Opening Faceoff: Rangers at Canadiens

Noah Weiss Updated: Oct 28, 2017

The New York Rangers earned their third win of the season when on Thursday, beating the Arizona Coyotes and former Ranger, Derek Stepan, 5-2. Yes, it took Arizona’s third string goalie for the Rangers to score five goals, but it is a win and the Rangers will look to build on that.8:01 into the first period, Chris Kreider stole the puck away from Derek Stepan and passed the puck to Mats Zuccarello, who then gave a nifty drop pass to Kreider who buried his second goal of the season. Then, later in the period, Pavel Buchnevich took advantage of rookie goalie Adin Hill with a sneaky wrist shot from the top of the left circle. In the second period, former Ranger, Anthony Duclair scored on the backhand. Less than a minute later, Michael Grabner scored his second goal of the season on a nice move. Pavel Buchnevich then scored on a yawning net when Adin Hill passed the puck straight to the Ranger. In the third period, Arizona’s Clayton Keller scored his seventh goal of the season and seventh point in four games on a power play goal. The score was 4-2, Arizona pulled Adin Hill and Michael Grabner scored his second goal of the game on the empty-net.

The fourth line contributed seven of the Rangers’ 10 points. Subsequent to his call-up Boo Nieves had three points with Pavel Buchnevich and Michael Grabner two goals a piece.

Keys to a Rangers’ victory:

The Montreal Canadiens have had their share of struggles this season. At 2-7-1, the Rangers must be able to take advantage of this opportunity. Carey Price has played abysmal as of late. He possesses a save percentage of .887 and a goals against average of 3.60.
The Rangers need their fourth line to continue their excellent play. If the Rangers want to win, they need depth contributions.

Other Notes:

Following a good performance on Thursday, Ondrej Pavelec will start in-goal for the Rangers.

Ondrej Pavelec will start for #NYR tomorrow night in Montreal.

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 27, 2017

Montreal Canadiens forward Ales Hemsky is dealing with concussion-like symptoms and will likely not play against the Rangers.

For more information on the game:

AV on Pavelec starting in Montreal, #NYR hitting the road and more after today's practice. https://t.co/r62yYKQ8OX

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 27, 2017