Traverse City NYR vs STL: Highlights and Analysis
Henriksson, Reunanen lead Rangers to victory in Traverse City finale.
A reduced roster was not enough to slow down the Rangers, as they defeated the St. Louis Blues, 5-3, in the Traverse City Fifth Place Game.
Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Yegor Rykov, Adam Fox, and Igor Shesterkin were held out in an abundance of caution. Instead, it was other prospects who stepped up today.
Leading the way was center Karl Henriksson, drafted 58th overall this past June. The Swede was at the heart of the team’s offense today, setting up all kinds of offense and ultimately registering three assists. Here are two of them, with Henriksson (#70) the primary distributor on goals for Jake Elmer (#63) and Patrick Newell (#34).
As our friend Alex Nunn mentioned on Twitter, Henriksson was definitely the team’s unsung hero, of sorts, during the tournament. In all four games he showed off his impressive playmaking ability, and today, in particular, I thought he played well away from the puck.
Tarmo Reunanen, who had been having a decent tournament, made the most of his increased opportunity today. The Finnish defenseman (#51) tallied two assists on a couple of great setups. The first actually came following a mistake, where a poorly-timed pinch gave St. Louis an odd-man rush the other way. He and the Rangers recovered, and he then sent a hell of a stretch pass up the ice to Nick Jones, who slotted it across to Anthony Salinitri for the goal.
The second assist was a great power-play feed to Jones.
Joey Keane also had a steady game. He earned an assist on the opening goal, joining the rush and sending a pass across to Ryan Dmowski.
He also put in work defensively. Here were a few moments where you can see the physical side of his game (#82).
Finally, some credit to Adam Huska. These games are not easy for goaltenders, as the lack of tactics and familiarity can lead to shots from vulnerable spots. Huska is not to blame for any of the goals against, and he made a few saves on prime scoring chances to keep the Rangers’ lead intact.
On the whole, Traverse City was a successful endeavor for the Rangers. Virtually every notable prospect had at least a competent showing, with the top guys showing that they will be ready to push for NHL spots in the main camp as well as depth prospects giving hope for possible long-term futures as well.
The prospects will now travel back to New York in preparation for Thursday’s start of training camp.
