ELMONT, N.Y. – It wasn’t quite Freddie Mitchell thanking his hands for being so great, but it was certainly up there.
With one of the more unique skill sets in the National Hockey League comes one of the more unique personalities, and New York Rangers forward Ryan Reaves dropped an all-timer after his team’s 4-1 win over the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Wednesday night, one in which he recorded two assists in his first multi-point game in nearly four years.
“I’m going to Saran Wrap these,” he cracked about his hands, which are far more known for fighting than passing. “I’m going to try not to touch anything. I’m like Ricky Bobby, I don’t know what to do with my hands right now.”
It wasn’t his first movie reference in a memorable post-game press conference, joking that he felt like he was in the film “Interstellar” with how it seemed as though he was in a parallel universe with young skill players like Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Fox dropping the gloves while he was the one contributing with two points.
The truth is, while Reaves is widely regarded as the league’s unofficial “heavyweight champ” when it comes to fighting – something he’s gotten to do just once this year when Montreal Canadiens rookie Michael Pezzetta made a very ill-advised choice to challenge him – plays like the ones he made on Wednesday aren’t as uncommon as he’d like you to believe. In short, he can actually play, and helps provide a balance to a fourth line alongside Kevin Rooney and Barclay Goodrow that accomplishes exactly what the Rangers were looking for when they retooled their team this offseason.
But yes, a pretty pass, like the one he threaded through to Rooney on an odd man rush for his second assist of the night, is largely seen as a bonus given the other things he typically provides.
“I don’t really see things unfolding like that,” he joked when asked about the play. “The guy slid early and took away the shot. I had to try something. I knew he was open. It wasn’t a usual play for me, but I’ll take it.”
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When the temperatures start to dip, every day at historic Hobey Baker Rink can be a challenging one, even before the puck drops.
Playing in a colder than usual setting aside, however, and Princeton women’s hockey head coach Cara Morey knew her team was going to be in for a challenge hosting No. 4 Northeastern for two games this weekend.
Getting shut out certainly wasn’t the expectation – Aerin Frankel recorded her fifth clean sheet of the season for the Huskies in a 2-0 win on Friday afternoon – but playing against a veteran, skilled group that was going to smother the Tigers at 5-on-5 certainly was.
“It actually wasn’t frustrating, we knew it was going to be like that,” Morey said. “They have 10 grad students on the team that played in the national championship last year, so we knew what the game was going to look like. So, our strategy was to try to contain and play it defensively and weather the storm, take advantage of our opportunities when they come. I thought our team did a really good job of executing that plan.”
Opportunities, however, were few and far between for Morey’s group, a trend that’s carried over in their last five games, with only three goals, one win and one tie to show for an injury-riddled roster.
Senior goaltender Rachel McQuigge was outstanding, making 38 saves on 40 shots, including multiple Grade-A chances, but it simply wasn’t enough with how stingy the Huskies were.
“She’s Rachel, and it’s sad to say for her, but that’s what we expect out of her,” Morey said. “Every game, we need her to give us a chance to win the game, and she really does that.”
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The nightcap didn’t go much better for the home team, although there was far more entertainment to be had with the back-and-forth, end-to-end nature of the Princeton University men’s hockey team’s 5-4 loss to the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) on Friday night.
In a battle of two “Tigers” nicknamed teams, Princeton dropped to 3-4-1 on the season, but 0-3-1 home, and were looking for their first victory at Baker Rink in Saturday night’s scheduled rematch.
Officials called 12 penalties on Friday, including a game-changing boarding major after a review on Princeton’s Finn Evans, which ended up creating four power play goals, but only one for Princeton.
Making his NCAA debut, freshman goaltender Ethan Pearson made 35 saves on 40 shots for Princeton in the loss.
