NEW YORK – On the eve of Halloween, the New York Rangers gave the fans both a trick (a hat trick by Micheal Grabner) and a treat (exploding for six goals) against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden. The Blueshirts handed Ben Bishop his second career loss against them as they used a second period surge to down the Bolts 6-1.
It was no secret the Rangers did not play well Friday night in Carolina and it wasn’t the best hockey we’ve seen from this quick Rangers team. It was an evenly matched first period between the Rangers and Tampa before things became unhinged in period two. The Rangers, who have had trouble against Bishop the last few years finally were able to put some pucks passed him; four to be exact in that second period. In a span of just a few minutes, the Rangers were quickly up 3-0 before running away with the game.
The second period has been the best period for the Rangers through their first nine games. The Rangers have outscored their opponents, 16-5, in the second period through the first nine games this season.
The goal scorers in period two were Rick Nash (4th of season), Grabner (1st of game, 3rd of season), Jimmy Vesey (5th of season) and J.T. Miller (3rd of season). Grabner (4th & 5th of season) was picked up in the third period to cap the scoring for the Rangers. The line of Miller, Grabner and Kevin Hayes combined for four goals and nine points.
When asked about being moved up to that third line and playing with both Miller and Hayes, Grabner went on to say, “They’re great players, I just tried to use my speed to open up some room for them, and tonight, we had a lot of chances. I think we could have had a couple of more”.
The Rangers now improved to 6-3-0 (12 points) on their young season and have shown their ability to shake off a frustrating loss without any lingering affects. They also continue their torrid scoring streak as they now average 3.89 goals per game. The most impressive of tonight’s win was the play of the bottom lines for the Rangers. One of the issues addressed by general manager Jeff Gorton was to build the depth and bottom lines and he did so and it’s paid off thus far.
Antti Raanta was the net minder for the Rangers and it was his first career start against the Lightning and made 31 saves on 32 shots. It was late in the game (3:24 remaining in the game) to be exact where he lost the shutout bid. In 33 career NHL appearances at home, Raanta has posted a 21-4-4 record, along with a 1.85 GAA, a .933 SV%, and 4 SO.
Raanta impressed with the team’s win tonight said, “It was nice to get going. I have been working the past couple weeks and waiting for this moment, so when you get the call and get the chance to play you try to do the things you have been doing in practice. I think everything went really well and you always need a little luck. The guys were lighting it up today. It was nice to see the boys scoring.”
Head coach Alain Vigneault also gave his vote of confidence for Raanta when asked, “I’m not worried at all about Antti, the way he’s played for us in the past, how hard he’s working during practices and the extra work he’s doing with (Benoit Allaire). Our team has got a lot of confidence in him and when he comes in goal we know he’s always going to give us a chance to win.”
The coach emphasized on the speed the Rangers showed tonight in which has been a big factor in their terrific start this season. He went on to say, “Tonight was a game where our speed enabled us to create some odd-man rushes, and in the second period we were finally able to beat one of the top goalies in the league.”
The Rangers are now 5-1 on home ice this season and for Miller, playing on home ice is always important. “We always want to make this a tough place to play”, Miller said.
“It’s our home building. We want to make sure we are making it tough on teams when they come into town. Especially that team [Tampa Bay]. We know a lot about them and have played against them a lot over the years. It was just a really good test for us tonight and obviously as a team we played really well”, Miller concluded.
More home games await for the Rangers as they look to build on tonight’s game and welcome the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday for the second meeting between the two teams. The Rangers are looking for a better outcome than when they lost to the hands of the Blues 3-2 in the second game of the season.
NOTES
Prior to Michael Grabner’s hat trick, the last Ranger who tallied a hat trick at MSG was Mats Zuccarello, who did so one year ago today (Oct. 30, 2015 vs. Toronto).
Dan Girardi registered an assist, recorded three shots on goal, and posted a plus-two rating. He has tallied a point in three of the six games he has played in 2016-17 (one goal, two assists), and he is tied for second among Rangers defensemen in points this season (three).
Kevin Hayes established a single-game career-high with three assists, and tied single-game career-high with three points and a plus-four rating. He has registered four points (one goal, three assists) in the last three contests.
