Rangers Stuff on Staal/Lundqvist and Kravtsov in visit to Nashville

Posted on November 2, 2019 by Derek

This afternoon in Music City, the Rangers visit the Predators for a 2 PM (1 Local Time) matinee. I don’t know how much I’ll watch. I’m not a fan of early games. We’ll see. Either way, I’ll have a game review tonight.

Let’s jump right in on some key information about today’s game against a very good opponent.

Nashville should be upset after taking the third period off to blow a 4-1 lead in a perplexing 6-5 overtime loss to the Flames. They got beat at the buzzer basically by a between the legs highlight reel Matthew Tkachuk goal. It was a game they once had a 27-9 edge in shots.

Even though they haven’t played since Tuesday, the Rangers could be getting the Predators at the wrong time. You have to figure they’ll be on edge following such a bad loss in Smashville. Especially where they have great fans. For that reason, I don’t have great expectations.

Don’t forget how deep that roster is. Adding Matt Duchene to Ryan Johansen, Kyle Turris and surprisingly red hot Nick Bonino gives them a huge edge at center against most teams. Don’t forget the versatile Colton Sissons and Calle Jarnkrok, who have three of their four shorthanded goals. Filip Forsberg could return too. Along with Viktor Arvidsson, this is a tenacious group of skilled forwards that will make life difficult on goalies.

Long story short, the young and younger Rangers defense will have to do a good job in front of Alexandar Georgiev. That means limiting the Nashville attack by boxing out and keeping them to the outside. It won’t be easy. Especially with arguably the league’s best defense that’s led by overlooked star Roman Josi. It’s Ryan Ellis and Josi who top the Preds in scoring. They’re 1-2 with underrated Mattias Ekholm a key contributor.

There aren’t many weaknesses with veteran coach Peter Laviolette’s balanced roster. They haven’t missed PK Subban, who continues to make more headlines off the ice than on it. That’s not a ringing endorsement. Dante Fabbro is the fourth defenseman. Only 21, he’s considered the next good blueliner for the Predators.

Considering that Nashville doesn’t have a back-to-back with the struggling Red Wings next in Detroit on Monday, I wouldn’t be surprised if Laviolette goes back to ace Pekka Rinne. Still one of the league’s best netminders despite sheer lunacy from detractors, the former Vezina winner is off to a great start. In nine starts, he’s yet to lose in regulation, boasting a 7-0-2 mark with a 2.19 GAA, .920 save percentage and two shutouts.

He turns 37 tomorrow. The same age as Henrik Lundqvist. The difference being Lundqvist was drafted at 18 in the seventh round of ’00 while Rinne waited until 21 as the last overall pick (258) in ’04. If you want a good comparison, go look at both goalies. Each has a Vezina and Stanley Cup appearance while putting up eerily similar numbers.

Juuse Saros hasn’t yet fulfilled expectations. He’s gotten into four games and only has one win which was his last start against the bumbling Lightning on Oct. 26. After allowing 14 goals on 95 shots in his first three starts, Saros stopped 28 of 30 in a 3-2 victory last Saturday.

I laid out how good Nashville is. To David Quinn’s credit, he’s sticking with the same lineup that made the Lightning look bad. Mika Zibanejad will miss a second consecutive game (UBI). That means more of Filip Chytil centering the second line while Ryan Strome draws first line duty. If you subtracted Strome, where would they be? Don’t answer it.

I wonder if Quinn will again have Jesper Fast on that top line as a matchup player while shielding Kaapo Kakko on the third line to keep him away from being exposed. He had a better game on Tuesday. It wasn’t only that he scored his second goal on the power play. He played with more poise and looked confident. Exactly what you want to see. My guess is the forward lines won’t change.

Kreider-Strome-Fast

Panarin-Chytil-Buchnevich

Lemieux-Howden-Kakko

Haley-Andersson-Smith

Given the success he had, Kakko should stay put on the top power play unit. A good development. That means Pavel Buchnevich on the second unit. I like it better along with promoting Tony DeAngelo to that first unit. He has the right instincts. Jacob Trouba just didn’t fit due to Zibanejad and Artemiy Panarin. It’s better off this way. I also like seeing Adam Fox get power play time. He’s gonna put up more points.

With Quinn wisely opting to ice the same lineup, that means Marc Staal sits out again. He said all the right things about it yesterday. Obviously, he’s not happy. However, the prideful vet understands why Ryan Lindgren has replaced him. He’s anxious to get back in.

By ego, I’m referring to how demonstrative Lundqvist acts when things unravel. While I get the frustration, he has to understand what’s going on here. This is a Rebuild. There are going to be mistakes. Even though he was right about last Sunday’s humiliation, he should realize the situation. This isn’t a playoff contender. They’re likely gonna miss the postseason a third straight year. This is all part of the process.

When you listen to Staal or watch him during a game after a mistake or goal against, he doesn’t sulk. He’s a good team guy and true unselfish leader. That’s the only reason he’s still here. That isn’t the case with Lundqvist, who rejected a chance to waive his no-trade clause when approached by the organization over a season ago. He chose to stay.

Henrik’s loyalty reminds me of countryman Mats Sundin. The Maple Leafs became a horrible team with the great Hall of Fame center still their captain. He never wanted to leave Toronto. It wasn’t until after his contract expires that he played half a final year in Vancouver. His final postseason appearance, Sundin showed he still had it going 3-5-8 over eight games in the 2009 NHL Playoffs. His previous appearance was with the Leafs in ’03-04 before the lockout.

Igor Shesterkin lost his first game with Hartford in a 4-1 loss to Laval on Wednesday. He allowed three goals on 23 shots. In the rematch, the Wolf Pack fell in a shootout 2-1 to the Rocket. Defense prospect Joey Keane had the lone goal for the Pack. He has five. Adam Huska made 27 saves in the loss.

Finally, KHL reporter Gillian Kemmerer had a nice update on Vitali Kravtsov. Ironically, it comes from former Rangers assistant Mike Pelino, who coaches HC Lokomotiv in Russia. I think what he had to say is worthwhile.

That final part where he mentions having “unreal expectations,” is true. Especially when it comes to an impatient fan base in NYC. In many aspects, that applies to what we are seeing with the amount of venom that’s destroying the fabric of the city. Young people have no respect for anything these days. It’s embarrassing.

Updating this post, this happened earlier:

Nice to see Kravtsov get on the board for Chelyabinsk Traktor.

Getting back on topic, I really enjoy Gillian. If you aren’t following her already, you should. She’s great.

That’s gonna do it for now. Until much later. 🙂

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An embarassment on and off the ice

Posted on October 31, 2019 by hasan4978

Through ten games the Devils’ season so far has been blown lead after blown lead with brain cramps, bad play and hideous coaching galore in a nightmare that just won’t end.  Or just as accurately, we’ve become an endless loop of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown right as he’s about to kick it, emblematic of the blown lead syndrome.  Each blown lead and near miss has seemingly been more frustrating than the last, although it’s still hard to top Opening Night for sheer horror.  Tonight was pretty close though, against a quasi-rival in Tampa.

Not that it really should have been a great shock we managed to blow another multi-goal lead, even against a Tampa team playing without their best defenseman and at basically half speed still slogging through the hangover of last year’s playoff washout.  Don’t be fooled by the shot total, yeah the Devils played well in stretches but honestly it reminded me more of a late February game between two non-playoff teams just throwing up crap against a wall and playing pond hockey.  For a game that ended up with the score it did, you would have figured it was at least exciting but it was sloppy with spasms of good play followed by a bunch of nothing.

If the game mattered more I might have enjoyed the wild swings of momentum, but I’ve already been beaten down so much by this team and the losing over the last several years that even when Kyle Palmieri miraculously tied the game with under ten seconds remaining with a hat trick goal, I couldn’t muster much more than a clap for the player himself.  Not after the Devils had already blown a 5-3 third period lead to go behind 6-5 in the first place.  I’ll give the crowd credit in that the 11000 people there were into the game emotionally, although like me they’re on their last nerve with this team and there was plenty of booing during the game, for the most part when it was deserved (more on that later).

There isn’t much I’m even going to bother to recap although I’ll say this, other than Palmieri the Devils’ so-called best players and veteran leaders really need to start acting like it.  So far P.K. Subban has been a massive dissapointment, but there’s only so much I can really get on him because at least (unlike a certain other big star on the team who I’m getting to soon enough) he’s more self-aware to realize he’s not playing well and take responsibility for it.  We definitely need better from PK though, other than the Ranger game he really hasn’t had much of a positive impact at all.

As much as I’ve bagged on Cory Schneider in recent years and it’d be nice to get a key save more than once every few months I can’t really blame tonight on him to be honest, the breakdowns when they happened were truly spectacular, as were a couple of the odd deflections that got by him.  Plus he’s self-aware likely to his detriment in taking his share of the blame for the disaster that is this team.  I can’t get on Andy Greene too much because it feels like picking on a senior citizen at this point, at least a senior citizen in NHL years but this team’s lacked leadership in a lot of recent seasons and that you can get on the captain for.  Travis Zajac really hasn’t done much either (one goal and four points in ten games).  All that is true.

And yes, the coaching staff is a disaster but what’s the point of rehashing that?  I feel like I’m going to die holding my breath wondering whether John Hynes or Adam Gase bites the dust first, but in both cases seemingly competent GM’s are undermining themselves with loyalty to a horrible coach.  In the case of Devils GM Ray Shero though, he’s had five seasons here and now it looks like more than ever we’re going to need a second rebuild to get out of our current cycle of suck.  That the GM needs to take responsibility for whenever (or if) he finally decides to make a change behind the bench.  Because even if he does make a change it’s extremely unlikely the team’s going to make the playoffs at this point.  I hate to wave the white flag before November but what in this first ten games would suggest the team as currently constituted is capable of a massive 72-game run needing a pace just behind Tampa’s President’s Cup season last year to make the playoffs?

That said, none of these guys are looking for an $80+ million deal this offseason.  If you’re just looking at stats and see Hall has nine points in ten games you might think things are peachy, but the 2017-18 MVP really hasn’t been playing anywhere near as well as that number would suggest, starting with the fact he only has one goal himself.  It’s one thing to be in a slump scoringwise and maybe have your timing still off due to not playing for about nine months because of his injury issues last year.  It’s another thing to just be careless and stupid like he was on the fifth Tampa goal, the one that tied the game when he turned the puck over, then tipped a perfect deflection past his own goalie matching his offensive goal total for the season.  For a supposed leader on the team that’s bad enough, reminiscent of the bad old days in Edmonton and his first year here when he would sulk around regularly.

When you compound all that with just being absolutely tone deaf enough to rip the fans for booing after yet another hideous loss (which you were a main culprit in) when you have two wins in ten games, then Houston we have a problem here.

As a fan who was there…yes the fans booed one or two of the power plays – which by the way Taylor was 1-5, not 1-3.  And which has been operating at a wonderful 10.3% clip on the season (good for 26th in a 31 team league).  So yes one lousy goal early in the first period – after which you blew that lead anyway – wasn’t exactly enough to get people off a hideous PP’s back.  More to the point though, how can you rip the fans for voicing their displeasure of a dissapointing team that has two wins in ten games and has blown a billion different leads when you haven’t even been pulling your own weight?  Not to mention it’s not like things have been going so much better for you on the road with no booing home fans to worry about where the team is sucking even worse for a second straight season.

Yes nobody can ever take 2017-18 away from you Taylor…but right now you’re just confirming the bad press you were getting on the way in here, and when it looks like when you have one foot out the door to boot.  I’ll be honest for the last couple of games I’ve been wondering silently whether it’s even a good idea to re-sign him, now after tonight’s wonderful on and off ice display I’m saying the silent part out loud.  As much as it annoys me to do so because trading Hall means rebuild 2.0, but really what other outcome could this season have at this point anyway?  This team’s running out of time to change the narrative, beginning a stretch of 15 games in 30 days the losses could come fast and furious if something doesn’t change, and soon.

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Game #10: Chytil and Georgiev highlight a great win in honor of Dan Girardi

Posted on October 30, 2019 by Derek

The game’s first star Filip Chytil celebrates a Rangers win over the Lightning with Alexandar Georgiev. AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy New York Rangers.

On a night they honored one of the toughest players in franchise history, the Rangers were whole again. Playing easily their best game, a focused and scrappy bunch of Blueshirts beat one of the NHL’s supposedly best teams by outworking and outplaying the Lightning.

The end result was a well deserved 4-1 win that got plenty of cheers from a pleased crowd at MSG. All 18 skaters and the goalie played with laser focus and the kind of determination and intensity that would make Dan Girardi proud. The former Ranger and ex-Lightning defenseman was on hand for an emotional video tribute and ceremonial face-off drop of the puck between former teammates Chris Kreider and Ryan McDonagh.

It was all very nice for the Black and Blueshirts Iron Man. Number 5 was all smiles along with his family. Even though close friend Marc Staal was a healthy scratch, it would’ve been a nice touch if he were out there for that. When I think of Girardi, I am reminded of the physical battles in the postseason both defensemen battled along with McDonagh.

I understood why Staal didn’t play. That lineup decision was a good one by coach David Quinn. He hasn’t been consistent. With Ryan Lindgren back up from Hartford along with Filip Chytil, it made perfect sense to see what Lindgren could finally do on a very young defense that featured three rookies including Adam Fox and Libor Hajek. Brady Skjei, Jacob Trouba and Tony DeAngelo were the veterans. Well, Trouba has the most experience.

This one started off with some snarl. Less than two minutes in, Micheal Haley dropped the gloves with bigger Stanley Cup hero Patrick Maroon. The former St. Louis Blue was getting the better of it until Haley landed a right to the side of the helmet that knocked Maroon down. Unfortunately, that punch injured him. He was wobbly going off and never returned. My guess is concussion. I hope he’ll be okay.

Following the fight, there was some more rough stuff after Luke Witkowski boarded Lindgren from behind. After things settled down, the Rangers were unable to capitalize on the two minute power play. Personally, I think any boarding penalty should be either a double minor or major. They just suspended Adam Lowry for a nonsensical hit from behind in the Heritage Classic between Winnipeg and Calgary at Saskatoon in the snow. It was only two minutes after he injured Flames defenseman Oliver Kylington. What a joke.

In this game, Quinn made another smart move by putting prize rookie Kaapo Kakko on the top unit. Even though it didn’t pay early dividends, he would be heard from later. Just moving him up seemed to give the teenager an extra jump in his step. He was much more noticeable throughout. Nobody seemed to mind that Kakko played on the third line at even strength with Brett Howden and Brendan Lemieux. His five shots led the team and he tied in attempts (6) with Artemiy Panarin.

Despite playing well, a lousy line change cost the Rangers the game’s first goal. For some reason, all five skaters went to the bench without getting the puck in deep. Instead, Brayden Point raced up ice and turned on the jets to set up Nikita Kucherov for his fourth from Stamkos at 15:44. It was a bad moment for a young team. I didn’t quite get why both Hajek and Trouba came off with the forwards. The D are supposed to make sure a quick transition doesn’t happen.

An irate DeAngelo slammed his stick and was fortunate he didn’t receive a delay of game minor for shooting the puck down ice. Showing remarkable restraint, the officials made him get it. So, five new skaters all wound up with a big fat minus due to the embarrassing wholesale change. The good news is that was the only puck that got by Alexandar Georgiev. Making his first start in three games, he was remarkably sharp throughout. In particular when the game opened up, his lateral movement and rebound control were superb. He finished with 29 saves to earn the game’s second star.

As good as Georgiev was, Russian counterpart Andrei Vasilevskiy was better. The rating Vezina winner was at his absolute best in this one. With his team down two men after top defenseman Victor Hedman left the game in the first period, Vasilevskiy made several outstanding stops. He played extremely well and was the only reason the game was close. He faced a barrage throughout as the Rangers outshot an opponent for the first time all season. Vasilevskiy finished with 39 saves and to me, was the game’s number one star. They don’t reward brilliance to a losing goalie in a 4-1 road loss.

The game wasn’t without another learning moment for Kakko. After failing to clear the zone, he slashed Kevin Shattenkirk to earn a minor penalty late in the first. Speaking of which, fans didn’t have much reaction to Shattenkirk playing his first game against his former team. It wasn’t surprising as everything that could go wrong did in his two years in the big city. He’s off to a better start with Tampa. He entered play with four goals and three assists to resemble the offensive player he’s supposed to be. Ironically, he replaced Girardi twice. Here and in Tampa. Go figure.

As for the penalty, a disciplined penalty kill picked up Kakko to help the Blueshirts conclude the period only down one. They held a 14-11 edge in shots. Jesper Fast returned and was utilized on the top line in a checking role. He played with Chris Kreider and Ryan Strome. They had a quietly good game at five-on-five. It was by far Kreider’s most complete effort. He was more aggressive looking for his shot and came back hard defensively. Strome was a beast all night logging over 22 minutes while dominating on draws where he went 17 for 29. He also had another good offensive game.

With Mika Zibanejad out, Chytil centered a very effective second line between Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich. In his season debut following a impressive nine game stint with Hartford, Chytil was much more visible throughout. In all facets, he looked like a different player. He had superb chemistry with Buchnevich. The two played off each other well by working give and goes. They generated a lot of scoring chances that a sharp Vasilevskiy denied.

Ironically, it was Kakko who drew a interference minor on Mathieu Joseph that got the game tied up. Following a undisciplined slashing minor on Ondrej Palat that gave the Rangers an abbreviated five-on-three for 20 seconds, it was Kakko who stuck with it to score his second goal in the remainder of a five-on-four power play. Following missing an open side on a surprising Panarin feed, Strome made a good pass across to an open Kakko, who patiently outwaited a Tampa defender by going around. He fired a shot that took a funny carom off both Vasilevskiy and defenseman Braydon Coburn before the puck went in to tie the score at 9:37. Kreider did a nice job screening.

The rest of the second was each team trading chances. On a rare Lightning power play, Georgiev was at his best making at least four big saves to keep the contest even. He was very good in a key spot against some elite talent. Overall, he stopped 11 Tampa shots in the stanza with nearly half on that one man-advantage.

It was the Rangers who came hard in the second part of the period. However, Vasilevskiy had other ideas. He stopped them in their tracks to keep the game tied. Whether it was due to his team being short two men, or the players having a hard time getting up for one of the league’s doormats, Vasilevskiy did his best to bail out the rest of a disjointed Lightning. They don’t look like they’ve recovered from last Spring’s shocking first round sweep to Columbus. Something is off. I’ll be curious to see what they bring into the second game of a back-to-back at the Devils. Curtis McElhinney should be in net.

In the third period, the refs hung up their whistles. Phantom hooks and holds were let go. They let the teams decide the outcome. This was a refreshing change from most games today. What you got were two teams skating and countering each other while going for it. It made for fun hockey.

Both netminders stayed on their toes. I loved how aggressive Vasilevskiy was challenging shooters. Kreider was a bit unlucky on a two-on-one so his perfect shot clanging off the crossbar. That’s how it’s gone. However, he didn’t let it bother him. When he’s more active during shifts as he was tonight, that’s a good thing for the Rangers. Maybe wearing the ‘A’ in place of Staal helped. He was focused.

Chytil had already been robbed once by Vasilevskiy. I tweeted this earlier.

He got his goal on a beautiful one handed deflection on a great pass from Buchnevich. It was well executed by both young players. Buchnevich pulled up inside the Tampa line and found a cutting Chytil behind the defense with a good pass down low that the second-year center tipped in past Vasilevskiy. That gave the Rangers a well deserved 2-1 lead with 7:14 remaining.

In his season debut, Lindgren played over 15 minutes and didn’t look out of place. It was a subtle defensive play at the end of a shift that led directly to a special moment for Fox. He made a smart pass to Kreider while changing to trap two Lightning players. Kreider came in two-on-one with Fox. He wisely aimed low for a rebound and it went right to Fox for his first career NHL goal. That made it 3-1 good guys with 2:36 left in regulation. It was also a career milestone for Lindgren, who picked up his first NHL point with the secondary assist. Good for both.

With the Tampa net empty, it was Strome that sealed it from the red line for his third at 19:14. That gave him a goal and assist. He is 3-7-10 in the team’s first 10 games. That’s only one point behind Zibanejad for the team lead. Not bad for a hard working versatile guy, who some NYR bloggers wanted to get rid of for nothing. I’m glad they’re not in charge.

Along with Panarin, who quietly has 10 points (5-5-10), Strome has been one of their best players. A player who can be trusted in any situation including the penalty kill. He can also slide back over to the right wing once Zibanejad returns. That’s valuable.

This was a feel good win for a young team searching for an identity. That doesn’t take away from what Girardi and soon Staal gave this franchise. Let’s see how they follow it up at Nashville.

I’m not usually the guy who’ll get into the whole goalie debate. But based on Tuesday’s performance, Georgiev deserves another start on Saturday. Why not? They played well in front of him. Stick with a similar lineup even if Zibanejad is ready.

Battle Of Hudson 3 🌟:

3rd 🌟 Adam Fox, Rangers (1st NHL goal, 4 shots, +2 in 24 shifts-16:16, continues to improve daily)

2nd 🌟 Andrei Vasilevskiy, Lightning (39 saves including several big ones)

1st 🌟 Filip Chytil, Rangers (1st of season for GW, 3 shots, 2 takeaways, 2 blocks, +1 in 21 shifts-17:27)

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People who celebrate Marc Staal’s demise are frauds

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Derek

For the first time this season, Marc Staal will be a healthy scratch. It’ll be rookie Ryan Lindgren taking his place.

I want to emphasize something I said on Twitter. It’s not something to celebrate. Too many fans are guilty of taking shots at the veteran defenseman, who’s given his all as a Ranger.

I blame other bloggers for this mindset. They are a bunch of obnoxious people with nothing better to do. If you root for this team, then you cheer for everyone who plays. Even if it’s the 32-year old Staal, who hasn’t been the same player in quite some time.

There are a lot of frauds wearing Rangers jerseys and merchandise. These are the same people who will tell you Pavel Buchnevich is a superstar. Do they actually watch each shift? Not unless it’s part of their biased agenda.

It’s sad that Staal gets singled out on a night one of his close friends and former teammates returns. However, I have no problem with David Quinn taking a closer look at his very young blueline that includes elder statesmen Brady Skjei at 25. Yikes.

This is about the mentality on social media. It’s mean spirited and wrong. Screw BSB and the other arrogant clown that made a dumb comment about Dan Girardi’s return.

It’ll be interesting to see how such a young D fares against an elite team like the Lightning, who may play without Brayden Point. They’ll have three rookies (Lindgren, Fox, Hajek) on the blueline.

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The best thing I saw today on Dan Girardi returning to MSG with son Landon

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Derek

When the Lightning visit the Rangers at MSG tonight, it’ll mark the return of Dan Girardi. The recently retired former defenseman, who was such a big part of those classic Black and Blueshirts teams, will be honored before the game by the classy former organization he broke in with.

It’s hard to express how I feel about this emotional moment later. There’ll not be a dry eye in the arena or most households, who haven’t forgotten what Danny G meant to our team. He was the blood and guts of some very good teams that put their hard hats on. There was nothing number 5 wouldn’t do to help the Rangers win hockey games. Well, literally.

Selling out with the game over at the House of Horrors on a deadly PK Subban shot. Yikes.

Doing whatever it takes to keep Game One of the 2013 Eastern Conference Semifinal versus Boston tied up to force overtime and draw a classic reaction from Pierre McGuire. The late Dave Strader had the call. I sure miss him. Cancer sucks. 😧

Yes. Occasionally, he could do this. But it wasn’t what he was known for. That overtime winner at the Nassau Coliseum against the Islanders was pretty memorable. Great call too by Sam and Joe. Listen to that crowd.

Great tribute video by Zak of all that Girardi embodied for the Blueshirts. It included his first ever NHL goal along with some of the biggest hits and blocked shots. Plus a couple of sweet finishes by Martin Brodeur.

The game is airing on NBCSN at 7:30 PM later. Even though MSG Network won’t have the call, you gotta think they’ll show a few clips of the Dan Girardi tribute. They’re usually pretty good with that stuff. This morning during the skate, nine-year old son Landon got reacquainted with Henrik Lundqvist. It was a cute photo op and reunion.

These days, Girardi is enjoying retirement while having his own podcast with his last team, the Lightning. He may have finished his career there along with Ryan Callahan. But he’ll always be a New York Ranger.

https://twitter.com/Kovy274Hart/status/1189211365396926467?s=19

No. 5 Dan Girardi

NYR 788 GP 46 goals 184 assists 230 points +54 275 penalty minutes

TBL 139 GP 10 goals 24 assists 34 points +24 39 penalty minutes

NHL 927 GP 56 goals 208 assists 264 points +78 314 PIM

NHL PLAYOFFS

NYR 122 GP 6-27-33 -1 36 PIM (20 GP 3-9-12 +6 3 GW in 2012)

TBL 21 GP 2-1-3 +1 6 PIM

Career 143 GP 8-28-36 Even Rating 42 PIM

HITS & BLOCKED SHOTS

Reg. Season 2046 hits and 1913 blocked shots (NYR 1762 hits/1650 blocks)

Playoffs 378 hits and 362 blocked shots (NYR 336 hits/326 blocks)

Career Total 2424 hits and 2275 blocks (NYR 2098 hits/1976 blocks)

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Kravtsov signs with Chelyabinsk Traktor for one year, Early observations on Kakko

Posted on October 29, 2019 by Derek

Vitali Kravtsov returned to Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. It’s not a big deal. Plus some hard hitting thoughts on Kaapo Kakko and Igor Shesterkin. AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy tsn.ca

On Monday, Vitali Kravtsov made it official. He re-signed with his KHL team Chelyabinsk Traktor for one year.

The 19-year old New York Rangers top prospect will rejoin Chelyabinsk and likely play out the rest of the season in Russia. This likely scenario had been rumored for a while. It is a two-way deal, which means the Rangers can recall the forward at any time. That isn’t realistic until sometime next year.

After spending training camp in New York, Kravtsov got a good look in preseason. He scored one goal and showed off some of the potential that made him a first round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. The Rangers took him ninth ahead of current Islander forward Oliver Wahlstrom. He isn’t getting a lot of ice time under coach Barry Trotz either.

Development takes time. That’s a harsh reality many fans and even some in the NYR blogosphere don’t want to face. You can’t rush kids who aren’t ready for the NHL. It’s the best league in the world. If you’re one of those impatient fans unhappy with what coach David Quinn is doing with the lineup, take a closer look at second overall pick Kaapo Kakko. I watched his shifts very closely on Sunday night at the game. He looked lost.

And for those doubters which have even included yours truly in this space, Kakko played on the top line against the Bruins. We saw what happened. They got completely exposed by a much better team that could win the Stanley Cup. It wasn’t just Kakko, who struggled mightily. Even Jacob Trouba had issues against the vaunted Boston top line. I don’t feel like repeating their names. It’s tiresome.

If you want further proof, look at Kakko’s numbers. Through nine games, the highly rated Finnish right wing has one goal and one assist. He’s a team worst minus-12. Some will argue that he hasn’t been put in position to succeed. However, that would ignore his defensive issues. Like most first-year players, it’s taking him more time to learn on the job. He’s only an 18-year old teenager. Playing in North America is way different than dominating in Europe. The smaller ice surface and faster speed means less time to make plays. Decisions must be quick and instinctive. Especially in the defensive zone.

I fully understand why Quinn originally had Jesper Fast penciled in with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. The veteran alternate captain is a two-way player, who’s defensively responsible. Not having him or Zibanejad after the first period left the Blueshirts fragile. They were out of their depths.

The truth is while it’s easy for us to sit on the sidelines and criticize the second-year coach, he was right to protect Kakko against such quality competition. Looking to get favorable match-ups can work well and help improve the rookie’s confidence. Even if he doesn’t lack it, he has to realize by now how challenging the league is.

Don’t forget when he sees the uber talented Lightning tonight, Steven Stamkos once went through similar growing pains in his rookie year. That was as the number one overall pick of the Bolts in 2008. He improved as the ’08-09 season went on, finishing with 23 goals and 23 assists for 46 points with a minus-13 rating over 79 contests. The next year, Stamkos erupted for 51 goals and 95 points to become one of the game’s brightest new stars. He had a dominant three-year stretch where he scored 156 goals from age 19 thru 22 by the conclusion of ’11-12.

We should be so lucky. I won’t be dropping Kakko anytime soon in my keeper league. I know better. Plus my team is off to another hot start. 😬

All of this is why nobody should be upset over Kravtsov. There’s nothing wrong with going home to play in a pro league he’s more familiar with. He’s young. He won’t turn 20 until December 23. Let him regain his confidence. Let’s see where he is in a few months.

That goes for Kakko, Lias Andersson and just recalled center Filip Chytil. It certainly applies to young defensemen Adam Fox, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren. We’re still seeing Tony DeAngelo progress and he just turned 24. He’s on his third organization with the difference being he’s listening to Quinn and maturing.

I also want to finish this post by taking the anti Henrik Lundqvist fanclub to task. Sure. In a perfect world, our proud 37-year old goalie would’ve accepted a trade to a contender. He had that opportunity presented to him after the purge in ’17-18. He doesn’t have any interest in moving on. So, they’re stuck with his $8.5 million cap hit through 2021.

I’m friendly with one of the Lundqvist detractors on Twitter. He has his own blog. We exchange our posts following games. The difference between us is I’m realistic about the situation. It’s not a good idea to rush Igor Shesterkin up right now. I understand how good the 23-year old Russian is. The 2014 fourth round pick is off to a great start with the Wolf Pack. In his first five starts, he’s a perfect 5-0 with a 1.18 GAA, .953 save percentage and a shutout.

Before you crown him, how about we remain patient? There’s nothing wrong with letting Shesterkin continue to get acclimated in the AHL. Especially when the team in Hartford is much better than the current state of the Rangers roster. Or did these experts forget about Dan Blackburn? That was another brilliant job of management during the Dark Ages.

Besides, it’s better off with Lundqvist and steady backup Alexandar Georgiev take the bulk of the remaining 73 starts. If something happens to one of them, then by all means they can call up Shesterkin. I don’t want him too exposed to the current roster. There isn’t much talent and not any consistency. That’s why they’ve lost five of six.

Like the Guns N’ Roses hit song “Patience,” our fans must “use a little patience.” It’s a process. There are going to be more stinkers like we witnessed the other day. That’s part of it.

I’ll have more later.

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Rangers recall Chytil and Lindgren and why it’s not a big deal

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Derek

Fans are celebrating the recall of Filip Chytil and Ryan Lindgren from Hartford. Such is life on NYR Twitter. A crazy place where people go from down to up to down again rooting for this team.

I’m not going to overreact. Not after that bleep storm last night. The stench is still fresh. How’s that for brutal honesty? You’re not gonna get balloons and flowers on this blog.

Nothing about Sunday’s embarrassment to the Bruins top line should be forgotten. Otherwise, they won’t learn from it. The Rangers have the Lightning visiting tomorrow. They’re not as tough to play against as Boston. No disrespect. But anyone who thinks Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos are in the same league as David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, are off their John Rocker.

Are they super talented? Sure. The Tampa trio has yet to kick it into high gear. That should be a warning for overly excited fans and bloggers about the 10th game, which could feature Chytil and finally Lindgren, who should’ve been with the team from the beginning.

Both prospects played well for 8-0-1 Hartford. Chytil led the Wolf Pack in scoring with nine points (3-6-9) and Lindgren was 1-1-2 with a plus-eight rating in the nine games. Each is young. Lindgren is 21 while Chytil turned 20 last month. They’re key players to the team’s rebuild. So, it’s important how they’re developed and used.

After making an initial splash as a teenager last year with a few highlight reel goals, Chytil struggled when he was moved back to center after the team moved on from Kevin Hayes. In 75 games, he went 11-12-23 with a minus-22 rating. Points were hard to come by in the second half. Maybe that should’ve been a warning sign to the organization that the number 21 pick in 2017 wasn’t fully ready for the top six center role they projected for him. A disappointing training camp led to him being sent down.

With top pivot Mika Zibanejad uncertain for Tuesday, we could get to see the future on the number one line. It’s possible that Chytil could center the top line while recent number two pick Kaapo Kakko moves up. Will it be Artemiy Panarin, who would be ideal over Chris Kreider? Let’s hope so. There is nothing wrong with Kreider playing on a second line with Ryan Strome and Pavel Buchnevich.

Though I’m curious if Jesper Fast returns, will David Quinn have the gritty, defensive minded Quickie on the first line as part of a match-up to slow down Stamkos, Point and Kucherov? I now understand why Fast was originally penciled in to play with Zibanejad and Kreider yesterday. The coach was thinking about the best way to slow down that dynamic Boston line. By the end of one period, he was without both. We saw what happened.

Encouraging is that it doesn’t sound like Zibanejad will be out for long if he sits out tomorrow’s match. That’s a big break for the team. Also, new enforcer Henrik Lundqvist sounds like he should be okay. As expected Alexandar Georgiev gets the start against the Bolts.

Regarding Lindgren, I’d like to see him play at least on the third pair. Here is a question for the coach. With Libor Hajek having his worst game of his career, does Lindgren replace him in the lineup? They’re different style defensemen. Hajek is more of a skating type while Lindgren is more physical. He had a good camp.

Or would they actually consider scratching Marc Staal? Not saying it was his fault last night. He somehow managed to finish plus-one. As has been noted everywhere, the well respected 32-year old veteran is slowing down. Like Lundqvist, it could be the final two seasons for him. I wish the turncoats didn’t dump on him as much. Don’t forget how good a player he was during those three playoff runs. What he also overcame. Some people have short memories.

I don’t see Brady Skjei coming out of the lineup. He wasn’t the issue yesterday. Consistency is something the 25-year old must find. He’s been around long enough.

My guess is they’ll hold out Zibanejad as a precaution. I’m just gonna take a guess on the lines.

Panarin-Chytil-Kakko

Kreider-Strome-Fast

Lemieux-Howden-Buchnevich

Haley-Andersson-Smith

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Game #9: Rock bottom for humiliated Blueshirts in ugly home loss to Bruins

Posted on October 28, 2019 by Derek

AP Photo via Getty Images courtesy WEEI

In the twenty plus years I’ve attended games with my family, I’ve seen my share of stinkers. The Dark Ages (’98-04) were full of them. Tonight’s abysmal second period may as well have been during that horrorbull error era. It was embarrassing. With the lone exception of Brendan Smith, who was somehow the team’s best player, this was a total humiliation.

By the end, the Bruins had so outclassed the Rangers that the final tally of 7-4 didn’t do it justice. The really pathetic part is when we got back to the car following the long walk after Boston’s sixth goal, you heard the clowns on MSG radio try to go full spin mode due to a pair of goals in garbage time. I want to single out former Rangers playoff hero Pete Stemkowski for not being one of those jokers. He told it like it was. So does John Giannone and Dave Maloney. That’s it.

Rather than do a full recap of the mess that was left behind at Madison Square Garden, I want to reveal what Henrik Lundqvist said about how brutal the effort was in the pathetic second period that started with a strange Patrice Bergeron goal after he was bumped into by David Pastrnak. The great Bruins finisher was tripped up from behind by Libor Hajek, who was one of a few kids who got badly exposed against that Boston first line of Bergeron (hat trick), Pastrnak (5 assists) and Brad Marchand (2-3-5).

In a very serious tone, a frustrated Lundqvist discussed at length how they have to compete better. Especially when it comes to top tier opponents like tonight’s opponent. He made sure to praise the Bruins top line for how good they are. Utterly dominant and complete in all facets. He also indicated that they must keep it simple to have a chance in these games. He’s right. Even if he showed clear frustration over getting bowled over by Pastrnak on Bergeron’s tying goal 11 seconds into the second period (incidental contact should’ve wiped the goal out), Lundqvist spoke about how they weren’t even close to where they need to be. It was 💯 percent truth.

This wasn’t about the goalie on Sunday evening. Rather about the team and how disappointing they played. They should feel ashamed too. Boston was the team playing a second consecutive night following a 3-0 shutout of the Blues in a Stanley Cup rematch. The Rangers had over 48 hours to prepare. It really did them a lot of good.

Jesper Fast didn’t play. It was for personal reasons. Boy was he lucky. They could’ve used him actually. He plays with lots of grit and hustle. There wasn’t much of that at The Garden. Other than Smith, goal scorer Micheal Haley and Lias Andersson, there wasn’t much compete from the other skaters. I hate to say that, but it was that bad.

Adding further insult to injury, top center Mika Zibanejad left the contest during the first period after taking a Bergeron hit. I saw him bent over in the far corner and knew it wasn’t good. He still was in the same position at the bench. Coach David Quinn did indicate that it isn’t a concussion during the postgame. Hot tip to Rick Carpinello. What the injury is we don’t know. Hopefully, it’s not serious. They’d be in big trouble without Zibanejad.

Before I get into the rest of the awful middle period where it looked like most of the players forgot to take their Zoloft, I’d like to give some credit to the fourth line. For half the first period, there wasn’t much going on. The Rangers were without a shot until Smith wisely threw a simple low one on Jaro Halak that he butchered. That allowed Haley to score his first on a rebound for a 1-0 lead. Andersson drew an assist for his first point of the season. He played hard throughout, but like many teammates, got lost in coverage on a Boston goal.

It would be easy to point to the controversial first Bruins goal as the turning point. However, Jacob Trouba was culpable after going for one of those big hits on Pastrnak and coming up empty. He took himself right out of the play and the end result was Pastrnak with a strong drive to force an off balance Lundqvist save. Due to a sliding Hajek tripping him up, that allowed Bergeron plenty of time to backhand in his first of the game. Rather than debate further on it, I want to single out Trouba. He had a bad game. He’s supposed to be the man on the defense. He finished minus-three while younger partner Hajek looked overmatched.

On the Marchand goal at 1:08 that suddenly gave Boston a 2-1 lead, nobody laid a body on him. Both Tony DeAngelo and Pavel Buchnevich were there, but had a communication breakdown at the wrong time. The end result was a layup for Marchand. More confusion due to nobody being able to recover and clear the puck following a pair of Lundqvist saves resulted in Charlie Coyle making it 3-1. This was brutal. The less said about it, the better.

What followed was the very interesting sequence between Lundqvist and Pastrnak. Perhaps due to being out of his mind, he went after Pastrnak and landed a right shoulder into the shocked Bruins power forward. This wasn’t no accident. Lundqvist went for the hit and landed, leading to some chaos with an incensed Marchand. In a rare occurrence, Lundqvist and Marchand were given matching roughing minors.

Of course, Marchand scored his second of the night as soon as he returned. On another sustained Boston attack, Coyle circled the net and was able to find an open Marchand for an easy finish. At that point, Quinn had seen enough. He used his timeout and did some screaming at the bench. It was too late. I thought he should’ve took it after the third straight Bruins goal. They were teetering against one of the league’s best teams.

Lundqvist got the third off. Alexandar Georgiev replaced him and was rudely greeted by a wicked Zdeno Chara one-time blast off the post. Pastrnak set him up at 43 seconds. At 5-1, I knew we weren’t staying for the whole thing.

A nice dish across from DeAngelo led to Buchnevich burying his second to cut the deficit to three. Artemiy Panarin set it up to earn the other assist. As for Buchnevich, he had a weird game. He went for a big check early and got the worst of it with Charlie McAvoy. He blew an assignment on a goal. He also stripped Marchand and had a clean breakaway, but somehow missed the net with the entire top staring at him. I have no idea how he didn’t score. In the same shift, he drew a tripping minor on Pastrnak. Then finally scored later. In his fourth season, the talented Russian remains a frustrating player. Some shifts, it’s there. Others, he floats. He needs to shoot the puck more instead of making the extra pass. One sequence with Ryan Strome was ridiculous.

When Pastrnak and Marchand combined to set up Bergeron’s second on another easy play that made one wonder if they were practicing, that was enough. Who cares about the goals Chris Kreider and Skjei scored. They came with under two minutes left. I don’t care to look. I’ll see a replay.

All it did was lead to Bergeron scoring an empty netter to complete his hat trick. The game’s best two-way center of this generation is a great player. Also happens to be one of my favorite players to watch.

That will do it. No highlights. No GIFs. No postgame. This was totally embarrassing. At least I met some cool Finnish hockey fans in our section, who appreciated my old school Starter Esa Tikkanen home white jersey. Nice fans. I also had a cool conversation with a MSG employee about Derek Sanderson and the first Expansion. Good guy.

Battle Of Hudson 3 🌟:

3rd 🌟 David Pastrnak, Bruins (5 🍎, +4 in 17:05)

2nd 🌟 Patrice Bergeron, Bruins (hat trick, #’s 3, 4, 5, 15/20 face-offs, +3 in 18:08)

1st 🌟 Brad Marchand, Bruins (2-3-5, +5 in 17:05)

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Sunday stuff that’s bugging me about Rangers

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Derek

It’s a yucky day outside. On a football Sunday, the Rangers play host to the Bruins tonight. While an Original Six match up between classic rivals is always nice for the fans to take in, there are some things that are bugging me.

Let’s start with the throwback game between Bruins and Rangers Alumni. If you don’t have a ticket for the special event which is probably concluding at The Garden, you’re out of luck. Unless you cover the team via media credential, you can’t experience some of the familiar faces that made this one of the most unique rivalries.

Yes, that’s former Bruins center Bob Sweeney beating ex-Ranger backup goalie turned MSG analyst Steve Valiquette. At last check, it was 3-0 Boston. Would you like to know what they were airing over this cool game? The woeful Knicks home opener that saw the Celtics humiliate them the final quarter. Plus the best of MSG 150… Anything to save money in production costs for Dolan. The same crook who rips off fans of the Rangers and Knicks.

I’m sure they’ll show highlights the next time they air a Rangers game. I’m not sure if it’s tonight due to NHL Network having the game. My guess is it’s still gonna be on MSG except for blackout restrictions. Whatever. We won’t be home. We’re going.

This will be my first and last game of the season. At least it’s a good opponent, who plays hockey well. There’s no better line than Patrice Bergeron centering Brad Marchand and the sizzling David Pastrnak, who enters with a league-leading 11 goals.

What else has me annoyed? David Quinn. Following a 6-2 win over the Sabres where his team dominated, he has again decided to go Combos with his lines. Yes. I’m not kidding. Kaapo Kakko is expected to be off the top line already. Jesper Fast replaces him.

Why? This is a joke. Put the prize second pick in the best position to succeed. That’s what the Devils have finally decided to do by having number one overall pick Jack Hughes center Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri. Hughes posted a goal and two assists for his first career three point game in a 5-3 loss to the Coyotes.

With Vitali Kravtsov deleting all his photos of being a Ranger on Instagram after deciding to bolt boring Hartford to go back home and play for Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL, it’s just not a good look. Sure. He was only drafted first round in 2018. And yes. He didn’t disrespect the organization despite loose interpretations of a interview he gave to Eurosport. That includes Brendan Smith, who he indicated played better than him in camp. That’s true.

Kravtsov is only 19 and doesn’t turn 20 until two days before Christmas. He also had the opt clause to go back home if he wanted to. Considering that there wasn’t a spot for him in New York and he wasn’t getting ideal ice time with the Wolf Pack, it makes sense for him to go play for a pro team he’s more familiar with. The Rangers have the option to recall him. However, it’s likely Kravtsov will stay in the KHL until the conclusion of the season in late February. He should be back.

I’m sick of people bashing Smith. It’s not his fault the Rangers aren’t good at development. All he’s done is give an honest effort in the first eight games while doubling as a top penalty killing defenseman. It’s just sad that former 2017 first round pick Lias Andersson finds himself on the fourth line playing with Smith, Greg McKegg, or Micheal Haley. Why is Haley here for? They couldn’t just give that spot to Boo Nieves.

If the Smith bashing is bad, then the cries for Marc Staal to retire are ridiculous. While it’s true his possession numbers are atrocious, he’s far from alone. If these other bloggers want to preach their charts so badly, why don’t they have a closer look at the zone starts. That tells a lot of the story. Even Jacob Trouba is at 43.0 Corsica. He must suck. Right? What’s even funnier is frequent target Neal Pionk has recovered nicely with Winnipeg.

The truth here has to do with personnel. Pionk still lots a ton for the Jets minus Dustin Byfuglien. The Winnipeg forwards are way better than the Rangers. Even with the addition of Artemiy Panarin and Kakko, who’s still adjusting, the Blueshirts pale in comparison to the Jets, who feature Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor and Nik Ehlers. You should’ve seen the pass Connor made for Bryan Little’s overtime winner to beat Calgary in the Heritage Classic at snowy Saskatoon.

Tony DeAngelo has been on a nice roll since his benching. He’s up to four goals thanks to three over the last two games. After playing with Brady Skjei, who had a better game on Thursday with two assists, DeAngelo is back with Staal on the top pair. There’s no way Staal should be deployed that way at this stage of his career. This is due to Quinn continuing to have Trouba work with rookie Libor Hajek. Skjei will pair up with Adam Fox, who continues to improve game to game. He picked up his first NHL point on Chris Kreider’s first of the season.

So, here are your expected NYR lines at least to start:

Kreider-Zibanejad-Fast

Panarin-Strome-Buchnevich

Lemieux-Howden-Kakko

McKegg-Andersson-Smith

Let’s stop right here. If he’s not gonna rock the vote and use Kakko with Zibanejad, then why the heck isn’t he with Panarin? This is baffling. Howden, Lemieux and Fast had solid chemistry as the third line. Now, he breaks them up at the expense of Kakko, who has to be confused. We’re only nine games in. Quinn has tried every combination except for the one everyone is dying to see.

Panarin-Zibanejad-Kakko

What will it take for the second-year coach to stop babying Kakko? He’s limiting him at the expense of veterans that have no bearing on the team’s future. Talk about a fail.

It’ll be Henrik Lundqvist again in net. He faces Boston backup Jaro Halak due it being the Bruins second game of a back-to-back. Tuukka Rask pitched a shutout yesterday in a Boston win. He’s the active goalie leader in GAA and save percentage. The only thing missing is a Stanley Cup. He came up short for the second time as a starter losing to the Blues last June.

Hopefully later, DQ won’t piss me off any further.

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Дас вы Даная Кравтсов: Goodbye for now Kravtsov

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Derek

Vitali Kravtsov is leaving Hartford to go back to Russia to play for Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. Whatever the reason, that’s where he wants to be. So, he will spend the remainder of the season playing for a team he’s familiar with.

Predictably, there’s been some overreaction to Kravtsov deciding he’d rather develop back home than with the first place Wolf Pack of the AHL. His friends Igor Shesterkin and Yegor Rykov are staying. However, he’s younger. Selected by the Rangers with the ninth pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft, he doesn’t turn 20 until December 23. That’s right before Christmas.

As much as I would’ve preferred him to stay in Hartford to learn the North American style of hockey, I’m okay with it. The Rangers have a clause where they can recall Kravtsov at any time. Considering that he didn’t get off to a good start with one assist in five games with the Pack, I don’t expect to see him for a while. He wasn’t going to be here anyway.

I guess I’m not freaking out over this development like some. Maybe it’s because I understand that there isn’t a role for Kravtsov with the Rangers at the moment. Had he impressed with the Pack, who knows? It was unrealistic to expect him to start fast in a league he was unfamiliar with. Filip Chytil has eight points so far because he’s a year older and spent a season there.

That’s perspective. As long as Kravtsov performs well and matures back home with his KHL team, great. He can return this season. I wouldn’t expect him until after the trade deadline. Maybe mid March when Traktor’s season ends. By then, the roster should look different.

This was supposed to happen. There had been rumors earlier this month that Kravtsov would wind up back in the KHL. I’ll give credit to the guys at Forever Blueshirts for initially breaking this story. They have some reliable people over there who are in tune with what’s going on in Europe.

Unlike other Rangers blogs, they aren’t all fluff. Give them a follow on Twitter @4EverBlueshirts.

That will do it for now. Here’s hoping it all works out for Kravtsov and the Blueshirts.

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