New York Rangers Success Comes via ex-Blackhawks
Two important pieces of the Rangers’ early season success came to Broadway by way of the Windy City.
As the 2016-17 NHL season approaches the New Year, the New York Rangers find themselves in a heated battle atop the stacked Metropolitan Division.
While many of the usual suspects are leading the way, with players like Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider having strong seasons to date, the fact cannot be overlooked that the Rangers are getting contributions from up and down the entire lineup.
With a looming matchup against the Central Division-leading Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night, the Rangers are riding a three-game win streak in large part due to the strong play of a couple of players who were once Windy City property.
Dec 8, 2016; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; New York Rangers goalie Antti Raanta (32) makes a save during the second period against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
Backup goalie Antti Raanta, he of the current “goalie controversy” with Henrik Lundqvist, has been playing lights-out. Raanta sports an 8-1-0 record on the season, to go along with a cool 1.65 GAA and .943 save percentage. His play, including back-to-back shutouts over the weekend (notably, one against the Blackhawks in Chicago) has been a welcome relief for the Rangers, even as it has spurred questions about Lundqvist’s role.
On the front end of things, Blackhawks’ 2010 first-round draft selection Kevin Hayes has taken his game to a new level. After the summer hype and subsequent free agent signing with the Rangers in 2014, Hayes enjoyed a remarkable rookie campaign—one which saw him at the top of the NHL leaderboard for primary points (goals and primary assists).
His struggles during his sophomore season were well-documented, with accusations concerning his perceived lack of effort and questionable work ethic flying fast and hard. (Never mind that his quality of teammates and ice time dropped sharply.)
But so far in the 2016-17 season, Hayes looks like a man renewed. He sits second on the Rangers with 21 points (11 goals) in 30 games, just one point behind J.T. Miller. Hayes’ vision and knack for using his size and reach in the offensive zone have helped spark the Rangers’ prodigious offense this season—and even better, his two-way game has improved.
Hayes has been enjoying greater responsibility this season, including time on the Rangers’ much-improved penalty kill. He went from basically not playing on the PK last season to skating 1:18 per game during 2016-17. Not only that, but he’s been producing offensively while down a man, chipping in a goal and two assists.
As the Rangers prepare to face off against the Blackhawks and go for the season sweep, they’ll look to both players to play key roles.
More from Blue Line Station
This article originally appeared on 
