Game #45: Monday Madness – Devils 8, Hawks 5

Posted on January 14, 2019 by hasan4978

Nope that score’s not a misprint…the 12000 or however many souls showed up on a Monday night to see two teams going nowhere might have expected an NHL hockey game, but instead pond hockey broke out. Which I suppose was inevitable when you have two bad defenses, one bad goalie (the corpse of Cam Ward) and another goalie having a bad night (Mackenzie Blackwood). Still even with bad teams, 8-5 games are pretty rare. Maybe not as much with these two teams considering they played a 7-5 extravaganza in Chicago just last fall though. Both teams have fallen on harder times since then, and both teams’ third goalies going into the season are likely their best goalies now. Thank goodness the Hawks started Ward over Colin Delia, who’s actually been their best goalie as an undrafted FA getting his big chance this year with Corey Crawford injured and the aformentioned Ward struggling.

You may think I’ve spent too much time on the Blackhawks goaltending but really their goaltending decision, and the fact coach Jeremy Colliton waited forever to finally hook Ward for Delia was probably the deciding factor tonight (and yes, I had to look up who their faceless bench guy was after the dismissal of Joel Quenneville earlier this year). I like Ward despite the fact he’s stuck it to us in the playoffs more than once, but he’s had a bit of an Eli Manning-like career. Known more for a couple of playoff runs – including 2009 where they won two Game 7’s on the road before finally imploding against a superior Pens team in the Conference Finals – than for any kind of elite play in the regular season, and he certainly isn’t the goalie he once was…the fact he’s in Chicago now instead of Carolina is proof of that.

Somewhat surprisingly, a Devils team still without Taylor Hall was able to take full advantage of Ward and the Hawks’ D tonight, pounding their way to a 6-1 lead at one point in the second period before things got hairier than they should have late as the Hawks cut the lead to 7-5 with a couple minutes left before Blake Coleman’s empty netter sealed it. Coleman probably deserved first star tonight with two goals and an assist in 18:57 of icetime (second most among forwards behind Travis Zajac who played an insane five plus minutes shorthanded among his 20:14 of icetime. Zajac also had three points on the night with a goal and two assists. Kyle Palmieri actually did get first star with a couple of goals, and now has 22 on the season which is still not quite at the All-Star break yet. Probably he’ll wind up getting Hall’s spot on the All-Star roster since it doesn’t seem like he’s anywhere close to playing yet.

Tonight wasn’t just about the stars though – seemingly everyone contributed, including a couple of fourth liners who had their day in the sun. Plugger Kevin Rooney finally scored his first NHL goal (and his first NHL point to boot!) in his eleventh game between three or four different callups, while mighty mite Brett Seney had a goal and an assist in less than ten minutes of icetime. His goal came with bragging rights over buddy and former college teammate Delia, though it was the only goal the Hawks’ netminder gave up after relieving Ward late in the second period. I almost feel sorry in a sense for Brian Boyle and Marcus Johansson, the only two forwards not to get on the scoresheet tonight. Of course both will probably be elsewhere soon enough anyway as FA’s to be, barring some miracle run back into the playoff race.

Leading 6-1 after scoring five unanswered goals in the second (including TWO on the powerless play!), the Devils seemingly let up with twenty-two minutes left, allowing Patrick Kane and Brent Seabrook to score in the final two minutes of the middle frame to cut the seemingly insurmountable 6-1 lead to a suddenly scary 6-3. Only the Devils could make me roll my eyes upon seeing the score late in the second when I saw the sequence of the goals and that they’d given up the last two. From reports it sounded like a rare off night for Blackwood to this point, that can happen – especially playing two games in three nights coming off IR.

Which makes coach John Hynes floating out the possibility of Blackwood playing tomorrow in Columbus clinically insane for doing so. Three games in four days just off the IR and continually extended by this defense, really? But that’s possibly why Cory Schneider got run into the ground last year and why Keith Kinkaid got used up earlier this year. Hynes takes this whole playing the best goaltender thing a wee bit too far – even with a clearcut #1, you still have to use the other goalie on your roster. Especially now while we’re still a thousand points out of a playoff spot. I get you want to give the kid a chance to rebound off an bad night but still, there are two other games before the break.

If the Devils got sloppy though, the Blackhawks didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory either after a performance like tonight. Listening to the radio broadcast on my way home from a brief trip to the city, Chico Resch was unusually critical of guys like Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith (a -5 on the night) – who didn’t play well or set an example befitting their status as winners and veteran leaders. I suppose it’s hard after you’ve been playing on winners essentially your whole career to suck it up as a vet and shine in meaningless games, but that’s what leaders getting paid big money are supposed to do. It’s actually a bit jarring to hear anything critical from Chico but he does know his stuff, all kidding aside about his malaprops and idiosyncrascies.

Of course that’s their problem. I’m just glad my friend got to see a Devils win and some actual goals, after having to sit through that embarassment on Thursday with me. I did accurately predict to her before the Thursday game that Monday was going to be her better chance at seeing a win. Not that it makes me Nostradamus given how good the Leafs are and how bad the Hawks have been this year. I’m not even that annoyed I missed both wins during this home week while having to suffer through Thursday, amazingly enough the team’s home record this year pretty much ensures I’ve at least seen some good games though after the Leafs game it’s a bit mehish 6-4-1 in the games I have been at this year.

I will see them play the Ducks on Saturday (and they’re one of the few teams struggling more than us in the last month, with a now-eleven game losing streak) but that’s my last home game for the month, having just sold my Ranger tickets on the 31st. Just as well not having to deal with possible winter weather the next couple weeks although other than the big snowstorm in October it’s been a bit mild so far (knock on wood). Before then of course they have tough division road games at Columbus tomorrow and at Long Island on Thursday. Considering how poorly we tend to play against both I’m certainly not expecting much in either game.

At least for a couple nights the Devils looked more like last year’s team than this year’s corpse.

Posted in Devils | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game #45: A furious Quinn blasts Rangers in 7-5 loss to Blue Jackets, Rick Nash Appreciation Night in Columbus the real Highlight

Posted on January 14, 2019 by Derek

I had it all typed out until I didn’t. Damn copy and paste along with quick auto save drafts. I’m not gonna redo it. I’ll just be quick.

In regards to Sunday’s game, coach David Quinn summed it up best.

He was upset with his team for coming out with that as he put it following three more inspired games, including the 2-1 win over the Islanders in the rematch at Brooklyn. I’ve never seen him that angry. He reminds me of John Tortorella, who fittingly was on the other side of the bench, getting his Blue Jackets to overcome a uneven Sergei Bobrovsky in a ugly 7-5 win over the Rangers at Nationwide Arena.

Tortorella has always been fiery. Quinn has many of the same characteristics. It’s not easy to come over from the college ranks where he ran a successful program with Boston University, and take over a rebuilding NHL team like the Rangers. By Game 45, it should be clear to the players how they’re expected to perform. Sunday night was unacceptable. It was like they just forgot how to play. Particularly in the defensive zone where Quinn chastised them.

https://twitter.com/BrettCyrgalis/status/1084632837138071552?s=19

He really didn’t like the lack of compete. In his words, “They [Blue Jackets] won every battle and came out with every puck.” He also added that he wouldn’t burn the tape. “Absolutely not. I want them to watch and learn from it. … We’re gonna get after it.”

It’s amazing I can even remember the details following the accidental erasing of my game review. But the Quinn presser was memorable. He is no nonsense and will not tolerate any crap. He proved it by benching Chris Kreider for the rest of the second period on Saturday following a unnecessary interference minor penalty in the offensive zone. He leads the team with 21 goals, getting number 21 in last night’s yuck fest. Boo Nieves was a bright spot, getting the assist on sheer hustle that led to Kreider undressing Bobrovsky, who returned to the Columbus net following a one-game suspension due to a off ice incident. Buyer beware. He was very beatable. Think Ilya Bryzgalov. That’s who he reminds me of.

For the 18 skaters to do that in front of Alexandar Georgiev, who got a very different team on Saturday, in a back-to-back, was insulting. He said it isn’t fun to be in net for five or six goals. He was in for all seven and played well. What does that exactly say?

There wasn’t much going on. Mats Zuccarello continued to play like his old self scoring twice (6, 7) on the top line. Many of the players on this roster will be long gone in two years. For Zuccarello, it’ll be very soon with the February 25 trade deadline six weeks away.

Kevin Hayes missed his sixth consecutive game with the mysterious upper body injury he sustained against the Penguins. It’s too bad because he was having his best season with 32 points in 39 games. It’s almost a certainty GM Jeff Gorton will trade him next month. The sad aspect is how important Hayes has become to the team. It’s no coincidence that they’ve lost six of seven since he left the Pittsburgh game. Five of the last six.

The Rangers continue to take too many ill advised penalties. The penalty kill was up to the challenge for a second game in a row. In fact, Columbus fans booed their hideous power play, which only seems to show up in overtime with one less skater. They got Tortorella his 600th career NHL win a few days ago in a 4-3 overtime win over Nashville on a Artemi Panarin game-winner. Tortorella got a nice video tribute from some coaches including former assistant Mike Sullivan, who gave him credit for the coach he is. Of course, Tortorella deflected the attention after captain Nick Foligno got him the game puck. Instead, he pointed to it being a big two points that gave them 53. They’re now up to 57.

I hope some day, Quinn becomes successful using a similar style. He obviously is dead serious after games like last night. He indicated to reporters that he wished he could hold a practice and throw pucks in the corner to see who would come out with them. When the coach says they lost everything battle and refers to it as a “freaking joke,” you know it’s bad.

No more was it evident than following Jimmy Vesey getting his 11th on a rebound for his first goal in eight. On the next shift, Vesey and Mika Zibanejad both watched Foligno come around the net and bank in a wraparound for his second of the game to seal the deal. At the moment, Georgiev was hoping to come off for an extra skater. Instead, another lost battle cost them.

The Rangers were without Fredrik Claesson and Adam McQuaid. Claesson left Saturday’s game with a injury due to a tough Matt Martin hit into the boards. McQuaid couldn’t go following his astonishing blocked shot in the win he stayed in. So, that meant Brendan Smith and Neal Pionk.

Predictably, Smith was lousy paired up with the woeful Kevin Shattenkirk. They each got turned around on a couple of Columbus goals. I’m not bothering with a breakdown. Some losses just aren’t worth it. It’s bad enough have to rewrite this. As our resident New Jersey blogger Hasan knows all too well from some of his Devils write ups, it’s not worth the time when it’s that bad. The score speaks for itself. All seven Blue Jackets goals came at even strength. Yikes.

Regarding Shattenkirk, I can’t think of a good player who suddenly took such a downturn after signing at a still young age. He’s broken down. I never wanted him here like most of the Corsica crowd. They must not have watched him with the Capitals as a rental in the 2017 NHL Playoffs. Barry Trotz was right. There’s a reason he played third pair and was featured on the power play.

The sad aspect is Shattenkirk was good with the Blues before the trade. He just isn’t the same player. It’s not because he doesn’t care. He signed with the Rangers to come home where he idolized the franchise’s best player, Brian Leetch. It just hasn’t worked out. Some fairytales don’t end well. He’d be better off elsewhere. On a contender that can use a capable offensive defenseman who can play power play. As long as his shifts at even strength are micromanaged, he should be more successful. Once the Rangers became sellers last year, it hasn’t been the right situation. He has two years left on his deal.

The one positive I like is Quinn recognizing that Ryan Strome deserved more minutes. By moving him up to center the second line with Filip Chytil and Jesper Fast, it’s worked well so far. Strome scored his sixth as a Blueshirt and fourth since the New Year. Chytil made a good centering feed that Strome finished. Strome has earned the promotion with better play. He is even playing shorthanded without Hayes.

While he’s worked harder consistently, Pavel Buchnevich continues to find himself on the fourth line. He got less than 10 minutes on Sunday and again didn’t have a shot on goal. He will need to work harder to get back the ice-time he was receiving not long ago.

Pionk has really struggled over the past month. He’s been victimized quite a bit with partner Marc Staal. It’s easy to forget Pionk’s only 23. Don’t forget he was miscast on the top pair. That’s not his fault. He does compete hard and sacrifice the body for a undersized D. But he needs work. He can play power play and is a good skater. In a different role, he could do better.

Pionk worked with Brady Skjei, whose play has steadied since he got paired with McQuaid. Tony DeAngelo worked with Staal for the second straight game.

There’s not much else to add on the game portion. No 3 Stars. Only 1 Giant 🌟. That goes to now retired former Ranger and Blue Jacket Rick Nash. Over the weekend, he announced his retirement through his agent citing the advice of doctors due to still experiencing symptoms from Post Concussion Syndrome (PCS). It’s both haunting and sad. But also speaks to the harsh reality of the risks of playing the sport. One that blind commissioner Gary Bettman continues to ignore as long as the cash is rolling in. Shameful.

Nash retires at only 34. He wasn’t willing to risk the long-term effects of his head injuries to play. Long-term health is more important with a family that includes by his wife and three children. A smart decision.

When I think of Rick Nash, I think of the outstanding hockey player he was who excited fans with his endless rushes and array of moves that resulted in highlight reel goals. In a word that certainly Garden Faithful associated with him, Nashty.

Selected number one overall in the 2002 NHL Draft by the Blue Jackets, he became the face of the franchise. A special player with unique talent, he could get people out of their seats. A three-time 40-goal scorer who had 30-or-more eight times in a 15-year All-Star career, Nash won one Rocket Richard and still wound up with 437 goals in 1,060 games. He finished with 437 goals, 368 assists and 805 points with mostly the Blue Jackets and Rangers before finishing with the Bruins last year as a rental.

I’m glad Nash had one more special moment with the team that he meant so much to. Prior to the game, he came out with his family and dropped the ceremonial first puck between Foligno and Staal to well deserved cheers from the Columbus crowd. He still resides there.

Nash never was that successful in the postseason after coming over on July 23, 2012 for a package that included Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky. Not every player is in the playoffs. I don’t think of his struggle in the 2014 run when he scored three goals on 83 shots. Sometimes, that’s how it goes. It’s not his near miss that I remember in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final versus the Kings. It’s Kreider missing a breakaway I thought he was scoring on in sudden death. But Jonathan Quick stoned him. The rest is painful history.

Nash was better in a excellent ’14-15 that saw him set a career best with 42 goals while leading the league with 32 even strength goals. In a season he put up 69 points, Nash also had four shorthanded goals and eight game-winners. Don’t forget before a slow finish, some felt he was a Hart candidate. In the postseason, he went 5-9-14 with a plus-eight rating in 19 games. It’s unfortunate that the Conference Final is best remembered for what didn’t happen in Games 5 and 7 versus Tampa Bay. Nash was very good for that team that year at 30.

It’s hard to believe four years later, he’s gone for good. He’ll never play another game or experience the rush of the MSG crowd for a playoff game as he put it to MSG reporter John Giannone. It sucks. But it’s for the best. Now, Nash can have some peace and move on to the second phase of his life. What a first chapter it was.

For the Blue Jackets, he had 289 goals with 258 assists for a total of 547 points in 674 games. That included two seasons of 40-or-more goals, a career best 19 power play goals at 19 in ’03-04, and a career high 79 points (40-39-79) at 24 in ’08-09.

In 375 games as a Ranger, he scored 145 goals and 107 assists for 252 points with a plus-64 rating. Of his 145 goals, 111 came at even strength with another eight shorthanded. He was a complete player who could be counted on to play five-on-five, power play and penalty kill. He was a good shorthanded player totaling 22 shorthanded goals with 14 coming as a Blue Jacket.

Had injuries not impacted him, he would’ve scored 600 and been a Hall of Fame lock. Unfortunately, he’ll probably fall short. He’ll always be a great team guy with a terrific attitude. Nash was well liked. Without hesitation, I do the trade again. Stick taps to No. 61!

Posted in Column, NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game #44: Zuccarello late goal gives Rangers hard fought 2-1 win over Islanders to earn split

Posted on January 12, 2019 by Derek

Not every game is a Picasso or Renoir. When it comes to The Rivalry, sometimes it’s going to be a battle for every square inch of real estate. That was the case in the rematch won by the Rangers over the Islanders 2-1 in what may have been the last meeting at Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn this afternoon.

The difference was a gritty goal from Mats Zuccarello with 5:05 left in regulation. It’s been well documented about the emotional 31-year old veteran’s struggles due to the potential of a trade that’s coming. His honesty in a recent interview with New York Post columnist Larry Brooks was refreshing. It probably was the best thing he could’ve done. Since then, Zuccarello has gotten back to playing the hard nosed hockey that’s made him a very popular Ranger.

If indeed his career as a Blueshirt is winding down, it was nice to see him rewarded on a odd deflection off his skate from a even offer Tony DeAngelo pass that came due to a Mika Zibanejad face-off win. It was only Zuccarello’s fifth goal in his 31st game this season. He doesn’t get many. So, it was fitting that he wound up with the game-winner on a hard working play in front with the DeAngelo shot pass taking a favorable bounce off him and then going through a maze that included Chris Kreider to sneak past Isles starter Robin Lehner. It snapped a personal best eight-game winning streak for Lehner, who again was tough to beat. He finished with 24 saves.

I was a bit hard on Henrik Lundqvist the other night following the crushing 4-3 home loss that saw Josh Bailey get the winner for the Islanders’ only shot with 1:26 left in the third period. It was somewhat understandable. Especially given how Lundqvist has fared versus the Isles recently. When I said I’d skip today’s game if he got the start, I was half kidding. Low and behold, Rangers coach David Quinn gave him the day off in favor of backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev. It proved to be the right decision. The Rangers played well in front of him and he delivered 24 saves on 25 Islander shots to improve to 2-0-0 against them. The rookie has allowed only one goal in two starts with the other being his first career shutout on Turkey Eve.

Maybe I was right when I said Georgiev should play the rematch. It allowed Lundqvist to rest up for tomorrow when the Rangers visit Columbus. Hopefully, that cannon won’t be going bonkers.

Whatever the reason, the team plays differently in most of Georgiev’s starts. He credited the defense for doing a good job in front. They also blocked a lot of shots. None were bigger and gutsier than Adam McQuaid selling out during a key Isles power play. The gritty right defenseman only knows one way to play. Balls out. That can be taken literally with the enormous block he had of a dangerous Islanders shot that had him down for a couple of minutes. Astonishingly, he got up and skated off to the bench. Not surprisingly, he returned for the next shift to finish a successful penalty kill because he’s a hockey player.

We all know about the Rangers’ struggles on the kill. They gave up two Islander power play goals in the 4-3 loss the other night. Today, they again took too many penalties. The Isles had six power plays including an abbreviated five-on-three. The difference was our penalty killers were more aggressive. They pressured the Islanders more not giving them as much time and space to make plays. That included the lethal Mathew Barzal, who was held off the score sheet with three shots.

The Isles’ only goal came from noted Rangers killer Anthony Beauvillier, who scored his seventh career goal in nine games against them. It came as time expired on a very undisciplined Chris Kreider minor penalty for holding Jordan Eberle in the offensive zone. The penalty came at 6:40 of the second period, allowing the Isles to take a 1-0 lead. Kreider didn’t take another shift the rest of the period. Quinn made a good decision to bench his leading goalscorer- making a example out of him. He’s taken too many of those. It was the right message to send.

On a power play, Pavel Buchnevich replaced Kreider on the top unit. Something Sam Rosen noted right away. The bottom line is this team needs Kreider out for regular shifts. Not in the penalty box watching due to lack of discipline. He knows it.

It’s interesting that both teams failed to score on two-man advantages. The Islanders’ came in the first while the Rangers’ came midway through the contest. Their lengthier five-on-three was awful. The extent of it was Ryan Strome being set up for a one-timer that missed the net. The rest of the power play including five-on-four was a comedy of errors. They made it was too easy for the Isles penalty killers.

Oddly enough, the blown opportunity didn’t cost them. Instead, some great hustle from improving rookie Boo Nieves saw him get the puck to Filip Chytil in front for a sweet finish to tie the game at 14:09. A excellent play all around that saw Chytil get his third goal in four games versus the Islanders. Imagine that. A young player with upside who buries chances against the Rangers’ number one rival.

There really wasn’t much separating the two teams throughout. You had a lot of hotly contested battles during shifts. In the third, Georgiev made a couple of clutch saves on tough deflections. Of course, Anders Lee was front and center. He makes a living on those. He had a tricky one off a right point shot from Ryan Pulock that Georgiev swallowed up. He told MSG’s John Giannone he expected them due to the Isles’ style.

To be honest, I think they outworked the Islanders in the latter stages to get the win. They were a bit better in crunch time. All it took was a face-off win by Zibanejad and a seeing eye DeAngelo shot that was a pass more than anything. The puck banked in off Zuccarello for a redirection. He was in the right place at the right time. Oh. And Kreider came back well from sitting the rest of the second with a stronger third. That was a good response.

Following Zuccarello’s goal, it was the Blueshirts that dominated play. They forechecked the Islanders. That included a big shift from DeAngelo, who replaced Neal Pionk (lower body injury?) to pair up well with Marc Staal. This was more like it. Staal also drew a very poor hooking minor on Valtteri Filppula with 2:17 left.

Quinn went more conventional with the power play using both DeAngelo and Kevin Shattenkirk with Zibanejad, Kreider and Zuccarello. They did a good job of playing keep away.

It was a good win even if it came a bit ugly according to my Dad, who met a buddy and went to his first game in Brooklyn. That’s how it had to be. Winning ugly can be an art form.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd 🌟 Adam McQuaid, Rangers (5 hits, 2 blocks including the play of the game)

2nd 🌟 Boo Nieves, Rangers (primary assist on Chytil’s tying goal, continues progression)

1st 🌟 Mats Zuccarello, Rangers (game-winning goal for 5th of season at 14:55 of 3rd)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game #44: Showcase Saturday – Devils 3, Flyers 2

Posted on January 12, 2019 by hasan4978

Who would have thought on a Saturday afternoon in mid-January that matchups involving the Devils playing the Flyers and the Rangers playing the Islanders would be a complete afterthought for three of the four teams involved? Honestly even with it being Devils-Flyers on a weekend afternoon, I had no interest in going (or even in watching the game) so I sold my tickets, though I did figure on a better performance against a lesser team. Still, I’ve seen far bigger wins over the Flyers at the Rock anyway. As is the case when results become irrelevant it’s all about the process and who’s playing well.

In that, the Devils’ 3-2 win this afternoon was a success as many of the young guns factored in with Damon Severson, Nico Hischier and Miles Wood getting the goals while Mackenzie Blackwood returned between the pipes off of his groin injury and won his third straight home start. Although they were outshot 34-26 and had their usual foibles (including 0-6 on the power play and a comically stupid second goal allowed late), against an even bigger underachiever in the Flyers it was still a game good enough for the win.

Ironically enough last year this game would have been hyped up as a showdown between the #1 and #2 overall picks, but the Nico-Nolan Patrick rivalry took second billing today compared to the young gun showdown in net between Blackwood and the Flyers’ own boy wonder Carter Hart – who’s also gotten off to a strong start since his callup. Round one went to Blackwood, who kept up his solid pre-injury play while Hart allowed a shortside goal to Severson in the first period, and a soft rebound goal to Wood early in the third. Still, Hart has a bright future in front of him as well and I admit I was with former GM Ron Hextall in thinking it was too soon to call him up. Then again I also thought it was too soon for Blackwood as well. I didn’t even realize how intertwined Blackwood and Hart were till I saw this Tweet from Chris Ryan just now:

While Blackwood and Hart have been almost equally scintillating in their brief debuts, the Nico-Nolan race is a runaway so far – in favor of Nico. If he wasn’t a Flyer I’d feel bad for Patrick, who seems like a nice enough kid and was the consensus #1 pick in the 2017 draft for almost two years before being usurped by the fast-rising Nico. Not only did Patrick ‘fall’ to #2, but he got picked by a team for whom center was a luxury since picking Patrick led the Flyers to trade Brayden Schenn to St. Louis. Oops. While Schenn had 70 points in St. Louis last year, Nico’s outscored Nolan 31-11 in points this year, including a scintillating breakaway goal in the second period after stripping the puck from Travis Sandheim.

Although Wood’s early third-period goal restored the Devils’ two-goal cushion it was by no means an easy finish with the Flyers outshooting New Jersey 13-4 in the final twenty minutes, aided by a late penalty on Severson that led to extended 6-on-4 time. Not to mention a shift earlier in the period where the Devils were trapped in their zone for at least two minutes, with two players losing their sticks, but somehow still not giving up a goal. It took frightening incompetence to finally dent Blackwood again in the dying moments of the game, when an ill-timed line change with under ten seconds remaining led to a breakaway goal by Sean Couturier. Seemingly only the Devils would be braindead enough to actually line change with under ten seconds left. I’m just glad it didn’t actually happen in a one-goal game, which I wouldn’t put past us.

Still, against the Flyers a win is a win – even now. Don’t even talk to me about the stupid lottery till March. It’s way way too early to just root for 0-38 the rest of the season. Although to be fair, as much as I like the fact the rival Flyers are struggling as well (call it the curse of Gritty lol), getting a win over a hapless Flyers team isn’t nearly as satisfying as playing spoiler to one in the playoff hunt would be. Generally that’s when I’ll be more into the games going forward – when we actually can play spoiler to a team like the Isles, Columbus and maybe a couple of other conference rivals. Games like Monday against a Blackhawk team falling on its own hard times or even today, not so much.

Posted in Devils | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Game #43: Tortorous Thursday – Leafs 4, Devils 2

Posted on January 11, 2019 by hasan4978

After our previous two meetings with the Leafs this season resulted in 6-1 and 7-2 losses, I knew what was coming last night. I still had to attend the game to experience ’80’s night with a friend, but I warned her the actual game might get out of hand early. Sure enough being down 3-0 after the opening twenty minutes set off the boos from the crowd and my own sarcastic laughter, especially as I was thinking how we were actually lucky to be only down 2-0 before one more fatal breakdown with 6.6 seconds to go in the period resulted in goal #3. It definitely looked like a worst-case scenario after twenty minutes.

The fact the Devils actually got the game to 3-2 and kept it there until Mitchell Marner’s empty-netter, spoke only to the Leafs dialing down the intensity in the second period, and Keith Kinkaid’s best game in a month if not longer – making 40 saves in defeat – rather than any actual sustained competence by the Devils that actually put the result in doubt for a time. Of course John Tavares ran riot against us with two goals in the first – including his 300th career tally, but honestly there could have been five or six goals in that opening twenty minutes. Even as someone agnostic about results at this point I was annoyed. I don’t really want to deal with this crap when I have to watch.

Briefly things picked up after that, but after our 12-15 minutes of life in the second period that culminated in quick goals from Blake Coleman and Brian Boyle late in the period came one of the worst down by a goal third periods I can ever remember. Toronto outshot us 15-3 in the third and really those three shots really weren’t all that threatening. I had forgotten how bad Toronto’s goalie situation had gotten due to injuries so when I saw Michael Hutchinson in net with even worse split numbers than Kinkaid my response was ‘when did they get him?!”. I only had remembered him being a Winnipeg reject. I had hoped at least we could get a few goals and somehow win a scoreathon.

Truth be told however, a high school goalie could have played against us in the first and third periods. Even against a waiver-wire goalie we had no chance, without Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson we couldn’t sustain any offensive push – again. Which is actually underselling things. When we were still trying to figure out a way to tie the game late, coach John Hynes didn’t pull Kinkaid till there was about a minute left. The crowd was screaming for the earlier pull but honestly both the coach and I knew it was pointless anyway. We weren’t even sustaining any kind of possession, once Hynes pulled the goalie it was gonna be over. Of course by the time it got to a minute left I just bitterly remarked just pull the goalie and end this, I was tired of watching a monkey screw a football the entire third period, to quote a famous line from the late Herb Brooks. Sure enough, about half a minute later it was over.

Let’s face it, the Leafs are a lot better team than us – with or without Hall and Johansson. Last April seems a long time away now, when we beat them in front of a sellout at the Rock in the penultimate game of the season to clinch our first playoff spot in six years. Since then of course, they added Tavares while we’ve either subtracted players or production from most of the players still remaining. GM Ray Shero extending coach Hynes a couple weeks ago smacked of the Jets giving Todd Bowles an extension after last year when he’d put up two straight 5-11 seasons. Sometimes it’s the overt lack of accountability that’s more upsetting than the actual losing and incompetence. While former team czar Lou Lamoriello could get a bit trigger-happy on coaches, at least you knew there was accountability present. I’m still waiting for it under the new regime. Getting rid of an over-the-hill schlep like Mike Cammalleri and marginal players like Devante Smith-Pelly two years ago don’t count all that much, sorry.

At least ’80’s night was cute, even if the idea of theming the Ken Daneyko bobblehead with a Ghostbusters suit was a little odd on its face, you could conceive of Dano wearing that outfit at a costume party during the decade. He’d have to actually have some form of hair for it to be an accurate era look…just a little though. They could have done far worse for a central theme though. Clearly the ambiance was there if you grew up in the ’80’s from the music choices, to some of the graphics like the Meadowlands-ish type scoreboard and the montages like NJayDevil popping into a lot of ’80’s movie scenes like Back to the Future before the game. The white and green throwbacks were nice again, though I joked to my friend after the first period this season would be the last we’d see of them after the team got smoked by the Blue Jackets 3-0 in the first of our four throwback jersey games this year.

In many ways last night was a perfect prism for how things have changed all around the organization since the glory days. It’s almost like a curse, for ages and ages under Lou people complained the team wasn’t marketed enough. You would never see the social media stuff, the Internet extras or an attempt to reach out to the fanbase. Now it’s there, and we’ve been losing for the most part. If we only had to have one or the other give me the boring winning over the ‘exciting’ losing anyday. Ideally it wouldn’t be only one or the other, god knows teams like the Caps and Blackhawks market fine and they’ve been successful organizations on-ice in the last decade.

It’s just sort of fitting that it’s worked out that way for us since people went overboard complaining about the lack of extras as if they were the most important thing. No, the most important thing is actually enjoying the product. And enjoying the product shouldn’t be about how much action there was, but whether the team is winning. Not having to say well everything around the game was nice, it’s just the game itself sucked like last night. Although it would be nice if those off-ice extras didn’t include increased ticket prices for a losing team or decreasing season ticket benefits by the season. But that’s a seperate rant for when we get our renewal invovices for next year and they’ll almost inevitably go up.

Posted in Devils | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game #43: Rangers waste good effort in excruciating 4-3 loss to Islanders

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Derek

There are losses, and then there are LOSSES. I don’t feel like explaining myself. When you give the kind of effort the Rangers put into a third period they dominated, and still lose in excruciating fashion, it speaks volumes about where this franchise is. They suck. There isn’t much else to say.

I can’t explain the 4-3 loss to the Islanders, who managed to score on their only shot with 1:26 left in regulation. Of course they did. Henrik Lundqvist didn’t make a big save the entire night. Does he ever against his kryptonite? I don’t want to see him in net for the rematch on Saturday, or I’ll skip it. He stinks versus the Islanders. Make up any excuse you want. Psychological? Who cares.

I’m fed up with seeing our $8.5 million goalie give up goal after goal in losses to our number one rival. Would it kill him to make a save? Robin Lehner made countless saves throughout in outplaying Lundqvist for his eighth straight win. Seven. Eight. It doesn’t matter. The Rangers had the first 15 shots of the third period and they still lost due to Lundqvist. I don’t feel like blaming Marc Staal or Neal Pionk for this. The fifth straight defeat was due to our goalie. Even if it was a horrible game for Pionk with Staal not much better. The goalie gets all the credit when they win. Well, he deserves the blame for this one.

I am not gonna bother wasting anyone’s time with a long recap. Goals were scored. Three by the home team including Jesper Fast’s amazing baseball bat swing on a high Pionk shot that he batted in perfectly to tie the score. He was robbed by Lehner on the next shift. Lehner also stoned Pavel Buchnevich, and Mika Zibanejad on two other chances in the first of a home and home series that concludes Saturday afternoon in Brooklyn. Honestly, I’ve never seen Lehner look better. Whatever he’s doing, it’s working. The Isles are a playoff team for the time being.

I wish I could say some nice things about how most of the 18 Rangers skaters showed up for the rivalry game. It took longer for others than supporting cast members like Cody McLeod, who sucked AHL scrub Ross Johnston into a dumb unsportsmanlike penalty after Matt Martin tried to punk McLeod. Goon tactics by Barry Trotz’ club. Ryan Strome scored a power play goal on a great feed against the team that drafted him sixth overall in 2011. Strome played a good game centering mostly Filip Chytil and Jimmy Vesey until the third when David Quinn made a change. He moved Fast up with Pavel Buchnevich, who finally showed a pulse with some better shifts. Maybe getting knocked on his ass by Martin woke him up. He played with more edge even going back at Martin and saying something to him after another idiotic moment between him and McLeod at the Ranger bench.

I can take most losses. The Rangers got sloppy after Strome’s goal. Awful turnovers like the one Pionk made, which led directly to a Mathew Barzal breakaway goal on a napping Lundqvist. Then a bad penalty by Vesey on Anthony Beauvillier led to Jordan Eberle beating Lundqvist from an awful angle. The Islanders don’t have a good power play. That didn’t stop them from scoring on their first two. Typical of how brutal the Rangers penalty kill is. They stink.

The Rangers came back early to tie it in the second on a rare Kevin Shattenkirk goal. Only his second of the season on a pass across from Fredrik Claesson. Mats Zuccarello set a good screen in front to prevent Lehner from picking it up. Zuccarello is back to playing hockey. He was more effective than either Zibanejad or Chris Kreider, who didn’t do enough offensively. Zuccarello competed hard for a second game in a row. Maybe his admission to Larry Brooks was a good thing. He’s just playing now.

But a bad Staal penalty on Barzal resulted in another Isles power play goal. This time, Anders Lee redirected a good Nick Leddy point shot in for a 3-2 lead. That’s what happens when you’re bad.

At one point because they don’t shoot the puck enough, the Rangers had only 11 shots. They were stuck on three for a while against a more defensive minded Isles. They came in ranked fourth in team defense due to a better system under Trotz. If they make the playoffs, Trotz should get Coach of the Year over everyone else. They’re doing this without John Tavares, who scored two more including his 300th and 301st of his career in a Leafs 4-2 win over the Devils. Tavares has 29 goals for Toronto.

Whatever Quinn said to his team before the third, it worked. The Rangers were harder on the puck and attacked the Isles, who looked like they were trying to hold on. Every line contributed. Especially the Strome line. It was no coincidence that Fast scored his seventh while bumped up. They worked their tails off. McLeod was noticable every shift due to Martin acting like a punk. Buchnevich played hard enough on the fourth line for Quinn to move him up. The Brett Howden unit was around the puck a lot.

But when you outshoot your opponent 15-0 and then watch hopelessly as Cal Clutterbuck passes across for a Josh Bailey goal with Pionk right on him, it is extremely frustrating. Infuriating. I had no reaction. I expected it as soon as I saw Clutterbuck given too much respect by Staal. Pionk has to tie up Bailey there. He didn’t. Zuccarello missed a check in the neutral zone that allowed Clutterbuck to get in the Rangers zone. The rest is history.

This was as bad a loss as this team has had all season. It has a lot to do with the hated rival. But also how well they played the third. If only they had taken advantage of Leo Komarov’s boneheaded delay of game penalty that handed them a five-on-three. But Quinn blew it by sticking with the horrible top unit that produced nothing. He didn’t reward the guys who were going. A pivotal moment that was a huge miscalculation.

They lost because that’s what they do. So, it’s 5-11-5 since Thanksgiving. Five losses in a row with no end in sight. The Isles won because they know how to. Seven victories in the last eight and nine of the past 11. They have Lundqvist’s number. No. This isn’t Phil Collins or Genesis from 1987. It’s the one-sided rivalry.

One last act on Saturday.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd 🌟 Ryan Strome, Rangers (power play goal 5th as Ranger, best forward)

2nd 🌟 Robin Lehner, Isles (27 saves including 16 of 17 in a lopsided 3rd)

1st 🌟 Mathew Barzal, Isles (goal for 9th in last 11, 2 assists, beast mode)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Struggling Rangers try to slow down wildcard chasing rival Islanders in home and home

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Derek

The tale of two classic New York rivals is at the midpoint of a weird season. One where scoring is way up and the amount of parity is not good like Gary Bettman portrays. There just aren’t many good teams. Aside from the Lightning, Maple Leafs, Capitals and Penguins, no one has stepped up in a mediocre East. The West isn’t much better.

A lot has changed for both the Rangers and Islanders since their last meeting prior to Thanksgiving. A convincing 5-0 home shutout on Nov. 21 sent the Blueshirts into the break a playoff team on a 9-1-1 stretch. It’s crazy to think that they had more points than the Pens at the time. Since then, they’re 5-10-5 with only 15 of a possible 40 points. They enter tonight’s hone match on a four-game losing streak, having been outscored 22-5. Three of the losses were uncompetitive. Only the recent 4-2 defeat in Vegas was hard fought with the team showing improvement.

The Islanders have played much better hockey over the last month. They just had a six-game win streak snapped in hard fashion to Carolina, 4-3 at Nassau Coliseum. They’ve won nine of their last 11 entering play tonight. During that stretch, they’ve scored three or more goals in 10 games. At 23-14-4 with 50 points, they’re fourth in the Metro Division and trail both third place Columbus and final wildcard Montreal by a point. They have three games at hand on the Canadiens and two on the slumping Sabres.

The next two games are a home and home series between the bitter rivals. Tonight’s game at MSG is set for 7 PM while Saturday’s rematch at Barclays Center is a rare 1 PM matinee on Saturday in Brooklyn. Sadly, these two games will conclude the season series. The teams split the first two back in November. The Isles took the first game at home 7-5 on 11/15. Then the Rangers returned the favor by winning handily at home 5-0 on 11/21.

For the Blueshirts, Kevin Hayes will miss his fourth consecutive game with a lower body injury sustained in a 7-2 home loss to Pittsburgh. Coach David Quinn has used rookie Filip Chytil at center the last three games. He hinted that Ryan Strome could shift to center later, moving Chytil on the wing. There is one lineup change on defense with Fredrik Claesson replacing Tony DeAngelo after he took 14 penalty minutes in the 4-2 loss to the Golden Knights.

DeAngelo remains an enigma. He’s often been the odd man out due to inconsistency. He possesses talent, but is caught in a numbers game due to Adam McQuaid returning to pair with Brady Skjei. Kevin Shattenkirk has been back for a week. He’ll reteam with Claesson, who Quinn is more comfortable with as a lefty stay at home D on the third pair. Marc Staal and Neal Pionk remain intact despite their play slipping. I’d like to see DeAngelo play regularly. But the team is also showcasing the more experienced players due to next month’s deadline. If DeAngelo wants to get back in Quinn’s good graces, he has to earn it. I like his skating and puck skills. His defense like most leaves a lot to be desired. He plays with edge, but can’t try to pick fights and seek retribution like he did the other night against Max Pacioretty.

Mats Zuccarello played one of his most effective games, picking up a primary assist on Mika Zibanejad’s 12th goal. Astonishingly, he ranks second behind goalscoring leader Chris Kreider (20). This is a roster that doesn’t score enough. Only Hayes (10) and Jimmy Vesey (10) are the other two Rangers to have double digits. In answering a question regarding why his team doesn’t shoot more, Quinn was very candid. He acknowledged that quite a few players are passers. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out who he means.

In 12 games since returning to the lineup due to a broken thumb, Pavel Buchnevich has two goals on 12 shots. He’s been held without a shot in five games. More troubling is over the same stretch, the playmaking right wing has only one assist. His only point in the past 10 games is a goal scored on Jan. 2 in a 7-2 loss to Pittsburgh. In that game, he went to the net for his seventh goal and registered four shots in 15:58. He hasn’t been the same player since the injury. Only he knows if he’s 100 percent. Due to that inconsistent play, he found himself on the fourth line and off the power play. I think it’s tough to punish him when our team lacks enough skilled players. But if his play doesn’t warrant it, then he’ll continue to be in the doghouse.

Alexandar Georgiev got the last two starts. He made 27 saves in a fine performance on Tuesday. Henrik Lundqvist will get the nod tonight. We’ll see if he can put an end to the Isles’ mastery over him. Don’t forget it was Georgiev who shut them out in the last meeting. It’ll be Robin Lehner for the Isles. He’s established himself lately over Thomas Greiss. Lehner brings a career high seven-game winning streak into play.

Mathew Barzal had been hot during the Isles’ good stretch. Urged by tough minded coach Barry Trotz to shoot more, the ’17-18 Calder winner recorded his first career hat trick in a statement 4-0 win over John Tavares and the Leafs in Toronto on Dec. 29, 2018. Prior to going without a point over the last two, Barzal posted eight goals and three assists over the previous six games. Since 12/8, he’s 9-8-17 over the past 14 games.

The Islanders have gotten a nice contribution from rookie defenseman Devon Toews. In seven games since being recalled from Bridgeport, he has two goals and an assist with an impressive plus-seven rating while averaging 17:40. He had a good training camp before an injury sidelined him. Look for the younger Toews to become a fixture on the Islander blueline.

Josh Ho-Sang was sent back down to Bridgeport. As usual, keep an eye on Casey Cizikas. He centers the effective fourth line in name only with party crashers Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck. Brock Nelson is on a hot streak with six points (3-3-6) in his last five games. He’s 5-5-10 over 10. Rangers killer Anthony Beauvillier has no goals and three assists in his last eight. None of that matters when he plays the Rangers. His only career hat trick came against them on 11/15 when he went 3-1-4 to highlight the Islanders 7-5 home win.

More importantly, today marks the two-year anniversary of former NYPD detective Steven McDonald’s death. The Rangers will pay tribute to him. I’d imagine his family will be there for the big game. If they have an ounce of pride, they’ll win tonight.

Posted in Game Preview, NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game #42: A better effort not enough as Rangers lose fourth in a row to Golden Knights, 4-2

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Derek

The second half officially began the same way the first half ended. It’s not going to get any better. At least they competed tonight in Vegas. Unlike the past three losses with the previous two unwatchable, the Rangers gave a better effort against the Golden Knights. It wasn’t enough in a 4-2 defeat at T-Mobile Arena.

Alexandar Georgiev made his second straight start. He was okay finishing with 27 saves on 30 shots. The backup goalie didn’t have much chance on the three Vegas goals. Each came due to mistakes with two on breakaways, and the third on a power play. Goaltending is the least of their troubles. Though I’m sure Henrik Lundqvist didn’t mind getting an extra day off before the team returns home to host the Islanders. An opponent he never beats.

Tony DeAngelo returned to the lineup for a change. He replaced an ineffective Brendan Smith. The whole idea of having two extra D now that Adam McQuaid is healthy doesn’t make a lot of sense. But they want to give each veteran a chance to play with the trade deadline six weeks away. DeAngelo hasn’t played much lately, which doesn’t make sense. But it is what it is. This is the same organization owned by James Dolan, who actually thinks they can sneak into the playoffs due to Lundqvist. In related news, he also believes in the tooth fairy, and I believe in Peter Pan.

DeAngelo was pretty feisty throughout getting physically involved during the match. He took two minor penalties including boarding William Karlsson from behind during the second. He wasn’t pleased about something that I missed in the first. All I saw was him angrily go off to the locker room. So, the boarding penalty was a retaliation. For good measure, he lost it in a heated exchange with Max Pacioretty, earning a misconduct. It easily could’ve been a extra minor for roughing or unsportsmanlike conduct. The refs did him a favor giving an extra 10 minutes to cool off.

Unfortunately, one-time Blueshirt Brandon Pirri (remember him) made DeAngelo pay by depositing a Pacioretty rebound that beat Georgiev off the goalpost for a gimme that made it 2-0. Pacioretty took a good Nate Schmidt feed and blasted a one-timer past Georgiev off the far post. The puck took a favorable hop right to Pirri, who scored his seventh goal in just his eighth game. He’s gotten a opportunity to play due to both Reilly Smith and William Carrier being out with injuries. Smith is a top six forward and Carrier is a key part of their tough fourth line that includes Ryan Reaves. The Knights have a tough decision to make once Pirri reaches game number 10. He then has to clear waivers to be sent down.

While that’s a nice problem for Vegas to have, the Rangers have much more serious ones. Kevin Hayes missed his third consecutive game. The team went 0-3-0 on the road trip being outscored 15-3 by Colorado, Arizona and Vegas. Only the Knights look like a playoff lock with the one line Avalanche coming back to the pack due to starter Semyon Varlamov being out. Oh BTW. In their 7-4 loss at Winnipeg, former Rangers draft pick Ryan Graves scored his second goal on a wraparound. Funny. He never got a crack here last year, but already has one more goal than Kevin Shattenkirk. You really cannot make this stuff up!

In four straight losses, the Rangers have been outscored 22-5. Without Hayes, they’re much worse. What’s going to happen after Feb. 25 if they trade him? It’s really gonna be hard. Watching these games is a chore anyway. I’m letting my father go to the Islander game. Ironically, his buddy bought him a seat at the rematch in Brooklyn on Saturday. I bet that’ll be more fun than the World’s Most Shameless Arena. I actually look forward to hearing him tell stories about the atmosphere at Barclays Center for the rivalry. It might be the final time they play in Brooklyn.

Even though I didn’t watch last night’s game in entirety, I somehow managed to catch all six goals in between The Sopranos marathon on HBO. What can I say? I’m a sucker for Tony Soprano.

Cody Eakin got the Golden Knights on the board in the first when he got behind the defense and beat Georgiev on a mini break. Alex Tuch chipped a pass by Marc Staal to send Eakin in where he found enough wiggle room to score the game’s first goal on Georgiev. The forward backing up Staal was late.

At one point in the game, the Rangers had only nine shots. I chuckled along with my Dad about it. It’s basically turned into a bad comedy. They did come on the final part of the second. Following Pirri’s 10th goal in 10 games with the Golden Knights (over two seasons), they got a couple of good opportunities to score. Marc-Andre Fleury, who never loses at home, made two consecutive big saves on that golden sniper Cody McLeod. I wish I was making it up. First, he got behind the Vegas defense and took a Pavel Buchnevich feed and was stopped by Fleury in tight. Then, he got a breakaway and made the right move, but his forehand deke was denied by a sliding Fleury.

After those two stops, Mika Zibanejad centered for a pinching Staal one-timer that missed the net wide. A no no. Of course, it led to Jonathan Marchessault breaking out behind the D for a beautiful goal unassisted for a 3-0 lead. He made a perfect shot by going just over the right arm of Georgiev to the short side. It was his 14th. It’s hard to believe that the Panthers gave him and Smith away to protect current Oiler defenseman Alec Petrovic. What were they thinking? Probably the same thing both the Rangers and Blue Jackets were not giving Marchessault a chance.

Fleury has an amazing home record at T-Mobile Arena. He leads all goalies in home statistics. Tuesday night was his 15th victory in 21 starts. He entered 14-3-3 with a 2.04 GAA, .928 save percentage and five shutouts. It’s amazing how well he has played there. They’re an extremely tough team to beat there. It’ll be interesting to see what happens if they beat out the Flames and Sharks for the division.

In the third, there was this prior to Zibanejad breaking Fleury’s shutout.

Reaves is as tough as they come. McQuaid did well early before losing the decision on the knockdown. Reaves also has eight goals. That’s one more than Buchnevich. No wonder he found himself on the fourth line. More of a playmaker, he doesn’t shoot the puck enough. It’s probably why he’s not getting rewarded by David Quinn. Quinn rewards guys who bring it every shift such as Vladislav Namestnikov. He was emotionally involved throughout, giving and taking against a few Knights. His production isn’t there, but the kind of yeoman effort he brings is what Quinn’s looking for. It could wind up resulting in a trade to a contender.

Mats Zuccarello recently admitted to Post scribe Larry Brooks that he hasn’t been the same player due to all the scrutiny about his future. He knows it’s coming to an end on Broadway. He’s loved being a Ranger. So, I understand why it would be hard for him to focus. However, he didn’t make any excuses for his disappointing play. He blamed himself.

Zuccarello was better in this game. He worked hard during his shifts and got moved up to the top line with Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. That hard work paid off when he was directly involved in Zibanejad’s goal that came with 8:17 left. A nice passing play started by Kreider resulted in Zuccarello getting the puck across to an open Zibanejad on the doorstep for his 12th goal. That ended a nine-game drought for Zibanejad, whose plus/minus has suffered lately. He’s minus-six during the four-game losing streak.

The Blueshirts nearly made it a one goal deficit. But Fleury robbed Boo Nieves on a good backhand. The rebound was cleared away. Eventually, the Knights got a empty netter from Ryan Carpenter with 80 seconds remaining. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare dug a loose puck out of the corner and centered for a Carpenter one-timer into a vacated net for 4-1.

To their credit, the Rangers didn’t give up. A hard working shift by Nieves and Jimmy Vesey allowed Jesper Fast to get his sixth on a rebound with 23 seconds left. That was it.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd 🌟 Brandon Pirri, VGK (power play goal for 7th of season in 8 games)

2nd 🌟 Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK (27 saves including 12 of 14 in 3rd)

1st 🌟 Jonathan Marchessault, VGK (breakaway goal for 14th for game-winner)

Posted in NYRangers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Game #42: Terrible Tuesday – Sabres 5, Devils 1

Posted on January 8, 2019 by hasan4978

I could almost picture coach John Hynes pulling a Gordon Bombay and castigating his team after their latest wonderful performance in Buffalo, who was missing one of their top forwards in Jack Eichel. ‘You want to lose? Fine, you’re the ones that look like idiots out there!’

Mercifully, I didn’t watch this game. I almost forgot it was on at one point although I was checking the score on Twitter through the first period, saw it was 1-0 and thought maybe they’d be able to pull one out here. Then I went underground reading a book and have other things on my mind anyway so I completely forgot about the game till I checked my phone and my buddy Rudy simply texted…Kinkaid LOL

Yeah I knew it was bad after that, and rolled my eyes when I saw 5-1 late in the third period. While I do like some of the things about the ‘new era’ in Devils hockey I loathe the utter lack of accountability after games like this. There’s no exec, coach or player that’s going to consistently hold feet to the fire for subpar efforts. Especially after Ray Shero clearly sought to dial down expectations a few weeks ago, in the wake of a multi-year extension for coach Hynes. I like them both personally and/or professionally but it’s hard to continue to have blind faith in (ahem) the process after nights like this keep piling up.

Part of the reason I avoided tonight’s game is I won’t be able to avoid the expected bloodletting on Thursday, going with my friend because of the ’80’s night promo. I was trying to talk another friend into going to ’90’s promo night next month but there aren’t too many other games that either I actually want to go to or anyone else will. I even sold my Flyers tickets this weekend (and thankfully also my Blackhawks tickets on Monday to my friend’s friend who’s a Blackhawk fan), an unthinkable occurrence in a normal season but with three months to go might as well recoup some money on the few meaningless games I still can.

Yes that probably includes the Ranger game at the end of the month too, though even if I hadn’t been inclined to sell I might have been too busy to go on a Thursday regardless. Only difference is in a normal season I might go out of my way to try to sell tickets to Devils fans online or off the Internet, but I could give a crap now. If a Ranger fan wants to pay big money to see arguably the two worst teams in the East right now, have at it.

Maybe it won’t be so bad once Mackenzie Blackwood comes back. While Keith Kinkaid made his second straight ineffective start while Blackwood’s on the mend at least he’s skating now, so there’s that. Not that I expect Blackwood to keep throwing shutouts if this is the kind of effort they’re going to put up in front of him. Looking at the 33-21 shot difference tells me the Sabres must have put it on cruise control during that five-goal second period.

Sadly I’m already starting the countdown to the lottery…40 games left.

Posted in Devils | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Game #41: The dead of winter for Rangers in ugly 5-0 loss to howling Coyotes

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Derek

Let’s face facts. This season is quickly becoming exactly what was anticipated. How low can they go? The Rangers have been so bad that I cannot even watch without it becoming cringe worthy. I was already distracted by a very good World Junior Championship won by Finland in a wild finish over Team USA on Saturday night by a score of 3-2. The Finns deserved the gold medal after outplaying our country until a stirring comeback. But Kaapo Kakko scored the winner with 1:26 left in regulation to give Suomi the gold.

If you want to read about a great game played in Vancouver, please click on the link above. You won’t be disappointed. Even though USA lost in excruciating fashion, it was still fun to recap. It truly is a great tournament that gives hockey fans the very best of today’s young players, who could become tomorrow’s stars. I knew it wouldn’t be easy for the Americans to get an elusive fifth gold medal. Finland was better when it counted. Kudos to them. Don’t forget Kakko is vying for the top overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Jack Hughes (4 assists in 4 games) had a good tournament, but a injury kept him out of three preliminary matches. He nearly was the hero following Josh Norris tying the game from Sasha Chmelevski.

Sometimes, it doesn’t always go your way. Speaking of which, the Rangers’ latest loss was awful, embarrassing, humiliating and ugly all rolled into one. After getting shellacked in Colorado 6-1 with poor Alexandar Georgiev in for the whole game, they decided to play even worse in a 5-0 shutout defeat to the world-beater Coyotes. I kid because you cannot make this stuff up. Embattled coach David Quinn decided to give Henrik Lundqvist the start against journeyman Darcy Kuemper. In the past, we would’ve laughed our asses off at the match-up. Not anymore. These days, it doesn’t seem to matter who Lundqvist goes against. It’s no laughing matter.

How bad was this afternoon game that was scheduled against what turned out to be the best wildcard game of the weekend between the annoying Eagles and heartbroken Bears? On a scale of 1-10, I’d put our game at a minus-six. In football weather terms, that would be six below zero. In hockey terms, a minus-six refers to plus/minus rating. Were there any positives? Not when you get embarrassed by the mediocre Coyotes. They got shutout by five goals and the shots were 40-23. That included a lopsided margin of 33-14 the first two mindless periods when they watched Lundqvist give up all five goals on 32 shots. Georgiev replaced him before the second period was out.

I have no idea how Lundqvist is handling all these losses. Fact is on March 2, he will turn 37. After standing on his head in wins over Nashville and St. Louis stopping a ridiculous 73 of 77 shots to close out the 2018 calendar year, he’s been pelted for an ungodly 11 goals on 50 shots in blowout losses to Pittsburgh and Arizona. He didn’t last the entirety in either start. I’m not gonna bother doing the math on what it did to his GAA and save percentage.

At one point, his goals-against-average was around 2.51 and the save percentage was about .918. Now, he has a GAA over 3.00 and a save percentage under .910. Of course, he has no shutouts. Something that’s become a Ranger trademark when he starts. Long gone are the days when Lundqvist could post five to six shutouts a season. How bad has it become? Try four total shutouts since the start of ’16-17 over a combined 147 starts.

If you are him, why even stick around? It’s a unmitigated disaster. In the last three losses, the Rangers have been outscored 18-3. At least they competed against the Penguins despite the all too predictable lopsided 7-2 final score. The past two games have been unfathomable. Here’s how bad, sad and mad it’s become. By the time I put yesterday’s game on after watching the end of a weird Chargers win over the Ravens, it was 1-0 Arizona. As soon as I channel flipped, Brady Skjei and Kevin Shattenkirk fumbled the puck around and let Mario Lemieux Kempe score to make it 2-0. I immediately switched to Hasan’s Devils to see how they were doing in Vegas. I saw the hilarious goal by Ben “Coffey” Lovejoy that put them up 2-0. They lost after I tuned out.

I didn’t watch the rest of the first period of the game. My brother has the MSG Go App. He put it on just in time for yet another Coyotes goal. This time it was mere mortal Conor Garland, who got his second of the game. I had never heard of him until the other day when he scored against the Devils in Arizona’s shootout loss to Kyle Palmieri and Drew Stafford. Now, he’s a household name when he faces the awful Hudson rivals. Three of his five goals have come against both.

Trailing by three, Neal Pionk decided to fight Josh Archibald. Or maybe it was the other way around. Pionk received an extra minor for cross-checking Archibald. Archibald is a tough customer. I haven’t even looked at the scrap until now.

He didn’t do too badly. At least he cares. It’s really a sad situation with the blueline. Shattenkirk has been a disaster. Brendan Smith is no better. The sooner these two are gone, the better off this team will be for the future. No disrespect to either. I know they’re giving a honest effort. But neither fit into the team’s plans. So, if they have to pick up part of Shattenkirk’s remainder of his deal that doesn’t expire until 2021, so be it. It’s a tough cap hit of $6.65 million with another $10 million owed once this season is over. We’re only at the halfway point. Smith’s AAV is $4.35 million with over $9 million owed thru 2021. Maybe they’re showcasing both. It doesn’t make sense to keep scratching Fredrik Claesson, who’s been one of their most effective D along with the more movable Marc Staal. Adam McQuaid is also tradable.

At some point, they have to move a couple of these vets and give John Gilmour (10 goals with Hartford) another look. He can’t be any worse. I don’t want to rush either Libor Hajek or Ryan Lindgren. Neither are ready. I wouldn’t mind seeing soon to be 22-year old Brandon Crawley. But all this is just a guessing game.

By the time the second concluded, the Coyotes had added two more goals off the sticks of Clayton Keller (only his ninth) and Alex Galchenyuk (1-2-3) to chase Lundqvist. Georgiev made eight saves the rest of the way.

I want to leave this response by Chris Kreider on what part of the problem is. It’s very telling.

That’s your next captain.

Posted in NYRangers, WJC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment