Will Cuylle’s got his head in the game.
Not just regarding his development in his third New York season, but also quite literally after a fluke goal amid a strong performance in Monday’s 4-0 victory that reminded the Rangers how much the 23-year-old has come into his own — no matter how goofy the reminder was.
The left wing, who has bounced around this season on various lines, gave the team a laughable early lead against the Islanders in the first period by being in the right place at the right time.
From what was a blocked Zac Jones shot by Islander Kyle Palmieri’s skate, Cuylle managed to score a goal off his perfectly placed helmet that eventually went over Ilya Sorokin.
“A real beauty,” head coach Peter Laviolette said with a smile. “One he’ll remember probably for the rest of his life.”
Prior to J.T. Miller’s arrival from Vancouver in late January, Cuylle saw the most success in the third-line role with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko early on this season.
However, with Miller back where he started his 13-year NHL career, Cuylle has found comfort on the line with veterans Miller and Mika Zibanejad, and the Rangers are liking what they’re seeing.
The 60th pick of the 2020 draft came up big in another key play on Monday during the first period, when the Rangers were twice called for too-many-men penalties, bringing their brutal season total to nine, the second most in the league.
While the Islanders were on the power play, Noah Dobson knocked into Cuylle, sending him flying backward, unable to grab possession.
Despite the blow, Cuylle was able to poke the puck into the neutral zone for Sam Carrick to collect.
The center then led the shorthanded charge to goal and dropped the puck for Will Borgen, who zinged it into the net for a 2-0 lead.
“It was a loose puck. I was trying to poke it by him and just tried to take it myself,” Cuylle said after the win. “I didn’t think he was going to hit me because it was shorthanded. … Obviously, nice read by Sam there and those two guys took care of the rest.”
“He’s been really good. I mean, his speed, his physicality and the fact that he’s chipped in on offense all year,” Laviolette said of Cuylle. “He’s a big part of the penalty kill now. So, his role just keeps expanding and he’s growing into it. He certainly had an impact in the game tonight, taking the hit to get the play … really, really strong game by him.”
On Monday night, the Rangers led 12-5 in shot attempts with the Cuylle-Miller-Zibanejad line on the ice at five-on-five across nearly 11 minutes, per Natural Stat Trick. Cuylle also had his seventh multi-point game of the season (one goal and one assist).
The line has played in each of Miller’s 11 games for a total of nearly 42 minutes and led in shot attempts (40) over shots against (38). In that same span, Cuylle has four goals and two assists for six points,
“It’s been a really good opportunity for me,” Cuylle said. “I think each game I get more and more comfortable with them. … I feel like we are kinda feeding off each other well now and usually getting the other team’s top line and kinda trying to shut them down as best we can. So, I think that makes us all engaged throughout the game a bit more than normal. I think it’s been good lately, and we are going to keep trying to improve every game.”
The line’s chemistry will be key for the Rangers on Wednesday as they face the East-leading Capitals, and it will likely serve as the line’s biggest test yet.
