Recap: Mancini, Chytil Lead Rangers to 3-2 Win in Preseason Debut

It was likely more of a Hartford Wolf Pack vs Providence Bruins kind of season preview but nevertheless, the preseason is underway with the Rangers picking up a nice 3-2 win to get things started. Here’s how the Rangers lined up for their first outing: 

Cuylle - Chytil - Kakko

Vesey - Brodzinski - Othmann

Sykora - Groulx - Belzile

Blidh - Leschyshyn - Chmelar

Scanlin - Schneider 

Mackey - Fitzgerald

Robertson - Mancini 

Domingue/Garand

1st Period:

It was a very preseason hockey type of start to this one as both teams were a bit on the sloppy side. It wouldn’t take long before that worked against the Rangers favor as Cole Koepke buried a juicy rebound to put the Bruins up 1-0 just over a minute and a half in. Some awkward positioning by Connor Mackey and Casey Fitzgerald allowed for the Bruins winger to walk right into a golden rebound opportunity and convert, 1-0 game. 

About two minutes later, the Rangers got the first power play opportunity of the evening as Mark Kastelic took down Brandon Scanlin and was sent off for tripping. The Rangers rolled out a top power play unit of Brodzinski, Cuylle, Kakko, Chytil and Victor Mancini which looked quite good from the start. They wouldn’t convert on that first attempt but they had some great puck movement with Mancini really standing out early. 

The Bruins would get their first crack at the power play just a few minutes after the Rangers’ chance came to an end. Braden Schneider was sent off for slashing and it wouldn’t be long before the disadvantage extended into a 5-on-3. With 48 seconds left on the initial call on Schneider, Connor Mackey was sent off for cross-checking. Luckily, the Rangers were able to kill it off and not long after, found a way to tie things up. Mancini, who was all over the ice from the start of things found a clean shot from the point off a pass from Anton Blidh that sailed right through Brandon Bussi to make it a 1-1 game. 

About two minutes after the goal, Brennan Othmann caught Parker Wotherspoon off guard and sent him flying with a hard hit. The Bruins defender was a bit slow to get up but but no call despite play being blown dead shortly after. 

With 2:20 to go Filip Chytil was tripped up by Kastelic which resulted in Casey. Fitzgerald going after him but the officials were rather quick to intervene, resulting in no additional penalties. As the Rangers headed back to the power play, Chytil would walk the face-off circle and snipe a shot over the glove side of Bussi with 73 seconds to go in the opening period.

Shots 10-9 with the Rangers up 2-1 to end the first period. 

2nd Period:

The Bruins has a chance to tie the game back up on a funky bounce early in the second but things would otherwise slow down quite a bit. Lots of icings despite the amount they were letting go as neither team was really generating much. With play blown dead just after the midway mark of the period, both teams opted to switch their goaltender as Michael DiPietro replaced Bussi and Dylan Garand came in for Louis Domingue. Despite the slight delayed reaction on that initial Bruins goal, the veteran goaltender had a solid outing and came up with some strong saves for the Blueshirts. 

With about seven and a half to go, Trevor Kuntar batted a bouncing puck that took a redirect through traffic in front of Garand to tie the game up at two. Not an ideal start to his night but certainly a tough bounce to be dealt while trying to settle into play. 

Not a ton else to report on from the games middle period. Brennan Othmann continued to have an impact as he had some big hits and ended up dropping the gloves to close out the period. Right as the final horn sounded, a somewhat spirited scrum ensued in front of Garand involving most of the players on the ice. Wotherspoon used that as an opportunity to get even for that hit Othmann delivered earlier in the opening period. It wasn’t much of a scrap but kudos to Othmann for doing his best to hold his own against a guy who has over 300 games of AHL experience and close to 400 penalty minutes under his belt with some splashes of NHL appearances in between. 

Shots at the end of two were 24-13 in favor of Boston with the score tied at two. 

3rd Period:

The Rangers started the final stanza of this one on a power play as a result of the end of period fight. That quickly turned into a 5-on-3 as Jonny Brodzinski was tripped up high in the slot by Koepke. The power play units got some looks but the Bruins successfully killed off the man advantage. 

Not long after the teams returned to even strength, Alex Belzile was able to regain the lead as he snuck a quick shot that followed a fake slap shot through the legs of DiPietro, 3-2 Rangers.

As play went on, the Rangers were doing a great job of controlling the game, outshooting the Bruins quite significantly.  With close to five minutes to go in the game, Blidh was sent off for roughing which sent the Bruins back to the power play. Another successful, well-executed kill by the Rangers kept this thing moving and soon enough, time was running out. 

The Bruins called a timeout with two and a half to go as Garand came up with some key saves to maintain the one goal lead. Kakko and Chytil both had several chances to put a bow on things but neither could get that perfect clean shot. Nevertheless, the Rangers kept the lead and kick off the preseason with a 3-2 win on the road. If memory serves, their first win in Boston at least in the last three preseasons. 

Without question, Victor Mancini was one of the most impressive players on the ice for the Rangers as he picked up a goal and an assist while involving himself in all aspects of the game. It was also great to see Chytil find the back of the net after the brutal year he’s coming off, even if it’s only preseason. Othmann, Cuylle and both goaltenders also finished the night with solid, overall efforts.

The Rangers are back at it on home ice for the first time this preseason on Tuesday as they’ll take on their rivals from the Island. I wouldn’t expect to see many repeats in the lineup, however Mancini and Othmann definitely earned a second look.