Regarding the Rangers, who can drive the nails even deeper on New Jersey on Monday at the Garden 10 months-plus after the Devils celebrated the Blueshirts’ demise on the other side of the Hudson.
1. Once again, Braden Schneider responded on Saturday when elevated to the top four on K’Andre Miller’s right side in Jacob Trouba’s absence. This has been a recurring theme for the 22-year-old defenseman, who set the Blueshirts’ physical tone on the match’s first shift by thumping Pavel Buchnevich into the boards in front of the St. Louis bench at the 45-second mark.
Though somehow only credited for that one hit, the third-year pro was a sturdy presence in 16:46 of ice time while Miller — who has been paired with Trouba for 249 of his 276 career NHL games — was assertive at both ends of the ice.
Trouba is expected to be down for two to three weeks. This represents a significant loss for his team that holds a four-point divisional lead over Carolina before facing the Canes in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday with the Lightning coming up next in Tampa, Fla., two nights later.
But this presents an opportunity for Schneider to develop more confidence and earn a larger role in the playoffs from head coach Peter Laviolette. More the better.
Sheltered a tad too much while on the third pair with Erik Gustafsson, No. 4 will get the big boys this week, Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier on Monday, a lot of Sebastien Aho on Tuesday, a heaping of Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov on Thursday and maybe a fair amount of Sidney Crosby when the trip ends in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
There can be no better preparation than this for the playoffs.
2. Kind of like Don and Betty Draper’s son, Bobby, multiple actors have filled the right wing spot on the line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider over the last few years.
Indeed, Jack Roslovic, obtained at the deadline from Columbus in exchange for a conditional fourth-round draft pick in a deal that suggests John Davidson holds no grudges against Chris Drury, became the 13th guy over the last three seasons to audition for the role when he lined up beside the BFF’s in Saturday’s 4-0 victory.
The 27-year-old product of the USNDT who played with Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren in the 2017 World Juniors brings a dose of skill, speed and creativity to the line. In that sense he is similar to Frank Vatrano, the successful rental of 2022, though No. 96 is more of a playmaker than a shooter.
The line recorded a combined 17 attempts in 10:34 on Saturday yet put only three shots on Jordan Binnington, with seven tries blocked. Roslovic had two shots on six attempts including one that dinged the crossbar in the third period.
There was a lot of movement below the hash marks with the three players attempting area passes and the like that will become more fruitful with time. When they stepped on the ice to start the game, they hadn’t even had a morning skate together.
“When you play with two guys like that, you can tend to force play, so don’t try to be flashy or try to be a hero on the first night,” Roslovic said following the match. “Play simple, try to learn and try to start building chemistry.
“Mika has such a creative mind it’s really fun to be a sponge. Kreids has a lot of ideas so it’s good to just listen to those guys and try to follow with the puck and try to do my best game, too.”
3. You’ve got to give Zac Jones all sorts of credit. He is 23 years old, of course he wants to play, but in his first full NHL season the defenseman has been a healthy scratch 45 times and had sat out 12 straight before the news on Trouba.
Yet when called upon against St. Louis, Jones played with poise and defended well while moving the puck in 17:07 paired primarily with Gustafsson.
The Blueshirts acquired righty defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Penguins at the deadline. Laviolette certainly could have inserted the 33-year-old in the lineup to maintain a left-right balance with both Jones and Gustafsson left-hand shots.
But that’s not what the post-practice hugs are about. There is a sense of loyalty and unity among the group. Perhaps equal to the point is that Jones has made steady progress through the season, and though he is surely not the size-and-strength D I’d prefer the Rangers collect, No. 6 has made himself into a playoff depth option.
4. Ranking the Ranger all-time No. 96s: 1. Roslovic; 2. Emerson Etem.
