Welcome to the 2014-2015 NHL season! Tonight, the Broadway Blueshirts open the season on the road against the St. Louis Blues. Puck drop at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, MO is 8:00 PM EST.
The Rangers faced St. Louis twice last year, coming up on the short end both times. The Blues took a 5-3 decision on their home rink, then came to New York later on and won 2-1 at the World's Most Famous Arena.
So, who should we look out for on St. Louis? For starters, I'd be concerned with Alexander Steen. Steen scored a career high 33 goals last year, and although he isn't flashy, he always seems to find the back of the net. I'm always concerned about the Blues' captain, David Backes. A true captain, Backes will score big goals, drop the mitts, and park himself in front of the net at every opportunity. If it gets to a shootout, you can guarantee #74 will be one of your shooters. T.J. Oshie is the best shootout player on the team, as witnessed by his epic performance against Russia in the Olympics for Team USA.
The defensive corps sports two standouts in my opinion, and they are Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo. Look out for both of them if and when the Rangers wind up in the penalty box.
The goaltending in St. Louis is handled by Brian Elliott, who is the undisputed #1 goaltender for the first time in his career. We will see if the anointing leads to confidence, or jitters.
The Rangers who I'm looking at closely tonight are the King, the Duke, and the Captain. Henrik Lundqvist, having tasted the Stanley Cup Finals, should come in with a ton of confidence, but he is historically a slow starter. Anthony Duclair is the 19 year old training camp sensation who looks to make an impact in his NHL Regular Season debut. He showed excellent hands, speed and hockey sense in the pre-season, but the training wheels are off now. Let's hope the Duke doesn't get stage fright. The Captain - and for all intents and purposes the obvious choice to be - is Ryan McDonagh who looks to lead his team one step further this year than last year. Look for Captain Mac to continue to improve, hopefully to the point where there is serious talk of him as the first Rangers Norris Trophy winner since Brian Leetch.
I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of the game - if possible I will live tweet the game through the NEW Twitter handle @newbluereview - Give a follow!
Until then, stay Blue!
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