Pavel Buchnevich has finally found the goal sheet for the New York Rangers. Now with the added weight off his back, it’s time for the rookie to get on a roll.
Pavel Buchnevich has had a monkey on his back ever since he first arrived in America.
He struggled to find twine at Traverse City with the Baby Blueshirts and has remained in a funk during the first week of preseason, despite being presented with a multitude of opportunities.
Early in the Rangers preseason finale against the Philadelphia Flyers, the crafty Russian tossed the monkey off of his back.
After a bit of tic-tac-toe at the right point between Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, and Dan Girardi, Girardi fired a low wrist shot towards the net, where Buchnevich wisely tipped the puck through the wickets of Flyers’ netminder Michal Neuvirth.
This is a very encouraging sign for the 21-year old. With new teammates and a language barrier to overcome, it was reasonable to expect a slow start for the Blueshirts’ former third-round pick.
Now let’s hope the goals start coming for the talented youngster.