Game #30: Kreider: “We don’t shoot enough pucks”

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Derek

AP Photo credit Los Angeles Kings via Getty Images

Tonight was a frustrating one for the Rangers. They were coming off a nice 5-0 shutout win over the Golden Knights. However, like I unfortunately predicted, they beat the harder team and lost to the team that’s not as good at Los Angeles. The end result was a sleep inducing 3-1 loss that invoked flashbacks to the exasperating 2014 Stanley Cup loss to the Kings at annoying Staples Center.

It’s not just because Jonathan Quick turned back the clock and nearly had a shutout to outplay Henrik Lundqvist. It was due to the game itself. The Rangers did a lot right for most of the first period. They had the shots, the better scoring chances and looks. But couldn’t score on Quick, who remembered that he once was a two-time Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe winner. He made 29 saves including a couple of great ones by robbing Kaapo Kakko with a pad stop. He was good.

Before I dive into the two goals Lundqvist gave up in his first start in eight days, I want to talk about what Chris Kreider told MSG’s John Giannone following the loss. When asked about the game, he was very pointed in his remarks.

“We don’t shoot enough pucks. Again. It’s always the same thing when we lose.”

Kreider was dead on about it. We heard Joe Micheletti go on and on about how many times this team passes up wide open shots. Particularly Kakko, who’s becoming way too predictable. Yes. He had quite a few chances to bury one tonight. To be fair, he wound up with a game high eight shots. That is a good amount. However, there were other opportunities to where he passed right into the teeth of the Kings disciplined defense, which was content to sit back in a 1-3-1 once Dustin Brown scored on Lundqvist with 10.1 seconds left in the first.

That’s how LA plays under veteran coach Todd McLellan. It’s the only way they can be successful. They’re a last place hockey club that’ll wind up in the NHL Lottery. However, they do play hard for their coach. Even as bad as they looked early on, they hung around thanks to some heroics from Quick, who always is strong down low due to his athleticism. The guy competes hard. Even if he’s not the guy he once was. Similar to Lundqvist, who gave Quick credit for having a good game. Both were good, but it once again felt like Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. Or in this case, Lundqvist playing the Phil character who has to live through the same exact day no matter what he tries.

There weren’t many power plays in this Quickly played game. See what I did there? It was fast moving thankfully because it wasn’t a Picasso or Renoir. This made you question your fandom. Why do we stay up and do this to ourselves? It sounds like a Pythagorean Theorem. If this, then that. Or another philosophy course. I took a few of those in college and even got an A in my final one. Philosophy can certainly apply to hockey.

On a night interrupted by the Yankees going berserk literally by giving Gerrit Cole NINE YEARS (holy guacamole!) and $324 million to go help them win a 28th World Series after a decade without making one, here we were watching crappy hockey on MSG 3 due to the god awful Knickerbockers (I’m dead) and the dizzying and dismal Devils (I listened to the first two periods and Chico Resch sounded so disheartened by what he was seeing). You cannot make this stuff up. Honestly, I hope Dolan loses his mind and sells for the love of sanity. Hey. The Wilpons did with Hasan’s Mets. But their fans have to wait five more years.

Okay. Back to the game. In a real good opening period which included a power play where they had the puck for the whole damn thing, the Rangers failed to score on a sharp Quick. He was stopping everything. When he wasn’t, Mika Zibanejad was misfiring his normally accurate one-timer wide. He missed the net three times. Then even attempted a fourth shot that didn’t hit its intended target. There was a Tony DeAngelo point shot that Kreider just missed tipping in. You even had a Kakko shot from a sharp angle that Quick turned away. He was in the zone.

How much so? The point blank save on Filip Chytil on the doorstep was fantastic. It was classic Quick. This wasn’t the aging netminder that entered with an .887 save percentage. It was vintage Quick as he usually is versus Lundqvist. Maybe if David Quinn had started Alexandar Georgiev, the Rangers might’ve won. This isn’t pinning it on him completely. But it’s just that they play better for Georgiev, who’s the better goalie right now. Despite what MSG wants you to think. Not every fan is blind or naive like other blogs.

On most nights, getting 23 of 25 stops from Lundqvist would result in a win. Not at Staples Center, who again showed no class by playing the ridiculous “Nanana, Hey Goodbye!”, garbage following Adrian Kempe’s empty netter. They are the most bush league arena. I hope the Lakers choke! That fanbase doesn’t deserve anything. Let’s Go Clippers!

Alright. Enough basketball on this post. I hardly watch anymore. I basically disowned my team after 35 years. Sad. But necessary. Thankfully, Dolan stays out of the Rangers business. That allows them to rebuild this thing the right way. There will be some very interesting decisions forthcoming. That’s for a later date.

When you play as well as the team did for almost the entire first period, you better make it count. The Rangers couldn’t do it versus Quick. He stopped 14 shots altogether. They were unable to go high on him. This isn’t a big goalie. He takes risks and relies on his reflexes the same way Mike Richter did. That’s what makes Quick fun. Just like Richter, who won the team’s last Cup. It truly has lasted a lifetime. Sorry Sam Rosen.

Unfortunately, my prediction came true. The one where your team dominates but can’t score. That usually spells doom. Sure enough, it did.

It took until the final frantic minute for things to come apart. The forwards that included Brendan Lemieux, whose diving block was terrific- couldn’t clear the zone. So, Lemieux, Brett Howden and Jesper Fast got trapped in along with defensemen Marc Staal and Adam Fox by a relentless Kings forecheck. They must’ve attempted about eight shots. Lundqvist made some saves, but eventually the entire five man unit tired out. They watched the Kings pass the puck across until a dazed Lundqvist fell down and could only watch Brown finish off a great pass across the crease from Tyler Toffoli. He scored it with 10.1 seconds left in the period.

An absolute crusher. Once that happened, you knew this game was going to be tough. The Kings don’t have much skill. Ilya Kovalchuk doesn’t even play anymore. He was a healthy scratch for a 15th straight time. Cue the flashbacks to irrational NYR Twitter with these knuckleheads wanting our team to sign him. I’m not kidding. I could easily find old tweets and expose these frauds. But there’s no point. The Kings are on the hook for $6.25 million and there’s still one more year remaining on the contract. Hahahaha! The sad aspect is Kovalchuk could’ve been one of the great scorers. Instead, he chose to go home to Russia over the Devils. What a turncoat!

The Kings still have Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday like me. They have Brown, Toffoli, Quick, Jeff Carter, Trevor Lewis and Kyle Clifford. So, there are still some holdovers from that last championship. Those guys know how to win close checking games. They did it again on Tuesday.

The second was just mind numbing. The Rangers couldn’t or wouldn’t be able to match an improved Kings work ethic. I knew it was coming. There was no way they were going to play as poorly. Sure enough, they tightened up the neutral zone which made it feel like it was ’98-99 trap hockey. It was that hard on the eyes. I considered gauging them. Just kidding. I just want to make sure you’re awake. For a very long time, the Rangers remained stuck on three shots in the period. They turned over pucks and fell into the trap.

There also was some rough stuff. In the first, Chytil took a dangerous knee on knee hit from Austin Wagner. They didn’t like it. Unintentional or not, they’re lucky Chytil was okay for his next shift. He definitely was in some pain at the bench, but didn’t exit. Later, in one of the most puzzling decisions, Quinn decided to move Chytil to the wing on a mismatched line centered by Brett Howden and flanked by Lemieux. It was a total waste.

What in the heck is Quinn thinking? You have to play Chytil at center. That’s it. I didn’t care for Ryan Strome on the right side either at the start. As critical as I am of him, let Pavel Buchnevich sink or swim on a second line with Chytil and Kreider. That has to be their second line. Especially now that they seem committed to Kakko playing top line with Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin. Strome should center Lemieux and Fast. Howden is a checking center who gives good effort, but isn’t a big scorer. Let him center the fourth line with Greg McKegg and Brendan Smith.

With most of the play at exclusively five-on-five, the Kings applied more puck pressure and controlled the pace. They got more shots through on Lundqvist, who kept it at one goal for a while. However, he had a bad hiccup when he misplayed a heavy shot from defenseman Matt Roy (who?). Instead of gloving it out of harm’s way, he let the puck go off the glove and behind right to Toffoli, who outmuscled Ryan Lindgren to put in the rebound for a 2-0 lead at 13:22. That proved costly. After reviewing the Kings first goal, I gave Lundqvist a pass on it due to the pass across with the five man unit dead exhausted. This was one he had to have. It’s that simple.

You knew this wasn’t going to be a high scoring shootout. Not once LA went in front. They can’t play that way. That meant an uphill climb for the Blueshirts. It also meant clutch saves like the pad denial Quick made on Kakko. Similar to his stone job on Chytil. That’s what he can do. Neither were able to get the puck up. That summed the night up.

In a good character move and very brave at that, Brady Skjei sought retribution on Wagner by dropping the gloves for Chytil. I loved it. Sure. It was a boring wrestling match. But it showed me something. I didn’t know Skjei had that in him. As critical as I’ve been, I really admire what he did. He told Giannone that he was trying to change the momentum. Something most knowledgeable hockey fans understand. Especially when you’re down two with nothing happening. Good for Brady!

After being outshot 10-5, the Rangers knew they had to come with more in the final period. The effort was there. However, the execution wasn’t. They continued to fire pucks into Quick’s lower pads. His biggest strength. He wasn’t having it. It was going to take something special to beat him.

There was another interesting dustup when Smith was challenged by Kings enforcer Kurtis MacDermid. Upset with an otherwise clean hit on a teammate caught in an awkward spot coming out of his end, MacDermid cleanly beat Smith with two heavy rights that landed for the knockdown. It wasn’t a fair fight. Kudos to Smith for doing it. But there was nothing wrong with the hit.

I’m in agreement with Rosen on this issue. If you deliver a clean old fashioned hit, there shouldn’t be any fight. This is the ugly part of today’s game I don’t agree with. It’s wussy hockey. Good checks are part of the game. Hit back the way DeAngelo did in this game on Clifford, who acted like a punk later by getting away with an uncalled cross-check on Lemieux. Even Panarin went back at a King after a scrum. I love it. He doesn’t back down. Exactly the attitude you want from your star player.

It really looked like it would be a Turn Back The Clock Quick shutout. But just as I was about to tweet it, Panarin scored a late power play goal by converting on a rebound created by Kreider in front. Kakko took the shot and Kreider freed the loose puck up right to Panarin for his team-leading 15th with under 31 ticks left. He has points in 23 of 30 games. What a player!

At least there would be no shutout for Quick, who definitely wanted it. You could tell by his focus. I respect that. He is a potential Hall of Famer. But I don’t know if he’ll get in. He broke down due to injuries and a taxing style while his team declined. He will make the US Hockey Hall of Fame. A great honor for the kid from Milford, Connecticut. He’s 33 and has 316 victories with a career 2.39 GAA, .913 save percentage and 51 shutouts. Not bad for a guy they thought wouldn’t be as good as Jonathan Bernier. Oops.

Even though they pulled Lundqvist again, it didn’t matter. There would be no Broadway Miracle On 34th Street. Buchnevich failed to get the puck in which led to Kempe scoring into the vacated Rangers net with 15 seconds left.

That kinda game. That kinda night. They got what they deserved. Even though I liked what Quinn had to say about the Kings being “a tough matchup” due to their size and how heavy they are. A good honest assessment. Now, if only he’d play Georgiev more and stop tinkering with his lines.

Oh well. Onto the next one. That’s the Jekyll and Hyde Sharks, who cannot defend or get consistent netminding. What will happen at the Shark Tank on Thursday? If I were a betting person, take the over. You’ll see much more time and space with scoring and shots up.

Battle Of Hudson 3 🌟

3rd 🌟 Matt Roy, Kings (2 assists, +2 in 19:54)

2nd 🌟 Tyler Toffoli, Kings, (game-winner for 7th of season plus 🍎, +3 in 13:59)

1st 🌟 Jonathan Quick, Kings (29 saves including 14 for 14 in great 1st, still owns us and Lundqvist)

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Game #29: A birthday present courtesy of Georgiev, Panarin and Rangers Vegas style and smile

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Derek

AP Photo credit New York Rangers via Getty Images

Okay. So I didn’t make it a secret that it was my birthday. Believe it or not, I blew out 43 candles (not literally). I don’t know where all the time has gone. It’s astonishing what you can remember long-term as you get older. Forget about what you can’t. The special moments stand out.

I knew I wouldn’t see a second of tonight’s game in Vegas. How I wish I was since it turned into a very satisfying and gratifying Rangers 5-0 win over the Golden Knights. The first time they’ve been shutout since last February. T-Mobile Arena is a great home ice advantage for their third-year franchise. The fans are into it and they certainly put on a great show.

While other fans don’t always like how over the top it is due to the mascot, drummers, theatrics, dancers and whoever they invite to ring that cool sounding horn, I find it entertaining. They’re making it fun for everyone. I’ve heard rave reviews about Vegas. Think whatever you want.

What I’ll say is after enjoying a nice quiet Japanese birthday dinner with our family, I hungout with my brother and some friends. It was fun. We shared a few laughs watching bad football and talking pathetic Knicks basketball while wondering about the hot stove baseball winter meetings. Plus a small cupcake courtesy of our friend Jon’s future Mom of his first baby. It’s due by the end of December. Maybe it’ll even be born on Da Big Man’s birthday! My forever friend Brian. Or as we know him as Mr. Buffalo. 😀

Being that I only saw the first goal from the Christmas gift of Artemi Panarin that keeps on giving (goal and assist), that was aesthetically pleasing. Especially since fans on NYR Twitter were going Gaga over Alexandar Georgiev. In his third straight start, he was fantastic. Georgiev stopped all 17 Vegas shots in the first period on his way to his second shutout over the last four outings. He made 38 saves altogether to improve the Rangers to 9-1 following a defeat. Very impressive for a young team.

Here’s more. In a game they were outshot 38-25 and out-attempted 71-39, it didn’t matter due to Georgiev and opportunistic scoring from the boys. I only have one question. If David Quinn stuck with Georgiev after the tough 2-1 home loss against Montreal, what will he decide for Tuesday night at Staples Center against the Kings? I wouldn’t want to be a fly on Henrik Lundqvist’s wall right now. He’s not the starter at the moment. For now, that belongs to the emerging 23-year old Georgie.

I’m not going to analyze it any further. It’s a coaching decision. There are three more games out West including the Kings, Sharks and Coyotes. One more win and they earn at least a split like I thought.

As for the win, let’s just say they got the job done and leave it at that. Was it perfect? From the looks of the highlights and game sheet, no. They also lost 34 of 56 face-offs and took not one, but two delay of game minor penalties for clearing the puck over the glass. That btw was two experienced leaders in Marc Staal and Mika Zibanejad. They did contribute offensively. So, there’s that.

There’s also this. The Rangers put five pucks past Malcolm Subban, who again was in net for Marc-Andre Fleury. Condolences go out to him and his family on the passing of his Dad. He’s one of the classiest players this league still has. A future Hall of Famer like Lundqvist, who again had a close view of the action from the bench.

In the first, they got superior goaltending from a red hot Georgiev, who denied the Golden Knights on point-blank chances. He is very good down low and uses his athleticism well. He remains very calm no matter what happens. Look at the comeback in Montreal for proof. He was bad and recovered to make key stops to give his team a chance. That takes extreme focus.

While they got big early saves from the second-year netminder, the Rangers struck twice within 14 seconds to stun the Golden Knights. The first play was splendid. It was Staal taking a Tony DeAngelo feed and making a perfect pass for a cutting Panarin, who did the rest by firing home his team-leading 14th at 11:03. He’s only gone seven games without a point. There would be no repeat of Friday.

On the next shift, Ryan Strome reemerged when he received a Ryan Lindgren pass down low and set up the previously snake bit Chris Kreider for his seventh at 11:17. That had to feel good. The goal snapped a six-game goal drought. It was also his first point since scoring against Minnesota on 11/25. For the season, Kreider is 7-7-14 in 29 games. There’s still enough time for him to turn it around. He’s worked hard every game. I’m happy he got one. Especially on my birthday. I love what he brings.

Following a period they were opportunistic in due to Georgiev, they took advantage of a Ryan Reaves hi-sticking double minor. On the second part, Adam Fox passed for Strome, who did some more work by skating into space and finding Jacob Trouba for a huge power play goal that made it 3-0. Strome had cooled off recently. But it was his first two point game (two assists) since the Montreal comeback on 11/23. The puck hasn’t gone in for him over the last 11 including Sunday night, but he’s not a high volume shooter. His last goal came in Florida on 11/16. He still has tallied eight assists over that span.

The interesting thing about Strome is he’s a restricted free agent next summer. He currently makes $3.1 million. Based on how well he’s produced thus far where Strome currently has 26 points (6-20-26) in 29 contests, he’s making a strong case to stay. But at what cost? The Rangers can’t afford to overpay him. If he is willing to take between $4.5 to $5 million AAV over say three years, I say do it. But it will all depend on the next two months. It’ll be a hard decision. What will his value be before the trade deadline? Stay tuned.

The Rangers continued to make the most of their opportunities. It was 3:18 later when Trouba made a great pass to set up Jesper Fast for his fourth at 10:32 to go ahead 4-0 in the second period. Brady Skjei recorded a secondary assist. He’s quietly putting up points since being reunited with Trouba. That’s where he has to be regardless of his defensive shortcomings. Trouba is the rock solid, tough physical partner Skjei needs to play with.

A Staal delay of game minor was cancelled out by a Shea Theodore slashing minor ten seconds into a Vegas power play. That’s how you kill any hopes of a comeback. Georgiev still had to stop 15 shots in the period to give him 32 through 40 minutes.

The Golden Knights lost rookie Cody Glass to an injury during the second. Hopefully, it’s not too serious. He’s a gifted young player with a bright future. I wonder if sacrificing Nick Suzuki in the Max Pacioretty deal that included Tomas Tatar to Montreal is going to work out for Vegas. Pacioretty is putting together a good season. He’s got 10 goals and 26 points in 32 games so far. It’s working out well for the Habs. Tatar has 25 points (9-16-25) and Suzuki is 6-9-15 in his rookie year.

In the third, Brendan Lemieux obliged respected Knights middleweight William Carrier in a scrap. They each got five minute majors for fighting. However, the Rangers were stingier than the first two periods by permitting only six Vegas shots. In fact, shots were dead even at 6-6.

One of those New York shots had the fortune to go in. On their final power play, Panarin worked the puck to Kaapo Kakko, who then got it to Zibanejad down low. He tried to center it for Kreider in front. Instead, he got a lucky bounce with the puck going off a Vegas player for his seventh of the season with 4:55 remaining. Since returning from a lower body injury, Zibanejad is 3-3-6 in seven games. That includes five points (2-3-5) in the last five. He’s heating up. For the season, he remains a point-per-game with 17 in 16 games.

On a night Georgiev became the first Blueshirt since Antti Raanta to record two shutouts over four starts, it wasn’t all positive. I noticed that Filip Chytil got dropped down to the fourth line, receiving only 10:15 of ice time. Brett Howden got moved up finishing with 15:37. One area of concern is that Chytil received no power play time. Eh. I prefer he does.

Meanwhile, Pavel Buchnevich went a fifth consecutive game without a point despite getting 15:12 including 2:12 of power play time. How can he get that much ice if he had only one shot and didn’t hit the game sheet? Mystifying. Buchnevich has one point (goal) over the last eight. He must perform better.

The Buchnevich issue is going to come to a head sooner or later. I see him for what he is. That’s all I’ll say for now. A future post could be coming.

All in all, it was a good night. A fun one too. A nice birthday present to go with sashimi dinner, nice cards and a piece of cake. 🙂

Battle Of 3 🌟

3rd 🌟 Jacob Trouba, Rangers (1-1-2 including power play goal, +1 in 25:03 including 2:07 PP, 3:36 shorthanded with 3 hits, 3 blocks and 2 takeaways)

2nd 🌟 Artemi Panarin, Rangers (13th of season plus 🍎 for 14th multi-point game of season, 36 points thru 29 games, what a player!)

1st 🌟 Alexandar Georgiev, Rangers (38 saves for 2nd shutout over last 4 starts)

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The road trip begins tonight for Blueshirts

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Derek

Less than two hours from now, the Rangers will drop the puck against the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Vegas. The Knights defeated them 4-1 this past week in New York City. They took five of a possible six points by beating the Devils and losing to the Islanders in extras.

The Knights are tough. They can score goals, defend and get solid goaltending. Usually, it’s from Marc-Andre Fleury. He lost his father recently. So, it’s been Malcolm Subban doing the job for them.

I won’t be around for the first of the four game Western swing with stops at the Kings, Sharks and Coyotes. What I’ll say is that you never know what you’ll get from David Quinn’s team. It’s possible they could win tonight against the better opponent and lose to the Kings, who fire a ton of shots each game, but don’t have too much success. I think a split is realistic.

I don’t even know who’s starting in net. No updates yet. Will it be Henrik Lundqvist, who probably would love a chance to bounce back from his cruddy start in the home defeat to Vegas? Or does Quinn continue to play the hot hand in Alexandar Georgiev, who wasn’t to blame for the 2-1 hard luck loss to the Habs. The winner came from Nate Thompson with 67 seconds left on a strange play. Ryan Lindgren made a mistake with a stretch pass right into the teeth of the Montreal trap to fuel the transition.

Does Pavel Buchnevich snap out of it later, or is he just a lost cause who should be moved? What about Kaapo Kakko, who’s play has been inconsistent? He gets another chance with Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin? Does that spark him?

These questions and more will get answered. It’s my birthday. So, I’ll be out having a nice Japanese dinner. I’ll recap it at some point.

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Kravtsov return to KHL a disaster

Posted on December 8, 2019 by Derek

When Vitali Kravtsov decided to leave Hartford and go home to play with Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL, it was hopeful that the Rangers 2018 first round pick could still develop while being in a more comfortable setting.

Instead, the 19-year old Russian the team took with the ninth pick finds himself assigned to the VHL by Traktor. That’s the minor league affiliate of the KHL.

It hasn’t gone well for Kravtsov, who got only one total shift in his last two games with Traktor. The same KHL team he excelled with last year when he produced eight goals and 13 assists totaling 21 points in 50 games. He added two assists in four playoff games.

After recording only one assist in only five games for the Wolf Pack, Kravtsov packed up and left. He also deleted all his Rangers photos on his Instagram account. Something that got a lot of attention. It definitely wasn’t mature and gave people a reason to be concerned.

They thought he was ready to come over and develop. But Kravtsov probably thought he’d be handed a spot on the big club. It didn’t happen due to a numbers crunch. Even Filip Chytil went down to Hartford following a disappointing training camp. However, he handled himself like a pro and produced to get the call back up. Having played for the Pack before during his first pro year, that experience helped.

For Kravtsov, he proved he wasn’t quite ready to play in North America. Or work. Even if I thought he showed some promise during preseason, it was only preseason. The organization had to do what they thought was right for his long-term development. They couldn’t have expected Kravtsov to get scratched and then have his ice time reduced due to not adjusting to the North American style. Or to tap out.

That’s what he did. While the Rangers drew criticism for how Kravtsov was handled, maybe it’s time to start looking at the player they drafted. He showed immaturity by deleting photos on his Instagram. He went home and probably thought it would go better. It hasn’t. He hasn’t played well. In 11 games for Traktor, he has two goals and an assist with a minus-four.

Now, Kravtsov has been sent down to play in the VHL. Something MSG analyst Steve Valiquette referred to as “playing hockey on the moon.” That’s about as critical as Valiquette will be. He should know. He spent two years playing in Russia. Yikes.

So, is it time to panic? I don’t know. Obviously, Kravtsov needs to get his bleep in gear. Right now, it’s looking like a wasted year of development. Before you criticize, look how poorly the Rangers handled Lias Andersson his first year. Now, it’s two years later and he’s been up and down with Hartford after hardly playing in the 17 games with the big club. Andersson had two goals and an assist last night in a win over Binghamton. But he also took two penalties including a bad one in the third. A friend went and reported back.

Was taking Kravtsov a mistake? That’s too early to tell. There’s still time for him to salvage the season. But the KHL ends much earlier and Traktor isn’t good. The Rangers do have the option to recall Kravtsov if they want. But that isn’t expected until the KHL season concludes.

For now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

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Rumor: Taylor Hall to the Avalanche

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Derek

Normally, I don’t put too much stock in rumors. However, it seems likely that Taylor Hall has played his last home game for the Devils. If that truly is the case, the former 2017-18 Hart Trophy winner at least scored on the power play in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Blackhawks.

The latest rumor has the potential 2020 unrestricted free agent scoring forward landing in Colorado. If it happens, it would strengthen an already very good team led by Nathan MacKinnon that is looking to challenge for the Stanley Cup.

https://twitter.com/DocKelley41/status/1203368154656731136?s=19

Tyler Kelley was correct on the Devils trading for and signing Nikita Gusev last summer. We’ll see if he nails this one as well. Chris Wassel I know quite well. He is reputable and usually has good sources.

If it does come to fruition, what will the Devils get back in return for Hall? Is recent 2019 Avalanche fourth pick Bowen Byram a possibility? The highly rated 18-year old defense prospect has three goals and 14 assists in 26 games this season. In ’18-19, he posted 26 goals and 45 assists totaling 71 points to break out for the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. Byram added 26 points (8-18-26) in 22 playoff games.

A guy like Hall should bring back a good return. Even with him off to a slow start in the goal department with only 5 to go with 18 helpers for 23 points on a low scoring Devils team, that still leads them in points. If he does indeed move to a contender such as Colorado, it could be just what he needs. He’s 28 and his average cap hit is $6 million this season.

Following an injury riddled ’18-19 that limited him to 33 games where he still produced 37 points (11-26-37), it’s been a struggle to finish for the Calgary native. He’s heard the boos at home games and vented to reporters about it which definitely didn’t sit well with fans. It’s astonishing that only a year and a half ago, he carried the team to the postseason with 93 points (39-54-93) to become the first New Jersey Devil to win league MVP. Ironically, he edged out MacKinnon in a very close vote.

Imagine if they wind up playing together in Colorado with Mikko Rantanen. Colorado team captain Gabriel Landeskog just returned after missing over a month. He scored a goal in his first game back. A one goal win at Montreal.

The Avalanche are looking for secondary scoring. If they can add Hall to an improved supporting cast that features Nazem Kadri, Joonas Donskoi and Andre Burakovsky, they certainly will be tough to beat next Spring. Featuring Calder favorite Cale Makar on the blueline and Philipp Grubauer in net, Colorado would be all in.

As for the Devils, who currently sit in last place with 23 points, which is only more than lowly Detroit, it looks like another rebuild for a team that replaced John Hynes with interim coach Alain Nasreddine. PK Subban has been a colossal bust so far who seems more visible on Twitter promoting crap while his play for the team has been brutal. Wayne Simmonds isn’t scoring consistently. Neither is top pick Jack Hughes, who recently returned from a lower body injury after blocking a shot. Sami Vatanen will play tonight which is good news.

The thing is both Vatanen and Simmonds also could be moved since they’re in the last year of their contracts. But moving on from Hall is huge. GM Ray Shero must get it right. Otherwise, more New Jersey fans will lose faith completely.

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Tumultuous week leads only to more excuses and losing

Posted on December 7, 2019 by hasan4978

By now the firing of former Devils coach John Hynes is old news, but I haven’t blogged since then in part due to general apathy of the season at this point, and in part because I wanted to see an actual game or two under interim coach Alain Nasreddine before even starting to draw any conclusions.  It’s tempting to say Nasreddine is little more than Hynes’ mini-me, having served on his staffs both at the NHL and AHL level for a decade now coaching the defense/PK, and I didn’t want him as the interim choice for that reason (and the fact the defensemen haven’t progressed on his watch) – even if I also didn’t want to blindly assume it’s just going to be the same failed ‘system’ with a different voice.  I would have preferred guys like Claude Noel or Peter Horachek, who have been coaches in the league before and both currently employed by the team to serve as the interim, and Horachek did take Nasreddine’s spot in the assistant’s chair.

Still, after watching a good chunk of the Devils’ blown lead against Vegas on Tuesday when Nasreddine took over in the middle of a back-to-back, and their ill-fated shootout loss last night my fears are slowly coming to life…that the pick of Nasreddine was more of a ‘well maybe we need a new voice now, but goshdarn it I’m going to force them to make the same system work!’ pick by GM Ray Shero.  While Shero professed to have other options, he also made it clear Nasreddine was going to get a long look as the head guy.  Granted I like that he tacitly took the players to task during his press conference on Tuesday by saying nobody was playing up to expectations, but it also seemed like he was just angry their performance made him fire his hand-picked buddy rather than accepting that both the coach and the system were not working.

Now the coach is finally out but this is still the same ol’ system of nothing…defensemen taking wild chances and not knowing where to cover, forwards getting too pass-happy and strange decisions like benching the dynamic Nikita Gusev for the 3-on-3 OT.  Gusev may have his issues 5-on-5, but you want a guy like that in open ice with space to work.  Especially after Gusev and Sami Vatanen both got assists on the Devils’ lone goal of the night, a power play tally by Taylor Hall, just the fifth of the season for the free agent to be.  Yes I’m aware with a coaching change things won’t happen overnight but these first two games seemingly confirm my pre-bias against Nasreddine as an interim hire – or really as any kind of staff retention at all.

Sure, they’re playing more up-tempo than they have recently…that’s just reverting back to what failed early in the season as opposed to the low-event and low-IQ hockey they’d turtled into lately.  Playing more up-tempo might be more asthetically pleasing but it isn’t going to do much results-wise if your defense is just going to make the same amateur mistakes and the forwards plus PK Subban are going to have the same dissapointing production.  Subban is now up to sixteen straight games without a point, I feel like starting one of those internet memes like when Scott Gomez didn’t score a goal for over a year or Cory Schneider didn’t have a win for over a year.  What’s even scarier is Subban doesn’t have a power play point for the ENTIRE season.  I was floored when I heard that stat the other day.  This is a guy who as recently as two years ago had five goals and twenty-five points on the PP.

Even getting a PP goal last night, the Devils’ PP’s were not impressive on the whole either.  Perhaps the only reason we got off to a good start last night was the Blackhawks took three straight early penalties.  Though our first two PP’s were the usual mix of inept zone entries and blocked shots finally they found an opening to score on the third one.  Unfortunately two of the three guys who combined for that goal were nowhere to be found in the three-on-three OT – Gusev with the aformentioned benching and Vatanen after YET ANOTHER upper-body injury when he got hit in the head with a puck late in last night’s game.  Vatanen’s a good little player, and seemingly a happy-go-lucky personality but unfortunately since being brutally taken out by Nikita Kucherov during the 2018 playoffs the concussion and injury issues have only multiplied.

What was comical about last night was how desperate the team is for something – anything to build off, since Hall actually cited last night’s game where the team struggled to generate anything for the better part of the last two periods as a positive.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1203145814438227972

Yeah maybe if we weren’t playing a mediocre team on a back-to-back.  Funny how the Devils always look like the team playing the rear end of a back-to-back when playing other teams on their back end of games.  I saw someone say last night this was the eighth time the Devils have played another team on their second back-to-back game.  Doesn’t seem like it since we haven’t taken advantage either of the last two games when both Vegas and Chicago played us and looked like the fresher team late.  If Nasreddine was Jacques Lemaire circa 2010 he’d be coming in saying the players were out of shape and lost the ability to play the game.

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go last night, ironically I probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the coaching change and the curiosity over how the team would play.  I’m aware it takes a while to break bad habits…it took Lemaire eight games to start to turn the worm from the Johnny Mac disaster.  I just have no evidence Nasreddine has the ability to improve things or the willingness to change too much to really get excited about much anymore.  Our new coach bump has led to more of the same ol’ same ol’ giving up three goals in the third period against Vegas on Tuesday, followed by a desultory performance against a mediocre Blackhawks team.  It would have been nice to see a win, even an ugly one but unfortunately after playing well enough to earn the third star in regulation (including a couple of breakaway stops), Mackenzie Blackwood was abused in the shootout by the Blackhawks.  Despite both Gusev and rookie Jesper Boqvist scoring on the Devils’ first two shots of the shootout, three straight misses by Hall, Kyle Palmeri and the returning Jack Hughes (after missing three games due to injury) was enough to doom the Devils to defeat.

Next up on the docket for the team is a tough four-game road trip beginning in Nashville with our own travel back-to-back and progressing through Dallas, Colorado and Arizona next week.  Like Ken Daneyko would say on any Devils telecast…OH BOY.

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Game #28: Canadiens get retribution, disappointing loss for Rangers

Posted on December 7, 2019 by Derek

AP Photo credit Matt Campbell via Canadian Press

Anytime you lose a game late, it sucks. Especially the way the Rangers did. Nate Thompson’s rebound goal past Alexandar Georgiev with 1:07 left in regulation gave the Canadiens retribution for that wild and crazy 6-5 home loss 13 days ago.

This time, Montreal came out on the right side by lulling the Blueshirts to sleep in a 2-1 win at what had to be a bored and sleepy Madison Square Garden. I’m not going to make that as an excuse. Just because Claude Julien had his team sit back and pounce at the right moment doesn’t excuse the younger Blueshirts from not playing smarter and getting the puck in deep.

It’s another lesson learned. As disappointing as it is to lose a game that late in regulation to a similar team that’s been struggling, these are the moments where we will learn more about the roster. I am curious to see how they respond on my birthday Sunday evening at Vegas. You know that won’t be easy. And I doubt I’ll be around.

I am going to be honest here. Watching how the third period of a tie game with good goaltending from both Carey Price and Georgiev materialized, it was painfully obvious that it was going to end bad for our team. They aren’t as polished or experienced like the Habs, who have higher expectations. By sitting back and shutting off the neutral zone, they were patiently waiting for that big mistake to come.

Prior to Thompson cashing in on a rebound, there were other mistakes made. The younger Rangers took too many high risks on fancy passes rather being more deliberate. This was always going to be a tougher, tighter checking game than the one they played up north. Especially with both teams coming off games on Thursday.

So while it hurt to see them lose in the awful fashion they did, I understood why. I knew it was coming. Sometimes, you wish you could be wrong. Unfortunately, I wasn’t. I’m not a gambler like my Rangers friend Sean. But I would’ve took the Habs and the under. It was just a hunch they’d be out for redemption and make it a closely fought game.

David Quinn opted to give Georgiev another start. Originally, it was supposed to be Henrik Lundqvist. First, it sounded like he was ill. Then, Quinn told the media he could’ve played. But decided to stick with the hot hand. So, Georgiev got the rare opportunity to go in both ends of a back-to-back. He acquitted himself well. Following a mammoth 45 save effort to carry the team to a undeserved win over Columbus, he was again solid throughout making 31 saves. It was a hard luck loss.

You had to figure a rested Price would be out for a little redemption himself after that stinker in the first meeting. He was much better finishing with a more Price like 29 saves on 30 shots. It’s what you figured would happen. I don’t blame the Canadiens for playing more close to the vest. When you’ve lost as many games recently as they have, you gotta do whatever it takes. That made it two wins over their last three. They also beat the Islanders.

This was one of those games they could’ve won. It just didn’t happen. I’m not going to go nuts over it. I’ll just give you my input on the game, which was not the most fun to watch. I’ll bet it wasn’t great to be at live either for my father, brother and his friend. What are you gonna do?

The good thing is they have another game in less than 48 hours. That’s a challenging part of the schedule with the next four games all on the road starting in Vegas followed by LA, San Jose and Arizona. I feel like two of those are winnable. Let’s see how they do in a rematch at a very lively environment at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

If there was one positive from the loss, it was that the game was mostly played at five-on-five. Only three penalties were called with two on the Habs (Ben Chiarot) and one on the Rangers (Filip Chytil). All in the second period. Otherwise, this was a fast played game with few whistles. If only more were like that. Even if I didn’t care for how tactical it became.

https://twitter.com/HeresYourReplay/status/1203123056954290176?s=09

In the first period, Montreal held a slight edge in shots 11-8. But Georgiev carried over his hot play by continuing to be a brick wall. So too was Price, who has a history of turning it on in December. This was his second straight game he was strong in. He allowed two goals to the Isles in a game they dominated. His only mistake was getting beaten cleanly by that astonishing sniper Brendan Smith. Can anyone believe the move he pulled off? That’s hockey!

In a scoreless game midway through the first, a poor line change would prove costly. With Marc Staal up high and Tony DeAngelo down low, Greg McKegg decided to go for a change with the Habs in transition. It was the wrong time to go to the bench. By the time Artemi Panarin got on the ice, Tomas Tatar passed for Phillip Danault, who was able to pass down low for a perfect Brendan Gallagher tip in for his team-leading 13th at 10:37.

No. It wasn’t Staal’s fault as one misinformed reporter tried to assert when asking Quinn during the postgame. God almighty. If these people actually paid closer attention like Joe Micheletti did by pointing out McKegg’s mistake, they’d be good at their jobs. I get that Staal was back for his first game in a month. And yes. He struggled in the first with partner Tony DeAngelo. That was expected. But most want to pin everything on him.

The Habs also hit a goalpost on another good shift with Staal and DeAngelo out there. Eventually, Staal settled down and felt more comfortable as the game went on. For now, he’s got a secure spot with a knee sprain keeping 21-year old rookie Libor Hajek out at least three weeks. Don’t expect to see him until the next decade. Hard to fathom that we’re only 27 full days away from a New Year.

It was during the early portion of the second that something unreal occurred. After Sam Rosen unveiled a great Rangers history that highlighted the original Bread Line of forgotten legends Frank Boucher, Bill and Bun Cook combining for 10 points on Dec. 6, 1932, a Habs misplay allowed Smith to get behind the defense for a breakaway. This magic moment saw the converted forward move in on Price with speed, deke and score on a beautiful backhand top cheese. He sure deserves it and the funny goal celly be did.

Brendan Lemieux did a nice imitation of Smith’s tongue on the Rangers bench. That black eye won’t go away from his classic scrap with Tom Wilson. As it turned out, that was the highlight of the night. I’m happy for Smith because he’s been such a great team guy. He also got moved up to the third line by Quinn in the third period due to more mystifying shifts from Pavel Buchnevich. Did he even play?

After even strength ruled the first half of the game, you had three instances where there were power plays. The Rangers got two in a row after a great Georgiev point blank stop robbed Artturi Lehkonen of a sure goal. Brett Howden helped out Georgie on the rebound. I thought for sure it was going to be a goal. It was an outstanding save by a young netminder, whose confidence is growing.

On two consecutive power plays due to bad minors taken by Chiarot, the Rangers had enough looks. They just couldn’t get one of their seven shots past Price, who was at his best denying Chris Kreider. Kreider remains stuck on six goals. A crazy thought in a contract year. He must be beyond frustrated. He has to turn it around.

In the third, Quinn mixed up his lines. With Smith moved up to the third line with a under the weather Ryan Strome and Buchnevich in the doghouse on the fourth line, the second-year coach decided to stick Panarin with Mika Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko. Even though Panarin created scoring chances for his line and matching defensemen, they were unable to break through on Price. Quinn did hint following the game that he’d like to see more of the trio.

I was most disappointed in Kakko, whose reluctance to shoot the puck was frustrating. Even Micheletti critiqued the team for passing up wide open shots earlier. It was Kakko, who overpassed when he got a great look due to Panarin, who’s a puck wizard. Even when he doesn’t hit the score sheet, it’s not from lack of creativity or effort. He brings it. This is the best Ranger they’ve had since Jaromir Jagr.

The Montreal winner came off what else but a Ranger failure to get the puck deep. A bad pass from Ryan Lindgren to Lemieux created the Canadiens transition they were looking for. It eventually led to Nick Suzuki setting up a quick low shot from Nick Cousins that got blocked. With Georgiev anticipating the shot and his defense scrambling, it made it an easy put away for Thompson at 18:53.

More annoying was watching every Blueshirt pass the puck instead of shoot like it was a hand grenade while searching for the equalizer. It was mind numbing. Kakko had another great opportunity to shoot. Instead, he tried a low percentage pass across that got intercepted and cleared.

Like Quinn echoed, that kind of game. That kind of night.

Battle Of 3 🌟

3rd 🌟 Nate Thompson, Canadiens (game-winner with 67 seconds left in regulation, 6 of 11 on draws, +1 in 12:22)

2nd 🌟 Alexandar Georgiev, Rangers (31 of 33 stops in hard luck defeat)

1st 🌟 Carey Price, Canadiens (29 saves including 7 of 7 shorthanded)

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Brendan Smith deserves his own thread

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Derek

So, during the second period of tonight’s game against the Canadiens, this happened.

Yes sir! That would be noted sniper Brendan Smith beating Carey Price on a breakaway. And the beautiful thing is that he pulled off a great move. Who ever would’ve believed Brendan Smith could go deke and then backhand, top shelf on Price?!?!?!?!

It’s worth one more look:

Come get your jockstrap off the ice Mr. Price.

Kudos to Smith, who’s been invaluable to this team. The goal celly was laugh at loud funny. He whooped it up and stuck out his tongue headed towards the Rangers bench.

Good for him! He deserves it.

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Georgiev to get another start due to Lundqvist illness

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Derek

When the Rangers host the Canadiens tonight at Madison Square Garden, it’ll be Alexandar Georgiev in net again. Originally, Henrik Lundqvist was supposed to get the start in the second game of a back-to-back. However, an illness will prevent him from playing.

In fact, during Georgiev’s tremendous 45 save performance last night in stealing a win at Columbus, the Rangers had an emergency backup. What if Georgiev had went down? Then it would’ve been a unique situation like we once saw happen with the Blackhawks during ’17-18 when Scott Foster appeared in a game and posted a perfect save percentage of 1.000 for stopping all seven shots he faced in a Chicago 6-2 win.

If not for Georgiev on Thursday night, the Rangers would’ve been blown out of Columbus all the way back home. They gave up 18 shots in both the first and third periods. It was the outstanding play of the second-year goalie who robbed Oliver Bjorkstrand point blank with over two minutes left, that allowed them to escape with a 3-2 victory.

As much as it was about Artemi Panarin, who scored the game-winner on a terrific one touch pass from Tony DeAngelo with under five minutes remaining in the second period, it was Alexandar The Great who stole the show. His team was outshot by a ridiculous 47-19 and out-attempted by an even crazier 85-39. But somehow won thanks to Georgiev.

So, the 23-year old makes his third start in four games against a struggling Montreal club, who will be out for revenge. How could anyone forget what happened almost two weeks ago at Bell Centre? For only the fourth time in franchise history, the Blueshirts came back from a 4-0 deficit to stun the Habs 6-5 in regulation. Montreal has lost nine of their last 10 including a 3-2 home loss last night to spoil Cayden Primeau’s debut. They did get points in three of the defeats due to reaching overtime. The only win came on Tuesday when they outplayed the Islanders defeat them 4-2 in Montreal.

Carey Price will make the start. You would think a rested Price against a tired Georgiev, who had to work extra hard, should be in Montreal’s favor. That’s why I’m leaning towards the Habs. Neither team plays great defensively. As we saw in the first meeting, a four goal lead wasn’t enough for the Canadiens to win against a classic Original Six rival they usually own up north.

Libor Hajek wore a knee brace following a sprained knee that limited him to in five minutes yesterday. It could finally be the return of Marc Staal. Well, it’s official. Staal will be playing for now.

Let the complaints begin. Hajek was definitely not as polished as fellow rookies Adam Fox or Ryan Lindgren, who actually form the most effective Rangers pair at even strength. That’s due to Brady Skjei continuing to have inconsistencies in his game even though he’s back with Jacob Trouba, whose play has steadied. It looks like DeAngelo and Staal are back together.

Who will the team recall as an extra D? Or are they okay due to Brendan Smith, who plays on the fourth line as a forward. He can always shift back to his natural position. He does it during the penalty kill. Smith has been invaluable. Who ever would’ve believed that?

Greg McKegg returns after missing six straight due to a lower body injury. As expected, Boo Nieves was assigned to Hartford. So, you’re probably looking at McKegg with Brett Howden and Smith as the fourth line.

Here’s a cool Rangers flashback to ’96. I remember this sequence too. It’s as good a three save sequence as I’ve ever seen. And by Mike Richter. ☺️

I believe that was that first round series they dropped the first two games at MSG, then went into Montreal and won both games. They wound up winning Game Five at home and finishing off the Habs in hostile territory to win that series in six. Richter was pretty amazing. It’s funny how some fans forget that part. I never have. He’s my favorite Rangers goalie.

That’s gonna do it for now. Game review later.

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Game #27: Prince George stands on his head, Panarin gets winner in return

Posted on December 6, 2019 by Derek

Alexandar The Great: It was a show from goalie Alexandar Georgiev that allowed the Rangers to win Artemi Panarin’s return by a score of 3-2 over the Blue Jackets. AP Photo credit New York Rangers

Some pictures are worth a thousand words. If you look closely at the one above courtesy of the much improved Rangers Twitter, you can see all the players on both sides competing hard while Alexandar Georgiev makes one of his 45 saves. On this night which was special for Artemi Panarin, who returned to Columbus and received a video tribute along with some jeers and cheers, it was the virtuoso performance from Alexandar The Great that allowed the Rangers to hold on for a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jackets.

I told you earlier that I was probably not going to be around. It turned out that I caught the tying goal from Brendan Lemieux on the radio with eight seconds left in the first period. I didn’t catch much else. But my brother had the game on his phone via the MSG Go App. So, he kept me posted even though I knew the Blueshirts led 3-1 despite being badly outplayed and outshot. The shots wound up 47-19 Columbus. Sheer lunacy.

Based on the amount of tweets the Rangers used to highlight how good Georgiev was, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out what happened. After shutting out the Devils the previous Saturday, he came back five days later and stole a game for his team that they didn’t deserve. Justin told me a few times that Columbus should’ve tied it. Prince George to the rescue. Good for him. He earned plenty of kudos from what I gathered on MSG. It’s about time.

Below, I’m going to look at some of Georgiev’s finest work that earned the Rangers the win.

Obviously, being able to quickly get across laterally for that rebound and kick out the puck that was ticketed for a goal is very impressive. Your basic two pad stack.

I like how he is able to reach over and athletically put the glove out in the right spot to make the big save. Just great instincts. That’s a goalie in the zone. We talk about it all the time. But just getting rid of Georgie would be a mistake. I know time is running out before he hits 60 starts. But they should keep playing him and rotate with Henrik Lundqvist. They don’t have to rush up Igor Shesterkin. Development is essential. So is patience.

You think his teammates don’t know what happened. Sometimes, you need your goalie to steal it. He did. Goalies get a lot of love for such great games.

The coolest thing I like from the interview is how calm he is. He is very composed and explains himself well. Did the shutout help? He basically said it did. It was a confidence boost. He talked about how he tries to stay calm despite facing that kind of pressure. It’s definitely not easy. It’s astonishing how any team could’ve signed Georgiev. The Rangers saw something and he’s certainly helped the team and himself. Benoit Allaire is the best in the business.

Let’s take a look at the three goal scorers. Plus a bit more insight.

Look at all the grunt work Mika Zibanejad did to set up Lemieux on this crucial tying goal with less than 10 seconds left in the first period. Ditto for Kaapo Kakko, who was looking for some love during the goal celebration. Great angle too giving fans a unique perspective of how tough hockey can be along the boards. Take the hit to make the play. Here’s a different view:

That’s just splendid work by Zibanejad to find Lemieux, who as usual put himself in the right area to get the shot off and score. That’s why he’s the Grate One. He’s got that extra ingredient that helps teams win.

This was a power play goal off the stick of Jacob Trouba. He’s starting to come around. He’s definitely the workhorse of the young blueline. This is a tough and physical player too, who doesn’t mind getting the jersey dirty. If he winds up around 40 points with double digit goals along with the hits and blocked shots, it says a lot about his character. I’ve been critical at times on him, but he’s a gamer. Here is what he said on getting a game that was stolen:

He’s right. Sometimes, you have to find different ways to win. Even if that means stealing two points. Something he referenced at one of Lundqvist’s recent performances. Having two good goalies can really help. Especially during a long winter. And given the nature of the defense which was down one man due to a knee sprain to Libor Hajek, Georgiev got it done.

You know how much this meant to Panarin. He still has some fans that love him. Plus he wound up getting the game-winner on a well executed play.

Brett Howden started that play in the corner. Then that man Tony DeAngelo got the puck over to a wide open Bread Man for a quick one-timer and a bang for number 13 late in the second period. Keep criticizing Tony Dee. He’ll just keep putting up points by making brilliant passes like that to put the frauds in their place. Here’s some old but friendly advice. Duck and cover!

Panarin gets it. He understands the situation. Even if there were some boos mixed in. I see him as just a soft spoken and nice superstar. I wish he spoke more English. He’d be a great player to market. Plus he’s Russian. You got enough Russians living in NYC. Like out here or in Brighton Beach. Очень хорошо Артеми!

Speaking of great replays, have a look at this beautiful ice level view of Seth Jones going around Pavel Buchnevich to take the puck to the tin and beat Georgiev to cut it to 3-2. Terrific stuff. And the goal horn to boot.

I read that Joe Micheletti blamed Buchnevich for the goal. Well, it was one on one and he lost Jones. So, not much disagreement. As I’ve said regarding Buch, defense isn’t his strong suit. He’s gotta put up the points. He’s in a slump.

That’s the essence and embodiment of hockey. It’s a physical sport. Nothing dirty here either. Just two players competing hard along the boards during a check. Hockey is passionate. That’s what fans love. It’s a battle.

https://twitter.com/BlueJacketsNHL/status/1202744763423875072?s=09

A nice video montage of Panarin doing what he does best. His two years in Columbus were great. I love the Bread Man nickname. It’s him. I really have a new appreciation for how special the diminutive left wing is. He’s very smart and knows how to get open while also creating space for teammates. This is a player who has a high IQ. Had he entered the league sooner, could he have been a Hall of Fame superstar like some of the other great Russian hockey players we’ve seen? I don’t see why not.

https://twitter.com/BlueJacketsNHL/status/1202746894826528768?s=09

Kudos to the Columbus Blue Jackets organization on their recognition of what John Davidson meant to the current construct of the franchise. He made them better in his seven years spent as Team President of Hockey Operations. JD is a great man! Love the song selection too. Foreigner’s “Double Vision.”

It wouldn’t be complete without some thoughts from the always interesting former Rangers coach John Tortorella. Torts doesn’t pull any punches. He clearly felt the Blue Jackets beat themselves. He’s probably not wrong. They outshot the Rangers badly, but gave up a goal in the last eight seconds and also cost themselves on a bad line change which explains why Panarin was so open for the game decider.

When you lose the talent they lost in Panarin, Matt Duchene and even Ryan Dzingel, it hurts. There’s no margin for error. Joonas Korpisalo actually has played better than Sergei Bobrovsky. Go figure. They’re probably going to finish seventh due to not having enough in a ultra competitive division. They certainly compete hard for Torts. I wonder how much longer he’ll stick around.

Battle Of Hudson 3 🌟

3rd 🌟 Brendan Lemieux, Rangers (5th of season at 19:52 of 1st tied score, 3 hits and a blocked shot in 15:26)

2nd 🌟 Artemi Panarin, Rangers (team leading 13th for game-winner, 5 shots in 8 attempts, 2 takeaways, +1 in 19:41)

1st 🌟 Alexandar Georgiev, Rangers (45 saves on 47 shots including 17 of 18 in a lopsided 3rd)

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