HARD HITS: Hot starts by late signings prove one thing

Posted on October 13, 2019 by Derek

For the whole summer, Mikko Rantanen couldn’t reach agreement with the Avalanche on a new contract. Like many pricey Group II free agents, the high scoring right wing remained unsigned.

It didn’t matter. He waited until September 28 to sign a brand new six-year contract worth $55.5 million that pays him an average cap hit of $9.25 million through 2023-24. Basically, he missed all of training camp including preseason like Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner, who hasn’t missed a beat. Over their first four games, both Rantanen and Marner each have six points. They’re gonna have big seasons due to their talent. Plus who they play with.

Rantanen with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog while Marner gets to work with John Tavares and Kasperi Kapanen. Each also can take advantage of even more world class players on the power play.

How many players who missed all of preseason have struggled? Brayden Point’s return saw him net two goals and a helper in the Bolts’ 7-3 statement win at Toronto. Patrik Laine is off to a great start with Winnipeg. His 10 points (3-7-10) are tied for third in scoring behind Oilers dynamic duo Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Matthew Tkachuk has six points for the Flames, who lost in ugly fashion to the Golden Knights on Saturday night. The point is these players keep themselves in great shape. So, once they sign, they’re ready from the get go. It kind of defeats the purpose of a long preseason where you have teams playing six to seven games. It’s pointless.

Speaking of which, can anyone from the league office explain the early schedule for the Rangers? They played two games in three nights last week and then had a whole week between the second and third game that was played yesterday in a ho hum atmosphere at MSG. A sleep inducing 4-1 defeat to the suddenly improved Oilers. At least Kaapo Kakko scored! <Inserts a million and one Gifs on Twitter with every NYR fan losing their minds!!!!!>

That guy would be proud. That’s how fans act these days. It was nice to see Kakko score, but as the mature 18-year old second pick said, it wasn’t enough.

So after completing Game 3 of 82, the Blueshirts get another four days off before facing the depressing Devils on Thursday night in Newark. Billed as the first showdown between Kakko and top pick Jack Hughes, it might wind up being something entirely different if the Devils lose another game on Monday to the Panthers. They are 0 for 5 so far and even get shutout 3-0 to the Bruins in a game they didn’t play badly in. However, the inconsistency, perplexing efforts and puzzling lineup decisions from John Hynes can’t be sitting well with management following a good offseason.

I sarcastically joked to Devils buddy Robert Kraze Davis that if they finally pull the plug on General Hynes, they should hire Scott Stevens. He’s doing studio work on NHL Network. Would the Hall of Fame defenseman, who captained the Devils to all three of their Stanley Cups consider it? He’s worked as an assistant teaching defense. There’s no way he’s enjoying breaking down some of these high scoring games where defense is optional. Imagine the respect coach Scott Stevens would command if he took over behind the Devil bench. That would be a culture shock.

I don’t understand the point of having the Flyers and Blackhawks play one game overseas. It takes too long for teams to fully recover. Though the Alain Vigneault Flyers took advantage of the dreadful Devils by blanking them for Carter Hart’s first NHL shutout. They lost in a shootout on Saturday. They’re 2-0-1 while the Blackhawks are 0-2-1 after blowing one to Winnipeg at home. At least they have a valid reason for playing just three times.

So, who’s ready for that 2020 Stanley Cup between the Oilers and Sabres? Sometimes, astute coaching hires can really change an organization’s mindset. The irony is Ralph Krueger once coached Edmonton. Now, he was lured out of soccer to return to an NHL bench in Buffalo. They’re 4-0-1 thus far.

It isn’t surprising that the Hurricanes won their first five games. Of course, they came back in three with a 4-3 overtime win over Tampa highlighting how dominant they can be. They outshot the Lightning 28-2 from the second period on. Carolina also came from two goals down to beat the Capitals in OT. Talk about Deja Vu. The only surprise is their first loss came at home to a bad Columbus yesterday by a score of 3-2. Both were in the second of back-to-backs.

Biggest surprise so far is the Stars off to a disappointing 1-4-1 start. They’re not scoring much and Ben Bishop hasn’t gotten untracked. They started slowly out of the gate last year too.

Biggest surprise II are the Ducks winning four of their first five by outscoring opponents 11-6. So, Anaheim doesn’t score much. However, having John Gibson definitely helps. Ryan Miller is a solid backup too. Is such a stingy style sustainable?

There are three winless teams remaining. They are the Wild (0-4-0), the Devils (0-3-2), and the Blackhawks (0-2-1). Minnesota looks like they could be in for a long year.

Then you have the defenseless Sharks, who look like they forgot how to play defense. And you wonder why Martin Jones struggles to stop pucks. Try watching Erik Karlsson defend. Brent Burns isn’t known for his defense either, but he’s healthier than a beaten up Karlsson. At least Mr. Shark, Patrick Marleau returned in style by scoring twice to highlight their first win that came in Chicago. Pretty cool.

There have already been two four goal games. James Neal did it to the Islanders to match his ’18-19 total of seven with Calgary. Anthony Mantha also went for four in a Red Wings win. He has six so far in their first five games. Is this finally the year Mantha hits 30 and erupts for career highs across the board? He, Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi have excellent chemistry since being put together last season.

With both Hughes and Kakko off to slow starts, perhaps they’ll get some competition for the Calder from Victor Olofsson, Cody Glass, Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes.

Even though they’re not that good, Ilya Kovalchuk is back to scoring and setting up goals for the Kings. Maybe having an offensive minded coach in Todd McLellan has helped rejuvenate the Russian veteran. If only Jonathan Quick could still stop the puck. It’s hard to believe those Cups weren’t that long ago. They might have to seriously consider giving the net to Jack Campbell.

Matt Duchene has been a terrific fit in Nashville. He’s setting up lots of goals and making a huge difference for Peter Laviolette’s club. They shouldn’t be counted out in the West. Especially with that improved center depth to go with a good defense. It all depends on Pekka Rinne.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for John Tortorella, who’s seen some strange goals go in past Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins. You can’t substitute for good goaltending. Not that Sergei Bobrovsky is doing well in Florida. One win with a 3.86 GAA and .882 save percentage under Joel Quenneville isn’t the start he had in mind. That defense will need to adjust to his system.

I still don’t know why Robin Lehner isn’t an Islander while Semyon Varlamov is. He’s also wearing the same number 40. Yikes.

I like what Barry Trotz is trying to do with rookie Noah Dobson. He’s not gonna play every night, but the veteran coach is giving the 2018 first round pick good ice time.

I don’t understand why Lias Andersson gets so little time under David Quinn. It was the 2017 first round pick, who outplayed Brett Howden and Filip Chytil during training camp. Why is he centering the fourth line while playing seven to eight minutes? To quote an old failed Rangers slogan, Hockey’s Different Here! 😬😨

If you give Nikita Gusev a contract that basically states that you believe he’s in your top six, what the heck is he doing on your fourth line? And why is Brett Seney playing over Jesper Boqvist? Travis Zajac cannot play a second line role at this stage. I understand why they have Hughes centering the third line. But the combos on lines 2-4 make no sense. No wonder Devils blogger Hasan is in midseason form.

PK Subban might want to do less commercials with Lindsey Vonn and focus more on the hockey part.

What Sam Reinhardt’s highlight goal doesn’t show is Subban caught dancing inside the Buffalo blueline when his team trailed 6-2. That kind of sloppy play isn’t what he was brought in for.

Evgeni Malkin out week to week already in injury riddled Pittsburgh due to an incidental trip from teammate Kris Letang on a line change. You cannot make it up.

Who’s a better story? Zack Kassian or Marleau.

Best Defense? Carolina, St. Louis or Dallas even though they’re not playing like it.

Kevin Shattenkirk has three goals and an assist so far in Tampa. He’s a good guy, who had bad luck here. That’s a much better situation. Plus he gets to skate with Victor Hedman, which is like hitting the jackpot.

It’s hard to believe they lost to Ottawa. Vladislav Namestnikov was why as he scored twice and had an assist. Good for him.

Keep an eye on rookie Ilya Samsonov. He got his second win for Washington.

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McDavid and Draisaitl led Oilers spoil Kakko’s big day

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Derek

Kaapo Kakko is all smiles as he celebrates his first career NHL goal. It came in a 4-1 loss to the Oilers. AP Photo by Bruce Bennett via Getty Images

The first goal of a promising NHL career came at 18:28 of the first period. Kaapo Kakko was all smiles and full of excitement as fans loudly cheered his wonderful finish off a good pass from Ryan Strome to beat veteran goalie Mike Smith for a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, it was the only lead the Rangers would have. They proceeded to play a dismal final two periods against a much stingier and tighter checking Oilers, who got the last four goals to win 4-1 this afternoon at MSG. There are going to be days like this for David Quinn’s rebuilding team that dropped its first game of the season to fall to 2-1-0.

Save the excuses about the week layoff. Edmonton had no problem coming into the New York/New Jersey area and going a perfect three for three against the Islanders, Devils and Rangers. The Oilers improved to 5-0-0 to continue their perfect start under veteran coach Dave Tippett. They no longer play the wide open run and gun style that too often hung their goalies out to dry. With more emphasis on defense and tight checking, they held the Rangers to 21 shots.

In fact, even though they took it to the Rangers the final 40 minutes, Edmonton themselves only finished with 27 shots. That tells you something about the drastic change in a more organized system that should produce more wins this season. Under new leadership that includes GM Ken Holland, the Oilers look very focused to start the season. Even with question marks Smith and Mikko Koskinen in net, they’re out to prove they belong. So far, so good.

This wasn’t the most entertaining game. There were moments like the big one for Kakko when he was one on one with Smith and went to a nifty backhand finish off a perfect forehand deke for goal number one. Number 24 celebrated the first milestone behind the Edmonton net with happy teammates.

However, it was a frustrating day. The Rangers got sloppy and paid dearly. They couldn’t convert on any of the four power plays the Oilers gave them. That even included a 39-second five-on-three early on. Artemi Panarin was stopped by Smith in tight and he missed on another chance. With Pavel Buchnevich refusing to shoot, it made it easier for the Edmonton penalty kill to defend. At least he wound up with two shots on goal. Otherwise, it was a rough game for the 24-year old right wing, whose icing led directly to Oscar Klefbom scoring the tying goal on a clean Ryan Nugent-Hopkins faceoff win through traffic.

The odd thing about the second is there were only 10 total shots. Each side had five. That made it a combined 25 through two periods. That’s how tight the neutral zone was. It easily could’ve been Edmonton up 3-1 if not for a few big saves from Henrik Lundqvist on odd man rushes. The Rangers turned over pucks and drew the ire of their coach afterwards.

There weren’t a lot of penalties in this one. However, following another miss on a Connor McDavid tripping minor in the third, Brendan Lemieux held up the Edmonton captain just enough to get a interference minor with 11:27 remaining. Fittingly, it was McDavid who was able to score the game-winning power play goal when his centering feed banked in off Jacob Trouba’s skate with 10:16 left.

Prior to Leon Draisaitl putting the game away, there was a quality scoring chance for Lias Andersson to tie it. But his rebound try was denied by a quick Smith, who made sure to close up the five-hole. A frustrated Andersson banged the glass in disbelief. He was noticeable along with Jesper Fast, Brendan Smith and Greg McKegg.

That was the issue. Matched up most of the day with second pair Marc Staal and Tony DeAngelo, the top line of Mika Zibanejad, Panarin and Buchnevich were shutout. When they don’t score, where are the goals gonna come from? Kakko was strong throughout in 16:49 of ice time including 2:21 on the power play. However, he wasn’t on the top unit and remained with Strome and Chris Kreider, who’s looked so so in the first three games on a mismatched second line. Kreider did hit the post during a power play on a good pass from Zibanejad. He just hasn’t generated enough at five-on-five on that line.

When the bottom two lines are more noticeable, that’s not a ringing endorsement. Panarin was the only Ranger skater with over two shots, registering six due to his unique combination of skating and creativity. He wound up minus-three along with his line and DeAngelo. Staal was on for two goals against including Draisaitl’s continuation on a backhand that trickled through Lundqvist to give the Oilers all important insurance with 6:48 remaining.

Draisaitl would add the empty netter by skating away from Kakko, who fell. So, even on a day where they were held in check for two periods, McDavid and Draisaitl combined for five points (2-3-5). All coming in the deciding third that saw the better Oilers outshoot the Rangers 14-9.

That’s all it took. Quinn wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort, noting that there were instances in which they refused to shoot the puck. That sounded like a direct reference to Buchnevich, who could be in jeopardy of losing his spot on the first line and top power play unit to Kakko.

I thought Adam Fox was a standout in the loss. He received 17:39 and 2:23 on the second unit. Fox made a couple of excellent reads including one in the neutral zone where he stepped up to intercept a pass and then skated around the net to set up a good point shot. That kind of maturity and hockey sense is why good things should happen soon for him.

On a day he was pretty good overall, Lundqvist would want the Draisaitl goal back. He finished with 23 saves in a losing effort. Smith only had to make 20. Now, the Rangers have another layoff before visiting the Devils on Thursday. The schedule doesn’t make any sense. At least you’ll finally have a Hudson Rivalry game between Kakko and Jack Hughes. The top pick is also still looking for his first NHL point. Hopefully, he gets it tonight in Boston before that anticipated showdown.

As for the Blueshirts, it’s back to the drawing board. They’ll definitely be getting in some practice time following such a disappointing game. Expect changes.

THREE 🌟:

3rd 🌟 Kaapo Kakko, Rangers (1st career NHL goal in 16:49)

2nd 🌟 Oscar Klefbom, Oilers (goal and 🍎 in 21:43)

1st 🌟 Leon Draisaitl, Oilers (2 goals and an 🍎 in 23:24, plus-two)

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Kaapo Kakko scores a highlight reel first NHL goal

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Derek

Late in the first period of a scoreless game between the Oilers and Rangers, Kaapo Kakko finally scored his first NHL goal. The wonderful moment came when Ryan Strome was able to make a perfect backhand pass to put the 18-year old second pick in.

Edmonton goalie Mike Smith was the first victim. Kakko made a great move by going to a forehand, backhand deke to beat the veteran for the only goal of the first period.

The smile on Kakko’s face was great. You could feel the excitement as MSG went nuts. It was a beautiful finish by a young player, who’s sure to bring many more memorable moments to the New York Rangers.

Congrats to Kaapo on a magic moment he won’t ever forget.

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Rangers finally back from vacation to face Oilers

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Derek

Believe it or not, there’s a game this afternoon for the Rangers! It feels like they took a vacation. I kid. But really, what kind of schedule is this? You have teams that played four games already while the Blueshirts enter today’s match 2-0-0 against unbeaten Edmonton.

Game time is 1 PM at The Garden. One of those rare early matinees for fans who are going to get out to quickly. Good luck to anyone who drove. Finding spots on a Saturday is about as fun as going to the dentist. I think Oilers buddy John will be there. He gets to take the Path train into Penn Station to see the surprising first place Oilers.

Edmonton is a perfect 4-0-0 to start the season under new coach Dave Tippett. It’s not only about leading scorers Connor McDavid (3-7-10) and Leon Draisaitl (2-6-8). James Neal has been reborn. He leads the league with seven goals highlighted by a four goal game in a road win at the Islanders. Five of the seven have come on the power play. The seven goals match his ’18-19 season total in Calgary, who foolishly swapped him for Milan Lucic. Oops.

Zack Kassian enters with five points (3-2-5) while benefiting from playing on the top line with McDavid and Draisaitl. The former Buffalo first round pick has found a home. He knows where to go to get the goals and has turned himself into a good hockey player. It helps that he cleaned up his life. He could’ve been a bust.

Edmonton isn’t going to blow you away after the vaunted top line featuring the game’s best player and the talented Draisaitl, who can make goalies look silly such as his perfect snipe off the far post and in to beat Mackenzie Blackwood the other night in a shootout. You knew the game was over for the Devils right after he came out.

The Oilers can skate with anyone. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Oscar Klefbom are excellent skaters, who make things happen. Plus Nugent-Hopkins is a smart two-way center. Klefbom is a smooth skater who can transition the puck and get involved offensively. Darnell Nurse is the steady two-way defenseman that continues to improve. He and Klefbom do the heavy lifting on a back end without Adam Larsson, who’s already out six to eight weeks.

There are supporting cast parts such as shot blocker Kris Russell, unheralded Matt Benning and unknown forwards Joakim Nygard and Gaetan Haas. Plus savvy vets Tomas Jurco and Riley Sheehan.
When you look at this roster overall, you wonder if it can sustain the early play over 82 games. Having a good coach like Tippett should help due to the system. Defense and checking are emphasized. Something that’s needed to be successful with a goalie tandem of Mike Smith and Mikko Koskinen.

So, how will the week layoff affect the Rangers? Mika Zibanejad was off to a torrid start with eight points in the two wins including his third career hat trick and a helper to do in former team Ottawa. They are very bad.

Zibanejad has excellent chemistry with new toy Artemi Panarin. The Bread Man already has two power play goals while adding two assists and a plus-four rating on the top line with playmaker Pavel Buchnevich (2 assists). Buchnevich is without a shot on goal through two games. He needs to be more selfish to become a threat. Otherwise, he won’t stay on that line for long.

The key to the season is getting the second line going. So far, it’s been quiet with Ryan Strome admitting that they can be better. They need to have the puck more to be successful. Especially with power forward Chris Kreider out there with second pick Kaapo Kakko, who is a puck beast. A harder forecheck is the answer. Kakko is still searching for his first NHL point. If he gets it later, he’ll beat top pick Jack Hughes, who is now centering the Devils third line. Strange doings in New Jersey.

Jacob Trouba has been as good as advertised. In two games, he has a goal and three helpers while logging over 23 and a half minutes as a responsible top defenseman. He plays power play and penalty kill while adjusting to new partner Libor Hajek.

Brady Skjei is off to another slow start. It’s all about consistency. At some point, he needs to find it. He gets paid handsomely to be more reliable. Adam Fox will again partner up. I like what I’ve seen from him. He’s a good skater, who makes smart decisions. Marc Staal and Tony DeAngelo remain intact like most of last season. DeAngelo’s speed and skating is the key to the pair.

I would like to see Lias Andersson get more shifts. He’s a hard working center David Quinn trusts enough to kill penalties with Zibanejad. Now, he’ll play with Greg McKegg, who replaces recently traded Vladislav Namestnikov. Brendan Smith continues to impress with his work ethic, which explains why he has a unique role on the fourth line while shifting back to D to kill penalties. The Rangers have only allowed one power play goal.

For now, it’s Brett Howden with Jesper Fast and antagonist Brendan Lemieux, who DQ liked so much, he bumped him up in two straight games to make Namestnikov expendable.

Henrik Lundqvist gets his second start.

In case you’re wondering about Hartford, they’re 2-0-0 so far by sweeping last weekend. Both Ryan Lindgren and Sean Day scoring from an active blueline that includes Joey Keane, who also has a pair entering their third game tonight.

Vitali Kravtsov became an early story when he was a healthy scratch in the second game. He wasn’t good in his pro debut with the Wolf Pack, only getting nine minutes of ice time. The AHL isn’t like before. There are a lot of new faces trying to make an impression. No player is above getting benched. Even if you’re a top prospect like Kravtsov from the KHL. We’ll see how he responds.

Filip Chytil bounced back from a quiet first game at center with two assists in the second Hartford win. Both Igor Shesterkin and Adam Huska were victorious.

That’s it for now. I’ll have more later. It should be a good test for the Rangers.

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New players, same dissapointing Devils

Posted on October 11, 2019 by hasan4978

I said after the Devils’ horrendous opener that I didn’t want to go nuts in terms of calling for John Hynes to be fired or anything drastic like that, although I certainly didn’t like the signs coming out of that game and the parallel to how other disasterous seasons began (this year’s football Jets, or the ’10-11 Devils to name two).  If the Devils wanted to drive me nuts and get me on my last nerve in record time, okay here it is – I’m nuts now.  This might be blow it up time and not just with the staff although god help us I really don’t see any reason after five years why things will improve on that end.  It certainly has to start with the staff at the very least.  Especially with quotes like this:

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1182483497572884481

Really?  We’re gonna take bows after a close loss to the OILERS?  At home?!  Where we blew yet another lead?!

Perhaps my best decision this week is to only have watched the Devils sparingly.  Not as if there was a lot of entertainment value involved, in spite of GM Ray Shero’s offseason additions and the franchise mantra of ‘fast, attacking and supportive’ which has never seemed more laughable than now.  You can get whatever brand of player you want, the first requirement above all else needs to be that they’re good hockey players!  There’s no way to spin this first four games as anything other than an unmitigated failure on all levels.  After the ghastly opener, to go on the road and get your scalps handed to you 7-2 by Buffalo(!) was frightening.  Then to follow it up with a passionless 4-0 loss to the Flyers last night was dispiriting.  Tonight’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Oilers was infuriating and not because of that stupid non-disallowed goal late when the Devils blew YET ANOTHER lead in the dying moments of the third period.  I don’t want to hear the whistle blew (especially since it shouldn’t have anyway), that’s a loser’s lament.  Bad teams don’t deserve breaks and this is a bad hockey team right now.

I get the Oilers and Sabres are both off to hot starts right now but my god if you’re lost against these teams, how are you going to fare against the Bruins, Lightning and other proven good teams?  This was supposed to be a winnable part of the schedule and right now they have zero wins in four games, which is actually one less than the John MacLean Devils had at the same point of their train wreck half season.  It’s truly frightening how much I’m getting 2010 flashbacks.  I mean both seasons they blew Opening Night in spectacular fashion (‘only’ losing 2-0 and 3-2 leads to the Stars at home, before dying in OT) and then went on the road to get housed 7-2 the next night each time.  Only then it was at least the Caps destroying us as opposed to an unproven outfit that’s getting over its own recent streak of losing seasons.

Buffalo it has to be said, may have finally found the right coach for their young group bringing back Ralph Kreuger from soccer.  It’s time for Shero to try it, it’s just not gonna work with Hynes.  It’s not any one decision or a number of decisions – although scratching Pavel Zacha and Jesper Boqvist in favor of AHL role players Kevin Rooney and John Hayden in Philly was a ‘seriously dude?’ moment.  And Hynes was all too quick to switch the lines around and change something that was working against the Jets, while he was too happy to lay off the trigger finger in Buffalo.  Even beyond all the stupid decisions, what young players – specifically the defensemen – have actually gotten better under this staff?  Maybe Zacha for a few meaningless games last year?  Damon Severson after looking like he was ready to take a step forward at the end of last season has taken like three steps back this year with an awful start.  Mirco Mueller’s been an abject failure and one of Shero’s few trades that looks like a total dud.  I guess you could say Taylor Hall’s taken a step forward but it’s not like he wasn’t a great player before getting here.

Development was supposed to be what this staff was good at and I really don’t see a lot of it here.  Certainly tactics and lineup decisions are questionable at best…does this team even have a system beyond running around like chickens with their heads cut off?  Special teams (both PK and PP) have been a tire fire this year.  Maybe if this were another season Shero could afford to be patient, heck he was patient enough last year when he trolled the fanbase giving Hynes an extension during the downslide of another poor season.  But after all the moves this offseason – trading for P.K. Subban and Nikita Gusev, signing Wayne Simmonds and drafting Jack Hughes – Shero can’t afford to just say business as usual, especially with the future of Hall likely riding on what this team does going forward, both because Hall himself won’t want to commit to a loser long-term, and because if this team continues to careen downhill Shero might wave the white flag and go to rebuild #2, in which case he should go immediately onto the hot seat himself.

I’m sorry, it’s time for the excuses for Shero to end now.  This is year #5 of the new era, Shero’s had more than enough time, and a couple of lottery ball breaks to build his own team.  Rebuilds do not take ten years, I’m sorry – this isn’t 1985.  Especially in this market, you can’t afford to have the fanbase get apathetic in a market with a small base of hockey fans to start with and so many other options for entertainment dollars.  Maybe all of his moves looked great on paper, but it’s possible that they weren’t right in terms of team-building.  Gusev for example…the dude’s got talent but right now he looks like Damien Brunner plus in that all he is, is a playmaker.  Hynes certainly doesn’t trust him defensively, and he probably doesn’t deserve it.  It’s early to get on Hughes but he certainly isn’t as ready-made as Nico Hischier was two years ago.

Certainly the new additions and key players haven’t been pulling their weight either.  Hall you could excuse based on rust, but where is the supposed impact of a Subban?  Simmonds looks too slow to keep up with the frenetic chickens with their heads cut off system.  Gusev if he’s only going to play ten minutes then he certainly isn’t any kind of an answer in the top six.  When so many players are underachieving it usually comes down to coaching, but effort is definitely a players issue and the effort already hasn’t been there in two games…the Philly fiasco would have been even worse if Cory Schneider didn’t play well in the first two periods before caving in during the third.  At least he managed to finish this game upright and so far he’s played better than Mackenzie Blackwood, who stunk in Buffalo.

Whether Shero fires the staff or not – and god knows if this gets to 1-7 or 0-8 with the inevitable Rangers embarassment of the Devils at the Rock next Thursday it’ll be impossible to avoid the five-alarm fire this season is becoming – decisions also need to be made on key players.  Hall’s a free agent that’s still unsigned, but if the team continues to stink to this level at least it makes the decision to trade him at the deadline a whole lot easier, assuming he doesn’t re-sign.  Defensemen Andy Greene (who missed tonight with an UBI) and Sami Vatanen are also free agents and this D really can’t afford to lose any talent.

All I know is I’m getting depressed over losing the same ways each season and doing the same darn recaps.  All we’ve gotten for change, change, change so far is one quickie playoff appearance that was over with inside a week.  Eventually Shero’s going to have to answer for why the rebuild has stagnated.

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Wayne Simmonds speaks about his time with Flyers before big return

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Derek

Good guy Wayne Simmonds returns to play his former team the Flyers as a Devil in a unique Turnpike Rivalry. AP Photo by Bruce Bennett Philadelphia Inquirer via Getty Images

Tonight, Wayne Simmonds returns to the city of Philadelphia. It was there where he developed into a good power forward, who gave everything he had to the Flyers.

After being traded from the Kings to the Flyers with Brayden Schenn in a deal that saw Mike Richards go back to Los Angeles on June 23, 2011, Simmonds gave Philadelphia fans the kind of popular tough, rugged player they love. For eight years, he produced 203 goals including two 30-plus goal seasons. He amassed over 100 penalty minutes four different times while being a stand up teammate, who wasn’t shy about making opponents accountable with his fists.

Now, following a brief stint with the Predators last Spring, he will be on the opposite side of a unique Turnpike rivalry between the Devils and Flyers. He spoke to reporters about it.

Simmonds felt he deserved to stay in Philly. But it wasn’t to be with the team he knew since age 22 moving in a different direction. They cleared cap space to sign Kevin Hayes and swapped tough defenseman Radko Gudas to the Caps for stay at home type Matt Niskanen.

He’ll wear his trademark number 17 for the evil black and red instead of orange and black. Considering how popular he was, he should get a video tribute and acknowledgement from the crowd before the boos start.

Most importantly, Simmonds knows his new team hasn’t played well so far. After blowing a 4-0 lead in a gut wrenching 5-4 shootout loss in the home opener to the Jets, they embarrassed themselves in Buffalo on Saturday night. It wasn’t a contest with the Sabres blowing out the Devils 7-2. The worst moment coming when PK Subban made an awful mistake by dancing around with the puck at the Buffalo blueline. It led to a brutal turnover and Sam Reinhardt breakaway goal on Mackenzie Blackwood for the death blow.

With top pick Jack Hughes struggling so far, he will play on a third line with Simmonds and two-way threat Blake Coleman. That’s probably the way to go due to Hughes’ defensive issues in the first two games. He’s admitted he must get better.

The start of this Rivalry game is after 7:30 PM on NBCSN. Good news is that Cory Schneider returns to the net after leaving the first game due to cramps. It looked more serious, but fortunately isn’t for the Devils.

It will be a special night for Simmonds, who’s a good guy. Maybe he rises to the occasion and gets one of those tips for a power play goal to spark his new team.

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Namestnikov dealt to Senators

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Derek

The Rangers have traded Vladislav Namestnikov to the Senators. In a deal just announced, they subtract Namestnikov and retain $750,000 to free up space on the roster. They collect a fourth round pick.

A thanks to Namestnikov for how hard he played under David Quinn. He might not have been the scorer they hoped for after getting him from the Lightning. However, he adjusted his game and became a valuable secondary forward who Quinn trusted both five-on-five and on the penalty kill.

With the Rangers moving in a different direction, and Namestnikov twice getting moved down to the fourth line in the club’s first two games due to Quinn bumping up Brendan Lemieux, it isn’t surprising. Though I never figured he’d go so early.

Best of luck to Vladdy with Ottawa. He’ll need it.

As for where the Rangers go from here, maybe they plan to recall Filip Chytil. But he just started playing for Hartford and at center. They could just plug Greg McKegg in on the fourth line and penalty kill role.

There’s no reason to rush either Chytil or Vitali Kravtsov back up. Especially when Kravtsov was a healthy scratch in the Wolf Pack’s second game yesterday. The key to this remains patience. They don’t have to bring either young player up right away.

I think maybe it opens the door for either Boo Nieves or defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who’s played well scoring a goal and continuing to look ready. With Quinn opting to use Brendan Smith in a unique double role as a fourth line energy guy and on the improved penalty kill as a defenseman, it’s worked out well so far.

It’ll be interesting to see what the organization decides. They don’t play the third game until this Saturday afternoon against the Oilers. Hardly an ideal opponent to reinsert a kid.

There was some overreaction to Kravtsov being benched in his second AHL game. Maybe some of the other fans need to chill. It doesn’t happen right away. I have more confidence in the current staff when it comes to the team’s prospects.

Anyway, that’s gonna do it. Congrats to Mika Zibanejad on being named the NHL’s First Star of the Week. A well deserved honor following his eight points highlighted by a hat trick in the 4-1 win at Ottawa.

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A cool Staal quote on the new top line

Posted on October 6, 2019 by Derek

Mika Zibanejad wears the Broadway Hat following his hat trick in Ottawa. AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy New York Rangers.

Plenty of people have already took notice of the new Rangers top line. And why not? Through two games, they’ve been dynamic.

It looks like for now, Pavel Buchnevich will stay with Mika Zibanejad and early Christmas present Artemiy Panarin. The cohesive trio have great chemistry. They already created some magic with a Panarin pass leading to one of the prettiest goals so far from Zibanejad on a tic tac toe play with a unselfish Buchnevich.

Even their teammates are noticing. Take Marc Staal, who heaped high praise on what he’s seen in two games.

When you can move the puck around like magicians, it makes it look easy. Not every game will be like that. Especially against tougher opponents. However, for Zibanejad to record his third career hat trick against his former team was special.

Here’s how it looked and sounded on MSG from the underappreciated John Giannone and partner Joe Micheletti last night.

It’s pretty cool that Zibanejad got his three goals in different situations. The first came on the power play on the rebound. The second during a seamless transition started by rookie Adam Fox with puck wizardry from both Panarin and Buchnevich leaving Zibanejad speechless. The third one off a terrific defensive play from Brendan Smith to cause a two on one shorthanded with Zibanejad using a perfect toe drag and laser top shelf to turn the trick.

It definitely could be a fun season. It’ll be interesting to see these guys go up against two of the game’s best players in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl later this week.

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Game 2: Zibanejad dominates Senators with a hat trick and four points

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Derek

It was a memorable night for Mika Zibanejad. AP Photo via Getty Images

Two words. Mika Zibanejad! For the second consecutive game, he put up four points in a Rangers win. In fact, Zibanejad made a little history that puts him in great company.

Through six periods of the brand new season, Zibanejad has eight points (4-4-8). He joins Jaromir Jagr as the first player to go back-to-back four point games to start a season. The legendary Jagr last did it in ’95-96 with the Penguins. The ageless 47-year old wonder still plays in his native country, the Czech Republic.

It was a good night for the Rangers, who improved to 2-0-0 on the season. They got good performances out of Zibanejad’s line with Artemiy Panarin recording his second power play goal and an assist, and Pavel Buchnevich tallying three two helpers. The number one line combined for all four goals and eight points. Jaw dropping stuff.

UPDATE: Check that. They changed the scoring on the Zibanejad first goal. Chris Kreider gets credited with a assist. Buchnevich loses one.

Jacob Trouba had a primary assist on Zibanejad’s power play rebound that got it started in the first period. He was steady throughout in a team high 22:38 while paired up with rookie Libor Hajek. The revamped D worked out well for David Quinn, who also had Brady Skjei with Adam Fox. Marc Staal stayed with Tony DeAngelo.

They also got a very good game from Alexandar Georgiev, who was strong throughout making 31 saves. The only goal that beat him came on a Brady Tkachuk redirection on a big Thomas Chabot point shot that tied the game at one in the first period.

It was Zibanejad, who did in his former team literally. In a lopsided second, he scored twice. The first one I highlighted in the previous post when he took a Panarin feed and went back and forth with Buchnevich before burying an easy one-timer past poor Ottawa netminder Craig Anderson. He must’ve felt dizzy from that sequence. It was incredible or incredulous depending on who you root for.

With the Sens on a power play, secret weapon Brendan Smith forced a turnover inside his own blueline. Zibanejad and Lias Andersson came two on one. Using Andersson as a decoy, he patiently toe dragged around a diving Senator before wiring one upstairs to complete the hat trick. It was beautiful.

On the other side, Georgiev didn’t give up anything else. His rebound control was excellent. So, he gets the start in Game 2 and picks up right where he left off. A good thing for the Blueshirts, who now don’t play again until next Saturday against Edmonton.

The Rangers worked more magic for a Panarin power play goal at 2:51 of the third to put the game away. The top unit dominated with pinpoint passing, shot attempts and eventually a great passing play started by Zibanejad to Buchnevich, who whirled across for a perfect one-timer by the Bread Man short side for a 4-1 lead.

There was nothing else to see. They’re two for two. That’s also a good baseball term in October. Think Yankees. Exactly.

Three 🌟 Of Game:

3rd 🌟 Artemi Panarin, Rangers (power play goal for 2nd, assist #2 in 18:03)

2nd 🌟 Pavel Buchnevich, Rangers (3 2 🍎 in 16:34)

1st 🌟 Mika Zibanejad, Rangers (hat trick including ES, PPG, SHG, plus 🍎 in 20:32 with 18/22 on draws)

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Mika Zibanejad records first hat trick

Posted on October 5, 2019 by Derek

The season is only five periods old. Already, Mika Zibanejad has the first hat trick for the Rangers. He has lit up his former team in Ottawa tonight through two periods.

The score is: Zibanejad 3, Senators 1. Here’s the second one on just a crazy back and forth Harlem Globetrotters passing play between Mika and Pavel Buchnevich.

Wow. After scoring on a rebound for a power play goal in the first from Jacob Trouba and Buchnevich, Zibanejad untied the game with that crazy tic tac toe goal from Buchnevich and Artemiy Panarin.

He completed the hat trick in style with a shorthanded goal on a terrific toe drag and top shelf shot past Craig Anderson.

The Rangers will carry a 3-1 lead into the third period against the Senators, whose lone tally came from Brady Tkachuk on a neat deflection from Thomas Chabot.

Alexandar Georgiev has been solid thus far making 19 saves. His rebound control has been good. There is one period to play.

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