Game #52: Rangers see shadow in frustrating 4-3 overtime loss to Kings

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Derek

Groundhog Day just passed. The good news is Chuck didn’t see his shadow, which means an early Spring. Given how nice the weather is, maybe there’s some truth to that. If only that were true when it comes to the annoying Kings. Once again, the Rangers saw their shadow in a frustrating 4-3 overtime loss that looked all too familiar.

I don’t have the words to describe how I feel about that team. It’s not fit for this blog. So, it’s better left unsaid. It’s strange. But I can take losing to almost anyone. Not that team. Never ever. Even if both rosters have gone through major overhauls since that 2014 Stanley Cup, I can’t stand them.

How much have the two rosters changed? Try this on for size. Fourteen players are left who participated in tonight’s game. I put the trivia up on my Twitter page. It stumped many. The Rangers had six players left over. Five were pretty easy to get. Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, and Jesper Fast. The sixth actually played for the opposing side. He wore his trademark number 62. Carl Hagelin. As for the Kings, they still have eight. Even after Jake Muzzin was dealt to the Maple Leafs last week, the holdovers include Jonathan Quick, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Alec Martinez and Kyle Clifford.

It’s funny, but my trivia was more interesting than the game. Who wants to read about an all too predictable loss to the team we can’t stand? Neither do I. Besides, I saw what coach David Quinn said about how this team often acts like they’re up 5-1 instead of 2-1. He’s right. They didn’t play for 60 minutes, blowing three different one goal leads in the process while only winding up with three shots in a disappointing third period.

When you only have one line going, you’re not gonna win most nights. Even if for a majority of the game, the Rangers were the better skating team. It doesn’t matter if Quinn dressed seven defensemen and 11 forwards. Relying on Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello can only get you so far. They were on for two of the three goals.

Zibanejad continued his torrid pace scoring his 21st goal and recording assist number 31 to give him a new career high in points with 52. He’s been unbelievable. It couldn’t happen to a nicer player, who still has three years remaining on that bargain of a contract that pays him an average of $5.35 million through 2022. It’s obvious that he shouldn’t go anywhere. Neither should Kreider unless they think power forwards with his skill set grow on trees. You can’t trade everyone.

As for Zuccarello, he picked up a primary assist on Zibanejad’s goal that made it 2-1. Zuccarello has played some exceptional hockey. He extended his point streak to eight giving him 14 points (5-9-14) over that span. Since Jan. 8 when he tallied a helper against Vegas, Zuccarello has 15 points in the last 10 games. That’s more than half his point total of 29 in 38 games. A very popular player, the 31-year old veteran will be moved before the Feb. 25 trade deadline. Maybe he decides to return on a short term deal this summer. We’ll see. He loves it here.

Kevin Hayes knows his days are also numbered. The smart two-way pivot has continued to play well. With 11 goals and 25 assists for 36 points over 43 contests, the 26-year old forward is in high demand by contenders with Winnipeg and Boston at the top of the list. A big payday is ahead for Hayes, who’ll turn 27 on May 8.

It’s ironic that Adam McQuaid scored his first goal as a Blueshirt to put them up 3-2 in the third. He’s played some gritty and tough hockey on a blueline that needs it. Unfortunately, it looks like the popular character veteran will likely go as well. The former Bruin could find a new home soon. Toronto is said to have interest even after adding Muzzin, who recorded three points in a 6-1 Leafs blowout win over the woeful Ducks.

There could be other candidates on the Rangers current roster that could get traded. There aren’t many untouchables. With the exception of Filip Chytil and Henrik Lundqvist, anything is possible. Marc Staal has a limited no trade clause that includes eight teams he won’t accept a deal to. It would take something extraordinary for the veteran leader of a young D to go this season. He’s signed through 2021 making $6 million with a cap hit of $5.7 million.

Kevin Shattenkirk also has two years left with an even higher cap hit of $6.65 million. Yikes. To the recently turned 30-year old’s credit, he has played better. But the lack of production is alarming. He only has two goals and 12 assists in 45 games. A good skating and offensive defenseman, it hasn’t worked out for Shattenkirk playing for the hometown team he rooted for that won the Cup in 1994. He’ll at least get to experience what that era was like when the ’93-94 championship team is celebrated 25 years later on Friday.

It’s disappointing that no one has stepped up to contribute on the other three lines. Pavel Buchnevich had that one assist on Zibanejad’s hat trick last week. But he’s been fairly quiet since being elevated to the Hayes line with Fast, who’s been taking too many unnecessary penalties. The Ryan Strome unit with Chytil and the ever snake bit Vladislav Namestnikov continues to cycle effectively and generate opportunities, but has gone cold.

On the fourth line with Boo Nieves, Jimmy Vesey played better in his nine-plus minutes, but remains stuck on 11 goals.

The only player who did something was Tony DeAngelo. In his return after missing two games, he made a great pass to set up Kreider’s team-leading 24th for a 1-0 lead. DeAngelo looks like the best young defenseman they have. He continues to improve at making good plays and get better overall.

There’s not much else to add. Especially when Adrian Kempe ties the game with 59 seconds left on a blown coverage. Then, he assists on Toffoli’s overtime winner following Zibanejad hitting the far goalpost. That’s the way it always goes versus that team.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd 🌟 Tyler Toffoli, Kings (overtime winner plus a helper)

2nd 🌟 Mika Zibanejad, Rangers (goal and assist giving him career best 52 points)

1st 🌟 Adrian Kempe, Kings (2 goals and an assist)

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Game #51: Strong third not enough for Rangers in tough 3-2 loss to Lightning

Posted on February 3, 2019 by Derek

Sometimes, the effort is good enough. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always net the end result. Ask the Rangers following a tough 3-2 home loss to the Lightning tonight.

Considering how they also played in a 1-0 shutout defeat to the Flyers earlier this week, you can make the argument that they could be 3-0-0 since the break. Instead, their only win came on Thursday over the Devils by a count of 4-3- highlighted by Mika Zibanejad’s hat trick. All three games have been decided by a goal. The Rangers only have two points out of six to show for it.

That’s how it goes. Playing for the second time in two nights without top finisher Brayden Point (lower body injury), the Lightning used a good spurt in the second period to pull ahead of the Rangers by three. They got goals from Erik Cernak (first of career) and Steven Stamkos 4:52 apart to turn a one goal lead into three before the halfway point of the contest.

Yanni Gourde scored the lone goal in a even first. It came on a broken play with former Ranger Ryan McDonagh setting it up. A bad bounce came right to Gourde for his 13th at 6:51. Tampa Bay only had six shots while the Blueshirts had eight. It didn’t matter. They held the 1-0 lead.

A bad stretch for the Rangers allowed the number one overall Bolts to score twice. Cernak got his first NHL goal off a feed from ex-Ranger Ryan Callahan. It was a well executed odd man rush by the Lightning checking unit. After taking a Cedric Paquette feed, Callahan found the open trailer Cernak for a good shot that beat Henrik Lundqvist for a 2-0 lead. Filip Chytil was late on the coverage which allowed Cernak to celebrate his first goal.

The third Lightning tally was a terrific all around play from three of the game’s best players. With the Rangers’ fourth line caught out, leading scorer Nikita Kucherov flew through the zone before finding Victor Hedman up top. With the Rangers scrambling, Hedman passed for a open Stamkos, who wasted no time releasing his 28th high to the short side past Lundqvist’s glove at 8:33.

Despite trailing by three, there was zero quit from the Blueshirts. They started to come back thanks to the sizzling top line that continues to shine. Having entered play with 36 points in their last six games, the cohesive trio of Chris Kreider, Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello connected again with 3:43 left to cut the deficit to two. Zibanejad dropped for Zuccarello, who took his time before firing a laser past Tampa backup Louis Domingue for his ninth.

From that point, it was up to Domingue to carry the Bolts to victory. Similar to Flyers journeyman Anthony Stolarz on Tuesday, he faced a ton of shots and scoring chances the rest of the way. The veteran was up to the challenge stopping 31 of 33 Rangers shots including 15 of 16 in a busy third period.

The only goal that got the Garden hosts within one came on a very good transition play scored by Kevin Hayes (first in seven games). On a power play, Zuccarello’s back pass went out of the zone to Lundqvist, who wisely pushed the puck back up to Zibanejad, catching the Lightning in a change. Not known for his stick handling, the good pass by Lundqvist allowed Zibanejad to come in and draw two Bolts. He then made a excellent backhand saucer pass across for Hayes’ 11th at 6:49. It was Lundqvist’s 26th assist. For some reason, NBC seemed to think he passed all-time leader John Vanbiesbrouck. But I just checked Hockey-Reference.Com. They have Beezer for 28 assists as a Ranger. Did MSG make a mistake along with NBC?

In any event, they had plenty of opportunities to tie the game. They outshot the weary Lightning 16-4. But Domingue wouldn’t allow another one to get past him. His best save came when he robbed Kreider point blank with Lundqvist pulled. I’m not sure how he got it. Kreider looked like he had the tying goal only to watch helplessly as Domingue was able to get a piece of it with his shoulder.

Lundqvist may not have been too busy, but did rob former teammate Callahan on a mini break. After Marc Staal lost an edge, Callahan retrieved a loose puck and went to his bread and butter move. He looked to have Lundqvist dead to rights, but somehow Henrik got just enough of Callahan’s forehand tuck to kick it out on the goal line for a whistle.

It’s too bad it didn’t result in at least a point. The Rangers deserved better in this one. But that’s how the cookie crumbles. They’re going to need some secondary scoring to help out the Zibanejad line. It didn’t happen on Saturday.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd 🌟 Steven Stamkos, Lightning (28th goal for game-winner)

2nd 🌟 Mika Zibanejad, Rangers (2 primary assists to continue his roll)

1st 🌟 Louis Domingue, Lightning (31 saves including 15 of 16 in 3rd)

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Buchnevich to start on second line for Blueshirts against Rangers South

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Derek

With a later start than usual at the world’s most busiest arena, the Blueshirts will play host to Rangers South tonight. Game time isn’t until 8 PM. I have no idea why. It’s not like St. John’s lost badly to Duke at the Garden. But rather at Cameron Indoor Stadium where the woeful Knicks are praying they win the NBA Lottery and land Zion Williamson.

Whatever the reason, it’s the Rangers and Lightning an hour later than normal from 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue over Penn Station. Rangers South as I like to call them, are playing for a second consecutive night. In a well played game between first place teams, they needed a Victor Hedman goal in a shootout to edge the Islanders 1-0 behind Andrei Vasilevskiy.

When they come to town, there’ll be a lot of familiar faces to both the Rangers bench, fans and media. Former captains Ryan Callahan and Ryan McDonagh are two of five former Rangers who play for the Bolts. There’s also Dan Girardi, J.T. Miller and Anton Stralman. The last time I wrote about the ex-Blueshirts, I forgot to include Stralman, who was out injured. It’s hard to remember everyone. Even harder to believe these guys were a big part of those very good teams that made three Conference Finals and one Stanley Cup over a four-year period.

Those days are long gone. Now, the new look Rangers scratch and claw for every point. They enter winners of four of the last five, including Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Devils that was highlighted by Mika Zibanejad’s second career hat trick and four-point game. Mats Zuccarello kicked in three primary assists and Chris Kreider scored his team-leading 23rd goal. Henrik Lundqvist finished with 19 saves for his fourth consecutive win. He’s in net again later.

Most notably, Pavel Buchnevich gets to stay on the second line at the start due to his inspired play the other night. Coach David Quinn moved him up in place of a struggling Jimmy Vesey. Buchnevich rewarded Quinn’s faith by jumping on the ice for a changing Kreider and keeping a play alive to record a secondary helper on Zibanejad’s game-winner set up by Zuccarello.

This is a chance for the 23-year old right wing to prove himself to the coach. He wants consistent effort from the talented third-year forward entering restricted free agency this summer. It’s up to Buchnevich to prove he should be part of the team’s future moving forward. We’ll see how it goes with Kevin Hayes and Jesper Fast.

Filip Chytil will start with Ryan Strome and Vladislav Namestnikov on the third line. Vesey will be on the fourth line in purgatory with Boo Nieves and Cody McLeod.

As for the defense, I’m not sure we’ll see the return of Tony DeAngelo. Whatever happened during the Flyers game on Tuesday on the bench, is why he didn’t play in Newark. It’s not related to his play. He has dealt with off ice issues before. I can’t reveal anything else.

If DeAngelo is a healthy scratch again, that means more of the struggling Neal Pionk with Marc Staal. Brady Skjei with Adam McQuaid, and Brendan Smith with Kevin Shattenkirk.

The Lightning boast the league’s leading scorer Nikita Kucherov (22-57-79), lethal finisher Brayden Point (30 goals) and top center Steven Stamkos (58 points). They also have Hedman and McDonagh on their top two pairs with vets Girardi and Stralman in the top six even though it’s been a struggle for the latter. Tyler Johnson remains a key secondary scorer along with Yanni Gourde, Miller, Alex Killorn and rookie Anthony Cirelli, who must be watched shorthanded. Ondrej Palat is rarely healthy.

This is a deep roster that’s expected to compete for a Cup. It’s Cup or bust for them. A lot of pressure for Jon Cooper’s club. Especially in the same division as the Maple Leafs with a potential heavyweight second round match up in the Spring. It shouldn’t be. But that’s how flawed the current divisional playoff system is. Last year, Winnipeg eliminated Nashville in seven hard fought games in the same round while Vegas cruised through Los Angeles and San Jose before ousting the Jets.

It should be a interesting game. The Lightning couldn’t beat Isles goalie Thomas Greiss on Friday night. You know they’ll be itching to take their best shots on Lundqvist.

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Game #51: Satisfying Saturday – Devils 3, Canadiens 2 (OT)

Posted on February 2, 2019 by hasan4978

In a season full of dissapointments, today’s 3-2 OT win in Montreal was a rare bright spot, mainly because it saw younger players play a starring role in a comeback win on the road. All three goals were scored by sophomores Will Butcher and Nico Hischier, with rookie Mackenzie Blackwood turning in another starling 37-save performance in net. This afternoon’s win was rather unlikely given the mounting injuries of the lineup. In addition to Taylor Hall, Sami Vatanen and Ben Lovejoy all being on IR, crack center Travis Zajac also didn’t make the trip north with an undisclosed injury. With a season reduced to finding moral victories over meaningful ones, this win was at least momentarily satisfying.

By my count seven players in today’s lineup weren’t on the ice for Opening Day in October including Blackwood. Among the others only Steven Santini and Drew Stafford were even on the roster (or at least I think Stafford was on the roster then, he may have been formally signed a couple of games into the season). With some of our few better players out of the lineup guys like Nico took a step up today, wearing the A on his chest and responding with a two-goal game, first scoring late in the third to tie the game then in OT to win it.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1091808960754139136?s=20

Ironically enough Nico’s winner came after fellow draftmate Nolan Patrick scored his own OT winner for the Flyers against Edmonton. So much for the 2017 draft being underwhelming. Of course while Nico’s been better individually, Nolan’s team is much closer to the playoffs after their current seven-game winning streak. So it goes, likely we’ll have another top 5-10 pick this year, but who else other than Nico will still be here remains up in the air.

Of more immediate concern than even the deadline is the fact Cory Schneider’s rehab assignment concludes this weekend and the organization will have to decide which goalie goes. Will Cory get waived, or Keith Kinkaid traded (if that’s even possible)? Or would they even send Blackwood down? Though it seems unlikely given the way he’s played to this point especially with his return to the lineup today after playing one AHL game plus All-Star weekend during the Devils’ bye week and sitting while Kinkaid played the Devils’ first two post-break games.

Also of concern is the injury situation. Mystery surrounds the severity of Hall’s injury plus Vatanen having a second major concussion inside a year isn’t exactly ideal. As it is, Vat may not have fully recovered from the playoff concussion he sustained in April, given how his play has gone down a notch from last season. And who really knows what the deal is with Zajac at this point? Having guys like that out of the lineup would only make the lineup look more scary once guys presumably get traded closer to the deadline.

Of course the dissapearing lineup makes it easier for me to dissapear from watching games, although I will be at the Tuesday and Saturday home games this week – yay me. At least my only other game in attendance this month is a promo (’90’s night) with a friend, and it looks like there’ll be decent weather Tuesday so at least there’s that. I can get away with a t-shirt and jacket as opposed to wearing a sweater and a jersey for my second home game of 2019.

And making his return to the Prudential Center for the first time in six years on Tuesday is none other than Ilya Kovalchuk, who left the organization high and dry a season after the most recent lockout by trekking back to Russia. Sure they wound up saving a bit on the recapture cap hit but everyone knows that wasn’t his primary motivation for going back home. Simply amazing how much things have changed since his departure in April 2013. Then we were less than a season off of having met the Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals, now both organizations have fallen on hard times with Kovalchuk not getting his accustomed icetime anymore.

At least the Kovalchuk return with what should be about 10-12,000 mostly booing souls should provide enough of a distraction to keep me interested in a game between two teams going nowhere. Assuming we don’t fall behind 3-0 in the first period at least.

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Game #50: Ticket Thursday – Rangers 4, Devils 3

Posted on February 1, 2019 by hasan4978

While I couldn’t watch most of last night’s latest disaster, getting the first update of 2-0 in the first period then all the subsequent updates after that – Rangers score with seconds remaining in the first, then come back to win 4-3 with Mika Zibanejad (sidenote: I’m surprised I got the spelling right the first time before looking lol) getting a hat trick was annoying enough. Seeing the blurb on the MSG postgame that Zibanejad’s hat trick was the first in NJ by a Ranger player since THE GUARANTEE was just icing on top of another crap cake.

I’m sure Derek’s done the recap of the game itself, maybe I’ll get around to watching the condensed game clip later during an unexpected off day. Then again why waste the nine minutes? For all I paid attention to this game I actually thought this ended in OT and not in regulation. Just as well since it’s one less useless point now that this season’s all about lotto balls and the trade deadline. With the state of this team while the Islanders and the Rangers have rebuilt in warp speed – could things be any worse for a Devils fan right now? I suppose we haven’t gotten into New York Knick territory just yet but we could very well this offseason.

Since I’m not going to talk about the game now it’s time to vent about season tickets, of which we did get our notices the other day about the 2019-20 membership details. As I bitterly predicted weeks ago, this franchise’s sales department is totally tone deaf. A 10% ticket increase after one of the most dissapointing seasons in recent memory with the team now having missed the playoffs seven of eight years with very little in the way of perks is shameful. Missing the playoffs is such a fait accompli this year they didn’t even bother to give opt-in privildges for the postseason. The crappy rewards program which gives you a certain amount of points for stuff like club seats, souvenirs and other PruCenter events was already a bit weak and now it’s only an optional perk, of which most of those choices are lame as well. Of course no food and beverage credit again which was at least a nice perk while it lasted.

Pretty much the only good thing about the season tickets compared to getting single-game tickets on the secondary market at this point is a player event or two and the eight-game buyback option that allows you to roll credit from games for this season you’re not using towards next season’s tickets. Which more or less took my $38 seats next season down to $32 for the games I’m using them on the next few weeks of this season, but really it’s embarassing the prices are that high to begin with since the last time tickets in the 100’s were in the high 30’s it was a ghost town – hence the Nordique fan invasion at the end of 2011 where blue filled up almost the entire 100’s behind the defending net among other areas and the slashing of those seats to $22 and $27 the next year, of which I had one of the $22’s. Of course they’ve been steadily jumping back up since.

As much as I like my seat and going to Devils games literally the buyback was the only thing that kept me from of opting out of season tickets next year. Why? Simple, there’s a ton of useless games over the next several weeks I’ll never be able to sell so rather than get $10 cash at most for any of them and/or probably go to a bunch of games I don’t want to, I might as well get $30-40 credit and defray the cost of next year’s season tickets so it doesn’t seem quite as onerous. I would rather take my chances on next year the season not being over by the end of December, and actually having games I want to go to. As it stands I’m only going to about 7 or 8 the rest of the season which seems high until you realize there’s still 17 home games left. Two of them I’m going to with a friend, a couple of them including the home finale against the Rangers I’ll probably wind up selling as well.

Maybe part of me is foolish for thinking this team can possibly turn things around next year but really at this point they have little choice. It’s either sign Taylor Hall, Sami Vatanen and go all-in on winning now, or trade both in the offseason and start yet another 3-4 year rebuild that isn’t exactly guaranteed to work any more than the first one did considering we have one maybe future goalie, very little defense and not enough top six forwards to play the John Hynes system of man-to-man all-out attack with no thought given to defense anyway. What a life. Things have been stressful enough lately personally, at least I can block out the Devil fan stress for the moment.

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Game #50: Zibanejad’s first hat trick as a Ranger does in Devils 4-3

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Derek

The first meeting of the season finally took place in Game 50 for the Rangers and Devils. On a frigid night at the end of January in Newark, the Rangers got a hat trick from Mika Zibanejad (3-1-4) to do in the Devils 4-3. His line with Mats Zuccarello (3 primary assists) and Chris Kreider (team best 23rd goal) dominated the Devils, who were without key defensemen Sami Vatanen and Ben Lovejoy.

It showed throughout as the game went on. For a while, the Rangers refused to shoot the puck on Devils starter Keith Kinkaid. In fact, they only registered two shots in the first 14:54. It was strange. The Devils took advantage of two Rangers’ penalties, cashing in with a pair of power play goals from Nico Hischier (goal, assist for 10th multi-point game of season) and Marcus Johansson (8th of season).

On the first one that Blake Coleman drew on Marc Staal (holding), Pavel Zacha out-muscled Neal Pionk off the puck to free it up for a turnaround shot from Hischier for a unassisted goal at 5:10. It was his 14th. Up till that point, the Rangers penalty kill was doing a good job. But all it took was one mistake for the puck to wind up behind starter Henrik Lundqvist due to a very soft play by Pionk. Why he was back paired with Staal is inexplicable while Tony DeAngelo sat. I would love to know coach David Quinn’s reasoning behind it. Brendan Smith paired up with Kevin Shattenkirk most of the contest. He actually played well.

The second Devils power play tally came from Johansson on a great effort play. With Jesper Fast off for a questionable tripping minor, he followed up a Brian Boyle shot that ricocheted off the goalpost by diving to put home a rebound with Pionk on the ice literally. Another bad play by the second-year defenseman, who’s clearly struggling and should be the odd man out for Saturday against the Lightning.

Johansson’s goal gave the Devils a two-goal lead with 3:42 left in the first period. Even though they were up two, they didn’t exactly dominate play at five-on-five. In many ways, the Rangers were their own worst enemy. Despite having sustained forecheck pressure on a few shifts, they passed up shots. None more glaring than Pavel Buchnevich on a mini break. Kevin Shattenkirk made a perfect outlet for Buchnevich at the Devils blueline. He then broke in and for some reason, opted to try a fancy move rather than shoot from a good angle. It was exasperating. Needless to say, he didn’t see many shifts in the first two periods.

Finally beginning to dictate play, the Rangers got a late power play off a offensive zone draw. Referee Kevin Pollock called Johansson for interference on Vladislav Namestnikov with seven seconds left. Incensed by the call, both Johansson and New Jersey coach John Hynes didn’t like it. The MSG replays seemed to indicate why it was called. Johansson prevented Namestnikov from skating through.

You don’t expect to score with so little time left in a period. However, the Blueshirts made it work thanks to a Zibanejad win back to Kevin Hayes. Hayes wasted no time shooting for Zibanejad, who easily redirected the puck in for a goal with 1.8 seconds remaining. Hynes gave a blank stare in the direction of Pollock. But really, he should’ve been upset with the lazy coverage by his penalty killers in front. Zibanejad’s 18th from Hayes gave the Rangers some life into the second.

The second was largely controlled by the Rangers. In particular, Zuccarello who was everywhere during the top line’s shifts. The Devils had no answer for the cohesive trio that features their leading scorer Zibanejad and top finisher Kreider. Zuccarello is their best playmaker, who makes things happen by being a water bug. Ever since he acknowledged that his struggles had more to do with the trade deadline, he’s been tremendous. That continued on Thursday night with his three assists giving him a dozen points (4-8-12) over the last six. His value is increasing with each big game.

There wasn’t much in terms of scoring during the second. In a period they outshot their opponent 12-5, the Rangers needed a atrocious call on Miles Wood to help get the game tied. After taking a outlet pass, the speedy Wood had a couple of steps on a hustling Smith, who came back hard to shove the gritty Devils forward into Lundqvist. Somehow, they thought that was goaltender interference. That was just abominable.

Later on, they watched Namestnikov get shoved hard into the boards during the third. Even though they didn’t cash in on the dubious call on Wood, they got another opportunity over a minute later when Smith drew a hooking minor on Blake Coleman.

Taking full advantage of an early Valentine’s gift, Hayes moved the puck down for Zuccarello, who had way too much space to pass across for a wicked Zibanejad shot from the left circle for number 19 to tie the game at 16:36.

In a period they dictated, they got nabbed for yet another bench minor, causing steam to come out of Quinn. I’ve lost track. Is that seven or eight too many men on the ice minor penalties? Fortunately, it didn’t cost them.

Kreider made it three straight goals on another dominant shift down low by the top line. Zibanejad made a good play to keep the puck alive to Zuccarello, who came around the net and found Kreider for a quick wrist shot that surprised Kinkaid for a 3-2 lead at 4:43.

But before they could get too comfortable, an awful turnover by Jimmy Vesey led directly to Devils defenseman Egor Yakovlev tying it just 53 seconds later. Vesey’s lazy giveaway allowed Hischier to keep it in and feed Johansson, who dished across for a Yakovlev one-timer that beat Lundqvist. It was his second of the season. He played in place of Vatanen, who was placed on injured reserve.

Unlike the first two periods full of special teams, there were no penalties called. It was played at even strength. The two bitter rivals took turns getting chances. A few times throughout the game, the Devils tested Lundqvist’s glove. It was up to the challenge. He robbed Kevin Rooney a couple of times. Shots were 9-7 Devils in the third.

However, they had issues with the Zibanejad line all night. Quinn made a interesting move, benching Vesey in favor of Buchnevich following his turnover. The much maligned 23-year old Russian had been stuck on the fourth line without receiving any power play time. He’d barely played six minutes. But having used his speed and shot to create a chance which Kinkaid stopped, Quinn gave him a reprieve.

As it turned out, Buchnevich rewarded the coach by keeping a dominant shift going after coming on for a changing Kreider. After he moved the puck behind the net for Zuccarello, the creative puck wizard centered for a cutting Zibanejad, who made a brilliant move and sweet backhand finish for the hat trick with 4:36 left in regulation. His 20th proved to be the game-winner.

The Devils eventually pulled Kinkaid for an extra attacker. However, they were unable to beat Lundqvist, who actually was pretty good despite allowing three to get by him. Quinn even sent Buchnevich out for a defensive shift to help protect the lead. Staal protected the puck in the corner while absorbing a couple of checks as time expired.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd 🌟 Nico Hischier, Devils (14th of season, assist)

2nd 🌟 Mats Zuccarello, Rangers (3 primary assists)

1st 🌟 Mika Zibanejad, Rangers (1st hat trick as a Blueshirt-#’s 18, 19, 20, assist for a 4-point game)

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Rangers visit Devils in first meeting

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Derek

Tonight in about half an hour, the Rangers and Devils renew the Hudson rivalry in Newark. It’s the first meeting of four in a odd season if you go by the schedule. Both teams have played 49 games, and are first meeting with not much on the line. Neither are going to the playoffs.

On one of the most bitter ice cold days of the Winter, I’m sure many fans will brave the elements to see the Rangers and Devils play at The Prudential Center. Ha. Don’t expect a sellout. Those no longer happen. Not even for Rangers vs Islanders. They already finished their season series earlier this month.

Hasan said he’s skipping the game. Can you blame him? It’s not the most exciting hockey right now for fans of either side of the classic rivalry that really began in ’93-94. I’m not gonna rehash that due to it being the 25-Year Anniversary of the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup. Something they’ll honor in just over a week against Carolina on Feb. 8 at MSG. I’ll be there for it.

Currently, the Rangers are sixth in the Metro Division with 49 points and a 21-21-7 record. They’re four points up on the last place Devils, who enter with 45 points and a 19-23-7 record. They won their first game following the break by again defeating the Penguins. A team they own. The Rangers lost a tough one to the Flyers 1-0 the other day. They got shutout by mere mortal Anthony Stolarz (38 saves) despite outshooting them 25-7 the final two periods.

They’ll likely have two good offensive players back in the lineup at faceoff. Pavel Buchnevich will return to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for a fourth time this season. We’ll see how he responds to coach David Quinn criticizing his inconsistent play. He will again start on the fourth line with Boo Nieves and Cody McLeod, needing to earn his way up including power play duty where he excels.

If Mats Zuccarello can’t go, then there’s the likelihood that Buchnevich could find himself on the top line if Quinn believes he’s ready. That would reunite him with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. But if Zuccarello is back following the left foot infection, he will start on the top line. He practiced in full yesterday.

The Rangers will be without rookie Brett Howden for three to four weeks. The hexed rookie forward suffered a sprained knee in the loss on Tuesday night. He was showing signs of snapping out of it, nearly scoring on a good shift. Unfortunately, now he’ll be out a while.

If they do go with 12 forwards and 6 defensemen, figure Brendan Smith to sit out. I wish Quinn would keep Tony DeAngelo with Marc Staal. Instead, he’s gone back to Neal Pionk with Staal despite improvement from DeAngelo. Brady Skjei will likely pair with Adam McQuaid, leaving DeAngelo with Kevin Shattenkirk.

Henrik Lundqvist gets the start versus Keith Kinkaid. I guess the Devils don’t have anyone else they have faith in. I think Mackenzie Blackwood is still down in the AHL. I have no clue what’s going on with Cory Schneider.

The Devils placed top defenseman Sami Vatanen on the injured reserve due to a concussion. They recalled veteran Eric Gryba. Remember his hit in the preseason that resulted in a fight the next game? Maybe we’ll get a rematch between him and McLeod.

The Devils remain without last year’s Hart winner Taylor Hall. They’ve played okay thanks to Travis Zajac, Miles Wood and Blake Coleman stepping up in his absence. Pavel Zacha had a goal and assist in their victory versus the Penguins. He is still a work in progress in Year Three.

That’s pretty much it. There’s not much else to get pumped for. Two rivals battling for pride, or lottery position.

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Pierre McGuire embarrasses classy Olympic Champion Kendall Coyne during telecast

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Derek

I have never had much issue with Pierre McGuire before. Even though the NBC hockey analyst who broadcasts between the benches can be over talkative and strange at times, I’ve usually found his reporting entertaining. He provides interesting bits and pieces on what’s going on with each bench. That along with some of the banter between players makes his job worthwhile.

However, McGuire went over the edge during last night’s telecast between the Lightning and Penguins in Pittsburgh. Prior to the game, he had USA Olympic champion Kendall Coyne Schofield with him to give a quick preview of the game. A five-time gold medalist at the World Championships who knows the game quite well, she was a guest analyst following her cool participation in the All-Star Skills Fastest Skater this past weekend in San Jose.

That should’ve been the focus on NBCSN. Instead, we got this disturbingly awkward conversation between McGuire and Coyne, who handled it with total class.

Even if McGuire was joking with his weird sense of humor about her being there to provide analysis instead of saying, “not a fan,” he didn’t have to insult her intelligence along with the viewers by telling Coyne where the Tampa bench was. It came off in poor taste.

This is exactly the kind of controversial thing that broadcasters should stay away from. More women are getting opportunities to provide input on games such as the Penguins’ 4-2 home win over the Lightning. Cammi Granato is a fixture on TSN. We’ve seen plenty of successful female sports broadcasters fare well in the industry. Whether it’s Deb Placey, Shannon Hogan, or Amanda Borges, they’ve been true professionals. Borges now does work for Yahoo Sports on The Spin while Placey co-hosts NHL Live with E.J. Hradek on NHL Network and provides work for NHL.Com.

What gets lost in McGuire insulting Coyne is that if you paid close attention to her insight, it was right on. She told Pierre:

“I’m excited to see Tampa’s start. They’ve been off for 10 days, haven’t had a game. Pittsburgh on the other hand had a tough loss on Monday. Got a little blown out of the water by the New Jersey Devils. So, I’m excited to see the start tonight.”

Coyne nailed it. The Lightning got scored on three times in the first 8:21 including consecutive Penguins goals from Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby 16 seconds apart to make it 3-0. Pittsburgh prevailed 4-2 over Tampa Bay.

A great job out of Coyne, who came off as the true winner she is. McGuire, not so much.

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Game #49: Rangers run into hot goalie in 1-0 shutout loss to Flyers, Watch Derek’s Vlog

Posted on January 30, 2019 by Derek

Sometimes, hockey is simply explained by running into the hot goalie. The Rangers ran into an unusual one in Anthony Stolarz as he stopped all 38 shots for a 1-0 Flyers shutout at MSG last night. It was the 25-year old Edison, New Jersey native’s night. He delivered many big saves the last two periods to make Oskar Lindblom’s goal 1:40 in stand up for Philadelphia’s second consecutive win in two nights.

There’s really not a whole lot to say. Coming off a nine day layoff due to the ridiculous bye week and All-Star weekend, the Rangers were a little flat at the start. That was enough to lose a game they dominated. After a good first in which they had 12 shots, a tired Flyers had nothing left in the fuel tank. They only mustered seven more shots on backup Alexandar Georgiev (18 saves).

One defensive breakdown with normally reliable forward Jesper Fast botching the coverage on a Flyers extended shift that allowed Lindblom enough time to flip a backhand in, was enough to lose a hockey game. The Rangers outshot the Flyers 38-18 overall, including a ridiculous 25-7 the final two periods. It didn’t matter due to Stolarz, who posted only his second career shutout and first of the season in just his eighth start. It was his 10th appearance. He won for just the third time in ’18-19. In parts of two seasons with Philly, he is up to 5-4-3 in his career with a 2.86 GAA and .909 save percentage.

You get the picture. I decided to break the game down via my YouTube channel. That included some interesting thoughts on David Quinn scratching Pavel Buchnevich for the fourth time this season in favor of Brendan Smith, who even took some shifts as a forward. He nearly scored on one of their best chances late in the third.

In the video below, I highlight the improved play of Chris Kreider as a primary example of a player who took a while to develop into the consistent power forward we see today. I also get into the whole Mika Zibanejad vs Kevin Hayes debate and touch on Kevin Shattenkirk having the worst luck even on his 30th birthday when he learned he’s going to become a Dad. Plus some observations on the All-Star Game and who Blueshirt fans should be excited for in the future.

I hope you enjoyed my first ever live Rangers Vlog. Something I’ll be experimenting with. To follow me on YouTube, I’m kovy274hart.

One note from Tuesday was the unfortunate injury to Brett Howden. A rookie who hit the wall, he was playing his best game in a long time. Shifted to the wing, he nearly scored for the first time since Nov. 12. Now, it looks like he’ll miss some time from what Quinn told reporters. Bad luck for a first-year player who’s never stopped working despite his struggles.

Assuming they go back to the traditional lineup of 12 forwards and 6 defensemen, figure Buchnevich to slot in for Howden and Mats Zuccarello to return if he’s ready. The Rangers are at the Devils in Newark for the first match up between the Hudson rivals at the end of January. More great scheduling. 😛

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Buchnevich will not play versus Flyers

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Derek

Hockey is back after a long time off. For the Rangers, they’re finally back at it tonight with the Flyers in town. When we last left off, they were winners of three in a row to enter the bye week and All-Star break feeling better about themselves.

The reemergence of Mats Zuccarello provided a spark on the top line with Mika Zibanejad playing his best hockey. Unfortunately, a left foot infection will prevent Zuccarello from going later tonight. They’ll still have leading scorer Zibanejad and top finisher Chris Kreider intact.

It won’t be Pavel Buchnevich, who replaces Zuccarello. Instead, the enigmatic 23-year old forward will not play. Coach David Quinn has decided to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. That includes Neal Pionk, who makes his return after a week off to recover from a lower body injury that apparently had hindered his play. During today’s interview following the morning skate, Quinn discussed his decision to play Brendan Smith as the seventh defenseman while healthy scratching Buchnevich.

When pressed as to why Buchnevich isn’t playing, Quinn didn’t pull any punches. He said, “He has to play better.” Interesting stuff considering where the third-year right wing finds himself. Prior to the break, he was on the fourth line with either Boo Nieves or Brett Howden with Cody McLeod. I didn’t view it as a punishment. But rather the first-year coach trying to change Buchnevich into a more effective player at five-on-five. His Corsica rating has suffered. At last check, it was 43.9. To be fair, he’s started 51.5 percent in the defensive zone. A role reversal. Under Alain Vigneault, he got over 57 percent of his starts in the offensive zone last year. Interestingly, he still finished under 50 CF.

The issue for Buchnevich is consistency. He doesn’t always bring it every shift. A talented player who achieved career highs last season across the board in games played (74), goals (14), assists (29), points (43), even strength goals (9), power play points (5-12-17) and shots (136), this was supposed to be the breakout year for him.

However, it’s been anything but. In 32 games, he has nine goals and six assists for 15 points. His best stretch came in early November when he posted two goals and two assists before suffering a broken thumb that sidelined him over a month. When he first returned in mid-December, he had a goal and assist in his first two games back for a season best five-game point streak. In fact, eight of his 15 points came within an eight-game stretch between Oct. 25 thru Dec. 16.

Since then, points have been hard to come by. Despite not being productive, Quinn was still giving Buchnevich the benefit of the doubt. It wasn’t until the last batch of games before the break that he was demoted to the fourth line. He still was rewarded with power play time in a easy home win over Carolina on Jan. 15. He posted two power play goals to erase a six-game drought.

Part of the problem is he doesn’t shoot the puck enough. He’s totaled 39 shots in 32 games. Buchnevich is a very effective player on the man-advantage. Four of his nine goals have come on it. If you count a goal with Henrik Lundqvist pulled in the season opener against Nashville, five of the nine have come a man up. It’s being able to harness it at even strength that has been mystifying. Along with a unwillingness to take the body conistently, you have a underachieving player who should be doing better.

Critics of Quinn like to turn that around by claiming that Buchnevich should be handed a spot on the top line with Zibanejad and Kreider. The KZB line had some success last year under Vigneault, who they hated. However, they weren’t very productive at even strength despite good Corsica numbers. When Jesper Fast replaced Buchnevich on the line, they actually were more successful at five-on-five. Fast is a more consistent player with a better defensive acumen and stronger work ethic. Those are factors.

Buchnevich isn’t a small guy either. Listed at 6-3, 196 pounds, he’s fully capable of playing a grittier style. Something he did with success following some criticism from Quinn. He wants a more active Buchnevich, who will use his shot more and get to the inside for rebounds. Most of all, finish checks. I don’t know if he’ll ever be that type of player. He’s more about flash and dash due to his skating and European influence.

Before the season, I projected him for between 20-25 goals and 55-60 points. I felt based on his playmaking ability, he could top 30 assists in a top six role. I also believed he could get at least 20 goals with half coming on the power play. I was far from alone in this thinking. Under the demanding Quinn, it hasn’t translated. The difference between him and Vigneault is he gives clear explanations for his lineup decisions.

Buchnevich is far from alone in being a part of the Quinn Bin. He’s made examples of plenty of players including veteran Kevin Shattenkirk and Vladislav Namestnikov. Tony DeAngelo has responded well to all the games he’s missed by forming a good pair with veteran leader Marc Staal. Namestnikov might not have the skill of Buchnevich, but he’s worked hard to carve a niche under Quinn, even earning penalty killing time. He also plays with edge by taking the body. Something Quinn emphasizes. Even favorite Jimmy Vesey was made an example of due to his play levelling off. The difference is he has 11 goals and 13 assists in a defined third line role. He also receives power play and penalty kill time.

I’ve said that Buchnevich will decide his future over the next three weeks. If his play improves when he probably returns on Thursday in New Jersey for astonishingly the first rivalry game against the Devils, he can avoid getting traded at the Feb. 25 deadline. If he continues to be unsteady, he’ll pack his bags and be gone. A scenario nobody could’ve foreseen.

As far as the lineup, Namestnikov will move up to play with Zibanejad and Kreider. The cohesive line of Filip Chytil, Ryan Strome and Fast remains together. Kevin Hayes is finally ready to go. He’ll play with Vesey and Brett Howden, who hopefully will be rejuvenated following the off time. Nieves and Cody McLeod are the 10th and 11th forwards. I’m sure Nieves will be worked in regularly due to how well he’s played. McLeod stays in just in case the Flyers pull any shenanigans.

Alexandar Georgiev makes the start. Quinn wanted to give All-Star Henrik Lundqvist the night off. He earned it with his performance in the breakaway challenge and by allowing nothing in the first period of the final to help the Metro defeat the Central to win the tournament.

As far as going with seven D, eh. I’m not a fan. It seems more like a showcase than anything.

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