N.Y. Rangers: A Blueline Special

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

STILL THE CENTER OF ATTENTION

Not their drubbing of the Islanders roughly two weeks ago; not their recent defeat of the Sabres; Monday night's game against the Penguins was the Rangers' best game of the season.

It took some overtime along the blue line.  Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba played over twenty-six minutes each.  Jack Johnson was thankfully off the ice, Tony DeAngelo cleared waivers, and Brendan Smith sustained an injury after six shifts.  Ryan Lindgren and K'Andre Miller both skated over 21 minutes.  Meanwhile, making his Rangers debut, New York State native Anthony Bitetto saw almost 15 minutes.  K'Andre Miller was the brightest star of the night, laying a big hit and making the biggest save of the game when it mattered most.  Adam Fox's shot from the point deflected in by Chris Kreider midway through the second period gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish, 

... unlike losing face-offs in your own end and giving up yet another third period lead.

A look at the other side sees sophomore defenseman John Marino skate for over 30:30 minutes.  Next in was Pierre-Olivier Joseph with 26:14 minutes.  No other Pittsburgh defenseman skated beyond 16 minutes.  Now consider the Rangers only mustered 23 shots on goal.

There's just no getting around it.  The Rangers are weak up the middle, not just now, but for a long-ass time.  I don't need to tell fans; we all know it.  The Devils beat us to Jack Hughes, but it appears the Rangers would have drafted Kaapo Kakko nonetheless.  Hughes so far has eight points through nine games with a plus-two.  But I digress.  Filip Chytil's injury compounds the Rangers dilemma.  The Rangers are dependent on Ryan Strome more now than ever.  That's not somewhere I want to be.

Rangers Centers:

• Mika Zibanejad - nine games, two points, minus-four.
• Ryan Strome - nine games, four points, plus-three.
• Brett Howden - nine games, one point, minus-one. 

Coach Quinn rejoined Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Pavel Buchnevich, who created multiple chances in the third period.

By the way, did you see my guy Brendan Lemieux the other night ... a big hit in the neutral zone, recovers the turnover, then scores!  

Igor Shesterkin gets the start.  He faces 26 shots and stops all but one.  After Jason Zucker's goal at 9:05 if the first period, Igor shut them out.  He stood up to intense pressure throughout the third period and particularly in the final minutes.  K'Andre Miller may have made the biggest save of the night, but Shesterkin made many excellent ones too.

This is what I mean by learning how to lose before you can win.  These youngsters are good learners.  Although their teacher has been pissing me off somewhat lately, it's cool.

Tony D'Angelo cleared waivers.  The Rangers are free to buy him out, or whatever it is they chose to do, but he will never again don a Blue Shirt.  That is certain.  He was problematic before arriving off-Broadway, he proved problematic here, and I'm not so sure other teams may want him as well.  The last straw was DeAngelo allegedly going after goalie Alexandar Georgiev for allowing the losing goal against Pittsburgh.  Rumor has it DeAngelo instigated a confrontation with his goalie in the tunnel on the way back to the locker room.  Sure, DeAngelo scored over 50 points last season, but truth be told, his defense has left a lot to be desired throughout.  He was a minus-six when the hammer fell.

File Monday's win against Pittsburgh under addition by subtraction.