It’s the dots. Substituting Brett Howden for Filip Chytil as center on the Rangers’ second power-play unit was among the most dramatic changes directed by David Quinn in Saturday night’s 5-0 victory over the Islanders. Howden, who got a total of 20:17 on the power play last year (but 90:19 the previous year as a rookie), played 3:48 with the man-advantage while Chytil scooped up only three seconds of time on the night.
He is in eighth NHL season and second as a Ranger with six years to go (including this one) at an annual $8 million cap hit on a no-move contract that morphs into a no-move/modified no-trade for its final two seasons. In other words, he is perfectly positioned as far as age and experience and he will be here for quite a while. But Trouba’s attributes exceed the calendar and contract.
New Jersey Devils (1-0-1, third in the East Division) vs. New York Rangers (1-1-0, fifth in the East Division) New York; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: The New York Rangers host New Jersey after the Devils took down Boston 2-1 in overtime. New York finished 14-8-0 in division games and 18-16-2 at home during the 2019-20 season.
GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |