Keith Yandle Warming to Life With the Rangers

Nash was on his way to pot an empty net goal to cap off the Rangers’ 4-1 victory over the Coyotes when the forward was interfered with as he was about to shoot the puck.

“You can’t have a dog acting up in public, so he just grabs it very calmly and quietly and just sits right beside me and won’t move until I acknowledge him and see that he alerted me”, Domi said.

Keith Yandle’s dry sense of humor bubbled to the surface when asked if facing his former team for the first time on Thursday at Madison Square Garden would dredge up emotions. Zuccarello carried the puck into the offensive zone before sending a cross-ice pass that Kreider redirected for his first goal of the season.

“Here all the kids are Rangers fans, and so are their parents, and so are their parents’ parents'”, Yandle, 29, said recently. They will need to shut down the Rangers’ scoring opportunities and protect Mike Smith.

Among those prospects was Duclair, a standout third round pick in 2013 who put up 99 points in 59 games his rookie year with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL.

The puck found it’s way to the left of Smith and Oscar Lindberg buried it. Hayes was awarded the goal though, for it went in before Lindberg’s. “We’ve got to be ready to go”.

“When I went back to juniors I thought I’d be coming back here this year”, said Duclair, who has five goals and two assists in seven games.

“Obviously he’s excited and I’m very happy for him with the way he’s been able to stay focused through all of this”, Lundqvist said of the newly minted National League pennant victor. I’m also betting that’s the first time that a goal like that has been “scored” for a player’s milestone goal (it was Nash’s 700th career point).

“It was a quick transition; it was a fast-paced goal (and the style of hockey) that we like to play”, he said. The Coyotes started the season with three straight victories but are winless in their last three (0-2-1) following an overtime loss at New Jersey on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game road trip. “That 1-1 game in the third, you don’t want to give them anything. You just let your skill and patience be the deciding factor”. Coming around from behind the net, Hayes took a nasty backhand shot and went top shelf.

C Derek Stepan played Thursday night despite being a game-time decision after having a wisdom tooth removed Wednesday. They dressed seven defensemen and played half the game with just 10 forwards after Antoine Vermette left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury. Former Coyote Keith Yandle scored on the power play about four minutes later when his shot from the point deflected off Rieder’s stick and bounced in off Arizona defenseman Connor Murphy’s shin pad for a 3-1 lead. Joe Vitale, who has played in only one game, will be sidelined for four to six weeks with a fractured orbital bone. “I knew what Cam Talbot did here past year, and of course everybody’s comparing me to him”. He won coach Dave Tippett over, beginning with a strong summer development camp – and Tippett said there have been no signs of any negativity so far. I wouldn’t call myself a five-tool blogger because I’m far too humble. “We’ve got to get a few more offense out of a lot of other guys”.

Last year, Smith had one of his worst seasons ever: 14-42-5, .904 save percentage, 3.16 goals against average.