Shestyorkin gets third straight start versus Islanders

Posted on February 8, 2021 by Derek

After getting the weekend off due to the Devils battling COVID-19, the Rangers return to action tonight to face the Islanders. It’ll be the third installment of the Battle Of New York at MSG. They split the first two at the start of the season.

Most were wondering what David Quinn would decide in net. Would he go to Alex Georgiev, who’s had a good record versus the Islanders, or ride the hot hand in Igor Shestyorkin? After much secrecy, it’s officially Shestyorkin who’ll get his shot at the Islanders.

For the Rangers, who are up to 4-4-2 following big wins over the Pens and Caps last week, it makes sense to stick with Shestyorkin. He earned two wins and played well. It’ll be his seventh start. He’s 3-2-1 with a 2.35 GAA and .913 save percentage in 7 games. Following a slow start, he’s won three straight decisions while allowing five goals on 84 shots. Now is the time to establish him as the starter.

Georgiev hasn’t played since the wacky 5-4 overtime loss at Pittsburgh that resulted in the altercation with since dismissed defenseman Tony DeAngelo. A polarizing player who the organization is trying to find a new team for. They’re not in a rush. If it makes sense, then there’ll be a trade. Georgiev has been given time off to settle down. He’ll definitely see time during a busy week.

Officially, there are no lineup changes. Brendan Smith skated in a non-contact jersey. There’s nothing new to report on Jack Johnson. Colin Blackwell also remains out. Here are the projected lines:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich

Panarin-Strome-Kakko

Lafreniere-Howden-Di Giuseppe

Lemieux-Rooney-Gauthier

Miller-Trouba

Lindgren-Fox

Hajek-Bitetto

Shestyorkin

Georgiev

The Islanders enter with an identical 4-4-2 record after defeating the Pens 4-3. They came back to win it on home ice on goals from Cal Clutterbuck and captain Anders Lee on the power play. Jordan Eberle tallied twice and Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves to earn his fourth victory.

It looks like the Isles will also have the same lineup for tonight. Varlamov gets the start.

This is what it looked like at practice yesterday.

The Islanders are missing Anthony Beauvillier. He is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Michael Dal Colle took his place on the second line and tallied two assists against Pittsburgh.

For the Rangers, Artemi Panarin looks to stay hot. Over the last four games that’s seen them go 3-0-1, he has nine points (3-6-9) including three-point nights against the Pens and Caps last week. He and Ryan Strome have found the chemistry they had last season. Strome enters with five points (3-2-5) in four games.

Kaapo Kakko joined them last game and played well. He picked up his first assist on a good defensive play in his zone to trap Zdeno Chara. That led to Panarin setting up Strome for the game-winner.

Mika Zibanejad notched a primary assist on the empty net goal from Pavel Buchnevich. It was his first point in seven games since Jan. 19. Zibanejad remains stuck on a goal with two assists. The good news is he’s looked better over the last two games. Maybe tonight he finally snaps out of it. He has one goal on 32 shots. The Rangers need him.

Since notching the exciting overtime winner at Buffalo for his first NHL goal, Alexis Lafreniere has been quiet. The top pick is currently playing on the third line with Brett Howden and Phil Di Giuseppe. He is still adjusting. Hopefully, the rookie will figure it out soon.

The fourth line that features Kevin Rooney (points in three straight), Brendan Lemieux and Julien Gauthier has played well. It’s nice to see them contributing. Rooney emphasized how they have to be a four line team to be successful.

Adam Fox has been the team’s best defenseman so far. He leads all Blueshirts D in ice time (24:29) and scoring with seven points (1-6-7). Five of his seven have come on the power play where he quarterbacks the top unit. Fox has been on for four goals for and three goals against at five-on-five. He and partner Ryan Lindgren are a solid tandem the coaching staff relies on.

K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba are the other pair that comprise the top four. They continue to improve as a tandem with Trouba pacing the team with 37 hits and his 24 blocked shots tied with Fox. That included nine in the win over Washington.

It’ll be Libor Hajek and Anthony Bitetto as the third pair for a second game in a row. They didn’t break 10 minutes with David Quinn opting to lean on his top four due to the schedule. With upcoming games against the Bruins twice and then the Flyers on Valentine’s Day, look for the third pair to receive a few more shifts at even strength.

We’ll see if the Rangers can make it three in a row.

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The COVID-19 Concern

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Derek

As we reach Super Bowl weekend in February, there is a harsh reality for hockey. They’re facing something different this season.

Much like the NFL and NBA, the NHL has adversity due to the virtual unknown. Unlike last summer when they were successful in executing a great postseason due to two bubbles thanks to Toronto and Edmonton without a single player testing positive for COVID-19, the league is in dire straits already. Not even a month in and there have been many players from teams who have either been positive or in COVID Protocol. That’s caused seven teams to postpone games for as much as a week.

Having already seen the pandemic hit the Stars, Golden Knights and Hurricanes early, four more teams have had to pause their schedule. They include the Hurricanes, Devils, Sabres, Wild and Avalanche. All are not currently playing which has resulted in several cancelations affecting other teams.

At the moment, the Devils have 17 players in COVID-19 Protocol. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was added to the list earlier today. He joins a lengthy list that includes Jack Hughes, Kyle Palmieri, Ty Smith, Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich, Andreas Johnsson, Nikita Gusev, Nathan Bastian, Mike McLeod, Damon Severson, Janne Kuokanen, Travis Zajac, Pavel Zacha, Matt Tennyson, Sami Vatanen and Connor Carrick.

At least starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is no longer part of it. After a great start to the season, he hasn’t played since making 47 saves to hold off the Rangers on Jan. 19. The Devils have been forced to start mostly Scott Wedgewood with Eric Comrie winning his first game in last Sunday’s rematch at Buffalo. A game that shouldn’t have been played. Something resident Devils blogger Hasan referred to a few days ago. The Sabres even had concerns going in, but the NHL gave the go-ahead. A huge miscalculation.

Here’s the thing. Nobody knows if the virus was transferred during the game. That hasn’t been proven. However, the NHL announced some changes to their rules in an effort to make it safer for its players. Most notable is the removal of glass panels behind benches to allow for better airflow. They also don’t want any players reporting to the arena for a game until one hour 45 minutes before puck drop. The exception is medical treatment for injuries. There must be a mandatory six feet of space between players in the locker room.

“With about 20 percent of our season played, we are mindful of the fact that we might be seeing a more aggressive transmission of the virus and will continue to make adjustments to our Protocols as we consult on a daily basis with, and adhere to, the recommendations of our medical advisors,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said yesterday in a statement.

Bettman added that nearly 100 players entered COVID Protocols. Less than half were due to confirmed positive results. Most cases have been asymptomatic. The most important issue is the players’ safety. Given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, the NHL will continue to closely monitor the situation and make necessary adjustments.

Hopefully, they won’t have to consider pausing the season. Every team that’s been negatively impacted have been in U.S. cities. It isn’t surprising given how poorly the virus has been handled. There doesn’t seem to be any control despite vaccinations finally being made available. The problem is they must continue to prioritize elderly and people with pre-existing conditions, who are more at risk.

Much like basketball, hockey has been hurt by the pandemic. In less than a month, the NHL has postponed 26 games. Some have been rescheduled while many are still to be determined. It isn’t a fun time for anyone.

As great as it is to have the sport back, prioritizing safety and precautions are more crucial than playing games. The NHL believes it will be able to complete a 56-game season with it concluding in early May. They did leave some space just in case.

It’s hard to believe that things will improve. The truth is nobody can predict what lies ahead. In what’s already been a crazy three and a half weeks that’s made it feel like an eternity due to the postponements, the cold winter continues to punish much of the Midwest and East Coast with up to two feet of snow dumped in the New York and New Jersey area. A polar vortex is being predicted with record breaking low temperatures coming that could even reach warmer states like Florida. None of this is good.

I honestly have no idea how the rest of the year will go. In Year Two of the awful Coronavirus, it doesn’t look promising. Even if you’re the most optimistic hockey or sports fan, you have to be concerned. People’s livelihood is more important.

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Bitetto’s rare goal highlights Rangers’ win over Capitals

Posted on February 5, 2021 by Derek

When he got the call on Monday, Island Park native Anthony Bitetto couldn’t have been more excited. The defensive defenseman had a good debut for the team grew up rooting for. It paled in comparison to his second game. He scored a rare goal to highlight a 4-2 Rangers’ win over the Capitals at home.

The goal Bitetto scored was only the third of his NHL career. It’s one he’ll remember. The goal was of the highlight reel variety with the veteran skating through the Caps’ defense before flipping a backhand past Vitek Vanecek halfway through the contest to put the Rangers ahead by two. He later admitted that his last three were disallowed.

On a night where Libor Hajek got back in the lineup for the first time in over a year, the Rangers played a good game in defeating a tougher opponent in the 10th game. They won their second in a row for the first time this season. More importantly, they continued to play better by picking up seven of a possible eight points to get back to NHL .500 (4-4-2). The victory moves them into a tie with the COVID-19 stricken Devils with 10 points in the East Division. The idle Islanders are now eighth.

There were other positives in the win. Ryan Strome continued his resurgence by tallying twice to give him points in four straight. After a slow start likely due to the new contract, he’s come out of it. The valuable second center has his confidence back, which showed as he, Artemi Panarin and budding sophomore Kaapo Kakko were easily the best line. They combined for six points and a plus-six rating.

In a rookie goalie match-up featuring Vanecek against Igor Shestyorkin, it was the 25-year old Russian who came out on top by making 31 saves. That included half a dozen big ones on Alexander Ovechkin, who did get his final shot to go off a Nicklas Backstrom offensive draw that made it interesting. It also featured Shestyorkin absorbing a heavy Ovechkin one-timer from his office that caught him good. He was okay and showed more confidence to win for a second consecutive time.

One thing that helped was getting off quickly. Facing a good opponent who just blew a game to lose for the first time in regulation, the Rangers came out flying. Following a shift from the reunited KZB Line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich, the second line had a good cycle that produced a hard-working goal. Off a feed from Panarin at the point, Adam Fox took a low wrist shot that Strome redirected top shelf on Vanecek at 1:41. It was nicely executed play with Strome doing the dirty work.

They could’ve had more. In fact, the Blueshirts had nine of the first ten shots. However, Vanecek kept them off the scoreboard on an early power play by robbing Zibanejad. Panarin made a great read through the Caps’ penalty kill to pass across for a quick Zibanejad one-timer. But Vanecek was able to keep the puck out on a good shot against the grain, leaving the struggling top center looking skyward. Even though he didn’t score, Zibanejad looked more like himself. Maybe he’ll get one in the next game.

That won’t be until at least Monday when the Islanders are supposed to visit MSG for the third time. We can only hope at this critical point. Not even a month in, COVID-19 is affecting a lot of teams and players. With the Devils, Sabres and Wild not playing due to positive tests, the Avalanche are the latest team to have games postponed. This is a troublesome sign for the NHL, who altered one of its rules to further restrict players from being at risk. One can only hope the complicated situation will improve.

As for the rest of the first period, the Caps finally awoke from their nap. Perhaps Ryan Lindgren delivering a thunderous check on Capitals antagonist Tom Wilson got them going. He got revenge later by nailing Lindgren, who absorbed a double check in the corner. Washington outshot the Rangers 7-6 to conclude the period.

The Blueshirts also continue to improve steadily on the penalty kill. They went four-for-four against the Capitals, who boast the Great Eight. Plus Backstrom, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie and Wilson. They’re still without Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is still in COVID-19 Protocol. So is Ilya Samsonov. Though they haven’t missed him as much due to Vanecek. The 25-year old Czech goalie made 28 stops.

Even though they couldn’t cash in on a Garnet Hathaway tripping minor penalty, the Rangers increased the lead to two thanks to some wondrous puck wizardry from Bitetto. On a Kevin Rooney pass behind the net, a pinching Bitetto carried the puck around after sidestepping a Carl Hagelin hit. He then came off the wall and cut to the middle before beating Vanecek for his first goal as a Ranger at 9:15. It was Bitetto’s first one since Nov. 18, 2017 with Nashville.

After successfully killing off a bench minor for too many men on the ice, the Rangers ran into some bad luck when a Hathaway shot took a funny carom off Hagelin and by Shestyorkin’s glove to cut the lead to one with 63 seconds left in the period. It was a strange play that saw the puck go off Hagelin’s body and Shestyorkin couldn’t field it. Hathaway drew a Brett Howden slash to put the Caps on the power play with 10 seconds remaining.

In the third, the Rangers again got it done on the penalty kill. Their new aggressive box has been working. Shestyorkin still had to deal with Ovechkin. He also got help from a defense led by Jacob Trouba, who blocked a game high nine shots. Half of the team’s total (18). It was one of his best defensive games since joining the Blueshirts over a year ago.

Nursing a one-goal lead with Shestyorkin making key saves like his predecessor Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers took advantage of a bad turnover to get a huge insurance marker. After Jakub Vrana backhanded a pass to nobody, Kakko chipped a backhand pass up the boards past Zdeno Chara. That resulted in a two-on-one between Strome and Panarin. It was a textbook give and go with Strome getting a pass back from Panarin to tap in his second of the game for a 3-1 lead with 12:05 remaining.

Following a stoppage, Backstrom beat Zibanejad on a draw right back to Ovechkin, who made no mistake by smoking a wrist shot past Shestyorkin with 8:59 left in regulation. It was Ovechkin’s 709th of his career.

During a four-on-four, the Rangers stayed ahead thanks to Shestyorkin, who was under siege most of the third. He turned aside 10 of 11.

Strome nearly had the hat trick but missed. He might want to work on that since he also had Vanecek out of the net earlier and sent a puck wide. No worries though. Panarin and Zibanejad combined to send in Buchnevich for an empty netter at 19:33. It snapped a seven-game drought.

Before the game ended, Vanecek didn’t take kindly to Brendan Lemieux skating by his net. He tripped him up at the buzzer which lead to fisticuffs. While Lemieux somehow avoided facing the music, Rooney stepped in and fought Brendan Dillon. He didn’t win against a very tough Dillon. But earned some more stripes. I don’t know why Lemieux did that for. The game was over. With seven games left, figure the Caps to be coming after him.

At the end of the day, it’s a good character building win. Even with Alexis Lafreniere struggling and David Quinn limiting Hajek and Bitetto to under 10 minutes, this one was special for Bitetto. A Broadway Hat kinda night for the area local.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd ⭐ Jacob Trouba, NYR (9 blocks, 4 hits, +1 in 24:42 including 3:56 SH)

2nd ⭐ Anthony Bitetto, NYR (1st goal as a Ranger, +1 in 9:30)

1st ⭐ Ryan Strome, NYR (2 goals, +1 in 21:42)

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Kakko set to return and Hajek gets his chance on birthday

Posted on February 4, 2021 by Derek

Tonight, the Rangers return to action when the Capitals visit The Garden. It’s the first of eight match-ups against one of the division’s best teams. Coming off Monday’s 3-1 comeback win over the Penguins, it’ll be a good litmus test for the Blueshirts. They’re in the bottom part of the newly formed East Division tied with the Islanders at 3-4-2 for eighth.

Two points against a good Washington team that enters at the upper echelon of the division with a 6-1-3 record, would be a huge confidence boost. Especially given that they’ve yet to put together a good stretch. Don’t forget that Game 10 means there will be only 46 games left in the abbreviated season. One that’s threatened by COVID-19 with the Wild joining the Devils and Sabres who are the latest NHL teams to have games postponed due to several positives. It’s definitely a cause for concern.

For the Blueshirts, they got good news when second-year right wing Kaapo Kakko was cleared out of COVID-19 Protocol after missing a game for tonight. The sophomore has two goals in eight games so far while being moved around. His skating has improved and just maybe the former Rangers ’19 second pick will take advantage of a great opportunity. With Colin Blackwell still out, Kakko gets a look on the second line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome. This is what many fans want to see. If it clicks, we could get to see a lot more of Kakko on the second scoring line.

The other bit of news is that Libor Hajek will make his season debut. It’s been a while for the former Lightning ’16 second round pick, who was a key part of the 2018 Trade Deadline blockbuster involving Brett Howden that also netted former Blueshirt Vladislav Namestnikov, a ’18 first round pick (Nils Lundkvist) and a conditional second pick in ’19 that became Karl Henriksson. That sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Lightning.

On his 23rd birthday, it’s a chance for Hajek to show the coaching staff what he can do. A player that’s dealt with injuries and been passed on the depth chart by promising rookie K’Andre Miller, he will be on the third pair with veteran Anthony Bitetto, who had a solid first game on Monday. It probably won’t be a lot of minutes because David Quinn can manage the shifts along with assistant coach Jacques Martin. But it’s important for Hajek to play a good game at five-on-five. That’s where he’ll be featured.

Igor Shestyorkin gets his second consecutive game in net. We’ll find out if he can build on his good outing three nights ago. He has an opportunity to give Quinn something to think about. While it hasn’t been the best start for the 25-year old rookie, he can make a case for the number one job with Alex Georgiev getting a mental break due to the unfortunate incident with soon to be former Ranger Tony DeAngelo.

I’ll have more later on the game.

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Talking Rangers Hockey

Posted on February 3, 2021 by Derek

https://anchor.fm/derek-felix/episodes/Pushing-Buttons-Rangers-Move-On-From-DeAngelo-with-a-Big-Win-eps6l

The Rangers are back in action tomorrow night when they host the Capitals. With both defensemen Jack Johnson and Brendan Smith uncertain for the game, I ponder if we could see defenseman Libor Hajek play with Anthony Bitetto.

Hajek was part of the trade that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay. He and Brett Howden were key pieces that came back with former Ranger Vladislav Namestnikov, ’18 first round pick Nils Lundkvist and ’19 second round pick Karl Henriksson.

If you want to listen to my latest Pushing Buttons Podcast, please click on the link above to hear more on the Rangers. Or find it on Spotify.

It includes the organization moving forward without Tony DeAngelo, who’s drawing interest from teams with the Rangers willing to pick up part of his $4.8 million salary cap hit. Plus some praise for Howden, who still has a chance to establish himself in a more defined role.

I discuss the trade GM Jeff Gorton made almost three years ago. Plus more hockey.

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It’s Time for the Rangers to find out about Libor Hajek, McDonagh/Miller trade still haunting organization

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Derek

It’s Groundhog Day! Here in Staten Island, the good news is Staten Island Chuck didn’t see his shadow. This despite all the snow we got in the metropolitan area.

With the fun out of the way if you believe in the groundhog from one of my all-time favorite movies starring Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, it’s time to circle back to a trade the Rangers made at the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline. Believe it or not, it’ll mark three years on Feb. 26 since GM Jeff Gorton sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller over to the Lightning in exchange for forward Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, plus a 2018 first round pick (Nils Lundkvist) and conditional 2019 second round pick (Karl Henriksson).

Viewed at the time as a commitment to The Letter informing fans that the Rangers organization was fully committed to a rebuild in former coach Alain Vigneault’s last year before David Quinn replaced him, people were excited for what the future held. They were sellers at that deadline and the Lightning were looking for a good second left defenseman who could relieve some pressure from ace Victor Hedman. It made sense for Tampa, who also received Miller in an expanded deal that was surprising.

Nobody anticipated Miller being included in the trade. Surely, the Rangers had to pry one of the Bolts’ best prospects. There was hope they could get either defenseman Cal Foote or forward Taylor Raddysh. Instead, Gorton accepted former Lightning GM Steve Yzerman’s offer of former ’16 first and second round picks Howden and Hajek in the trade that also netted top nine forward Namestnikov and two draft picks that turned into D prospect Lundkvist and center prospect Henriksson. Both of whom are back home playing in the Swedish Hockey League.

Up to this point nearly three years later, the trade has been a disappointment. While Howden started out well as a rookie under Quinn in ’18-19 before hitting a wall, the 22-year old Calgary native has become a bottom six forward, who usually is on the fourth line and penalty kill. At the present, he’s centering the third line with Filip Chytil out. It’s an opportunity to prove he can be more than a role player who provides energy and wins face-offs. So far, he has one assist entering Thursday’s match versus Washington.

In 145 career NHL games, Howden has totaled 15 goals and 28 assists for 43 points. Not what they were hoping for from the number 27 pick taken in the ’16 NHL Draft. He was good for Canada at the 2018 World Junior Championship where he went 3-4-7 and plus-nine in seven games. That’s probably what intrigued Rangers’ scouts.

This isn’t a question of Howden’s work ethic. He gives it his all every shift and is a trusted shorthanded player. Quinn has used him at both center and wing. He tries different things because Howden is versatile enough to be moved around. It would be nice if he could become more productive.

A good teammate, Howden stepped up and fought Kasperi Kapanen at the end of a lackluster first that sparked the Rangers to a come from behind 3-1 win. Don’t think the players didn’t appreciate it in the locker room. They did.

I definitely am not alone in praising him for that scrap. The first period from the Rangers was lackluster and didn’t inspire much confidence with the Tony DeAngelo dark cloud hanging over their heads. Even if he picked on a player who wasn’t much of a fighter, Howden chose the right moment to wake up his team. They needed it. Not surprisingly, they responded well by getting the next three goals to get a much needed win. Hopefully, it’s one they can build on.

The other player in the deal that’s on the Taxi Squad, Hajek has not established himself yet as an NHL regular. Following a good ’18 WJC where he tallied a goal and seven assists for Czech Republic, the Rangers must’ve liked what they saw. A second round pick that went 37th in the ’16 Draft, the left skating defenseman was advertised as a young player who could be part of the rebuild.

If there was an alarming sign, maybe it was that he didn’t perform well in his first pro season. In 58 games for Hartford, Hajek had five assists and a minus-26 rating. They recalled him. In five NHL games, he scored his first goal and went plus-one with six penalty minutes. A good enough skater with some size, maybe there was potential.

The following season, Hajek played in 28 more games for the Rangers. However, he never really got untracked. He picked up five helpers and went minus-four with 12 PIM before being sent down. As it turned out, fellow rookie Ryan Lindgren beat him out to become a regular on the Blueshirts. He continues to excel while teamed with Adam Fox on the most trusted pair.

Meanwhile, Hajek has struggled since. After going 1-2-3 and a minus-10 with 14 PIM in 23 contests for the Wolf Pack, he started the ’20-21 season back home playing for Brno Kometa. In 10 games, he picked up two assists and was minus-five in Czech. He even got scratched. Maybe it’s a confidence issue.

Whatever the reason, the soon to be 23-year old who turns it on Thursday, hasn’t been able to crack a Rangers defense that now features vets Brendan Smith and Anthony Bitetto with Jack Johnson currently injured.

At some point, the organization needs to find out about Hajek. Is he already a bust? Can he be fixed? With Smith suffering an upper-body injury due to a head on collision with Brandon Tanev, would they consider dressing Hajek to play with Bitetto on the third pair against the Capitals? I’m unsure. If he doesn’t dress for the game with possibly both Johnson and Smith out, then he’ll be assigned to Hartford.

I don’t pretend to know what’s going on during team practices. What I do realize is that time is ticking on Hajek, who has been passed by former ’18 first round pick K’Andre Miller. The 21-year old plays with poise beyond his age and could be the anchor of the defense it hasn’t had since McDonagh left.

Other potential options for Thursday could be Tarmo Reunanen or Matthew Robertson. We’ll wait and see if they have to decide. It all depends on the status of Smith and Johnson.

As far as the remaining prospects in the McDonagh/Miller trade, Lundkvist is a promising skating right defenseman who can provide offense. Not the biggest in stature, he played on Sweden in two World Junior Tournaments. In 2020, he tallied eight points (1-7-8) over seven games. He’s fared well in Sweden registering nine goals with 14 assists for 23 points this year after going 11-20-31 in ’19-20. The Blueshirts need to sign him this year.

Henriksson missed the ’21 WJC due to COVID-19. Sweden definitely could’ve used the two-way center. In seven games at last year’s tournament, he had a goal and two helpers. Henriksson plays for Frolunda in SweHL. Thus far, he’s gotten into 32 games and recorded six assists with 16 PIM and a minus-one rating. He probably needs more time to develop. Especially due to the pandemic which is so unpredictable.

As for Namestnikov, the Rangers moved him over a year ago to Ottawa. They received a fourth round pick in the upcoming 2021 NHL Draft. I doubt you’ll ever see Nick Ebert. Namestnikov moved on from the Senators to another rebuilding team in the Red Wings where ironically Yzerman is in charge. Go figure.

While McDonagh played a key role helping the Lightning win a second Stanley Cup last year, they dealt Miller to the Canucks. Since then, he’s become a top line forward for Vancouver. Miller admitted that he worked harder on his commitment to the game and learned from past mistakes that often saw him benched by Vigneault.

At 27, the former ’11 Rangers’ first round pick is a point-per-game player since joining the Canucks. After setting career bests in goals (27), assists (45) and points (72), he proved himself with 18 points (6-12-18) in the playoffs. A sore spot previously for him with the Rangers and Lightning. He’s off to a good start with 10 points (2-8-10) in nine contests entering Tuesday’s match against Montreal.

Here’s the thing. Wouldn’t a skilled player like Miller look good on the current Rangers roster? With an average cap hit of $5.25 million through 2023, he’s one of the biggest bargains in the NHL. Who would’ve guessed it? I always knew he was capable of more than he showed in the Big Apple. The 56 points he put up in ’16-17 was proof. But another postseason without a goal and the team reaching a decision in ’17-18 lead to his dismissal.

He didn’t even last long in Tampa following a promising start. Maybe he really needed a kick in the ass. It happens sometimes in sports. A change of scenery can wake up an under performing player. I’m happy for Miller that he got his act together.

In regards to that trade, there are still many question marks surrounding it for the Rangers. Unless things change, the deal could be viewed as one of the worst in club history. Hopefully, one of the players they got back can change the perception.

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Sabres season also postponed through the 8th (at least)

Posted on February 2, 2021 by hasan4978

As a Devils fan, I feel compelled to apologize to Sabres fans in general and NHL fans at large for the entire season being jeopardized by whatever the heck happened with our franchise in the last week. Thing is, it’s impossible to know who exactly to blame at this juncture. Clearly one, if not both games this weekend should not have been played. Certainly the Sunday game should have been nixed after two new additions to our COVID list this weekend followed Mackenzie Blackwood (who seems to be patient zero) being placed on the list last week.

Buffalo already has two players on the COVID protocol list themselves as of today, including Taylor Hall – with almost certainly more to follow. It’s unlikely a positive result would show up just three days after our first game with the Sabres if it was an in-game transmission but at this point postponing their games is the right call at last by the NHL. If the Sabres start getting confirmed cases and it gets contract traced to our game then it could be pretty much game over for the NHL in 2021, presuming it’s shown that (unlike other sports so far) you can have in-game transmission.

Aside from the fact that the Devils added five new players to their own COVID list (while Blackwood came off, yippee) including poor Jesper Bratt who’d just gotten out of mandated quarantine, what’s become annoying is that clearly there’s more evidence someone dropped the ball here. And if that someone was the Devils they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Especially after it came out that the Sabres are very angry with both us and the league for the lack of transparency around our COVID situation.

I can’t blame anyone involved with the Sabres for being annoyed, their schedule has been disrupted due to factors beyond their control. I don’t want to assume this is our fault but let’s be real, coach Lindy Ruff and GM Tom Fitzgerald have gone back to the Lou Lamoriello days of giving out as little information as possible. If it comes to lineup decisions, you gotta watch the pregame warmups to figure out lines and scratches. Injury updates? Hah, we still haven’t gotten the straight story on the Nico Hischier injury with the latest rumor – from an overseas paper – being a broken fibula. Why you would choose to be secretive about an injury that will be fully healed anyway by the time the player returns to the lineup is beyond me, but that’s gamesmanship.

Playing fast and loose with info on COVID cases would be a different ball of wax though. This is a whole new level beyond normal gamesmanship, which is why I don’t want to assume we did anything untoward. But it would only be a step away for us as opposed to maybe two or three steps away for a more transparent team. If it’s found we did anything wrong, I pretty much wouldn’t begrudge the NHL any punishment they choose to hammer us with.

It is clear the league themselves dropped the ball in letting Sunday’s game go on though, whoever’s decision it is on postponements or cancellations. Nothing good could have come of it when you had two straight days of an active player testing positive, and one of them having played in the Saturday game. Protocols and judgement all around – from the league to teams to individual players themselves – have to improve if the NHL doesn’t want to embarrass themselves further by having the season get postponed when every other season including the NBA has managed to power through.

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Hungry and determined Rangers get an important win over Penguins

Posted on February 2, 2021 by Derek

Igor Shestyorkin is congratulated by happy teammate Chris Kreider, whose power play goal stood as the game-winner in a well deserved 3-1 Rangers win over the Penguins. AP Photo by New York Rangers courtesy Getty Images

If ever a team needed a win, it was the Rangers in tonight’s Garden rematch against the Penguins. Coming off all the drama following the 5-4 overtime loss this past weekend that led to Tony DeAngelo’s dismissal, the Rangers sure showed a lot of grit and hustle to defeat the Penguins 3-1.

The win was their second over the last three and gave them five points of the last six. Their first victory versus the Pens in four tries improved them to 3-4-1 overall. While it’s not great, they’re hanging around in a competitive East Division. Something a pleased coach David Quinn was quick to point out in the postgame. He had reason to be happy. They showed a lot of hunger and determination to earn the win with a good third period.

Without Kaapo Kakko (COVID-19 Protocol) and playing with five defensemen the last two periods due to a scary collision between Brendan Smith and Brandon Tanev that likely put Smith in concussion protocol, the Blueshirts delivered an important win on home ice. Even if their opponent continued to struggle by taking the collar on six power plays, it was the pesky play of the guys in Broadway blue that earned this one. Their penalty kill was superb throughout and they got better at even strength as the game went on.

It started off slowly. A bit off track, the Rangers fell behind in the first period when Jason Zucker outmuscled K’Andre Miller to steer in a Chad Ruhwedel wide carom before Igor Shestyorkin could get back in time. On the play, Evgeni Malkin stripped the puck from Jacob Trouba and sent it up top for the wide Ruhwedel shot that an out of position Shestyorkin couldn’t recover from. With Miller unable to take Zucker, the forward stuffed home the puck before Shestyorkin got back for a 1-0 lead at 9:05.

But in a period where the Penguins drew two penalties for consecutive power plays, they failed to take advantage of either. After killing off a Jonny Brodzinski hooking minor with ease due to the lack of confidence from their opponent, the Rangers went back on the kill when Trouba lost a battle and slashed a driving Sidney Crosby with 1:11 left in the period. Once again, it was the aggressive penalty kill that got the job done by also denying the Pens on the last 49 seconds to start the second period.

In fact, the Pittsburgh power play was so futile that at one point, Chris Kreider went one on four and nearly scored shorthanded in the second. He definitely has looked better lately. He has more jump and is very noticeable. He would be a factor later on.

Newcomer Anthony Bitetto was solid in his Rangers debut. While he did take a minor penalty, the defensive defenseman from Island Park played a good game. He finished checks and didn’t make any glaring mistakes. Even after losing partner Smith to an upper body injury, Bitetto was still rotated in enough from Quinn so they didn’t over rely on the top four of Miller-Trouba and Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox. In 20 shifts (14:51), he finished with four hits and two blocked shots. That included 80 seconds shorthanded.

For a while, it seemed like the Rangers couldn’t get anything going offensively. After testing Casey DeSmith with nine shots in the opening period that was more controlled by the Penguins, who got off 12 on Shestyorkin, there really wasn’t much happening. The middle stanza was tightly contested between a pair of fragile teams. The lack of confidence from the Pens on their power play came back to haunt them.

If there was a highlight during the game, it was the consistent play from the Rangers’ bottom six forwards. With Mika Zibanejad continuing to struggle at five-on-five and even on the man-advantage, it was the lunchpail work ethic of guys like Brendan Lemieux, Julien Gauthier, Kevin Rooney and Phil Di Giuseppe that were factors on the forecheck. Ditto for Brett Howden, whose fight with Kasperi Kapanen at the end of the first was a wake up call. When your top guns aren’t going, sometimes you need it from those hardworking secondary players.

In fact, it was that yeoman effort which got rewarded. On a delayed penalty with Panarin out as the extra man for a six-on-five, Ryan Lindgren worked the puck over to Panarin. He let go of a innocent looking wrist shot that took a weird hop right in front where a hustling Rooney was able to find the puck and bank it in off the goal stick of DeSmith to the the score with 2:18 remaining. He sure deserved it. It gave him goals in two straight. Not bad for a fourth line center, who’s been a solid addition to the penalty kill. Just like he was for the Devils.

Even after the tying goal, Lindgren got caught flat-footed and tripped up a driving Brandon Tanev with under a minute left. Ironically, it was the play of the Pens third line with Tanev, Teddy Blueger and Jared McCann that were their most effective. They were around the puck a lot and drew penalties. At five-on-five, Malkin still struggled despite picking up an assist on the Zucker goal. He hasn’t looked right.

If there was a key moment for the Blueshirts prior to the tying marker, it was when Sidney Crosby skated around Fox and sent one of those sizzling backhands off the crossbar. Afterwards, he smiled and shared a laugh with Fox. That’s how dangerous Crosby is. He has one of the best backhands I’ve ever seen. The accuracy along with the velocity he can get on it is something else. Shestyorkin should thank his goalpost for that because it proved to be important. So did this save on a sneaky Crosby.

With the Pittsburgh power play still firing blanks spanning the second and start of the third period, the Rangers started to take control. They began forechecking the Pens defense more. After not connecting on the first Ruhwedel penalty drawn by Lemieux, they pressed the action. Eventually, Ruhwedel made a mistake by sending the puck out of play for one of those mindless delay of game minors with 9:03 left.

After the stoppage, the Rangers finally made it work thanks to some execution between Fox and Kreider. Panarin got the puck over to Fox up top. With Kreider in position, he let go of a simple wrist shot that Kreider was able to tip in for a power play goal with 8:50 remaining in regulation. It gave him three goals over his last four. He’s heating up. I definitely think he deserves to be captain. But that’s not my call.

Even though they had the better of the play, Shestyorkin still had to come up with nine saves in the period. That included a tough one through traffic that he fought through to find. He still looks like he’s not all there. But that could be due to lack of repetition.

Overall, Shestyorkin had a good game finishing with 25 saves. That included 17 even strength, seven power play and one shorthanded. He had one nice clear while on the penalty kill. An area he excels at. It’s high time he got consecutive starts with an aggravated Capitals visiting MSG on Thursday following blowing a three-goal lead in a 5-3 loss to Boston.

A Gauthier hold on Jake Guentzel behind the net handed Pittsburgh a sixth opportunity on the power play. Even though it looked better, they could only muster two shots including a Malkin drive that Shestyorkin kept out. Even with John Marino and rookie Pierre-Olivier Joseph getting power play duty, it didn’t matter. The Pens have no confidence on it. That was a big reason the Rangers won. They wanted it more.

The play of the game was made by Miller. On a dangerous Pens chance where Trouba collided into Shestyorkin leaving him down, Miller hustled to make a diving block of a shot ticketed for the top of the net. If he doesn’t make that play, who knows what happens. It was outstanding. Even on a night he fought it, the rookie defenseman stayed focused enough to stick with it. He really bailed out Trouba and Shestyorkin.

Mike Sullivan lifted DeSmith with over two minutes left. But the Rangers did a good job protecting the lead. Something that’s been a bugaboo. Trouba threw a good check on a frustrated Malkin and Miller made a good defensive play. It led to Panarin coming out two-on-one with sidekick Ryan Strome. He wanted to get the puck over to Strome for the empty net, but the pass was deflected.

However, a hustling Panarin picked up the loose puck behind the net and came around and fired it into the open net as the buzzer sounded. It indeed counted with 0.6 seconds left to give the Bread Man a three-point (1-2-3) night. He danced his way off with happier teammates.

What a difference 48 hours make. Even the past several due to what happened. That’s all in the past now. The Rangers have a chance to build on the win. It won’t be easy against Washington, who lost for the first time in regulation. However, if there’s ever a time where the team needs to come together, this is it. There won’t be a game this Saturday due to a COVID-19 breakout with the Devils. Their next three games are postponed.

This was a character builder for the Blueshirts. It came at the right time.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd 🌟 Kevin Rooney, Rangers (game-tying goal at 17:42 of 2nd, 2 blocks, +1 in 13:36 including 3:46 shorthanded)

2nd 🌟 Artemi Panarin, Rangers (goal, two 🍎, +1 in 19:37)

1st 🌟 Chris Kreider, Rangers (4th of season on power play for GWG, 3 SOG on 5 attempts in 17:56)

Key Stats of Game

Blocked Shots

NYR 20 (Fox 5, Miller 3)

Pens 13 (Marino 3)

Face-offs

Pens 34 (Crosby 16-and-7)

NYR 14 (Howden 4-and-6)

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Rangers confirm DeAngelo played final game, Kakko added to COVID-19 Protocol list

Posted on February 1, 2021 by Derek

In about as truthful a press conference as they could have, the Rangers have moved on without Tony DeAngelo. Both Team President John Davidson and General Manager Jeff Gorton confirmed that the troubled player has played his final game for the team.

DeAngelo cost himself due to his selfish actions following Saturday’s loss to the Pens. The altercation with goalie Alex Georgiev was unacceptable. It was childish and the organization had seen enough. They had to move on.

Davidson also began the presser by calling out the Rangers blog that flat out made up a story about DeAngelo and K’Andre Miller. That never happened. It was refuted by Miller’s agent last night. In fact, it was the mature rookie defenseman who broke up the fight. He also was one of several teammates who reached out to DeAngelo via text.

As hard as it is for some of the players who had good relationships with DeAngelo, this move is for the best for all parties. You just can’t have this kind of distraction on a team. Especially around young players who are still learning.

Apparently, a frustrated DeAngelo couldn’t get past coach David Quinn benching him stemming from the unsportsmanlike conduct he took for slamming the penalty box in the first game. That really became an issue for the team. Davidson revealed why.

It goes without saying that at this point in his NHL career, DeAngelo should’ve been able to handle the situation better. Plenty of good players have gotten healthy scratched throughout the league. The Flyers recently sat out Travis Konecny. Alain Vigneault explained why. Konecny returned yesterday. It happens. Davidson was very honest about the soon to be former Ranger, who unfortunately was his own worst enemy.

You can have all the talent in the world. But if you don’t have it together, things can unravel pretty quickly. DeAngelo is a classic case of a troubled person who went from a career season where he posted 15 goals and 53 points, earning a new contract, to losing his job. It’s uncertain if he’ll ever play another NHL game.

Unsurprisingly, no team was interested in picking up his contract that pays him an AAV of $4.8 million through next season. Gorton did confirm that they’re not interested in terminating the contract. Rather they’d like to see if they can find a place for DeAngelo to play via trade.

I’m on the record as saying I think it would be best for DeAngelo to take a step away from the game. He needs help. If he admits a problem and gets it, maybe he can save his NHL career. Right now, I’m not sure what will happen. Before he just decides to go to Russia and play in the KHL, he needs counseling for his anger management issues.

Interestingly, Quinn who left most of the discussion to management, indicated that his former player was well received by teammates. That isn’t surprising. DeAngelo competed hard and always had his teammates’ backs in the heat of battle. He turned himself into a good player.

In fact, Quinn did reach out to DeAngelo on Sunday evening.

Regardless, it’s clearly over for him in NYC. What the future holds remains to be seen. He did it to himself. That in itself is sad. There’s nothing good about what happened. All the team can do is move forward.

The Rangers will attempt to do that tonight. They were dealt another blow when Kaapo Kakko was placed on the COVID-19 Protocol List. This doesn’t mean he’s positive. It just means he’s not able to play.

Forward Jonny Brodzinski was recalled from the Wolf Pack. He’ll suit up on the fourth line. Vince Mercogliano tried guessing the lines.

What we do know is it’s Igor Shestyorkin versus Casey DeSmith in net.

D looks like this:

Miller-Trouba

Lindgren-Fox

Bitetto-Smith

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Devils season suspended due to COVID

Posted on February 1, 2021 by hasan4978

Might as well post yesterday’s highlights again since it’s the last Devils highlights we’re getting for a few days at least. Because just as I feared after the positive tests (excuse me, COVID list additions) of Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac this weekend, the other shoe dropped today with four new additions to the COVID list – Pavel Zacha, Andreas Johnsson, Michael McLeod and Janne Kuokkanen. As a result, the Devils’ next three games have all been postponed indefinitely and their season will be paused for at least the next week.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1356363909347876865?s=20

It’s not as if the Devils are the first team to get games canceled this year either. So far by my count, the Stars, Sharks and Vegas (at least) have all had to have pauses and we’re only three weeks into the season. That doesn’t even count the Capitals’ protocol violation fiasco that shelved a lot of their key players. For all we know the Devils might have had one too with the amount of cases that popped up instantaneously. God knows the league’s more interested in keeping as much secrecy around positive tests as possible than in having adequate protocols to play an indoor sport in the winter when cases are spiking around the country.

There’s no one person to blame here although clearly our outbreak started with Mackenzie Blackwood last week and has now extended to six other players in a three-day span. All in all ten players are now on the COVID list including the necessary quarantines. And we don’t know yet what, if any protocols were violated or if – as seems to be the case around the league – they just aren’t good enough right now to get through a complete NHL season.

You can blame who you want, blame the NHLPA for opposing stricter standards, the NHL for not enforcing them or individual players themselves although I hesitate to get into the shame game when we don’t know the circumstances around every flunked test. And one other point I almost forgot…we’re about to find out whether the virus can spread in-game between teams now because the Devils just played a back-to-back with the Sabres when four of our guys popped with positive tests right after. The league is gonna get some blowback for letting yesterday’s game even happen if it turns out the Sabres get a rash of positive tests because of it.

On a related note, shame on the Devils Twitter for making a snow day joke out of our first postponement tomorrow. COVID is no matter to be flip about, just ask Marco Rossi. Even if the first-round draft pick says he’s optimistic about his return next year, the fact a 19-year old has to miss a whole season due to the virus speaks volumes over how serious it can be even for world-class athletes. And just how little we know of the long-term effects.

I admit I was probably wrong myself that the NHL would be able to get through a full season citing the NFL’s ability to do so against the odds. Then again I was also wrong in my fatalism that the NFL and MLB wouldn’t be able to do so, which means I should stay out of the prediction game when it comes to this. If there is one silver lining right now (besides the fact we are still early enough in the season to be able to squeeze in postponements) it’s that all of our other quarantined and returning from injury players can hopefully get back by the time we’re able to resume practice again.

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