Artemi Panarin said Wednesday that he’s impressed by Andrew Copp.
“He has everything. Skill. He can play in D-zone. He can pass, which I like. That’s good to have him here.”
And that was before their amazing night at UBS Arena.
The Rangers’ biggest accomplishment Thursday was clinching home ice for the opening round. The 6-3 win over the Islanders featured plenty of big numbers for the top Rangers, headlined by Copp’s first-period natural hat trick, but also a couple of spots of concern, headlined by Copp’s departure from the game with five minutes to go because of a lower-body injury that will be further evaluated Friday.
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On to some thoughts:
Panarin-Strome-Copp
The definition of “looking-good hockey,” Panarin’s new catchphrase. He had four assists to give him 74 assists and 96 points for the season. We speculated off Panarin’s Wednesday media session that the way he’s been playing — closer to the puck, as he put it — has put 100 points and the franchise record of 80 assists well within reach. Now they’re tantalizingly close.
Panarin and Gerard Gallant likely don’t see eye to eye on the 200-foot aspect of Panarin’s game. Panarin all but said he needed to change things up earlier this season because staying in his lane on the left side and trying to play more without the puck — two things that were likely asked of him by Gallant and the coaching staff — weren’t working. Now he has the puck, he’s unpredictable, and he’s probably not tearing back to break up plays.
“He doesn’t play the same way as everyone else,” Gallant said after Thursday’s game. “That’s what makes him special.”
Ryan Strome has been the Breadman Interpreter for a few years now, and Copp has augmented the connection. The right side of Panarin and Strome has seen any number of Rangers skate there, from Jesper Fast to Kaapo Kakko to Alexis Lafrenière and Dryden Hunt. No one’s really been consistent enough since Fast left two seasons ago.
Copp is giving them consistency. He’s up to eight goals and 10 assists in 16 Rangers games, far exceeding what even Chris Drury or Gallant might have hoped for when Drury made the deadline deal. Copp had 32 points in 54 games with the Jets this season before coming over. The 8-10-18 puts him 11th on the Rangers in scoring, ahead of Kakko and Hunt, both of whom had long stretches in the top six.
The “Strome vs. Copp” debate will rage until free agency comes as to whom the Rangers should keep, as it’s highly unlikely to damn near impossible for Drury to sign both. If the Rangers go deep in the playoffs and that line is a big part of it, that debate can sit for a while.
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Rest
Copp and Filip Chytil (upper body) left Thursday’s game early, perhaps providing the answer to a question Gallant has been asked often: Are you going to rest anyone down the stretch?
Gallant said Thursday that Kakko could return next week to play one or two of the last regular-season games. That’s good, since the 21-year-old has played only 10 periods of hockey since mid-January. But even if there’s good news on Copp and Chytil in that both injuries are minor, there’s zero reason to put either of them in the lineup over the next few days.
That may cost the Rangers a shot at the Metro Division title, but so be it. Chytil has been mostly a disappointment this season, but he’s still the best No. 3 center they have. So rest them up, give Jonny Brodzinski and Julien Gauthier a couple of spins and see where things end up. Nothing that happens in the next four games is as important as what comes after.
Playoff shenanigans
This wasn’t a game where guys got face-washed after every whistle, which is truly playoff nonsense. But there were a couple of instances when Rangers and Islanders engaged in some shenanigans, and it was good to see a few playoff newbies stand their ground.
Lafrenière stood out in that regard. He and Noah Dobson seemed to have a running conversation all night — maybe something that dates to their QMJHL days. Lafrenière and Kieffer Bellows were jawing plenty, too, and gave each other a few gloved shots during the biggest scrum of the night in the third when the game was out of hand.
Not every young Ranger is going to engage that way when the playoffs begin. But seeing Lafrenière unafraid to mix it up or run his mouth makes you appreciate that this kid looks very ready for the moment, even if he may not be the one leading the charge offensively.
Watching the standings
The win allowed the Rangers to keep pace with Carolina. Both teams have 108 points with four games to play, and they will meet Tuesday at the Garden. The Canes hold the tiebreaker, so the Rangers need to be a point clear when the dust settles.
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Of course, it’s still an open question as to whether you want the Rangers to finish first and get the first wild-card team, which looks as of now to be the Bruins. Boston hasn’t been good of late but will get David Pastrnak, Hampus Lindholm and Linus Ullmark back this weekend. Do you want a fully healthy Bruins team, a Penguins team that likely won’t have Tristan Jarry for the opening round or a Caps team that’s been shaky in net all year?
The Rangers want to win, and that’s how you want them to proceed. But you may proceed however you like and wish for the best possible matchup in the opening round, and that hasn’t been sorted out yet.
Record-breakers
As mentioned, Panarin needs seven assists in the final four games to break Brian Leetch’s franchise mark. Chris Kreider needs four goals in these four games to beat Jaromir Jagr’s franchise mark.
And there’s another franchise record in reach: The Rangers need six points in the last four games to set the mark for the best regular season in team history, currently held by the Presidents’ Trophy-winning team from 2014-15. The current squad already has the sixth-most points in a season in team history, and a win will leapfrog it over the 1970-71, 1971-72 and 2011-12 teams. All five teams ahead of this year’s team made at least the conference final (or semifinals, as they were known in the early 1970s), by the way.
(Photo of Andrew Copp shooting the puck past Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov: Frank Franklin II / Associated Press)
