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The Rangers have played 100 games in 99 nights. The Knicks play at 10:30 PM every night now. What the hell is going on?
It was a busy week for the Garden teams. The Rangers seemingly play every day and the Knicks have been out west playing long after my bedtime. Let's get back to a normal schedule soon, shall we?
New York Rangers
The Games
Saturday, March 16th | Win 7-4 at Penguins
Hope you bet the over. It was 3-2 Rangers just 15 minutes into the game, which turned out to be a pretty wild one. The Rangers played basically no defense, but scored at will every time the Penguins put one past Quick. The exclamation point came just a couple minutes after Pittsburgh tied the game at 3. The Rangers went on back-to-back power plays and scored on both of them, pulling ahead 5-3 and never looking back. Some ridiculous passing plays in this one that will make it hard to pick the play of the week.
Sunday, March 17th | Win 5-2 vs. Islanders
While the Penguins game was pretty loose, this one was anything but. The Rangers looked dominant in a hardworking, tight-checking affair where they played a playoff style of hockey and cruised to a 5-2 win in their 6th game in 9 days. Despite all the talk about the grueling schedule and the Islanders' desperation to keep pace in the postseason race, the Rangers looked like the fresher and hungrier team all afternoon. It's always great beating the Islanders. Even better when it dashes their playoff hopes.
Tuesday, March 19th | Loss 4-2 vs. Jets
The Rangers came out flying in this one, but the intense schedule seemed to catch up with them in a lackadaisical and sloppy second period that cost them the game. Mark Scheifele put up a hatty, including a nifty play where he stripped a bumbling Chris Kreider and scored on a breakaway. With the lead in hand, the Jets notoriously stingy defense and great goaltending from Hellebuyck basically ground the game to a halt and silenced the MSG crowd. Not a great night, but not a disaster either.
Thursday, March 21st | Win 5-2 at Bruins
It was the Artemi Panarin Show in Boston on Thursday night, where the Breadman notched his third hat trick of the year and propelled the Rangers to a big road win over the NHL's top team. Things started out a bit shaky in this one, with the Rangers falling behind 1-0 and needing to be bailed out several times by Jonathan Quick in the first period. But as the game wore on, the Rangers defense clamped down and their offense (sparked by Panarin and Fox) came to life. Very impressive win.
The News
While the Islanders game was a great performance, it didn't come without a cost. Ryan Lindgren went down with a leg injury that will cause him to miss 3-4 weeks. As such, deadline acquisition Chad Ruhwedel made his Rangers debut on Tuesday. It's good to have depth. Matt Rempe returned from his 4-game suspension. Jonathan Quick tied Ryan Miller's record for most wins by an American goaltender. It seems we'll get to see him break the record this season. Pretty cool for the Milford, Connecticut boy.
The Good Signs
The trade deadline moves are looking shrewd. Wennberg has made the third line a forechecking force. Roslovic has given Zibanejad a spark. And we're already seeing how important depth on the blue line is with Ruhwedel coming in for an injured Lindgren. Oh, and we have the most wins in the NHL and we're one point shy of the President's Trophy. That's pretty good I think.
The Red Flags
Not much to complain about this week. The recent losses to the Jets and the Lightning showed us that the team is still vulnerable. But you just don't win every game in this league, especially with a compressed schedule and two of your top six defenseman out of the lineup. The lackluster defense against Pittsburgh was alarming at times, but they've also shown they are capable of clamping down when needed. Two things to keep an eye on: Fox has taken a lot of penalties lately and that almost never happens. Also, Kreider looked awful to start the Bruins game and seemingly was benched in the second period. He seemed to bounce back in the third, but you don't want to see that.
The Play of the Week
So many pretty goals this week, but let's go with a pretty pass instead. Look at this feathery dish from Trocheck.
New York Knicks
The Games
Saturday, March 16th | Win 98-91 at Kings
Garden hero and MVP sleeper Jalen Brunson was on fire again, dropping 42 points to lead us past the Kings with a 98-91 victory. It was his second 40-point game in a row, making him just the fourth Knick to ever do that (joining Carmelo, King, and Ewing). The team's defense was solid, holding Sacramento to their lowest home score this season. Plus, Hartenstein was a beast with his blocks and rebounds. A solid identity win for the Knicks, especially with Brunson dominating once again.
Monday, March 18th | Win 119-112 at Warriors
The Knicks were rolling out west once again. This was well past my bedtime, but Brunson was wide awake with 34 points. Miles McBride also stepped up big time with a career-high 29 points. The Knicks jumped out early and kept the lead, showing some serious teamwork and grit. Josh Hart even snagged a triple-double, playing the entire game (wtf Thibs?)! While the Warriors tried to catch up, the Knicks stayed cool and collected, securing their fourth straight win.
Thursday, March 21st | Loss 113-100 at Nuggets
Kind of an expected result catching Jokić and the Nuggets at the tail end of a road trip. Michael Porter Jr. was on fire for Denver, dropping 31 points, and Jokic grabbed yet another triple-double. Our hero Brunson put up a solid 26 points, and Hartenstein had a good night with 20, but it just wasn't enough to keep the winning streak alive. Despite a spirited comeback attempt in the fourth, the Nuggets pulled away. Plus, we definitely felt the pinch with Anunoby, Randle, and Robinson out.
The News
After returning from an elbow injury for 3 games, Anunoby is out again after his elbow "flared up". Mitchell Robinson returned to full practice Wednesday after missing three months with a knee injury. So some decent injury news... but still no word on Julius Randle. It might be time to put out a missing persons report on him. No idea what the situation is with him, but hopefully he'll be ready to go if this team wants to make a serious playoff run.
The Good Signs
Banked some wins on a difficult west coast swing. Josh Hart looks like Iron Man and Jalen Brunson is the actual man. They showed they can still play that bruising defensive style that will be effective in the playoffs, holding the Kings to their lowest point total of the season. All good omens for a team still plagued by injuries and trying to hang on until they are back at full strength.
The Red Flags
Despite some better play recently, they've slipped all the way to the five-seed in the east. Injuries continue to hurt them. You never want to see someone come back too soon and re-injure themselves (OG). It's also growing more and more concerning the longer we go without a real update on Julius Randle. Just not sure how serious a contender this team is if it's just Brunson trying to do it himself every game in a 7-game playoff series.
The Play of the Week
Brunson puts up 42 against the Kings.
Garden Memory
I was in the building (and in the third row) for this epic comeback in 2014. The guy in front of me was a Minnesota fan who, during the second intermission, was talking all kinds of shit. It was really, really fun shutting him up.
Sphere Watch
This week The Sphere hosted a live taping of Crossing Over with John Edwards. Midway through the show, local shaman Taranis crashed the party and completely exposed Edwards as a fraud and a cheat. After conjuring a dunk tank out of thin air and soaking Edwards through to his black turtleneck, Taranis took over the show. He summoned the ghost of Jerry Garcia to play a haunting rendition American Beauty in the psychedelic venue, before making his NFL predictions for the 2014 season. In addition to his continual hex of Kyle Shanahan, Taranis asked the spiritual realm to turn Saquon Barkley's bones to glass. Giants fans cheered and Philadelphia fans threw sand in Taranis' eyes. As such, he predicted a national ban on cheese whiz. Thanks Biden!
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