Before this one, there was legitimate debate to be conducted over whether the Rangers’ greatest priority was adding a third-line center or a top-line right wing to play with Mika Zibabejad and Chris Kreider in the approach to the March 8 trade deadline.
But it appears as if the debate was settled on the Garden ice at 10:47 of the first period Thursday when the BFF’s right wing Blake Wheeler sustained what appeared to be a serious right leg/ankle injury on a hit from behind the Montreal net from Jayden Struble.
The 37-year-old winger writhed in pain after his right ankle bent back when he was thrown down. He was unable to place any weight on the foot as he was helped off the ice through the nearby Zamboni door by his teammates.
“We’ll evaluate it and address it [Friday], but that was tough for Blake,” head coach Peter Laviolette said after the Blueshirts’ 7-4 victory extended the club’s winning streak to six games. “He’s a veteran player who came here for a reason and when you see something like that happen, it’s tough.”
The Rangers rotated right wings for the remainder of the game with the BFF’s, who combined for four goals that included Kreider’s sixth career hat trick. Jimmy Vesey shifted from the checking line to get the most extended look in that spot after Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko and, yes, even center Vincent Trocheck got spins with Nos. 20 and 93.
GM Chris Drury and Laviolette can opt to go with Vesey in that spot for at least the short term — No. 26 played 17 games last season with Kreider and Zibanejad — while perusing the trade market.
“I thought Jimmy did a good job,” Laviolette said. “He played really well up there.”
If Vesey does move up, the club would have to recall a forward to take the vacated spot on the checking line beside Adam Edstrom and Barclay Goodrow. Does the name, Tyler Pitlick, ring a bell? Could Matt Rempe get a look?
But the Blueshirts also might consider recalling Brennan Othmann to skate with Zibanejad and Kreider after serendipitously moving No. 78 last week to right wing from the left in Hartford.
Othmann, who had three NHL games in early January when he skated primarily on the left with the Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski, has scored three goals in his last four games for the Wolf Pack.
There is no reason for the Rangers — who have built an eight-point division lead over Carolina, which has two games in hand — not to look internally before diving into the trade market where both Frank Vatrano and Vladimir Tarasenko are available for an encore.
There is no rush, though. Apparently there is no rush for the Rangers when they take the ice, either, with the team somnambulant far too often out of the gate. The Blueshirts, who trailed 1-0 after a dozy opening 20 minutes, have been blanked in eight of their last 11 first periods while being outscored by an aggregate 10-4.
But when the motor got running in this one, the horses were out of the barn and there was little Montreal and goaltender Sam Montembeault could do about it. The Blueshirts scored four goals within 4:10 late in the second period once Kreider’s first goal of the night tied it at 11:09, 25 seconds after No. 20 had been stoned on a breakaway.
Kreider scored on a one-timer from the left circle, Will Cuylle went to the net — again — and scored on a deflection. Zibanejad scored a shorthanded goal on a whistling one-timer from the left dot after the Blueshirts had gotten Jonathan Quick out of the net for an added attacker. Kreider then scored on a power-play deflection that ended an 0-for-18 for a 4-1 lead at 15:19 of the second.
Trocheck scored from long range, Kreider completed the hat trick by putting in a gimme on a feed from Zibanejad at 7:59 of the third and Kakko wrapped it up at 9:56 for the Blueshirts’ seventh goal within 18:47.
There was a mountain of messiness in the third period with the game having broken bad for the Canadiens, who simply could not contain Kreider and Zibanejad in probably the tandem’s most impactful five-on-five game in months, if not for the season.
“He was at the right place at the right time,” Zibanejad said of Kreider, who was not available in the postgame locker room a day after having missed practice for a personal reason. “I thought we had good scoring chances.
“He’s a goal scorer so that’s what he does.”
Kreider, who has a total of 27 goals, has scored seven in his last 10 games. But in this one, both Kreider and Zibanejad generated offense. They got to the inside. They played with purpose and with speed.
They were the dynamic duo.
And between now and March 8, Drury will be adding a third.
