First Period:
Second Period:
- Matt Rempe (1) Assists: Jimmy Vesey (1), Barclay Goodrow (1)
- Artemi Panarin (1) Assists: Vincent Trocheck (1), Alexis Lafreniere (1)
- Jimmy Vesey (1) Assists: Barclay Goodrow (2)
- Martin Fehervary (1) Assists: Tom Wilson (1), Aliaksei Protas (1)
Third Period:
- Chris Kreider (1) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (1), Jack Roslovic (1)
Three Stars:
- 3: Matt Rempe
- 2: Barclay Goodrow
- 1: Jimmy Vesey
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- After what seemed like a feeling out period in the first, the Rangers started to take over the game. They got that surge in scoring thrice in the second period and while the Caps started to push at the end of the second, the Rangers dominated the third and kept the Caps without a shot for most of the period. They did exactly what they needed to do, they grabbed the lead, built on it and then defended it almost perfectly.
- Matt Rempe sure jammed a lot into his 8:10. He scored, was physical and clearly drew a lot of the Capitals focus. We sort of saw it all with him. He took a penalty early, had some chances, and then scored, threw some hits and was replaced on the fourth line for about half the third period. He was on for a really long shift, 1:29, that skews his ice time a little bit, but overall he was clearly a factor. While I thought for a while that he wouldn’t start Game 1, my feelings started to change over the last couple of regular season games and definitely once the Capitals and Tom Wilson became the matchup. I still have concerns about penalties and how much he may actually play, especially if the Rangers are losing, but he can be a difference-maker and gives that fourth line a different look. I also think that unless he makes a truly egregious error, or gets suspended, that people may go and hurt Peter Laviolette if he takes Rempe out of the lineup.
- Besides Rempe, Barclay Goodrow looked the best he looked maybe all season and Jimmy Vesey continued a really solid season.
- Artemi Panarin had an extremely encouraging game. He scored, but he had seven shots on goal and 10 total attempts. He looked and played like he did for most of the season and that is what we wanted to see.
- Igor Shesterkin was solid. He didn’t need to be amazing, he was just solid.
- Alex Ovechkin had seven shot attempts, but none on goal. That is both good defense by the Rangers and extremely hard to believe.
- You can’t see Tom Wilson and not think he’s going to have some impact, possibly injury/suspension-related, on this series.
- There is a lot of talk about Filip Chytil’s potential return. The fact that he continues to skate, practice, and take contact shows that he is better, but the Rangers aren’t rushing him and have no need to at this point. I’m guessing he’s been given clearance or assurance that he’s healthy and that nothing much will change between now and training camp to make him better, otherwise he wouldn’t even be a consideration to potentially play. My guess is that we don’t see Chytil until the second round unless injuries start to happen and/or the Rangers start going flat later in the series against the Caps and need the jolt that his return would bring. There are other moves that have to happen if Chytil returns, mostly around who would get bumped from the third line and who would get scratched. Would they make it simple and put Wennberg next to Kreider and Zibanejad and scratch Roslovic? Would they shift Wennberg over on the third line, bump Cuylle to the fourth line and scratch Rempe? Would they keep Wennberg and Cuylle on the third line, move Kakko to the top-line and scratch Roslovic? They have options if everyone remains healthy, but things will obviously be different if Chytil comes in for an injured player.
- Game 2 is on Tuesday.