Rangers' Prospects Defeat Thrashers in Traverse City Tourney, 4-1

Coming off of a 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes the day before, the New York Rangers entered today's match-up with a record of 0-1, and looking to earn their first tournament win against first round draft pick Evander Kane and the rest of the Atlanta Thrashers' prospects.

The game began with the Rangers taking three minor penalties, each within four minutes of each other; Ethan Werek for holding the stick, Chad Johnson for delay of game, and Justin Soryal for slashing. The Blueshirts penalty-killing unit, which was superior in yesterday's loss, came up big once again, killing off all three of the penalties. Shortly after, Thrashers' highly skilled forward, Evander Kane, lit the lamp at 15:25 of the first, assisted by Darryl Smith and Drew Paris. Defenseman Samuel Klassen responded on behalf of the Rangers two minutes after the Atlanta goal to tie the game at one, which is the way it stayed for the remainder of the period. (Assists from Roman Horak and Luke Walker)

Five minutes into the second period, Atlanta forward Anton Kharin put the Rangers on the powerplay for the third time in the game by committing an interference penalty, and this time it was Ranger defenseman Tomas Kundratek that gave the Blueshirts a 2-1 lead on the powerplay. The goal came just under eight minutes into the second period, and was assisted by center Ethan Werek. From there, it was all penalties, as it started with Evander Kane and Justin Soryal taking coincidental minors for roughing at 8:47 of the second.

After those penalties had expired, the Thrashers were guilty of two more penalties, both for interference, but both were killed off without any damage from the Rangers powerplay. Sam Klassen and Luke Walker each took penalties in the final five minutes of the second, which saw the Blueshirts penalty-killing unit out on the ice for quite a while, but they continued their excellence by not allowing a goal during either of the two minute minors. The period ended with the Rangers on top 2-1, and a total of twelve penalties handed out, six taken by each team.

Early in the third period, Ranger forward Evgeny Grachev found the back of the net for the first time in this tournament, giving the Rangers a solid 3-1 lead. The assists came from forwards Dale Weise and Ryan Bourque. Dale Weise followed that up three minutes later with a deflection off of a Dan Maggio shot that beat Atlanta goaltender Josh Unice. As the period progressed, both the Thrashers and Rangers took high sticking penalties, but both were killed of without any goals scored. The game ended in a 4-1 win for the Rangers, who now have a 1-1 record in the tournament.

Penalties aside, the Rangers played a great game this afternoon against the Atlanta Thrashers' prospects. Two of the four Ranger goals came from defensemen, which means that they were effectively being involved both in the offensive zone and on the rush. Forward Dale Weise found his way onto the score-sheet twice, which is a nice reward for him, and big guns Evgeny Grachev and Ryan Bourque each recorded a point in the game as well. The big story was Ranger goaltender Chad Johnson (signed by the Rangers this summer), as he turned away 28 of the 29 shots that he faced, so an exceptional performance on his part.

Now, the Rangers did take many penalties in yesterday's game against Carolina, and took an even greater amount in today's game against Atlanta, but they were very fortunate that the Thrashers found themselves sitting in the box quite often throughout the contest as well. We will have too keep a close eye on whether the penalties are a constant problem for this team in the remainder of the tourney. Anyway, some key prospects had solid performances today, and that is what matters most in the Traverse City Tournament.

The Rangers' Prospects will get the day off tomorrow, but will hit the ice on Thursday at 7 pm, when they go head to head with the hometown Detroit Red Wings. This will be the final game until the placement game which will take place on Thursday, September 10th. We will be taking a break from all of the Traverse City action tomorrow as well, and focusing more on the current Rangers team, which will be resuming their pre-camp sessions before the actual Training Camp begins on Saturday. Until tomorrow, enjoy your holiday!

Entire game box score HERE. Period updates can be found below.