There was Braden Schneider on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena, forcing his approach to the online with conviction before flicking the puck just past the glove of Maple Leafs goaltender Martin Jones.
The 22-year-old defenseman began the drive all the way in which from below the middle red line and cruised around Toronto captain John Tavares, while Blake Wheeler took Jake McCabe out of the play on the blue line.
It was ultimately the game-winning goal within the Rangers’ 5-2 victory within the rematch with the Maple Leafs.
“I saw a little bit of ice to skate and [Erik Gustafsson] gave me pass,” Schneider described of what he saw on his second goal of the season. “I feel there may need been a bit little bit of a pick or something, I don’t know what happened. But there was some ice that opened up and I had some speed going through and I just tried to place it on net. Fortunately enough, it went in.”
Asked if it felt good to attain for the primary time since Oct. 26, Schneider naturally agreed, while also noting that he’s not at all times excited about scoring.
Well, the Rangers will probably want Schneider to give it some thought a bit more.
The Rangers drafted Schneider nineteenth overall in 2020, after trading as much as achieve this, during former general manager Jeff Gorton’s hard-to-play-against initiative.
Schneider was listed at 6-foot-2 and 209 kilos when he was drafted, and he had a scouting report that highlighted his size, skating and toughness.
On his draft night, Schneider even described himself as a “two-way physical defenseman” who’s “greater than willing” to seize a chance to leap up within the play or get a shot on net.
There have been flashes of that offensive upside, however the Rangers could at all times use a bit more — and Schneider definitely has the tools to achieve this.
“I mean, the principles are the identical for everyone,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of Schneider making moves like that more often. “He can stand up and go when he desires to. That was an ideal example of it. He does have that skill set. I see him more — I don’t know if it’s a stay-at-home D — but I see him more of a two-way defenseman. I do think he’s capable.”
Schneider is one in every of the few Rangers who could make that commanding move to the online along with his now 6-foot-3, 211-pound construct. There are even fewer who can actually finish it, too.
One former Ranger who used to do it on a regular basis, but struggled to capitalize, now plays for the Islanders in Julien Gauthier.
There’s absolute confidence Schneider has the strength and skill so as to add more offense to his game. It’s only a matter of him not only identifying his opportunities to achieve this, but additionally having the boldness in his ability to make it occur.
His pairing with Gustafsson is definitely a layer to be considered when discussing Schneider’s offensive inclination recently.
The Swedish blueliner is sort of at all times seeking to jump up in the push and taking the lead on scoring opportunities, while Schneider often stays back to cover.
It’s definitely not a negative, especially when Gustafsson’s 19 points in 30 games ranks sixth on the Rangers and second among the many club’s defensemen behind only Adam Fox (21 points).
This only implies that Schneider needs to seek out ways to create his own scoring looks, reminiscent of crashing the online like he did Tuesday night.
“He’s been playing thoroughly the entire season,” Gustafsson said. “I’m just joyful for him. Such an excellent kid. He’s younger than me. No, all of the things he’s done. It’s great to see.”