Game #20: Senators give younger Blueshirts a dose of reality in brutal loss

Posted on November 22, 2019 by Derek

Twenty games have now been played. By tomorrow night, the Rangers will have arrived at the quarter mark of the season. One thing they’re learning is it’s not easy to win games in this league. That’s basically a takeaway from a very disappointed coach David Quinn following a brutal 4-1 loss to the Senators in Ottawa.

As good as Wednesday’s home win over the Capitals was was as bad as this defeat was against the harder working Senators. Like Henrik Lundqvist said in a very candid postgame interview at his locker:

“They [Senators] win because they work hard. They earn their wins.”

Until they can sustain a level of consistency, the up and down nature of the Rangers will continue. For all I know, they could shock everyone by going into the House Of Horrors and upset Montreal tomorrow night. I don’t know what to expect. One thing is certain. Lundqvist will get the game off after going three in a row. It’ll be up to Alexandar Georgiev to handle the overachieving Canadiens in a crazy environment.

Sometimes, we get ahead of ourselves by thinking this team has finally figured it out. They haven’t yet. And that’s perfectly okay. Sure. Piss poor efforts like the one the Blueshirts gave tonight are unacceptable. However, there are going to be continued growing pains for this group. It’s this team that’s the youngest in the NHL. That part is sometimes forgotten.

Take my debate with a frustrated fan from Finland. He wants to blame assistant coach Lindy Ruff for what we saw. I know it’s a popular theory being spread like gospel from other spaces. But you could have Larry Robinson teaching these guys defense and there would still be struggles. Something no Ruff cynic wants to admit. If they want to get rid of him, fine. By all means do it. I don’t see it solving the problematic defensive issues they have. They’re mostly young and there are going to be mistakes.

What frustrates me is the continued underperformance of veteran defenseman Brady Skjei. He is making over $5 million which GM Jeff Gorton gave him as an investment. There’s been no improvement. In fact, he’s continued to regress. It’s looking more and more like Alain Vigneault was right about him. Remember all the expert NYR bloggers who had hissy fits over Skjei not playing in the top four the last time this team made the playoffs? They are wrong. Shocking I know. AV knew. He correctly protected Skjei from tougher match-ups. Now, we’re seeing why.

No one player has been more disappointing than the former 2012 first round pick this team selected at number 28. Here are four defensemen who have fared better in the same NHL Draft. Shayne Gostisbehere. Colton Parayko. Esa Lindell. Jaccob Slavin. Even Adam Pelech has progressed for the surprising Islanders.

Something has to give with Skjei. He can’t continue to be this inconsistent. He’s supposed to be a top four defenseman they can count on. Right now, it’s not even close. This is not a first or second year player. It’s a player in his fifth season who’s being compensated well. It’s looking like a colossal mistake by Gorton. One of the few he’s made.

When Quinn goes out of his way to critique veterans over the young players for why this team isn’t winning consistently, he’s correct. Skjei isn’t alone. Chris Kreider has five goals and 11 points in the first 20 games. That’s a huge disappointment for a veteran player in a contract year. I watch his postgame interviews and they’re usually dead on. However, he needs to apply it to himself. He’s not getting it done. Mika Zibanejad has missed 11 games and has the same production. That’s inexcusable.

On a night where Ottawa blanketed Artemiy Panarin to end his career best 12-game point streak, nobody stepped up. Ryan Strome had one of his worst games. He was too passive and partially responsible for an Ottawa power play goal that saw Skjei get outmuscled by Jean-Gabriel Pageau along the wall. It was an embarrassing sequence.

Just as bad and sad was watching Tyler Ennis go around Skjei to score a goal on Lundqvist that was a back breaker. Skjei didn’t put a body on Ennis. Even Joe Micheletti criticized the lack of physicality. You gotta check the attacking player. It’s Tyler Ennis. Not a prime Jaromir Jagr. This was appalling.

There also was the trademark goal in the first minute from Lundqvist. He got beat clean by Ottawa defenseman Thomas Chabot. The puck came to him and he didn’t miss by going high glove on Lundqvist. It didn’t help that Libor Hajek was caught in no man’s land. He helped Chabot score by accidentally getting into his own goalie’s view. It was not a good night for Hajek or even Adam Fox, who is normally so unflappable. That’s gonna happen. Ryan Lindgren took the penalty that led directly to Connor Brown’s first NHL goal. Of course he did. A Rangers tradition since the Dark Ages.

Ottawa was so dominant in the first period that they completely outclassed a listless Blueshirts, who looked like they didn’t get off the flight or had one too many at the hotel on Thursday. They forgot to set the alarm clocks. It turned into a shooting gallery around Lundqvist’s net. The Senators registered 19 shots in the period. They scored two. It could’ve been more.

The Rangers caught a break when off a face-off, Jacob Trouba had a wide shot go off Anders Nilsson’s stick and in for his second goal. It was a nice break that made it 2-1. Rookie Tim Gettinger picked up his first NHL career point with a secondary assist. Congrats to him on it. He also was parked in front on the goal. It was Greg McKegg who won the draw. Gettinger got it over to Lindgren, who found Trouba for the lucky offering. He’ll take it. It’s been a tough go for him since a hot start.

They almost tied it. But almost doesn’t count. Penalty trouble really cost them in the second period. A bench minor on a penalty kill handed Ottawa a five-on-three. I laughed. How could you not? How can they be so sloppy? They’re already a man short. You cannot screw up a line change down a man. That’s on Quinn and his staff. Of course, after Lundqvist made some acrobatic stops, they finally set up Anthony Duclair for a rocket top shelf. Wow. His 10th had some high heat on it. I didn’t know he could bring it like that. The Duke no longer looks like a bust. He also added a helper and even killed penalties.

Prior to the Rangers self destructing, they’d already given up the Ottawa third goal 71 seconds in to Ennis. The Skjei debacle that disgusted me. It got even more disgusting when Brendan Lemieux drew a double minor for hi-sticking on Christian Jaros. Rather than realize what the Sens penalty kill was doing by overplaying Panarin, they kept passing the puck around like a hand grenade. Another Ranger tradition MSG is familiar with. They passed up some good shots including Strome. It was mystifying.

Somehow, they managed only two total shots on a four-minute power play. It was ridiculous. The lack of urgency cost them any chance at a comeback. Eventually, their own ineptitude allowed Duclair to show that he’s finally found a home with his fifth NHL team. Good for him. Bad for the Rangers, who lost the season series 2-1 to a harder working team.

That’s who the Senators are. They now are up to 11 wins and only three points out of a playoff spot. It’s a credit to how hard they play for rookie NHL coach DJ Smith. They earned it.

As for the Rangers, it’s back to the drawing board. We’ll see if they learned anything from this tomorrow at Montreal. A place that’s been unkind to them for seemingly ever. The exception being the last two playoff meetings including the memorable Conference Final win in 2014. That feels like a lifetime ago.

Just a suggestion for the coach, who had Lindgren paired up with Tony DeAngelo by night’s end. Really want to send a message? Bench Skjei and have the suddenly ineffective Brendan Smith shift back to his natural position on D. Recall Vinni Lettieri and let Lias Andersson continue to work on his game.

I doubt they’ll do it. Especially on a weekend for Hartford. It’s just a thought. I’m getting tired of watching Skjei struggle. It’s very disappointing.

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Rangers Video: Artemiy Panarin Scores

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Derek

While I was at last night’s game, I was lucky enough to catch Artemiy Panarin scoring the first of two power play goals. It came at the beginning of the second period. Here’s how it looked and sounded:

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I got a little excited as you can probably tell. But it was pretty cool to catch a live goal on my iPhone. Plus the celebration and cool Rangers goal song.

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The Rangers defeated the Capitals 4-1 to improve to 9-8-2. That ended a two-game losing streak. They next face the Senators in Ottawa this Friday. Then visit the House Of Horrors, Montreal for a rare Saturday matinee.

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Game #19: The Panarin Show continues as Rangers play well in front of Lundqvist in a good win over Caps, Derek’s observations via Periscope

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Derek

The Bread Man Delivers: Artemiy Panarin is lighting up Broadway the way Jaromir Jagr once did. His two goals increased his career best point streak to 12 to highlight a satisfying 4-1 Rangers win over the Caps. AP Photo via New York Rangers

It’s so rare these days to go see a live game and come away very impressed. Especially when it comes to most area locals. Aside from the Islanders, there hasn’t been much to write about. Tonight, the Rangers changed that script by posting their most impressive win of the season. They defeated the Capitals 4-1 at The Garden.

This was the kind of complete performance they needed following the brutal two-game forgettable road trip in Florida. After giving up an ungodly seven power play goals in consecutive losses due to some lousy undisciplined penalties, the Rangers were a different hockey team on Wednesday night. For starters, they didn’t take the unnecessary early penalties that had plagued them.

In fact, they were plus-one on special teams. A welcome change that was badly needed for the MSG hosts. They didn’t give the crowd reason to roll their eyes or yawn. Even if some foolish fans in our section kept rudely getting up because they didn’t realize they were in the wrong seats until the latter stages of the second period. Something a good fan called these knuckleheads out on. That’s how it is. You get a few yo-yos.

That didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the game. If you don’t believe me in what I’ve written so far, have a look at my brief review on Periscope below. I think I broke it down well by summarizing what I liked about this win. A win that improved the Blueshirts to 9-8-2. Overall, that’s not bad considering where they are at this point.

https://www.pscp.tv/w/cKYTrDFwempNQlZhcmFPRWR8MURYeHlwRU9ydlpKTUG3534h32lVOPJTo7LZi2jamMoxlthDk6s5P_GxL53b?t=41s

As you can tell, my Periscope is the more familiar NewYorkPuck. Our old Twitter name. And it’s still the name of our website. Yes. Anyone can follow me there. I’ll be doing more hockey podcasts on there following games. Plus a few other sports mixed in from time to time.

One thing I did mention is that the Caps were without star center Nicklas Backstrom. Not having the always overlooked superb playmaking, two-way pivot hurt. I thought with him out along with Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway, who got a deserved three game vacation for a spitting incident during a fracas, that the Rangers had a good chance to win. I was proven right. Washington had some players up from Hershey.

Without Backstrom, Washington coach Todd Reirden reunited Alexander Ovechkin with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson. They still had a dangerous top line, the game’s best defenseman to date in John Carlson, TJ Oshie and Jakub Vrana. Plus Braden Holtby, who heard it from the crowd in the third period. Even though none of the four goals he gave up were his fault. Chalk it up to great execution from the Blueshirts. Bret “The Hitman” Hart would be proud.

There was no scoring in a tightly contested opening period. Both Holtby and Henrik Lundqvist were sharp. Lundqvist also had some luck on his side for once. As critical as I’ve been lately on him, he had a really good night finishing with 30 saves. By winning this one, he tied Curtis Joseph for fifth on the NHL all-time wins list with number 454. It’s Lundqvist and Marc-Andre Fleury competing for sole possession of fifth. Hank leads Fleury 454 to 450. Both are future Hall of Fame goalies.

The luck for Lundqvist came in the form of four goalposts. That included the Caps hitting a hat trick in the first. As I referenced in my podcast on Periscope, sometimes you need a little luck on your side. The puck hasn’t bounced Hank’s way much the past two plus seasons. Ironically, all four Washington shots were labeled high off the crossbar. Mostly on the glove side. That’s the book on Lundqvist. It worked out well for him thanks to his best friend.

Late in the first, an aggressive Wilson was nabbed for boarding Rangers rookie defenseman Libor Hajek with 34 seconds left. Viewing it live from our seats way up in Section 419, I thought it was more from the side. But the call could’ve gone either way. Given Wilson’s reputation, he’s usually going to wind up in the penalty box.

Even though they were unable to convert on the remaining portion of the first, the Rangers got it set up at the start of the second to convert on the power play. As luck would have it, I actually caught it on my iPhone while videoing it. It’s not great, but maybe I’ll put it up later. Some good work from Adam Fox and Kaapo Kakko resulted in setting up an open Panarin from the left circle. He put it in the basket for a 1-0 lead 74 seconds into the period.

I believe in my podcast, I accidentally said Ovechkin was in the box. That was before the conclusion of the second when he took an undisciplined tripping minor for tripping up Panarin in the offensive zone with less than eight seconds left. To correct what I said, it was Wilson’s penalty that cost his team.

Even though the Caps held a 14-9 edge in shots during the second, I felt the Rangers played well. They were able to limit most of the scoring chances to the outside, allowing Lundqvist a clear view of the puck. He stopped it. His best save was a point blank denial in tight in which he sprawled out to deny a rebound. He looked very calm in net unlike the loss at Florida. A game he wasn’t pleased with. He told New York Post scribe Larry Brooks that he felt he’s been giving up one bad goal a game. That is true. In some games, it’s been more. But at least he admitted it.

Over the first 40 minutes, the Rangers only had to kill off one penalty. A Greg McKegg minor for tripping Oshie. They were successful. I think Carlson hit a post. However, I never got the sense the Caps would score. They just seemed off most of the game. They tried some of those misdirection plays and were unable to get the puck to Ovechkin in his office. Yes. Lundqvist never had to make a crazy glove save on the game’s best finisher.

Following a successful kill of an Ovechkin tripping minor, Washington defenseman Dmitry Orlov hi-sticked Fox 40 seconds later. That gave the Rangers another man-advantage. This time, they made it count. On a good pass from point-per-game center Ryan Strome down low to Kakko, he made a power move to the net and tried to stuff it in. Instead, he lost control of the puck which worked out well with it coming perfectly over to a wide open Panarin for a layup at 3:57.

That made it 2-0 in favor of the Bread Man, who extended his career high point streak to a cool dozen (7-12-19). He shows no signs of slowing down. He’s such an intelligent player. Watching him live is a treat. If you can go to a game, go just for Panarin. I haven’t felt that way about a Ranger that was acquired via signing or trade since Jaromir Jagr. With apologies to both Marian Gaborik and Rick Nash, who both were good, the immense skill level and consistent production Panarin is playing with is a sight to behold. He deserves a lot of accolades. Without him, this team would be a mess.

With fans still celebrating Panarin’s 11th goal, the second line put the game out of reach on the following shift. Just 23 seconds later, Brendan Lemieux sent Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil on a two-on-one rush. What followed was remarkable passing with the duo working a give and go down low that saw Chytil dish the puck across for an easy Buchnevich tap in for his third of the season. As nice as the play was, I was most happy for Lemieux, who’d been busting his ass the entire night. He was robbed by Holtby three different times. He always plays balls out. He still had an extra treat left for the fans who stayed.

With the Rangers up by three, there was this prevailing thought that quite possibly Lundqvist could do something he hasn’t done in over two years. But it wasn’t meant to be. Brendan Smith took a dumb tripping minor that killed any thoughts of the dreaded ‘S’ word. Kuznetsov had other ideas when he snapped home a wrist shot from the right circle far side past Lundqvist for his 10th from Carlson at 7:24.

As disappointing as that was, the Rangers didn’t let the Caps steal it. Instead, they buckled down to put the game away. On a effective forecheck from Chris Kreider, Buchnevich found Brett Howden by himself in front of Holtby. He didn’t miss to convert his third to restore a three goal lead with 6:26 left in regulation.

It was a satisfying victory. But Lemieux showed some big cajones by fighting Wilson. How he wound up with an extra for roughing when both Wilson and Ovechkin double teamed him along the boards, I’ll never know. But in a game that for the most part was well officiated including referee Furman South (yes, that’s his name) taking a puck that bloodied him but stayed in to cheers from the crowd (imagine that), it was nice to see Lemieux stand up to Wilson. He even got some good shots in on one of the game’s toughest fighters. We loved it.

To me, Lemieux epitomizes what it is to be a younger Blueshirt on this team. He busts his butt by going all out every shift. Maybe he’s not always the brightest, but I like the jam he plays with. He will do whatever it takes to help this team win. Whether it’s diving to block a shot, lay a big hit, or make a hard working play that leads to a penalty drawn or even a goal, Lemieux will do it. He has his teammates’ backs.

The best thing I saw tonight was what happened during a stoppage. The Garden had a contest for a kid who named more sports movies than Fox. Not only did he win the in arena prize of a brand new Rangers jersey. It was presented to him by his Dad, who just returned from Afghanistan after a year of duty. The emotional moment was one to behold for everyone. Seeing the emotional boy cry and hug his father, who got back from serving, was one of the best things I’ve ever seen at MSG. Kudos to the Rangers organization for doing this. If you missed this magic moment, please watch it. It’ll move you to near tears.

That is something that left me with an ear to ear smile. This was the best win so far. Let’s see if they can follow it up in Ottawa on Friday.

Battle Of Hudson 3 🌟

3rd 🌟 Kaapo Kakko, Rangers (2 🍎 for first career 2 assist game in his return from the flu)

2nd 🌟 Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers (30 saves including 24 of 24 first 2 periods)

1st 🌟 Artemiy Panarin, Rangers (2 power play goals giving him 11 goals so far and extending point streak to career best 12 for 7-12-19)

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Leafs fire Babcock, hire Sheldon Keefe

Posted on November 20, 2019 by Derek

In a move that wasn’t a surprise, the Maple Leafs fired coach Mike Babcock earlier this afternoon. The 56-year old veteran bench boss was brought in from Detroit in 2015 where he took over the Leafs. He got an eight-year contract worth $50 million to become the highest paid coach in NHL history. He earned $6.25 million per season.

Even though he guided Toronto back to the postseason the past three years, they suffered disappointing first round eliminations each Spring. That included the past two to bitter rival Boston. Both series went seven games before the Leafs wilted. They blew a three games to two lead in the most recent playoff meeting.

Having made a trade with Colorado to address the blueline by acquiring Tyson Barrie and forward Alex Kerfoot in exchange for Nazem Kadri, it was supposed to improve the Maple Leafs. Instead, their defense remains a mess giving up way too many scoring chances and goals against for starter Frederik Andersen. They rank 24th in goals allowed per game, giving up 3.44. They’re tied with the almost as disappointing Lightning for seventh worst.

Outside of Andersen, who’s accounted for all nine of their wins while posting a 2.76 GAA and .912 save percentage over 17 starts, Toronto’s other goalies are a combined 0-5-1 with a 4.69 GAA and .873 save percentage. Michael Hutchinson is basically the backup. He’s 0-4-1 in six appearances with a 4.44 GAA and .879 save percentage. In one start, Kasimir Kaskisuo allowed six goals on 38 shots.

Aside from the lack of a dependable backup that can give Andersen a night off, the Leafs are winless in their last six (0-5-1) having been outscored 26-15. The only point was a 3-2 shootout loss to the Flyers on 11/9. They stopped a 4-2 decision last night at Vegas, which proved to be the end of the line for Babcock.

He finished his Leafs career with a 173-133-45 record. Throughout a respectable 17-year coaching career spent with the Mighty Ducks, Red Wings and Maple Leafs, Babcock is 700-418-19-164 in 1301 games. That includes ties (19) and overtime losses (164).

Sheldon Keefe takes over. Toronto is currently 9-10-4 for 22 points. They are out of playoff position. They are still missing Mitch Marner, who will likely be out at least until the end of November. Kerfoot is also out due to dental surgery.

Still, there’s enough talent for Toronto to perform better. It was time. Every coach has an expiration date. Babcock’s ran out.

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The disappointing part of the Rangers rebuild

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Derek

This is Lias Andersson in happier times after scoring his first NHL goal in late ’17-18. The Rangers have mismanaged him like past first round picks. AP Photo via Sporting News courtesy Getty Images

On Sunday, the Rangers made two moves. They placed Micheal Haley on waivers. The second one was sending down Lias Andersson to Hartford. Tim Gettinger was recalled.

Sadly, both were expected. Haley had a couple of bad games in a row due to taking penalties. So, they punished the veteran. As for Andersson, he’s been in jail since the start of the season. No matter what he did in training camp to draw praise from coach David Quinn, he was behind Ranger darling Brett Howden. That left him on a mismatched fourth line getting inconsistent minutes.

This isn’t how you handle a first round draft pick that you took over two years ago. Whether you are in his corner or have already given up like the organization seems to have, Andersson has been butchered. Whether or not the 21-year old center can recover depends on his character. It’s being severely tested right now.

It started in his draft year. After he was taken seventh overall as part of a trade that included defenseman Tony DeAngelo coming back from the Coyotes for Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta, Andersson was only in Sweden with Frolunda for 22 games. He was having success back home posting seven goals and seven assists.

That same year, he proved himself with a very good Under 20 World Junior Championship where he led Sweden to a silver medal. Andersson posted six goals and an assist. The end of the tournament was highlighted by a frustrated Andersson tossing his silver medal over the glass into the crowd. While it was critiqued by hypocritical Canadian media who wouldn’t settle for second best at anything, it was seen as a positive in these parts.

Here was a player who hated losing. That sounded like the kind of person you’d want to have as part of your team’s rebuild. Andersson was the team captain for his country and represented them well. Somewhat interestingly, Canucks fifth overall selection Elias Pettersson also had seven points (5-2-7) in the same tournament while playing with Andersson. The Rangers had him at the top of their draft board. They weren’t wrong. Pettersson has gone on to become the best player from the 2017 NHL Draft by winning a Calder and being a point-per-game producer for the Canucks.

There haven’t been many instant success stories from that draft. Devils top pick Nico Hischier is a good two-way center. But he hasn’t fulfilled lofty expectations. Flyers second pick Nolan Patrick continues to be plagued by injuries. The top players from that first round are Pettersson along with defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Cale Makar.

However, it hasn’t been a huge draft so far. Andersson isn’t the only one who’s struggled. Casey Mittlestadt, who was selected by Buffalo right after, has yet to establish himself consistently. The best of the rest so far are Martin Necas, who wasn’t rushed by Carolina. Nick Suzuki looks promising for Montreal, who acquired him from Vegas in the Max Pacioretty trade.

Interestingly, Rangers number 21 overall pick Filip Chytil ranks seventh in points from that draft with 33 (18-15-33) over 93 career games. As you can observe, that’s hardly consistent. However, the Rangers have handled the skilled center better than Andersson. They let him develop for over half a season with Hartford. He came up and finished the season playing nine games with the Rangers.

The following year, Chytil stayed up with the team and had mixed results as a 19-year old. With Quinn opting to play him mostly on the wing, Chytil had some success. He scored a few highlight reel goals due to his skill set. He wound up with 11 goals and 12 assists for a decent total of 23 points over 75 games. However, like most young players that age, there were some hiccups. After being shifted to his natural position of center following the trade of Kevin Hayes, he really struggled. The result was a tough end to the ’18-19 season where he finished minus-22. The scoring dried up.

Handpicked by Quinn in the past training camp to become the team’s number two center, Chytil continued to struggle. He was so disappointing that he didn’t make the Opening Night roster. Instead, they sent him back to the Wolf Pack. It was the best thing that could’ve happened. Rather than sulk, the 20-year old went down and worked hard to produce nine points in nine games.

With a mysterious “upper body” injury to Mika Zibanejad that continues to keep him out of action, Chytil came back up and immediately showed a renewed confidence by scoring goals in his first two games. Thus far, he’s been a different player by netting six goals and a helper in nine contests. All while forming solid chemistry with Pavel Buchnevich (2-13-15) and Chris Kreider (5-5-10).

While there have been some real bright spots in the second year of the rebuild under Quinn, including promising rookie defensemen Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek along with 2019 second overall prize Kaapo Kakko, there have been two disappointments. Despite being given every chance to succeed by the coaching staff, Howden hasn’t improved. Sure. He’s a good skater, who the team trusts to kill penalties and is okay on face-offs. But he’s getting close to 16 minutes and remains stuck on four points (2-2-4).

While the young 21-year old Canadian has been given every opportunity even though he wasn’t impressive during preseason, you have Andersson who now finds himself the odd man out. He wasn’t getting enough consistent ice time due to Quinn’s penchant for rolling three lines, which left the fourth line an afterthought. Even if he outplayed Howden in camp, it didn’t matter. It was like the organization had predetermined that Andersson would center the fourth line and Howden the third due to being given more rope.

It just hasn’t been a fair process. They messed up Andersson’s first year and didn’t do much better in ’18-19. He got into 42 games last year and went 4-2-6 with a minus-13 rating and 29 penalty minutes. At least he played. In the 17 games he got into this season, it’s been purgatory for Andersson. He served some time on the penalty kill, but was basically averaging seven minutes at even strength. Barely enough to establish himself. The results have been predictable. One assist and a minus-eight.

In 66 total NHL games, Andersson has only three goals and six assists for nine points with 33 PIM and a minus-20 rating. Of course, he has to become a better player if he wants to make the National as Kevin Weekes calls it. It’s very hard to succeed when you’re given little ice time and linemates like Haley, Greg McKegg and Brendan Smith, who’s given a good account of himself so far.

It just isn’t ideal. The Rangers have failed Andersson. A player they took over Mittlestadt, Necas, Suzuki and Robert Thomas. For those impatient fans that have thrown in the towel, there haven’t been too many success stories from the 2017 Draft. Remember when everyone raved about Nashville prospect Eeli Tolvanen? He’s struggling with AHL Milwaukee. Things sure can change.

Is it over for Andersson in New York City? That chapter hasn’t been written yet. It’s up to him to go down and prove himself. He’s now in the same situation as Chytil. The problem is if he had success and comes back up, the pressure will be on. Eventually, Zibanejad will return. Even if the organization is being about as truthful as the Warren Commission. Howden will still be here. So too will Ryan Strome, who’s been brilliant while benefiting from centering wunderkind Artemiy Panarin. Where would this roster be without him? Don’t answer.

What even further hurts Andersson’s long-term future with the Blueshirts are potential steals such as Cornell’s Morgan Barron and recent second round draft pick Karl Henriksson. It appears that things look bleak. Unless Andersson can find his confidence and establish himself in the second part of the season.

This has happened before. Manny Malhotra went through it when the organization was in ruins. An ugly history that saw the checking center fans loved go from 8-8-16 his age 18 year to 12 total points over the next 77 games between ’99-00 and ’00-01. After going 7-6-13 in 56 games during ’01-02, he was traded to Dallas with Barrett Heistein for Roman Lyashenko and Martin Rucinsky. A trade that turned heartbreaking for the Rangers due to Lyashenko committing suicide on July 5, 2003. Crazy stuff.

It would be five years later when the organization was hit with the terrible tragedy of former 2007 first round pick Alexei Cherepanov, who suffered from a heart condition known as cardiomyopathy. He passed out following a shift on the OMSK Avangard bench next to former star Ranger Jaromir Jagr, who immediately called for medical attention. Had they had a working defibrillator, he could’ve been saved. There was no ambulance at the arena. Eventually, it arrived and Cherepanov was transferred to the hospital where he died tragically.

The 11-Year Anniversary of his death was on Oct. 13 last month. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since Cherepanov passed away. I remember seeing it flash across NHL Network at the bottom of the screen while my family viewed a feature on Mark Messier. I was stunned. We later left for the game that night and they paid tribute. It was so sad.

What this has to do with Andersson is nothing really. Just that history hasn’t been too kind to the Rangers when it comes to drafting and properly developing first round picks. Nothing was worse than ’99 with former GM Neil Smith taking Pavel Brendl fourth overall and packaging future first line center Marc Savard to swap up in the first round with Calgary and select Jamie Lundmark. Another player who was mishandled.

There have been other first round failures like Dan Blackburn, Hugh Jessiman and Al Montoya. That’s why we’ve learned to appreciate Marc Staal, Chris Kreider and former Rangers Michael Del Zotto and JT Miller.

There just haven’t been many success stories with this team. It’s why even if you’re overly optimistic, you should be more cautious. What have they ever proven? They’re lucky they won the lottery and landed Kakko and Panarin chose them over the Islanders, Panthers and Blue Jackets. Otherwise, they’d be a long way off.

Let’s also be honest about the big elephant in the room. Henrik Lundqvist is done being a reliable consistent starting goalie. His contract is more of a issue than anyone wants to admit. So is his attitude. Igor Shesterkin remains in Hartford while dominating the AHL following impressive play in the KHL. He turns 24 before Christmas.

If this were truly a rebuild, Lundqvist would be forced out to Calgary or San Jose, who each can use a proven veteran goalie. It would be left to Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev.

It’s not. They think they can compete for the playoffs. That shows you how delusional and misguided they are. It never has been realistic. The goal should be the continued development of the young players including the forgotten Andersson. They have failed him.

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Devils waive Schneider

Posted on November 18, 2019 by hasan4978

Six and a half years ago is a long time, but somehow it does seem like just yesterday when I was at the Rock for the 2013 NHL Draft as Lou Lamoriello pulled a fast one on everyone and traded the #9 overall pick for highly regarded goalie Cory Schneider in a transaction that was (typically) totally secret from everyone until that moment, even though the teams had agreed to the trade the previous night.  What made this memorable other than the general shock and excitement was the classic Gary Bettman troll, when he went up to the podium to announce the trade and is met with the requisite boos he then comes back with ‘I think you’ll want to hear this’…referring to the trade details.  When he did reveal the details, the entire arena exploded in approval.  For years everyone was complaining that Lou had no succession plan for the great Martin Brodeur, but with one fell swoop here was the hope of our future – the guy who was going to be Andrew Luck to Peyton Manning or Steve Young to Joe Montana – the guy who kept the legacy of great Devils goaltending going.

It’s with this backdrop that today is still a melancholy day for me.  Despite my angst and dissapointment over Cory’s play the last two years, and the inevitability of this moment once Mackenzie Blackwood took the starting job with both hands along with the acquisition of Louis Domingue as another goaltending option to hedge against Cory’s continued struggles I still find myself a bit sad today.  I’ve been saying for months if not the last year or so that this franchise was going to have to move on from Cory…but now that it’s here with the announcement of Cory being formally waived this afternoon to Binghamton (and likely ending his Devil career) I’m stuck thinking of what could have beens and should have beens.  It feels like the end of an era somehow, but an era of what?

Cory is one of the most star-crossed athletes I can remember, and it began in that initial awkward season where he was here to replace Marty, who was still here on the last year of his contract.  By almost all accounts, Cory had a terrific first year with the Devils – a 1.97 GAA and .921 save percentage in 45 games.  What he didn’t do…was win.  He only had sixteen wins, while Brodeur somehow went 19-14-6 despite far worse splits (2.51 and .901) in his final full season.  Yes, winning is what matters above all else but how can you fault a goalie for not winning when he gets approximately 1.5 goals a game in ‘support’ the way Cory did that first year?  Cory’s numbers that year and the next two looked empty somehow without the wins to back them up, or any kind of hope for playoff berths after the shootout-induced failure of 2013-14 (thirteen shootout losses kept us out of the playoffs that year).

2013-14  16-15-12  1.97 GAA  .921 SPct

2014-15  26-31-9  2.26 GAA .925 SPct

2015-16  27-25-6  2.15 GAA .924 SPct

By most accounts he lived up to the billing he had of being a young goalie on the come of being great and signed a seven-year extension after that first season as a Devil, but as the team continued to deteriorate around him, it’s obvious Cory was in the wrong place at the wrong time.  And quite frankly, after word came out that we were about to lose Ilya Kovalchuk to Russia and that Lou knew about it before it became public knowledge, you have to in hindsight question the logic of using the #9 overall pick to trade for a goalie when the team around him was already starting to deteriorate.  Marty and Patrik Elias were both on their last legs, Kovalchuk and Zach Parise were out the door and the rest of the team was getting older and slower.  We were all blinded by optomism when the trade was made and relieved Lou had finally come up with a ‘succession plan’ for Marty, but knowing what Lou knew then it should have been obvious that the plan should have been to rebuild and get younger but hey, just like us he couldn’t help it – he didn’t want to say uncle when we’d had 20 years of almost uninterrupted success at that point.

After wasting three of Cory’s prime years on bad teams, the bottom started to fall out for him too in 2016-17 with hip and groin injuries getting the better of Cory as he dropped to a 2.82 GAA and .908 save percentage on a horrendous Devils team.  Things did pick up briefly for a time in 2017-18, obviously more for the team but even Cory himself had a strong start to the season as the Devils found themselves in an unexpected playoff position, but the injury bugaboo struck Cory again in the winter, and when he came back nothing seemed to go right – namely a historic winless streak of twenty-one straight regular season games that extended deep into 2018-19.  Cory’s troubles led to the Cinderella run of backup Keith Kinkaid, who along with Hart winner Taylor Hall saddled the team on their backs and led them to the promised land of a playoff berth.

Thankfully Cory did have one last shining moment in the playoffs that year, when Kinkaid crashed back to reality after the first two games in Tampa Bay, Schneider got his opportunity for redemption in Game 3.  Despite a groin injury suffered in the third period of that game, Cory somehow willed himself to make multiple saves on that play and finish a virtuoso performance, earning a win that certainly did matter – even if it didn’t technically end the winless streak which was a regular season stat.

Sure it was the only game the Devils would win in the playoffs that year (and since 2012) but Cory acquited himself well the rest of the series too.  Unfortunately after hip and groin surgery that offseason, he started 2019 in the same funk he ended the 2018 regular season, unable to win a game or stop a puck.  Rock bottom against Vegas wasn’t pretty in early December when I was witness to an awful three goals allowed in less than ten minutes and Cory streaming down the tunnel clearly despondent and upset with himself.  For all the ripping Cory has gotten over his actual play…he’s beyond reproach on the subject of whether he cared or not, and always taking accountability for his own failures even when things weren’t actually his fault.

After a couple of months on IR and getting an extended conditioning assignment in Binghamton, Cory returned and split time with rookie Blackwood and though the team was once again in a hopeless cause Cory’s own play started to pick up again, particularly after he ended the regular-season winless streak with a relief win against the Wild.  With three years left on his contract including this season, Cory didn’t so much as earn another chance this year as he was given one out of neccesity, but after a decent finish to the season, a good World Championship showing on the US team and a promising preseason there was a sliver of a hope Cory could rebound and at least have another stretch of good hockey.

Sadly that ended on Opening Night, which served as a perfect prism for how star-crossed Cory has gotten.  His strong first two periods when the Devils led 4-1 were quickly overshadowed by how he had to leave the game with cramps, then the team collapsed so he couldn’t even get a win out of that either.  Allegedly, the cramps were no big deal but given Cory’s numbers this year I’m not sure there wasn’t more to it than that.  With an unsightly 4.59 GAA, .852 save percentage and nary a win in six games there really was no recourse left for the Devils.  Especially after yet another backup – Blackwood – took Cory’s job with Domingue playing well in the AHL since his acquisition, something had to give.  Particularly after Blackwood played in a travel back-to-back after a 38-save extravaganza Friday night.  Obviously something did give.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1196460059984891909

What’s next for the classy yet star-crossed goalie?  Likely a stint in Binghamton for the rest of the year barring injury or Domingue being just as bad, before the final two years of his seven-year contract almost inevitably get bought out.  As much as it hasn’t worked out for Cory here I can’t take any joy in his career disintegrating.  It just wasn’t going to work for him here, especially after the ghastly end of 2017-18 but I hope he does get another chance somewhere else.  Maybe former coach Alain Vigneault puts in a good word and he gets a shot as Carter Hart’s backup, or he goes back to Vancouver.  Those would be the ideal solutions.

We know what’s next for the Devils, the net is clearly Blackwood’s going forward and deservedly so.  Hopefully Domingue gets a shot sooner rather than later to provide a backup we’re going to need in the long run to keep Blackwood fresh the rest of the season.

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A child shall lead them

Posted on November 17, 2019 by hasan4978

So what is a team to do when their best player is stuck on two goals finding new and creative ways to not score, their so-called best defenseman has been MIA, their veteran goalie has proven to be useless and the coaching staff is under fire from all sides?  Of course, the answer is rely on a 22-year old with 37 career games in net to carry the entire team.  Make no mistake, Mackenzie Blackwood is close to the only reason the Devils got any points out of this back-to-back, let alone all four.  Certainly he was the only reason the Devils escaped the Rock on Friday night with an undeserved ‘win’ against the Penguins despite the team getting outshot 39-21.  Even being at the game I didn’t exactly feel good about the performance of anyone this side of Blackwood, who was truly spectacular against the Crosby-less Pens.

That’s not to say the Devils didn’t play well last night.  It was hard to tell given I really wasn’t expecting much from last night’s game so I didn’t pick it up until early in the third period, when the referee clown circus was rolling into town.  And where the clown circus car is, Chris Rooney usually isn’t far away.  Remember him, Devils fans?  Most of us would rather forget, after his Stanley Cup Finals-deciding major penalty against Steve Bernier after missing a clear Kings penalty seconds earlier, and a handful of other games where he’s made a meal of the simplest things – usually against the Devils, to the consternation of former coach Pete DeBoer who got thrown out of a late-season game against the Rangers the following season – essentially for telling Rooney how much he sucked.

The irony of last night is it seemed to be two different refereed games, with zero penalties called in the first thirty-seven minutes followed by total mayhem and chaos in the game’s final twenty-five minutes.  In the case of last night it seemed to go both ways at times with neither set of fans happy with the refs calling every little thing – real and imagined – as if it were an NFL game.  Although really, when are Hab fans ever happy with the refs to begin with? With the Devils trailing 2-1 (despite outshooting the Habs and old friend Keith Kinkaid 20-9 in the first period!), the refs suddenly realized they had a quota of penalties to hit and started whistling everything under the sun.  Back-to-back penalties against P.K. Subban and Damon Severson led to a 5-on-3 goal for the Habs that gave them a 3-1 lead and seemingly put the game to bed given the Devils’ lack of fight when falling behind this year.

But no…this time the team actually did show some grit and Nico Hischier’s shorthanded goal with just seconds remaining kept the Devils in the game at 3-2 and set up a ridiculous third period with penalty after penalty, which included a bench minor for too many men on a power play against us (LOLHynes), a double minor against the Habs’ Max Domi where they somehow avoided being shorthanded for very long given Domi’s penalty was just eleven seconds after Miles Wood went to the box, and then Kyle Palmieri went off for cross-checking during the 4-on-4 taking away all but about forty seconds of the four-minute double-minor.  Mercifully Palmieri’s penalty was the last of a third period that saw six minors and two double-minors called, but it wouldn’t be the last time the refs interjected themselves into the game.

Shockingly, the Devils’ previously inept power play did manage to score with the little time remaining on Domi’s double-minor when a perfect Taylor Hall pass found the stick of Wayne Simmonds in front, and the big man tipped it home to tie the game at 3.  It really is amazing how Hall can still be so pinpoint with his passes, but when it comes to actually hitting an open net earlier in the contest for what should have been a gimme goal, his aim was nowhere to be found.  Be that as it may, Simmonds’ goal tied the game and seemingly set up overtime until…well the refs somehow calling THIS a good goal on the ice in the final minute of regulation:

Somehow both interfering with the goalie and shielding/shoving the puck in with your body counted as a good goal, not to mention on netmouth scrums like that we’ve been getting quick whistles when our skaters have come close to breathing on the other team’s goalie.  It looked like another typical Montreal referee moment (thank you Peter Laviolette for the true viral clip that won’t die).

Fortunately the video review people in Toronto restored some sense of sanity and rightly disallowed the goal, sending the game to OT.  Ironically it was one last penalty that would decide the issue, this one called on Phillip Danault in OT.  With open ice on a four-on-three, Kyle Palmieri found the perfect spot from the left side of the ice to one-time the winner past Kinkaid off another on-target Hall feed.  It was Palmieri’s seventh goal of the season, but first since his hat trick against Tampa Bay nearly three weeks ago.  Blackwood was again strong in net with 31 saves, but this time at least the Devils gave him enough help offensively to get a more deserved win.

And wither poor Cory Schneider?  If you can’t start him on a road back-to-back when Blackwood had to stop about five kitchen sinks that were thrown at him against the Penguins, then it’s time to waive/IR him and give Louis Domingue a shot.  You can’t literally play Blackwood the rest of the way with over 60 games left in the season (despite the fact Blackwood does have every single win the team has), and it’s going to be a long while before the team either escapes peril or is eliminated for good.  For John Hynes, everything is literally a one-game season right now though.  Two wins may have cooled the griddle he’s on for the moment but this team has a long way to go to get out of the hole it built for itself.

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Game #18: David Quinn’s explanations make no sense following frustrating loss at Panthers

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Derek

I’m past the point of having patience. A lot of what David Quinn says is hogwash. He did it again following a extremely frustrating 4-3 loss at the Panthers.

Forget about how well Artemiy Panarin, Ryan Strome and Jesper Fast played. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care that Panarin extended his career best point streak to 11 with a goal and assist. He’s a great player. For that, he deserves all the accolades he receives. He’s up to 23 points (9-14-23) in 18 games. Doing it with Strome (goal) and Fast (assist). He doesn’t need Mika Zibanejad.

Tony DeAngelo also scored on a play set up from Panarin and Greg McKegg. Yes. The Keg Man played well. That speaks volumes. He got the ice time that Lias Andersson never will ever get as long as he’s a Ranger. I’m done. I’ve had it with Quinn’s excuses. Here’s what he said about why he went with three lines and double shifted the top one.

It’s baloney! The second line had a bad game. Filip Chytil wasn’t as effective tonight and Pavel Buchnevich frustrated me to no end with how long it takes him to shoot the puck. Right now, he’s a one trick pony. The 13 assists look nice on the stat sheet, but there’s no way he should only have two goals. Two goals in 18 games for a guy who they gave a decent raise to following his strong finish last year, is unacceptable. Maybe if he was more instinctive like Alexei Kovalev, he wouldn’t be such an enigma.

The fact that this crack committee continues to roll out Brett Howden shift after shift despite his four points (2-2-4) and stone hands is an insult to every fan who roots for this team. What does he do so well for those 15 minutes? He can skate. He wins a few draws. But he is not offensive minded enough to warrant the loyalty Quinn gives him while treating Andersson as if he’s a bad Swedish meatball. Greg McKegg played and was effective even getting an assist and hitting a goalpost.

So, you can have your say. I’m also sick of Henrik Lundqvist yelling at some of his much younger teammates following plays. Adam Fox was a bit tentative on one defensive shift. It happens and will continue to with such a young roster. Particularly on the defense that includes Fox, Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren and DeAngelo, who deserves to be re-signed before his price escalates further.

Lundqvist is not the same great goalie he was. I wish some of this fanbase woke up and realized it. He hasn’t had a shutout in over two years. He isn’t as fast laterally anymore. Otherwise, he gets over and squeaks a pad on the Evgenii Dadonov goal. He had a pair for Florida, who took advantage of early foolish penalties from Buchnevich and Micheal Haley. The Rangers penalty kill is taking it on the chin. That’s seven power play goals allowed in two consecutive losses.

The backbreaking goal in a predictably wide open game where defense was optional was when Lundqvist somehow allowed Ranger killer Brett Connolly to beat him through the wickets to tie the game at three. That was a brutal one to allow at that stage because the Panarin line was absolutely dominating play. There are zero excuses for Lundqvist not making that critical save. No matter what MSG lackey Joe Micheletti says. It’s almost as bad as Chico Resch was with Martin Brodeur. Everything is a deflection or funny bounce.

I’m not pinning it on Lundqvist either. There was way too much running around. Florida did the same thing, but Sergei Bobrovsky woke up after allowing a dreadful goal to Panarin on a very weak shot. In the third, the two-time Vezina winner remembered that he gets paid a lot of money. His best save came on DeAngelo, who looked skyward afterwards. There were others including a weird sequence where he got a pad on a tough low shot and spun around because he had no idea where the puck was. It was Dominik Hasek like.

To the Panthers credit, they defended better when they had to in the third period to get the win. I thought it would wind up 5-4 even before the team’s combined for four goals in a wild first. But things settled down somewhat.

What I really am down on is how Quinn is handling the bench. Brady Skjei continues to look lost. He can skate and shows some of it on rushes, but defensively, it’s lacking. He might become a good trade candidate once K’Andre Miller arrives next year. They have both Lindgren and Libor Hajek for the other two left D spots.
Why not look to dump the salary and free up space to re-sign Strome, who does almost everything well despite the false narrative? Unless they’re getting a good prospect and first round pick, I’d like to keep him. It doesn’t have to be long-term either. Three years at say $4.75 million AAV is likely.

The last thing you want this team to become is too predictable. They can’t be one dimensional. You need good character guys with a combination of skill and grit who are willing to mix it up. I see that in the versatile Strome, who is trusted in every situation, along with DeAngelo and Brendan Lemieux. They can all be kept if the organization isn’t clueless.

What is discouraging is the way they continue to butcher Andersson. Either play him and see what he can do or free him from jail. He must feel like he’s in Siberia. Kevin Shattenkirk did. So did Manny Malhotra. It’s a Malhotra redux and it’s supposed to be a “Rebuild.” Unbelievable.

You cannot make this stuff up. I got nothing else to add. The next game isn’t until Wednesday against the Caps. That should be cute. I am not gonna waste anymore energy on tonight. It is what it is.

Battle Of Hudson 3 🌟

3rd 🌟 Evgenii Dadonov, Panthers (2 goals helping my fantasy team, good player)

2nd 🌟 David Quinn, Rangers (for treating this game like it was the Stanley Cup, who cares about development)

1st 🌟 Artemiy Panarin, Rangers (9th of season plus 🍎, a remarkable player who sees everything on the ice and makes everyone better)

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Free Lias

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Derek

It’s as simple as this. Through two periods, Lias Andersson has played a grand total of six shifts against the Panthers. That’s 3:13 of ice time in two periods for the 2017 seventh overall pick the Rangers took as part of the Derek Stepan trade.

Andersson had only 1:01 through a chaotic first which saw the teams split a pair of two’s. Even if you aren’t in favor of the 21-year old center who’s being wasted by the organization on the fourth line, this is a travesty. It’s unacceptable!

Either play him or free him from this double standard madness that sees David Quinn reward stone hands Brett Howden with third line duty. He has four freaking points! Enough already!

It’s time. #FreeLias

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Saturday Night Hockey Message

Posted on November 16, 2019 by Derek

Tonight is a extremely busy Saturday Night for hockey. In fact, 30 of 31 teams are in action. That included a few afternoon games. Carolina defeated Minnesota earlier in overtime on a goal from sizzling sophomore Andrei Svechnikov. I knew I should’ve kept him.

There are four other games going on. So much for the Lightning staying hot. They’re down 3-1 at home to Winnipeg late. The red hot Oilers are trying to hold off the resurgent Stars. Darcy Kuemper is working on another shutout for the Coyotes against the Flames. He even got involved with Matthew Tkachuk. And the Kings are looking to keep the surprisingly slumping Golden Knights ice cold.

As for the Rangers, they’re looking to rebound at Florida. It looks like Jacob Trouba has avoided the Mika Zibanejad UBI plague. Kaapo Kakko sounds like he’ll suit up. Good news if true.

UPDATE: Kakko is a no go again due to the flu. Bad news.

The Devils look for two in a row behind Mackenzie Blackwood, who’s become the starter. He was the difference in last night’s 2-1 win making 38 saves. Can the Devs stay hot at a good Montreal team fresh off a good win over the Caps?

Now, here is a message for Sportsnet and Hockey Night In Canada. If they think it’s going to be business as usual, they got another thing coming.

https://twitter.com/Kovy274Hart/status/1195845601524617217?s=19

The way I see it, they overreacted 24 hours later after the mainstream media blew Don Cherry’s commentary on wearing a poppy out of proportion. Grapes has always supported the troops. It’s ironic he lost his job on Remembrance Day. I don’t agree with the decision and believe Ron MacLean is a fraudulent hypocrite, who probably was forced by the network into that apology.

Fans do have a choice here. You can quietly protest CBC and Sportsnet by not tuning in. For me, that’s simple. NHL Network usually airs HNIC on Saturday. I will not flip to it once. I’ll be locked in on the Rangers and Panthers. Plus check in on the Devils and Canadiens.

As far as I’m concerned, they made their choice. I’ve made mine. I’m not telling anyone what to do or not do. That ultimately is up to you. Everyone has a different stance. I believe they’ll lose viewership and feel the wrath of some fans.

That’s all for now. This will be my final commentary on it. Enjoy the hockey! Thumbs up!

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