^{The Utah Mammoth are dominating teams from New York randomly, and I’m OK with that}

I admit, I try and be objective as often as possible in all the games we play. Three games in particular are tough for me at the DC. The Islanders game, is a conflicting game for me spiritually. Then the Rangers and Leafs games I have an inordinate amount of hatred for. So, losing to those teams is the absolute worst of both worlds.

After a game where Utah failed to score on one of the most mid-tier backup goaltenders in the division, they faced the best backup goaltender in the league in Jonathan Quick. Quick, who I am quick to remind Rangers fans is the guy that helped the Kings beat them for the Cup, is old. He’s was alive when the Challenger exploded in 1986. At his age, he needs to be in a rocking chair drinking Arnold Palmers and reminiscing on his multiple Cup wins. Instead, he’s giving up a goal every 21 shots.

Quick in net, with a sub 1.5 goals against average, and a save percentage north of .951, versus a Utah team that hasn’t been able to see a number larger than 2 on their side of the board in weeks, I was pessimistic. The Rangers had the best road record. They were facing a Mammoth team that hadn’t won in regulation against anyone other than Buffalo.

Well, my overall despondency had me down for the writeup. I’m glad I was wrong.

The Mammoth apparently had a closed door meeting recently, as revealed on the broadcast tonight, and it appears to have breathed some life into the team. I’ve been really wondering why, as a leader, Keller hasn’t had a players-only meeting yet. Thankfully, he listened to me. Well, seems that the meeting helped change the tone. Tonight’s team was motivated, aggressive, and physical. Most importantly, they were able to close out the game with pressure late.

FIRST PERIOD:
Utah and New York spent the first three minutes testing each other, with the only notable shot on net from Nick Schmaltz on Jonathan Quick in the first 30 seconds. At the three minute mark, though, the Rangers would get their first attempt on solving Utah’s stellar PK, as Barrett Hayton “hooked” Alexis Lafrenière. Note, Lafrenière fell to the ice because he lost an edge. This will be important in a few minutes.

Anyway, with the man advantage, the Rangers have been extremely effective on the road. Scoring 8 of their last 32 for a 25% power play rate, they had some difficulty tonight as their captain, JT Miller, was out of the lineup with an injury sustained against Colorado last game. As a result, one of their 4 point producers was out and replaced by Mika Zibanejad, himself a scoring threat.

Utah’s PK started out strong, with an immediate clear and zone denials. However, late in the power play, the Rangers were able to keep the puck in the zone multiple times. They took a couple of shots – Adam Fox from the blue line, Conor Sheary from a couple spots, and Lafrenière were all stopped by Karel Vejmelka, who came up big after a shaky start against Vegas.

After successfully killing another penalty, Utah took a good rush chance from the reunited first line. Clayton Keller took a shot/shot-pass from the boards on Quick, which left a rebound in front for Schmaltz. #8, however, was tied up in front and the Rangers got themselves out of danger.

Utah had some good zone pressure between the third and fourth lines, with Kailer Yamamoto, back in the lineup, crashing the net, Marino tried to sneak a close puck in front that turned dangerous, and then two absolute grade A chances from Mikhail Sergachev and Nick DeSimone were stopped seconds apart. Next shift, Logan Cooley made it the Cooley show, with a few shots on net, a disrupted wrap-around chance. The Mammoth even got an odd-man rush attempt, with Clayton Keller and John Marino crashing on his wing – Keller took a shot that was stopped, and Hayton, crashing the net himself, had a deflection that also got picked up by Quick.

The incessant Utah pushes finally were rewarded at the halfway mark of the period. Another fantastic push by Utah’s third line saw Jack McBain win a puck battle in the corner, and feed cross-ice back to the blue line. Nate Schmidt, who scored his first goal last game, took the shot that was initially saved. However, the puck hit traffic in the front – something Utah’s had next to none of all month – and the puck lie between Quick’s right pad and the post. JJ Peterka came streaking in and, with one hand, poked the puck across the line. 1-0 Utah

Veggie was tested after the goa, with a strong Rangers response. Two shots – one from Will Cuylle (pronounced Coo-ley, but not the good kind) and Jonny Brodzinski after a bad turnover – were both turned away by Vejmelka.

Neither team sustained a lot of zone pressure, or decent scoring chances, over the next several minutes. However, the Rangers were able to keep the puck hemmed into the Utah zone with just about 5 minutes to go. The Mammoth were unable to cleanly get the puck and were unable to clear, and the Rangers got on the board as a shot from the point by Fox was redirected by Vladislav Gavrikov in the slot. There appeared to be almost two redirections on that puck, making it nearly impossible to stop. Oh well. 1-1 Tied

The Mammoth came back strong, and both teams got fairly physical with play along the boards at both ends. 3 and a half to go, Vincent Trocheck went in on Vejmelka all alone, but his top corner attempt caught Veggie’s shoulder. Utah, in response, saw pressure develop due to strong forechecking. Carcone pushed a turnover to Cooley, who took into the zone, fed Marino for a one-timer that was saved by Quick, and the long rebound was backhanded by Schmidt. Quick was able to track that puck as well. Carcone then had a turn around snap shot miss high.

The Rangers had a really late 3 on 2, which saw Trocheck’s shot stopped by Vejmelka, who got run by Lafrenière. Veggie’s mask came undone, but play wasn’t stopped until the period sounded. I’ll talk about this below, this bothered me quite a bit.

Shots 13 – 12 in favor of Utah.

SECOND PERIOD:
The teams saw back and forth zone possessions over the first two minutes, with no real eventful chances on either side. About 3 minutes in, Lawson Crouse found Peterka on the near side of the rink with a pass, and he sailed a shot high on a 1 on 1 from the left dot.

Not much action until Cooley drew an interference penalty from Matthew Robertson. However, yet again, the referees called embellishment on Cooley. Instead of a power play, the referees again decided that the Mammoth weren’t worthy of a call, and gave the teams 4 on 4.

*I have written several times over the past several games about embellishment and my stance on it. I won’t continue here beyond saying – if someone from Utah doesn’t cause a problem for Bettman and the officials over these terrible calls, I’ll be really, really surprisd.

After the fantastic officiating put the teams 4 on 4, Utah had a good chance from Keller about the halfway mark. His shot hit Hayton in front, and the loose puck was snatched by Quick before Hayton was able to get his stick on the puck.

Shortly after the teams returned to 5 aside, a great move by Sergachev as he entered the Rangers zone led to a fantastic shot by Peterka, but unfortunately Quick was able to position in time, and the teams remained tied.

The Rangers had about a minute of zone time in response, with several near misses, and they would ultimately take the lead on a breakaway by Artemi Panarin. The Rangers had the puck in their zone, and Panarin took a path along the near boards down the ice. Hayton, his defensive cover, didn’t see him break and was several strides behind. The Rangers clearing attempt became a touch pass from Trochek, and while Vejmelka made the initial save on the breakaway, the puck rolled down his pad and through his leg into the net. Just brutal for Veggie there. 2-1 Rangers

Team Tusk responded with a bit of pressure as we crossed the halfway mark, with Sergachev just missing a shot top corner on Quick. They would, however have a great scoring play shortly after, as Yamamoto stole the puck along the boards, went in on Quick alone, and fumbled the puck. Right there, however, was Clayton Keller, who roofed it for the goal! Or, it wasn’t initially ruled a goal, and play continued for about 30 more seconds.

Note: I sit upper section and look down on the visitors goal, and I saw the puck under the white of the netting from the stands. I stood and cheered for about 10 seconds. I had a feeling it was going to be called, and then when the horn sounded, I also jumped and was the only person in my section cheering. No one in my section or the ones next to me knew what was going on. My neighbors thought I was crazy. Nope.

Toronto reviewed the goal, and they saw the shot went straight into the back of the net, hit the white support bar, and rocket back out. Goal, Keller. 2-2 Tied

The Rangers came back hard immediately following the goal, as a dump in awkwardly popped in front of Vejmelka. Noah Laba, crashing the net, got a shot off, but the Wasatch Wall was able to recover in time, keeping the game tied. Surprisingly, this was only the second actual shot on goal versus Vejmelka in the period.

Utah pushed hard for the lead with about 6 to go. Keller got fed the puck in the slot, and his one-timer was denied by Quick. Zone time was there, but no dangerous chances other than Keller’s shot occurred.

The Rangers had a golden opportunity when Lafrenière received a turnover all alone in the slot in front of Veggie. He shot wide, killing that chance. Zibanejad ripped a slapper from the blue line, which Veggie stopped, and the Rangers didn’t get another chance through the horn. Utah did have a shot that McBain redirected high, but the teams seemed to be content to go to the lockers tied after that.

Utah didn’t win the period on the scoreboard, but they kept the Rangers to a total of 3 shots. Unfortunately, the one got through, otherwise that was a shutdown period for the team. Shots after the second period – Utah 21, New York 15.

THIRD PERIOD:
Both teams looked to score right out of the gate. Utah tried first, with an early McBain shot, that seemed to try and be a pass off the pads to Peterka on the wing that Quick read well. This was followed 30 seconds later with shot by Sheary who had Dmitri Simashev draped all over him, culminating with a pass to Guenther, behind the defense but just to close to Quick to elevate the puck to break the tie.

From there, however, the teams seemed to miss good opportunities and passes, almost as if they were starting on a bad sheet of ice. Neither team had a shot on net for more than three minutes. The game wasn’t without action, though, especially as Nick DeSimone laid out Sheary at center ice with a massive hit, bringing the crowd to attention.

New York almost went ahead 6 minutes in, when a flurry of shots were denied by Vejmelka. Initially blocked, Lafrenière, Gavrikov, and Trocheck were all denied within seconds of each other, as Veggie was able to somehow, some way, keep the game tied.

Veggies heroics paid off in spades about a minute later. In the Rangers zone, Cooley and Guenther worked to get the puck from the Rangers corner. Cooley, heading behind the net, threw a pass out for Guenther right at the crease. This was deflected, and Matthew Robertson on the Rangers tried to clear the puck. Fortunately for Team Tusk, the puck came right out to DeSimone out near the point. His slap shot hit the Rangers version of a Veggie, in Taylor Raddysh, and the deflected puck went through the wickets. Quick, who had given up just 7 goals in 5 games, now gave up three. Wow. What a hard earned goal that one was. 3-2 Utah

After that goal, Utah’s third line came out hard, with two great attempts – one barely wide, one another solid save by Quick – bookended by a commercial break.

The Rangers put about 3 minutes of pressure on Utah, with several looks, but the Utah defense breaking up plays just before they developed. DeSimone, specifically, had a good slide that kept a centering feed from happening, and several soft flips kept the Mammoth from icing. One flip, though, went right to Michael Carcone, who touch passed to Guenther charging at full speed. Between 4 Rangers players, Gunner ripped the puck low glove side, almost beating Quick, who pounced on the rebound that was created.

The Mammoth were blessed with another penalty kill with about 8 and a half minutes to play, as Cooley tripped Brodzinski in the corner. The Rangers, off the face-off, had a big blast from Zibanejad at the point, with an even bigger kick save from Vejmelka. The Rangers had another long zone possession, with Cuylle taking a pass in the slot, unattended, but Vejmelka was at the perfect angle to cut his chance down. The Mammoth struggled to get the puck out repeatedly, with clearing attempts stopped at the line, also had to contend with Ian Cole being tripped in the corner, but thankfully he didn’t embellish and no calls for either team were made.

Utah remains perfect on 5 on 4 PKs, allowing one PP to score 4v3 in overtime.

Immediately after, as if energized by the kill, Peterka took a pass from Keller, went in 2 on 1 with Hayton, and ripped a shot that Quick was just able to stop. Peterka got his own rebound, and fed Keller who was cutting across the crease, but Keller, too, was stopped by Quick.

Peterka, on a breakaway at the 5 minute mark, almost sealed the game for the Mammoth – but again, Quick was able to stop him. Great pass by Sergachev, great move by JJ. Quick is just amazingly good at nearly 40.

Extremely scary moment with 3 minutes to go, as Jonathan Quick got hurt after being run into by Carcone. Carcone was hit up high by Robertson, so no penalty on the play, but Quick was down for several minutes with the trainer.

The Rangers pushed the Utah zone, but couldn’t get any actual penetration past Utah’s defenses. Meanwhile, Schmaltz was able to corral a puck at center ice, and 1v2 got a shot off to test Quick post-injury. Quick didn’t miss a beat, stopping the low shot with his right pad with ease.

Minute and a half to go, the Rangers iced the puck, forcing Quick to remain in net instead of getting the extra attacker. With his hurt knee, he was already going to likely need an extra second or two to get to the bench, so this was extra fortunate for the Mammoth.

As they have all game, the Rangers won the face-off. They were able to get the 6th attacker out on the ice, as Zibanejad ripped a slap shot from the high dot that Vejmelka gloved down.

The Mammoth actually won a face off, which Sergachev promptly turned over to the Rangers. They were eventually able to clear, and Cooley almost got the puck for the empty netter. However, he ended up behind the net in a battle with Lafrenière who took an axe-chop at his stick. That’s called slashing, and it’s a no-no. Cooley’s stick was almost called for embellishment, but they couldn’t penalize a stick in two pieces, so the Mammoth had their first, and last, power play of the game with 30 seconds left.

The Rangers had the face off occur in their zone, and down 5v4 couldn’t muster anything as the game ended.

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3 GOALS (THE GOOD):

Clayton Keller needs to be called out. He finally called that players meeting. He stepped up all night tonight, leading the team with 8 shots, and a game-tying goal. He led with forechecks, backchecks, and generally was a pest to opposing players and a leader on his side for the game.

He’s been called out by me, repeatedly, for the way he’s shown up lately. Tonight, he stepped up as a leader and really make a difference. Big win, especially if he can continue this level of play and push this team like it was obvious he did tonight.
Nick DeSimone was everywhere. I mean everywhere – from scoring a goal, to bone-shaking hits, to great defensive plays deep in his own zone, DeSimone was the first star of the game. This almost always goes to the game winner – which he got – but he earned that star with great play all over.

DeSimone is not going away when Durzi comes back. Now, Tourigny has a problem in who he sits and who he keeps up on the blue line moving forward.

Kailer Yamamoto didn’t score a goal today. He got on the score sheet on accident, simply because he fumbled the puck. He had no official shots. He didn’t seem impactful on paper, but he was the offensive version of DeSimone tonight. Yamamoto was first in on forechecks, first in on board battles, and he harassed the Rangers forwards all over the ice, disrupting passes in all three zones and generally causing havoc. He was +2 tonight (flawed stat, I know) but he was in and around the chances that Utah had to score.

He did lose one face-off tonight, so we’re likely going to see him benched next game.

HM: Third line was fantastic all night. While I wish Peterka was up with Cooley, the fact that he’s elevated that line is fantastic for all involved.

3 CHIRPS (THE BAD):

Face-offs were one of the worst performances of the year. Coming into the game, the face-offs were already a shaky part of the team’s performance, but at one point they were winning just 25% of the draws. Late in the game, they won some critical battles with the empty net, and to get the faceoff after the penalty. But, throughout the game, Utah lost initial possession again and again and again. It was brutal, absolutely awful play.

They were fortunate enough to get by tonight, but that’s not going to be the case moving forward. Needs to be tightened up, yesterday.

Shooting Percentage was awful tonight, which was a combination of Quick being a cyborg and shots just missing when there’s an opportunity. 15 missed shots, 13 of them wide. Sometimes, it’s a great strategy to shoot short side. It allows a potential rebound to pop out in front, close to or in the slot, allowing a great scoring chance. However, on breakaways and right in front of the net?

There was a saying by Al Arbor, legendary coach of the Islanders, that goes “The net doesn’t move”. When he was a defenseman, he said this because he meant the net wouldn’t move because the puck hit it. When he got Bossy on the team, it was used as a “you know where the net is, exactly, at all times”.

I’d like to see us cut down a bit on the missed shots. Today, way better than normal, but it’s still better to force the goalie to save against you, than you to miss him completely.

Your Favorite Hockey Guy Hey, I’m not supposed to be on here, but I am. Let’s face it, I was not confident coming into this game. I wasn’t confident after the first period. I wasn’t even confident when they had the power play with 30 seconds to go.

A lot of that is from the trauma of being an Islanders fan watching them play the Rangers. For years, the rivalry was brutal for me, because the team I loved growing up was a team that ended up being featured on 30 for 30 because they were bought by a con-man, after being demolished from the inside by Mike Milbury. I’m jaded.

But I’m also able to admit when I was wrong. I expected this game to be a shutout by Quick. Watch, though – Quick wasn’t about to be beaten by many normal shots tonight. My fears about him weren’t unfounded. My faith in the team was lacking, because they hadn’t given me much to believe in scoring-wise for a month.

Know what? If it means taking L’s so the team takes W’s, I’ll be here every game if I have to be.

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Next up:

The road-hot Rangers come into town on Saturday.