Rangers Claim Kaliyev off Waivers

Posted on January 6, 2025 by Derek

A day after earning a 6-2 win over the Blackhawks, the Rangers made some news off the ice by claiming Arthur Kaliyev off waivers. The former King will join the team when they host the Stars tomorrow night at 33rd and 7th.

Kaliyev returns home to play for the Rangers. Born in Uzbekistan, Kaliyev, his family moved to Staten Island, New York when he was two years old. They relocated to Michigan when Kaliyev was 13. In his first year playing for the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he scored 31 goals. Following a successful second season that saw him produce 51 goals and 51 assists for 102 points, the Kings selected him in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft with the 33rd pick.

It was in 2020 that Kaliyev represented Team USA at the World Junior Championships (WJC). He had four goals and two assists during the tournament. The following year, he was part of USA’s featured scoring line that carried them to a gold medal. Kaliyev played with future King Alex Turcotte and Trevor Zegras. It was in the WJC semifinals that he scored the game-winner late in regulation to stun Finland 4-3, sending USA to the final against Canada. They’d go on to defeat Canada 2-0 to win the gold medal on Jan. 5, 2021.

During the Covid shortened season, Kaliyev made his NHL debut against the Ducks on Feb. 2, 2021. Less than a month after capturing gold, he scored his first career goal in his first NHL game. It came in a 3-1 loss at Staples Center. He spent most of that season with the Ontario Reign in the American Hockey League (AHL) where he totaled 31 points (14-17-31) in 40 games.

In his rookie season, Kaliyev registered 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points in 80 games during 2021-22. The following year, he had 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points in 56 contests. 2023-24 was a down season for Kaliyev, who only scored seven goals and added eight helpers for 15 points in 51 games.

After re-signing with the Kings for 2024-25, he broke his clavicle during training camp. That kept him out of action with Los Angeles. Kaliyev posted a goal and an assist in a five-game conditioning stint with the Reign in December prior to the Kings placing him on waivers. He’s yet to play in an NHL game this season.

For the Rangers, it’s worth a gamble. Kaliyev possesses a lethal shot that can beat goalies. Of the 35 career goals he’s totaled, 18 have come on the power play. Considering how bad the Rangers have been on the man-advantage, adding Kaliyev can certainly help their chances. Once a team strength, the Rangers have fallen to 26th in the league on the power play, going a dismal 18-for-105 (17.1) in 39 games this season. They’ve also given up three shorthanded goals.

In their win over the Blackhawks on Sunday, Jan. 5, they were without Chris Kreider due to an upper-body injury. He scored a goal in a losing effort against the Capitals on Jan. 4. Kreider’s listed as day-to-day by the Rangers. Jonny Brodzinski took his place and scored a goal to tie the game during the first period. After trailing 1-0, the Rangers erupted for five straight goals. Will Borgen notched his first as a Blueshirt to give them the lead.

Filip Chytil scored the first of a pair to increase the lead to 3-1. Mika Zibanejad sent in Reilly Smith for a breakaway goal that made it 4-1. It was a milestone for Zibanejad, who recorded his 400th career assist. For his career, Zibanejad has 302 goals and 400 assists for a total of 702 points in 887 games. Vincent Trocheck and Chytil added goals in the victory to pull the Rangers within four points of the second wildcard held by the Penguins.

In the victory, Louis Domingue made 28 saves in his return to the NHL. That included an unorthodox save to deny Taylor Hall when he threw his stick in the direction of the puck to make the save. He was fortunate not to get penalized for the play.

By picking up Kaliyev off waivers, the Rangers had to make a coordinating move to stay cap compliant. They sent down forward Matt Rempe to the Hartford Wolf Pack. He’d served seven games of an eight-game suspension for elbowing and boarding Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on Dec. 20. That means when he comes back up, Rempe will still have to complete the suspension by serving one more game.

With an assist on Brodzinski’s goal in the first period, Adam Fox tied Brad Park for fourth place on the franchise’s all-time assists list among defensemen. He’d later pick up another assist to move past Park for third place. In 396 career games, Fox has 54 goals and 284 assists for 338 points. Even in a down season so far, he has a goal and 29 assists for 30 points. The 29 assists rank fifth among all defensemen in 2024-25. The 30 points put him in a tie for sixth among defensemen in scoring with the Oilers’ Evan Bouchard.

After returning home on Tuesday night to host the Stars, the Rangers will then take on the Devils this Thursday at Madison Square Garden. Following that, they’ll head out West for a three-game road trip with stops at Vegas, Colorado, and Utah.

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Challenge System Needs To be Changed after Cuylle’s goal gets overturned in Rangers’ loss

Posted on January 4, 2025 by Derek

On Saturday, Jan. 4, the New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals 7-4 at Capital One Arena in DC. It was their fifth loss over the last six. However, that isn’t the story of the game. Instead, it’s what occurred with at 7:10 of the second period.

With the Rangers trailing the Capitals 3-1, they thought that Will Cuylle had cut the deficit to one when he finished off a Filip Chytil centering pass in front for what looked like his 12th goal with 12:50 remaining in the second period. Will Borgen made a good pinch to push the puck down low for Chytil, who then found Cuylle for the goal. At the time he scored, ABC put up a graphic that indicated that it was Cuylle’s first goal in eight games.

Before they could drop the puck at center ice, the Washington bench delayed for a while before coach Spencer Carberry took a timeout. After much discussion between announcers Steve Levy, Ray Ferraro and former referee Dave Jackson, they couldn’t figure out what the Caps saw on the play. Finally, Carberry decided to initiate a coach’s challenge for offside. The puzzling aspect is that they had to go all the way back to the original entry from the Rangers to figure out if the play was offside. ABC’s replays were inconclusive, leaving Ferraro to say that if he ruled on it, there wasn’t enough conclusive evidence to overturn the call. Even Jackson seemed at a loss for words.

While Cuylle stared aimlessly at an iPad watching the replay of his goal, which was totally legal, the long delay continued due to the video room trying to determine whether the play was onside. The question had to do with Brett Berard, who was on the far side of the ice. From the angles ABC gave, it was very hard to see whether or not his skate was just ahead of the play when Chytil carried the puck over the blue line. The lengthy wait continued until finally, veteran ref Wes McCauley announced that they determined that the play was offside, negating Cuylle’s goal.

It was mind-numbing. The amount of time it took for the Capitals to challenge the play was too long. There was no way they should have been allowed to delay that long before initiating a coach’s challenge. There-in lies the problem with the way challenges are being used. During the stoppage, Ferraro said that there should be a small window for coaches to challenge calls. It’s almost as if they should use a timer. That isn’t how it works in a disorganized league that can’t be taken seriously. Whether it’s the officiating blowing calls daily, or perplexing explanations on what goalie interference is, or permitting teams to take as long as possible to stop the game for a flawed challenge system that needs an overhaul, the NHL should wake up and make the necessary changes to make the rules easier to understand for everyone.

By stalling for time, it hurts the game. Nobody watches to see officials huddle over controversial calls and lengthy video reviews that do nothing but slow down the game. If they can’t do it in a timely fashion, then there shouldn’t be a challenge. More and more coaches are using timeouts to try to decide if they should challenge a goal. There was even an instance in another recent game when a timeout was burned and after discussing it, they decided not to challenge. It borders on absurd how long coaches are allowed to delay the game before anything happens.

For the Rangers, they got screwed by the current system that’s in place. Even if it was offside, it took too long a process. Cuylle’s goal should have counted, which would have made it 3-2. Oddly enough, a few minutes later, Sam Carrick took advantage of a New Year’s gift from Alex Ovechkin to score his first goal since Opening Night on Oct. 9. Instead of possibly tying the game, it pulled the Rangers within one with 3:34 remaining in the period.

Rather than gain momentum from Carrick’s goal, the Blueshirts allowed Connor McMichael to convert on the power play after Ryan Lindgren took an undisciplined delay of game minor. That allowed the Caps to restore a two-goal lead headed to the locker room.

In the third period, Urho Vaakanainen made a great stretch pass that sent Chytil in alone for a breakaway goal that cut it to 4-3 at 8:32. He went high to beat Capitals starter Logan Thompson. But in a seesaw game that didn’t have much checking, Ovechkin took advantage of a loose puck banking off K’Andre Miller in front to slide a backhand past Jonathan Quick for career goal number 872.

To their credit, despite their deficiencies, the Rangers kept coming back. On a Reilly Smith lead pass, Mika Zibanejad beat Thompson high for his second goal in two games to make it 5-4 with 6:56 remaining. After ending an eight-game drought with a goal in a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday, Jan. 2, Zibanejad has looked more confident. He’s using his speed and looking to be more aggressive with his shot. If only he didn’t pass up a great opportunity back in the first period with the Rangers leading 1-0 on a Chris Kreider goal.

The Rangers wasted a good period by giving up a late power-play goal to Dylan Strome. They then reverted to their old ways by getting outplayed by the Capitals for the first part of the second. Lars Eller and Andrew Mangiapane scored to put the Rangers behind 3-1. Then, came the Cuylle goal that wasn’t. It was very frustrating due to how long the Caps were given to challenge the play. That shouldn’t be the case, but the league allows such nonsense. They’ve become like the NFL minus the popularity. Hockey remains way behind the other three major sports in ratings, yet they’re run like a circus. It isn’t easy to fully grasp.

At 5-4 down with a chance to force overtime, the Rangers instead gave up another Capitals goal when Aliaksei Protas whipped a backhand past Quick to make it a two-goal game with six minutes left in regulation. Tom Wilson sealed the Rangers’ fate with an empty netter.

It was another lost opportunity. The Caps weren’t overly impressive. They showed holes in their game defensively and Thompson was beatable. The benefit of a flawed coach’s challenge system certainly aided them in the win that’ll keep them in first place despite what the New Jersey Devils do at the San Jose Sharks.

The Rangers will now travel to Chicago to visit the Blackhawks for another annoying afternoon game on ABC. What other breaks can go against them in this lost season?

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USA Set for Semifinal against Czechia at World Junior Championships

Posted on January 3, 2025 by Derek

This year’s World Junior Championships has moved rapidly. Ottawa is hosting the 2025 WJC Tournament. What started out as a round robin tournament that included 10 countries is now down to the final four. The semifinals will be played on Saturday at Canadian Tire Centre.

The first semifinal will pit old rivals against each other when Finland takes on Sweden. Game time is set for 3:30 ET. After winning Group B, Sweden skated by pesky Latvia 3-2 in the quarterfinals yesterday. Despite outshooting Latvia 50-13, Sweden couldn’t pull away against the upset-minded country.

It had already been their best showing with an upset over Canada and a win over Germany. After falling behind 3-0, Latvia used a pair of goals in the second period to make it interesting. However, Sweden’s territorial dominance was too much for Latvia to overcome. David Edstrom’s power-play goal held up as the game-winner to send the Swedes into the semis.

After dealing USA their only defeat in group play, Finland held off Slovakia 5-3 on Thursday to advance to the semis. Despite a goal from Slovakian star Dalibor Dvorsky that cut it to one, Jesse Nurmi scored with less than two minutes left to put it away. As a result, Finland renews acquaintances with Sweden in the first semifinal tomorrow afternoon.

The second semifinal will feature USA facing Czechia on Saturday night at 7:30 ET. Entering the WJC, the Americans were aiming for a repeat. After falling to Finland in overtime, they rebounded by defeating Canada 4-1 on New Year’s Eve. Even though they didn’t play their best game, they took full advantage of some undisciplined Canadian penalties to win Group A. They connected three times on the power play in the win.

By defeating Canada, that allowed them to avoid Czechia in the quarters. Instead, USA took advantage of a favorable draw by defeating Switzerland 7-2 on Thursday. The Boston College connection of Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, and James Hagens all starred in the win with the trio combining for seven points (4-3-7). Danny Nelson, Zeev Buium, and Brandon Svoboda also scored for USA.

In the featured game, Czechia eliminated Canada 4-3 to send them packing for the second consecutive year. The Czechs built a 3-1 lead in the first period on goals from Petr Sikora, Jakub Stancl, and Eduard Sale. But Canada rallied on goals from Porter Martone and Bradly Nadeau to even the score.

When Nadeau jarred loose a rebound past Czechia goalie Michael Hrabal with less than five minutes remaining in the third period, the pro Canadian crowd went wild. Canada dominated the action by swarming Hrabal. He stopped everything until a Luca Pinelli shot caused him some trouble. Unable to cover the puck for a whistle, Hrabal allowed Nadeau to poke in the rebound with 4:18 left in regulation.

The way Canada played, it looked like they’d find a way to win it and set up a rematch with USA on Saturday. Instead, a loss of discipline proved costly. Christopher Gibson was called for kneeing a Czechia player with 2:27 left to put them on the power play. For most of the two-minute penalty, Canada did an outstanding job on the penalty kill by being aggressive and clearing the zone. But with time winding down, Sikora and Adam Jiricek combined to set up Adam Jecho for a rocket that beat Carter George with less than 40 seconds left in regulation.

From there, Czechia forechecked in the Canada zone to kill precious time off the clock. When it was over, the Czechs celebrated their big triumph in the corner before the postgame ceremony at center ice.

For Canada, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Despite dominating most of the play at even strength, they were unable to advance to the medal round. Instead, they were left to wonder what went wrong. Undisciplined play and inconsistent offense doomed Canada. They never were able to get untracked. Perhaps management deserves the blame for failing to select Beckett Sennecke or Michael Hage. Both could’ve helped the cause.

Most notably, coach Dave Cameron won’t be back. How can he after such a failure? He has been widely criticized for not taking the best players. He also never held any team practices following losses. Considering how his team played, he deserves the criticism.

If there was a bright spot, Gavin McKenna would be it. The 17-year-old looks like he’ll be at the top of the draft board in 2026. He only scored one goal in five games. However, he created numerous scoring chances due to his game-changing speed and skill. He was dangerous against USA, hitting a goalpost when Canada trailed 2-1 in the third period on Dec. 31. McKenna is a player to keep track of.

USA features Hagens, who has had a good tournament with eight points (4-4-8). He’s considered to be one of the best prospects this year. He’s centered Perreault and Leonard as a freshman at BC. Hagens is a fast skater with a laser of a shot. When the 2025 Draft takes place this summer, he could go number one.

The Americans should expect a tough game from Czechia. They have some key players back with Stancl, Sale, and Hrabal leading the charge. That’s a semifinal worth watching tomorrow night. E.J. Hradek and Tony Granato have the call on NHL Network.

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Devils hit a mini crisis point as TV blackout hits local customers over the holiday

Posted on January 2, 2025 by hasan4978

Now that the Devils are slumping, I feel moderately guilty for not blogging during the recent homestand, where the team looked like they were hitting all cylinders and even posting good performances at the Rock. Of course, as the home performances have multiplied – so now have some new road issues with three straight losses on their six-game trip coming after a three-game homestand sweep which was as impressive as it gets with dominant performances over the rival Penguins and Rangers and their second win over their nemesis Carolina at the Rock this year.

I had planned to go to all three of those home games but had to settle for ‘only’ attending the wins over the Penguins on the 21st and the Canes last Friday, which was more than satisfying enough. Even being home for once over a quasi-holiday game against the Rangers didn’t really help as 1 PM is an insane time for a Monday game, two days before Christmas or not. If I was still in my old job, I surely wouldn’t have had off for this game and as it was after eating lunch I realized just getting to Newark for puck drop might not be good enough this time – the way I’ve been doing for most games – given the fact my small parking lot just off Broad Street (which is amazingly convenient for getting out of the arena) was probably going to be packed for this game in the middle of the day. At least I could get away with selling my ticket for the Ranger game last minute, even if I didn’t get half the profit I could have gotten selling the ticket the day before – oh well.

At least having to sell my ticket and have the Devils come up with another dominant performance against their struggling tri-state rivals was better than the potential alternative of rushing to get there, finding no parking and having the game be a dud. I’ve been to Game 4 in 2006 and Game 6 in 2012, I can live with not seeing one regular season virtuoso performance at the Rock. Although admittedly I would have been more annoyed had they not pretty much tatooed the Penguins more than the 3-1 score on Saturday would indicate and beat their chief on-ice rival in Carolina last Friday.

While I certainly wasn’t expecting us to sweep the home-and-home with the Hurricanes on Saturday, the 4-2 loss was still annoying on a number of fronts. Our supposed solid backup Jake Allen started out strong against an early onslaught as the Devils held a fragile 2-1 lead in the third period, but then allowed a clunker goal in the third period that tied the game and that was only the appetizer for the main course of annoyance – the Timo Meier ejection and five-minute major for kneeing Martin Necas. I could post the Sheldon Keefe quote where he curtly pointed out that Necas was so hurt he played 3.5 minutes of the ensuing major penalty and that calls like that reward playing up an injury, but instead I’ll just post the play which wound up deciding the game.

If you’re going to make that call, at least make that call right away. Don’t make that call only after you see the guy playing up his injury on the ice with their hick crowd still booing the refs who didn’t give Carolina a minor penalty the entire game, and don’t tell me that wasn’t what happened – the Canes have a well-deserved rep for being divers and whiners. Necas certainly had a quicker recovery than a ‘dangerous’ knee-to-knee would normally entail. I would say it’s more amazing the league hasn’t punished the Canes as a whole for their constant playing of the refs, but to be honest I think they just like the fact that Carolina’s one of its most successful sunbelt markets and keep them propped up wherever they can.

Anyway, Carolina predictably scored the deciding goal on the five-minute major and a clinching empty-netter late in the game to salvage the split. At least the league didn’t double down on stupid and suspend Timo further for that nonsense, I was paranoid they would since he’d already been suspended for actual stupidity against Nashville less than a month back. Not that it helped the Devils in Anaheim where their performance was reportedly rubbish. I was actually surprised both because the Devils are usually good on the road, and because we absolutely ran the Ducks off the ice early in the season at home when we weren’t winning too many other home games.

At least Markstrom himself had a pretty good December, even being named one of the NHL’s three stars of the month and quelling many of my concerns after his slow start. Maybe Martin Brodeur was right about him with his top five goalie ranking after all lol…it was actually a bit cute hearing ‘Marky’ chants after a particularly impressive glove save off Sidney Crosby in the Penguins home game. It’s doubly important that Markstrom’s come good now that Allen’s somewhat predictably fallen off from his good start, although he seemed fine yesterday from what I heard. I actually kind of forgot yesterday’s game was an afternoon one – the holiday schedule is for the birds sometimes, but I sort of expected a loss to be honest with a back-to-back in LA against a good team we had to really slog through to get a win a few weeks ago at home. Sure enough, the 3-0 loss yesterday was our eighth shutout against this season – an inordinately high number for a team that otherwise hasn’t had much trouble putting in goals. Then again, even if I had remembered yesterday’s game was a matinee, as it turned out it wasn’t going to be on my TV anyway.

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I guess now I’ll have an excuse for not keeping up with the Devils as much going forward since I’m one of the Optimum customers that is now without over the air hockey. TBH I don’t really care enough to get a new provider or pay extra for ESPN plus when A) I go to a good chunk of the home games anyway and B) the playoff games should still be over air, and despite the Devils’ recent lull it still is a good possibility they’ll at least be playing the first round in April. It’s never right when corporations try to leverage customers during the season and there’s usually no good guy in a titan vs. titan PR war. I wouldn’t blame anyone for ‘cutting the cord’, gaming the system with illegal online streams or changing providers, maybe I should too but I might just go back to listening to Matt and Chico on the radio feed for the games I’m home for. To a degree I feel a bit spoiled the stupid cable wars (which are more prevalent year by year on all providers) haven’t really affected me till now, especially since all NFL games are over the air and SNY hasn’t had this kind of nonsense happen yet with Mets games.

I don’t really want to end on that Grinch Stole Hockey after Christmas note but I really don’t have much to say on the team to be honest – for the most part you still have to be happy about their play and I’m still reasonably confident they’re not going to go 0-6 on this stupidly long road trip. Just win in San Jose – even if they throw out their second ex-Devil goalie in two games against us – and kick the season back into gear. Don’t let this little blip spiral into something potentially season-changing.

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Rangers place Shesterkin on Injured Reserve

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Derek

When it rains it pours. For the New York Rangers, the news isn’t good on Igor Shesterkin. In a story Mollie Walker of the NY Post broke earlier today, the Rangers placed Shesterkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

The injury likely occurred early in the third period against the Florida Panthers. Sam Bennett drove hard to the net and was stopped by Shesterkin. After the save, Ryan Lindgren hit Bennett from behind into Shesterkin, knocking him down. He was checked out by the Rangers trainer but remained in the game.

Despite taking a blow to the head, Shesterkin appeared to shake it off. He finished the game with 21 saves in the 5-3 loss. With him now placed on IR, that means he won’t be available for the Rangers’ next three games. If he’s ready to go, Shesterkin will be eligible to return on Jan. 7 versus the Dallas Stars.

Without him, that means the Rangers will turn to Jonathan Quick when they return to action to take on the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. After a day off, they then face the Washington Capitals and Chicago Blackhawks this weekend in a back-to-back on the road.

The Rangers recalled Louis Domingue from the Hartford Wolf Pack to back up Quick.

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Rangers End Year with Fourth Consecutive Loss

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Derek

They tried to emphasize the positives. But the reality is that despite a much better effort, the Rangers ended the year with a fourth consecutive loss. In a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, they fell to the Panthers 5-3 in Sunrise to conclude the two-game Florida road trip 0-for-2.

“We did enough to win the game, we did enough to lose the game. It is frustrating because you feel like you’re doing more good than you are bad out there. At the end of the day, it’s not showing on the scoreboard. That’s the business, it’s winning. It’s not good enough,” coach Peter Laviolette told reporters in the postgame.

Unlike what happened against the Lightning, they competed harder. Facing a struggling opponent that had been shut out its last two games, they were in this one with a chance to win it late. Unable to surge ahead after Chris Kreider’s power-play goal tied the score, they found a way to lose instead. Jesper Boqvist steered in a rebound past Igor Shesterkin with 8:22 left in regulation.

With Shesterkin lifted for a six-on-four, Mika Zibanejad failed to tie the score twice. On a play in transition, he was wide open in the slot. Instead of taking a wrist shot, he tried a low percentage backhand that Sergei Bobrovsky stopped. He later sent a one-timer high and wide on another scoring chance. Eventually, the Panthers killed Matthew Tkachuk’s delay of game minor. Following a K’Andre Miller giveaway, Aleksander Barkov stole the puck and put it into an open net to seal the Rangers’ fate with 37 seconds remaining.

Once again, they fell behind early. A Zibanejad turnover led directly to a Gustav Forsling shot that Eetu Luostarinen tipped in to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the game. It was the latest example of an undisciplined defensive play from Zibanejad. Not only is he not scoring. But he’s been the worst player on the Rangers. It’s hard to believe how far he’s fallen. Once upon a time, he followed up a career best 91-point season by leading the Rangers in scoring with 24 points during a run to the Conference Finals in 2021-22. It’s been all downhill since.

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The Panthers increased the lead to two when Mackie Samoskevich redirected a Dmitry Kulikov shot past Shesterkin, who protested the goal. He thought there was goalie interference. Laviolette challenged the play. However, it was an unsuccessful challenge, resulting in a Florida power play. On it, Shesterkin made a pair of key saves to keep the Rangers within striking distance, which would prove crucial later.

A better start to the second period eventually led to the Rangers coming back to tie it up. For most of it, Filip Chytil was buzzing by creating chances with his line. The new third line that includes Will Cuylle and Brett Berard were effective at five-on-five. For the game, they had a 62.07 CF and held a 12-6 edge in shots according to Natural Stat Trick. Chytil was responsible for seven, which was a new career high. It took a while for him to get rewarded, but his persistence paid off when he rebounded home a Berard shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to cut the deficit to one with 5:35 remaining.

Suddenly playing with more jump, the Rangers evened the game less than two minutes later thanks to some nice work from Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren. After taking a Sam Carrick feed, Fox sent a pass down low for a pinching Lindgren to tip home for his second of the season. It was a great read from Fox, who saw Lindgren cut to the net for to make it 2-2 with 3:43 left in the period.

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Unfortunately, a bad play from Miller on the next shift allowed the Panthers to surge back ahead. Facing some pressure behind the net, he reversed the puck to nobody. That allowed Uvis Balinskis to intercept the puck and send a shot towards the net that went off Miller’s skate to Anton Lundell, who had his wrap-around attempt stopped by a lunging Shesterkin. Miller knocked down Carter Verhaeghe in front of Shesterkin, who tried to cover the loose puck. Instead, the puck rolled right to Boqvist for the go-ahead tally with 3:05 left.

Before the puck was dropped at center ice for a faceoff, the Rangers bench delayed for a long time. There was an open dialogue between both Laviolette and Vincent Trocheck with refs Wes McCauley and Francois StLaurent about the play. They felt Verhaeghe interfered with Shesterkin due to his stick laying on the ice in the crease. While that was true, Miller was responsible for it. He shoved him down and then watched as the puck came over for Boqvist to put into an open net. The Rangers felt it should have been a whistle because Shesterkin thought he froze the puck. The replay told a different story.

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Following Boqvist’s goal, Lindgren took an ill-advised tripping minor when he took down Sam Reinhart. To their credit, the Rangers successfully killed off the penalty to stay within one headed to the locker room.

In the third period, Alexis Lafreniere drew a penalty on Verhaeghe when he was taken down in his own zone. That put the Rangers on the power play. Having gone seven straight games without scoring on the man-advantage, they finally snapped the drought thanks to some superb work from the new top unit. Moving the puck well, Fox got it over to Trocheck who then sent a pass down low for Artemi Panarin. He then found Kreider wide open in the slot for a one-timer that went top shelf to tie the score at three with 14:41 left. It was Kreider’s first power-play goal since Dec. 2.

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It looked like the Rangers would go ahead. Continuing to apply more pressure on the Panthers in the offensive zone, Panarin forced Aaron Ekblad to take a delay of game penalty. The best chance came when Trocheck was set up in front for a tough low shot that Bobrovsky kicked out. Following a Barkov shorthanded bid that Shesterkin stopped, the Rangers quickly transitioned for an odd man rush. Trocheck sent a pass across for a Kreider one-timer that Bobrovsky got over and saved to keep the score tied.

With the power play expiring, the second unit had some good, sustained pressure. But with Bobrovsky losing his stick, both Will Borgen and Miller missed the net. Those blown opportunities would come back to haunt them.

On a quick play up the ice, Boqvist went around Miller to get in on Shesterkin who made the save. Miller panicked with the puck by sending a clear up the boards right to Adam Boqvist for a shot that Shesterkin gave up a bad rebound on which Jesper Boqvist deposited for the game-winner with 8:22 remaining. He beat Borgen on the goal. It was a bad all-around defensive sequence from the Rangers’ second pair. Why Borgen is playing with Miller over Braden Schneider doesn’t make a lot of sense. Does anything make sense when it comes to this team?

https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers/status/1873918865878770123

After some initial pressure from the Panthers, who picked up their play, the Chytil line nearly tied it up again. With Cuylle right in front, he was robbed by Bobrovsky who made a great pad save. Following a Chytil wide shot, Matthew Tkachuk took another delay of game minor with 2:50 left in regulation. It was yet another chance for the Rangers to force overtime. They came close but ultimately didn’t find the equalizer.

On a six-on-four, Zibanejad had two great chances to play the hero. It was his first attempt that was puzzling. Wide open in the slot, he went to a backhand that missed completely. On another opportunity, he sent another one-timer from the left circle wide. That’s been a theme all season for him, which explains why he remains stuck on six goals in what’s been a miserable first half.

After Barkov iced the game, many pundits questioned the coach’s decision to have Zibanejad out as the extra attacker over Chytil, who didn’t get out for a shift until Barkov had scored the Panthers’ fifth goal into an empty net. It really makes one question Laviolette. Zibanejad had another poor showing. Despite getting some opportunities, he only hit the net once while missing on a pair of glorious chances late with the Rangers desperate for points. Sometimes, you have to go with your gut. Chytil deserved to be out for the six-on-four. He was their best player.

When you have well-respected reporters second-guessing the move, that’s an indictment of Laviolette. He has to stop catering to Zibanejad. Until he starts producing and plays more inspired hockey, he shouldn’t play as many minutes. Laviolette has reduced his even strength ice time and finally acknowledged that it wasn’t working with the first power play. More action needs to be taken. Would it really kill him to give Zibanejad a night off? Jonny Brodzinski could slot in for a game and give the second line a boost at this point.

At least the awful month is finally over. The Rangers finished December with a 3-10-0 record that saw them outscored 48-25 by opponents. I guess they should be congratulated on consistency. They went from being in the top three in the division to having last place all to themselves. The good news is that the next game isn’t until Thursday on Jan. 2.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! The Winter Classic between the Blues and Blackhawks at Wrigley Field is on at 5 PM. USA vs. Canada is on at 8 PM. See you in 2025.

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Laviolette Removes Zibanejad from Top Power Play Unit

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Derek

The holiday break did nothing to cure the issues facing the Rangers. Instead, they continued to struggle in a 6-2 loss to the Lightning this past Saturday, Dec. 28.

Despite playing a better first period, they found themselves trailing the Lightning 2-1. Former Blueshirt Ryan McDonagh’s shorthanded goal was the latest example of Igor Shesterkin not being able to come up with a big save. The shot went right through him. It was part of a frustrating game that saw the Bolts get five goals on thirteen shots to chase Shesterkin from the net. After Jake Guentzel made it 5-1 to end his night, a furious Shesterkin left the Rangers bench for the locker room. The less said about it, the better.

Once again, the Rangers were blanked on the power play, going 0-for-4. Even worse, they allowed the Lightning to score two shorthanded goals. The second one came due to Mika Zibanejad fanning on a one-timer. That led directly to Brandon Hagel setting up Anthony Cirelli to make it 4-1. Following that sequence, Zibanejad was demoted to the second power play unit. It’s where he’ll be for the Rangers’ final game of 2024 when they visit the Panthers tonight.

Once a team strength, they’ve gone seven consecutive games without a power-play goal. In fact, it’s sunk all the way to 23rd in the league. Without a successful man-advantage, the Rangers are finding it challenging to produce consistent offense. Their five-on-five struggles haven’t helped. Even though they were better against the Lightning, the only goal at even strength came from Artemi Panarin. Unlike his counterpart, Andrei Vasilevskiy made some key saves in the first period when the Rangers created scoring chances.

Since a 3-2 win over the Sabres on Dec. 11, they haven’t scored three goals in a game without the benefit of an empty netter. That came from Chris Kreider in a 3-1 win over the Stars on Dec. 20. Entering play on Monday, they’ve lost six of their last seven. By continuing to lose in regulation, they now find themselves in last place in the Metropolitan Division.

https://twitter.com/MollieeWalkerr/status/1873206889443635537

Even worse, the Rangers have fallen behind the Canadiens in the standings. In fact, their 33 points are only better than the Red Wings and Sabres in the East. Both won last night to get to 32. Detroit replaced Derek Lalonde with Todd McLellan. The Sabres have won three in a row.

The crazy aspect is that despite trailing the Senators by seven points for the second wildcard, the Rangers still have two more regulation wins (16). None of the teams in front of them have that many wins in regulation, which is the first tiebreaker. If they were able to stop the bleeding, it wouldn’t take long for them to get back in it. Given how bad they’ve looked, it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll turn it around.

Zibanejad Officially on the Second Unit

By continuing to add nothing to the suddenly struggling top unit, Zibanejad is officially on the second unit. Coach Peter Laviolette confirmed the change after yesterday’s practice.

“It’s not working,” Laviolette told reporters on Sunday. “We’re working on things, we’re trying things. If eventually they’re not working, you have to move things around a little bit. I don’t know if it’s permanent or not, but right now it’s where it’s at.”

In his place will be Alexis Lafreniere. Earlier in the season, he scored two power-play goals. That’s when things were going well for him and the team. Lafreniere remains stuck on nine goals in 35 games. He’s been astonishingly bad since signing a contract extension on Oct. 26. Since then, he has five goals, with four coming before Thanksgiving. Lafreniere has lit the lamp just once over the last 17 games. He enters tonight’s game with no goals and one assist in the last nine.

Giving Lafreniere a chance on the first power play isn’t a bad idea. Unlike Zibanejad, Lafreniere looks to shoot the puck quickly when there’s an opportunity. He also will win battles in the corners and drive to the net. However, that shouldn’t be his role on the top unit. Kreider remains the net front presence. They haven’t been looking for him enough during a slump that’s seen them go 0-for-20. If Adam Fox can get his shot through, Kreider is one of the game’s best at redirecting shots for goals. Vincent Trocheck also provides that in the slot.

By having Zibanejad work with Filip Chytil, Will Cuylle, Reilly Smith, and K’Andre Miller, he can provide the right-handed shot from the left circle. Before, the second unit featured all left-handed shots. He was philosophical when asked if he was disappointed about the change.

“I don’t think there’s time for that right now. This has nothing to do with me personally or something that I’m going to make about myself. We’re not in a place in our season to feel sorry for yourself…It’s a different opportunity, it’s another opportunity for that unit with Laffy coming up — and deservedly so. Honestly, just for me, to help the unit that I’m playing on and we go from there.”

If he was performing up to expectations, the Rangers wouldn’t be where they currently are. Zibanejad has six goals and fifteen assists this season. He hasn’t been getting it done at five-on-five or on the power play. Defensively, there’s been a dramatic drop-off, with his minus-21 rating ranking worst on the team. Ironically, Lafreniere has the second worst with a minus-14.

Will the change work? That remains to be seen. They’re going up against the defending champs. The Panthers just were shut out by the Canadiens 4-0 on Dec. 28. So. They should be in a foul mood. Despite not playing their best hockey, they are tied with the Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division. Unlike the last game, Sergei Bobrovsky will be in net when they face the Rangers.

No Lineup Changes for Blueshirts

Similar to the last game when they outshot the Lightning 44-25 despite another lopsided defeat, there will be no lineup changes for the Blueshirts. Just the switch on the power play with Lafreniere replacing Zibanejad on the number one unit.

That means Zac Jones will again be a healthy scratch. Miller just returned upper-body injury two days ago. He will play on the second pair with Will Borgen for a second straight game. Urho Vaakanainen remains with Braden Schneider on the third pair. Fox and Ryan Lindgren are the top pair. For Jones, he’s fallen out of favor since a 5-0 loss to the Devils on Dec. 23. He wasn’t even on for a goal against. At some point, something has to give. Jones could be playing elsewhere. He’s continued to be treated with kid gloves by Laviolette.

The lines remain intact. With Zibanejad and Kreider back together with Smith, that means that Brett Berard is now playing on the third line with Chytil and Cuylle. They looked good against Tampa Bay. I’d like to see what they can do together. Essentially, Berard’s replaced Kaapo Kakko. He’s a faster skater and feistier.

With Matt Rempe continuing to serve his eight-game suspension for boarding and elbowing Miro Heiskanen from behind on Dec. 20, the fourth line consists of Sam Carrick, Jimmy Vesey, and Adam Edstrom. That line got victimized by the Lightning. They’ll look to bounce back.

RANGERS LINES

Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Reilly Smith

Will Cuylle-Filip Chytil-Brett Berard

Adam Edstrom-Sam Carrick-Jimmy Vesey

DEFENSIVE PAIRS

Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox

K’Andre Miller-Will Borgen

Urho Vaakanainen-Braden Schneider

SCRATCHES

Jonny Brodzinski, Zac Jones, Matt Rempe

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Christmas and Chanukah Hockey Holiday Fun

Posted on December 26, 2024 by Derek

Merry Christmas, everyone and Happy Chanukah! On Christmas Day, I figured I’d put up something for the holiday season.

The 2024-25 season is almost approaching the halfway point. A couple of teams have already played 37 games. That would be the first place New Jersey Devils and rebuilding San Jose Sharks. With the exception of the Tampa Bay Lightning, every other team has played at least 33 games. If you want to be specific, the Dallas Stars and Anaheim Ducks are at 33. Aside from them and the Lightning, everyone else has played at least 34.

With the holiday break, it’s a time to enjoy stuff. Even if you root for the Buffalo Sabres or Detroit Red Wings. Believe it or not, there are fans who support teams in worse situations than the New York Rangers. As poorly as they’ve played for a month, the reality is that they still have 16 wins all in regulation. If they can recollect themselves after some much needed time off, there’s plenty of games left to turn it around. That’ll require having short memories. They must move on from all the chaos that’s threatening to ruin their season. Maybe a reset can help them refocus.

There are two ways to look at things. Glass half full. Glass half empty. Despite going 4-13 over their last 17 games, the Rangers trail the Ottawa Senators by five points for the second wildcard. As well as they’ve played, the Senators still only have 13 wins in regulation. The number one tiebreaker will be a factor down the stretch. That’s why you can’t take teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers seriously. They fall short in regulation wins. Like many mediocre teams in the league, they are flawed. At least the Pens are led by one of the game’s all-time greats. Sidney Crosby can’t help Tristan Jarry in net. Pittsburgh remains sketchy defensively with inconsistent goaltending.

Artemi Panarin had a great quote following the Rangers’ 5-0 humiliation to the Devils. “It’s too many things (to explain). But we have extra weight on us. Everyone’s trying too hard, maybe. I don’t know. We’re just not relaxed enough or something, because I can promise, everyone on the team wants to win. Everyone works hard, but sometimes, if you don’t have confidence, you’re not in right place mentally. You just feel like everything is harder than it is. That’s what it looks like.”

Panarin is trying to take more of a leadership role. If he wants to help lead the team out of the funk they’re currently in, he must step it up. Even the Rangers’ leading scorer has seen his offense slip, with only five goals over the last 14 games. Since tallying twice in a 4-2 win over the Penguins on Dec. 6, Panarin has gone seven straight games without a goal. He still has picked up five assists but his play hasn’t been as consistent. That includes in the defensive end. When Timo Meier got away with a cross-check on Panarin, he immediately responded by going back at Meier. Panarin has shown that he’s willing to battle opponents when they take liberties. What’s problematic is that nobody came in to defend him. That wouldn’t have happened last season.

Vincent Trocheck had some strong words for their performance on Monday. “We’ve got to show more heart,” he told reporters. “We should be embarrassed.”

“It sucks,” Trocheck added of all the losing. “It’s not fun. The worst part is we know − I mean, I know what we’re capable of. You guys know what we’re capable. You saw it last year. It’s just not there.”

https://twitter.com/RTaub_/status/1871258840970522691

When asked about the fight he had with Paul Cotter, who’s been a good addition to a grittier Devils team that’s in first place in the Metropolitan Division, Trocheck said it’s not something he pre-planned. Of all the Rangers’ skaters, he’s been front and center following losses. During games, he’s one of the few players who’s been putting forth an honest effort. It hasn’t been easy on anyone. The Rangers bid adieu to former captain Jacob Trouba and then said goodbye to Kaapo Kakko. Scratching Chris Kreider didn’t have the dramatic effect Peter Laviolette wanted. Instead, they played worse without one of their best players.

https://twitter.com/MollieeWalkerr/status/1871300089173745978

When they return for an important two-game Florida trip against the Lightning and Panthers to conclude 2024, it’ll be interesting to see if anything changes. Can the Rangers find it or is it a lost cause? We’ll have our answer soon.

Laine Gets a Rude Welcome Back

In his return to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets, Patrik Laine received a rude welcome back on Monday, Dec. 23. After spending parts of three seasons there, he asked for a trade in the off-season. The Blue Jackets dealt him and a 2026 second round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Jordan Harris on Aug. 19.

After finally recovering from a leg injury, he’d played pretty well for the Canadiens by scoring eight goals in his first nine games. All eight came on the power play to set a record. Leading up to the game against his former team, Laine thought it would be a good idea to criticize them. “I feel like we were just doing the same thing year after year. I was tired of losing and just giving up.”

That didn’t sit well with former teammates. During the game, they made sure to let Laine know about it by finishing checks on him. Eventually, he left the game with an upper-body injury. After taking six shifts (6:15) in the first period, he didn’t return. Following the Habs’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets, Zach Werenski had some choice words for Laine.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1871583426865975736

Werenski was probably referring to Laine checking himself into the NHL Player Assistance Program last season. He only played in 18 games in 2023-24 – posting six goals and three assists for nine points and a minus-10 rating. From the looks of it, it feels like Laine quit on the Blue Jackets. No wonder they were upset with what he told the media before the game.

It came off as soft. For as talented a player as he is, Laine leaves fans wanting more. Selected second by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, he never has been able to match the first two seasons when he put up 36 goals his rookie year and 44 in his second year. In fact, he’s only scored 30 once since then. Injuries have plagued his career. Laine hasn’t come close to playing in 82 games since he was 20. At some point, he has to change that narrative. The Canadiens play in one of the biggest media markets. The pressure and expectations are immense.

Christmas Stockings

Christmas stockings are all part of the holiday fun every year. Let’s see who’s been naughty or nice.

NAUGHTY LIST

Mika Zibanejad NYR 6 goals and -19 in 34 games. No 5-on-5 goals over last 17 games.

Jeremy Swayman BOS 12-10-3 3.05 GAA .887 Save Pct.

Dylan Cozens BUF 7 goals 41 PIM -7 in 35 games.

Wyatt Johnston DAL 6 goals in 33 games.

Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko DET 9 combined goals and a -16.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins EDM 6 goals and 12 assists in 33 games.

Steven Stamkos NSH 10 goals and 10 assists -10 in 35 games.

Brady Skjei NSH 3 goals and 8 assists in 35 games.

Alexis Lafreniere NYR 9 goals and a -15 in 34 games. 1 goal in last 16 games.

Juraj Slafkovsky MTL 4 goals and -11 in 31 games.

Quenton Byfield LAK 6 goals and 9 assists in 34 games.

Carter Verhaeghe FLA 9 goals and -19 in 36 games.

MacKenzie Weegar CGY 4 goals in 34 games.

Taylor Hall CHI 7 goals and 11 assists in 34 games.

Kris Letang PIT 7-9-16 and a -16 in 33 games.

NICE LIST

Kirill Kaprizov MIN 23 goals and 27 assists and +21 in 34 games.

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen COL 33 combined goals and 109 points.

Leon Draisaitl EDM League-leading 24 goals, 52 points and league best 8 GWG in 34 games.

Martin Necas CAR 14 goals and 30 assists for 44 points in 34 games.

Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes NJD 29 goals and 61 assists for a combined 90 points.

Nico Hischier NJD 17 goals and 16 assists and +14 in 37 games.

Jack Eichel VGK 9 goals and 36 assists and +17 in 34 games.

Quinn Hughes VAN 8 goals and 34 assists and +14 in 34 games.

Zach Werenski CBJ 11 goals and 24 assists in 35 games.

Cale Makar COL 11 goals and 34 assists in 36 games.

Josh Morrissey WPG 3 goals and 30 assists and +10 in 36 games.

Shea Theodore VGK 4 goals and 24 assists in 33 games.

Connor McDavid EDM 15 goals and 34 assists in 31 games.

Sam Reinhart FLA 22 goals and 23 assists with league-leading 4 shorthanded goals in 34 games.

Aleksander Barkov FLA 10 goals and 23 assists in 26 games.

Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor WPG 42 goals and 88 points combined.

Anze Kopitar LAK 10 goals and 27 assists and +15 in 34 games.

William Nylander TOR 23 goals and 17 assists in 35 games.

Mitch Marner TOR 10 goals and 36 assists in 35 games.

John Tavares TOR 17 goals and 17 assists in 34 games.

Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point TBL 36 goals and 52 assists combined.

Brandon Hagel TBL 16 goals and 23 assists and 2 shorthanded goals in 32 games.

Anthony Cirelli TBL 13 goals and 17 assists and +18 in 31 games.

Tim Stutzle OTT 11 goals and 28 assists in 34 games.

Drake Batherson and Brady Tkachuk OTT 29 goals and 38 assists combined.

Dylan Strome WSH 11 goals and 27 assists in 34 games.

Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas WSH 30 goals and 28 assists and +27 combined.

Sidney Crosby PIT 10 goals and 29 assists in 36 games.

Travis Konecny PHI 16 goals and 25 assists in 35 games.

Dylan Guenther UTA 16 goals and 16 assists and 7 power play goals in 34 games.

Logan Cooley UTA 8 goals and 22 assists and +14 in 34 games.

Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield MTL 28 goals and 39 assists combined.

Mikael Granlund SJS 11 goals and 22 assists in 35 games.

Connor Bedard CHI 9 goals and 21 assists in 35 games.

Connor Hellebuyck WPG 22 wins in 28 starts 2.07 GAA .927 save percentage and 4 shutouts.

Filip Gustavsson MIN 15 wins 2.28 GAA .921 save percentage and 2 shutouts in 23 games.

Jacob Markstrom NJD 18 wins 2.12 GAA .912 save percentage and 3 shutouts in 26 games.

Linus Ullmark OTT 12 wins 2.38 GAA .915 save percentage and 3 shutouts in 23 games.

Logan Thompson WSH 13 wins in 17 starts 2.40 GAA .914 save percentage.

Kevin Lankinen VAN 14 wins 2.61 GAA .907 save percentage and 3 shutouts.

Matvei Michkov PHI 11 goals and 16 assists in 33 games.

Lane Hutson MTL 2 goals and 24 assists in 34 games.

Macklin Celebrini SJS 11 goals and 14 assists in 25 games.

Maxim Tsyplakov NYI 7 goals and 12 assists and a +11 in 35 games.

Dustin Wolf CGY 10 wins 2.80 GAA .910 save percentage 2 shutouts in 17 games.

World Juniors Starts

On Boxing Day in Canada, the World Juniors starts up in Ottawa. Ten countries are participating. Group A features Canada, Finland, Germany, Latvia, and USA. Group B features Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Day 1 includes four games in the round robin tournament. Here is the schedule:

Slovakia vs. Sweden 12 PM

USA vs Germany 2:30 PM

Czechia vs. Switzerland 5 PM

Finland vs. Canada 7:30 PM

Games can be seen on NHL Network. Team USA look to defend their gold medal. Returning players include Trey Augustine, Zeev Buium, Drew Fortescue, Sam Hillebrandt, Ryan Leonard, Oliver Moore, Aram Minnetian, Danny Nelson, Gabe Perreault and Carey Terrance. The Boston College connection of Leonard and Perreault were key factors to last year’s gold medal win over Sweden.

BC freshman James Hagens joins them on the roster. A top prospect, the center is expected to be selected in the top four at next year’s NHL Draft. So far, he has five goals and 15 assists in 16 games. He ranks second in team scoring behind Perreault, who leads Boston College with 23 points. Leonard paces them in goals with 12. It’s a good bet that Hagens will center Leonard and Perreault on Team USA.

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Laviolette Must Hold Zibanejad Accountable

Posted on December 24, 2024 by Derek

With it officially Christmas break for the NHL, it allows for teams to get some much- needed time off. For the New York Rangers, they can use a reset to try to mentally recover from what’s been a challenging month. Following a 5-0 blowout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday, Dec. 23, they fell to 3-8 in December. During that span, opponents have outscored them 37-21.

Prior to Monday’s game, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette decided to make an example of Chris Kreider by healthy scratching him against the Devils. It’s been a challenging time for the longest tenured Blueshirt. Since having his name mentioned in trade rumors due to a misguided memo Rangers team president and general manager Chris Drury sent to rest of the league, Kreider’s struggled mightily. He hasn’t performed up to expectations. After a promising start in which he scored six goals in nine games in October, he has totaled five goals and an assist in 21 games since. That includes just two goals and a helper in 10 games this month.

While it was understandable why Laviolette opted to sit Kreider on Monday night, it was a bit disrespectful to one of the most well-respected Rangers. A proven finisher who’s one of the best power forwards in the game, Kreider has totaled 127 goals over the past three seasons. That included posting a career high 52 goals in 2021-22 to tie Adam Graves for the second most goals scored by a Ranger in a single season. He also broke Jaromir Jagr’s record with 26 power-play goals that season. Kreider followed that up with 10 goals and six assists in the postseason to help lead the Rangers to the Conference Finals.

After scoring 36 goals in 2022-23, he had 39 last season. That included a team-leading 18 power-play goals and two shorthanded goals, which tied him with Mika Zibanejad for the team lead. In another run to the Conference Finals, Kreider finished with eight goals and four assists. His most memorable moment came when he recorded a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals to lead the Rangers to a come from behind 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on May 16 that sent them to the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers. Ultimately, the Rangers fell short by losing that series in six games.

Following the elimination, both Kreider and Zibanejad faced criticism for not being more effective at five-on-five against the Panthers. However, they weren’t alone. Until he scored a goal late in Game 6 with Igor Shesterkin lifted for an extra attacker, leading scorer Artemi Panarin was shut down by the Panthers. His first goal of the series came too late in a 2-1 loss. He finished with a goal and three assists in the series. Kreider had a goal and helper. Zibanejad had two assists. The lack of production from their biggest stars was a big reason they were eliminated. Only Vincent Trocheck (2-4-6), Alexis Lafreniere (4 goals), and Barclay Goodrow (3 goals) performed well in that series. Unfortunately, Shesterkin couldn’t do it alone against the eventual Stanley Cup champs. It was a disappointing end to a great season.

Kreider Is Always Made an Example of

Whenever things go wrong, it’s usually Kreider who takes the blame. He’s always made an example of by coaches. Under former coach Gerard Gallant, he was dropped to the fourth line when things didn’t go well. In Year 2 under Laviolette, with the team in freefall, he dropped Kreider to the fourth line in a recent loss. The following game, he started on the same line before working his way back up.

In a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Dec. 20, Kreider scored an empty netter for his first goal in eight games. Laviolette trusted him to be out to protect a one-goal lead. While he isn’t known for his defensive play, Kreider is a trusted player who has become one of the best shorthanded threats in the league. Including the two shorthanded goals he has this season, he now has 11 shorthanded goals since the 2021-22 season when he paced the Blueshirts with three. No other player has scored that many during that span. Adrian Kempe and Travis Konecny each have 10. Sam Reinhart has nine.

After a 3-1 loss at home to the Hurricanes on Sunday, Dec. 22, Kreider became a healthy scratch against the Devils on Festivus. Following the latest defeat that dropped the Rangers to seventh place in the Metropolitan Division, Laviolette explained his lineup decision.

“At the end of the day, we’re not playing a brand that we need to play in order to be successful. He’s a guy that we count on to help deliver that. For me, those conversations aren’t easy, but that’s the decision that I made today.”

As far as making players accountable, it’s understandable why Laviolette took the action. Kreider hasn’t been producing, and his game has slipped dramatically. In the loss to the Hurricanes, he wasn’t noticeable. It’s my opinion that he doesn’t fit with Will Cuylle and Filip Chytil, who hasn’t been the same since he returned from the mysterious upper-body injury he sustained in a collision with K’Andre Miller on Nov. 14. In 12 games since returning on Nov. 30, Chytil has two goals and an assist. Without the key center contributing, the Rangers are much weaker offensively. Especially with scoring drying up.

Laviolette is desperate to find a solution. Most notable is that by sitting out Kreider yesterday, he took out one of his best finishers against a quality opponent. Even in a scoring slump, Kreider’s currently tied with Cuylle for second on the team in goals with 11, trailing only Panarin (15). He also has a good track record against the Devils. In 51 career games, Kreider has 24 goals and 18 assists. Eleven of those 24 have come on the power play. You’re telling me they couldn’t have used him. Compared to Zibanejad firing wide, Kreider provides the dirty work in front. Jacob Markstrom had an easy time.

Lafreniere’s Disappearing Act

Alexis Lafreniere has turned into a ghost since signing his new contract extension. In fact, Lafreniere has only lit the lamp once over the last 16 games. After scoring his ninth in a 7-5 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 8, he’s gone eight straight games without a goal.

He’s been taking a lot of bad penalties, including an unnecessary slash that led directly to the Devils’ fifth goal scored by Dawson Mercer in the third period. In the previous game, it was his high-sticking double minor that led to Jack Roslovic getting the winner for the Hurricanes. Aside from the lack of discipline, the 23-year-old forward has been victimized on goals against. He wasn’t in the right spot on Stefan Noesen’s goal that put Monday night’s game out of reach.

Lafreniere’s minus-15 rating is the second worst on the Rangers. Even with most of his production coming at even strength where he has 19 of his 21 points, he’s been a defensive liability. Laviolette hasn’t taken any action. That brings me to my next point.

Missing Mika

Of all the Rangers, nobody has been more disappointing than Zibanejad this season. Missing Mika has been in rapid decline for all to see.

Still only 31, his overall play has sunk to new levels. Once considered a defensively responsible forward, Zibanejad can’t even do that anymore. There have been too many instances when number 93 was lagging behind while an opponent scored. Either he’s too slow to get back or in the wrong defensive position. A key player who makes $8.5 million, Zibanejad is a team worst minus-19.

Only recently has Laviolette begun to limit his ice time at even strength. However, when push comes to shove, Laviolette will still have Zibanejad out on the declining top power play unit and at the end of games. He isn’t holding him accountable. The numbers for the Rangers’ top center aren’t good. In 34 games, he’s scored just six goals. According to Natural Stat Trick, when Zibanejad is out, he’s been outscored 25-12 at five-on-five. By comparison, Kreider’s been outscored 13-9.

Why isn’t Zibanejad being held to the same standards as Kreider? It’s a good question for the media to ask Laviolette. Is it easier to make an example of Kreider because he’s been here the longest and can take it? According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, Zibanejad is very sensitive to criticism. If he isn’t scoring or playing consistently, which has been the case for most of the season, why can’t he sit out a game? His lackluster play deserves to be punished.

While Trocheck puts out an honest effort, even taking on Devils forward Paul Cotter on Monday night, Zibanejad can’t be bothered to get physically involved in a scrum. Even Panarin doesn’t back down from opponents. He’s in there battling while his teammate skates away. What kind of message does that send?

Something has to give. When the Rangers finally return from the holiday on Dec. 28 to visit the Tampa Bay Lighting, Laviolette can either continue to cater to Zibanejad or send a message. The sad part is that he probably won’t scratch Zibanejad when play resumes before the New Year. But if number 93 has another bad showing, Laviolette shouldn’t hesitate to bench his star center for the Panthers on Dec. 30. The losses are mounting. Unless something changes real soon, the Rangers won’t make the playoffs. The coach can’t play favorites here. Enough is enough.

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Devils Dominate and Troll Rangers

Posted on December 23, 2024 by Derek

If it had been a prize fight, they would have stopped it early. On a day when Peter Laviolette made Chris Kreider a healthy scratch, the Rangers were no match for the Devils in a 5-0 laugher at The Prudential Center in Newark.

Once again, Jack Hughes did whatever he wanted against the Rangers, scoring twice and setting up the Devils’ third power-play goal of the game. In two lopsided meetings in December, Hughes has six points (4-2-6) versus the Rangers in a pair of Devils’ victories. His game-breaking speed and skill have been too much for them to handle. Hughes has taken his game to a new level by buying into Sheldon Keefe’s more structured defensive system by even becoming an effective penalty killer to make the Devils even more dangerous shorthanded.

Making matters worse for the Rangers, the Devils trolled them during a stoppage in the third period by mocking the recent departure of former 2019 second pick Kaapo Kakko. Kakko never lived up to expectations after being the consensus second overall pick. He was supposed to be the consolation prize behind Hughes, who the Devils wisely took with the top pick. While Hughes blossomed into a star, Kakko struggled to establish himself as a Blueshirt.

Despite a good start to the season, in which he posted four goals and 10 assists while finding chemistry with Filip Chytil and Will Cuylle, he criticized Laviolette for scratching him against the Blues on Dec. 15. After playing one final game against the Predators, Kakko was traded to the Kraken on Dec. 18 for Will Borgen, a third and sixth round pick in 2025.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1871293178856284462

With Kakko gone, it doesn’t explain the lack of passion the Rangers are playing with. They don’t play with much energy or consistency. Opponents are allowed to roam free in the offensive zone and get high danger chances without paying a price. Defense has become optional for the Rangers. The lack of attention to detail has left both Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick out to dry for most of the first 34 games. On Monday, it was Quick who was victimized by the Devils for five goals on 29 shots. It marked the 10th time the Rangers gave up five goals or more in a loss. Four have come in December and six over the last 15 games, dating back to a 6-2 loss to the Oilers on Nov. 23.

How uncompetitive were they in the second meeting of the season against their close Hudson rival? The Rangers only managed to register 12 shots on goal. Jacob Markstrom had his second consecutive 12-save shutout, with the Devils previously blanking the Penguins 3-0 on Dec. 21. They’ve suddenly become a dominant defensive team by allowing fewer shots against opponents. A stark contrast to how they played under former coach Lindy Ruff.

There weren’t many players who competed hard enough in the final game before the Christmas break. Vincent Trocheck gave up some size in a fight with Paul Cotter less than four minutes in. Cotter used his strength to get the better of Trocheck, who fought valiantly. However, it wasn’t a good tradeoff for the Rangers due to losing one of their best players.

A bit later, Timo Meier got away with a cross-check on Artemi Panarin, which led to a scrum. During it, Panarin went back at Meier for the cheap shot. Each received matching roughing minors. Stefan Noesen also went off for hooking Mika Zibanejad to send the Rangers to the power play. Without either Panarin or Trocheck, they had a different look on the top unit. Both Filip Chytil and Will Cuylle joined Zibanejad, Adam Fox, and Alexis Lafreniere.

Already down a goal due to Hughes surprising Quick with a wrist shot that squeaked past him short side, the power play failed to produce a single shot. Cuylle missed on a deflection. The second unit came on for a brief shift late. Jonny Brodzinski, who filled in for Kreider, joined Reilly Smith, Adam Edstrom, Brett Berard, and Zac Jones. It looked about as out of sync as one could expect.

With the Rangers still down a goal, Sam Carrick showed some heart and guts by giving up a lot of size to battle Brenden Dillon. No stranger to the rough stuff, Dillon had the reach advantage in an entertaining scrap. It was mostly even until Carrick came on late to get the knockdown. Each went off for five minutes for fighting with less than a minute remaining in the period.

Dawson Mercer took an undisciplined cross-checking minor on Urho Vaakanainen 25 seconds into the second period. To be honest, Mercer was lucky he didn’t receive more for that penalty. Instead, the Rangers had a two-minute power play which they didn’t take advantage of. After the first unit accomplished nothing (like Groundhog Day), Edstrom had a deflection stopped by Markstrom. Jones also had a follow-up knocked away.

Back at even strength, the Rangers took the first of two bench minors for delay of game. It was the second straight game they got caught with too many men on the ice. Somewhat predictably, the Devils cashed in thanks to Timo Meier, who buried a one-timer off a pretty Dawson Mercer feed to make it 2-0.

Even when they were put on another power play, the Rangers couldn’t do anything against a stingy Devils penalty kill. Fox got one shot right on Markstrom and then missed on a bank attempt. Following coincidental minors between Berard and Jonas Siegenthaler, the Rangers again had one too many skaters on. The absurd lack of discipline led directly to Hughes scoring on the power play to increase the Devils’ lead to 3-0.

Despite getting another power play on a Devils’ bench minor, the Rangers managed only four shots in a dismal second period. They had a game total of nine shots through 40 minutes. By that point, I’d already checked out and went to the gym. Why should we waste our time watching these guys when they can’t be bothered to put forth the effort? They are an embarrassment and aren’t worth watching.

In the anticlimactic third, Lafreniere had his back turned when Noesen was allowed to slam home his career high 16th goal on a nice feed from Nico Hischier to make it 4-0. During this futile stretch, Lafreniere has disappeared since signing his contract extension. He later took a bad penalty by slashing Siegenthaler in the offensive zone. Of course, the Devils scored yet another power-play goal when Mercer was allowed two whacks at a loose puck to finally beat an incensed Quick for the Devils’ fifth goal. Quick’s reaction summed it up well. Nobody ever picks anyone up in front of the net.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1871291041803907497

At this point, it’s like a broken record with this team. They play as if they are lifeless. Could minor leaguers do any worse than them? It’s bad enough that Chris Drury ruined the season with his shenanigans. What about playing for themselves and for Laviolette? Where’s the sense of pride?

The Rangers deserve coal in their stockings for Christmas. If not for the Sabres, who are run like a minor league operation, they’d be the laughingstock of the league. It’s unbelievable how in less than a year they went from winning the Presidents’ Trophy and losing to the Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final to becoming one of the league’s worst teams. Forget the 16-17-1 record. That’s generous. Anyone who’s seen them play knows the 12-4-1 start was mostly due to the brilliant goaltending from Shesterkin and Quick. They were living on borrowed time.

https://twitter.com/vzmercogliano/status/1871301662255837584

Not even the biggest Rangers hater could have predicted this. I hope Kreider returns and plays when hockey returns for the Florida trip. If you believe Larry Brooks of the New York Post, they aren’t actively looking to trade him. If Laviolette wanted to send a message, shouldn’t have been Zibanejad that sat out? Every game he plays is a disappointment. Who cares if he’s sensitive. Sit his ass against the Lightning or Panthers. Or send him home to Sweden to go deejay.

Well, look at the bright side. The World Juniors starts up on Boxing Day. Finally, there will be some real hockey to watch. Pray that whatever prospect they select next draft doesn’t get ruined.

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