Nash returns for Blueshirts versus Red Wings

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Derek

When the Rangers take on the Red Wings today in Hockeytown, they’ll have Rick Nash in the lineup. For the first time since Jan. 22, Nash will play in a game on a newly constructed line with Eric Staal and Viktor Stalberg. He missed 20 games with a leg bruise that took longer than expected to recover. Without him, they went 13-6-1. His 33 points in 45 contests ranks sixth in team scoring.

With 15 games left in the regular season, the Blueshirts are hoping Nash finds his form down the stretch. He only had 12 goals before the injury. If he can find chemistry with Staal, that could play a pivotal role in what happens this Spring. The Rangers hold a two-point edge over the Islanders for second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Isles are trailing the Bruins 1-0. They hold two games at hand.

Also joining Nash is Henrik Lundqvist. He’ll be back in net to face Detroit starter Petr Mrazek. He missed the past three games with neck spasms which were sustained when Ryan McDonagh accidentally collided with him during the second period of a 4-1 loss on Mar. 3 at Pittsburgh. Backup Antti Raanta did a solid job winning two of three starts including a 3-2 win over the Caps. Following a odd 6-4 loss to the Islanders, he was strong stopping 34 shots in a 4-2 win over the Sabres.

With back-to-back games this weekend including the Pens paying a visit to MSG tomorrow, it’ll be interesting to see if Alain Vigneault plays Lundqvist for both. Assuming everything goes well today, that will probably be the case.The Blueshirts then get a couple of days off before a tough three games in four days Californian trip at Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Jose.

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Islanders lose a point in Toronto

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Derek
Islanders Maple Leafs Hockey

Garret Sparks denies John Tavares in the third round of the shootout during the Isles’ 4-3 loss to the Maple Leafs. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP

The Islanders were 1:13 away from another big win that would’ve closed the gap to one point behind the Rangers for second place. Instead, they settled for a point in a disappointing 4-3 shootout loss at Toronto. Rookie William Nylander scored his second NHL goal on a rebound for a power play goal that forced extras.

After neither team did much in a oddly played three-on-three that was more notable for Isles’ captain John Tavares going off with 35 seconds left for hooking a diving Zach Hyman (embellishment), it went to the shootout. After the first six shooters missed, Leafs’ forward Nikita Soshnikov scored the only goal on a backhand that beat Thomas Greiss in the top of Round 4. Cal Clutterbuck was unable to match him sending a high shot over the net with winning Toronto netminder Garret Sparks challenging.

In the second game of a back-to-back following a fourth straight win, the Isles struggled with the league’s worst team. If the season concluded today, the Leafs would have the best chance of winning the NHL lottery where prized American prospect Auston Matthews awaits. Even by snapping a six-game winless streak, they’re still four points worse than closest suitors Edmonton and Winnipeg. They have 55 points with 16 games left. With nothing to play for, Toronto finally recalled former first round pick Nylander. The older son of former Ranger Michael Nylander, he was selected eighth overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. In six games, he has two goals. Younger brother Alex Nylander should be a first or second round pick this summer. 

While Toronto continues to rebuild under the management of Team President Brendan Shanahan, GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Mike Babcock, the Islanders are chasing the Rangers for second in the Metropolitan Division. Having won the first three regular season meetings including Sunday’s bizarre 6-4 triumph in which Clutterbuck got the winner with 1:28 left off a faceoff, the Isles are in good position to overtake their Manhattan rivals for home ice in a potential first round series. They have 83 points with 17 games remaining. Two more than the Rangers, who still own the first tiebreaker with three more ROW (regulation overtime wins) 36-33. It could come down to the final meeting on April 7 at MSG.

Tavares got his team-leading 25th unassisted beating Sparks on a breakaway five-hole to start the scoring. The goal also moved him a point in front of Kyle Okposo for the team lead in scoring. He is up to 53 points (25-28-53). Okposo has 52 including a team best 35 assists and 20 power play points (6-14-20).

Following Toronto goals from Hyman and defenseman Morgan Rielly, the Islanders bounced back on goals from Nick Leddy and Ryan Strome, who erased a nine-game drought to put them up 3-2 with 5:19 remaining in regulation. However, a Strome hooking minor resulted in the Leafs pulling Sparks for a six-on-four advantage. Greiss leaked out a juicy rebound of a low Nazem Kadri shot right to Nylander, who tied the contest. It was the Leafs’ second power play goal in four chances. A disappointing result for the Isles’ third ranked penalty kill.

Notes: Tavares’ goal was the 199th of his career. In 494 games, the 2009 first overall pick is 199-255-454. The most points out of the ’09 Class. Avalanche third overall pick Matt Duchene is second with 371. Ryan O’Reilly (295), Evander Kane (252) and Marcus Johansson (224) round out the top five. … With a goal and assist, Leddy has three straight multi-point games and is 1-6-7 over the past four. … D Calvin de Haan sat out with a lower body injury. … In his first start with Jaroslav Halak out six weeks due to a groin injury, Greiss turned aside 33 of 36 shots while extending his unbeaten string in regulation to nine. He’s 7-0-2 in those starts with a overtime loss to Washington and a shootout loss to Toronto. … Islanders (37-20-8, 82 Pts) visit Bruins (38-23-7, 83) Saturday at 1 PM.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-William Nylander, TOR (game-tying goal (2nd in NHL) at 18:47 of 3rd, 7-and-9 on faceoffs in 23 shifts-15:59)

2nd Star-Nick Leddy, NYI (goal-5th, assist in 24 shifts-23:11 incl. 21:57 ES)

1st Star-Nikita Soshnikov, TOR (shootout winner in Rd. 4, 5 SOG in 25 shifts-17:39)

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Islanders turn to Greiss with Halak out six weeks

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Derek

The Islanders learned that they’ll be without Jaroslav Halak for six weeks. The starting netminder injured himself with over four minutes left in regulation during the Isles’ 2-1 home win over the Pens last night at Barclays Center. After making a save, he went down and left the game with 4:22 remaining. The injury came on a night he made 31 saves for his 200th career win.

Steady backup Thomas Greiss relieved him stopping the remaining three Pens’ shots to preserve the victory. That included a last ditch try from Phil Kessel with six seconds to go. Sidney Crosby made a great pass across but the snake bit Kessel had his shot blocked by a diving Travis Hamonic and then padded away by Greiss as time wound down. Hamonic blocked seven shots.

With Halak sidelined the rest of the regular season and beyond, it’ll now fall on Greiss. The former Pen backup has been superb posting a 18-6-3 record with a 2.20 goals-against-average and league-leading .930 save percentage. He’ll get the nod against the Maple Leafs tonight. He hasn’t lost in regulation over his last eight starts. The only loss during that span came against the Caps in overtime 3-2 on Feb. 18.

Greiss will be counted on as the starter for most of the final 18 Islander games. They trail the second place Rangers by three with three games at hand including tonight’s visit at last overall Toronto. Right now, the classic rivals are locked into a potential 2/3 first round clash. They haven’t played each other in the postseason since ’94. With the Pens clinging to a wildcard five behind Brooklyn, it looks like the Battle Of New York will happen. If it does, it will be a hot ticket.

Backing up Greiss is Jean-Francois Berube. A former Kings’ fourth round pick, he’s appeared in three NHL games all with the Isles this season posting a 1-1-0 mark while allowing eight goals on 84 shots in 150 minutes.

”I got confidence if he does miss some time,” Capuano said of injured starter Halak. ”We got some quality goalies here so if we run into a situation, hopefully it’s not too long a period that he’s out, but we got confidence in the guys that we have here.”

It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

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Murphy’s Law envelops Devil season

Posted on March 8, 2016 by hasan4978

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Of course it’s stating the obvious at this point that with fifteen games to go in the Devils’ season, the Devils will not be going to the postseason for a fourth straight year.  After four months where the team actually kept the fans interested and stayed in the playoff hunt longer than most expected, perhaps to a degree the team’s recent collapse was inevitable and only a matter of time.  The line of demarcation of the Devils’ season (and maybe the Flyers’ too for that matter) turned out to be February 16 when New Jersey was still in a playoff spot coming off three straight wins while the Flyers were teetering on the brink of being knocked out when Philly was I believe seven points back of the final wild card spot at the time.  That horrific 6-3 defeat started the avalanche of bad things rolling downhill for the Devils while it was the precursor to a Flyer hot streak that’s gotten them back on the precipice of the last playoff spot.

In the three weeks since that game literally everything that could go wrong has from losing eight of ten to crash and burn out of the playoff race, along with one-time leading scorer Mike Cammalleri reaggravating a suspected arm injury with no imminent return and losing Cory Schneider in Dallas to a sprained MCL, with no word on him other than a scheduled ‘reevaluation’ in two weeks.  Perhaps the Devils need to reevaluate their backup goaltender this offseason as Keith Kinkaid continued his poor season by getting embarassed at the Rock on Sunday in a 6-1 defeat that effectively ended any case you wanted to make for the Devils to make a miracle run to somehow get back in the race (they would have been three points back of the Pens with a win, keeping hope alive for a while at least).  Not that Kinkaid was the only one to play poorly…our young defense which is supposed to be the strength of the team going forward has largely sagged in recent weeks.  John Moore’s been terrible in the last few weeks since coming off of injury, Jon Merrill’s been terrible offensively all season and lately his defense has slipped as well and Damon Severson continues to take up residence in coach John Hynes’ doghouse somehow despite only underwhelming, and not horrifically bad play.

I don’t really want to recap that disaster, which marked the second straight home game where I peeled out of the arena midway through the third period which is normally a rarity for me…but when you’re four goals behind with a popgun offense playing like crap well I’d just about run out of patience watching the team either game.  As much as I want to rip on Jordin Tootoo for yet another stupid, selfish, mind-boggling penalty on Sunday where he jumped Tom Sestito (it was so obvious that the ref had to seperate them even before the faceoff, I knew there was a meltdown coming) it’s hardly worth ranting about at this point.  Although even more frighteningly the Devils tried to sidestep any criticism of Tootoo by suggesting Sestito had time to get his gloves off as well, though clearly the refs didn’t see it that way.  All that said, unless Ray Shero and John Hynes are oblivious to reality Tootoo will be gone at the end of the year anyway with a -26 and 102 penalty minutes – many of them the stupid variety like his five minute major against the Isles or that fight with Sestito which led to the Pens’ first goal of the game after the Devils had started off well.

Truth be told there’s still a lot of work to be done with this Devil team and many questions to be answered going forward if they’re going to end their four-year drought of missing the playoffs sometime this decade.  There’ll be plenty of time to hash out all of that going forward but first the team needs to play the last fifteen games of the season and eventually get into evaluation mode down the stretch.  With Schneider out probably for the season, the Devils can get a long look at Kinkaid and if he plays well he’ll certainly be around next year (I doubt they’d be able to flip him in a trade at the moment).  If he continues to play poorly they may need to make a change for next year unless they’re planning on Cory playing all 82.  Clearly there’s a lot to evaluate on the defense with Moore, Merrill and Severson all going through hard times.  This defense is going to need to be a strength going forward and to be fair for most of the season the Devils were at or among the league leaders in goals against, but clearly a big part of that was Cory along with the top defensive pair of Andy Greene and Adam Larsson and shutdown center Travis Zajac.  With Cory starting to slump even before he got hurt – or perhaps he already was playing through the injury? – now their warts have been more exposed these last three weeks.

Perhaps the less said about the offense the better…already bottom of the NHL in goals scored it certainly hasn’t helped matters that their top two scorers a month ago are now out of the lineup (Cammalleri via injury, Lee Stempniak via a trade).  It says everything when a new deadline acquisition – Devante Smith-Pelly – immediately goes onto a top line here after being mostly a fourth liner in Montreal and Anaheim.  To his credit Smith-Pelly’s been one of the few bright spots lately putting up three points in his first three games as a Devil including two goals, one of which tied up a game in Nashville late that the Devils stunningly won in OT, one of their rare wins in the last three weeks.  Pretty much that’s it as far as positives go at the moment.  Even rookie Joseph Blandisi and third-year winger Reid Boucher have cooled off though in Boucher’s case he’s mostly played with offensive black holes on the third line while Blandisi’s had just two assists with a -10 in his last ten games.  If you want to give me Travis Zajac’s ‘bounceback’ from a 25-point wasteland season last year as a reason for optomism…eh okay, he’s got 33 points in 59 games, which is more or less on pace for a 40-point season, barely acceptable for a top six center who gets icetime in all situations though his defensive responsibilities have to be taken into account.  Maybe the most important part of the stretch drive will be seeing more improvement and hope from Boucher, Blandisi and Smith-Pelly, who’s still young enough to be considered potentially part of the future too.

Right now all you can do as a fan is take pride in individual performances…but I’m not going to lie, I probably won’t watch a minute of most of the games I don’t go to the rest of the season (certainly not staying up for the expected West Coast bloodbath this week) and I’m probably only going to four at most.  Which also means my posting will probably be scarce for the next few weeks or so.  It’s doubly hard to watch these games now cause losing benefits the team in an obvious way though it’s not in my DNA to root for a draft pick, at least not until the last couple of games or so.  It’s a lot easier for fans who only watch on TV and can turn it off to scream let’s tank and lose every game for five years, but I’ll save my anti-tank rant for another day.

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Clutterbuck’s goal with 1:28 left gives Islanders another win over Rangers

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Derek
Islanders Rangers Hockey

Happy teammates greet Cal Clutterbuck following his game-winner with 1:28 left in regulation in a Islanders’ 6-4 win over the Rangers at MSG Sunday night. AP Photo by Seth Wenig/Getty Images

An unpredictable game between bitter rivals had a odd conclusion. In the first period of the third installment of the Battle of New York, the Islanders and Rangers combined for seven goals on the game’s first 19 shots. After the Garden hosts finally caught their Brooklyn rivals from a three-goal deficit on a Derick Brassard power play goal with 8:21 left in the third period, it was the Islanders who had the last laugh.

Off a clean faceoff win from Casey Cizikas, who easily beat Derek Stepan, he set up Cal Clutterbuck’s game-winner with 1:28 left. Frans Nielsen’s empty netter 27 seconds later sealed an Isles’ 6-4 win over the Rangers. It improved the Brooklyn side to 3-0-0 in the season series and pulled them within three points of second place with three games at hand.

”We know we have games in hand, we know the situation,” Kyle Okposo explained after scoring one of three early Islander goals within a 1:55 span to put them up 3-0 on a flat Blueshirts who at one point were out-shot 10-0 before awakening. ”Obviously we’re fighting for home ice down the stretch. We’re fighting for a playoff spot.”

While the Manhattan side of the New York rivalry didn’t set their alarms for the early 5 PM start Sunday evening, the Isles were ready from the outset. Johnny Boychuk and Brock Nelson scored 45 seconds apart stunning MSG. Following a Kevin Hayes minor penalty for slashing, Okposo tallied on the power play at 4:45. That forced Alain Vigneault to use his timeout.

Finally getting their game together, the Rangers fought back getting the next two. On consecutive shifts, Oscar Lindberg (1st in 23 games) and Tanner Glass scored 38 seconds apart to cut the deficit to one with still 8:06 left in a wild first period. After Lindberg converted from Eric Staal, who recorded his first point as a Blueshirt, Glass took a favorable bounce off a wide Dominic Moore carom and snapped a rebound into an open side for his third.

But any momentum was halted temporarily when Boychuk notched his second of the period 80 seconds later from Anders Lee and Nick Leddy to restore a two-goal Isles’ lead. However, it was short lived. Staal got his first as a Ranger 31 seconds later by beating Jaroslav Halak in front from Dan Boyle and Viktor Stalberg. That made it seven goals in the first 13:45 of the contest.

”(The) first period was the weirdest period of hockey in my life,” Antti Raanta said following the game after allowing five goals on 31 shots in the loss. ”It felt good early, got good saves, then suddenly five minutes off the clock and the game is 3-0.”

Raanta made his second straight start with Henrik Lundqvist again unavailable with neck spasms. Marc Staal also missed his second game in the last three due to back spasms. Apparently, after toughing out the win against the Caps, he didn’t hydrate himself enough from the flu which caused him to be in tremendous pain. So, he wasn’t available. Dylan McIlrath took his place. Complicating matters, he was injured on a Clutterbuck hit and left the game in the first after taking six shifts (3:38). That put the Rangers down to five D.

Vigneault didn’t like J.T. Miller’s game. He was in the doghouse for most of the second and third period. He committed two defensive mistakes on Isles’ goals and only received 6:29 in 13 shifts. Miller’s game has dropped off lately. He only took one shift in the third with the Rangers already shorthanded playing their third game in four nights. It didn’t make much sense. I get that the coach wasn’t pleased but punishing him that way didn’t help the cause. It’s also inconsistent with how he’s handled Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider for similar screw ups.

You didn’t see Isles’ coach Jack Capuano doing that. Though once the Rangers got back in it to trail 3-2, he didn’t waste any time using his timeout. Capuano is content to roll four lines. Especially his very cohesive and physical fourth line. On a night where Tavares was quiet with just an assist, Capuano’s grind line was the difference. They always cause the Rangers problems.

”It was a great play call by Zeeker,” Clutterbuck said in reference to Cizikas. ”I have to give him a lot of credit. He won the faceoff right on my tape. I caught it and flung it on net.”

Prior to Cizikas beating Stepan and Clutterbuck going top shelf short side on Raanta at 18:32, Brassard converted a power play goal from Keith Yandle and Stepan which allowed the Rangers to finally draw even at 11:39. Brassard fired past Halak thru a Staal screen for his team-leading 23rd. Outside of that tally, he wasn’t noticeable throughout five on five. Neither was Mats Zuccarello, who had one of his worst games of the season finishing minus-three.

As Vigneault pointed out in the post game, there weren’t many forwards going. He singled out Staal’s unit with Lindberg and Stalberg. Playing his third game since being acquired at the trade deadline, Staal dominated throughout with a goal and assist while going 20-for-22 on faceoffs. Something that you never see with Ranger centers. He was unbelievable. Unfortunately, he had just finished a long shift when Vigneault sent out Stepan for a defensive draw against Cizikas. In his words at his locker, “I choked,” while adding, “It sucks.”

There’s not much else to be said. Dan Girardi also struggled as did Yandle and Kevin Klein. Ryan McDonagh also had a tough one with four giveaways. As a team, the Blueshirts had 19. That included four from Brassard and three from Girardi. Chris Kreider also had two including failing to get a puck deep. He saw reduced time in the third. There were too many passengers.

”I’m not sure to be honest with you,” Stepan also noted of the sluggish start. ”Maybe the three (games) in four nights, but that’s no excuse. I thought we really responded well after being down 3-0.”

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Travis Hamonic, NYI (assist, shutdown D flies under radar, +3 in 28 shifts-27:34 incl. 23:43 ES, 3:51 SH)

2nd Star-Eric Staal, NYR (goal-1st as a Blueshirt, assist, 6 shot attempts, 20-and-2 FO, +1 in 19:07 incl. 17:54 ES)

1st Star-Cal Clutterbuck, NYI (game-winner with 1:28 left in 3rd, 3 hits-seriously?)

Notes: Despite the loss, the Rangers got good news on McIlrath. Per New York Post’s Brett Cyrgalis afterwards, his injury isn’t supposed to be serious. It isn’t the same knee that was operated on according to a team source. … Islanders have now won six of the last seven meetings at MSG. … Halak finished with 22 saves to remain unbeaten versus NYR in his career. He’s never faced them in the postseason. … NYI were without D Calvin de Haan. … In two games (both losses) against Pens and Isles, Rangers allowed 10 goals. Eight were with a goalie in and without Marc Staal. Coincidence? Also worth noting Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin both scored in the same game against NYR for the first time since 2009. Coincidence II? … Rangers are back at it Tuesday visiting the Sabres. … Islanders host the Pens the same night.

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Rangers post character win over Caps

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Derek

It was gut check time at the start of the third period. After the NHL’s best Caps had rallied with two goals in the second period including a controversial reversal from Toronto that credited Jay Beagle with a goal followed by T.J. Oshie’s power play rocket, the Rangers showed character by getting the only goal off the stick of Mr. Clutch Derek Stepan 17 seconds into the third to post a heartfelt 3-2 win over the Caps at Verizon Center.

They did it with big saves from popular backup Antti Raanta, whose biggest came when he dove on top of a loose puck just covering it up at the goal line before it crossed to preserve a one-goal lead. The Finn with the cool personality won his third straight decision making 32 saves against one of the league’s best offenses. He turned aside all 11 shots in the third and was named the game’s second star.

Even better, he and his teammates showed good poise following the goal controversy in which neither referee Jean Hebert nor Chris Lee made a call on the ice during a wild sequence in Raanta’s crease. At the time, the Blueshirts led by two on first period tallies from Jesper Fast (9th) and Keith Yandle (power play goal). Predictably, the Caps carried much of the second with their aggressive forecheck out-shooting the Rangers 15-11 while outscoring them 2-0.

It was the Caps’ bottom two lines which sparked the comeback. The third line in particular of Marcus Johansson, Jason Chimera and Tom Wilson were very effective on the cycle generating chances. But it was the fourth line centered by Mike Richards that broke Raanta’s shutout in odd fashion. Following a Richards shot that Raanta stopped, a maze of players battled for a loose puck. Kevin Klein looked to have prevented a goal with a nice defensive play. But Beagle was able to get a shot on Raanta, who was on his back trying to cover the puck. MSG’s replays showed no definitive evidence of it crossing the line.

After they went to commercial, Toronto finally finished reviewing the bizarre play and ruled that the puck crossed the line for a Washington goal. Of course, Alain Vigneault and the Rangers bench protested. But their goalie interference challenge resulted in the goal being upheld and a loss of a timeout he wouldn’t have used anyway. Beagle was credited with an unassisted tally.

It was also the Cap’ fourth line with another good shift drawing a slashing minor on Tanner Glass which led directly to Oshie’s game-tying power play goal. The Rangers once again allowed a goal in the final minute of a period. A notoriously bad second period team, they blew a shorthanded chance. After Stepan’s shot pass for Viktor Stalberg missed wide, Oshie came down the other way in transition and blew a wrist shot past a screened Raanta tying the game 2-2 at 19:20. Both Caps’ goals were unassisted.

Even though they had shutdown Alexander Ovechkin, the Rangers found themselves tied entering the third. But as Stepan put it in the MSG post game to John Giannone, they would’ve taken that against the league’s leading team. It was his goal only 17 seconds in that was the game-winner. On a pinch by Ryan McDonagh, Stepan skated into the slot and fired a shot that took a favorable carom off Brooks Orpik past Braden Holtby for his 15th. A fortunate bounce as he called it. But that’s what we have come to expect from Stepan. Mr. Clutch has a knack for it. Just ask the Caps about Games 5 and 7 last Spring.

Playing a second game in two nights, the Rangers had a good start outscoring the Caps 2-zip in a strong first. Vigneault put Chris Kreider back with Stepan and Jesper Fast. It worked to perfection. Off a strong Kreider forecheck behind the net, Stepan helped find Fast for the game’s opening goal at 5:47. Dan Girardi and McDonagh were credited with the assists. Not sure how Stepan didn’t get one. I guess he didn’t touch the loose puck off a broken play in which the Caps defended poorly. Fast beat Orpik to the spot and beat Holtby upstairs. A hard working goal by Quickie.

A Karl Alzner trip of Stepan resulted in Yandle’s power play goal. This one was all Kreider. Using his size to distract Holtby, he screened him three different times. The first two resulted in goalposts. The third resulted in Holtby unable to pick up a perfect Yandle laser that made it 2-0 at 16:37. Derick Brassard and Stepan notched helpers.

The Caps rallied in the second thanks to some help from Toronto. If only we could’ve had their angle that ruled it a goal. The fact neither official made a decision doesn’t sit well. It should be mandatory that they make a call. Then the near miss by Stepan and Stalberg resulted in Oshie tying it. You just can’t take risks shorthanded against the Caps’ power play. They make you pay. In five games, they scored six PPG’s in the season series.

The third was a gutsy display by the Rangers. Stepan got the go-ahead and they kind of sat back. But the Caps only got a couple of good chances with Raanta able to make the key stops. The Rangers did a better job protecting the one-goal lead in the final minute for a character building win. It was a great way to bounce back from the 4-1 debacle at Pittsburgh with Marc-Andre Fleury making an unnecessary comment on Henrik Lundqvist.

A big two points to get. They are now five up on the Islanders, who visit MSG Sunday for a special 5 PM start. That should be good.

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Injured Lundqvist loses cool, Raanta gets big challenge

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Derek

We’ve all been there before. When you’re having a bad day, you lose your cool. For the normally unflappable Henrik Lundqvist, that ugly moment came during Thursday night’s frustrating 4-1 loss at the Pens.

A day after celebrating his 34th birthday, Lundqvist had a rough second period. It started with a Pens’ rush that resulted in Ranger teammate Ryan McDonagh knocking over Lundqvist. The game was still scoreless. But he was hurting. With play still going on, he intentionally knocked the net off to get a whistle which resulted in a delay of game minor penalty. As seen in the video above, he was trying to get the refs’ attention. But lost it.

At the time, the Rangers didn’t know how hurt their star goalie was. Lundqvist stayed in the remainder of the period allowing three consecutive goals in 99 seconds. Following Chris Kreider’s third goal in the last four, the Pens responded on goals from Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist to close the second up 3-1.

That was it for Lundqvist, who didn’t return from the locker room for the third. He allowed three goals on 22 shots. Following the game, he wasn’t available to the media. A tell tale sign that the injury was serious. Right now, the Rangers are calling it “neck spasms.” Alain Vigneault didn’t think he’d be out too long. But who knows.

The organization made an emergency recall from Hartford bringing up Magnus Hellberg. He’ll backup tonight’s starter Antti Raanta, who has the daunting task of facing the first overall Caps at Verizon Center. Coincidentally, he also got the start in the last meeting also in D.C. with the Rangers falling 5-2 on a Justin Williams’ hat trick. They fell apart in that one taking bad penalties.

Raanta has played better lately winning his last two starts against the Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets. He allowed three goals on 64 shots. However, facing the high powered Caps is a big challenge. The league leaders enter tonight’s contest with a league best 47-12-4 record and 98 points with 19 games remaining. They’re 18 up on the Rangers, who also must concern themselves with the Islanders. The Isles are three behind for second with two games at hand. The teams face off at MSG Sunday.

Right now, the Blueshirts will focus on Washington. After beating them in the first match-up 5-2 on Nov. 3, they’ve lost the last three meetings by scores of 7-3 (12/20), 4-3 in overtime (1/9) and 5-2 (1/17). How will they respond to a difficult second game in a back-to-back against a rested opponent that played Wednesday?

McDonagh wasn’t happy with their response in the third last night. They struggled to generate offense only getting five shots on Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pens shut them down forcing Vigneault to shuffle the deck. Normally, they respond better. What will they have left for Ovechkin tonight?

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Video of Day: McIlrath draws with Boll

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Derek

Our Video of Day features Dylan McIlrath taking on Jared Boll in a fight at center ice. Following two big hits he delivered on Blue Jackets, McIlrath was challenged by Boll off a face off. A veteran, Boll is a tough customer. So, it was a good bout between the experienced fighter and the up and comer.

My brother gave the decision to McIlrath. But it really was a draw. Both got good shots in and neither was punished or knocked down. Afterwards, a classy gesture by Boll giving McIlrath a tap on the jersey before each went to the penalty box.

Big Mac shifted to wing with Jesper Fast out due to the flu. He only received seven shifts logging 4:54 all at even strength on the fourth line. However, coach Alain Vigneault didn’t play him in the third period. What could be the harm in giving the natural defenseman a shift five-on-five? He defends his position well and protects the front of the net.

Once Fast returns which could be Thursday when the Rangers take on the Penguins for the first of three meetings in March, McIlrath will go back to the press box. Vigneault continues to go with veteran Dan Boyle along with mainstays Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. Neither of who will be scratched unless one is hurt. You can make the case for McIlrath for Boyle in some games. But this is the path Vigneault has chosen.

At least McIlrath is a gamer. He can be counted on.

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Devils’ active deadline signals change

Posted on February 29, 2016 by hasan4978

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With the Devils sitting essentially six points behind everyone in the playoff race (other than Pittsburgh, who has three games in hand and is three points up) it was obvious that any trades that Ray Shero made at this deadline would be with both eyes toward the future.  Even if only the Lee Stempniak trade to Boston could be classified as a true ‘sell’, getting rid of former first-rounder Stefan Matteau and Eric Gelinas – both of whom have fallen by the wayside this year – shows that Shero and coach John Hynes are wasting no time remaking the roster in their mold.  Overall the Devils picked up second and third-rounders in 2017, a fourth-rounder in 2016 and prospect turned project Devante-Smith Pelly for the three players.  I can’t say I have any real problem with any of the three deals and in fact on balanced liked Shero’s deadline day even if there were reasons not to do all three and reasons any of them could backfire.  Let’s look at them one by one:

Shero’s first deal at about 1:30 PM might have been his most surprising, coaxing a third-rounder out of Colorado for Gelinas, a one-time hope of the future on the blueline with a cannon of a slapshot that led to a 29-point season in his rookie year, but in the last two years he’s only put up 25 points in 95 games to go along with worse defense and decision-making.  In recent weeks he’s fallen out of the rotation on the blueline and even before that got taken off the power play after a series of critical mistakes that could no longer be ignored.  With six defensemen clearly ahead of Gelinas in the rotation and afternoon waiver claim David Warsofsky coming over from Pittsburgh to take his spot on the roster there was no more room for Gelinas, who would have had to go through waivers to be sent back to the AHL.  So now he takes his talent to the Rocky Mountains, and I’m not sure how it’s going to work out long-term for him there given the Avs play a fast up-tempo system that doesn’t really fit into Gelinas’s skillset.  Of course if he ever did put it together Sheldon Souray-style we might rue giving him up but at this point he wasn’t part of the team’s future plans anyway so at some point something was going to have to give.

Right up till 3 PM it looked as if the Gelinas deal might be the only one that got made but just after the end of the trade deadline word came in that Stempniak was traded to Boston in what the winger himself perfectly described as ‘bittersweet’.  It was certainly understandable that the Devils recouped a 2nd round pick (’17) and 4th rounder (’16) for a guy who was going to be a free agent at the end of the year with the team falling far outside the playoff bubble but getting a team-leading 41 points and two draft picks for a guy that came to camp as a tryout can only be described as a success.  Although you can’t help but feel bad for Stempniak, now on his ninth team – at least he’s getting a chance to compete in a playoff race and he also has family in Boston, so it’s not a total uproot.  Really the only rational argument for keeping Stempniak at this point was if you wanted to sign him to a short-term deal to patch up our RW depth, and certainly trading him doesn’t improve our chances of re-signing him after the season.  In fact the Devils did decide to hold onto fellow UFA David Schlemko so there’s more of a possibility he could be re-signed.

Our third and final deal announced was eye-opening, if not that surprising given that one-time first-rounder Matteau had fallen even further down the food chain than Gelinas, playing in twenty games this year with exactly one goal and no assists.  In many ways it’s a dissapointing forward for dissapointing forward trade as Matteau was dealt to Montreal for Devante-Smith Pelly, who came into the league like a house afire in his first playoffs with the Ducks but has since bounced around and been relegated to fourth-line duty for the most part.  Montreal gets the younger (by two years) player and a LW for Smith-Pelly, a RW who will add to our pitiful depth there and with any luck get Jordin Tootoo and his -234325 out of the lineup.  I still think Smith-Pelly has a higher upside than Matteau but either way Matteau was stuck here after an underwhelming three seasons with bad roster management in his rookie season making him waiver-eligible and thus unable to be sent down to the AHL this year.

In a way trading Matteau ends one of the biggest contreversies in Devil history as many fans including me till can’t get over the fact that former GM Lou Lamoriello kept the #29 overall pick in 2012 when we were supposed to give up a first-rounder in the next three years.  Instead of forking over the pick which turned out to be Matteau we wound up losing a #10 pick two years later and moving twenty spots back after the league did give us ‘a’ first-rounder back.  We could have drafted Wings super rookie Dylan Larkin but instead wound up with John Quenneville, who might prove to be okay down the road.  Everything about Matteau seemed doomed to a star-crossed failure here from the pick contreversy to having a dad still very active in Rangers alumni to the shameful unneccesary burning up of an ELC year as an 18-year old that caused the roster problems this year.  Maybe if he was in the AHL he would have gotten a chance to prove himself to new management there instead of sitting on the bench here in favor of guys like the immortal AHL scoring leader Mike Sislo.

In any case I don’t have an issue with what Shero did today although going forward I worry about the new toy Warsovsky getting minutes over defensemen Jon Merrill and Damon Severson down the stretch – even if Severson is now eligible to participate in the AHL playoffs after the year.  Honestly the most annoying thing about today is the once again never-ending Ilya Kovalchuk rumors but I’ll save that rant on that player for another day when his now inevitable return to the NHL gets closer.  While for the most part I’m content with the return in all the deals I’m not content over the fact once again we were compelled to trade for next year.  In any case here’s hoping the three picks and Smith-Pelly all have a positive influence on the future.

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Rangers trade Ryan Bourque to Caps for Chris Brown

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Derek

With most of the hoopla around big acquisition Eric Staal, the Rangers weren’t done a day before the trade deadline. They sent Ryan Bourque to the Capitals in exchange for Chris Brown.

Originally taken in the third round in 2009, Bourque never got a opportunity to play for the big club. The undersized forward who helped Team USA win at the Under 20 World Junior Championship spent the past five seasons in Hartford. A solid checking forward who can kill penalties, he only got one game for the Rangers last season. That was it.

Bourque now goes to the Caps’ minor league affiliate in Hershey. It would be nice if he got a chance. But it’s unlikely to happen in Washington. Brown is the same age as Bourque. Both are 25. Ironically, both spent their teenage years playing for the U-18 US National Development Team in the NAHL. A career path many American players have taken.

Brown has gotten into 23 NHL games with the Coyotes and Caps totaling two goals, an assist and 21 penalty minutes. He was a second round pick in the same ’09 Draft that saw Bourque go in the third round. It had to be due to his size. He’s listed at 6-2, 215. Conversely, Bourque is 5-9, 178. Big difference.

With the deadline concluding later today with full coverage on NHL Network courtesy TSN, more moves will follow. I won’t be around to cover it. But will try to have something tonight.

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