Opening Night 2.0 for Devils tonight at the Garden

Posted on February 16, 2021 by hasan4978

After more than two weeks off, the Devils are just hours from finally returning to the ice – for the most part. Still a handful of players remain on the COVID list including Travis Zajac, who’s been there the longest outside of Mackenzie Blackwood, who hasn’t played in nearly a month (and may well not play tonight either). Fortunately according to teammate Kyle Palmieri – also a confirmed positive – Zajac is feeling better and should be coming off the list soon. As Miles Wood put it, the scariest part was how the virus wiped almost the whole team out at once. Wood, incidentally as one of the few players who somehow avoided the virus confirmed he actually had it before camp, which isn’t a surprise at this point. With the amount of guys that went on the list, you almost had to figure guys who didn’t get it had already either had it or gotten a vaccine somehow.

Also still missing is Nico Hischier, who hasn’t played a game yet this season after a suspected fracture in his leg. According to coach Lindy Ruff, Hischier is on track to play once he gets off the COVID list (hopefully just a quarantine in his case), so that’s good I guess. Even our broadcast team didn’t get off unscathed as Steve Cangialosi revealed on Twitter he’s been dealing with the virus for a couple of weeks and will be unable to broadcast the next few games – to be replaced by Kenny Albert ironically – starting with tonight’s return matchup against the Rangers. With the handful of Devils still missing and recovering from injury or the virus itself we have no real idea what the lineup is going to look like tonight. Considering the Rangers are also missing star forward Artemi Panarin, tonight’s matchup feels more like a second preseason game than a second Opening Night.

Maybe that’s why I’m still finding it hard to get excited for Opening Night 2.0, at least in part due to the fact the next few games we’ll still be getting the rust off and returning to form – if that even happens this year. Even world-class athletes have been affected by COVID for far longer than they had the virus for. Look no further than across the river where a slow start from the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad can be directly attributed to his own bout with the virus, right smack before camp.

There’s also a little bit of resignation that the games seem less important right now, both with what’s going on in the country and on a more direct level as a fan of this team after you had so many players and team members afflicted with the virus and still fighting it. As a sports fan, I was fortunate to avoid having to deal with this for the Mets and Jets, as both teams had minimal cases in their seasons, whatever their issues were between the lines at least I didn’t have to be concerned over players, broadcasters or 60+ year old coaches getting ill.

With the Devils the virus clearly hit with full force, and Zajac’s long stay on the list had me a bit more worried until Palmieri said he was at least on the other side of things. Most of the players thankfully seem to have had mild-ish symptoms, although there’s always two levels of concern – the immediate concern while they have the virus and the most distant one of how this affects them (and everyone else) long-term, which there’s no easy answer for. If you want to look at a silver lining, it’s at least highly unlikely the Devils will have to worry about a second outbreak given the number of players who have had cases during this one including Blackwood, Palmieri, Zajac and Damon Severson among others.

Apart from healthwise, the long delay also affects the schedule in a major way with games being pushed back and crammed in. It’s unavoidable quite frankly, there’s no perfect solution. Just cancel games and go on point percentage? That’s a yucky situation. Extend the season longer? The NHL claims they don’t want to do that in part of the Olympics (which may well be cancelled anyway) and it’s hard to do that if five or six teams have to make up games while the others just sit at home for days or weeks and wait anyway.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1361778722538467331?s=20

Get ready for a TV routine of a lot of Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday games assuming we don’t get games canceled again due to another outbreak here or elsewhere in the Metro plus division.

As far as tonight’s game itself, who knows what to expect from either team? If Buffalo’s game with the Islanders yesterday – after they missed about as much time as we did – is any indication it likely won’t be pretty. Of course we’re not playing the Islanders but tonight’s game will still be a challenge. I do like this response from Ruff to the on-ice challenge ahead which I’ll end this blog with:

Posted in Devils, NY Rangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rangers to face returning Devils without Panarin and Miller

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Derek

There are two storylines for tonight’s second installment of the Battle Of Hudson. The first one is that it’s the first time the Devils will play in February due a COVID-19 outbreak. Their last game came on Jan. 31 when they defeated the Sabres 5-3 to end a three-game losing streak. Then both teams had COVID issues which paused their seasons. Buffalo played last night falling to the Islanders 3-1.

With a few players still not available, it’ll be interesting to see how the Devils play. Will there be some rust? Colorado lost too the other day after returning. This will only be their 10th game. The Devils are 4-3-2 with 10 points. They’ve performed okay under Lindy Ruff, even getting recent contributions from Mike McLeod, Nathan Bastian and Miles Wood. Jack Hughes is the offensive leader who makes everyone around him better. Rookie defenseman Ty Smith was off to a great start. Ultimately, it’ll depend on Kyle Palmieri, who didn’t score a goal before the pause. He’s in a contract year. That means Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald must decide if he’s worth keeping.

The second storyline surrounds the Rangers, who enter play winless in three straight. The only point against the Bruins in an overtime loss on a Brad Marchand goal. They’ve been shutout in two of the three games including a mind numbing one-goal loss to their Kryptonite, Rangers killer Jaro Halak. He only had to make 21 saves. That one turned in a wild second period that saw fisticuffs with even Pavel Buchnevich defending himself against Jeremy Lauzon. The power play continued to fire blanks and Boston swung the momentum on a Nick Ritchie goal that banked in off Igor Shestyorkin. Ritchie would bump into Shestyorkin later with not one Blueshirt coming to his aid.

The lack of offense has been problematic. They’ll be without leading scorer Artemi Panarin for a second consecutive game. Rookie defenseman K’Andre Miller also won’t be able to go due to an upper-body injury. The report from New York Post reporter Mollie Walker is that Panarin is close to returning. So, it’s possible they could have him back for Thursday night versus another COVID opponent in the Flyers. Also expected to return despite several regulars not being ready. That isn’t good.

As strange as it is for the NHL due to all the disruptions in the schedule from the pandemic, it’s play on. For the Blueshirts, that means resolving their scoring issues. They’ve held down opponents to 33 goals. However, they’ve only scored 31 themselves. Defense isn’t the issue. Neither is goaltending with rookie Igor Shestyorkin rounding into form. He’ll once again get the call. Until the team starts getting more done at five-on-five and on the power play, they’ll continue to struggle. They’re 2 for their last 31 and are 6 for 52 (11.5 percent). That ranks near the bottom. At least the improved penalty killing unit is doing the job. At 84.4 percent, they rank in the top five.

The key to fixing the lack of scoring is simple. Get Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider going. Zibanejad has been in an awful slump with only one point in his last 10 games. The lone point a primary assist on an empty net goal from Buchnevich. Another player who’s fallen back to earth. Zibanejad’s only goal came via the power play versus the Devils on 1/19. As for Buchnevich, that empty netter is his only point in the last five. He hasn’t been shooting the puck enough recently. He has fallen back into bad habits by over thinking. That got him in trouble when he committed a turnover that led to Marchand’s OT winner last Wednesday.

Kreider remains stuck on four goals with only 27 shots. That’s four less than Buchnevich. If you combine the KZB trio, they have eight goals with seven assists for 15 points in 13 games with a minus-13 rating. That’s not even close to what they were last year. So, David Quinn Took Buchnevich off the first line and demoted him to line three (really four) in the third period of last game. That’s how annoyed he was.

To be honest, Kreider deserves to be off the line too. He’s not doing anything. The lack of scoring is one thing. He’s always been streaky. But the lack of physicality from a player who must be engaged is the biggest disappointment. He needs to get back to finishing checks and making life tougher on opposing goalies. When the power forward plays with edge, he can be very effective. He also is a superb skater. It’s just not clicking.

Zibanejad is the engine who makes it go. Whether it’s from having COVID before the season and basically no training camp, we haven’t seen the same electric player who lit up the Caps for five goals last year. They’re not going in. Either he’s misfiring as he did last Friday or the netminders are getting over to make the saves. There’s also been some bad puck luck with the top center drawing iron. At some point, it has to go in for him. He’s too talented a player for this to continue. Once he gets going, it’ll have a positive effect on Kreider and whoever plays with them.

Ryan Strome remains stuck on six points (4-2-6). Despite playing better after the slow start, the second center needs to produce more. Sure. He’s been moved around on the power play. But he’s a capable player at even strength. So what if there’s no Panarin. It’s not like they had the same form as last year. If it is Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko again, there’s enough skill for the second line to get on the score sheet. In fact, I’m calling a breakout game for Kakko, who has been better than his 2-1-3 line suggests. He’s been doing a lot right and putting himself in position to score. I say he gets one. I also think Lafreniere is close as well. He works diligently and is noticeable.

Quinn seems to like Colin Blackwell. There’s a good chance he starts the game with Zibanejad and Kreider. Not the biggest in stature, Blackwell makes up for it in work ethic with his grit and determination strong suits. He wins most board battles and does a good job protecting the puck. The Rangers have been looking for a Jesper Fast replacement. It’s either Blackwell or complementary wing Phil Di Giuseppe. Both work hard at five-on-five.

The line of Kevin Rooney, Julien Gauthier and Brendan Lemieux have been so effective lately that they’ve easily been the team’s best. All have factored in on goals with Gauthier getting his first NHL goal against Boston. Lemieux has played some of his best hockey, picking up two assists in a game. Rooney has been a nice fit. He is a good penalty killer as advertised, scoring a shorthanded goal. He also is solid on the forecheck. That has resulted in some points. They are the best checking line the team has had in a while.

Figure Buchnevich to start with Brett Howden and Di Giuseppe. It’s been tough sledding for that line with Howden unable to replace Filip Chytil. Chytil is still not skating. They badly miss him. What happens to Howden when Chytil gets healthy? I think Gauthier should have a spot on the fourth line with Rooney and Lemieux. Is Howden a bust? He kills penalties okay and is good on face-offs. But where is the offense? It’s hard to believe this is the same guy who started so well his rookie year. He’s still only 22.

The defense will have a different look without Miller. That could mean Jacob Trouba back with Brendan Smith, who is set to return after missing time. The best defenseman is Adam Fox, who gets around 26 minutes a night. He does everything for this team. Between playing well at even strength against quality competition along with warrior Ryan Lindgren, Fox runs the point on the power play and kills penalties. There’s nothing he can’t do. For all the ink Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes receive, it’s the more well rounded Fox who’s a better overall player. He has a high IQ. The good news is he’s still on his entry level contract through next year. Lindgren is up this summer.

As for Trouba, he plays hard by finishing checks and blocking shots. But he takes undisciplined penalties, sometimes gets caught out of position and isn’t contributing enough offensively. I’m not suggesting he’ll ever reach 50 points again. That was on a high scoring skilled offensive team in Winnipeg. But Trouba should be able to hit the net more frequently with his heavy shot. He should be good for six or seven goals and around 25 assists. For the money they pay him, he’s been a disappointment. The effort is there. The execution isn’t. Maybe he should make a phone call to Bret “Hitman” Hart.

I would guess Anthony Bitetto and Libor Hajek remain as the third pair. Why not? They haven’t been bad. No glaring mistakes and Hajek is showing more confidence with the puck in his end.

Your guess is as good as mine as to what Devils team shows up later. It’s their first game in 17 days. If the Rangers don’t come out fast for this one, there’s no point in discussing it. They need to score goals and get a win. End of discussion.

Posted in Battle Of Hudson, Devils, Game Preview, NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

New York Post’s Larry Brooks gets DeAngelo to break silence, puts end to irresponsible blog’s unsubstantiated rumors

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Derek

I’ll be 100 percent honest here. For as long as I’ve rooted for this team, Larry Brooks has been around for all of it. A veteran reporter of the New York Post, he’s been there since the beginning.

The Hockey Hall of Fame hockey writer certainly has earned the reputation of being at times controversial to get a story. However, he also has guts. He’s sometimes willing to go the extra mile to get the information that readers want. I’ve long had a love/hate relationship with Brooks, who at times can push the envelope. That’s how it is with most sportswriters.

Things sure have changed since I got into the Rangers as a teenager. The decade of the 90’s was way different than today’s ultra sensitive generation. It was a lot more relaxed. The focus was almost exclusively on whatever team the reporter covered. Unless it was a huge story off the field, court or ice like Yankees owner George Steinbrenner getting suspended for hiring Howie Spira to spy on Dave Winfield, the play of the team was the story.

That’s how it was when Brooks shifted from covering the Devils to the Rangers three decades ago. He was around for the classic Eastern Conference Final in ’94. Even if it was covering it from the other side, his game stories and columns were first rate. So too was his infamous Slap Shots Sunday column that somehow has stood the test of time. Only back then, it was more fun to read. Could the Rangers really have had Brendan Shanahan for Alexei Kovalev? As big a Kovalev fan as I was, it sure would’ve been a better trade than the one Neil Smith made. No way could it have been straight up.

Having been around the sport as long as he has, Brooks decided to do some homework and get Tony DeAngelo to break his silence. Since being dismissed by the Rangers organization for the altercation with goalie Alex Georgiev after an overtime loss to the Pens in Pittsburgh two weeks ago, the 25-year old offensive defenseman has kept quiet about what happened. He’s kept a low profile on social media except for positive stories on Instagram involving nothing controversial. Probably wise on his part.

My question was would any Rangers beat writer actually touch base with DeAngelo. I had to figure not any of the recent new beats. That also sadly applies to a well respected veteran who just cowers in fear due to their relationship with the organization. Sad if you ask me. What ever happened to professionalism and intestinal fortitude? This is why I dislike how sports are covered currently. If there’s a good story out there that’s not being told, it should be pursued.

Unfortunately, there was a dishonest fan blog that went too far by having a fraudulent blogger make up rumors about the polarizing DeAngelo. That crossed the line. They intentionally tried to smear the reputation of the already questionable DeAngelo by making it racial. I recall when K’Andre Miller scored his first NHL goal. DeAngelo went and got the puck. He didn’t do what he was falsely accused of. Something even ESPN reporter Greg Wyshynski investigated. He didn’t make it political. Instead, he got the truth through Miller’s agent. It was good work.

At that moment a week ago, that should’ve dispelled the notion of said player being unfairly labeled something they’re not by bitter nobodys who have nothing better to do with their time. I’ve stated this before and I’ll repeat it. Those aren’t fans. Nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors. Nobody knows what’s happening with DeAngelo off the ice in private. I have some knowledge of what his situation was, but who knows what it is now. Hopefully, it’s better.

When the Rangers took a chance and acquired DeAngelo from the Coyotes as part of the Derek Stepan salary dump that involved former goalie Annti Raanta which also netted now former Ranger Lias Andersson with the number seven pick, the organization was aware of his reputation. One that dated back to his days playing in the OHL. They knew the player had talent. But it came at a price.

At first, it didn’t go well for DeAngelo, who often found himself a healthy scratch under former coach Alain Vigneault. In the first year under David Quinn, it was similar. Particularly in the first half of ’18-19. The new coach pointedly said that his benching wasn’t hockey related. It was due to his immaturity. Something that still plagues him following a career year where he paced all Blueshirts’ defensemen in scoring with 53 points. He did it by accepting their qualifying offer to earn a bridge deal worth $4.8 million on average cap hit. The contract expires next year unless he’s bought out this off-season. Something they can’t afford to do given their salary cap situation.

With the team up and down since DeAngelo went home to South Jersey where he’s been skating with 18-year olds at a local rink, Brooks went and contacted the 25-year old defenseman to get his side of the story. But also to finally put an end to the unsubstantiated rumors that have embarrassed Rangerstown. It’s absolutely appalling how low they’ll go. Not even a retraction from the person in charge. They’re responsible for this garbage. The sad aspect is they once ran a respectable blog until they added a dishonest person with no integrity.

The worst part was seeing Team President John Davidson have to address these people during a press conference. He called it embarrassing. The best part is the well respected JD wouldn’t name the guilty party. Neither would GM Jeff Gorton. They didn’t get the satisfaction. Instead, we heard even well respected reporters like Elliotte Friedman confirming that it was all made up. That it reached Canada tells us the ridiculous nature of things.

That’s what you now have in a world full of PC nonsense. You have to be careful what you believe. There are toxic people out there who make up rumors to be heard. They don’t do it for any other reason than to draw attention to themselves. It feeds into the negativity that now exists on Twitter. We must distinguish fact from fiction. I only trust reliable sources like TSN or Sportsnet or in this case, the veteran Post writer Brooks, who dug deep to write a good story.

I may not always agree with him, but he deserves a lot of credit for speaking to DeAngelo and former D partner and high character teammate Marc Staal. Staal dismissed the silly notion about his ex-teammate and wished him well. If you don’t think Staal is missed in that locker room, then you haven’t been paying attention. It looks like Quinn was justified in not naming a captain. Neither Chris Kreider or Mika Zibanejad are ready to carry the mantle. Their inconsistent play is proof. They’re easily the biggest disappointments in the Rangers’ first 13 games.

What Brooks discovered from interviewing DeAngelo is that he’s not interested in defending himself. He knows he screwed up a good thing. The truth is he would love an opportunity to prove himself to another NHL team. He emphasized on and off the ice. When a controversial player acknowledges that his mouth has got him in trouble, it’s a big admission. What is he doing to improve that crucial issue? Here’s part of what he told Brooks in an exclusive story that appears in Sunday’s NY Post.

“Hockey-wise, there are mistakes that I have made. I’ve gotten hot-headed at times. I’m the first one to admit that and I take responsibility for it. I’ve tried to learn and get better and better at it, but there are still times where things have happened and emotionally I’ve gone over the line a little bit, and I accept responsibility for that. The thing with Alex, exactly like he said, emotions got away.

“I wish things had happened differently, but like I said before, I’m not in any way playing the victim card.”

In regards to being suspended as an 18-year old for harassing a Sarnia Sting teammate in the OHL, he was remorseful. It also wasn’t racial as had been rumored by people who just can’t help themselves.

“I accepted responsibility for it then, I still accept responsibility for it now. I learned from it. I make a mistake with something I said,” DeAngelo said. “I explained myself many times to any NHL team I met with [leading up to the 2015 entry draft], the people in the OHL I met with back then, I apologized to my teammate who I was still friends with following the incident.

“It was mistake. There was no excuse for it. I wish it had never happened. But it will never happen again.”

Miller’s agent also confirmed that the puck story was totally fabricated. Of course it was. He gave the puck to team personnel so it could be presented to Miller. The things some people believe.

“K’Andre Miller was never part of any part of the Tony DeAngelo story at all,” Ian Pulver, Miller’s agent, told The Post on Friday. “There were no issues between them of any kind. There is no reason he should be part of this.

“As far as the first-goal puck being an issue, K’Andre never even knew it to be an issue. It was always his understanding that the puck was with the training staff. It’s not right that he has become part of this story.”

Staal also didn’t have anything negative to say about his former teammate who initially drew interest from the Red Wings. If Steve Yzerman was interested in reacquiring a player he dealt from Tampa to Arizona, that should be satisfactory enough to show that real hockey executives don’t judge players on made up rumors. Rather talent. There are questions about his character.

“There has never been any indication at all that Tony has racist tendencies,” No. 18 told The Post. “I hear these things about him, and it’s as if they’re talking about a different person. The guys here in Detroit, they’re all super-curious about him.

“I feel bad for him, to be honest. Whether it’s the junior stuff that warps into this, I don’t know. He’s a lightning rod, and yeah, he yells at coaches and referees and he has these moments where he goes overboard, but he’s a good teammate.

“Racist? I’m telling you, some of this stuff is just insane.”

DeAngelo admitted to Brooks that the stuff he said about COVID was wrong. As sometimes is the case online, things can get misconstrued. He didn’t word it right.

“The post about COVID, it was taken out of context,” DeAngelo said. “I shouldn’t have tweeted it, obviously, but I was commenting more about how the media was covering it following the election, the parades after the election that President Biden won, there were no more worries about masks and social distancing in the street compared to the way the Trump rallies were portrayed.

“That was my point, not that the virus wasn’t real. There have been family members and friends that have had it. I respect the seriousness nature of it, I have followed all the health and safety protocols. I didn’t explain it well on that tweet, but it’s important for me to do that now. I’m not a COVID-denier.”

As we are well aware, DeAngelo was a Trump supporter. He made that very clear on social media. Maybe too much so with him being a professional athlete. Personally, I don’t care who these players support or what they think. There’s way too much emphasis on it. As long as you behave well and represent the logo on the front, that’s what I care about. We root for each player to do well. When they don’t or mess up as he did, we’re disappointed.

I am not a phony like these political ingrates who root for the demise of people. It’s a complete disgrace to the city. I could critique many things I don’t like about how NYC is run. But this isn’t the time or place for that. What I can do is hope for the best for humanity sake. Things must improve soon. At the end of the day, we all should appreciate what we have. That’s what the past year has taught me.

Whatever happens with Tony DeAngelo, I hope he gets his life in order. He’s a young guy who has to understand you only get so many chances at the NHL. The Rangers miss him. But he’s not coming back. I’m glad he understands why. Good luck to him in the future.

Stick taps to Brooks.

Posted in Column, NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Inept offense problematic for Blueshirts in a throwback rivalry fight filled game, Lose 1-0 to tough Bruins

Posted on February 13, 2021 by Derek

Pavel Buchnevich fights Jeremy Lauzon during a heated second period. Getty Images

This is the closest the Rangers came to scoring against Jaro Halak in another tough loss. Kaapo Kakko had the best chance when he was in on a two-on-one break. Trailing by a goal, the second-year forward made a strong move on Halak. He seemed to have him beat until Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo got his stick down to block the Kakko forehand deke which prevented him from tying the score. This is a different save below in the first period on Kakko.

Instead, the Blueshirts suffered another tough one-goal defeat. They were shutout by Halak (21 saves) and the Bruins 1-0 at The Garden. It was the third straight loss. The frustrating part is they competed well in the two-game series. All they have to show for it is one point from a 3-2 overtime loss on Wednesday. Despite that, they fought tooth and nail literally. It was a throwback game dating back to what the Original Six rivalry between Boston and New York once was. These teams tried to beat up each other.

There are two storylines coming out of this game. Number one. The Rangers are basically powerless. They failed horribly on six power plays including one at the end. That one was so bad, mad and sad that they literally couldn’t get the puck from the Bruins’ four penalty killers behind the Boston net. It went on for nearly 30 seconds to effectively kill the game. They didn’t get a single shot on Halak following Charlie McAvoy’s delay of game penalty that came with 62 seconds left. He was involved a lot physically.

Skating without Artemi Panarin for the first time this season, the Rangers started with Alexis Lafreniere on the second line with Ryan Strome and Kakko. The KZB Line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich stayed together for two periods until coach David Quinn broke them up. More on that later. Sparkplug Colin Blackwell returned to the lineup and worked with Brett Howden and Phil Di Giuseppe. The cohesive fourth line of Brendan Lemieux, Kevin Rooney and emerging right wing Julien Gauthier stayed intact. It wasn’t the bottom six that needed changing. They did their part with that “fourth line” again generating chances off the cycle. It’s pretty obvious that Quinn finally has four lines he can roll.

Elliotte Friedman via Twitter courtesy Getty Images

The second storyline was how heated the game got. You had plenty of battles throughout. The theatrics actually started at the end of warm-ups when The Rat, Brad Marchand wouldn’t leave the ice before Zibanejad. As Lemieux fired shots down ice at the Boston goal, it eventually turned into mind games between the entertaining Marchand and Zibanejad, who taped up his stick and gave a wave and nod towards him to exit. He finally did. But you got the sense the star left wing, who doubles as a pest enjoyed himself. It sure got covered by television networks.

There had been a lot of rough stuff between the old rivals during play and after whistles. It really picked up in a chaotic second period. With the game scoreless thanks to Halak robbing both Lafreniere and Strome on mid-air baseball bat tries, Jacob Trouba went for a huge hit on a vulnerable Jakub Zboril in the Bruins zone. He was against the boards and Trouba went high and caught him with a dirty hit that incensed the Boston bench. He was lucky not to get tossed. McAvoy immediately challenged him and Trouba was ready to go. He caught McAvoy with a right before the top Bruins defenseman could get anything off, taking him down. This resulted in two each for roughing with Trouba getting an extra two for his recklessness on Zboril. He was okay.

Following another successful penalty kill by the much improved Rangers’ PK unit, Jeremy Lauzon started a counter with David Krejci that resulted in Nick Ritchie scoring the game’s only goal at 9:27. On the play, a strong skating Ritchie was able to wheel around a sliding out of position K’Andre Miller and take the puck to the net. He got off one shot that Igor Shestyorkin stopped, but was able to sneak a rebound from behind the net off a frustrated Rangers goalie for a perfect bank shot. It definitely was one he admitted later that he should’ve had. In a tightly contested game like the rematch, those are usually the kind of fluky goals that decide the outcome. It went Boston’s way.

The real fun was just beginning. With his team clearly being outplayed in a flat second period due to an early power play outage and consecutive Boston power plays that swung the momentum, Lemieux decided to go with Bruins tough guy Trent Frederic. It didn’t last too long. What a fight it was. They got plenty of shots in a minutes time with even NESN broadcaster Jack Edwards acknowledging that Lemieux got the better of it. However, when they broke it up, an animated Frederic wanted Round Two, yelling at Lemieux, who purposely ignored him. He then wished him a Happy Valentine’s Day in the penalty box. Well, something to that effect. 😀

While the Bruins piled up the shots (18) on Shestyorkin, who had a great night aside from the one goal he let in, the intensity was through the roof. With Marchand up to his old shenanigans using his stick on Howden, he didn’t particularly like that. Eventually, he came together with Marchand and even challenged Connor Clifton. It was also during the stick swinging jousting that Sean Kuraly boarded Libor Hajek. Marchand and Howden got two each to crowd the penalty box area.

Another Rangers power play went by the wayside. After starting the game featuring Lafreniere on the first unit, Quinn or perhaps assistant coach David Oliver decided to replace Lafreniere with Strome. This isn’t a knock on Strome, who had good success there last year. But what the heck was the point of trying Lafreniere, who didn’t look miscast on their first power play? At least they got shots and chances on Halak, who could’ve pulled up a lounge chair on the next two powerless plays. Not one shot made it to the net. It was useless.

I also have seen enough of Buchnevich pass up shots while being wasted on the top unit. He has a good shot, but hardly uses it on the man-advantage. Instead, he defers to Zibanejad or Panarin. On one sequence, he was open in the right dot. Instead of shooting, he skated into nowhere and the Bruins cleared the puck down ice. Brutal. I have no problem with how Buchnevich competes. He is much different now from the perimeter player who avoided contact. That was proven later.

It was when he took a shove from behind by Lauzon into the back boards that Buchnevich finally snapped. Two nights after yapping at Marchand, he took on the very tough Lauzon in a lopsided scrap behind the Rangers net. To his credit, he hung in there and even got a couple of shots in there. But Lauzon easily won what was an interesting battle. Especially considering that it was Buchnevich’s first NHL fight. He showed a lot of character standing up for himself.

Speaking of which, where the heck was Kreider while this was going on? He was all but invisible until he laid a good hit on McAvoy late to force him into a minor penalty. Kreider has really been disappointing so far. Sure. He has four goals with a pair on the power play. However, he hasn’t done enough screening in front or battled opponents the way we’re accustomed to seeing. This isn’t the first time number 20 didn’t have the back of a teammate. I don’t understand it. I know they probably want him on the ice. However, there’s a time to step in. Friday night was one of those games. He needs to be more physically involved than he’s been. How does he not have one assist? Save the BS excuse that Zibanejad isn’t finishing. I don’t want to hear it.

It took a good shift by the third line with a couple of minutes left for the Rangers to threaten Halak. In particular, Gauthier had another encouraging game by driving hard to the tin on one chance and drawing a penalty on another. He is getting better. Too bad he only received a team low 8:17. That included a 45-second power play shift on the second unit in place of Lemieux, who was serving his fighting major. I know the special teams dictated it, but Gauthier deserves more ice time. So do Rooney and Lemieux with both making things happen at even strength while the higher paid players establish little.

At least Quinn told reporter Vince Mercogliano that he really liked the games from Lafreniere (2 SOG in 16:56 including 5:19 PP) and Kakko (3 SOG in 18:28 including 4:27 PP). Both were skating well and got good scoring chances on Halak, who was his usual stingy self against his favorite opponent. Halak now has won 23 games versus the Rangers. Nearly twice the amount against any other opponent. Read it and weep. I updated the statistics.

At least half the victories must’ve come as an Islander. He owned our team including Henrik Lundqvist head to head. It’s uncanny. Halak started his NHL career with Montreal carrying them to a Conference Final. He then went to St. Louis and briefly Washington before winding up in Long Island. Now, he’s a steady backup behind starter Tuukka Rask to give the B’s one of the best goalie tandems in the league. He has yet to lose in regulation this year. He stopped all 21 shots to improve to 4-0-1 with a 1.38 GAA and .938 save percentage. There isn’t much to add.

It was during the third when Buchnevich returned to action that he was taken off the first line. Quinn used Kakko instead with the 2019 number two pick playing very well. He made another strong defensive play to deny a Boston opportunity and start a transition. His game is so much better than ’19-20 despite his 2-1-3 scoring line. He really felt good about the game he, Lafreniere and Strome had.

There’s a lot to like about what he said in the postgame. There’s a confidence to it. His English has improved. You can see him evolving into a smart player who is understanding what the NHL game is about. He knows it isn’t easy to score goals at this level. But he’s working for his chances. Ditto for Lafreniere, who Quinn was pleased with. What would it take to see both Lafreniere and Kakko on the top power play over Buchnevich and Strome, who I feel is interchangeable on the second unit?

Would Quinn consider trying the kids with Zibanejad, who continues to fire blanks at five-on-five? It doesn’t have to be Kreider and Buchnevich automatically with Zibanejad, who’s working hard but not getting the results. Kreider is supposed to be a leader. I like a lot of what he has to say during press conferences. But he has to back it up. Right now, I’d demote him to the second or third line. That’s how irked I am. He’s better than what he’s showing. He’d be the first to admit it.

If Panarin can’t go on Tuesday against the Devils (yes, really), why not try Kreider and Buchnevich with Strome? Near the conclusion, Quinn bumped up Blackwell to the revised second line with Lafreniere and Strome while Buchnevich saw time with Howden and Di Giuseppe. He told Larry Brooks it was for “playing reasons.” Interesting stuff. I feel Buchnevich needs to be more of a shooting threat. Don’t be predictable.

As far as the defense goes, Adam Fox received over 27 minutes. He’s a workhorse who gets better all the time. Partner Ryan Lindgren took a tough Lauzon hit against the dashboard, cutting his right eye. It was clean. Lauzon definitely was concerned. But Lindgren was able to get back to the bench where the training staff patched him up. He didn’t go to the locker room for stitches. He’s a gamer. It’s hockey. He still topped 20 minutes. Miller replaced him for a couple of shifts to turn in over 22.

Neither Hajek or Anthony Bitetto did anything to hurt themselves. They have both been solid thus far. Though Martin opted to use Hajek more due to his skating. He’s looking much better. That’s a good sign. As for Trouba, he played a mean game finishing with a game high seven hits and six penalty minutes in 18:19. He still has a tendency to take undisciplined penalties when they need him on the ice. That must stop. It would be nice to see Trouba hit the net. Who will score again? Him or Zibanejad, who remains stuck on one goal in 13 games. I’m not joking.

At 4-6-3 with 11 points, the Blueshirts don’t have the look of a playoff team. It’s not due to the defense or penalty killing anymore. It’s not due to the support lines. They have that. They’re harder to play against and are willing to stick up for each other. It’s the offense. Aside from Panarin, nobody is getting it done. Not Kreider. Not Zibanejad. Not even Strome despite him being noticeable. These guys must hit the score sheet. Buchnevich needs to as well. He’s good enough to produce more in a contract year.

I didn’t want to go here. But the offense misses Tony DeAngelo. He sure was an effective offensive player at five-on-five and moved the puck well on the power play. Only Fox does that now. It’s hard to replace the offense he provided along with the transition. However, I don’t feel bad for him. He’s off the team because he was selfish. The longer it goes, the more I wonder if DeAngelo will find a new home in the NHL. Everyone knows the story. That’s why he only lasted a year in Arizona. The KHL could be his next stop.

With Kreider finally showing a pulse with 1:02 left in regulation by decking McAvoy, you better believe the Bruins will seek retribution in the next two games at the end of the month. They are back at home for Boston Feb. 26 and 28. Those should be circled on the calendar. There’s some unfinished business between Lemieux and Frederic. Plus Trouba and McAvoy. You know that next two-game series will be entertaining.

As far as where this team is now, I like a lot of things they’re doing. They held Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak off the scoreboard with one great save from Shestyorkin on Bergeron. But if you can’t score, you can’t win. Until the offense picks it up, they’re going to struggle. FYI the Flyers are up to seven players on the COVID Protocol list. They’re scheduled to host the Blueshirts next Thursday. Will it happen? How long before the league considers moving these games to a bubble? Only time shall tell.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd 🌟 Igor Shestyorkin, NYR (29 saves in hard luck loss, 17/18 saves in 2nd)

2nd 🌟 Jaro Halak, Bruins (21 save shutout, 4th career and 23rd win vs NYR)

1st 🌟 Nick Ritchie, Bruins (game-winner at 9:27 of 2nd for 5th goal, 6 SOG, +1 in 17:10)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Without Panarin, now is the time to find out about Lafreniere

Posted on February 12, 2021 by Derek

When the Rangers skate against the Bruins tonight at MSG for the second time in three days, they’ll be without star forward Artemi Panarin. The left wing suffered a lower-body injury when he got tangled up with Chris Wagner in the second period. It’s uncertain how long the team’s leading scorer will be out.

Being that they won’t play Sunday versus the Flyers due to COVID-19 hitting another American team, the Blueshirts don’t play again until next Tuesday when the Devils should finally be cleared to play games following a two week hiatus. The way the schedule is set up, it’s hard to say how many games Panarin will miss. Especially if Rangers at Flyers comes off next Thursday. The rest of the month has them facing the upper echelon of the revamped Patrick Division. That includes two against the Flyers, two versus the Capitals and two more against the Bruins at the end of February.

Right now, they’re about to find out where they are in this shortened season. At 4-5-3, the Rangers have played every game so far. They only have three regulation wins. The lone overtime victory coming in Buffalo when top pick Alexis Lafreniere scored his first NHL goal on Jan. 28. It’s the only point so far for the 19-year old rookie.

It isn’t so much that Lafreniere has struggled. This isn’t the same case as Kaapo Kakko last year. The first pick is a superb skater who gets his nose dirty. He puts himself in position to score goals. He could have a few more which would calm down Rangerstown. A place where our fans are always thinking the worst. They finally hit the lottery and Lafreniere has one point in a dozen games. His career is just beginning. Some people need to relax.

With David Quinn playing roulette with the lines, that hasn’t helped Lafreniere. He’s been moved around quite a bit in the top nine. He even got a look with snake bit Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, who has cooled off considerably since his good start. His turnover proving costly on Brad Marchand’s overtime winner on Wednesday. Lafreniere even shifted to the right wing to play with Panarin and Ryan Strome. It probably didn’t make sense. His natural position is left wing and he’s in Year One.

More recently, he’s been playing on the third line with Phil Di Giuseppe and Brett Howden. Let’s just say it’s not working out. They certainly work hard enough. It’s actually been the more consistent play from the bottom six forwards that have outplayed the top six. That won’t work. But it’s nice to see an actual fourth line contributing on the score sheet. The addition of Kevin Rooney has added something this team didn’t have. Brendan Lemieux has been good lately and Julien Gauthier scored his first NHL goal.

However, it has to be the play of the top two lines that improves. As good as Zibanejad looked the other day, he didn’t score. The encouraging part is he admitted that he felt more like himself. With him stuck on three points and Kreider at four goals, that isn’t enough production. Despite improvement, Buchnevich remains at 3-5-8. Strome has played better since his slow start. However, even his production is down.

Maybe Lafreniere can help out Strome and the improved Kakko, who despite doing a lot right has two goals and an assist. This is an opportunity for Laffy13 to show what he’s got. He has shown flashes of what made him the top pick in last Fall’s Draft.

If Panarin does miss more time, Lafreniere will get more shifts. That includes the dreadful power play which has been all too predictable. If Zibanejad isn’t finishing from the left circle, it’s either Adam Fox shooting with Kreider in front or nothing. Buchnevich rarely shoots the puck from the right dot. Maybe having Lafreniere in Panarin’s spot on the number one power play unit could provide a spark. They won’t throw their eggs all in one basket.

I still believe Kakko should replace Buchnevich because he has more of a shoot first mentality. Something that’s needed to keep opponents honest from only guarding the off side. It would provide better balance. However, perhaps Buchnevich won’t defer as much with Lafreniere on the left side. We’ll see. It can’t be any worse than it’s looked.

For now, the second unit consists of Strome, Lemieux, Kakko with Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller on the points. How much time they get remains to be seen. But it’s probably good to stick Miller on the left point. He possesses enough skill to contribute, boasting an accurate shot and good instincts.

Ideally, it would be great if Lafreniere records his first assist. He’s a playmaker who makes teammates better. Maybe getting the chance to play with more talent will help. For the long-term, this is an important stretch for the future of the team. It’s better to see Lafreniere and Kakko involved in the offense. They’re the keys.

Posted in Column, NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As NY state announces fan return to buildings, Devils season still in limbo

Posted on February 11, 2021 by hasan4978

It’s been exactly eleven months to the day since sports stopped and fans were last allowed in buildings in the tri-state area but after pauses, bubbles and a myriad of COVID cases, NY governor Andrew Cuomo announced that local arenas can again allow fans in less than two weeks (the 23rd, to be exact), starting out with 10% capacity. If you’re an Islanders or Rangers fan you’d be excited for the chance to see your team live again. Maybe doubly so for baseball fans, who haven’t gotten to see their respective teams since early fall in 2019, it’s been about eighteen months since any fan has passed through the turnstiles at either Yankee Stadium or Citi Field.

Of course there’s the flip side to that anticipation and excitement, and I don’t just mean the precautions that have been rumored – such as wearing masks during the entire game or having to provide proof of a negative test within 72 hours of each time you enter the building. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly not ideal conditions to watch a live game but until a majority of the population gets vaccinated and we get out in front of the curve this is an inevitable part of the deal for sports in 2020-21. Maybe all things being equal I’d do it for one or two games just for the sake of going, if I had that option. There’s still so much we don’t know yet since this news is only twenty-four hours old but I would bet a large number of the seats every team will sell will be to season ticket holders. As it is at the moment, there are more season ticket holders for even the worst teams than there will be tickets available.

Which brings me to the real negative and what will likely keep me from opting in for the rest of this season – capitalism. I get owners have been losing money for eleven months playing games in empty arenas and bubbles without fans, and in the back of my mind I figured all along that they may well take advantage of the situation early on with limited fans in buildings and just overcharge the crap out of the few tickets there are, capitalizing on scarcity and fans’ hunger for normalcy. In the front of my mind, it didn’t really occur to me to check prices for teams who have already had fans in the building until the last couple of days. I was hoping against hope owners might do the right thing (for once) and just charge normal-ish prices for fans who are gonna be inconvenienced by all the protocols and also just plain wary of going into closed buildings with strangers for three hours at the moment.

Hearing the rumored prices for Brooklyn Net fans on WFAN earlier from the afternoon hosts (one of whom is a Nets season ticket holder) pretty much shattered the illusion of anything close to normal when it comes to ticket prices in general though. Apparently the cheapest get-in price is $600…not for the rest of the season but per game. I get Brooklyn has appeal with the big three fueling a title run but my goodness, that’s taking scalping to the nth degree. Especially considering the NBA regular season is pretty irrelevant for title contenders as it is. With about twenty more home games in the NBA that would drive the price to a cool $12 grand per ticket, and that’s before dropping a dime on the playoffs which will also be overcharged compared to normal since we won’t have full arenas by then.

Obviously the NHL teams won’t be quite that high, even at the Garden since hockey isn’t basketball – but if you figure tickets are approximately five or six times normal price (at least) for the Nets in the cheap seats, then it’s pretty depressing to figure out your own equivalent. For my $35-40 seats that could be upwards of $150-200 per game. I was already wary about going back this year until being vaccinated but those kind of prices would turn it into a flat no, as much as I’d like to get back to the Rock recreation is still recreation. And it still won’t have the ambiance of a normal crowd or the person-to-person interaction that makes going to games better than watching it on TV. For me, I’d rather watch on HDTV than pay playoff plus prices for regular season games without a real crowd where you can’t really interact with the people who are there.

I get that for every two people like me they’ll still manage to find enough people willing to jump through all the hoops and pay the exorbitant prices. I hope they don’t – but the law of supply and demand definitely favors teams right now as an offshoot of the slow rampup to normalcy, particularly the bigger the fanbase. Still, with ratings going down across the board and people getting out of the habit of going to games you would think owners would not be penny wise and pound foolish and make it as easy as possible for patrons to attend games rather than just take advantage of the super diehards you have while everyone else will go another six months or so without attending a game and have that much more time to grow out of the habit.

Of course all of this is moot as a Devils fan until and if they actually get back on the ice, it’s been eleven days since their last ill-fated game in Buffalo and it’ll be another five days before their next scheduled game assuming that isn’t postponed as well. As of yesterday, seventeen Devils still remain in COVID protocol with only the guys who were first put on the list – Mackenzie Blackwood and Travis Zajac – having come off. If we have any other postponed games we’ll pass baseball’s Cardinals for a dubious record – the longest COVID-related absence to date. As a result of the Devils and several other teams having extended COVID absences, the NHL announced a series of modified protocols including rapid tests every day. Why that wasn’t instituted till now is mind-boggling, but as usual the answer is probably related to money.

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1359967923763351561?s=20

At least the NHL seemingly resolved us of wrongdoing by stating we have, and will continue to follow protocols. Which suggests this is a league issue, as well as a society at large issue. I’m not getting into the viability of opening up stuff when the majority of people still haven’t gotten vaccinated to this point. I get the NHL has challenges other sports don’t have including cramped benches, indoor arenas and more person to person contact but that’s all the more reason why the NHL’s protocols needed to be souped up as much as possible before things have gone to crap for nearly a third of the league – including a number of teams in the Metrowhatever division we’re in now.

I haven’t paid one bit of attention to the NHL in the last ten days, it feels a bit like the summer again where other teams were playing and we’re back in limbo. I know more about what teams have been in and out of COVID protocol than I do about the actual results on ice these days. I do suspect that our continued COVID pause is a reason why we haven’t heard officially about NJ allowing fans into buildings the way we have NY. What kind of horrible optics would that be when you announce ‘building is open for business!’ while the team’s still in quarantine?

I know I probably won’t be back at the Rock until October in all likelihood, but at this point I’d just rather have some games to watch again. Especially during the winter with snow upon snow falling, and another two months before baseball season.

Posted in Devils | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Marchand dooms Rangers in overtime, good effort wasted, Panarin hurt

Posted on February 11, 2021 by Derek

AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy New York Rangers

Brad Marchand made the Rangers pay by scoring 36 seconds into overtime to give the Bruins a 3-2 win at MSG. His breakaway goal past birthday boy Alex Georgiev decided a well played game between old Original Six rivals. They’ll meet again on Friday.

For the Rangers, it was a second consecutive heart wrenching loss. Another winnable game against a tough opponent that didn’t go their way. Instead, they fell to 4-5-3 on the season. After going 3-0-1 over four games, they’ve scored twice in the last two defeats.

Offense continues to be an issue with both the power play and a snake bit Mika Zibanejad struggling. Zibanejad played well throughout generating quality scoring chances along with four shots on Tuukka Rask. But they continue not to go in for him. Twice, Rask robbed him. Once, on a great Chris Kreider pass where he fired a shot that a sliding Rask got across and gloved. Then, on a shorthanded breakaway when the Bruins netminder stood tall on a good shot.

Complicating matters, leading scorer Artemi Panarin got hurt late in the second period. It was a strange play during a shift that saw his leg get tangled. Clearly in pain, he limped back to the bench. He only saw one shift in the third while on the power play. It looks like a lower-body injury for the Bread Man. More will be revealed before Friday’s rematch.

Here’s the issue. Without Panarin, who paces them in scoring with 15 points, it hurts the top six. He and Ryan Strome seemed to be finding chemistry with improving forward Kaapo Kakko. Now, we don’t know what his status is for the next game. With yet another cancellation due to the Flyers having COVID issues this Sunday, the Rangers can use two points against the first place Bruins.

One-goal losses are mounting. They fell to 1-3-3 in such games. The positive is they’ve earned points in three losses. The bad news is they aren’t maximizing these opportunities. The only win came in Buffalo when rookie Alexis Lafreniere scored his only NHL point on an overtime winner. The top pick was noticeable during some shifts including one in which he replaced Panarin on the second line. But he remains stuck on one goal in 12 contests. He received over 12 minutes, but failed to register a shot.

David Quinn alternated between Phil Di Giuseppe and Lafreniere during the third period. Normally, Laffy13 plays on the third line with Brett Howden and PDG. In fact, he only had 7:28 of ice time through two periods with Di Giuseppe having even less. But they each wound up with more shifts due to the loss of Panarin at even strength. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if he can’t go on Friday.

The hockey in this one was entertaining and hard-working. There was a lot of skating with few stoppages during the first period. The defense from both teams was particularly strong with blocked shots a theme throughout. Adam Fox got in the path of four. He continues to play extremely well as the Rangers’ number one defenseman. There isn’t much he can’t do thanks to superb skating, smart puck decisions and good offense when the chance presents itself. He logged a game high 26:11 while Bruins ace Charlie McAvoy turned in 25:04.

With most of the first played in the mud, you had to work for your chances. That gritty style was perfect for the ever improving fourth line. Playing together for a second straight game, the line of Kevin Rooney, Brendan Lemieux and Julien Gauthier put together a strong shift to open the scoring. On a superb Lemieux forecheck behind the Boston net, he made a nifty backhand feed for a cutting Gauthier, who beat Rask for his first career NHL goal at 13:50. It was a splendid play that put the Rangers in front.

Even though he only saw six Bruins shots, Georgiev was sharp on his 25th birthday. He wasn’t shaky like the previous three outings. The rebound control was better as was his glove. He had a good game finishing with 29 saves.

Rask was even better. As was already mentioned, he denied Zibanejad twice with the glove save on a point blank chance leaving the first line center uttering some words to the Bruins starter before headed back to the bench. The encouraging part is he had arguably his best game. The skating and overall play was there from Zibanejad, who just had to follow through with the same effort on Friday. If he does, chances are he’ll finally snap out of it.

As for Rask, he tracked the puck very well to make 33 saves for the win. That included 14 of 14 in the second and 14 of 15 in the third. There’s a reason he’s one of the game’s best goalies.

Trailing by a goal, Boston started to come in the second. Taking the play more to the Rangers, they began creating some tough chances on Georgiev. Ironically, it was while on the penalty kill that they got the game tied. With Craig Smith off for slashing, a sloppy turnover from Panarin in the Boston zone allowed Chris Wagner to steal the puck and come in and beat Georgiev for a shorthanded goal at 9:41. It was a careless play from Panarin, who mishandled the puck and did a bad job recovering.

That was the only goal in the period. Georgiev was superb stopping 18 of 19 shots to keep the game even headed to the third. It proved that he was focused and made Quinn look right for finally going back to him after a three-game absence.

In the third, it was Anders Bjork who struck first thanks to a neat pass from Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk was able to lose Jacob Trouba, who lost his footing in the corner. He then created a two-on-one down low by finding Bjork for the put away with 11 minutes exactly left.

Seventeen seconds later, Anthony Bitetto didn’t like a Wagner hit at the end of a shift. So, he took matters into his own hands and fought Wagner. He did well. Perhaps that scrap provided a lift.

Just over two minutes later, some more yeoman work from Lemieux resulted in Rooney tying it up with 8:38 remaining. On the play, Ryan Lindgren had his shot redirected by Lemieux in front. The rebound came right to a wide open Rooney for a tap in at 11:22. Rask immediately protested along with the Bruins bench due to thinking Lemieux touched the puck with a high stick. But replays confirmed that it wasn’t above crossbar height. Plus it was Rooney who finished the play to pick up his fourth point in five games. He’s played very well.

With the game tied headed down the stretch, DeBrusk thought he scored. His wrist shot surprised Georgiev, going through him and very close to the goal line. The refs immediately blew the whistle to review it. The original call was no goal. The replays on MSG were inconclusive. One replay made it seem like the puck touched only white which would’ve meant a good goal. But the other showed a bouncing puck on edge on the goal line. It was too close to reverse. So, the call on the ice stood. A lucky break for Georgiev.

As it tightened up down the stretch, neither goalie budged. The game predictably went to overtime. In it, one mistake by Pavel Buchnevich was enough for Marchand to cash in. Following a game saving play by a diving Fox, who made a lunging save on Marchand with Georgiev dead to rights, Buchnevich came two-on-one with Fox. Instead of shooting, he got duped by McAvoy who faked like he was going to take the shot.

Before you knew it, Buchnevich forced a pass in the middle right to McAvoy. He then quickly passed behind Zibanejad for Marchand, who had a clean breakaway versus Georgiev. The clutch player didn’t miss, going with a deke and short side to win the game at 36 seconds of OT.

The Rangers have to take some good things from the loss. They played the division’s top team well. But at some point, they need to win these games. Even if we don’t know what lies ahead with the Flyers becoming the latest COVID-19 victim, it’s time for this team to string some wins together. That also could mean the coach finding out what he has in Lafreniere instead of babying him.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd ⭐ Kevin Rooney, NYR (game-tying goal, 9:38 left in regulation, +2 in 11:54)

2nd ⭐ Brendan Lemieux, NYR (2 primary assists, 1 penalty drawn, +1 in 10:30)

1st ⭐ Tuukka Rask, Bruins (33 saves including leaving Zibanejad speechless)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Georgiev moves on from DeAngelo altercation the right way

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Derek

AP Photo via Getty Images

In many ways, one of the cool things to admire about Alex Georgiev is his poise. Since joining the Rangers, the birthday boy who blows out 25 candles when he makes his first start since the sad episode following a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pens, has always displayed a level of maturity.

Win or lose, his calm demeanor never changes. Not even after the altercation with former teammate Tony DeAngelo, who’s since been dismissed by the organization for detrimental behavior that cost him his job. Despite a sad incident that took place over a week ago in Pittsburgh, the 25-year old Georgiev has moved on. When asked by New York Post columnist Larry Brooks about what happened, the unflappable netminder chose to take the high road. A wise move.

“I don’t want to elaborate on what happened. I just want to keep it in the past,” he told Brooks. “Emotions happened, and that’s all I can say.

“I wish Tony the best moving forward.”

That’s the right way to handle such a difficult situation. It hasn’t been easy for Georgiev or the team. Despite made up rumors to the contrary, DeAngelo was a popular teammate. However, his polarizing behavior got him in trouble. It was more than he was worth. That despite what he contributed last year.

All of it’s in the past. For Georgiev, he gets a chance to return to net when the Blueshirts step up in competition and host the Bruins for the first of two over three days at Madison Square Garden. It’s an opportunity for him to get back on track. After shutting out the Islanders to start the season, he’s lost three straight decisions (0-2-1) by allowing 12 goals on 82 shots. That translates to an ugly 4.50 GAA and .854 save percentage.

Rangers coach David Quinn wants to get him back in. Igor Shestyorkin performed very well the past three starts. But with a busy schedule, the third-year coach emphasized how important it is to have two goalies for this strange season.

“I think [Alex] has handled [the fallout] it well,” Quinn stated. “It’s been over a week now and I think we’ve all moved past it. Our guys are in a good spot and he’s in a good spot. He’s looked good in practice.

“I think it’s important for him to get in the net for a variety of reasons. We’re going to need him, one, and two, he wants to play. I think this will help him to continue to move forward here but I think he’s moved forward anyway.”

Of course, he’s correct. Georgiev needs to get righted. It’ll not be easy facing the division-leading Bruins. Boston is 8-1-2 with 18 points in 11 games. Despite star power forward David Pastrnak missing time, they haven’t missed a beat. Led by future Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron (6-9-15) and the game’s best overall left wing Brad Marchand (7-8-15), they’re where they usually are.

Even after letting former captain Zdeno Chara go to Washington and Torrey Krug sign in St. Louis, the Bruins haven’t missed a beat. In four games since returning, Pastrnak is on fire with eight points (5-3-8). Part of the NHL’s best line, he’s the finisher who’s particularly dangerous on the power play.

Charlie McAvoy is third in team scoring with 10 points while playing mean defense. David Krejci is still there chipping in nine assists and key additions Nick Ritchie and Craig Smith have added depth scoring. Tuukka Rask is still one of the best starting goalies with Jaro Halak a good backup.

This is going to be a big challenge. Especially coming off a 2-0 shutout defeat to the Islanders. A frustrating game due to how well they played the first 50 minutes before falling apart. Offense is at a premium. If Artemi Panarin doesn’t get on the score sheet, it’s problematic. Until Mika Zibanejad snaps out of his funk, there isn’t enough scoring.

The power play has been equally frustrating. It’s too reliant on the number one unit which features Panarin, Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Adam Fox and Pavel Buchnevich. They stay on for too long and despite creating looks, aren’t finishing enough due to Zibanejad’s struggles. That leaves the second unit of Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Strome, Alexis Lafreniere, Brendan Lemieux and Jacob Trouba with little time to get anything set up.

Speaking of Lafreniere, he remains stuck on one goal in 11 games. Part of the problem is he’s been moved around from line to line. Not in the top six, he currently plays with Brett Howden and Phil Di Giuseppe (PDG). They had a good game on Monday night. For Lafreniere, it’s about continuing to create chances and bring energy to his shifts. It would be nice if the coach didn’t shorten his shifts in crunch time.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Rangers respond to the upcoming challenge. After the Bruins, it’s the Flyers. Another good team that can score goals with former Blueshirt Kevin Hayes off to an impressive start in his second year there.

We’ll see how Georgiev fares along with the team on Wednesday night.

Posted in Column, NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Varlamov shuts the door again on Rangers in a defensive battle, Islanders win playoff caliber game

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Derek

One mistake was all it took for the Rangers to lose a hard fought game to the Islanders. Unfortunately, they made a pair in the final part to get shutout 2-0 by Semyon Varlamov. He’s now posted two shutouts in two starts versus the Rangers.

It isn’t a bad loss by any stretch. The Rangers went toe to toe with the Islanders in a North/South grind it out, playoff caliber game. They worked extremely hard and stayed with the more experienced bitter nemesis, who don’t forget made the Conference Finals last year. Simply put, they didn’t get the job done. So, the mini win streak ends at two.

Truthfully, Igor Shestyorkin deserved better in this one. He played as well as he could by making tough stops throughout. The problem was he got no run support. The Blueshirts couldn’t cash in on either of their power play chances. Again, David Quinn over relying on the top unit. He throws all his eggs in one basket. It doesn’t leave the second unit enough time.

Neither team budged through 50 minutes. Although it did open up somewhat early in the third period when Varlamov denied both Artemi Panarin and the jinxed Mika Zibanejad on breakaways. The first one was a glove save on Panarin, who couldn’t believe it. The second was when he didn’t blink on Zibanejad’s fake and closed the five-hole up much to the slumping number one center’s chagrin. He can’t buy a goal.

Those two Varlamov stops were the biggest of the game. Eventually, he got some help from his fourth line. In these kind of games where there’s hardly any breathing room, it’s the grinders who usually decide it. With Cal Clutterbuck baring down on Libor Hajek, he made a big mistake by sending a backhand up the middle right to Adam Pelech. He took a low shot through traffic that Matt Martin got a piece of allowing Casey Cizikas to score in tight with under nine minutes remaining.

Just over two minutes later, they allowed Mat Barzal to start a quick transition to Clutterbuck, who outmaneuvered Adam Fox to set up Martin for a put away. He beat Anthony Bitetto to the front for the crushing goal that finished it off. The third line did a poor job on the back check which turned a nothing play into a key insurance marker for the Islanders. Noteworthy is that Bitetto was caught on with Fox, whose usual partner Ryan Lindgren wasn’t out for the shift. Lindgren played over 21 minutes.

Jacob Trouba took a late penalty to give the Isles their only power play with less than four minutes left in regulation. They didn’t have to do anything. They killed the two minutes off the clock, leaving the Rangers with 1:47 remaining. Not enough time to do much of anything given how this game was played. Right now, the playoff proven Isles are better at it than the Blueshirts. It’s a game they can learn from. They’ll have to.

With under a minute left, they called a tacky delay of game minor on Pelech, who couldn’t believe the call. The Islanders bench including coach Barry Trotz protested. It looked like the puck didn’t go straight out of play. Leave it to the MSG replay to not even bother showing a good look as to whether it was.

It didn’t matter. The Isles did what they had to do to win the game. And it was that cohesive fourth line that got it done. Coincidentally, the Rangers’ most effective lines were their third and fourth lines. They were good throughout and effective on the forecheck. Alexis Lafreniere had five hits and didn’t look intimidated. He even stripped Leo Komarov in the first to generate a scoring chance for Phil Di Giuseppe. He worked hard as did the fourth line that included Kevin Rooney, Brendan Lemieux and Julien Gauthier.

To Quinn’s credit, he rolled all four lines. Nobody played under 10 minutes. A rarity. It truly was a tight checking game where you knew whoever scored first would win. Unfortunately, it was the Islanders.

Kaapo Kakko received over 17 minutes while playing on the second line. He was thwarted by a sharp Varlamov pad save on a one-timer in the slot. He also made a good defensive play to break up an Isles’ opportunity. Even though the numbers aren’t there, he’s definitely improved overall. So far, Kakko is 2-1-3 having missed a game for COVID Protocol. If he keeps working, they’ll start to go in.

K’Andre Miller stood out in defeat on the blue line. He made a great defensive play to sweep the puck away from an attaching Barzal. It was also his outlet that trapped the Islanders which led to a one-on-one between Panarin and Varlamov. Miller is doing well. He recovers quickly and uses his reach to break up plays like the potential tap in for Brock Nelson that never made it.

Fox played another strong game. He made some subtle plays in his end to get out of trouble and join the rush. Although he did get caught out on the Martin goal, he was superb throughout while getting big minutes. His 24:59 paced the Rangers.

Both Russian netminders faced 30 shots each. Shestyorkin stopped 28 while counterpart Varlamov stopped all 30 to pick up his third shutout of the year.

Listening to the postgame, Chris Kreider felt that while they didn’t give up much, they didn’t do enough offensively to score. He said the team was good in spurts. Quinn reiterated that by indicating that they didn’t have many second chances. He also noted that they didn’t build any momentum off either power play.

The Rangers were better on face-offs. In fact, the second worst face-off team went 27-and-17 against one of the league’s best. Zibanejad won 11 of 13 while Ryan Strome won 11 of 15. That’s a big positive. They entered slightly over 41.0 percent. The Rangers worked on draws in practice. This is a nice improvement.

There really isn’t anything else to add. With Boston coming in for two on Wednesday and Friday, this is the exact style they have to play. The only difference is doing what it takes to get the ‘W.’

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd ⭐ Matt Martin, Isles (2nd goal, plus 🍎, +2 in 16 shifts-10:30)

2nd ⭐ Igor Shestyorkin, Rangers (28 saves on 30 shots, another game he allows 2 or less)

1st ⭐ Semyon Varlamov, Isles (30 saves for 3rd shutout, 2nd vs NYR this season)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A haunting realization for hockey fans

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Derek

This was the picture at an empty MSG earlier as players warmed up.

The music might be the same. But the building isn’t. Without fans, there will continue to be hockey played as long as COVID-19 doesn’t affect the Rangers. It’s already impacted several American teams including the Devils, who never should’ve played the rematch at Buffalo over a week ago.

This empty scene is seen around most arenas. Here were the Senators preparing for their game.

There is no buzz in these buildings. Just players going about their business like they have so many times since childhood when they played peewee. Even those games were attended by family and friends. I used to watch my brother skate at the local Skating Pavilion down the road. It was always fun.

The point is it’s a sad reality. Here we are almost a year later with no end in sight to the pandemic. It could take months for many adults like myself to get the vaccine. It’s elderly like my parents and people with pre-existing conditions who are the priority. When they have shortages due to all the patients who must receive the vaccination, it’s not a positive sign.

It’s kind of like Groundhog Day. Considering all the snow, ice and freezing cold weather we’ve had since the calendar turned to February, you get the point. Sports are still going on, but with confusion like we saw with the Brooklyn Nets and the strange Kevin Durant situation last Friday. The COVID PROTOCOLS leaving star teammate James Harden confused.

There’s been talk that the Wild might not play this week either, forcing the NHL into more rescheduling of games. Something that could also occur with the Sabres and Devils. This is now official. No games this week for those three teams.

What if this disturbing trend continues? How can they continue to think they’ll complete a 56-game season? It feels like they’re gonna have to consider pausing. Even the NBA is doing better. But not much given all the players you find on Health and Safety Protocols. There are cancelations almost every night.

Somehow, the NFL completed their most challenging season last night with the Bucs and Tom Brady surprising the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in a 31-9 rout. The Super Bowl was played in Tampa before 25,000 fans spread out around the stadium. It was successful even if the big game fizzled.

The difference is football is played outdoors. They didn’t have to reschedule too many games and were able to work around the pandemic. Baseball too is outdoors. They played in a bubble and the Dodgers won the World Series over the Rays last year.

For indoor sports like the NHL and NBA, it remains a serious concern. Especially for hockey. Naturally, there have been no such issues in the All Canadian North Division. It’s here in America where the virus continues to run rampant.

I have no clue when things will return to normal. While some teams can host a limited amount of fans like in Florida and Texas, most NHL arenas will be eerily silent except for the music and pumped in crowd noise. It isn’t the same. However, there’s nothing they can do about it. All we can do is watch when our teams are on. Enjoy it for what it is. A necessary distraction from reality.

There isn’t much else to say. Hope feels a long way off. We got a long long way to go.

Posted in Column | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment