Do Rangers have enough toughness for the playoffs?
T.J. Oshie of the Capitals and Barclay Goodrow of the Rangers fight during the first period at Capital One Arena on Feb. 25 in Washington. Credit: Getty Images
BOSTON
Late in the first period of Thursday’s game between the Rangers and Ottawa Senators, the Blueshirts’ first with Patrick Kane in their lineup, Ottawa forward Austin Watson drove his shoulder into the chin of Rangers forward Tyler Motte. The officials saw it and, after reviewing it on video to make sure, gave Watson a major penalty and game misconduct.
“No, it was a bad hit,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said later. “It was the right call. [He] obviously got him high.’’
The Rangers didn’t score on the major penalty. Kane played on the first power-play unit without having had a chance to practice with his new teammates — or even meet them — beforehand. And the Rangers ended up 0-for-4 on the power play, including missing out on that five-minute, all-you-can-eat opportunity.
But no one in a Rangers uniform took it upon himself to get any kind of personal retribution against Watson after he took out Motte. And, fair or not, that raises the question of whether the Rangers have enough toughness and enough snarl to protect themselves when the regular season ends and referees stop calling penalties in the postseason.
Yes, Barclay Goodrow is more than willing to drop his gloves and punch someone in the face, as he did when T.J. Oshie slammed Ryan Lindgren into the boards on Feb. 25 and injured the defenseman. So are Jacob Trouba and Lindgren himself.
But beyond that, it’s fair to ask the question of whether the Rangers, as currently constituted, are tough enough to survive two months’ worth of playoffs to win a Stanley Cup in 2023.
Filip Chytil has had at least one concussion this season and maybe two. During the last few weeks, it looks as if opponents have been willing to go out of their way to hit the Rangers’ Kid Line center. More than once in the last three weeks or so, we’ve seen Chytil stunned, on his hands and knees, after taking a hit in the middle of the ice, away from the puck.
A week ago, Chytil got speared in the groin by Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov. After looking at video replay, the officials assessed Kuznetzov a two-minute minor for slashing rather than a major penalty for spearing.
“I don’t know,’’ Chytil said. “The referee didn’t see that. But what I can do? Just, as I said, I have to just protect myself and just do what I can do, just play hockey.’’
This is why NHL teams like to have a guy in the lineup — more than one guy, ideally — who can get in an opponent’s face and is willing to fight to defend a teammate. And, most importantly, win that fight, just to make the opponent think twice about taking liberties with your skilled players.
Since trading Ryan Reaves to Minnesota in November, the Rangers don’t have that guy.
Goodrow, the fourth-line center, understands the NHL game and won’t be shy about throwing down when necessary.
Trouba and Lindgren won’t hesitate to fight, either, to defend a teammate. The problem with Trouba and Lindgren fighting is that it messes up the defenseman rotation for the five minutes they spend in the penalty box.
What you really need is a third- or fourth-line forward who can win a fight, score a massive goal now and again and be effective in a low-ice time role. Goodrow can do all that, but he’s the only one who fits the bill, really.
Back to six defensemen for next game
Andre Miller served the last of his three-game suspension as the Rangers played Boston on Saturday afternoon, so they will be able to dress six defensemen for their next game Thursday in Montreal. Miller will be back, and if Ryan Lindgren (left shoulder injury, four games missed) is able to dress, they could dress seven defensemen if forward Tyler Motte (possible concussion) is still unavailable.
Vesey on wrong end of call
Jimmy Vesey entered Saturday’s game in Boston with eight penalty minutes in 61 games this season. It’s not a lot of minutes, but it was at least two more than he should have had.
In Thursday’s game against Ottawa, Vesey was given a two-minute high-sticking penalty in the first period for clipping former Ranger Derick Brassard in the face. However, when they showed the replay on the GardenVision scoreboard, it clearly showed that it wasn’t Vesey’s stick that hit Brassard but that of Brassard’s teammate, Austin Watson, the same player who later would be ejected for hitting the Rangers’ Tyler Motte in the chin and knocking him out of the game.
If it had been a major penalty, the referees could have checked the video and revoked the call if they saw that a mistake had been made, but because it was a minor, it was not reviewable. So the Senators got a power play they shouldn’t have gotten and the referees were unable to reverse the call, even with video evidence to show they’d made a mistake.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.