Rangers will start scoring in earnest again at the Garden on Sunday after another long break between games. The Eastern Conference second round series begins with Game 1 against the Hurricanes.
And when the teams travel to Raleigh, N.C., for Games 3 and 4 later this week, the PNC Arena scoreboard will also record the game and series scores.
As the showdown between the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division unfolds, there will also be an invisible scoreboard to monitor how the players acquired by each team at the trade deadline are impacting the outcome of the series. It turns out.
As the March deadline approaches, the Hurricanes, Rangers and other teams are interested in acquiring Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel, who has scored 20 points eight times, including 30 or more points four times and 40 points twice. There was a lot of talk around the NHL that he had a. .
The Penguins were on the market, and ultimately the asking price for a draft pick and a likely regular starter like Kaapo Kakko exceeded what Rangers general manager Chris Drury was considering paying. Ta.
But Carolina did it.
The Hurricanes went all in, sending forward Michael Bunting and several key prospects to Pittsburgh in hopes that Guentzel could be the driving force behind winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history.
This bold move the Hurricanes made and the Rangers didn’t make for an engaging subplot in this series.
What if Guentzel was the best player on the ice and was the linchpin in beating the Rangers in the Carolina series?
If that happens, you can’t help but wonder if the Rangers sacrificed their chance to win their first Cup in 30 years by not doing everything in their power to sign Guentzel.
Will the Rangers’ decision to not pay and protect current and future assets cost them a season in which they won the Presidents Trophy and were a Cup favorite?
Guentzel’s early comeback was impressive. He quickly integrated into Carolina, scoring 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 17 regular season games with the Canes. And in a five-game winning streak in the opening series against the Islanders, he had one goal and three assists.
“He’s the same player he was in Pittsburgh,” Rangers manager Peter Laviolette said of Guentzel after Saturday’s practice. “He’s a high-end player, he finds the area, he finds the ice. He has a way of contributing offensively, and that makes him one of the top offensive players on any team he’s ever been on. All they did was change the color of the jersey.”
So was Evgeny Kuznetsov, whom Carolina acquired from the Capitals on loan.
Kuznetsov, who played for Laviolette in Washington, had two goals and five assists in 20 regular season games, including two goals and two assists in the series win against the Islanders.
But among the rookies, the Rangers’ biggest concern is Guentzel, who adds tremendous firepower as a complement to leading scorer Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis, Teuvo Teravainen and Martin Necas. Body.
“He’s a smart player who knows how to get open and score points, and he’s a player you have to watch out for when he’s on the ice,” Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey said.
“He’s smart, he gets to the net, he creates a lot of offense,” Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider said. “He’s a guy who has a very high hockey IQ and can assimilate smoothly into any system. He’s definitely added a lot to their team.”
In exchange for Guentzel, the Rangers acquired Jack Roslovic from Columbus and placed him on the line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. They also acquired Alex Wennberg from Seattle and combined him with Kakko and rookie Will Quill.
Roslovic’s numbers since joining the Rangers have predictably been more modest by comparison, as he doesn’t have the same scoring pedigree as Guentzel.
Roslovic had three goals and five assists in 19 regular season games, including two goals in the series win against Washington, including one on a narrow window over Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren’s left shoulder. A rocket was fired, and this was the difference between victory and defeat. Winner of the second match.
Laviolette praised Roslovic’s play Saturday, particularly noting his improvement in the postseason.
“He came here and gave us what we wanted,” the Rangers coach said.
“Certainly, you always want to be the guy who can help. You don’t want to be the guy who gets hurt,” Roslovic said Saturday. “So obviously there’s some pressure there.”
If the Rangers can survive the Hurricanes and avoid getting hit by Guentzel, that pressure will ease.
That way, the scores will be exactly where the Rangers want them to be, both on the arena scoreboard and on the invisible scoreboard that measures the impact of midseason acquisitions.
