Battle Of Hudson covers the Rangers and Devils, who's intense rivalry heated up in the 90's. With fresh faces added, they battle for supremacy in NYC and NJ..
Much like most of the tri-state area I was unexpectedly snowed in tonight so for once I was glad to have a Thursday night game. As always division games are nervewracking, especially going to Philly with all the shenanigans that tend to happen as their players and fans eternally try to live up to the Broad Street Bullies moniker. Not to mention our meltdown in Philly a few weeks back started our spiral from the penthouse to the outhouse and is a part of the reason we were just 1-7 on the road going into tonight’s game. Oh, and top center Nico Hischier missed his second straight game due to injury while top defenseman Sami Vatanen missed the final two periods after a reportedly ugly ankle injury in the first period. I say reportedly because I opted to listen to the radio again so I didn’t actually see the injury or most of the highlights.
Yet, due to a ridiculous amount of puckluck (the Flyers somehow failed to score off of five post shots), a goal actually being disallowed by the refs against another team with the subsequent review both going our way for once plus strong goaltending by Keith Kinkaid all propelled the Devils to a – ahem – gritty 3-0 win, finally giving the Devils a winning streak for the first time since the 4-0 start early last month. So far, the team is now 2-0 on the road when I listen to Matt and Chico, 0-7 when I watch or don’t watch other road games. Just saying.
From Matt and Chico’s description it sounded like an unusually subdued crowd in Philly, no doubt due to #storm2018 that evidently stunned the East Coast. Even leaving for home at 2:30 just a couple of hours after the storm started you could see things were going to be bad, in part because the salt machines weren’t on the roads before or during the storm until it was too late since most forecasts around here had called for 1-2 inches and slush, maybe freezing rain at night. So far it looks more like 6-8 inches and despite having a couple of slippery moments on the road I was a lot more fortunate than some of my friends, judging off of Facebook it seems as if three hours was a normal commute in North Jersey today.
Superstition aside maybe it’s just as well that I didn’t watch the game, it seemed like a hair-raising affair that belied the final score given the ridiculous amount of posts the Flyers hit while we continually botched our own chances including Kyle Palmieri missing an open net and Pavel Zacha of course inventing ways not to score. Fortunately some of the other kids stepped up in the first period on a play started by a ridiculously good hip check from Vatanen to cause a turnover, leading to a bang-bang play with Brett Seney feeding Joey Anderson in the slot for a one-timer goal, the first of Anderson’s career. Despite the best efforts of both teams that 1-0 score remained through the third period. Although an apparent Flyers goal was waved off in the first period due to James van Riemsdyk committing a shrewd goalie interference. For all the crap I give the refs (and it’s deserved) it sounded like it was a subtle play that thankfully this crew saw in real time.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the Devils managed to get an insurance goal in the third on a Palmieri wraparound where he and the ref somehow collided after the play but actually it was Flyer goaltender Brian Elliott who gimped off the ice due to injury, evidently he pulled something during the play. Despite some puckhandling shenanigans from Kinkaid late he overcame them with his terrific puckstopping to preserve his third shutout of the season. For once, the Devils managed to hold a third-period lead without blowing it which may actually be a first, at least of our third-period leads that were under three goals. Also shockingly Blake Coleman scored an empty-netter to seal it, since usually our empty-net offense stinks. Not so shockingly, Wayne Simmonds tried to start up crap with Damon Severson with the game out of reach late but thankfully for us the refs precluded a fight and sent both players off with matching misconducts.
Of course there was no update on Vatanen postgame, leaving a cloud over this latest win. With Steven Santini also on the shelf, pickings are thin among our RD options. Heck, pickings are thin among our D options period. As the saying goes though, there’s nothing to worry about until there’s something to worry about.
In less than an hour, the puck will drop on another installment of a classic rivalry. That’s always been the case whenever the Rangers and Islanders get together. A unique blood rivalry between New York teams that dates back to 1972 when the Islanders entered the league, Rangers and Islanders is as good as it gets in hockey. At least in this area.
This season, the two teams will meet four times. In fact, tonight’s match at Barclays Center in Brooklyn is basically a home-and-home series over the span of six days. The Isles will pay a visit to MSG next Wednesday on Turkey Eve. Interestingly, the schedule makers did a cool thing by scheduling the remaining two games as a classic home-and-home series in early January. Here is the breakdown:
11/15 NYR @ NYI 7 PM
11/21 NYR vs NYI 7 PM
1/10 NYR vs NYI 7 PM
1/12 NYR @ NYI 1 PM
In a odd twist, the Rangers will be done with the Islanders before they play the Devils for the first time in late January. I’ve never seen that before. It’s too bad these old school rivals don’t face each other more during the season. I feel they should play at least six times. But the unbalanced schedule doesn’t allow for it. Why not minimize the other games against the other Eastern divisions to two? One at home and one on the road. Just a suggestion.
As for recent history, it hasn’t been kind to the Blueshirts. In ’17-18, they didn’t win one game last season going 0-3-1 against their kryptonite. The Islanders outscored them 16-6. Even worse, the Rangers have yet to win a game at Barclays Center in three years, bringing an 0-5-1 record into tonight. In fact, they have only won once since 2016-17 taking the home opener. The Isles own the Rangers, who are 1-9-2 over that span. Pretty crazy yet somehow typical and predictable.
The Islanders take these games seriously. It’s like their Stanley Cup. Or has been lately. With Barry Trotz in charge and Lou Lamoriello running it, these are different times. They bring a 9-6-2 record into the game with their 20 points good for second place. The Rangers under new bench boss David Quinn are playing well. They bring a 9-7-2 mark in with an identical 20 points, but in one more game played that puts them in third. They haven’t lost in regulation in the last seven games, going 6-0-1 over that stretch, including a comeback 2-1 home win over Vancouver on Monday. A game highlighted by goals from 19-year old Filip Chytil and 20-year old Brett Howden. The Isles are fresh off a 5-2 home win over Vancouver on Tuesday. Mathew Barzal had two assists and Cal Clutterbuck scored his first goal in 53 games. Brock Nelson notched his eighth.
All-time, the Rangers lead the series with a 125-113-19-9 record in 266 games. The fourth column indicates OT losses with the third column signifying ties between the two clubs under the old NHL format before ’05-06. If you added up the overtime and shootout losses, the Rangers would be 125-122-19. A better indication of how close the rivalry is.
For the Rangers, there is only one change to the lineup with Mats Zuccarello returning after missing the past three games due to a groin injury. He replaces a ineffective Ryan Spooner, who’s still stuck on two points. Zuccarello moves back onto the top line with Quinn opting to keep Chytil there with Mika Zibanejad following his successful game on Monday that resulted in his first goal along with the game’s first star. Vladislav Namestnikov slides down to the second line with Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider. Lias Andersson centers the fourth line. Brendan Smith sits out a third consecutive game. Henrik Lundqvist gets the start.
Rangers Lineup
Chytil-Zibanejad-Zuccarello
Kreider-Hayes-Namestnikov
Vesey-Howden-Fast
McLeod-Andersson-Lettieri
Staal-Pionk
Skjei-DeAngelo
Claesson-Shattenkirk
Lundqvist
Georgiev
For the Islanders, they’ll be missing a couple of key players, who give the Rangers fits. Casey Cizikas (lower body), Matt Martin (lower body) and Andrew Ladd (lower body) all were placed on the injured reserve. Stephen Gionta was recalled from Bridgeport along with former first round pick Michael Dal Colle (7-7-14 with Sound Tigers). Gionta will take Cizikas’ spot on the fourth line while Dal Colle will sit out. Thomas Greiss gets his second straight start.
A look at the current standings tells a story. The 2018-19 NHL season is unlike most. With few exceptions, most teams are struggling. Both the Capitals and Golden Knights would be out of the playoffs if the season ended today. Each having issues fulfilling lofty expectations. It’s normal when everyone is gunning for you.
2018/2019 NHL Parity…Stanley Cup Winner and Stanley Cup Finalist are at the bottom of the NHL Barrel. pic.twitter.com/pzOyBqvo7n
The good news for teams like Washington and Vegas is we are not even at the quarter mark. Thanksgiving comes out early next week. By the 22nd of November, that’s usually the first measuring stick for evaluation. While other teams including the inconsistent Penguins and God awful Kings complete trades such as Carl Hagelin for Tanner Pearson in hopes of providing a spark, other disappointing clubs have fired coaches, including the once mighty Blackhawks, who gave three-time Stanley Cup champion Joel Quenneville the pink slip. The Kings sent John Stevens packing, and are still atrocious without Jonathan Quick.
Last year, not one coach was dismissed. This year could more than make up for that rarity with Anaheim’s Randy Carlyle, Edmonton’s Todd McLellan and Blues bench boss Mike Yeo also on the hot seat. Whether it’s due to injuries, poor defense, lack of depth, or inconsistent goaltending, there are plenty of reasons why teams underachieve.
In a very perplexing Metro Division, you have both the Capitals and Penguins leaving the door open for early surprises to hang in the race. Even the first place Blue Jackets aren’t clicking on all cylinders. The Flyers have picked it up lately, but remain incomplete. Could the rebuilding Rangers or rival Islanders stay in it longer than expected? What about the disappointing Devils, who are basically two faced? Lethal at home and miserable on the road. There’s an opportunity here for someone to step up.
With the Hurricanes dramatically cooling off due to scoring and goalie issues, it’s anyone’s guess what might happen. For now, you have a wide open division where all eight teams could remain competitive for a while.
How long can the Blueshirts defy the odds? They bring a 9-7-2 record into Brooklyn for Thursday night’s big rivalry game against the equally surprising 9-6-2 Islanders. Both clubs have new coaches. However, there’s a huge difference between David Quinn and Barry Trotz. While each was brought in to change the culture, which so far they’re having success doing, Quinn is a rookie coach from the college ranks out of Boston University. Expectations are lower on Broadway due to the younger roster he has to work with. Don’t tell veteran Henrik Lundqvist that. He’s been brilliant so far as have rookie revelation Brett Howden along with emerging team leaders Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes. With improvements from youngsters Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey, Neal Pionk and Tony DeAngelo, things are looking up.
As for the Islanders, it’s a unique partnership between Trotz and Lou Lamoriello. They weren’t brought in not to get immediate results. When you make such radical changes to get two proven winners, it’s not without increased expectations. There is much more accountability and discipline. Most of Lou’s moves have worked thus far, including reuniting Matt Martin with Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck. Even Valtteri Filppula has been a bright spot providing scoring depth to assist a top six of Matt Barzal, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Josh Bailey, Jordan Eberle and the struggling Anthony Beauvillier. Can a team with Thomas Greiss and Robin Lehner stay in contention? We’ll see.
Neither classic rival is perfect. The Rangers do it with resiliency by finding a way. It isn’t always pretty. It helps when kids like Filip Chytil and Howden chip in for the two goals in Monday’s 2-1 home win over the Canucks. The Islanders give up a ton of shots. Sometimes, they call on Greiss or Lehner to do the heavy lifting. Not much different from the Blueshirts with Lundqvist most nights. Timely scoring helps.
Recent history shows that the Isles get up for these games and often prevail. Will Quinn’s young roster flip the script in the first of four meetings in Brooklyn?
The Devils are probably the strangest local team to figure out. With a record of 7-8-1 with a disappointing 15 points in 16 games for last in the division, they have really struggled. Since a perfect 4-0-0 start, they’re only 3-8-1 since. Part of the problem is a lack of consistency from game to game. They sure clean up at home. A 6-1-1 mark that was boosted by an impressive 4-2 win over the Penguins on Tuesday, highlighted by a two goal, two assist performance from MVP Taylor Hall, got John Hynes’ club a much needed victory following a brutal road trip that produced one win in seven games. On the road, they’re a dismal 1-7-0. That can’t continue.
It’s worth noting that the one victory was over their favorite opponent, Pittsburgh. They dominated the Pens thanks to a symbolic hat trick from inspirational leader Brian Boyle. Fully recovered from cancer, the proud veteran recorded his first career hat trick on Hockey Fights Cancer night in Pittsburgh. It was meant to be like a higher power. Boyle has six goals so far, going above and beyond for New Jersey. An injury has him on the injured list. 2015 first round pick Pavel Zacha was recalled with the injury bug also hitting top center Nico Hischier. Zacha remains without a point so far. At some point, he needs to prove he can play at this level. Especially given some of the players taken after him in that draft.
Kyle Palmieri has been terrific pacing the club in goals (10), power play goals (5) and game-winners (2). Hall may finally be finding his ’17-18 form with the four points moving him up to 19 (9-10-19) for the season. Hischier is 3-9-12 so far in 15 games. He can play better. The Devs have to be pleased with the performances of Travis Zajac (7-6-13), Damon Severson (3-9-12), Blake Coleman (5 markers) and Jean-Sebastian Dea (3-2-5). With Jesper Bratt (2 assists) recently returning, they need more from Marcus Johansson, Miles Wood, Sami Vatanen and Will Butcher. Is Keith Kinkaid the answer in goal with Cory Schneider still struggling, or does Hynes find a way to re-establish Schneider?
While it’s the land of confusion in the Metro, the Atlantic Division is clearly better. So far, the Lightning and Maple Leafs are right where they belong due to star power, balanced scoring, elite blueliners and steady goaltending. Even without Auston Matthews, Toronto boasts John Tavares, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly with the lethal trio a big part of a high wire act in support of Frederik Andersen. The Bolts do it with more balance thanks to emerging stars Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde, who support scary combo Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. With Victor Hedman back healthy and Ryan McDonagh performing well along with J.T. Miller and starter Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa is a handful.
The real surprises are the play of the improved Sabres and Canadiens, who could be starting to dip without ace defenseman Shea Weber. He’s due back soon, which could aid a struggling defense unable to help Carey Price, or Antti Niemi. Buffalo could have more staying power due to the dynamic duo of Jack Eichel and Jeff Skinner. They are dominating with vet Jason Pominville. Now that Sam Reinhardt and Casey Mittlestadt are starting to come alive, Buffalo could be even better than expected. Especially if both Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark continue to play well. We are still waiting for a good stretch from top pick Rasmus Dahlin.
The Bruins are about where we expected. It’s just odd how important Jaro Halak has become due to off ice issues with Tuukka Rask. Now that he’s returned, figure him to get back into form. The top line of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand continues to dominate. Pastrnak leads everyone with 17 goals while Bergeron is in the top five in scoring. Keep an eye on sophomore Jake DeBrusk, who popped two more goals in last night’s 6-3 loss at Colorado. If Zdeno Chara misses time, that’ll hurt.
Since Roberto Luongo returned, the Panthers are quietly back to winning games. Luongo is the key to Florida along with Sasha Barkov, Evgenii Dadonov, Keith Yandle and Vincent Trocheck, who’s yet to get going. Mike Hoffman has been a huge addition with his current 13-game point streak matching Pavel Bure for the franchise record.
Even Detroit has recovered from a poor start thanks to the play of Dylan Larkin, Andreas Athanasiou, Gustav Nyquist and Mike Green. Give them credit. Ottawa isn’t that bad due to stars Mark Stone and Matt Duchene playing for contracts. Thomas Chabot is everything I thought he was when he starred for Canada in the World Juniors, and Brady Tkachuk is the real deal. Ryan Dzingel continues to score goals.
While parity remains, the Predators are playing lights out. Written off by many pundits due to Winnipeg and the Sharks adding the underwhelming Erik Karlsson, Nashville is the best team so far. Vezina winner Pekka Rinne could repeat. Roman Josi has been superb as have Filip Forsberg, Viktor Arvidsson, Ryan Johansen and P.K. Subban. They have plenty of balance up front and on D. It’s just whether they can get it done next Spring.
The West is so tough with uber talented teams such as the high scoring Jets and streaky Sharks to contend with. Winnipeg remains scary due to the combination of forwards Mark Schiefele, Blake Wheeler, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Nik Ehlers, along with rover Dustin Byfuglien. Connor Hellebuyck has yet to match the level he was at last year.
You have second tier contenders Minnesota and Colorado with the latter boasting the best scoring line in the sport. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog torched the Bruins on Wednesday, combining for eight points (3-5-8) in their three-goal home win. With a goal and two helpers, Rantanen is up to a league-leading 29 points (7-22-29). He was taken tenth overall in 2015 behind Zacha. MacKinnon (12-14-26) is tied with Oilers wizard Connor McDavid (10-16-26) for second along with Bergeron (9-17-26). Pastrnak (17-8-25) rounds out the top five. If the Avalanche continue to get strong netminding from Semyon Varlamov along with improved offense from Alex Kerfoot and Sam Girard, they could be a handful.
There are questions surrounding Alberta rivals Edmonton and Calgary. The Oilers boast the game’s best player in McDavid, who teamed with Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, are scary. Do they have enough secondary scoring and defense to reach the playoffs? What about the odd goalie situation with Mikko Koskinen having one less win (4) in five starts than starter Cam Talbot (5) in 13 starts?
The Flames will go as far as their potent offense led by Johnny Gaudreau will take them. Even with the addition of Elias Lindholm, and the return to form from Mark Giordano, they can’t rely on starter Mike Smith. Virtual unknown David Rittich has performed better.
The most exciting team is the Canucks led by Calder front-runner Elias Pettersson. He’s a special talent. The gifted Swede is so good with the puck, he makes you reimagine images of Peter Forsberg. It’s hard to believe the Canucks got him at number five overall in 2017. The Rangers had him ranked number one on their list, but had to settle for Lias Andersson. Petterson is a breathtaking player worth the price of admission. It’s too bad Brock Boeser is injured again. So is Sven Baertschi. With a core featuring Pettersson, Bo Horvat, Boeser and soon Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko, things are looking up in Vancouver. Just don’t expect them to sustain their current level. The record is misleading. If only Jacob Markstrom were a NHL caliber starter.
Dallas boasts gifted rookie Miro Heiskanen. Taken third overall in the same draft, the Finnish defenseman is sure to improve in his first season. He will be leaned on with top D John Klingberg out. The Stars remain a top heavy team due to Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov. Is Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin good enough to get them back in the postseason?
The Blues have the talent up front by adding former Sabre Ryan O’Reilly to a nucleus that includes Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, Jaden Schwartz, Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko and Vince Dunn. But even with depth additions David Perron, Tyler Bozak and Patrick Maroon, it comes down to Jake Allen in net. Chad Johnson has never been a starter. They should be a playoff team.
If the Golden Knights can continue to get consistent production from future power forward Alex Tuch, that’ll take some pressure off the top line of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault. Without Paul Stastny and Erik Haula, they need more from Max Pacioretty. Cody Eakin provided a lift with two goals in a laugher over the woeful Ducks. Nate Schmidt is due back soon. Marc-Andre Fleury recorded career shutout number 51.
I’m not sure how good the Coyotes are. They won’t win consistently until Antti Raanta returns. Darcy Kuemper isn’t good enough. Since he returned, Alex Galchenyuk has been good. However, Max Domi has been great for Montreal leading them in scoring with 22 points. A change of scenery works sometimes. It’s one of those trades that’ll be good for both sides. I’m not sure I would’ve invested so much money in oft-injured defenseman Jakob Chychrun. Only 20, he has the talent, but remains unproven. He better stay healthy. Michael Grabner has been a spark plug with three of his four goals coming shorthanded. He, Brad Richardson and Derek Stepan have combined for eight of the Coyotes’ league best nine shorthanded goals. For a lowscoring team, it’s uncanny. They’ll need more production five-on-five from Stepan and Clayton Keller. Dylan Strome only has two goals and three assists so far. They need some of the kids to step up. Still no Christian Dvorak either.
BODY CHECKS
*I’ve never seen Martin Brodeur so nervous as he was during his Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Normally so calm, cool and collected, the legendary netminder who holds records in wins (691), shutouts (125), games played (1,266) along with three Stanley Cups, four Vezinas and two Olympic gold medals, was clearly very emotional making his speech on Monday in Toronto. Reduced to tears when reflecting on how much his Dad Denis and Mom Mireille meant to him, the popular Devils legend thanked them along with his wife, kids and brothers. He made special mention of teammates Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and Ken Daneyko for what the bond they shared together in winning three Cups for New Jersey. Those defensemen helped define a remarkable era of Devils hockey under Lamoriello and former coaches Jacques Lemaire, Larry Robinson and Pat Burns.
While he didn’t mention every teammate probably due to anxiety, it was interesting to see the human side of a great champion who never blinked in clutch moments. From the opposite end of the Hudson rivalry, I always appreciated what Brodeur brought. First with Mike Richter and then with Lundqvist, who interestingly enough, he admitted he enjoys watching now that he’s retired. Congrats to him on a well deserved honor.
*Also joining Marty was Martin St. Louis. A classic overachiever who never gave up on his childhood dream to make the NHL, the former Hart winner became a great player for the Lightning, helping lead them to their only championship in ’03-04 under coach John Tortorella, who he credited for believing in him. St. Louis scored his biggest goal in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final at Calgary to send the series back to Tampa where a pair of goals from Ruslan Fedotenko clinched the Cup. He praised his centers that included Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards, Vincent Lecavalier and current Lightning captain Stamkos.
While he only spent a short time here in the Big Apple, St. Louis gave a special shout-out to the Rangers for making him feel so welcome, especially during tough circumstances with the passing of his Mom France during the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs. I’ll never forget the goal he scored on Mother’s Day at a loud MSG in a Game Six win over the Pens. I knew they would win Game Seven and finally get the monkey off their back. It was fitting that St. Louis had a hand in Richards’ series clinching goal. Almost as if it were fate. That whole run was amazing and due in large part to the kind of emotional leader Marty was. Even though they fell short that year and the next, those will forever be two memorable Springs for this loyal Blueshirt fan.
*I don’t have much to add about commissioner Gary Bettman. While I understand why he’s in, all I can think of are the three work stoppages along with skipping the recent Olympics. He’s been non-committal to 2022. There are positives and negatives with him. He’s certainly grown the game globally with expansion and popular games in Europe along with the money grab, Winter Classic and other Stadium Series. But he still remains an unpopular figure who gets booed when presenting the Cup. It’s become a punch line with Bettman playing the bad guy with his dry sense of humor. No wonder he was a lawyer.
*I wish I could add more on the other two inductees as players, but I don’t know enough about either. I know Larry Brooks made it for his many contributions as a writer and hockey columnist. At least we didn’t have to see him speak. He’s definitely not afraid to critique the league, frequently going after Bettman and Seventh Avenue. I wonder if he and the commissioner are on good terms. Brooks is a lifer. I’ll say that. Some of his Sunday Slap Shots columns that appear in The New York Post are good. Then there are other moments where he pushes the envelope like he did that one time with Wade Redden, which annoyed Tortorella. It led to this memorable moment:
They did hash things out afterwards. Two crazy characters. Hockey needs those. That’s why I watch Don Cherry and Ron MacLean on Coach’s Corner. The same reason I loved Stan Fischler and got him after interning. Personality is something the game doesn’t always have.
*Before he retired from the NHL to go home and finish his career playing for St. Petersburg SKA in Russia, Pavel Datsyuk was my favorite overall player. No explanation necessary. Now, it’s Patrice Bergeron for the same reasons. Neither will ever win a scoring title or MVP/Pearson. They don’t have to. They’re both so special overall as complete two-way centers who do everything well. Both have multiple Selke Trophies and are defined by the quality players they are. Datsyuk an integral part of Detroit’s last two Cups and runner-up when he was hurt in the classic series rematch seven-game loss to Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin Penguins. Bergeron a key part of the Bruins’ only Cup since Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito headlined the Boston outfit in the early 70’s. Bergeron and the Bruins fell short a couple of years later in a six-game loss to the Patrick Kane/Jonathan Toews Blackhawks. Both are future Hall of Famers.
*Players who somehow have been kept out of the HHOF: Alexander Mogilny, Jeremy Roenick, Sergei Zubov, Steve Larmer. All deserve inclusion.
*John Gibson is probably the best puck stopper in the game. Too bad his team isn’t good in front of him. If it were, he’d win the Vezina.
*Congrats to Jumbo Joe Thornton on scoring number 400 in a exciting Sharks’ 5-4 win over the Predators in San Jose. He joins an exclusive group of all-time greats who reached 400 goals and 1,000 assists.
After a disasterous 1-6 road trip (with a whopping 34 goals allowed, I might add!) dropped the Devils under .500, I can’t say I was feeling too confident in any type of bounceback while making my trek to the Rock last night. Even if we were facing the rival Pens, who we managed our lone road win against in a desultory game for them last week. Along with the Devils playing poorly, they also had to deal with a couple of injuries to the center position – Nico Hischier being day-to-day with a wrist issue while Brian Boyle got put on IR after running into the machine known as Dustin Byfuglien in Winnipeg. Two of our top four centers being out neccesitated a quick recall of Pavel Zacha, who – while he’d been reportedly been playing better in Binghamton – still hasn’t scored a goal at either level this year.
Given this backdrop, Travis Zajac’s quick goal less than thirty seconds into the game was more of a welcome surprise for me than anything else, and maybe a bit of a panacea for the team who played some of their best hockey of the season the first twelve-fifteen minutes of the first period. Of course I didn’t think this was going to be as easy as the game in Pittsburgh and sure enough, all it took was the Penguin power play showing off its skill to even the match, with Sidney Crosby threading the needle with a pass through Andy Greene’s legs that was deflected home by Phil Kessel (with an assist from defenseman Ben Lovejoy). Crosby and Kessel were to prove pivotal in both that goal, and seperate contreversial events still to come.
With the game tied, momentum swung back Pittsburgh’s way, but Keith Kinkaid held the fort down again the way he did during last season’s stretch drive until the MVP started to make his presence felt. Taylor Hall already had the primary assist on Zajac’s goal, but his pass to a wide open Damon Severson on the Devils’ second goal was more of a classic ‘assist’, and after Severson ripped the puck home you should see Hall’s excitement for the defenseman getting his third of the season. Compare and contrast that goal reaction with the ho-hum businesslike approach of Zajac’s goal in Toronto!
After re-taking the lead the Devils played better though not quite as dominantly as in the first, and were fortunate after they gave up a shorthanded two-on-one when Kinkaid made a tremendous double save on Bryan Rust, sweeping his glove back after the initial save to keep the puck from trickling over the line. For their part the Devils could have extended the lead but Miles Wood could not corral the puck when all alone in front of Penguins goalie Casey DeSmith, and was likely distracted by the goaltender’s poke-check attempt. They really should have extended the lead in the final two minutes of the period when an unfortunate series of events confused the heck out of seemingly everyone in the arena, especially me.
All I really saw was Will Butcher’s tremendous stretch pass finding an open Jesper Bratt who stayed onside according to the near official, and beat DeSmith for a breakaway goal. Well okay I did see Kessel jumping Brett Seney behind the play but figured they at least let us play advantage the way they do in soccer. I did not hear the stupid quick whistle that replays showed went off as Butcher’s pass was finding its mark. Clearly nobody on the ice heard the whistle from the far side of the ice and with the crowd buzzing during Bratt’s breakaway chance some of us in the stands didn’t either. I didn’t even notice the officials waving off the goal and was celebrating as the PA guy ran the entire goal song. A nice Penguins fan sitting next to me quietly pointed out they disallowed the goal and I was incredulous.
Honestly it took a few minutes for both of us to catch up to what the hell happened. He thought it might have been an offside, then I thought they were dinging us for a penalty. Technically there was a penalty on Seney (how?! He got jumped!) and having simaltenous penalties stopped the play, but since Kessel committed a double minor we actually got what turned out to be a meaningless power play out of the bargain. Yet even the more aware Penguin fan next to me didn’t realize it was a Devils power play and thought there were too many men on the ice for a faceoff towards the end of it. Strange sequence. Perhaps even diabolical too, it seems unfair that Kessel could jump Seney and because the player was defending himself it canceled out a legitimate breakaway chance.
Or maybe the refs were just looking for an excuse to cut the NHL’s golden team a break. It sure looked that way in the third period after another contreversial goal decision went the Penguins’ way. This time it was on a play where (who else?) Crosby that gained a step on Blake Coleman and drove to the net. Crosby’s initial shot was stopped but he lost control and took out Kinkaid with a slide, leaving the goalie defenseless to stop Jake Guentzel’s rebound putback. Honestly I thought that was just an unfortunate break before seeing the replay, but Crosby made no attempt to stop and lost his footing. At the very least the goal should have been ruled out for incidential contact but NOOOOO…this is the NHL and this is the Penguins.
Toronto and the refs’ excuse was that Coleman shoved Crosby, causing the contact. Horsecrap…yes he did shove Crosby before the shot (basically with the force that a first-grader shoving anyone would provide) but that had absolutely nothing to do with him falling down or losing control. Again it was just a convenient excuse to play favorites. Even the nice Penguins fan next to me knew that was horsecrap and should have been disallowed. Mine and the rest of the crowd’s sense of injustice was now keyed up, although in my case it manifested in sarcastic laughing more than actual anger. I’ve seen this movie before, after all.
Now tied 2-2 where it should have been 3-1 Devils, the team at least showed a sense of resolve it hadn’t for much of the season, and it was the mighty Hall who gave the Devils back their lead on a breakaway goal just four minutes later. Even the Devils’ Facebook feed was trolling the refs with their post showing the Hall goal.
When sometimes it looks like it’s #NJDvsEverbody, don’t get mad or get even. Get the lead.
#NJDvsEverybody indeed. I almost lost it late in the game when in the final two minutes Patrik Hornqvist was crying for a delay of game on Joey Anderson, and I probably wasn’t the only one thinking or saying ‘you’ve gotten enough breaks tonight ****head, be quiet’. At least I had a more reasonable Penguins fan next to me than my friend sitting a few rows in front, whose fiancee is a Penguins fan (while she’s obviously a Devils fan). While a nice guy in normal settings evidently he fits the stereotype of a spoiled Pens fan during games whose team can do nothing wrong. Which I’m sure makes for an interesting dynamic during these Devil-Penguin games.
Thankfully for one night it had a 2017-18 feel at the Rock again, and it wasn’t the refs or the Penguins who’d have the last word – it was the Devils themselves, who after several anxious minutes finally sealed up the game with a Hall empty-netter in a finish befitting the pregame commemoration of the franchise’s greatest (Martin Brodeur) being inducted into the Hall of Fame last night. Marty gave a short, but emotional speech on Monday that made Dick Vermeil look emotionally restrained. Oh I kid cause I love. No speech last night, but instead a spotlight at center ice before an honorary pre-game faceoff with Crosby, who got the predictable boos raining down from the skies.
Overall a fun night, and my own record at home is surprisingly 3-0 this season (the Devils themselves are 6-1-1 at home, though that includes the overseas game and 1-7 on the road). Hopefully last night’s game and the emotional way the team won it serves as a springboard to start turning things around.
The kids are alright. A classic Beatles song is the perfect way to describe a Rangers 2-1 win over the Canucks at MSG. On a emotional night the organization paid tribute to all the men and women who served on Veteran’s Day, the team persevered to earn a hard fought one-goal victory on home ice.
In improving to 9-7-2, the rebuilding Rangers find themselves in second place in the Metropolitan Division. They have done it with good effort and sticking with it. There were some ugly moments in the game with the Canucks taking advantage of a mistake to take the lead. They nearly doubled it on another turnover, but Michael Del Zotto had his goal over turned due to his shot ringing off both goalposts and staying out. That kind of sums up his career.
Credit must be given to Cody McLeod, who fought Darren Archibald following Nikolay Goldobin’s first goal since opening night for Vancouver. McLeod not only won the fight, but had a strong message for his teammates. He yelled at them to wake up and said, “Let’s get going!” That kinda stuff is important to a young team when they’re struggling during a course of a game. They were flat to start the second period and needed a wake-up call.
Sometimes, luck helps. I thought for sure Del Zotto had scored on a good set up. But he hadn’t. That as much as anything helped the Blueshirts turn it around.
There was another key adjustment by the rookie coach that had an impact. Entering the match, David Quinn started rookie Filip Chytil on the fourth line. Ryan Spooner was on the top line and power play. That didn’t sit well with anyone who’s seen Spooner baffle with inconsistent play. Quinn didn’t wait around for Spooner to wake up. Instead, he made the change we all had been calling for. With Mats Zuccarello missing a third consecutive game with a groin issue, up went Chytil to the first line with Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Namestnikov. Down went Spooner to the fourth line with McLeod and Vinni Lettieri.
Get another 👀 at #NYR Chytil’s first 🚨 of the season!
Chytil had been the best forward all night. He made things happen, nearly scoring his first goal earlier on a great chance. He also set up a good scoring chance with a nice pass. It was obvious that the 19-year old Czech was hungry for the puck. Finally, on the power play, he made it happen when he pounced on a Neal Pionk rebound to score his first of the season at 12:42 to tie the game. It was well deserved. Chris Kreider and Pionk drew the assists. Kreider screened Jacob Markstrom and Pionk picked up his sixth power play assist.
It definitely turned the tide. The team played with more energy to outshoot the Canucks 10-7 in the second. A period that had lots of action and plenty of grit. There also were a few penalties including a bad one from Zibanejad. But a penalty to Markus Granlund 13 seconds later offset it. He was also called for one later with the team clinging to a one-goal lead. It was a bad call with Jake Virtanen embellishing it to give the Canucks one last chance. Something Steve Valiquette alluded to in the postgame.
In between viewing the Hockey Hall of Fame class on NHL Network with some great speeches from all the inductees including Marty St. Louis, Willie O’Ree and later an emotional and nervous Martin Brodeur, I caught the highlights of two big saves. Markstrom denied a Kreider bid on a break, and Henrik Lundqvist stoned lethal Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson from the right circle. Petterson may have been kept off the score sheet, but man is he fun to watch. Remarkably, he was at the top of the Rangers’ list in the 2017 NHL Draft with Lias Andersson second. If only he had slipped two more spots. No disrespect to Andersson, who looks like he’ll be a good one, working his tail off.
The defenses were stingy in the third. There wasn’t a lot of room. Credit to both teams for tightening up. As it turned out, the game-winner came from another young player with under nine minutes left.
Brett Howden has been nothing short of brilliant in his rookie season. While not as gifted as Pettersson, the do everything center does so many things well. Quinn and the coaching staff fully trust him to play in any type of situation. Off some hard work from his line, he took a Jimmy Vesey pass and surprised Markstrom with a quick one-timer for his fourth goal to give the Rangers the lead with 8:41 remaining.
#NYR Henrik Lundqvist with the puck from his 437th career @NHL win tonight, tying Hall of Famer Jacques Plante for seventh place on the league’s all-time wins list! pic.twitter.com/m0Vssl3qBG
Following a abysmal hooking call on Zibanejad with 1:15 left, the Rangers penalty kill got the job done. That included some strong work from Jesper Fast and Marc Staal to get a couple of crucial clears. The four skaters were very disciplined at the end, keeping Vancouver to the outside. Finally, Pettersson gave himself enough room to shoot low into Lundqvist, who also turned aside Bo Horvat on a rebound as time expired.
For Lundqvist, it was a fitting way to tie Jacques Plante in wins (437) for seventh on the NHL all-time list. He finished with 25 saves including stopping all 11 Vancouver shots in the third to preserve the win.
3rd 🌟 Henrik Lundqvist 25 saves including 11 of 11 in 3rd to tie Plante for seventh all-time in wins (437), 6-6-2 with a 2.54 GAA and .923 save percentage this season
2nd 🌟 Brett Howden 4th goal of season, game-winner with 8:41 left, +1 in 23 shifts (16:59) including 13:41 even strength, 2:20 power play and 58 seconds shorthanded
1st 🌟 Filip Chytil 1st goal of season on power play, game high 6 shots, 2 takeaways, Even Rating in 18 shifts (14:08) including 11:27 even strength and 2:41 power play
I guess Sam Darnold wanted to see what it’s like to have a good coach in a young rebuild.
Sam Darnold in the house and Chytil and Howden both score goals. Youth movement is officially in effect pic.twitter.com/bUxMYPWmSD
When the Rangers skate against the Canucks at the top of the hour, they’ll do so without Pavel Buchnevich. As was feared, he suffered a serious injury to his hand in the shootout win at Columbus. Seen gripping his hand late in regulation, the 23-year old Russian right wing didn’t take a shift in overtime.
I knew what that meant. As it turns out, Buchnevich suffered a broken thumb. He is expected to miss between four to six weeks. It’s too bad because he had just started to get it. Following a benching, he had played much better putting up two goals and two assists in the last three games.
That included a goal and primary helper on Saturday. David Quinn wanted Buchnevich to be more aggressive. He had been playing a game more physical and gritty game to go with his skill. Now, we won’t see him for at least a month. He’s 5-4-9 in 14 games for the season.
He had regained his job on the top line with Zibanejad and improving Russian Vladislav Namestnikov. At least for tonight, the overly disappointing Ryan Spooner gets the first chance over Filip Chytil, who remains buried on the fourth line centering Cody McLeod and Vinni Lettieri. I don’t get it. Spooner has stunk. Chytil actually has played better despite minimal minutes.
Hopefully, Quinn comes to his senses. Lias Andersson stays with Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider on the second line. Brett Howden is with Jimmy Vesey and Jesper Fast. He didn’t change much.
The Blueshirts will definitely feel the loss of Buchnevich. Hopefully, he heals quickly and comes back the same improved player.
I posted the highlights of this game but that’s only about as much as I watched, specifically the latter part of the first period of our latest expected beatdown. I opted to watch the political program The Circus during the second period, so by the time I picked the game back up it was already over with the Devils down 5-2 in the second intermission. Again not an unexpected result considering the Jets are much better, considering hapless Cory Schneider was in net and considering this team has shown about as much interest in playing as the football Jets did yesterday afternoon in their own meltdown. That’s the way it’s going in sports for me lately…a heartless Devils team, a brainless Jets team and a clueless Mets team. To top off yesterday’s latest fiasco super soph Nico Hischier – who’s played every game as a Devil to this point – left due to a wrist injury, and his status for the four games in six days this week is unknown. It’s weeks like this where I think maybe I’m just better off not knowing anything about sports.
So instead of talking about this game or this team, I’d rather think about the past, which through 2012 was mostly good for two decades as a Devils fan in large part thanks to HOF goalie Martin Brodeur – who’ll be inducted tonight along with other distinguished figures like racial pioneer Willie O’Ree and mighty mite Martin St. Louis. For one of the few times I’ll bother to turn on the NHL Network to watch the HOF induction ceremonies, although I’ll be sure to skip the speech of one Gary Bettman, also going in the HOF in this class. At least he won’t get booed tonight, unless the other dignitaries want to humor the commissioner used to boos from hockey fans. To be fair, nobody’s influenced the league more profoundly during that period with both expansion into different markets and the labor wars which have led to three lockouts but also a much fairer economic system for a sport that couldn’t stand up to baseball FA-type bidding wars.
Still I’d rather not think about Bettman going into the HOF, especially given his checkered past toward our franchise with some of his comments seemingly wanting the team to move in 1995, and the draconian punishment for the overturned Ilya Kovalchuk contract in 2010. Tonight for Devil fans everywhere should be about Marty with a nod to the other greats like fellow Marty, who played most of his career with Tampa Bay and remarked about being 0-2 in the playoffs against Brodeur (we beat the Lightning in the 2003 and 2007 postseasons). Reminded that he too won a Cup, he pointed out they didn’t have to go through the Devils that year – we lost in the first round in 2004 when they had their Cup run.
Truthfully there are no shortage of accolades for arguably the greatest goalie of all time. If you go by the numbers it’s really no contest, where Brodeur clearly stood out was his durability. He played 70 or more games in twelve different seasons and 67 in another, only missing major time due to injury in 2008-09 when elbow surgery kept him out for four months of that season. Marty’s otherworldly win and shutout totals were only made possible by the fact he could go to the post like no other goalie and few other players. I doubt I’ll ever see another goalie play 1,266 games in my lifetime (and that doesn’t even include his 205 playoff contests), especially when fewer and fewer goalies are even allowed to play 70+ games in a season. Including playoffs Marty frequently played 80-100 games in a season total.
That’s the kind of durability it took to post 804 career wins combined between regular season and playoffs, 149 shutouts (24 of them in the postseason) – and be a backstop for a dominant team from the mid ’90’s to the early ’10’s under multiple coaches, and surrounded by countless teammates. It’s honestly amazing more goalies haven’t tried to copy Marty’s hybrid style of switching between stand-up and butterfly since the butterfly’s harder on a goaltender physically but also more effective in many cases to stopping the puck. Perhaps it takes a goalie with Marty’s intelligence to effectively play that hybrid style though…one of a kind, indeed. Not to mention his legendary puckhandling which resulted in no fewer than three goals scored and a contreversial rule change inhibiting goalies from playing the puck outside the dreaded trapezoid. I actually kind of thought the NHL would lift the trapezoid once Marty retired, but guess it’s here to stay.
I could bother to cite my favorite Marty memories but it feels like we’ve already been down this road during his jersey retirement and number retirement and I’ve hijacked a ‘recap’ enough as it is. Going back to the present, the Devils will honor their newest HOF’er (and their newest employee since he returned to the organization this offseason) before tomorrow’s home game against the Penguins. Maybe, just maybe the Devils will find it in themselves to do what they have rarely done over the last few weeks and show up with a performance worthy of the greatest. If not it’ll be the clearest symbol yet that the past is dead and buried, unfortunately.
Not every win is going to be a Picasso or Renoir. That’s precisely how to describe a wild 5-4 Rangers’ shootout win over the Blue Jackets at a loud Nationwide Arena. Twenty-four hours after losing in tough fashion to the Red Wings, they found a way to get two points against a good Columbus team.
Even after Chris Kreider put the Rangers up 3-1, which followed up a Pavel Buchnevich goal from Jimmy Vesey, it was far from over. Not by a long shot. They got careless. On a good shift down low against the Kevin Hayes unit, Pierre-Luc Dubois was able to tip in a wide Seth Jones point shot for his seventh to cut the deficit to one.
Thirty-two seconds later, a turnover from the top line inside the Columbus zone led directly to Nick Foligno finishing off a Boone Jenner feed in front to tie the game. There was nothing Alexandar Georgiev could do on either goal. He played a lot better than the four goals he gave up, finishing with 34 saves. That included some timely ones when his team fell behind and in the third period, after a huge Vesey goal off a gorgeous Hayes set up tied it before the conclusion of the second.
Before a crazy period that saw the Metropolitan Division rivals combine for five goals on 21 shots, it was the Rangers who had played a good road period in the first. They got the game’s first goal on a great Buchnevich pass for a Mika Zibanejad tap in past Columbus backup Joonas Korpisalo at 5:54. The play was made possible by Vladislav Namestnikov, who absorbed a heavy hit from David Savard to move the puck to Buchnevich for a two-on-one. Buchnevich basically did the rest with a terrific toe drag to go around a sliding Blue Jacket defenseman and get the pass across for an easy Zibanejad goal. His seventh of the season coming from Buchnevich and Namestnikov, whose play has gotten markedly better since coach David Quinn benched him.
A similar theme is developing with Buchnevich, who’s come back a much improved player. The 23-year old Russian isn’t just relying on his talent. He’s competimg much harder and playing more determined to earn his place on the first line. He had one of his best games, recording his fifth goal and the primary assist on Zibanejad’s tally. Since returning to the lineup, he has two goals and two helpers with seven shots in four games. He’s more consistent five-on-five and continuing to be aggressive, which is exactly what Quinn wants.
In the match up of backups, things started okay. The Rangers got the quick start they wanted on Zibanejad’s goal. Quinn went mostly with the Hayes line against the dangerous threesome of Dubois, Artemi Panarin and Cam Atkinson. The tandem of Marc Staal and Neal Pionk saw some time against them along with Brady Skjei and the emerging Tony DeAngelo, who had a very good night.
Rookie Lias Andersson, who moved up to play with Hayes and Kreider, got nabbed for a phantom tripping minor late in the first. The penalty kill couldn’t pick the kid up. Instead, they got pinned in by a good Columbus power play that worked the puck around. Jesper Fast failed to clear the zone. That eventually led to Dubois finding the seam with a perfect pass in front to Atkinson for a tap in with Staal unable to stop him. That tied the score with 34 seconds left.
Things really opened up in the second. The teams traded chances off the rush in transition. A mistake by Atkinson resulted in the Rangers’ second goal. After two good defensive plays by DeAngelo, Atkinson tried a back pass that didn’t work. That allowed Vesey and Buchnevich to come two-on-one in the opposite direction. Vesey made a great pass across to Buchnevich, who one-timed the puck past Korpisalo for a 2-1 lead at 6:57.
Less than two minutes later, DeAngelo made a good play to Hayes, who skated down low before sending a great pass across to an open Kreider for his team-leading eighth for a 3-1 lead at 8:30. Before they could relax, Columbus came alive and struck for two consecutive goals in a 32-second span.
On the first, Panarin fed an open Jones at the right point for a shot that Dubois deflected home at 11:49 to make it a one goal contest. Hayes was too late to stop Dubois, who was in the right place at the right time. The second was a turnover by the Zibanejad line to Markus Nutivaara, who started a Columbus transition to Jenner. Jenner made a good pass in front for Foligno, who flipped a forehand past Georgiev to tie it up.
Quinn had seen enough, calling a timeout. Out of it, the Rangers allowed a shorthanded goal to Alex Wennberg. Pionk made a brutal read. He waited too long with Kreider open. By the time he passed the puck, Jones had intercepted it and broke in with Wennberg for a two-on-one. He led Wennberg in and the center beat Georgiev with a good wrist shot to give the Blue Jackets their first lead with 3:57 remaining.
But following the Columbus penalty kill, Kevin Shattenkirk kept a play alive by passing for Hayes. He then flew down low and centered for a Vesey finish in front for his sixth to tie the score at four with 53 seconds left. It was a huge goal that allowed the Rangers to get a point.
#NYR Kevin Hayes talks about how the play of Jimmy Vesey gave them the boost they needed tonight. https://t.co/XWxRtcQ93t
They didn’t have much left in the tank. The third was mostly Blue Jackets. They outshot the Blueshirts 11-2. There were two sustained shifts where they could’ve scored. On one, Georgiev made three straight saves including padding away two rebounds due to good positioning. That sequence is the one that stood out. He bailed the team out in the clutch.
A DeAngelo clean hit on Riley Nash resulted in Nash taking exception after he was knocked down behind the Rangers net. He went back at DeAngelo knocking him down. DeAngelo didn’t take kindly to it, opting to challenge Nash to a fight. Nash accepted. It was an entertaining scrap. DeAngelo landed early and Nash came back late. Both went to the box for five minutes. That meant the Rangers lost their best defenseman for five minutes because that’s how well DeAngelo played.
Fredrik Claesson and Shattenkirk had a couple of key defensive shifts before DeAngelo returned. That included one against the Panarin line. Claesson was solid in his return after missing nine games. He logged over 17 minutes with a big block and a plus-one. Better than Brendan Smith, who was a healthy scratch.
If there was a sore spot, Filip Chytil didn’t play enough yet again. He was fine in his shifts with Cody McLeod and Ryan Spooner on a mismatched fourth line. Both Chytil and McLeod played slightly over eight minutes while Spooner got an extra four for whatever reason. He even took a shift in overtime. Partially due to Buchnevich suffering a hand injury late in regulation. Hopefully, that’s not serious. As for Chytil, he needs to play more. If Mats Zuccarello returns Monday against Vancouver, would the organization consider sending him to Hartford for regular ice-time?
In the three-on-three overtime, the Blue Jackets were far more dangerous. Especially Panarin and Atkinson, who Georgiev robbed when his team trailed by one prior to the Vesey goal. He also denied Panarin twice in OT with him just getting a piece of a backhand deke, which I thought was in. That’s how well Georgie played.
"I'm pretty confident going into shootouts because our guys are so skilled" https://t.co/JjSUGQ20Ry
The shootout went five rounds. In the first round, Atkinson (forehand deke) and Zibanejad (forehand top shelf) exchanged goals. The second round was just as fun with Georgiev closing up the five-hole on Panarin, followed by Shattenkirk, who went forehand stick side. But Dubois extended it with a good forehand short side top. Spooner, Anthony Duclair, Hayes and Oliver Bjorkstrand all failed. In the bottom half of the fifth, Vesey was able to sneak a high shot off Korpisalo’s glove and in for the winner, causing a tantrum. That was amusing.
The Rangers improved to 8-7-2 with 18 points. Four of the wins have come via the shootout where they’re four-on-four. They have only four wins in regulation and overtime (ROW). It doesn’t matter. They’re finding ways to win games. They’re actually sitting third in the wildcard. Some teams that have higher expectations would trade places right now.
After the win #NYR Coach Quinn talks about the play of Georgiev, the team's shootout success, what they still need to work on and leaving with 2 big points. https://t.co/akcxvFAovV
When the Rangers take on the first place Blue Jackets tonight in Columbus, they’ll do so with a couple of notable lineup changes. One was anticipated while the other is not too surprising even if I don’t necessarily agree.
Both teams are playing the second of a back-to-back. What that means for the Blueshirts is Alexandar Georgiev gets the start, giving Henrik Lundqvist a rare day off. He can use it after how last night concluded in Detroit. Plus the team is back home in a couple of days for the improved Canucks, who are led by amazing rookie Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat. That won’t be easy.
Neither should the Blue Jackets in half an hour. John Tortorella’s club is finally starting to play well. Sergei Bobrovsky has rounded into form following an uneven start. He won’t be in net. It’ll be backup Joonas Korpisalo. He isn’t Bobrovsky. So, that gives them a better chance.
Let’s get to the other lineup changes by coach David Quinn. As expected, Brendan Smith comes out on the blueline. He’s really struggled lately after a good start. The big mistake he made that resulted in Detroit’s first goal by Justin Abdelkader early in the third period stands out. It gave the Red Wings momentum for their comeback win in overtime.
Taking his place is Fredrik Claesson. He’s finally off the injured list and healthy. He deserves to play. Before he got hurt, he had nothing wrong. A steady defensive defenseman, he is a decent skater who has been fine when given the chance. Here’s another one with Smith scratched.
The other move is Cody McLeod back in over Vinni Lettieri. Eh. Lettieri did nothing wrong on the little used fourth line with kids Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil. I would like to see more of that trio. But Quinn has other ideas, deciding to move Andersson up on the wing to the Kevin Hayes line with Chris Kreider. Ryan Spooner will drop down to the fourth line with Chytil and McLeod.
I don’t know. I’m just not seeing it. Spooner is a top nine forward if he’s gonna play. May as well have benched him and kept Lettieri in. Chytil needs to play more. He can’t be stapled to the bench in the third period. It’s not good for his development. Unless they use him on the second power play unit, what chance does he have? I like that Quinn continues to play him, but wish he could be higher on the depth chart. He still is only 19. They’re remaining patient with him.
For Columbus, Cam Atkinson is back in the lineup after missing Friday’s 2-1 win over Washington due to illness. That means he’s back on the dangerous top line with Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois. They should be a handful. Who draws the assignment? Brady Skjei and Tony DeAngelo, or Marc Staal and Neal Pionk. Probably the top pair because they don’t get pinned in as much.
Does Quinn match the top line of Mika Zibanejad, Vladislav Namestnikov and Pavel Buchnevich against them? Or is it gonna be the Hayes line with Kreider and Andersson? I’m thinking they put Andersson with those two because he battles hard and is better defensively than Spooner. Hayes has been on a good roll lately. So has Kreider. We’ll see.
Brett Howden sticks with Jimmy Vesey and Jesper Fast. It would be nice to see Fast score a goal. He’s been stuck on one since getting his only tally on Opening Night. The first goal the team scored.
Keep an eye on Anthony Duclair. He’s up to seven goals on his fourth team. He got the winner last night. Four of his seven tallies have come on the power play. He finally looks to be finding a home with Columbus. Duclair now goes to the net and finds garage goals. He is on the third line with Alex Wennberg and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
The Blue Jackets have one of the best defensemen in the game in Seth Jones. He won’t be paired with Zach Werenski. Instead, it’ll be Ryan Murray. Werenski is with Scott Harrington on the third pair.
Columbus isn’t only reliant on the top line. They have some heavy players who can create offense off the forecheck. The second line featuring Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and Josh Anderson (seven goals) can get it done. So can Brandon Dubinsky. Though not the player he once was due to injuries, he’s a tough match up centering the fourth line. Riley Nash is also a hard worker.
The Jackets won’t blow you away. But they have lots of balance throughout the lineup. That’s why they come in 9-6-1 with 19 points.
It’ll be a good challenge for the Rangers. Let’s see how they respond.
There really isn’t much to say following that awful third period and overtime display. I don’t care if the second Detroit goal was offside as someone showed on Twitter. There is no excuse for how poorly the Rangers played with a two-goal lead entering the third. They beat themselves in a frustrating 3-2 overtime loss to the more deserving Red Wings, who earned the two points on home ice.
The four-game win streak is over. Detroit made sure of that by playing a scrappy third in which they took it to a listless Rangers, outscoring them 2-0 on goals from Justin Abdelkader and Andreas Athanasiou to force extras. The careless play continued until the waning seconds when a turnover and blown coverage by Mika Zibanejad allowed Athanasiou to get his pass through for his team’s best player, Dylan Larkin’s OT winner that came with over five seconds remaining.
I have no complaint with the Red Wings winning the game. They worked their butts off and took it away from the Rangers, who drew the ire and fire of coach David Quinn afterwards. He didn’t mince words in the postgame while answering MSG reporter John Giannone’s questions. “We wilted,” he told Giannone about his team not handling prosperity well again on the road. “We cheated the game.”
Asked to elaborate further, Quinn did by citing the 50/50 battles they cheated on, and not getting pucks deep. They didn’t compete enough to close out what could’ve been a fifth straight win. Instead, they were incomplete which lead to their defeat. So, rather than enter a tough back-to-back at noisy Columbus with five wins in a row, they’ll look to respond to Quinn’s valid criticism. The Blue Jackets also played tonight in Washington, coming away with a 2-1 win on former Blueshirt Anthony Duclair’s seventh goal. Remember him? He seems to have found a home under John Tortorella with his fourth NHL team.
When you don’t play smart and try to take shortcuts, it usually comes back to bite you. The Rangers have no one to blame but themselves. It’s a bitter defeat, which is how a frustrated Henrik Lundqvist described it in the locker room. He had to make too many big saves in the third and OT after not seeing much action most of the first two periods. He couldn’t prevent Larkin’s lay-up from Athanasiou at 4:54 with Zibanejad late, and Kevin Shattenkirk unable to stop the pass. Predictably, Lundqvist slammed his goalstick on the net and skated off with the rest of his disappointed teammates at Little Caesars Arena.
Even though they largely controlled the first with tons of puck possession in the Detroit zone and got 11 of the game’s first 17 shots, they were unable to beat Jimmy Howard. The veteran American netminder always saves his best for the Rangers and Lundqvist. Historically, the games between the two have been lowscoring and ultimately decided by one goal. This was no different. For a while, it looked like Howard would turn in another Vezina caliber performance and shutout the Rangers. But Kevin Hayes drew a double minor for high-sticking following a great backcheck on the opposite end.
The Rangers haven’t had a lot of success on the man-advantage. However, they managed just fine scoring power play goals on both halves to take a 2-0 lead to the locker room. First, Shattenkirk actually did something other than score in the shootout. He scored his first goal of the season when Hayes and Tony DeAngelo combined to set him up for a good shot through a Jimmy Vesey screen past Howard for a 1-0 lead at 17:53. It was his first goal since last November.
Another look at @shattdeuces’s first 🚨 of the year that gave #NYR the lead.
Forty seconds later, Neal Pionk continued his good run by scoring for a third consecutive game. Following a Pavel Buchnevich cross ice pass, Zibanejad skated down to draw a couple of defenders. This created enough space to pass back to Pionk up top. Pionk wisely skated to the middle before firing a good low shot that deflected off Darren Helm and by Howard with both Vladislav Namestnikov and Chris Kreider screening. His third of the season came with 1:27 left.
It’s worth noting that despite some good offensive play in the second prior to the pair of power play goals, the Red Wings were starting to come on. The Rangers got sloppy defensively, giving Detroit too much room. That resulted in some dangerous chances against. Lundqvist came up with some dandies. Shots in the period were 12-12.
The turning point came early in the third. Zibanejad got a break on Howard, but the Detroit goalie stoned him to give his team a chance at the comeback. And come back they did. They can thank Brendan Smith for changing the momentum. After playing a puck behind his net, he waited too long, allowing
Gustav Nyquist to strip him and feed a wide open Justin Abdelkader for a tap in that cut it to one at 1:46.
There weren’t many Blueshirts who played the game the right way in what amounted to a dismal period in which they were outskated and outworked. Hayes was the best player, playing well during each of his shifts on both defense and offense. He’s taken his game to a different level this season. Although the production is still not there, he’s quietly picked it up in that department. His assist on the first goal gives him four points (all helpers) in the last two games entering tonight’s match at Columbus. Six (1-5-6) of his nine points have come over the past four. Hayes led all skaters with seven shots on goal. He came to play.
This isn’t to say other players didn’t. Buchnevich had another active game with an assist while creating some chances. Namestnikov was decent too. The kid line of Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Vinni Lettieri worked hard during their shifts. They didn’t play enough, which Quinn acknowledged. Lettieri replaced Cody McLeod, who got the night off. Brett Howden returned after missing one game. He was reunited with Jesper Fast and Vesey. Mats Zuccarello is out for the road trip with a groin injury.
For some reason, they didn’t play through way needed to in the third. Even following a good offensive shift from the top line of Zibanejad, Buchnevich and Namestnikov, they were too soft. It was eerily similar to the Kings debacle. Something Quinn agreed with when a reporter referenced it.
To their credit, the Red Wings kept coming at the Rangers in waves by using their speed to generate twice as many shots (10-5) and scoring chances. Eventually, the lack of checking cost them. On a play through the neutral zone, Niklas Kronwall fed Frans Nielsen, who dished to an onrushing Athanasiou. A great skater with tremendous skill, he went around Namestnikov and Pionk easily to beat Lundqvist with a nice backhand tuck that tied the game with 2:02 remaining. The look on Lundqvist told the story. Complete and utter disbelief.
Yes. The play was offside. That’s on the Rangers coaching staff for not challenging. They’re supposed to communicate from upstairs. Here is the freeze frame. It’s not even close.
Despite the evidence, I’m glad they didn’t challenge. They deserved what they got. You can’t play that way and expect to win. The crazy part is they almost didn’t get a point. Buchnevich took a horrible slashing minor penalty on Larkin in the offensive zone with 1:49 left. Thankfully, the penalty kill bailed him out. Otherwise, he could’ve been a goat. Quinn didn’t look pleased.
In the overtime, Buchnevich created the team’s best chance by skating with the puck around the Detroit net. But he didn’t look shot. There was room on his backhand for a wraparound. This is how the game ended:
The Rangers were unable to get a change. But no way should it have been that easy. Just very poorly played by Ryan Spooner and Zibanejad with only Shattenkirk back. It is what it is. The loss drops them to 7-7-2. We’ll see if they can redeem themselves later tonight.
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
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