as K’Andre Miller, Filip Chytil, and Victor Mancini.
Reilly Smith‘s First Rangers Goal
Second Rangers Line
In addition to all this, let’s talk about the Blueshirts second forward group (Kreider-Zibanejad-Smith). Specifically, we’ll go over the evidently valuable addition of 33-year-old right-winger Reilly Smith. Almost immediately after a third-period faceoff during Mondays game, Smith scored a snap shot with the assist of star centreman Mika Zibanejad after he won the draw. Smith can score goals through traffic and take advantage of when goalies may not have the best vision due to the skaters in front. The shot went by not one, but four Red Wings, including star defenceman Moritz Seider.
Rangers Head Coach Peter Laviolette mentioned the importance of winning puck battles in a postgame media availability Monday night, and faceoffs are key battles.
“Oftentimes, it’s the wingers and the defencemen that can jump in and take those fifty-fifty faceoffs and bump it your way but you know, a faceoff play and a goal. It’s nice to see Reilly get on the board with a goal and a shot like that and, you know, just get production from different people. So, tonight, you know, it was them.” Laviolette said.
Takeaway: Smiths first goal as a Blueshirt showed his ability to make smart shots through traffic and work with centremen after faceoffs.
Main Photo: Danny Wild-Imagn Images
