Rangers observations: Alex Wennberg’s whirlwind, Nathan MacKinnon matchup and more

Mar 30, 2024; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) defends as New York Rangers center Alex Wennberg (91) and defenseman Josh Brown (3) battle in the third period at Mullett Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
By Peter Baugh

TEMPE, Ariz. — Even if the New York Rangers’ win against the Arizona Coyotes wasn’t as defensively sound as Peter Laviolette would’ve liked, New York’s western road trip was unquestionably a success. With a 3-2 shootout win against perennial contender Colorado and an 8-5 win in Mullett Arena, the Rangers became the first team to reach 50 wins.

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They’re also the front-runners for the Presidents’ Trophy. Laviolette’s club is a point up on Dallas with a game in hand. Carolina, New York’s closest competitor in the East, is 3 points back. New York has a game in hand over the Hurricanes, too.

With everything going well in the Rangers’ world, let’s dig into some observations from the road trip that didn’t make it into my game stories. Vincent Trocheck had a plus-6 game against the Coyotes, so I have 16 observations in honor of his jersey number.

1. Jack Roslovic took away, and then he gave. When Chris Kreider appeared to score his 300th career goal in the second period against Arizona, the Coyotes quickly challenged. Sure enough, Roslovic had interfered with goalie Karel Vejmelka, and the officials took it off the board. Kreider was back to 299. He threw the almost-milestone puck onto the ice after the referee’s announcement.

Roslovic, acquired by the Rangers at the trade deadline, redeemed himself in the third period. With the score tied 3-3, he fired a perfect pass to Kreider in front of the net. The left wing redirected it into the net, giving his team the lead and himself a milestone goal. He’s only the third Rangers player to reach 300 goals.

“That line was on point with their game,” Laviolette said. “Big performances to get a big win.”

2. Speaking of Kreider, colleague Arthur Staple’s Sunday story is a must-read. My favorite anecdote is the one from Artemi Panarin.

3. In Arizona, Jonathan Quick set the record for wins (392) by an American goalie, but he didn’t let on much as to what it meant to him. He said he was just excited that the team won. His teammates, meanwhile, were elated. They flew off the bench to mob him at the final horn.

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Quick has been a feel-good story this season for the Rangers, for whom he grew up rooting. He has a .913 save percentage and 17 wins, earning a one-year deal for next season. As he approached Ryan Miller’s record, plenty of his friends reached out. He tried to keep it out of his mind.

“I’ve learned over the years (that) when you’re looking at trying to do something like that you lose sight of what you’re doing today,” he said going into the start. “So it’s always been a day-to-day thing for me personally. Just trying to prepare for whatever my next start will be and then prepare to win whatever that start is.”

4. Quick passed Miller, who had 391 wins. Miller reached out to him when he tied the record.

“He texted me the other night after the Boston game and said some great things,” he said. “Having that relationship with him, being able to communicate openly about everything going on, it’s great.”

5. Mullett Arena, on Arizona State’s campus, is a fun, intimate setting to watch hockey, but it felt like a bit of a bummer that a game with multiple milestones — Quick’s record, Kreider’s 300th goal and Alexis Lafrenière’s first hat trick — came in front of an announced attendance of only 4,600 fans.

Plenty of the spectators sported New York colors, and there were loud “Let’s go, Rangers!” chants before and during the game. If you went by fan support, the Rangers would’ve been the home team. There were also a good amount of New York fans in Colorado, though Avalanche fans likely outnumbered them.

6. Alex Wennberg had a wild week. His wife, Felicia, gave birth to their daughter, Ivy, during Tuesday’s game against the Flyers. The Rangers center was understandably absent for that game.

“I left after the meetings to prepare for the game and instead went to the hospital and had a baby,” he said.

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He went on the road with the Rangers and had pictures sent to him of his newborn while out of town.

“It’s kind of the business,” he said Friday. “It doesn’t make it any easier. You want to be there, especially in the beginning stage here. But as long as they’re doing great and feeling great, that’s all that matters for me right now. So it all worked out, but I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of excited to go home and see them on the day off.”

7. Wennberg is easy to spot on the ice because he uses all-white sticks. That made it more noticeable when he broke two sticks during Friday’s optional skate. Tough luck for the center.

8. The Rangers got captain Jacob Trouba back from injury against the Coyotes. He returned to playing on a pair with K’Andre Miller, who looked good next to Braden Schneider while Trouba was out. Laviolette said he didn’t give any consideration to keeping the two young defensemen together, though. He wanted Trouba back with Miller.

“I thought he looked like Trouba,” Laviolette said of the defenseman’s return. “He was trying to battle. He was trying to compete inside of things. Guys come out for a month, I think it takes a minute to get back up to where you were. I have no doubt that he’ll continue to get better.”

9. Will Cuylle got to play against former Windsor Spitfires teammate Jean-Luc Foudy in Colorado. Foudy has spent all but two games with the AHL Colorado Eagles this season. He and Cuylle went out for dinner Wednesday night, and Foudy found out right after eating that he’d be coming up to the Avalanche.

Here’s a picture of them together in Windsor wearing a joint Christmas sweater:

10. With 13 healthy forwards, Laviolette has had to make tough decisions in terms of who to sit. Against the Panthers last weekend, he scratched Will Cuylle, who has put together a strong rookie season. Speaking about the decision, Laviolette said he wished he could play 13 forwards, but he wanted to make sure all of his players were in the mix.

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Cuylle said the coach echoed the same sentiments in their discussion as he did with reporters.

“It’s not really easy to take getting scratched, but I can’t really control that,” he said after a practice in Arizona. “I’m just trying to play my game as best I can.”

11. Cuylle has played every game since being scratched, and his line (Cuylle-Barclay Goodrow–Jimmy Vesey) had the unenviable task of going against Nathan MacKinnon’s line in Colorado. MacKinnon did not log a point for the first time at home all season, though he still created plenty of offense. The Avalanche had 33 shot attempts and 75.13 percent of the five-on-five expected goal share with him on the ice, per Natural Stat Trick.

“MacKinnon’s line is going to generate,” Laviolette said. “I think the objective is to try to limit the quality. I thought for the most part we did a pretty good job.”

The Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox pairing had a particularly tough time against MacKinnon. When Fox and MacKinnon were both on the ice at five-on-five, the Avalanche led 16-4 in shot attempts and 5-1 in scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick. With Lindgren and MacKinnon both playing, the Avalanche led 18-3 in shot attempts and 6-1 in scoring chances.

12. It was interesting watching how Laviolette tried to match up with Colorado’s top line of Jonathan Drouin, MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Though the fourth line took the bulk of the responsibility, Laviolette at points put Mika Zibanejad and Kreider against them. During one shift in the second, he had those two against MacKinnon along with Wennberg, then put Trocheck out in Wennberg’s place. He also had Trocheck on for Cuylle at one point with the fourth line.

That all made sense: maximizing defensive prowess is key against game breakers. It’ll be worth monitoring the combinations Laviolette uses in the playoffs against opponents’ top lines.

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12. The difference in the Avalanche game was the goaltending. Igor Shesterkin was fantastic and was the main reason the Avalanche’s top players didn’t log points.

“He’s fun to watch every day,” Quick said. “He’s special.”

13. After absorbing a puck to the face against Colorado, Adam Fox took the ice at Mullett Arena wearing a face shield. He joined Erik Gustafsson, Zibanejad, Vesey, Lindgren and Goodrow as players who have required bubbles this season.

14. Fox didn’t play in overtime after the puck to the face. That gave Zac Jones the chance to get some ice time in overtime. He shared the ice with Cale Makar, his predecessor as UMass power-play quarterback.

15. Matt Rempe was a healthy scratch in both games on the road. He’s so tall that, in the Colorado press box, he bonked his head on a low ceiling vent.

16. Though he didn’t play against the Coyotes, Rempe still had plenty of fan support in Arizona. One spectator brought an “I’d rather meet Rempe than see Taylor Swift” sign.

In case you missed it …

(Photo: Matt Kartozian / USA Today)

Peter Baugh is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in New York. He has previously been published in the Columbia Missourian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star, Politico and the Washington Post. A St. Louis native, Peter graduated from the University of Missouri and previously covered the Missouri Tigers and the Colorado Avalanche for The Athletic. Follow Peter on Twitter @Peter_Baugh