Islanders fly under radar as big tests await

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Derek
Jaroslav Halak has stopped 39 straight shots posting consecutive shutouts during the Isles' four-game win streak. AP Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/Getty Images

Jaroslav Halak has stopped 39 straight shots posting consecutive shutouts during the Isles’ four-game win streak.
AP Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/Getty Images

The Islanders continue to fly under the radar in the metropolitan area. After a strong start, they slumped. After falling to Winnipeg at home, consecutive defeats at Colorado and San Jose had fans and media wondering if it was time to push the panic button. As usual, coach Jack Capuano was the target.

Since that three-game losing streak, they have responded with four straight wins. It started with a hard fought overtime win over Anaheim. Captain John Tavares snapped out of it tallying twice including the game-winner on a four-on-three power play. His shot through a Kyle Okposo screen got past emergency Ducks starter Jason LaBarbera. A one-time Ranger, LaBarbera was an emergency recall with John Gibson suffering a groin injury in warm ups. Of course, many will say the Isles got lucky. But good teams take advantage. They did and built off it.

Able to follow it up with a shootout victory a night later over the defending champion Kings, they got strong goaltending from backup Chad Johnson (29 saves). Ocho Cinco turned away Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter while Okposo and Frans Nielsen beat Jonathan Quick. Those two wins allowed them to go 2-1-0 in California. No small feat. They then got a Nielsen goal with 2:31 left in regulation to blank the Coyotes. Jaroslav Halak stopped 19 shots to post a shutout. After a disastrous start, the Isles finished a tough road trip 3-2-0.

Ryan Strome gets congrats from the bench after scoring his first of the season. AP Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/Getty Images

Ryan Strome gets congrats from the bench after scoring his first of the season.
AP Photo by Kathy Kmonicek/Getty Images

They returned to Nassau Coliseum Tuesday avenging a blowout loss by putting up a six-spot on the Avalanche in a 6-0 dismantling. The game featured six different Islander scorers. That included two from defensemen with Nick Leddy getting his fourth and Travis Hamonic notching his second. The other four came from depth forwards with youngsters Anders Lee and Ryan Strome each tallying while vets Nikolay Kulemin and Casey Cizikas hit the score sheet.

Most impressively, they outshot Colorado 46-20. That allowed Halak to post a second consecutive shutout. In the two, he only had to stop 39. On some occasions, goalies see that many in one night. So, what’s the difference? Hamonic alluded to it after the win.

”This was probably our most complete game this season,” the Isles top defenseman told the Associated Press. ”We want to be as strong at home as we’ve been on the road. Now we have to work on playing even better.”

”We’re creating good habits,” Capuano stated with his team on the right track. The Isles are second in the Metro Division with a 10-5-0 record, trailing first place Pittsburgh by one point. ”Our attention to detail was really good. I was impressed that we stayed with it all night.”

With more of an emphasis on defense, they’re playing smarter hockey. Tavares also pointed out that he felt by being more responsible in their end, that’s how they’re getting chances. That wasn’t the case earlier. Basically, they were winning by outscoring opponents in more of a run and gun that left both Halak and Johnson out to dry. Even though they got away with it, that riskier style came back to bite them. Of the Isles’ first six wins, five saw them allow three goals-or-more. In the last four wins, they’ve permitted three total. Big difference.

”This was a blueprint for how we have to play,” said Strome after scoring his first of the season to go with nine helpers in Year 2. ”We have a lot to be proud of tonight. Getting almost 50 shots is really impressive.”

Most notably, they’re getting contributions throughout the lineup. Tavares leads them with 16 points. However, sophomore Brock Nelson’s improvement has him one behind while Okposo has 14 proving last year’s breakout wasn’t a fluke. The additions of Johnny Boychuk and Leddy have boosted defense corps giving it more stability and offensive capability. Fully healthy, the unit is better balanced allowing Capuano to micro manage his top six.

Even more, they’ve survived injuries to top nine forwards Josh Bailey and Michael Grabner. Playing well enough, there’s no reason to rush either back. Just how capable will they be once Bailey and Grabner return? General Manager Garth Snow had a good summer. Key additions such as Kulemin and Mikhail Grabovski have supplied Capuano with the kind of depth he hasn’t had. It’s resulted in a better attack.

The Islanders fly down to the Sunshine state where they’ll battle the Panthers Friday and Lightning Saturday. A pair of home and homes dominate afterwards with the Bolts returning to Long Island next Tuesday followed by a pivotal back-to-back against the Pens. Facing two of the league’s best in four of their next five, that should be a good litmus test. We’ll get a better idea of what they can be.

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Schneider, Cammalleri throw the Devils a life preserver in Wild win

Posted on November 12, 2014 by hasan4978

After four straight defeats dropped the Devils below .500 they faced if not a must-win, then something very close to it last night against the Wild…especially with the other locals winning big last night.  With pressure mounting and captain Bryce Salvador joining the walking wounded with an undisclosed lower body injury, coach Pete DeBoer started Cory Schneider in goal for the sixteenth straight game (and four games in six nights in four cities).  If Cory had been playing well this would have  been one thing, but he’d already been rocky in the last three games – getting pulled in two.  This was certainly a decision that had the potential to backfire badly, especially given Cory’s own comments after Monday’s loss in Boston which suggested he would be open to having a break.

However, last night’s game proved to be what the doctor ordered in more ways than one as Schneider was the player of the game making several outstanding saves in a 3-1 triumph, only being his worst enemy on a puckhandling snafu in the third period that gave Ryan Carter (yes the former Devil) a shorthanded goal early in the third period that turned a solid 2-0 game into a shaky one-goal one.  Still, Cory responded to the pressure well – especially following his mistake when the Devils didn’t play very well in the third.  Devils winger Mike Cammalleri echoed the sentiments of many last night:

This has been a little bit too long for us here, so there was definitely a sense of urgency in our room and I thought nobody exemplified that better than our goaltender.  He was by far our best player tonight and there was a lot of will there, I think, by him. He decided that we were going to win the game, it seemed, and that was it.

If anyone else deserved to be a star of the game last night though it was Cammalleri himself, who scored what turned out to be the winning goal at 9:53 of the second period, playing nearly twenty-two minutes including some key shorthanded time and being Johnny On The Spot when a Jaromir Jagr shot rebounded right to the winger on the side of the net and he put home the rebound for his sixth goal of the season, a total even more remarkable considering Cammalleri had just come off a six-game absence from a suspected concussion.  Cammalleri also had a few other chances to pad his goal total last night but hit a crossbar and a post, though as he wryly observed afterward it’s a good thing those goals weren’t neccesary.

It’s impossible to overstate how neccesary Cammalleri’s presence has been to the team, considering the recent losing streak started with him out of the lineup.  In addition to his return, Martin Havlat also played last night for the first time in three weeks and coach DeBoer also intimated after the game a couple other players were close to returning as well (re: center Adam Henrique and defenseman Jon Merrill).  With both Merrill and Salvador out last night, rookie Seth Hegelson was called up from Albany and played in his first NHL game.  Though Hegelson only played a hair over six minutes they proved somewhat eventful as he took a penalty and on the plus side had three hits and got his first NHL point on Tuomo Ruutu’s opening goal at 5:42 of the second period, firing a shot that the vet winger deflected past Darcy Kuemper.

Perhaps the true benficiary of Salvador’s absence last night was defenseman Adam Larsson, who saw his icetime spike from 12-13 minutes to over 18 – including a bunch of shorthanded time as he, Andy Greene and Damon Severson were the only defensemen that were on the ice for the Wild’s four power plays last night.  And for once, the Devils killed off every penalty.  Fellow Swede Jacob Josefson also played some on the PK and played well but made his biggest contribution on the aformentioned opening goal where his speed helped the Devils keep possession in the Wild zone (though Josefson would not be credited with an assist on Ruutu’s goal).  It would be nice if his icetime started going into four digits though – Josefson only played 9:47 last night despite a couple of shorthanded shifts.  Ironically though Ruutu – the goalscorer – had the least amount of icetime on the fourth line and among Devil forwards last night.

And yes I’ll admit it, I thought DeBoer should have been fitted for a straitjacket playing Cory yet again last night but after he stopped a point-blank chance by Marco Scandella early in the first period I had a good feeling.  Helping the cause ironically enough, was the continued absence of former Devil Zach Parise, out several games with a concussion of his own.  Clearly the Wild power play missed him for they weren’t able to solve the easy riddle our PK has been up to this point in the season.  Through two periods and the start of the third, it felt like it was going to be a workmanlike victory.

Then IT happened.

On a three-minute power play caused by a Charlie Coyle high stick while the Wild were on their own PP, a puck came into the Devils zone just beyond the reach of Carter but Schnieder inexplicably threw the puck toward the boards with a backhand to nobody.  Carter alertly got the puck and then fired a quick turnaround shot on net while Schnieder was still getting reset in the cage and the puck squirted by him for yet another episode in the ‘misadventures of the wandering Cory’ miniseries, which is going into syndication soon.  Ironically that goal led to two unusual occurences in the crowd – one was the modest cheers that broke out when Carter was announced as the goalscorer (see, Devil fans do treat certain departing players with respect after all), and two was the crowd going psycho every time Cory tried to play the puck after that.  I was feeling it myself screaming ‘STOP!!!’ at the top of my lungs the first couple of times Cory wandered out of his cage again after that.  Even Cory couldn’t resist poking fun at himself in the postgame saying how he made it interesting for the crowd with the goal in the third.

At the time of course it wasn’t a laughing matter, and I had a sinking feeling we’d blow this game as we’ve blown so many others the last few years.  Perhaps we would have but Cory stepped up and took everyone starting with himself off the griddle, even making a save on a two-on-zero at one point shortly after the goal.  For a while it seemed the rest of the Devils were in shock but Cory held firm and finally Travis Zajac sealed the game in the last minute with an empty-net goal (making it two goals and three points in two games for Zajac, who only had one goal and four points before Monday).  Cory had turned a smattering of pregame boos (!) into unanimous cheering by game’s end with a reel of saves worthy of its own YouTube – see above.

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Rangers Dominate Pens

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Derek
Marty St. Louis celebrates his goal with Rick Nash and Marc Staal. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II/Getty Images

Marty St. Louis celebrates his goal with Rick Nash and Marc Staal.
AP Photo by Frank Franklin II/Getty Images

Whatever was wrong over the weekend didn’t carry over last night. Responding with the same character they demonstrated in a memorable second round comeback from 3-1 down, the Rangers dominated the Pens easily winning 5-0 to end a two-game losing streak.

It was much needed. Especially following a listless performance that led to a closed door players only meeting Sunday. All we were looking for is a little more passion. From the very first shift, the Rangers showed they were ready to do battle with the division-leading Pens who entered on a seven-game win streak. By night’s end, that along with all the goals and a lengthy penalty kill streak were over. So outplayed, they looked lost or still suffering flashbacks.

Derick Brassard, who scored one of the five goals on the power play- pointed out that they were ready because they knew who they were up against. Similarly, Henrik Lundqvist who was brilliant making 33 saves for his third shutout, noted that even up four after two periods, he didn’t feel safe.

”You never know. They can turn things around so fast,” he said after earning number one star.

”A hockey game can change so fast. You have to be smart, especially when you play one of the best teams.”

Perhaps the biggest play of the night was made by Tanner Glass. The much maligned forward saved a goal when he got his stick on a loose puck that slipped behind Lundqvist. At the time, the game was still scoreless despite the Rangers outshooting the Pens 9-3. They buzzed around Marc-Andre Fleury’s net from the outset forcing him into some difficult stops. Despite zero help from his team, he kept his team in it as long as possible. What if the Pens had grabbed the lead?

”It would have given us a big boost,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said, ”but at the same time, we didn’t have the intensity we were talking about to get on those loose pucks.”

From a psychological standpoint, it might’ve really given them a boost. Instead, Sidney Crosby and teammates showed frustration. It was as if it was a repeat of the second round. In fact, Crosby threw down Mats Zuccarello less than a minute in taking an undisciplined penalty. Even though they didn’t score on the power play, the Rangers looked so good testing Fleury that it became apparent what kind of game it would be.

 

”Not one guy in this room was happy or was going to accept the way we played the last game,” Marc Staal said after picking up two assists and rebounding from a poor effort against Edmonton. ”We wanted to respond. We know what kind of team we are. We just have to get the confidence to play like that consistently.”

Mats Zuccarello gets congrats at the bench following his goal in the first period. AP Photo by Frank Franklin II/Getty Images

Mats Zuccarello gets congrats at the bench following his goal in the first period.
AP Photo by Frank Franklin II/Getty Images

What kind of team were they? The kind that won every battle, outscored and out-checked a bewildered opponent who entered with only two regulation losses. That included winning key faceoffs. Less than a minute after Glass saved a goal, Derek Stepan won an offensive draw cleanly back to Zuccarello, who rifled home his third drawing first blood. It didn’t take long for Marty St. Louis to strike steering in a beautiful Rick Nash pass for his fifth which led to Johnston calling timeout.

It didn’t work. Instead, off some strong work from ex-Pen Lee Stempniak, a Kevin Hayes pass tipped out to Kevin Klein, who blasted home his third at 14:47 for a 3-0 lead. Since his poor start, Klein has been much better. Credit Alain Vigneault for making a change on the opening draw restoring Klein with John Moore, who had a good return following his suspension. His skating and puck movement allowed Vigneault to drop down Michael Kostka (17 shifts-11:58) and Matt Hunwick (20 shifts-15:30). Hunwick spent part of the game with Dan Girardi, who also was reunited with Staal.

Everything clicked. That included Jesper Fast, who dressed in place of Anthony Duclair and played on an effective checking line with Glass and Dominic Moore. They generated forecheck and Glass even had a couple of scoring chances to go with a game high six hits. However, he did catch Simon Despres from behind drawing a boarding minor. It looked like more of a charge but the heavy hit was a penalty regardless. Even with the anti-Glass contingent still out in full force on Twitter, Stepan stole the puck from Kris Letang and set up Nash for a shorthanded goal. It was his league-leading 12th.

Even on a night Hayes had a goal wiped out for an erroneous incidental contact from Toronto, Brassard scored on the ensuing power play for the only goal in the second. He took advantage of an untimely Steve Downie roughing minor driving a high riser from the left circle past Fleury. So far, Brassard has six goals and seven assists in the first year of a new contract that pays him an average of $5 million over the next five seasons. Aside from some defensive mishaps, he’s earning it.

There was one scare when Chris Kreider accidentally collided with Stepan. Earlier in the contest, he also ran into Blake Comeau. Sometimes, Kreider doesn’t pay attention. He needs to be more cognizant and keep his head up. Thankfully, Stepan was able to joke about it afterwards as was his linemate.

All in all, it was by far the Rangers’ best performance so far. They upped their record to 7-6-2. Next up are the struggling Avalanche, who were buried by the Islanders 6-0. That’s one they’ll want to take care of tomorrow with a rematch against the Pens in Pittsburgh Saturday.

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Dan Girardi, NYR (assist, 3 SOG, 3 blocks, 2 hits, +2 in 23:37)

2nd Star-Derek Stepan, NYR (assists, 11-and-7 on draws, +2 in 16:37)

1st Star-Rick Nash, NYR (league-leading 12th, 2 assists, 6 SOG, +2 in 16:23)

 

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Game Preview: Rangers face big test against Penguins

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Derek

Tonight, the Rangers host the Penguins at 33rd and 7th. They try to avoid a third straight loss. Coming off a lost weekend that featured a dreadful showing Sunday against Edmonton, they must be much better or suffer the consequences against one of the league’s best.

The Pens have won seven in a row. Still fuming from last Spring’s second round elimination, they’ll look to exact revenge. As usual, they’re the highest scoring team pacing the NHL with a whopping 4.11 goals-per-game. By contrast, they’ve only allowed 27. Marc-Andre Fleury has won 9 of 11 starts with a 1.90 goals-against-average, .931 save percentage and three shutouts.

The team in front of him helps. Sidney Crosby leads the league in scoring with 24 points. Half the production has come on the number one ranked power play clicking at a ridiculous 37.5 percent. They’re 21-for-56. Pittsburgh’s top five scorers which also include Patric Hornqvist, Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang have produced mostly on the man-advantage. For the Rangers whose penalty kill is tied for 18th (79.6 percent), it’s simple. Stay out of the penalty box.

As lethal as the Pens are on the power play, they’re equally impressive on the penalty kill boasting the third rated unit. So far, they’re 46-for-52 (88.5 percent) including an active streak of 37 straight kills. Pittsburgh has scored one shorthanded goal with key checking center Brandon Sutter responsible. Curiously, Crosby and Malkin have not been asked to kill many penalties. New coach Mike Johnston has allowed his horses to focus on playing even strength and power play, opting to go mostly with Sutter, Craig Adams, Marcel Goc, Pascal Dupuis and Nick Spaling. Blake Comeau can also play PK. He’s used Crosby, Hornqvist and Kunitz sparingly. A philosophical difference from Dan Bylsma.

The Pens top tandem of Letang and Paul Martin see a bulk of the minutes with each playing power play and penalty kill. Of course, Martin is the better defensive player. So, the Rangers may want to attack Letang. Depending on which line Alain Vigneault uses unless he decides to play Marc Staal and Kevin Klein against Crosby. That in itself is an intriguing subplot. The Pens accused Staal of thuggery last Spring. Will they seek retribution with antagonist Steve Downie? That largely depends on the balance of the game.

It would help if the Rangers had Ryan McDonagh. But we won’t see him until December at the soonest. Dan Boyle indicated that his hand is still hurting but wants to play either Thursday against Colorado or Saturday at Pittsburgh. John Moore returns after a five-game suspension. He’ll slot in on the third pair with Michael Kostka. Meanwhile, Dan Girardi stays with Matt Hunwick. I wonder if during the course of the game, Vigneault changes to Girardi and Staal matching them against Crosby. But with Malkin, it’s pick your poison.

This game is also the return of Jesper Fast. Instead of Vigneault trying him with Kevin Hayes and Carl Hagelin, he’ll be on the fourth line with Dominic Moore and Christmas ornament Tanner Glass. You had to figure Glass wasn’t coming out with it being his former team. Plus AV has a man crush on Glass since he played for him in Vancouver. You cannot make it up. So, Anthony Duclair sits. Correcting something I said in a recent post, the Rangers can send Duclair back to Quebec City at any time. Maybe they should just do it already instead of screwing around.

If they are gonna give Fast a chance and Vigneault won’t commit to Duclair, then just let him play back in junior. Enough shenanigans. If they do that, the Rangers can recall J.T. Miller or Oscar Lindberg. If they’re going to play Fast, then play him and I don’t mean on the fourth line. Instead, Lee Stempniak is back with Hayes and Hagelin.

Your projected lines:

Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello

Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Marty St. Louis

Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-Lee Stempniak

Tanner Glass-Dominic Moore-Jesper Fast

Marc Staal-Kevin Klein

Matt Hunwick-Dan Girardi

John Moore-Michael Kostka

Henrik Lundqvist

Cam Talbot

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Rangers recall Jesper Fast, Malone and Allen To Hartford

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Derek

Following Sunday’s bad home defeat to Edmonton, coach Alain Vigneault hinted at changes. Two of them came today. The Rangers recalled forward Jesper Fast and reassigned Ryan Malone and Conor Allen. Malone has been the odd man out of Vigneault’s rotation. As for Allen, he goes back to Hartford with John Moore returning tomorrow against Pittsburgh.

Fast returns and hopefully gets a real chance. In 11 games with the Wolf Pack, he tallied a goal and eight assists. In the Rangers’ first three contests, he had no points and averaged over 12 minutes. He can play penalty kill. I wonder if Vigneault will give him an opportunity and sit Christmas ornament Tanner Glass. Glass is a role player who adds physicality, kills penalties and nothing else. I doubt he comes out with his former team visiting Broadway.

After serving a five-game suspension for a dirty hit, Moore is back in tomorrow. That should aid the third pair. For now, he’ll slide in with Michael Kostka, whose days are numbered with the impending return of Dan Boyle. Following the Pens, Colorado visits Thursday and then the Blueshirts travel to Pittsburgh Saturday. Figure Boyle plays by the weekend.

The forward combinations I’d like to see would look like this.

Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Marty St Louis

Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello

Carl Hagelin-Kevin Hayes-Anthony Duclair

Jesper Fast-Dominic Moore-Lee Stempniak

That lineup would have balance. It hinges on Hayes and Duclair, who Vigneault moved up to the third line last night. Following a change, Hayes dished for Hagelin who scored his fourth. Hayes had arguably his best game pacing the team in shots (5) while delivering 3 hits and showing improvement in the faceoff circle going 8-and-10. Duclair received over 12 minutes and had two shots. He also got a power play shift (47 seconds). To Vigneault’s credit, he’s continued to use Duclair on the man-advantage. Now, he should have a bigger role.

It should be pointed out how poorly the Rangers were over the weekend. Lackadaisical mistakes and poor coverage won’t cut it against the Pens. Try that tomorrow and they’ll get their doors blown off. The attitude of the team following a locker room meeting was one of disappointment. Marc Staal referred to the Edmonton loss as wake up call. Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t buying it referencing the Wild comeback from 3-0 down after two periods. He’s right. It’s about time they show some urgency. We’ll see how they respond tomorrow.

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Pouliot’s Revenge: Rangers Embarrass Themselves In Loss To Oilers

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Derek
Welcome Back Benoit: Oiler goalscorer Benoit Pouliot celebrates his game-winner with teammate Justin Schultz. Getty Images/AP Photo by John Minchillo

Welcome Back Benoit: Oiler goalscorer Benoit Pouliot celebrates his game-winner with teammate Justin Schultz.
Getty Images/AP Photo by John Minchillo

If Saturday wasn’t an eye opener, maybe the Rangers got the message following a dreadful showing at home. Playing their second game in two nights, they looked lifeless in an embarrassing 3-1 loss to the Oilers. That concluded a lost weekend. Against two beatable opponents, they managed to come out with no points falling to NHL .500 (6-6-2). Good thing the division is so mediocre.

This was disgraceful. There’s no other way to slice it. Facing a backup goalie, they managed only 21 shots on Viktor Fasth, who let’s face it. He didn’t have to work. In fact, they were lucky to even be down 2-1 entering the third period. If not for the play of Henrik Lundqvist (30 saves), it would’ve been a laugher for an opponent more likely to be in the lottery.

At least it was enjoyable for Benoit Pouliot. Playing in his first game against the Rangers, he played very well earning first star honors with the game-winning goal and an assist. It also wasn’t too bad getting to play with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle on a dominant Edmonton first line that skated circles around lethargic Blueshirts. It was a night to forget for Marc Staal and Kevin Klein. Both were culpable on Edmonton’s first two goals. They got token help from lazy forwards who again resorted to stick checking. Nobody took the body.

”Our effort was unacceptable,” Staal said after a closed door meeting that many referred to as a ‘wake up call.’ ”We were out of sorts all over the ice and we were losing battles. It’s tough to win a hockey game that way.”

”When the energy isn’t there, it’s hard to play this game,” a disappointed Lundqvist, who didn’t mince words. ”We need to raise our level. There’s no way around that.”

Right now, they’re a mess. Too often, they are discombobulated. In this one, few played with any passion or purpose. The end result was deserved. When Alain Vigneault hints at lineup changes following mixing things up in the third, you know it’s bad. The most writhing indictment came from MSG rover John Giannone, who reported that assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson ripped into them after the second. To summarize, he called the first two periods the worst of the season. Adding further insult, Samuelsson said ‘We’re getting outplayed by Edmonton in our building. It’s embarrassing.‘

What’s so worrisome is their response. The Rangers went the first half of the third without a shot earning jeers. It wasn’t until Tanner Glass got a shot on Fasth with nine minutes left that prompted sarcastic cheers. When it’s the much maligned 12th forward, that’s bad. Vigneault flipped Marty St. Louis and Mats Zuccarello. He also put together a third line of lone goalscorer Carl Hagelin, Kevin Hayes and Anthony Duclair. A line I suggested in this space in a recent post. Dominic Moore and Lee Stempniak were dropped to the fourth line.

It was a memorable return for Pouliot. With the game three minutes in, he made a nice recovery of a loose puck and combined with Eberle to set up Nugent-Hopkins in front for a tap in. Derek Stepan was a step slow allowing Nugent-Hopkins to finish his fifth. Pouliot took advantage of a Klein giveaway and his line pounced.

The Rangers responded with their best play. Eventually, Hagelin scored in a second straight when he took a Hayes drop pass and had his shot ricochet off Jeff Petry by Fasth inside the post. Hagelin and Hayes were two of a handful who showed up. In particular, Hayes played one of his most active games leading the Rangers with five shots and earning 19 shifts (16:32). He nearly scored on a Edmonton giveaway but Fasth denied him twice.

Despite finishing the first strong, the Rangers vanished afterwards. Completely outplayed, they continued to turn over the puck and allow dangerous chances only to be bailed out by Lundqvist. Unfortunately, he couldn’t deny Pouliot who beat him with a clean wrister from the right circle off a nifty Nugent-Hopkins feed. Nugent-Hopkins did most of the work abusing Staal as defenders went to him leaving Pouliot wide open. His low wrister beat Lundqvist five-hole for his second goal. Entering, he was without a point in four. By night’s end, he upped his season total to 2-4-6. He also came back hard to deny a Klein opportunity.

”It was fun to be back and great that we came out with a win,” Pouliot pointed out. ”Last year was awesome for me. Of course playing against guys I had a great time with, I wanted to do well.”

There’s really not much left to say. Outside of a Chris Kreider late rush that resulted in a reputation goalie interference call with 4:06 left in regulation, there wasn’t much to get excited over. The only thing I can think of is a great glove save by Lundqvist on Justin Schultz in the second. He did his part. If his teammates don’t adjust, Tuesday could be ugly. The Pens are on a roll and very capable of humiliating them. You know they’ll be out for revenge.

Notes: John Moore served the final game of his five-game suspension. He’ll be back tomorrow probably for Conor Allen. Since Vigneault prefers pairing up a lefty and righty, figure Michael Kostka to stay with Allen going down. … Stat of the Night: Giveaways Oilers-5 Rangers-12 … Edmonton controlled faceoffs winning 57 percent (39-for-58). Mark Acrobello (10-and-4) and Boyd Gordon (13-and-7) paced them. Derick Brassard was 9-and-9 while Stepan improved slightly going 8-and-11. Hayes also was better going 8-and-10. … Typically, there wasn’t much hitting with the Oilers having 19 to the Rangers’ 17. Mats Zuccarello (4) shouldn’t be your leader followed by Hayes (3).

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, Rangers (30 saves incl. 12/13 in lopsided 2nd)

2nd Star-Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Oilers (goal-5th of season, assist, 5 SOG, +2 in 20:40)

1st Star-Benoit Pouliot, Oilers (goal-2nd of season, assist, +2 in 18:06)

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Game Preview: Pouliot returns as Oilers visit MSG

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Derek

A night after a frustrating loss at Toronto, the Rangers return to MSG where they’ll host the Oilers. It’s the return of Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot was an integral part of last year’s run. After a slow start, he became a fixture with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello on the third line. He achieved career bests in assists (21), points (36) and power play goals (7). Pouliot produced five goals and five assists in the postseason.

His combination of size, speed and forechecking was a good fit. He created space for his linemates complementing them. Alain Vigneault used him with success on the second power play unit. Pouliot played a similar role to Chris Kreider screening in front and scoring garbage goals. Last summer, he signed a five-year $20 million contract with Edmonton. He got rewarded.

Similar to last season, he’s off to a slow start. In 14 games, he has only a goal and three assists. After posting a goal and helper in a win over one of his former teams Montreal on 10/27, Pouliot is without a point in four straight and minus-three. With leading scorer Taylor Hall out, he’s getting a chance to play with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. Neither is ripping it up either. But each is dangerous. If the Rangers play like they did last night, watch out.

Viktor Fasth gets the start over Ben Scrivens, who has a 2-1-0 career record with a 2.00 goals-against-average, .943 save percentage and a shutout against the Rangers. Instead, Fasth will get the chance to face countryman Henrik Lundqvist, who got a rare night off. It’s a struggling backup who gets the call.

Offense hasn’t been the issue for the Rangers, who scored four times last night. It’s the defense. They’ve allowed 11 goals in the last three. In fact, outside of Lundqvist sharing a shutout with Ondrej Pavelec in a shootout loss, they’ve given up three-or-more in four of the last five. Dating back to a 4-3 overtime win at New Jersey, they’ve yielded 21 goals over the last seven. Their record is 3-2-2.

If they don’t clean it up defensively, it won’t matter who’s in net. Granted. Injuries to Ryan McDonagh and Dan Boyle haven’t helped. Neither has the suspension to John Moore, who is eligible to return Tuesday against Pittsburgh. Vigneault has leaned heavily on Dan Girardi and Marc Staal while showing faith in Matt Hunwick, who had his worst showing yesterday. A costly turnover led to Leo Komarov’s winner. A play that saw Carl Hagelin, Dominic Moore and Lee Stempniak fly the zone like they were playing pond hockey.

That kind of lackadaisical defensive play has been a theme. The forwards aren’t doing a good job. Despite getting a bundle of scoring chances with Rick Nash burying his 11th, his line with Brassard and Marty St. Louis was lousy in their end. They didn’t take anyone on a couple of Leafs goals. There also was the dreadful sequence with Zuccarello throwing the puck away that lead to a Peter Holland shorthanded goal. On the play, Zuccarello chased Komarov but Hunwick forgot about Holland leaving him wide open.

There’s been way too much of that. It’s not Rangers hockey. Regardless of who is out, the forwards know better. Vigneault has gotten a lot from Girardi, Staal, Hunwick and Kevin Klein. He also rolled third pair Conor Allen and Mike Kostka, who were victimized on Roman Polak’s tying goal. Once Moore and Boyle return, both are out. Thankfully, it’s coming soon.

With the 6 PM faceoff around the corner, it should be interesting to see how they respond. How long will Vigneault stick with the odd fourth line of Anthony Duclair, Tanner Glass and Kevin Hayes? Is the third line good enough? The bottom six remain in limbo. We’ll have more after the game.

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No Leafing Around: Ugly Finish Costs Rangers

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Derek
Leaf Hero: Leo Komarov celebrates his game-winner with teammate Mike Santorelli. The Canadian Press/Photo by Mike Gunn

Leaf Hero: Leo Komarov celebrates his game-winner with teammate Mike Santorelli.
The Canadian Press/Photo by Fred Gunn

There’s no other way to slice it. This was a brutal loss. After digging out of a 3-1 hole to take the lead, the Rangers fell apart in a frustrating 5-4 defeat to the Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. They got sucked into a track meet against the wrong opponent. Toronto took advantage of poor defensive coverage and bad turnovers improving to 2-0 in the season series.

At least it was competitive. From a Ranger standpoint, they wasted an opportunity for two points. Following Rick Nash’s team-leading 11th goal that put them ahead 4:23 into the third period, they came unglued. The Leafs scored the final two. Roman Polak and Leo Komarov did them in. From there, Jonathan Bernier (31 saves) held them off despite a leaky defense ready to be taken. Toronto’s D was so egregious that the Rangers easily could’ve gotten 8. Especially in a lopsided second that saw them dominate play.

They got what they deserved. A lack of killer instinct combined with undisciplined play came back to haunt them. Alain Vigneault rolled all four lines and three defensive pairs. Unfortunately, it had mixed results. Too often, Cam Talbot was hung out to dry. Forwards didn’t come back hard enough. The most glaring example was seeing the third line of Carl Hagelin, Dominic Moore and Lee Stempniak fly the zone on Komarov’s game-winner with 5:34 remaining. For the most part, Matt Hunwick has been brilliant. But it wasn’t his night. He struggled mightily. It was his turnover that led to Jake Gardiner setting up Komarov.

It happens. Hunwick has really stepped up in the absence of Ryan McDonagh. Vigneault trusts him enough to play him key minutes. Tonight, he got 33 shifts logging 21:45. Unfortunately, he screwed up. The real problem was only Dan Girardi was back and he predictably went down instead of standing up. That allowed Gardiner to thread the needle for an easy Komarov finish. The laziness of Hagelin, Moore and Stempniak can’t happen. These are three defensively responsible players who know better. That it was the third line didn’t inspire much. At least some hustle resulted in Moore setting up Hagelin’s tying goal at 17:44 of the second.

For better or worse, Vigneault is going with that experienced trio to play key minutes. That means chipping in the occasional goal and being defensively responsible. He doesn’t fully trust Anthony Duclair or Kevin Hayes, who got a regular shift with Tanner Glass on a weird fourth line. When they fell behind, Vigneault shortened his bench.

Where I differ with the coach is on the insistence of having the third tandem of Conor Allen and Mike Kostka on to protect a lead. That deadly combo got victimized on Polak’s seeing eye shot that looked like it deflected off Nazem Kadri in front. Kostka is no great shakes defensively and Allen had a bad game taking an ill advised penalty that lead to a Phil Kessel power play goal and finished minus-two. I get that they play tomorrow against Edmonton. But there comes a time where you have to ride your horses. You’re telling me Girardi and Marc Staal couldn’t handle a couple of more shifts? Judging by the score sheet, they didn’t play a ton in a winnable game.

I also don’t get why Chris Kreider wasn’t out for the final shift. Though it was pointed out that he was on prior, you’re telling me Vigneault couldn’t get him out for at least the final 26 seconds. Reunited with Derek Stepan, he played his best game scoring his fourth goal and assisting on linemate Mats Zuccarello’s second that started the comeback. Not only was Kreider noticeable but he played with purpose taking the body and was strong on the puck. He received 24 shifts (17:26)- six seconds more than Stepan, who Vigneault curiously had take the faceoff in the Toronto zone following a timeout. Winning draws isn’t one of Stepan’s strengths. Predictably, Tyler Bozak beat him clean and the Leafs cleared the puck out. Stepan lost 13 of 19 faceoffs. Brassard also had a bad night losing 14-of-22 but would’ve been a better choice.

In a frustrating loss, these things add up. Toss in the fact that the Rangers had a streak of 69 consecutive wins when they scored four-or-more. That was snapped. Without McDonagh, it isn’t as easy to protect leads. That’s why Vigneault should’ve done everything possible to get the two points. Instead, it makes tomorrow’s game against the Oilers a must win. No ifs and’s or buts. The Pens visit Tuesday. That could be ugly if they don’t clean it up.

Zuke 'N Step: Goalscorer Mats Zuccarello is mobbed by Derek Stepan. The Canadian Press/Mike Gunn

Zuke ‘N Step: Goalscorer Mats Zuccarello is mobbed by Derek Stepan.
The Canadian Press/Fred Gunn

Even in a game where the offense showed improvement with Stepan forming solid chemistry with Kreider and Zuccarello, they were sloppy. That included consecutive penalties on Allen and Hagelin for a 5-on-3 power play goal allowed. It also featured a brutal sequence by Zuccarello, who after throwing the puck away took himself out of the play while Hunwick watched Peter Holland score shorthanded on Talbot. There also was another brutal mistake on household name Richard Panik’s goal that increased Toronto’s lead to 3-1 with 1:01 left in the first.

It was ugly. The Rangers committed too many mistakes and paid dearly. It doesn’t matter who’s in net. Even if Talbot again didn’t come up with the big save, they just can’t get away with that. There’s no margin for error. Plain and simple. They blew it.

NY Puck 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Leo Komarov, Leafs (GWG at 14:26-1st of season, assist, 8 hits, +2, 6-and-0 on draws-all over ice)

2nd Star-Nazem Kadri, Leafs (2 assists, 3 SOG, screened Talbot on tying goal, 13-for-19 on faceoffs)

1st Star-Chris Kreider, NYR (4th of season, assist-4 points in last 3, +1)

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How Stepan’s Return Could Impact Duclair, Hayes

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Derek

When the Rangers visit Air Canada Centre for tonight’s match against the Maple Leafs, Derek Stepan will make his season debut. The 24-year old number one center finally returns from a broken left fibula sustained during training camp.

To the Rangers’ credit, they’ve hung around going 6-4-2 without Stepan. Having him back to anchor the top line should provide a spark. In 82 games last season, he finished second in scoring achieving career bests in assists (40) and points (57). Prior to missing the first 12 games, he’d never missed one. Dating back to his rookie year in ’10-11, Stepan played in 294 consecutive regular season games. He missed one game last postseason during the club’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Without question, his return allows Derick Brassard to center the second line. In the first season of a five-year contract worth $25 million, Brassard has gotten off to a good start. In the first dozen, he has five goals and seven assists totaling 12 points which ranks second in team scoring trailing only Rick Nash (10-3-13). With the two finding early chemistry, Alain Vigneault will keep them together with Martin St. Louis, who has come to life with three goals and an assist over the last two.

In his ’14-15 debut, Stepan will center Chris Kreider and Mats Zuccarello. Perhaps his return can spark Kreider, who’s had an uneven start. He did pick up a helper in their 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings. However, his play has been inconsistent. Thus far, he has three goals and five assists for eight points ranking fourth in team scoring. There are shifts where he dominates with his size and speed like the goal he scored against St. Louis. There have been other instances where he hasn’t been noticeable. Being reunited with Stepan should help. Zuccarello also hasn’t performed to expectations with only one goal and three assists in 10 games.

“[Stepan and Kreider] have got some real good chemistry,” Vigneault told reporters. “He understands Chris well, he reads him well, he uses his speed well. [Zuccarello] I feel should fit in real nicely with that line.”

Zuccarello’s speed and playmaking should complement Stepan and Kreider. Zuccarello definitely needs space to operate. Maybe Kreider gets back to playing physical opening up the ice. Thus far, he has only 15 hits. A far cry from how he must play. If the trio meshes, that would give the Rangers two very good scoring lines. Essentially, Nash has carried them with some help from Brassard and St. Louis recently.

While the top two lines look set, the bottom two remain question marks. Despite ranking fifth in scoring with six points (1-5-6), rookie Anthony Duclair hasn’t gotten a lot of ice-time. Lately, Vigneault has limited Duclair’s shifts especially in the third period. With the gifted 19-year old playing his 10th game Wednesday, he’s here to stay. Given how visible he is getting scoring chances, it’s the right decision. He belongs. Now the question is what will Vigneault do with him. With Lee Stempniak scoring on a feed from Dominic Moore against Detroit, it looks like Duclair is stuck on the fourth line. A potential odd trio of Duclair, Kevin Hayes and Tanner Glass likely starts tonight.

Part of the dilemma is that Carl Hagelin remains ahead of Duclair. A solid role player, Hagelin is a responsible two-way forward who kills penalties. He’s off to a slow start with two goals and two helpers. The 26-year old Swede is in his fourth year. Hagelin set a new career best with 17 goals in 72 games last season. He followed that up with career highs in goals (7), assists (5) and points (12) in the playoffs. The thought process entering this year was that he should score between 15-20 goals with a target of 40 points. Interestingly, he’s been unable to match his rookie high of 38 established under John Tortorella in ’11-12.

The departure of Brad Richards hasn’t helped. Until either Kevin Hayes or J.T. Miller develop, the Blueshirts don’t have a true number three center. As respectable a player as Moore is, he’s more cut out for the fourth line. A role he flourished in playing alongside Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett. Do you want your third line pivot to have no goals and three assists in Game 13? That’s exactly what Vigneault is going with. For nearly a decade, Moore has had a nice career. He’s also never totaled more than 41 points in a season. He did achieve a career high 18 goals in ’10-11 but that was with the Lightning. At this point, Moore’s a solid support player who should anchor the fourth line and kill penalties. Vigneault can plug him as needed.

In order for the Rangers to be successful, they need to become a four-line team. As currently constituted, that’s not feasible. Especially when their third line has a combined five goals. Stempniak has been a nice addition. One of Glen Sather’s best moves along with the underrated signing of Matt Hunwick, who’s exceeded expectations with a depleted blueline. Expecting Stempniak to be more than a role guy is unrealistic. Between 10-15 goals and 25-30 points is doable. Thus far, he’s 3-2-5 in 12 games. Hagelin needs to pick it up. But as long as he’s miscast, don’t expect the same production. Having Richards last year allowed Vigneault to use Brassard and Zuccarello on the third line. A luxury he no longer haves.

Duclair has enough offensive capability to play in a top nine role. Why not try a combo of Duclair, Hayes and Hagelin? At least Hagelin would get the chance to play with actual talent. As for Hayes, he shows potential. The big forward out of Boston College is still adjusting to his first pro year at center. In nine games, he has a goal and assist with a minus-one rating. Predictably, he’s gotten killed on faceoffs losing 70 of 95. With Vigneault emphasizing puck possession, it’s hard to play Hayes out of position unless he improves. Speaking of which, Stepan has never been good on faceoffs. A career 44.0 percent, he must improve. Without him, Brassard has excelled going 135-and-105. Moore is 106-and-86. Chris Mueller went 38-and-26 before getting sent down.

Assuming Hayes continues to struggle despite showing good defensive instincts and puck possession tendencies, he’ll probably go down to Hartford. That could open the door for Miller. The forgotten man who the Rangers selected 15th overall in 2011 continues to perform well with the Wolf Pack. He has three goals and five assists in nine games. At a point-per-game last year in the AHL, there really isn’t much left to prove. At 21, Miller has the size (6-1, 205) to become an NHL regular. The question is does he have the mindset. Following a strong camp, he looked lost. It took just three games for him to get sent back. He was dismal going minus-four with a couple of dreadful turnover that led to goals against.

What should the Rangers do with Miller? At some point, he has to play. Either sink or swim. Among the notables Miller was taken ahead of are Boone Jenner (Columbus-37th), Brandon Saad (Chicago-43rd), Matthew Nieto (San Jose-47th), Nikita Kucherov (Tampa-58th). Calgary freshman Johnny Gaudreau went 104th in the fourth round. Chicago stole Andrew Shaw in Round Five (139th). Ondrej Palat was an overager Tampa took 208th in the seventh round. Curiously, there haven’t been many successful players outside the top 10 in Round One. It makes you wonder.

Getting back on topic. Until Vigneault establishes the bottom six, the Rangers will be a work in progress. Stepan should help. But unless Vigneault learns to trust the kids, they could struggle. Don’t forget they’re minus one of the top defensemen. When does playing Dan Girardi and Marc Staal big minutes catch up? At least Kevin Klein is back. Boyle might return next week. We probably won’t see Ryan McDonagh until December. The Rangers won’t be at full strength for a while. What will the lineup look like by the second half? That could go a long way to determining what kind of season they have. Hopefully, Vigneault will have figured it out. He did last year.

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Rebuild vs. retool – an organization at a crossroads

Posted on November 8, 2014 by hasan4978

With the Devils struggling again, GM Lou Lamoriello is faceing plenty of imminent decisions about the future direction of the franchise.

I could bother to complain about the Devils’ most recent performance – a drab 4-2 loss in Detroit last night that wasn’t even as close as the score would indicate – or the fact I wasted time watching/listening to this game last night as opposed to watching The Amazing Race (and why that’s on Fridays now is mystifying, but beside the point).  I figured I’d go in a slightly different direction with this blog though since let’s face it, right now the Devils are at a crossroads as a franchise.  Despite the departure of Martin Brodeur after last season, age is still very much an issue for key members of this team.  No fewer than five of the starting eighteen skaters are 35+ years old including key forwards Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias as well as captain Bryce Salvador and fellow d-man Marek Zidlicky.  All of the above (sans Elias) plus 34-year old Michael Ryder are on the last year of their deals so these guys aren’t exactly long-term solutions any way you cut it.  Not to mention GM Lou Lamoriello just turned 72 a couple weeks ago.  With the Devils again on the road to mediocrity this year eventually hard choices are going to need to be made.  Is coach Pete DeBoer still the long-term answer, whether we rebuild or not?  Do we go down the path of Sanborn’s Sabres and completely nuke the roster or do we keep trying to patch together and retool on the fly, the way we already are in the process of doing with the defense?

Clearly Lou himself doesn’t believe in all-out rebuilds, he hasn’t done one in 27 years as the Devils GM and isn’t about to start now towards the end of his storied career.  And as much as some fans may complain about how we’re spinning our wheels signing a bunch of older guys, the fact is most of them are not signed to long-term deals that are going to clog up cap or roster spots past the next year or so.  If anything I admire how Lou’s trying to retool on the fly (remember a couple years ago when the defense was as old and slow as the forward core is now, or how we had no long-term solution in goal for when Brodeur retired?) although short-term the growing pains are clearly there with this defense and even goalie Cory Schneider to a degree and long-term we still need a LOT of reinforcements up front.  Picking defensemen every year in the second round is nice if you’re going to keep hitting on them but at some point we have to trade from a strength to help a weakness, and use more higher picks to address the forward issue.  Counting on lower-round picks like Reid Boucher – who is slumping in the AHL – isn’t ideal unless you supplement it with some higher-round talent.

Some fans don’t think it’s possible to retool on the fly, it’s either tank or bust – a thinking I abhor.  I can’t believe I’m about to say this but…just look across town for proof it is possible to stay competitive and rebuild to being a true contender at the same time.  Look at the Rangers’ team coming out of the lockout – they had a bunch of short term vets like Jaromir Jagr, Michael Nylander, Michael Roszival supplemented by role players with a young goalie and were able to remain competitive – though I’m sure they were accused of spinning their wheels too since they never got out of the second round until 2012 – all the while Henrik Lundqvist was gaining experience and the Rangers were able to overhaul their farm system and get younger with good picks and some astute robberies trades, like getting Ryan McDonagh for the rotting corpse of Scott Gomez (who may actually be signed any day by the Devils now lol).  Yes it takes longer to ‘retool’ in that way but there’s no real guarantee bottoming out will help long-term.  Plus let’s be honest, it’s not exactly an ideal climate to completely nuke the team with the Rangers being a contender and even the Isles finally improving.

After all if the Devils ever did bottom out, who would be the GM making the moves to eventually get us back into contention?  Would it be Lou at 75, or someone else?  Tank advocates point to how you generally need at least one or two star forwards to win in the post-lockout NHL – unless you’re 2011 Boston and have a bunch of good forwards, along with great defense and goaltending – and with free agency being what it is now with most stars not even sniffing FA post-lockout, the only ways to get said forward are either in the draft or via trade.  Under normal circumstances we would have had three top ten picks in the last four years, but between the trade of our #9 overall two years ago for Schneider and the fact we had to pay a final price for the ill-fated Ilya Kovalchuk contract last year and go down from #10 to #30 in the draft last year, we haven’t even been able to use our top picks to supplement our aging core up front (our other top pick was of course Adam Larsson at #4 in 2011).  The fact that key forwards Parise and Kovalchuk both left for home after 2012, or the fact other highly drafted forwards such as Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson haven’t truly panned out  have also set the organization back further, at least up front.

Fact is though, some hard choices may need to be made if this team is putt-puttering along on the fringe of a playoff spot again this year.  I could forgive them for not trading David Clarkson two years ago (though if we knew for certain he was going to walk then yeah he should have been traded), and understand why Marek Zidlicky and Jaromir Jagr weren’t traded last year – since both were re-signed in and in Jagr’s case, he invoked a de facto no trade by threatening not to report if he was dealt…not that we were going to deal him anyway though.  The one I can’t understand was why we didn’t trade Mark Fayne last year, with Larsson healthy and rotting in the minors.  Clearly they had little intention of re-signing Fayne, and it made no sense to keep Larsson down in the minors for the entire season until we were out of it.

And this year the Devils have a ton of guys on expiring contracts that can help another team and net us back needed picks to help re-stock the forward core.  Jagr – if he’s as cranky as he’s been most of this season and suddenly becomes more amenable to a trade this time around, Ryder, Zidlicky, even Salvador could be traded for some tangible value.  Thing is, that isn’t neccesarily what Lou will do if we’re on the fringe of the playoff hunt again, especially in an East that doesn’t look too imposing.  And that’s where the crossroads comes into play and where we might veer too far into ‘win now’ mode at the expense of getting help down the road.  Lou’s done a good job of not tying us up long-term with bad deals up front at the very least – though it looks like Ryane Clowe was a bad deal, sadly it might dissapear on IR at this rate.  However going one more spring attempting to protect futile playoff pushes might be one season too long.  While a total rebuild isn’t necessary, at some point there needs to be more assets allocated to getting in younger forwards that can play.  Signing hold-the-fort guys only gets you so far, especially when those hold-the-fort guys (like Mike Cammalleri or Martin Havlat) get hurt.

Of course there’s also the question of the coach…while Lou’s given out a lot of passes to Pete the last couple of years, I can’t imagine even the newer, more patient version of Lou is happy over a number of performances like last night, shots allowed being way up or our PK being historically bad.  Not to mention signs – mostly from Jagr comments – that this team isn’t the good ship lollipop it was in the last couple seasons.  Still, if Pete is fired where does Lou go from here?  It’s not like there’s many proven winners out there whose name isn’t John Tortorella (and even if his last year in Vancouver wasn’t the disaster it was there’s no way Lou would hire a cranky egomaniac like Tort).  Are you going to retool with another young coach, or bring in some washed up vet name like Ron Wilson who isn’t going to excite anyone?  While I get just as crazy as anyone over the lack of accountability for our last two playoff seasons, I’m still more forgiving than most about Lou’s blind spot vis-a-vis Pete since the other options are a bit underwhelming at this point.

Still, if we do eventually turn younger up front, is Pete going to be the right guy for it?  Defenders point to Adam Henrique and Damon Severson as evidence of how he can handle younger guys but I’d argue the book is far from written about Severson (it wouldn’t completely shock me if his rookie season took the same path as Larsson’s in 2011) and Henrique got a real chance because there was literally no other option with Travis Zajac and Jacob Josefson hurt in 2011.  His record with other younger players both here and in Florida is more sketchy.  Even now Larsson still gets benched for making one mistake a game – tipping the first goal past Schneider on the PK last night – while others get to blunder repeatedly with little accountability for them.  In that respect what Lou decides to do with this team going forward may tie in to what he does with the coaching.  Or it should.  While yes Pete had success with by far his best talent in 2012 and proved he can handle a veteran roster, the fact is plenty of coaches in every sport can benefit from good teams or get fired simply for having bad teams while Pete’s managed to avoid the guillotine despite two straight playoff-less seasons, a feat that was last accomplished before Lou became the GM.

Hopefully one way or the other we take a fork in the road this year.  Unless by some miracle we stay reasonably healthy and at least have an illusion of being real contenders by January.  We’re going to have to navigate a brutal November schedule first for that to happen, and so far we aren’t doing too well with that going 0-3 against St. Louis and Detroit.  Assuming this team remains firmly on the bubble, it’ll be interesting to see whether there’s finally a concerted effort to end the illusion of a playoff run and eventually restock the farm with talented, speedy forwards.

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