Tony DeAngelo tied a franchise record for both goals and points by a defenceman in a single game. The talented 24-year-old blueliner scored a hat trick and added two assists in last night's 6-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. With the 5-point night, he tied Brian Leetch as the only other blueliner in team history to do so. His hat trick was just the ninth by a Rangers defenceman, the most recent being Reijo Ruotsalainen back on March 17th, 1982.
"My (NHL) career high was two (points in a game) coming into tonight,” stated DeAngelo. “I had a decent amount of two-point games, but three in the first and two in the second, that part is pretty cool. But obviously it was really good to get a win too. The goals were big for us.”
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DeAngelo is really beginning to show the talent that made him a first-round pick back in 2014. The former Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick played just one season with the Lightning's AHL team, the Syracuse Crunch, before being dealt to the Arizona Coyotes. Again, he played just one season with the team, splitting the year with the Coyotes as well as their AHL affiliate, the Tucson Roadrunners. The next summer, the Coyotes sent him and a first-round pick in the 2017 draft (used to select Lias Andersson ) to the New York Rangers for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta. After being dealt twice early in his career, it appears as though DeAngelo may have found himself a more permanent home.
During DeAngelo's second season with the Rangers, he showed everyone what he was capable of doing, especially offensively. In just 66 games, the young defenceman put up 31 points. Safe to say the Rangers were quite thrilled with him, and while they were certainly hoping he would build off last season, no one could've expected him to do what he has done so far. After last night's five-point game, DeAngelo now has 36 points in 43 games. With the growth the young defenceman has shown to this point, it looks like the sky is the limit in terms of future potential.
Source: Dan Rosen
