Regarding the Rangers, who just need to take care of business this weekend in D.C.
1. Two games in and we are seeing the best version of Mika Zibanejad, who has played with a heightened level of engagement on essentially every one of his 47 shifts at even-strength and on both specialty units.
He has been quicker and more dynamic. He is sharp, closing more quickly and using his body for leverage. Zibanejad is playing on the inside, looking to shoot when he has the puck while attacking his man and attacking the puck without it.
That is exactly what happened in the second period of Game 2 when No. 93 stripped the puck from Alex Ovechkin in the neutral zone and led an odd-man shorthanded rush that culminated with the Swede’s ultra-sweet dish to the trailing K’Andre Miller for what ultimately stood as the winning goal.
When Zibanejad is on killing with Kreider on the club’s top PK unit, the Rangers are nearly as great a threat to score as the opposing power play. This is a stat I unearthed following Game 2 and it is striking.
During the regular season, the Zibanejad-Kreider PK unit was on for 118:31 in which the Rangers scored six shorthanded goals while allowing eight power-play goals against. Astonishing.
Again, though, coming off a somewhat disquieting season, Zibanejad has been vibrant. He has been in the middle of all of it.
“I think he’s been really good. He’s been playing in high gears,” said head coach Peter Laviolette. “I do notice him and the high levels of speed that he’s playing at and the areas that he’s getting to in trying to get his shot off and trying to create. That’s obvious to me.
“I think there were times down the stretch before the playoffs started where he was hitting that level, but for me I think it’s nice to see that he has walked it right into the playoffs.”
2. There can be no question, by the way, that Gerard Gallant’s greatest gift to the Rangers in his two-year tenure behind the bench was giving Kreider the opportunity to play on the PK after No. 20’s nine years in the league.
3. We are witnessing Miller and Braden Schneider spreading their wings, almost like a couple of chicks busting out of their eggshells to wide-eyed wonderment.
They are 24 and 22, respectively, and have a chance to be a pair for up to a decade if the salary cap allows. Miller played the most physical hockey of his career in the opening two games, inserting himself into a fray with Wilson, doing the dirty work in front of Igor Shesterkin while Schneider has run with it offensively while doing the job in his own end.
Laviolette arrived with a reputation as a coach who leans on veterans. Most coaches do, even in 2024. This was allegedly to his detriment in Washington.
To the point, though, no one but no one thought that Laviolette would shift Jacob Trouba, the team captain, to the third pair even if the Miller-Schneider tandem looked electric in an 11-game cameo toward the end of the season when No. 8 was down with an injury.
But one of the by-products of the move is that the Rangers, with Trouba and Erik Gustafsson, no longer have a pejorative “third pair,” that one would have to stay away from in key situations. There’s depth on the back end to match the forward complement. As such, the Blueshirts always have a matchup-type defenseman on the ice starting with the Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox duo.
4. Nathan Bastien’s head runs into Rempe’s elbow and the Rangers rookie is assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct. Jonas Siegenthaler takes a Rempe elbow to the head and No. 73 is suspended four games.
Rempe takes half a stride to put Beck Malenstyn into the boards and he is whistled for charging. The 21-year-old winger takes out Lucas Johansen with a hit perhaps delivered a bit high that you see every shift and it is called roughing.
This, though, is nothing new for New York’s 6-foot-8 ¹/₂ Favorite Son.
Here is a scouting report provided to The Post on Dec. 21, 2021 by director of player development Jed Ortmeyer on Rempe, who was then 19 and in the midst of his second season in the WHL after having been selected 165th overall in the 2020 draft.
“He’s having a tough time with the officiating,” Ortmeyer said. “It seems like every time he hits somebody it’s been a penalty or suspension. It’s been a challenge to keep him playing the same way and understanding that being physical and playing on that edge are going to be staples of his game while avoiding suspensions and staying out of the box.
“When he’s playing, he’s a power-play net front, he has an impact on the game and his coaches are very happy with his leadership qualities and work ethic. It’s almost to a fault he’s the first one on and the last one to leave the ice every day.
“He’s a kid we’re really excited about.”
5. I guess Will Cuylle forgot to tell Tom Wilson that he was his idol growing up when the Washington winger tried to goad the Blueshirts rookie into a fight off a center ice draw in the second period of Game 2.
