A funny gif that sums up a Happy Rangers Thanksgiving following 5-0 win over Islanders

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Derek

Following the Rangers’ long awaited 5-0 win over the Islanders on Turkey Eve to end the Isles’ dominance at eight, this was too good not to post. Especially given that the happy victory makes the Blueshirts 9-1-1 in their last 11 games. Here is a great gif reaction to what’s happening under David Quinn so far:

LMAO that is hilarious. When you think of what was expected entering this season, it’s been so impressive. What they’ve been able to do so far in upping their mark to 12-8-2 to stay in second place and tie the Blue Jackets in points with 26, has been terrific.

The first Rangers win over the Isles since the home opener at the start of the ’16-17 season was nice to see. That they got rookie Alexandar Georgiev his first career shutout put an exclamation point on the victory. What a great gift to give the fans, who’ll celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow. It’ll be enjoyable knowing they finally conquered the kryptonite in methodical fashion.

Goals from Filip Chytil, Cody McLeod (yes!!!!!), Neal Pionk, Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider made it a 5-0 win over the Isles. The first shutout by a Rangers goalie in five years against their crosstown rival.

There is plenty to be thankful for this time of year. Family, friends, a home, car, food and health. It’s great to see a good hockey team that plays hard and responds to Quinn. The polar opposite of what used to be here. He cares about his players and fully explains why he makes a lineup change, even if it’s not an easy or fair one like he had by sitting Brendan Smith for Tony DeAngelo tonight.

Everything he’s done has been positive. If you don’t agree, go root for another team. Quinn and these players are making a lot of people eat crow. I don’t mind.

Like I said in a recent Tweet, it’s nice to have a team back that’s easy to root for. When you see players chest bumping like Kreider did with Georgiev, and Mika Zibanejad carrying Kreider after his latest big performance, it’s a breath of fresh air. These guys genuinely like each other. They play together and aren’t listening to the outsiders. Cue the NWO theme!

This team is a joy to watch. I don’t know how long it’ll last. But in a perplexing division with parity, you never know. Let’s enjoy what these scrappy and happy bunch of 2018-19 New York Rangers have done. Pride has been restored.

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Trotz tabs Lehner to start for Islanders versus Rangers

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Derek

The Islanders look to extend their run of dominance over the bitter rival Rangers tonight at MSG. A Turkey Eve rematch between classic rivals takes place on Broadway. The Islanders took the first match up 7-5 at home in Brooklyn at Barclays Center last Thursday. They bring a franchise record eight-game winning streak versus the Rangers into play, having won 12 of the last 13 meetings.

Anthony Beauvillier’s hat trick and assist for his first career three goal and four point game highlighted the win on Nov. 15. He’s owned the Rangers putting up a dozen points (6-6-12) with a plus-12 rating over seven games. Anders Lee, Brock Nelson and Leo Komarov also tallied along with Cal Clutterbuck getting the empty netter on a snowy night. Valtteri Filppula tallied three assists and Nick Leddy added two helpers. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves including some big ones to preserve a one-goal lead after a wild second period.

Coach Barry Trotz has decided to start Robin Lehner for the second meeting of four between the New York clubs. In nine appearances so far, he’s 4-4-1 with a 2.77 GAA, .915 save percentage and one shutout. In a dismal 6-2 defeat at home to the Stars on Sunday, he allowed three goals on 14 shots in 33 minutes of action after relieving Greiss (3 GA on 19 shots in 27 mins). It’s noteworthy that for his career, Greiss is 4-0-1 in six games vs the Rangers with a 2.75 GAA and .921 save percentage. This will mark the ninth appearance for Lehner against the Rangers. In the previous eight games, he’s 2-4-2 with a 3.69 GAA and .901 save percentage.

Currently fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a 10-7-2 record and 22 points, this is their 20th game of the season. Astonishingly, seven of those 10 victories have come against divisional opponents. In fact, the Isles bring a perfect 7-0-0 record into MSG tonight. Can they continue their dominant play against the Rangers and the Metro?

They remain without key cogs Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin and Andrew Ladd. All three are on the injured reserve. There will be one lineup change. Defenseman Adam Pelech comes back in for Luca Sbisa.

Mathew Barzal is riding a season high five-game point streak (1-5-6) into tonight’s match. He’ll be centering Lee and Josh Bailey. Here are the lines:

Lee-Barzal-Bailey

Kuhnackl-Nelson-Eberle

Beauvillier-Filppula-Komarov

Johnston-Gionta-Clutterbuck

Leddy-Pulock

Hickey-Mayfield

Pelech-Boychuk

Lehner

Greiss

The Rangers projected lines for tonight’s rematch look like this:

Kreider-Hayes-Chytil

Namestnikov-Zibanejad-Fast

Vesey-Howden-Strome

McLeod-Andersson-Fogarty

Staal-Pionk

Skjei-DeAngelo/Smith

Claesson-Shattenkirk

Georgiev

Lundqvist

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Quinn turns to Georgiev against Islanders and Skjei returns on Turkey Eve rematch

Posted on November 21, 2018 by Derek

When the lights go dim at 7 o’clock later tonight at MSG, it’ll be the prelude to another Battle of New York at 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue. Indeed, the Islanders and Rangers will do battle for the second time in six days. The Islanders took the first meeting 7-5 in Brooklyn last Thursday. It was their ninth consecutive win in the historic series.

The ugly display resulted in first-year man David Quinn healthy scratching Brady Skjei for the next two games against the Panthers and Stars. The Blueshirts responded by winning both games as part of a three-game homestand that concludes Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving. Skjei will return to the lineup. The question is will it be for Tony DeAngelo, or Brendan Smith, who scored in his return and set up Filip Chytil’s game-winner on Monday night.

That’ll be up to the coach. What I do know is he has a way of pushing the right buttons. How else to explain the rebuilding Rangers, who enter play in second place in the Metro Division with an 11-8-2 record, for 24 points? When he benches players, they usually respond well to the challenge. In Skjei’s case, he’s underperforming as the team’s defunct number one defenseman. Could the 24-year old be feeling the weight of expectations in his third year? On a new long-term deal that pays him a cap average of $5.25 million per season, he can play better. With a goal and six assists in over 21 minutes per night, Skjei must find more consistency. He can’t afford a repeat of the nightmare at Barclays Center.

Which leads me to DeAngelo. What is he? The former Tampa Bay first round pick out of Sewell, New Jersey is a team best plus-six with seven points (2-5-7) in 13 games. However, he remains unpredictable despite his talent. Still only 23, this is make or break for DeAngelo. He was paired with Skjei in last week’s defenseless implosion against the Rangers’ kryptonite. What will Quinn decide? Does he go with raw talent or more grit and determination? That’s the choice between DeAngelo and Smith, who was a bit shaky in the 2-1 win over Dallas.

The Isles always play with more edge and purpose, treating these rivalry games as if they’re a Stanley Cup. Maybe that’s what Quinn is thinking by naming backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev Wednesday’s starter over Henrik Lundqvist. In truth, the King did nothing wrong last Thursday in giving up five goals on 17 shots before Georgiev relieved him in the third period. Four of the Isles’ five goals came on wide open redirections. The other from the latest Islander hero Anthony Beauvillier was on a breakaway. Beauvillier, who entered that match with one point (goal) notched his first career hat trick and four-point game. He also tallied in a ugly 6-2 home loss to the Stars.

Leave it to the Rangers to get an Islander on track. Considering how well he played, expect to see Thomas Greiss in net again. It was his clutch saves under siege that allowed the Isles to take the first of four meetings.

Maybe by going with Georgiev, Quinn is sending a message to his team. Anything but their best effort won’t be good enough to earn a win over the Islanders. If they play as uneven and sloppy as they did in a oddly played one-goal win over Dallas, it won’t be good enough. The Isles should be well rested and motivated after task master Barry Trotz ripped into them on Sunday.

You know pesky captain Anders Lee will come to play along with Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey, Jordan Eberle and Beauvillier. Cal Clutterbuck is always a pain in the butt, along with Leo Komarov. Trotz is looking for more consistency from struggling center Mathew Barzal. Despite a pile of assists (16), he’s a minus-11 and took a ill advised minor penalty last week that got him benched.

It always seems that one Islanders defenseman steps up in these games. Last week, it was offensive dynamo Johnny Boychuk and underperforming Nick Leddy. The likely candidates could come from Thomas Hickey, Scott Mayfield or Ryan Pulock.

If the Rangers are to prevail and finally end the misery, they’ll need key performances from Skjei, Mika Zibanejad (quiet lately), Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider, Kevin Shattenkirk, Neal Pionk and Marc Staal in support of Georgiev. It will take a total team effort to come out with a win.

That is the objective. To give a happy bunch of surprised Blueshirts fans an early Thanksgiving present.

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Game #21 Vesey’s Harlem Globetrotters goal and Chytil’s fourth in four games sparks Rangers to 2-1 win over Stars

Posted on November 20, 2018 by Derek

It was a good night to be back to our second home. Madison Square Garden treated fans to an exciting game. Complete with cool distractions like the two Harlem Globetrotters who were standing behind our section due to a father and his two kids winning free tickets to the Globetrotters on Friday, it was a lot of fun.

Even better, the hometown team came back to win 2-1 over the Stars. It was the second straight win for the Rangers following that Islanders nightmare. The Rangers will bring a 11-8-2 record into Wednesday’s MSG rematch on Turkey Eve. It’s high time they beat the Isles. They can beat everyone else. It would be an early Thanksgiving present in what’s been a great month.

Dallas was playing for the second time in two days. It showed in the second half of tonight’s game. They only wound up with 17 shots. The other 28 attempts never made it. The Rangers blocked 18 and the Stars missed the net 10 times. That included a last ditch effort with backup goalie Anton Khudobin pulled in the final 120 seconds. He relieved Ben Bishop in the third due to a lower body injury.

What the fans got was a nice reward. A fully committed team who wouldn’t let the Stars get one good shot on Henrik Lundqvist despite being under constant pressure. That’s who they’ve become under coach David Quinn. Even when they didn’t have it early in a blah first period, this roster fights back. They are relentless. A team identity that’s become a rallying cry.

Clearly, they struggled in the early going. Unable to establish a forecheck, the Rangers had a couple of ridiculous penalties go against them. First, there was the phantom slash on Vladislav Namestnikov that wasn’t. It was hideous. He barely touched Jason Dickinson. The team got it killed. Then came the Brendan Smith trip that wasn’t on Alexander Radulov. Smith was back, but touched him. However, he clearly didn’t trip the shifty Russian, who was off balance and went down on his own. It was pathetic.

Those kind of penalties kill momentum. Even if they were the wrong calls, it gave the Stars momentum. Shots favored the guests 7-4 in a frustrating period. There was more entertainment and laughter during our meeting and greet with the regulars by the escalator.

Hoping for a better second, it didn’t come right away. Mika Zibanejad took one of those needless high-sticking minors in the offensive zone when he reached around and got Jamie Benn. Brutal. This time, the penalty kill couldn’t bail him out. It took an absolutely perfect Tyler Seguin shot off the far goalpost to beat Lundqvist for a Stars power play goal. Initially, we thought his shot went through Jamie Benn’s screen and by Lundqvist short side. Just the opposite. A great shot by a great finisher, who came in ice cold with just six goals. He was due.

Prior to Seguin’s goal, the Blueshirts nearly connected shorthanded. Jimmy Vesey came in with Brett Howden two-on-one. But Bishop got across to make a nice pad save on Howden off a perfect Vesey feed. I don’t know when he got hurt, but it was definitely on a low shot like that. Injuries have been his biggest problem as a starter. Hopefully, it’s not too serious. No wonder the Stars upgraded in net with Khudobin as the backup.

Following the teams exchanging successful penalty kills, Vesey scored a highlight reel goal that may as well have been out of the Globetrotter playbook. Taking a Marc Staal pass in front, with his back turned and momentum sending him to the ice, he surprised Bishop with a no look backhand that beat him to tie the game. It was remarkable. The Rangers already have the Neal Pionk end to end goal as a goal of the year candidate. Add Vesey’s Harlem Globetrotters goal that wowed the two players I was talking to behind us. They loved it. Vesey’s seventh came from Staal and Howden. A terrific play all from effort.

Following his goal, the Rangers pressed the action against a weary Stars. Even though they didn’t score, it was enjoyable. They outshot Dallas 9-5 and got stronger as the period went on. Even on a rare off night for Chris Kreider. I’m not sure I can say the same for Zibanejad, who’s gone ice cold.

Despite not being busy, Lundqvist made one game changing save, denying an open Star in the slot with a great glove stop to trademark chants of, “Hen-rik! Hen-rik! Hen-rik!” He may only have needed 16 saves for the victory, but none was bigger.

Bishop made a couple of quality stops too on tough chances. Maybe it was one of those late shots that ended his night earlier than expected.

In the third, it was only a matter of time. With the Rangers continuing to get pucks deep, including the new fourth line of Lias Andersson, Cody McLeod (7 hits in 7:03) and Steven Fogarty, eventually they got the go-ahead goal. Filip Chytil continued his hot run by scoring for a fourth consecutive game. Taking a Smith pass, he undressed a Dallas defenseman and then had Khudobin beat with a quick snapshot that would’ve made his idol Jaromir Jagr proud. It was that good. Like an artist.

They could’ve had more, but Khudobin deserves credit for bring sharp. He finished with nine saves in relief. If Bishop is out for an extended period, Dallas can take solace knowing they have a quality substitute.

The Stars were unable to do much of anything in the final period. They did manage five shots to the Rangers’ 10. But none threatened Lundqvist, who saw each shot including one offering with over two minutes to go that he calmly gloved away.

Then came the gritty defense. Pinned in their end twice including following a Chytil rookie mistake when he shot too soon with enough time for the empty net instead icing the puck, they weren’t gonna allow anything. In particular, Staal was a force along with Neal Pionk, who eventually was replaced by Kevin Shattenkirk. The five Rangers skaters sold out to earn the win to loud approval as the buzzer sounded.

Three Rangers Stars

3rd 🌟 Marc Staal primary assist on Vesey goal, terrific defensively, 3 blocks, +1 in 27 shifts (22:10)

2nd 🌟 Jimmy Vesey highlight reel Globetrotters goal (7th) that tied it, 3 shots, 4 attempts, +2 in 21 shifts (16:13)

1st 🌟 Filip Chytil scored the game-winner for his fourth goal in four straight games, 3 shots, 2 blocks, +1 in 19 shifts (14:33)

Eat your heart out Staal cynics!

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Steven Fogarty gets a chance with Lettieri sent down

Posted on November 19, 2018 by Derek

Okay. Maybe highlighting Steven Fogarty being recalled from Hartford for Vinni Lettieri with the classic John Fogerty baseball song, “Centetfield,” is a bit of a stretch. Especially with baseball long gone with an unpredictable winter ahead. We already got snow and it caused total chaos for drivers in the New York and New Jersey due to the dysfunctional elected officials in both states not prepared.

Indeed, the weather is cold with Turkey Day coming out early this Thursday on the 22nd. Ironically the 55th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination. One of the saddest days ever. Me being a history buff who also appreciates music, I guess that’s how I would explain the start of this post.

In truth, Fogarty deserves a chance to see what he can do with the Rangers. After a solid camp, he went to Hartford and got off to a good start scoring seven goals and adding seven assists for 14 points in 19 games. He ranks second in Wolf Pack scoring behind veteran Peter Holland (2-14-16). Lias Andersson is still third with a dozen points before getting the call two weeks ago. In six games, he has an assist with the primary helper on Brendan Smith’s tying goal in the Rangers’ 4-2 win over the Panthers on Saturday. He hasn’t played a lot, mostly centering the fourth line. I have full confidence in David Quinn to eventually get the 2017 seventh overall pick the ice-time he needs.

With Lettieri finally sent down, maybe he can regain his confidence. He had no points and wasn’t doing enough to stay up. I had wanted to see what Fogarty could do. He’s kinda the forgotten guy due to being 25 and in his fourth pro year. Well, really his third full one after spending four years at Notre Dame. He was a third round pick taken 72nd overall in 2011.

Fogarty is another right shot who plays center. He brings some size as well with him listed at 6-3, 209. If he does go tonight against the Stars, he would play on the fourth line with probably Andersson and either Cody McLeod or Ryan Strome.

It depends if Mats Zuccarello is back. He would obviously play with Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Namestnikov, bumping Jesper Fast down to the third line. We’ll see.

We will also find out if Quinn sticks with the same six defensemen that included Smith, who came in for an ineffective Brady Skjei, and played solidly. Skjei is supposed to be the team’s best defenseman, but hasn’t played like it. He’s capable of much more.

We’ll see what happens.

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Game #19 – Hurricanes 2, Devils 1

Posted on November 18, 2018 by hasan4978

After yesterday’s hideous loss, part of me didn’t even want to bother with the aggravation I could sense was coming in Carolina today.  We never seem to do well in that building (and also seem to play a disproportionate share of our games there on the back end of back-to-backs), had Cory Schneider starting and once again Nico Hischier’s day-to-day injury was ‘not today’ in terms of a return after being teased for the last few days that his return was imminent.  Are we pulling a New York Mets with injury disinformation here?  With all that I predicted 6-3 yesterday afternoon.

After thirty seconds that prediction looked pretty good, unfortunately.

In many ways I didn’t recover emotionally from the hideous first thirty seconds of the game where we gave up not one, but two goals largely on defensive breakdowns with an assist to Cory allowing a weak five-hole goal on the first one, granted it was a partial breakaway but still a butterfly goalie’s gotta stop that.  I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen such a hideous start in the first minute of the game and it nearly earned me an instant click off the TV.  As it was I turned the radio on and muted the TV instead, which I should have done from the start.  Why I didn’t, I have no idea…much like I have no idea why the Devils decided to start the first thirty seconds of the game so loosely.

Amazingly enough that was the last goal Cory allowed today.  Although it’s typical in a way since he does tend to make saves when we’re trailing.  When we’re leading or tied is another story…be that as it may it’s hard to fault the goalie when you only give up two, and other than his playoff win last April he hasn’t given up fewer than three in any other game during 2018.  Baby steps.  It’s just a shame this team can never take Cory off the hook when he at least plays halfway decent

While the record itself is only slightly misleading since Cory did win a playoff game after all, it would be nice to put those dreadful splits in the past.  Too bad it won’t be today because the offense pulled a complete no-show against yet another mediocre (at best) team.  And it would have been nice if the coach wasn’t a big dummy today either.  To wit: 

  • Why is talentless Stefan Noesen – who’s been playing poorly this year – getting power play and late empty-net offense minutes?  When you have other big bodies with more talent that can ‘screen’ the goalie too.  This idea that you need a talentless oaf to screen on the PP saps half the advantage of having an extra skater and rewarding a suddenly hot Pavel Zacha (goals in two straight games!) with PP time would have been nice too.
  • Why was Ben Lovejoy getting an offensive zone faceoff shift with two minutes to go down a goal?  I get no Sami Vatanen in the lineup but you should just roll Greene-Severson and Butcher-Mueller as your two goal-to-get pairings rather than going with a total zero offensively in an offensive situation.  Heck, with an o-zone faceoff you should drop the hammer and put both Butcher and Severson on the ice.
  • Why did Jesper Bratt, who’s been pretty much the only player creating offense the last two games only get just a hair above eleven minutes of icetime this afternoon?  Sure, it’s his fourth game back from injury but come on we aren’t talking about a baseball starting pitcher on a pitch count here!
  • Why are we STILL using that stupid backpass zone entry on the PP that every team in the league knows and is just lying in wait for?  Yes in certain situations there’s a virtue to a back pass to keep the D honest but not when it’s your ONLY zone entry of choice.  This isn’t the 1960’s with the Lombardi power sweep, there’s no virtue to being too predictable when teams have detailed video and film on you.

Yes the injuries don’t help our recent predicament but memo to John Hynes and Rick Kowalsky (who I assume is in charge of PP personnel), when you’re missing talent, that’s when you need to use the talent you have more!  Losing stings but losing when there are correctable issues is twice as frustrating and now that we’re under .500 and in last place in the Eastern Conference the climb doesn’t get any easier.  While both the Rangers and Islanders have overachieved their way to hot starts, the Devils have underachieved their way on the wrong side of the playoff bubble and we’re just one game away from Lou Lamoriello’s typical twenty-game marker for grading a team.  At best I’d give this team a C- right now, and that isn’t going to cut it going forward.

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Game #20: Kreider and Lundqvist star in bounce back 4-2 win over Panthers

Posted on November 18, 2018 by Derek

David Quinn wants his team to respond to criticism following ugly losses like the one to the Islanders on Thursday. The Rangers showed the same resiliency that’s defined the season, posting a hard fought 4-2 home win over the Panthers at MSG.

Through 20 games, a team picked by many to finish last in the division and be a lock for a top five pick, has a record of 10-8-2. They’ve done it by continuing to persevere under Quinn, who won’t tolerate soft play like we saw the other night. The demanding first-year coach sat out defenseman Brady Skjei after a poor effort from a young player making $5.2 million on average. No matter who you are, you will be made an example of if this coach doesn’t think you’re giving consistent effort. We’ve seen his message get through to Kevin Shattenkirk, Pavel Buchnevich and countless others, who found themselves missing shifts due to ineffective play.

What Quinn has been able to establish in the first quarter has been remarkable. He has changed the attitude and mentality by having higher standards. These Blueshirts won’t give in. Even when they aren’t always clicking on all cylinders in wins like tonight, they will work their tails off, scratch and claw.

In came Brendan Smith and out went Skjei. Wouldn’t you know it? Smith scored a goal in his return. It was a important one because it tied the game at two, in direct response to Aaron Ekblad’s power play goal with Vinni Lettieri off for interference. The penalty earned him a seat on the bench for an extended stretch. He only played 4:29 in nine shifts. Look for him to become the odd man out if Mats Zuccarello returns Monday. He missed his fourth game in the last five on Saturday night.

Newly acquired Ryan Strome made his Broadway debut on the third line with Brett Howden and Jimmy Vesey. Wearing number 16, which is Derick Brassard’s old number, he took 21 shifts for 16:42 all at even strength. He registered four hits and went 3-and-2 on face-offs. It’s not a bad suggestion to give him a look on the third line due to more skill than Jesper Fast, who replaced Zuccarello on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Namestnikov.

If Zuccarello can play tomorrow, I wouldn’t mind seeing Fast slide down to the fourth line to work with Lias Andersson and Cody McLeod on a grind line. McLeod also didn’t see much ice-time receiving 6:17 in 11 shifts, but had six hits and went plus-one. Andersson set up Smith’s tying goal in the first period for his first point since being called up. He wound up with 13 shifts (6:42) with a plus-one and was 2-for-5 on draws.

It was another big night for Chris Kreider. The emerging leader posted a three-point game scoring his team-leading 11th goal and adding two assists to hike his point total to a club best 19 in 20 contests. This is the best hockey of his career.

Rookie Filip Chytil stayed hot scoring the game’s opening goal at 3:03 of the first on a nice feed from Kevin Hayes. He was able to beat Roberto Luongo from a sharp angle short side to become the first Rangers teenager to score in three consecutive games. He was moved onto the Hayes line with Kreider as I suggested. They were by far the team’s best line.

The early lead didn’t last long. Mike Hoffman continued his torrid play by ripping a perfect one-timer off a Evgenii Dadonov centering pass by Henrik Lundqvist at 4:40. The former Senator would later add an assist in taking his Panthers’ new franchise record point streak to 15 in a row.

With Lettieri in the penalty box, Ekblad drove a laser over Lundqvist from the point on a nice set up from Mike Matheson. Hoffman picked up the secondary helper. It was the third straight game Ekblad scored in.

However, with Quinn opting to double shift Kreider in place of Lettieri on a shift with the fourth line, he combined with Andersson to find Smith open for a shot that beat Luongo high to the short side from another weird angle. The future Hall of Famer had a bad game allowing a couple of soft goals. He struggled to cover shots to the stick side, allowing four goals on 24 shots. In his two outings this weekend, he gave up 10 goals on 60 shots.

Only one goal was scored in the second. It was another of the odd variety with Namestnikov sneaking a seeing eye shot off a Zibanejad face-off win off Luongo and just over the goal line. The puck took a funny hop high in the air where Luongo couldn’t control it. The referee on the back of the net made no hesitation, indicating a goal for Namestnikov. Following a video review, they confirmed the call on the ice giving Namestnikov a deserved reward with his second goal for a 3-2 Rangers lead.

The Panthers certainly had their chances. They applied pressure throughout. However, a sharp Lundqvist was up to the tall task. He made big saves in the final two periods, turning aside all 28 shots he saw. Florida outshot New York 28-12 in the second and third. Overall, they held a 41-24 edge and out attempted the Blueshirts 79-47. That didn’t matter further to the brilliance of Lundqvist, who made 39 saves en route to passing Jacques Plante for seventh all-time in wins with his 438th. Next up is Terry Sawhuk in sixth with 445.

In the third, Kreider put it away by scoring a nice power play goal off the rush. After Chytil drew a tripping minor on Vincent Trocheck, Lundqvist started the play with a outlet for Neal Pionk. His pass for Kreider in the neutral zone trapped two Panthers, allowing Kreider to cut in and Beat Luongo top shelf to the short side at 7:56. A well executed simple play that worked.

Next up are the Stars. Then the Islanders visit MSG on Turkey Eve for a rematch.

Three Rangers Stars

3rd 🌟 Brendan Smith goal (2nd), 5 attempts, 4 blocked shots, +1 in 25 shifts (20:28)

2nd 🌟 Henrik Lundqvist 39 saves including 28/28 last 2 periods for 438th career win passing Jacques Plante for seventh all-time

1st 🌟 Chris Kreider goal (11), two assists, 2 shots, 5 attempts, 2 takeaways, 2 hits, +2 in 24 shifts (15:11)

A nice touch by MSG to recognize Larry Brooks following his induction.

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Game #18 – Red Wings 3, Devils 2 (OT)

Posted on November 17, 2018 by hasan4978

Another weekend, another matinee Devils game.  So far the team’s played five times in seven weeks on either a Saturday or a Sunday afternoon.  My feelings on matinees as a season ticket holder are mixed.  So long as it’s 1 PM like today instead of noon like the Panthers game a few weeks back, I can at least have lunch before driving up to the Prudential Center.  Plus at least unlike weeknights the drive up is typically quicker on a weekend, although I did get backed up a little bit with construction on Broad Street so I missed the pregame skate, but did still have enough time to at least walk around the arena before going to my seat for the intros.

For once I wasn’t completely dreading this game after beating two division foes this week, although still mindful of the fact we lost to Detroit not that long ago.  I was still a bit perturbed over the case of the dissapearing Devil players, with Nico Hischier again missing a game after all signs seemed to point to him coming back today.  Hischier remained on the injured list along with with IR’ed Sami Vatanen, Brian Boyle and Steven Santini.  With all of the injuries it led to some interesting combinations, starting with Mirco Mueller playing on his offside with Egor Yakovlev going into the lineup and once again putting Jesper Bratt on a line with the unholy duo of Pavel Zacha and Marcus Johansson.

Yet it was that second line – specifically the two farmhands – that wound up having some of the best moments of the game, starting with Zacha opening the scoring for the game and potting his first of the season late in the first after a perfect cross-ice pass from Bratt even Zacha couldn’t miss, capping off a dominating first period by the guys in red.  To give the Devil his due, Zacha actually looks a bit rejuvanated since coming back, in particular since he started playing with the dynamic Bratt, whose return has sparked the offense a little.  I wish I could say the same for Zacha’s other winger, but as bad as NoJo was last year, he’s been that much worse this year.  I would say the concussions have taken something out of him (maybe they have) but he wasn’t even doing well last year before getting hurt.

Yet, in spite of NoJo things looked good early with the Devils outshooting the Wings 20-4, though that dominance was a bit illusory since we were still giving up high quality chances, and once again goalie Keith Kinkaid’s posts proved to be better at repelling pucks than most NHL goalies.  Good thing for that, cause this team’s defensemen really have a problem defending two-on-ones, specifically they don’t actually take away the pass or the shot.  The book says to take away the pass but for whatever reason giving up multiple two-on-ones today brought this glaring fact into light – these defensemen just don’t seem to know how to play two-on-ones correctly.  Basically all of them let the pass through or backed off to such a degree they gave up a wide-open slot attempt, and either forced Kinkaid or the post into a great save.  Our loose defense on two-on-ones would finally come back to bite us at an inopportune time much later in the game.

Before then, things still looked good even if the refs were more than inclined to cut the Wings a break.  In sixty-five minutes of hockey despite a lot of dominant stretches where the Devils put forty shots on Wings goalie Johnathan Bernier, somehow New Jersey failed to draw a single penalty call in their favor.  How often does that happen?  Usually when the shots on goal are that high that means one team’s outskating the other and eventually draws the benefit of the whistle.  Not today though, of course to be fair the refs seemed inclined to call nothing period given they only gave Detroit one power play themselves.  Abdicating your responsibility in officiating the game only helps the team willing to get away with more though, and that was the team in white.

It’s not even worth harping on that though, we still had our own chances to put away the game once and for all against a mediocre team who didn’t even get to Newark till late last night due to travel issues.  Specifically when Blake Coleman took advantage of a Wings‘ power play with yet another shorthanded goal late in the second period.  While there’ve been precious few reminders of the glory days in recent years, you could definitely see a lot of John Madden in Coleman.  Perhaps #20 is actually more talented than Mad Dog.  Once we killed off that penalty I had hope we could take this game home.  Until Luke Glendening (who?) found an open space in the slot for a momentum-killing one-timer goal with just under two minutes remaining in the second period.  Now I could sense the choke coming, especially with this team already having lost three other multi-goal leads this season and third-period leads too numerous to count.

While I missed the first several minutes of the third period walking around the arena with a friend I hadn’t seen for a while (she wanted popcorn and we had to go downstairs again after already coming back upstairs), I did get back to my section in time to see Bratt and Zacha nearly put the game away, but this time Bernier stoned Zacha in front.  After surviving yet another two-on-one thanks to the friendly goalpost (after Ben Lovejoy completely abandoned Dylan Larkin to take the other guy on the play leaving the shot too wide open), finally Kinkaid was victimized by his own defenseman – the aformentioned Lovejoy who pushed Glendening into the goaltender while Michael Rasmussen’s shot went past him, as once again this team gave up a late third-period lead.  It could have actually been worse as the regulation buzzer sounded with a wide open Wings player lurking in front for a pass.  Two more seconds and we could have been looking at a Hurricanes playoff-type finish.

What we would get was bad enough, as the Wings dominated overtime and settled the issue on one last two-on-one that this time Damon Severson botched by getting caught in no-man’s land – not close enough to Anthony Mantha to stop the pass or to Larkin to stop the shot, ballgame over.  I can’t blame Severson though, the guy played over twenty-six minutes pressed into first-pairing duty and did admirably well throughout the game.  It isn’t his fault this team obviously isn’t coached well enough on the basics by John Hynes or specifically defensive coach Alain Nasreddine.  It also isn’t his fault the refs missed one final Red Wing penalty – a trip of Brett Seney in the faceoff circle.  In some ways it was a fitting all-around end to a hideous matinee, other than me getting to see my friend and her fiancee again.  Perhaps worse than the lost point is blowing another third-period/multi-goal lead.  Even with our defensive issues, we still have a goalie playing at an above average level, it shouldn’t be this bad.

At least until tomorrow assuming Cory Schneider plays the back-to-back.  If he plays it’ll be a 6-2, 6-3 type of game, book it.  And if Kinkaid plays his fourth game in six days in November on a travel back-to-back that’s a pretty telling sign of what they think of Cory.  Same as I do at this point, evidently.

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Rangers deal Spooner to Oilers for Strome

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Derek

It didn’t take long for the Rangers to sour on Ryan Spooner. After only putting up two points (1-1-2) in 16 games, he was dealt to the Oilers for Ryan Strome.

Spooner came over from Boston in the Rick Nash trade that also netted D prospect Ryan Lindgren, Matt Beleskey and a 2018 first round pick that became D prospect K’Andre Miller. Following a good start where he tallied four goals with 12 assists in 20 games under former coach Alain Vigneault, he never established himself under David Quinn.

The 26-year old forward spent too much time on the perimeter and became the odd man out despite being given every chance. The Rangers’ $4 million headache who’s signed through 2020 is now Edmonton’s problem. Maybe their style will be a better fit for the pass first center/wing.

Now, Strome replaces Spooner on the roster. A former Islanders’ fifth overall pick in 2011, he’s had his own problems finding consistency. Acquired by the Oilers before last season in exchange for Jordan Eberle, he registered 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points in all 82 games in ’17-18. He is signed through 2020 at an average cap hit of $3.1 million. So, he earns $900,000 less than Spooner.

A right shot who can play center or wing, he only has a goal and assist so far in 18 games. His metrics are a lot better than Spooner, who was under 40.0 Corsi. Part of that is how he was deployed. Strome is 53.5 for the season. The issue is production. He was averaging 14:25 per game in Edmonton. Ice-time wasn’t a problem. It comes down to being able to contribute.

This is a guy who once totaled 50 points (17-33-50 in his second season for the Islanders. Since, he’s been basically a 30-35 point player who has been puzzling. Adding another right shot makes sense. The Rangers are very left shot heavy with only Mika Zibanejad a big scoring threat up front. No disrespect to Jesper Fast, but as hard as he plays, he can’t score. Don’t get me started on Vinni Lettieri.

It’ll be interesting to see how Quinn uses Strome. With Filip Chytil having success after being moved up to the first line and power play with goals in consecutive games entering tomorrow’s game against the Panthers, where does Strome slot in? He is an upgrade over Lettieri on the fourth line. Adding some skill to that line currently centered by rookie Lias Andersson can only help. You know what you’ll get from Cody McLeod, which is more than Spooner gave them.

Good riddance!

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Game #19: Islanders again beat the Rangers in wild 7-5 shootout

Posted on November 16, 2018 by Derek

How would I describe the latest Rangers’ defeat at the hands of their kryptonite, the Islanders? Like this following their 7-5 home win on a snowy night that was highlighted by world beater Anthony Beauvillier’s first career hat trick.

https://twitter.com/Kovy274Hart/status/1063280240401756161?s=19

I had a few other choice words following a very frustrating second period that saw them melt on the ice at Barclays Center. Let’s just say some of it isn’t fit for print. How many times can this team lose to their biggest rivals? Better yet. Why must they turn mere mortals into superstars every time they lose to this team? Beauvillier had only one goal entering tonight’s match. He quadrupled it. Thomas Greiss played the role of Jaro Halak by stopping everything when the Islanders needed it. I forget how many shots he faced. I don’t care like looking.

It would seem to me that if they actually got off to a good start by getting the game’s first two goals from Chris Kreider and Fredrik Claesson 35 seconds apart, things totally unraveled. They let the Isles score six of the next seven goals. It was embarrassing. Islander players were allowed to get open and score on tips without paying the price. No Ranger knocked them down or lifted their sticks.

Following a Kreider rebound goal of a Neal Pionk shot and a Claesson laser through a Jimmy Vesey screen high glove, here came the gritty Isles. First, Beauvillier parked himself in front after Tony DeAngelo let him go so that he could tip home a Thomas Hickey point shot. Just 63 seconds later, Brock Nelson did the same exact thing off a Nick Leddy shot with token resistance to tie the score.

Then came the absurd with veteran referee Dan O’Halloran erroneously sending Mika Zibanejad off for a four-minute double minor for high-sticking Leo Komarov. But when they returned from the break, MSG conclusively showed that it wasn’t Zibanejad who cut Komarov. But rather, his own teammate. With Quinn hot under the collar at the awful call, his team picked up Zibanejad by successfully killing off the double minor.

The ineptitude of the officials was just getting started. A brutal giveaway from Vesey, who tried one of those low percentage passes up the middle inside the Islanders zone, led directly to Valtteri Filppula and Hickey combining to lead Beauvillier for a breakaway goal short side on Henrik Lundqvist for three consecutive Islanders goals. Awful would be how to describe it.

Trailing for the first time with the useless Vinni Lettieri in the box for interference, Kevin Hayes scored his second shorthanded goal of the season to tie the score at three. Following a good defensive play, he broke out and used Claesson driving the net to shoot through a screen to beat Greiss for his fourth at 3:21 unassisted to answer Beauvillier 57 seconds later.

But then came an atrocious call by the refs, who may as well have been wearing blue and orange Isles colors. Somehow, they whistled Skjei for interference after Anders Lee just fell to the ice. The minor penalty drew the ire of a fuming Quinn. He was already not happy. Of course, Beauvillier completed the hat trick when he was allowed to easily redirect Johnny Boychuk’s wide shot past Lundqvist for a 4-3 Islanders lead. Marc Staal was occupied with Jordan Eberle while Pionk lost his man for an easy goal.

It wasn’t like the Blueshirts didn’t have opportunities to tie it. They sure did following another soft call on Nelson for a phantom hold on Brett Howden. Already having cashed in once on Kreider’s early power play goal, they worked the puck around and got some great looks. However, Greiss would t allow them to even it. He made at least a half dozen big saves with his best coming on Hayes when he got just enough of his shot to send it off the crossbar. That close to tying the score.

Instead, the Islanders capitalized on a Kreider minor for tripping on yet another deflection. This time, it was Lee who got free and tipped home a Leddy shot for a 5-3 lead with 5:56 left in the period.

Alexandar Georgiev replaced a blameless Lundqvist for the third. He made a couple of big saves, but was left to fend for himself while Komarov could e had a ham sandwich while steering in a rebound from Filppula and Beauvillier, who recorded his fourth point.

Suddenly down 6-3, the Rangers didn’t give up. Instead, they fought back on goals from Kreider (top shelf for team best 10th) and rookie Filip Chytil’s second in two games on a rebound from Vladislav Namestnikov and Kevin Shattenkirk to make it 6-5 with 2:29 left in regulation.

But that’s as close as they got. They didn’t even set up a shot with Georgiev on the bench for an extra attacker. Instead, Cal Clutterbuck sealed it with an empty netter from Nelson at 19:39.

I’m not gonna hand out any stars following that debacle. Even if I liked the way Hayes, Kreider and Claesson played along with Mats Zuccarello (7 shots) and Chytil, it’s not enough to sing their praises. Especially when they reminded me of Bill Murray’s Phil character in Groundhog Day. I’m too disgusted. I’m tired of losing to that team.

I’ll end this rant with our coach’s classic reaction to O’Halloran apologizing before the third.

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