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BUFFALO — Regarding the Rangers, who are 14-0-1 against teams currently out of the playoffs by winning percentage before Friday’s match here against the perennial also-ran Sabres:
1. This is the Jacob Trouba the Blueshirts traded for when they sent a first-rounder and Neal Pionk to Winnipeg in June 2019. This is the player in whom management invested $56 million over seven years.
This is the mean-edged physical force on the blue line who is also productive at the offensive end in whom various incarnations of management coveted for years. This is the defenseman the Team USA hierarchy should keep in mind when constructing the roster for the Beijing Games.
You know what? If opponents are reminded to keep their respective heads up when matched against No. 8, so much the better. It is about time the Rangers had someone back there who can intimidate and can strike fear in the hearts of opposing fancy pants.
Trouba is the yin to Adam Fox’s yang on the right side of the Rangers’ top two pairs as he splits matchup assignments with the reigning Norris Trophy winner. Indeed, the two Americans are within three seconds of each other in five-on-five time on ice per game, with Fox at 18:49 and Trouba at 18:46.
And he provides balance on his own tandem to K’Andre Miller, whose game at the present is a bit too dependent on angles and stick work and who, at 21 years of age and in his second season of professional hockey, needs to incorporate at least a smidgen of physicality onto his résumé.
A stay in Hartford would almost certainly have been of benefit to Miller, but at this point an assignment would seem punitive and, in that context, inappropriate. So No. 79 is doing his learning on the NHL level. That’s not ideal, but Trouba’s work provides some cover for his partner.
When Trouba is menacing and effective, it changes the dynamic. This is what the Rangers expected from Trouba. This is what the Rangers need from Trouba. This is what the Rangers are getting from Trouba.
2. The difference this year is that even when Chris Kreider does not score, You. See. Chris. Every. Night.
So. Should. Team. U. S. A.
3. Maybe we have it all wrong. Maybe it’s not Kreider who is the streak scorer on his line. Maybe that is Mika Zibanejad.
Four goals in 25 games for the Rangers’ most accomplished goal-scorer. By the way, if you need a reminder, that’s Zibanejad, who recorded the sixth-most goals in the NHL over the previous two seasons with 65 while trailing luminaries Auston Matthews (88), Leon Draisaitl (74), Alex Ovechkin (72), David Pastrnak (68) and Connor McDavid (67). And that is accounting for last year’s COVID-damaged opening two months.
Last year, Zibanejad had three goals through the first 27 games before kicking into gear with 21 goals in the final 29 games that included three hat tricks. Two years ago, Zibanejad went on that rampage in which he scored 29 goals in the final 34 games that included the five-goal extravaganza against the Caps. So maybe it’s No. 93, not No. 20, who is the ultimate streaky one.
Must say, though, I’m baffled by Zibanejad’s inability to score. He has two goals at five-on-five. His four goals overall have come on 63 shots for a microscopic 6.35 shooting percentage. He is tied for 86th in five-on-five goals among forwards who have played at least 320 minutes. Is this where it’s fair to mention that the Swedish Olympian’s eight-year, $68 million extension kicks in next year?
The (lack of) production is eerily the same, but Zibanejad’s game is far sharper than it was during last year’s drought. No. 93 is competing, he is winning one-on-ones. He is a master on the power play, where, for example, his redirect touch angled feed that set up Artemi Panarin in the left circle in Chicago on Tuesday was a work of art. He has been outstanding on the penalty kill.
That’s what makes Zibanejad’s futility at putting the puck in the net so perplexing. He is whiffing on one-timers, at times falling down. I don’t know whether this reflects dwindling confidence for a player who has confidence issues, but let’s be honest, No. 93 scoring goals isn’t a cherry on top. The Rangers need their best goal-scorer to start chipping with a goal or two.
4. Seriously? Twenty games on the NHL roster and 20 healthy scratches for Libor Hajek? Patrik Nemeth is playing so well that Gerard Gallant can’t take the risk of inserting the 23-year-old Czech into the lineup? The head coach isn’t even curious as to what Hajek would add to the mix?
As Josh said in the boardroom in “Big:” I don’t get it.
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