Rangers' Young Talent Shine Bright In Win Over Bruins

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Rangers’ 4-3 overtime win over the Boston Bruins on Monday night may not mean a whole lot when it comes to the standings and playoff chances, but there’s a lot to be encouraged about, specifically when it comes to the young players.

Entering this matchup, the Rangers had lost three straight games and were without Carson Soucy, who was held out for roster management reasons as a trade between the Rangers and the New York Islanders was on the verge of being completed, which was made official after the game.

With Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury releasing a letter last week outlining the team’s intentions to retool the roster, this win in the grand scheme of things doesn’t hold much significance.

The focus now shifts from making the playoffs with a clearly depleting roster to fully developing the young core and giving them opportunities to thrive.

In Monday night’s victory, the young core served as the driving force to securing these two points.

It was Will Cuylle who scored the Rangers’ first goal in the first period to set the tone. Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Brennan Othmann form a prominent third line, built on youth, physicality, and grit.

“Lobs (Laba) is continuing to grow and develop,” Sullivan said. “He brings a speed game. I think when he plays with Will Cuylle, I think they have a pretty good north-south game, a speed game there. They’re fairly reliable defensively, so they can play on both sides of the puck. We have no issues playing them against anyone.”

Gabe Perreault set up the Blueshirts’ second goal with a pinpoint pass to J.T. Miller, who capitalized to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

As of late, Perreault has been playing his best hockey. From seeming to be overwhelmed by the pace of NHL play when he was originally called up, Perreault is now generating offense at a high rate.

The 20-year-old forward’s vision allows him to slow down the game and create for his teammates, while his offensive prowess is providing the Rangers with some much-needed explosiveness on a roster mostly barren of high-end skill.

Perreault has thrived in a top-six role playing on a line alongside Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, and he’s certainly deserving of a larger role given that he didn’t even touch the ice for the entirety of overtime.

“I think Gabe has done a great job playing with Mika and J.T. You can see his offensive instincts. I think he’s getting more comfortable with the game, with each game that he plays and the experience that he gets, but he has the instincts to play with those guys, and I think it’s evident,” Sullivan said of Perreault.

“That pass he made to J.T., that’s an elite play. There are a lot of guys that don’t have the vision or the skillset to execute the play, and it was a really smart play on his part, but just the vision to see it. We’re really excited about the progress he’s made.”

It was Matthew Roberston, who delivered the overtime-winning goal, going coast to coast and finishing with a nifty move to get the puck past Joonas Korpisalo.

It’s been a long journey for Robertson, who spent four full seasons in the American Hockey League playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack, and quite frankly, it didn’t appear as if he would make the jump to the NHL, at least not with the Rangers.

This season, Robertson not only made the Rangers’ opening-night roster out of training camp, but he has carved out a consistent role for himself, making for a real feel-good story.

Rangers Reportedly Acquire Third-Round Pick In Exchange For Carson Soucy A reported trade between the New York Rangers and New York Islanders is all but official.

The 24-year-old defenseman had his shining moment on Monday night, and admitted that he thinks that this was his only overtime goal that he could remember.

“Honestly, I just blacked out and just smiled,” Roberston emphasized. “I was excited.”

Roberston also took time to reflect on the mountain he had to climb to be able to experience that moment and knows he can’t take anything for granted.

“I remind myself, honestly as much as I can, just how hard it is to get here and just to keep pushing,” Robertson said. “You can go back to where I was easily. You can get sent down at any time.”

At the end of the day, it’s just one game, and the Rangers have a long way to go in the retooling process, as we have yet to see the true implications of Drury’s letter outside of the minor Soucy trade.

However, it’s all about the young talent, and for the Rangers’ sake, hopefully Monday night’s emotional victory is a sign of what is to come in the future.

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