NHL analyst and host of the "Blue Crew Pod," Jonny Lazarus, joined Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk on "Daily Faceoff Live" to discuss the depth around the New York Rangers and their hot start to the season in the Big Apple.
The guys chat about how the offseason additions of goaltender Jonathan Quick and defenseman Erik Gustafsson have come in and over-performed, helping the Rangers in their early season success as they sit atop the Metropolitan Division and fourth in the league with an 11-2-1 record and 23 points.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Jonny, first off, nine wins in their last 10 games and this has been a remarkable start to the season, they’re red hot right now. What’s been the most surprising start to this season for the Rangers?
Jonny Lazarus: I think one of the bigger surprises right now is how guys who didn’t have a lot of hype, like Jonathan Quick and Erik Gustafsson have stepped up and over-performed. Tyler, the last time we spoke, was before the Rangers and Oilers game where Quick had that shutout and I think things took a turn for them in that moment where they said ‘Hey if we play a 60-minute game with whoever is in net whether it be Quick, Domingue or Shesterkin, we got a damn good hockey team.’ So right now I think the most impressive thing is everyone is stepping up and doing their part and there was a lot of concern when Adam Fox and Filip Chytil went down but they haven’t missed a beat. Gustafsson has stepped up and been that quarterback now for the first unit and they’re clicking at a 37.5% rate without Fox. Everyone is doing their job and everyone is contributing which has been the biggest surprise.
You can watch the full episode here…
More must-reads: