There wasn’t much to fixate on through two games of the season, but Reilly Smith’s first go with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider was a natural one to gravitate toward, considering the circumstances of the Rangers’ RW1 history.
And after the line experienced some defensive struggles and faded to the background offensively, the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Red Wings on Monday night at Madison Square Garden was a game that saw the trio find their flow.
Reilly Smith #91 of the New York Rangers (l) celebrates his third-period goal against the Detroit Red Wings and is joined by Chris Kreider.
That was, at least, to onlookers. To Zibanejad, they’re not quite there yet.
“I thought some shifts, yeah [we were in a flow], but we’re close,” said Zibanejad, who recorded his first three points of the season — an empty-net goal and two primary assists — in the win. “I think we’re close to clicking. That’s why I can’t say here yes. We’re working on it. We want this to work as much as anyone else. I think it’s frustrating when we don’t connect, but obviously, we’ll keep working on it. We do a good job just sticking to it, sticking to it. We all believe that we’re going to be successful and we’re going to have a good line. It’s right there, but I can’t say, ‘Yes, this was a game-breaker.’
“There’s definitely things we want to continue doing. I like the line. Obviously, as a player, you want it to connect as soon as possible. It’s a long season, so hopefully we can get there.”
The statistics didn’t tell the full story in this one, and they rarely do. Comparatively speaking, Kreider, Zibanejad and Smith were standouts in this game, after the other lines that make up the rest of the top nine dominated the previous two.
Chris Kreider #20 of the New York Rangers celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in the second period.
Smith scored his first goal as a Ranger in the third period for some insurance, whipping the puck in off Zibanejad’s faceoff win. Zibanejad then scored an empty-netter to put the game out of reach.
“This is only the third game of the year. It’s not like it’s Game 12,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “I thought in Pittsburgh that line was really good. I thought they played a heck of a game, and tonight they were productive. … It’s nice to see Riley get on the board with a goal and a shot like that. Just get production from different people, so tonight it was them.”
The Rangers’ top power-play unit is back together for another season — and so is Kreider at the net front.
Filip Chytil #72 of the New York Rangers battles for the puck against Andrew Copp #18 and Michael Rasmussen #27 of the Detroit Red Wings.
Kreider broke a 1-1 tie on the Rangers’ fourth power play of the game in the second period, giving the team a 2-for-11 showing through the first three games.
It hasn’t been the most dominant start to the season, but this particular man-advantage stretch took just 8 seconds to capitalize.
Zibanejad zipped a pointed feed that Kreider redirected in for his third goal in as many games, without having to move his stick at all. The primary assist counted as Zibanejad’s first point of the season.
Coming into the game wanting to tighten up defensively, the Rangers largely did so — aside from the end of the first period and spurts throughout the second. Goalie Igor Shesterkin’s 31 saves certainly helped, as well.
After Alexis Lafreniere scored his second goal of the season — his fourth point in three games — the Blueshirts fell asleep in the final seconds of the opening frame and allowed Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin to knot the score at 1-all with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.
Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) and New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba (8) swat at the puck in front of New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) during the second period.
“I just didn’t think we played our game [in the second period]. I thought we were a little bit too casual,” Laviolette said of his team’s defensive effort. “The first period I thought was better and the third was also good. Again, it’s early and we continue to work at these things and try to get better at them.”
