A large part of the Rangers’ impressive start has been the play of two rookie defensemen who have had memorable first weeks in the NHL.
Michael Del Zotto has two goals and an assist in three games, including the game-winner against the Senators on Saturday night. On Monday night, the 19-year old added a power-play goal in the Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Devils. The puck came right to him, and with Martin Brodeur out of position, he took his time before firing it into a wide-open net.
“It was one of my easiest goals,” Del Zotto said. “Hopefully I’ll have a few more of those in my career. The ice wasn’t the greatest in the world right there. The puck was spinning about a million miles an hour, so I had to settle it down.”
Del Zotto, the Rangers’ first-round draft pick in 2008, notched 63 points in 62 games splitting time between London and Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League last year. In training camp he continued to impress, earning a spot on the regular season roster.
Matt Gilroy’s path to the Rangers has been more heavily chronicled. Gilroy, the Hobey Baker Award winner as the top college player last year at Boston University, was signed during last season’s playoffs. After being held scoreless in the first two games — but playing very effectively on defense — he scored the game-winning goal on the power play Monday night against the Devils.
“Brodeur came across with his knee kind of weird and I was just able to slide it underneath,” Gilroy said. “I was wide open, and I was just trying to get my shot through, which is something I’ve been working on.”
Gilroy, who had just one shot on goal in the first two games, had six on Monday.
He, Del Zotto and the rest of the Rangers defense will get a big test tomorrow night when they head to Washington play the Capitals, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. They will need to neutralize reigning MVP Alexander Ovechkin, who had a league-best six points through his first two games, if they want to make it three wins in their first four games.