Postgame takeaways: Hometown hero Jonny Brodzinski sparks NY Rangers' win in Minnesota
ST. PAUL, Minnesota − Jonny Brodzinski received a recent text message from his father, Michael, who was attending a high school hockey game in their home state of Minnesota and spotted an old video of his son as part of the pregame highlights.
"I was in one of them," he said with a beaming smile. "It was a half-ice windmill all the way down. Something crazy."
Brodzinski was a local star back in his own high school days, where he led Blaine HS to the state tournament as a senior in 2011.
That was also the last time he scored at Xcel Energy Center − until Thursday.
Brodzinski notched a critical third-period goal to ensure the Rangers would make it to overtime against the host Wild, with Braden Schneider finishing off a 3-2 win with a deke and a pretty backhanded roof shot 1:51 into the extra period.
WHAT A SHOT. pic.twitter.com/g5q1J6Mvnr
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 14, 2025
That snapped the Rangers' four-game losing streak and moved them into a tie with the Blue Jackets for the Eastern Conference's final wild-card spot. Columbus has a game in hand and a slight edge in points percentage, but New York will have a chance to change that equation when the two teams square off Saturday night in Ohio.
"We've been battling it here lately, and it’s good to get rewarded for what I thought was a pretty good game," said Schneider, who's fifth goal of the season was also the first OT winner of his career. "There are still things we can be a bit better at, for sure, but I thought we played hard for 60 minutes."
'My role model'
Fans across social media have been looking for excuses to remove Brodzinski from the lineup for weeks, but he doesn't seem to mind.
The low-maintenance, anything-for-the-team center keeps plugging along and earning his spot.
"Jonny’s had a couple of those goals where he's put himself in the high slot, and he's ripped it," head coach Peter Laviolette said. "He’s got a quick release, and it can be on point."
HOMETOWN JONNY ON THE SPOT. pic.twitter.com/jozP8bqmdg
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 14, 2025
Laviolette has elected to play Brodzinski over recent trade-addition Juuso Pärssinen because of the speed element he brings and steadier all-around game, but also because of the positive influence he has on the Rangers' youth.
The 31-year-old has played in all 10 games coming out of the 4 Nations break, mostly while centering a pair of rookie wingers in Brennan Othmann and Matt Rempe.
He hosted those two, along with Brett Berard, Will Cuylle and Zac Jones, for dinner at his home in Andover on Wednesday night. Brodzinski and his wife, Lauren, made pasta − "I did a little bit of it," he said with a smirk. "My wife the rest" − to provide a taste of home for the quintet he began taking under his wing as AHL Hartford’s captain.
"For me personally, he was like my role model in Hartford my first year as a pro," Cuylle said. "I was always hanging out at his house with some other older guys, and he's obviously huge for some of the younger guys like (Berard) and Otter that are newer to the team."
For Brodzinski, who estimated that he had around 60 family members and friends in attendance on Thursday, it's simply a matter of paying it forward.
"When I first got into the league, it was extremely intimidating," he said. "Coming from the American League, you look up to a lot of these guys in the locker room. I can kind of just be a little buffer for that to keep them comfortable, and hopefully they still remain playing their game that got them here. Just be a shoulder lean on when they need some help and some guidance."
Will Cuylle elevates his new line
In a turbulent season when most Rangers (32-28-6) have either stagnated or regressed, Cuylle has been one of the few exceptions.
The young power winger has taken a leap in Year Two as an NHLer while making positive contributions in just about any role he's asked to play.
Thursday was another example, with Cuylle shifting to his off-hand side to play with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck and providing that line with an immediate boost.
He made his presence felt on virtually every shift, with the standout effort further establishing the 23-year-old as the leading candidate for this year's Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award.
The transition to right wing didn't seem to affect Cuylle because he spent so much time in the middle of the ice. He charged the net and set up shop in the high-danger areas, where he could hunt for tips and rebounds and retrieve pucks for his skilled new linemates.
That's exactly what happened at the 6:45 mark in the second period, with Cuylle fighting for position in front of the Wild goal and tapping a pass back to Trocheck for a one-timer that snapped a scoreless tie.
STUCK WITH IT.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 14, 2025
Troch buries the rebound. pic.twitter.com/vM5C7pAFoO
"There was a big emphasis to try to get to the net," Cuylle said. "They kind of packed it in pretty tight in their D zone. (Panarin) likes to have the puck a lot on his stick, skating around. If I can get to the net, get on (the goalie's) eyes anytime he shoots, it probably gets a lot better chance of going in."
Their line dominated possession and finished with a 9-2 edge in shots on goal, according to Natural Stat Trick. They out-attempted the Wild, 19-5, with a 7-1 advantage in scoring chances and an 83.48% xGF.
Cuylle tied for the team lead with four SOG while pacing everyone with seven hits across 16:22 time on ice.
An attempt to wakeup Alexis Lafrenière
Cuylle swapped spots with Alexis Lafrenière, with the latter moving to a line with J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad.
Lafrenière has almost exclusively played RW for two seasons out of necessity, with varying results. But this provided a chance to move back to his natural left-handed side.
"Just to switch it a little bit," Laviolette said when asked why he made the change. "Some guys are just a little bit snake bit right now. I think sometimes you just change the scenery. You move Laf back to the left side. ... I thought both lines were good."
The Lafrenière-Miller-Zibanejad trio failed to score and only produced two shots on goal, but their underlying numbers suggest there could be more in the tank. Scoring chances were 7-3 in the Rangers' favor while they were on the ice, including 3-0 for high-danger chances.
The main motive was likely to spark Lafrenière, who's had a frustrating season following last year's breakout. The 23-year-old has now gone 14 straight games without a goal dating back to Feb. 2, with only five assists in that span.
But it hasn't just been about the lack of offensive production. He's looked disengaged at times all over the ice, with the physicality he showed earlier in his career fading as his defensive warts grow harder to ignore.
Matt Rempe continues to draw iffy calls
The feel-good ending supplied by Brodzinski and Schneider almost didn't come to fruition.
The Wild made the Rangers pay for a pair of third-period penalties, with Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau netting power-play goals that tied the score twice and eventually forced OT.
One of those calls went against Rempe, who was whistled for a very iffy interference infraction for the second straight game and can’t seem to escape uneven judgment.
The replay showed Minnesota forward Devin Shore skating into Rempe, not the other way around, yet the call went against the 6-foot-9 forward and once again proved costly for New York.
Rempe is called for interference and Minn ties the game 1-1 on the PP #NYRpic.twitter.com/itoOB0ycKY
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) March 14, 2025
"He draws attention," Laviolette said. "I think it's just the size of him and the way he plays the game, and it just draws attention. It's unfortunate because sometimes, like tonight, he's not really doing anything."
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Takeaways: Hometown hero Jonny Brodzinski leads NY Rangers in Minnesota
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