Video Of Day: Martin St. Louis Finally Scores

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Derek

It took 15 games for Martin St. Louis to finally score. The former league MVP who was acquired at the trade deadline for Ryan Callahan had struggled mightily. Entering last night, he only had three assists. Something had to give.

With the Rangers nursing a 2-1 lead, St. Louis finished off a Rick Nash pass on a two-on-one for a shorthanded goal. A beaut which finally gave him 30 goals. It had to feel like a huge relief for a star player who is used to producing. The goal gave his new team some breathing room allowing the Blueshirts to prevail over the Canucks 3-1.

A rematch that pitted Alain Vigneault and John Tortorella against each other. Vigneault had a successful return to Vancouver. He went 2-0 against his former team. The Rangers won for the 25th time on the road and moved up to 90 points. They lead the Flyers by three for second place. By virtue of a point in a 1-0 shootout loss at St. Louis, Philly is at 87 with two extra games remaining. The Rangers only have five left.

Their seventh win over the last eight inched them closer to the postseason. Both the Canadiens and Lightning each clinched last night. Daniel Carcillo and Benoit Pouliot each tallied in the win. Carcillo benefited from no whistle when Eddie Lack thought he had the puck covered. Brian Boyle freed it up allowing the pest to open the scoring. Pouliot converted a beautiful Derick Brassard for a power play goal. Ryan Kesler had the lone goal for Vancouver, who are headed to a long offseason.

The most important aspect of the win was St. Louis finally scoring. It should provide a big confidence boost. If the Rangers are to be successful this Spring, they need him. Maybe he’ll heat up at the right time.

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Rangers and Canucks set for April Fool’s Day rematch

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Derek

Tonight, the Rangers pay a visit to Vancouver where they’ll again see former coach John Tortorella. In a schedule twist of cruel irony, the two teams who essentially exchanged coaches last summer will meet for a second time on April Fool’s Day. In a league that takes itself too seriously, at least someone had a keen sense of humor.

When the Canucks and Rangers played the first time in Tortorella’s MSG visit following Thanksgiving, it was Vancouver that was off to a better start. However, Alain Vigneault’s new club rolled to a 5-2 win highlighted by rookie Chris Kreider’s first NHL hat trick. Tortorella’s return was so bad, his team gave up the first four goals chasing Roberto Luongo. Ironically, he’s no longer a Canuck sent back to Florida at the trade deadline. The man who replaced him is rookie Eddie Lack, who’ll be in net against Henrik Lundqvist when the teams face off at 10 EST.

So much has happened since. While injuries and underachieving have been the story for Tortorella’s first year in Vancouver with a possible cruel fate awaiting, Vigneault’s first season on Broadway has gradually improved. Having won six of seven, the Rangers bring a 42-30-4 record with 88 points into their 77th game leading the Flyers by two for second in the Metro Division. Their 24 road wins are tops in the East and are a big reason they’re headed to the playoffs.

Interestingly, no player has over 53 points with Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan sharing the team lead. With two markers in a 5-0 rout of Edmonton, Rick Nash leads them with 25 goals. The only player to hit 20 or more. However, they have better scoring balance under Vigneault with nine current players getting at least 10 goals. Former captain Ryan Callahan was the 10th. While former Tortorella pupil Ryan McDonaugh has been the team’s best player with his 14 goals and 43 points putting him into the Norris conversation, Martin St. Louis remains without a goal and just three assists in his first 14 games. If that’s all that’s wrong, figure it to work itself out. The former league MVP is too good not to contribute.

As Vigneault returns to a place he had plenty of success guiding the Canucks to a Stanley Cup appearance in 2011, Tortorella is saddled with rumors of being fired after only one year on the job. It doesn’t seem fair considering how poorly The Sedins have performed. Neither has 50 points yet Henrik and Daniel lead a low scoring club with 46 and 42 points respectively. A far cry from the type of production they once had under Vigneault. The crazy aspect is teflon GM Mike Gillis re-signed each to extensions that pay them $7 million through 2017-18. Locking up players in their 30’s who are on the downside is delusional.

Further complicating the problem, Ryan Kesler wants out. He nearly was traded to the Pens but instead a disorganized Canucks management pulled the plug. He’ll turn 30 this summer and has two years left on his deal which pays him a cap hit of $5 million through 2015-16. Kesler leads them in goals (23), power play goals (9) and game-winners (5). The second highest goal scorer on a terrible roster is Chris Higgins coming in with 17. Whose fault is it? Is it really Tortorella, who got dealt this mess or should Vancouver ownership be looking at Gillis. It seems pretty clear here.

On the verge of missing the playoffs, the Canucks are five out with only six left. If they do give Tortorella the ax, it will not address the issue. To think Vigneault traded places with him and got out of that. He must feel like the luckiest man in hockey. He went from a toxic environment to a much more stable one and has come out looking roses. His coaching opposite must wish he took the year off.

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Devils’ season summed up in a nutshell on Long Island

Posted on March 29, 2014 by hasan4978

Or maybe this Charlie Brown YouTube sums up our season even better than the actual joke of a hockey game that took place tonight in the dump known as Nassau.  Like Lucy holding out the football, teams in front of the Devils kept losing just enough to where you thought maybe, just maybe with one hot streak the Devils had a chance at getting into playoff position.  And then just as we get another chance to take advantage, boom we go flying up in the air and miss kicking the proverbial football yet again.  Every single time this season when the Devils could gain ground or really get a foothold in the race, they’ve invariably found a way to screw it up.  Despite all their disasters – the 0-9 in shootouts, the eighteen losses to backup goalies, the fact they’ve only had one three-game winning streak – they still entered today’s game against Bridgeport (which is honestly what we faced tonight) four points out of a spot with nine games left.  Even with Columbus and Detroit winning their games tonight, at least the Devils would have held their ground and gotten closer to clearing the Caps and a fading Leafs team even worse than us right now.

Perhaps tonight was a fitting end – finally – to a Devils season that was essentially DOA with Ilya Kovalchuk‘s departure to Russia coupled with an 0-4-3 start that we just could never put enough consistent hockey together to make up for.  A fitting end in that we lost our tenth game in the shootout, again not scoring, again with Cory Schnieder looking like a statue in the skills competition.  Fitting in that we lost our nineteenth game to a backup with the immortal Anders Nilsson shutting us down AGAIN, only giving up an Adam Henrique breakaway goal despite looking shaky on some of his saves at times.  As one-time captain Zach Parise once said (ironically enough after Nilsson shut us out three years ago), a pee wee goalie could have made most of those saves.  Didn’t help that it seems like the Devils need the Charlie Sheen glasses from Major League to see the net since they had several point-blank chances and missed the net entirely…even Jaromir Jagr wasn’t immune to that tonight.

Even worse than the actual loss from my perspective, is that to a degree I somehow expected this.  The minute I saw the Isles lineup – without guys like John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Lubomir Vishnovsky and Mark Streit to name a few – I had a bad feeling about this game.  Which was doubled when I saw Nilsson was in net, and of course he wound up being the nineteenth backup goalie to beat us.  Despite playing a minor league team I actually feared the worst to such an extent I couldn’t even bring myself to watch the first half of a vitally crucial game.  Of course that proved to be a good thing since the Devils had a meager two – TWO! – shots on Nilsson in a typically sluggish first period.  What was even more comical about the first period is the fact coach Pete DeBoer restored Steve Bernier to the lineup and moved Danius Zubrus to center because he was worried about the Isles playing a physical game.  Comical because the coach was right, except to the extent that the players he put in didn’t exactly help based on the fact the Isles outhit us 19-4 in the first period (no that’s not a misprint).  Yes, not having physical defensemen Anton Volchenkov and Bryce Salvador didn’t help but come on.  At least look like you want the game more than a team of young players just looking to make individual impressions.

Of course the Devils team of slow starters picked it up after the first to a degree, although they fell behind in spectacularly inept fashion early in the second period when a Frans Nielsen pass was directed away by Peter Harrold, right off the leg of Patrik Elias and past Schnieder at 2:12.  I was still following this game online and via Twitter at that point but right then I was already comparing this game to previous disasters against the Isles…really it’s amazing just how many bad losses we’ve had against a team that’s been a non-factor aside from the shortened season last year.  Both of the ones that immediately come to mind were from 2010’s hideous first half, when we lost to them on Long Island just after Thanksgiving in a 2-0 shutout when they were coming in off a fourteen-game losing streak, and the pre-Christmas 5-1 fiasco at home when Jacques Lemaire made his third return as a coach and remarked afterward how we looked like we lost our ability to play the game.  There’ve been other bad ones to be sure over the last several years, including a desultory home loss late last year during our spiral of death.

Even after I finally turned the game on just after Henrique’s tying goal midway through the second I didn’t feel much better about the game.  Aside from a couple of comical breakdowns defensively on our power play (one of which earned Eric Gelinas a return trip to Pete’s chateau bow-wow for the third period), we managed to keep the shot total down at least, though we couldn’t up our shot total with inept play in the offensive zone and constantly missing the net on point-blank chances.  Our utter lack of skating speed doesn’t help but I’ve gone through this time and again, how we struggle against teams like these Isles, the Jets, the Sabres even – teams that might not have much talent but speed to burn and just enough skill to take advantage of our plodders.  Once the game dragged into OT the urgency was there to end it before the dreaded skills competition but despite getting a handful of shots and at least a couple of missed nets and one other chance where Marek Zidlicky was open but got the puck stolen from behind with a diving pokecheck, nearly giving up a breakaway at the other end.

Of course when time ran out in the overtime, it could be argued it also ran out on our season – which given our shooters’ collective failure and Schnieder’s futility in the skills competition there was really no way out of the spiral of suck.  I correctly opined before the shootout that Isles coach Jack Capuano should go first with skills ace Frans Nielsen and go for a quick kill, which is exactly how the skills competition played out.  Unfortunately, Devils coach DeBoer didn’t follow my advice or anyone else’s and went essentially with the same ol’ same ol’ in the skills competition.  I understand putting out Henrique despite his own futility in the skills competition given how hot he’s been in the second half.  I’m glad they took Elias out of the ‘anchor’ position to take some pressure off at least.  Still, you’d think we could give Tuomo Ruutu a try in the shootout?  With his nearly 40% career record and the fact he’s not weighed down by the team’s futility since he hasn’t taken a shot as a Devil yet?  Or Zidlicky for that matter, he has a respectable record (moreso than Damien Brunner, who was slated to go third) and yet he hasn’t gotten a chance this year either.   Granted Brunner had another strong game tonight but most of the time the best hockey players aren’t the best skills competition players.  You’d think at some point it would occur to this coach that doing the same thing over and over again eventually you have to accept isn’t going to yield different results.

Granted I can’t blame Deboer entirely for NHL players being laughably inept at a skills competition.  There’s no excuse for the team to be 1-30 or whatever it is shooting the puck, or for Schnieder to be an utter statue allowing a five-hole goal to the immortal Brock Nelson on his second shot.  For all our shooting woes, five of our ten shootouts we’ve trailed before a shooter even stepped onto the ice.  Still, even if you wound up doing something unconventional like pulling Cory for a cold Martin Brodeur in the skills competition would it really matter?  So we lose 1-0 instead of 2-0?  Our shootout curse has been an epic-team wide meltdown from soup to nuts this year.  Even with that I don’t want to hear complaining about the shootout tonight…this game really should have been won at some point in the 65 minutes.  Especially with our total lack of effort in the first period – AGAIN.  Eventually if you were going to get serious about making a playoff run you were going to have to put together a winning streak, which this team clearly is not capable of even if you follow up playing Bridgeport with Hartford, Abbotsfield or SKA Petersburg from the KHL.

Perhaps the only good thing about tonight’s loss is that it signals that this season is mercifully coming to an end soon.  Although at this point it won’t be soon enough either having to deal with a dead atmosphere or just eating tickets for the next four home games before our season finale on April 13 and perhaps Brodeur’s finale in a Devils uniform.

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Flames end Rangers win streak at five

Posted on March 29, 2014 by Derek
Calgary's Joe Colborne celebrates a goal while Ryan McDonagh can't bare to look. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Calgary’s Joe Colborne celebrates a goal while Ryan McDonagh can’t bare to look.
The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

It was a Flame out. By quick show of hands, who thought the Rangers would fall victim to the classic trap game? Unmistakably, I did. Maybe it was the lingering doubt that after such an emotional win just two days ago in the Eastern time zone, the first game in Western Canada was doomed from the start. The all too predictable end result was a 4-3 loss in Calgary snapping their five-game win streak.

Look. No matter what way you slice it, it’s unacceptable. Sure. This was always going to be a tough game due to all the travel. The schedule makes no sense because it’s not supposed to. Make no mistake. The Rangers had enough chances to win in regulation. They fired 18 shots on Karri Ramo in the first period alone. None beat him. For the game, they outshot the Flames 41-28. It didn’t matter. Calgary was opportunistic beating Henrik Lundqvist four times on 28 shots. They also were resilient after blowing a two-goal lead when they gave up three straight to fall behind 3-2 before rallying in the deciding second.

”They’ve been playing well,” Lundqvist said. ”They’ve been beating a lot of good teams. They’re a fast team. It doesn’t matter if you play a team in the playoff race. Guys are playing for pride and for jobs and they’re going to come hard no matter what.”

After Kevin Westgarth tied it, Michael Cammalleri beat Lundqvist with an unscreened wrist shot from the right circle with only 7.7 seconds left in the period. It was one you rarely see him allow. This one trickled through resulting in a back breaker. The Rangers spent most of the third attacking in the Calgary zone. They fired 11 more shots on Ramo, who let out some rebounds. But no one pounced.

Alain Vigneault tried different combos. At one point, he had Rick Nash with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello. Nothing worked. Despite good pressure, they never found the equalizer on a night the Flyers gained ground with a 4-2 win over the Leafs. Philadelphia trails the Rangers by one point for second in the division with two extra games left. Neither club plays Saturday. The Blueshirts visit Edmonton Sunday while the Flyers are home for the Bruins.

The best opportunity came from Derek Stepan. Set up in front by Zuccarello, he was denied by Ramo from in tight. He probably didn’t get the shot he wanted but it was a bang bang play with not much room. Stepan also had another chance on the rush but chose poorly with a weak backhand that never even reached the net. It typified a frustrating final stanza which saw them fire blanks. Along with the 41 shots on goal, they missed the net 14 times and had another 17 blocked. That’s 31 of 72 attempts that never reached its target. Oddly enough, the Flames missed the net nine times and only had five blocked. That might be more indicative of the Rangers dominating territorially.

The trouble was they were poor defensively and Lundqvist allowed a cheap winner. Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi had off nights each going minus-two. When that happens, you lose. There also were undisciplined penalties which contributed to the loss. Derek Dorsett took one of those ill advised offensive zone minors early that led directly to Joe Colborne’s power play goal. I don’t like to pin the blame on a guy who scored a big goal last game and hustles. His bad penalty set the tone. Mark Giordano scored later in the first to put Calgary in front 2-0. Easily one of the most unheralded defensemen, he plays in obscurity. He’s put together a nice season.

”We knew coming into this game that Calgary was a very good team at four-man rush and they proved it tonight,” Vigneault said. ”We didn’t do a good enough job coming back in our zone and picking up the rush and after the rush protecting the front of our net. That led to Grade-A opportunities and they capitalized.”

The Rangers were able to come back scoring three in a row during the first six minutes of the second. Dorsett and Dominic Moore helped set up Brian Boyle’s sixth. That was followed 39 seconds later by Raphael Diaz. Since replacing the injured John Moore in the lineup, the extra defenseman has been a godsend. He’s provided Vigneault with another righty shot from the blueline who can get it through. He had four tonight with two takeaways and went plus-one in 24 shifts (17:36 TOI) paired with Kevin Klein. Brad Richards completed the three-goal barrage with his 18th coming from Carl Hagelin and Benoit Pouliot. Ironically, both Hagelin and Pouliot were again strong. It seems like what ever line they’re on gets a cycle going.

Unfortunately, the second had a bad ending with the Flames getting the final two. Cammalleri notching the deciding marker with less than eight seconds left off a rush in which he snuck past the defense. Chris Butler made a smart outlet and Cammalleri wisely shot and got rewarded. Sometimes, it’s really that simple. There were too many instances in the third where the Rangers passed up shots with silly passes. It was Karri Ramo in net. Not Mike Vernon. And definitely not Miikka Kiprusoff.

The Rangers only had one power play. But there were only three penalties total. And our man-advantage was so bad that it wouldn’t have mattered if they got another. It’s back to Mike Sullivan level. Not to beat a dead horse. But they do miss Chris Kreider’s net presence. It’ll be hard to replace what he brought. Six of his 17 goals came on the power play. J.T. Miller played less than 10 minutes and was nowhere to be found late.

Martin St. Louis had another game to forget. He had a goal disallowed and took a very bad offensive zone penalty with over two minutes left in regulation. Yes, it was the right call. He grabbed hold of Giordano, who sold it. But it would’ve resulted in a scoring chance. The refs had no choice. St. Louis was trying hard his final couple of shifts. He was noticeable on the forecheck. I’m trying hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. But my patience is running out. How in the world can he still not have a goal and only three assists? Enough excuses. The guy wanted to come here. Either produce or get out.

Rant done. Onto the next one. 😛

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Devils’ latest shootout follies: Getting what we deserved?

Posted on March 28, 2014 by hasan4978

Patrik Elias trying…and failing again at the shootout

All through the first period when the Devils got off to yet another sluggish start, eventually falling behind 2-0 in a crucial home game against Phoenix last night, I knew what the tone of this blog was going to be.  Even after the Devils came back to get a point and played much better in the last two periods, it went for naught as they went down to defeat in the dreaded skills competition yet again and were only able to gain a point on the Wings, who lost in regulation against the Canadiens.  Listening to the postgame driving home, coach Pete DeBoer emphasized how he thought it was a winning effort and offered up compliments to the opposing goalie for about the fiftieth time this season.  That’s another thing…the Coyotes didn’t even have goalie Mike Smith who was injured in the Yotes’ loss at the Garden the other night.  No starter?  No problem, not against us anyway.  Backup Thomas Greiss‘s win last night was the eighteenth defeat we’ve suffered at the hands of a backup goaltender this season, a staggering number.  And let’s not even get into the 0-9 in the shootouts or 1-26 in scoring attempts.  It’s those two statistics – nine losses without a win in the shootout and eighteen losses to backups – that will most likely keep us out of the playoffs this year.

This idea that we somehow deserved better last night though…maybe in a hockey sense it was true, since after the opening twenty minutes the Devils did play well.  However, in the end everyone got what they deserved last night – including the crowd, which I’ll get to in a minute.

Going into last night’s game Martin Brodeur had lost his last three games – granted, he’d played very well in two – and Cory Schnieder won his prior two starts, including his best post-Olympic performance on Sunday night against Toronto.  Earlier in the season Cory did not get the benefit of the doubt multiple times when he played well but the team didn’t give him goal support, while Marty played because he was the ‘hot goalie’ (re: winning games).  So what do we do last night?  Start Marty again, of course.  Which I wouldn’t have had an issue with had the Devils given Cory the same opportunities to play after tough defeats earlier in the season.  Plus Cory still hasn’t played two straight games since the break, and it took him till last Sunday (his second game in four days) to finally get his groove back.  Despite the fact Marty yet again alluded to being intrigued about moving on and having his kids beg him to go to Ottawa or Minnesota in the same contreversial interview where he and Sean Avery went at it yet again – see Derek’s post below – this organization continues to bend over backwards for MB30.  And for what?  If he’s going to walk at the end of the season anyway – which can’t seem to happen fast enough reading all these quotes – then what exactly is the point of pacifying him now?

Fittingly, the Devils paid for their organization-wide hypocrisy almost immediately when Brodeur allowed a soft trickler through the five-hole to Kyle Chipchura just 2:21 into last night’s game.  As mad as I was at Marty and the organization for going against it’s whole ‘team is bigger than the individual’ phlosophy with MB30 this year, I was just as annoyed at the crowd before the game started, for cheering when Bryce Salvador was announced as a scratch.  While I have my issues with Sal’s play and the fact re-signing him is in effect the reason Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas have been continually bounced or blocked from the lineup, there’s a difference between not wanting him to play and cheering him being hurt (and he is hurt, although it’s certainly possible some of the airheads in the crowd thought he was being scratched for inefficiency).  Especially a high-class guy like Sal – although he’s bland as heck and declining as a player, he’s still a warrior that didn’t deserve that.  Last night was one of the times I was kind of glad we’re not in a hockey market like Montreal or Toronto, cause you know someone in the media would have noticed and asked questions just waiting for the pointed response that would surely come from a loyal teammate.  Then again, the crowd deserved to be called out for that last night.

Ironically the guy who got in the lineup because of Salvador’s injury was Jacob Josefson, a forward – but the real beneficiary in terms of icetime (and the main reason the crowd was cheering Sal’s absence) was Eric Gelinas, who was back to playing defense full-time after a pair of games being a ‘rover’ between forward and D.  And it was Gelinas who took a horrendous penalty in the first period – one of three the Devils committed – hitting David Moss when he clearly didn’t have the puck.  In general things are testy around the arena, between Devil fans on various message boards and social media outlets, I guess that’s to be expected given the way things have gone since that fateful July 4 nearly two years ago where Zach Parise went home and essentially took the Devils’ status as an upper-echelon team with him.  DeBoer himself has been getting increasingly louder boos during his introductions the last few home games.  While I won’t partake in that either (despite my problems with the head coach, I’m not going to actively boo him as long as he’s still our coach), at least that’s understandable given our losing the last two seasons.  Particularly after a drab first period where the entire team deserved boos.  NHL.com’s Dan Rosen was succinct and accurate when criticizing the Devils’ first-period play:

 21h
The Devils are 5 points back, desperate need of points, and after 20 minutes they trail 1-0, have 4 shots on goal and 3 penalties.

 

Perhaps after the first twenty minutes the message finally got through that hey we’d better start skating here.  However, despite two early Phoenix penalties in the second, the Devils’ fifth-ranked power play failed to cash in and despite dominating the second period in terms of shots (13-6), they fell further behind when Chris Summers rifled one past Brodeur through a screen at 16:57.  Was our season really going to end this way?  It sure looked that way, until a strange play at the end of the second period that got us back in it.  Defenseman Jon Merrill was skating into the zone, holding the puck for seconds – minutes, it seemed to me – causing me to scream ‘shoot!’ with a mild expletive at the end of it.  Finally Merrill shot from behind the goalline towards the netmouth, where it hit Ryane Clowe‘s shoulder and improbably went in with .3 seconds on the clock.  After a short review, the goal stood and the Devils suddenly were revived again, like the proverbial cat with nine lives.

Even with that momentum-changer things still didn’t look too great when we fumbled away another power play, giving up a partial breakaway to Brandon McMillan where Brodeur could have easily skated out to play the puck away but misjudged it.  To his credit he not only made the save on McMillan, but rebounded from that tough start and kept us in the game until Adam Henrique‘s slick theft and stuff home at the side of the net tied the game at 10:32 with his twenty-fourth goal of the season (already well past his career high).  Though the Devils tied the game, they were far from out of the woods and each team survived some hair-raising chances to go to overtime.  When Patrik Elias was stopped on a one-timer by Greiss early in OT, I felt one way or another we wouldn’t be getting the second point tonight.  Amazingly it seemed as if both teams were playing for the shootout by the end of OT which would be pretty moronic from a Devils standpoint.  It was all I could do to avoid turning around when a moronic Devil fan behind me actually stated he wanted the shootout and saying to him ‘are you out of your mind?!’.

Clearly not everyone is fully aware of how historic our failures have been at the skills competition this season.  Whoever wasn’t, got another reminder last night when DeBoer went with the same three guys he’s gone with in most of the shootouts – Damien Brunner, Clowe and Elias.  Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  While DeBoer made the point that he didn’t want to ‘pick names out of a hat when your season’s on the line’, when nothing else is working, why not?  Especially when recent acquisition Tuomo Ruutu‘s been historically as good as anyone on our team at the skills competition, and not burdened by the season-long failure our other skaters are.  While it’s a stretch to blame DeBoer for the shootout woes, fact is we probably got what we deserved by not heeding the Einstein definition of insanity.  True to form all three shooters failed while Mikael Boedker’s opening goal was enough to give the Yotes an extra point.

Despite the help we got from Montreal last night, the fact is we probably still need to go 8-1…maybe 7-2 or 7-1-1 bare minimum to make it.  A run we still haven’t proved we’re capable of yet this season, schedule be damned.  All you can do is play one game at a time…starting with tomorrow night on Long Island.  And finish the game before sixty-five minutes.

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Hand surgery will keep Kreider out indefinitely

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Derek
Chris Kreider is congratulated by Rick Nash after his power play goal put the Rangers up 4-0 on the Flyers. Getty Images/Seth Wenig

Chris Kreider is congratulated by Rick Nash after his power play goal put the Rangers up 4-0 on the Flyers.
Getty Images/Seth Wenig

It looks like we won’t be seeing Chris Kreider anytime soon. The 22-year old rookie will have surgery on his left hand today. He was injured during last week’s win over Columbus. Despite that, he participated in the next two games at New Jersey and home against Phoenix. His ice-time dwindled with Alain Vigneault noting that he suffered an injury.

As it turns out, Kreider needs surgery which will keep him out indefinitely. Considering that there are eight games left entering tonight’s road match at Calgary, his status for the playoffs is uncertain. At this point, you’d have to figure he’ll miss at least the first round if the Rangers get there. They have won a season best five straight and currently lead the Flyers by three for second in the Metropolitan Division. The Rangers have 86 points while the Flyers have 83 but hold two games at hand. They will take on the Leafs earlier tonight.

Kreider was having a good season. After failing to make the team out of camp, he has 17 goals with 20 assists and 37 points. His 17 goals rank fifth among rookies and 37 points are tied for fourth with Bruins defenseman Torey Krug. As for where he ranks on the Rangers, the former Boston College standout is in a four-way tie for third in goals and seventh in points. His six power play goals were tied for the team lead with Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot. His plus-14 rating leads the Blueshirts.

The Rangers will definitely miss his combination of size, speed and strength. While he was still learning in his first full year, Kreider became a good player who Alain Vigneault trusted in front of the net on the power play. He’s the team’s fastest skater. Without him, Martin St. Louis will need to step up. It’s about time he found twine. Perhaps it comes against the team who gave up on him that he burned in the Stanley Cup.

Meanwhile, J.T. Miller remains in the lineup. His size, physicality and hockey sense make him a solid fit for the roster. We’ll see if he can have an impact.

Posted in Battle News, NY Rangers | Leave a comment

Avery and Brodeur rivalry old news

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Derek

Some things are just better off being left alone. Try explaining that to NJ.com’s Randy Miller who goaded Martin Brodeur into a cheap remark about old rival Sean Avery following his ouster from Dancing With The Stars.

 

“I didn’t watch – I don’t watch those shows – but I was watching NHL Network and they mentioned it,” Brodeur told Miller Wednesday.

“What more could he do to embarrass himself?” Brodeur said with a chuckle. “There it is!”

Their rivalry is old news all coinciding from Brodeur opting not to shake Avery’s hand following a first round exit in 2008. Of course, it was due to Avery’s nonsensical tactic in Game Three when he waved his stick while screening Brodeur during a Rangers power play. The end result being Avery scoring here following the bizarre Screen Gate which led to the Avery Rule. For a brief history recap, please refer to the video below.

When Avery got word of Brodeur’s foolishness, he predictably retorted taking to Twitter yesterday. His first response referenced #Fatso mentioning that participating in the event raised thousands of dollars for charity. Fatso of course being his nickname for Brodeur which he used when discussing his failure to shake hands following the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal with MSG reporter John Giannone. After removing that tweet, he then went for the jugular.

None of this is surprising. When it comes to these two, they’d be better off not saying anything. I don’t understand why Brodeur even responded to Miller, who was searching for material. Like any reporter, he needed a story to fill space and got the desired result.

Sadly, neither has moved on. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be news. As for Avery, it wouldn’t be him if he didn’t respond in that fashion. Though, you have to pin this one on Brodeur for taking the bait. I guess that’s just his character. Just look at what he said about Lou Lamoriello basically calling him out for not being more aggressive re-signing Zach Parise. It’s been an interesting couple of months for the future Hall Of Famer who regained his number one job from Cory Schneider after wanting out of New Jersey. Talk about burning bridges.

Personally, I could have done without this nonsense. Stories like this are irrelevant to the playoff race. The Devils remain four points out of the wild card with nine games remaining. They rallied from a two-goal deficit Thursday to earn a point in another shootout defeat. This time to the Coyotes. They’re 0-9 this season in the skill competition and have dropped their last 13 since March 10, 2013. This year, Devil shooters are a ridiculous 1-for-28.

”It’s a big part of the reason the playoffs are getting tougher and tougher to reach,” said Brodeur after making 25 saves and being beaten in the shootout by Mikkel Boedker. ”So many points we’ve left on the table through the year. I figured we were due. It’s been a while, we haven’t been in one. I was feeling good about it mentally. I thought we were going to pull through this one and boost our confidence a little bit knowing we’re able to do it, and again it was the same old thing.”

Before visiting the Islanders tomorrow, the Devils will be doing some scoreboard watching tonight hoping for a Flyers regulation win over the slumping Leafs. They also need the Pens to beat the wild-card leading Jackets in regulation. Columbus and Detroit own the two wild cards each with 80 points. The Jackets own the tiebreaker with four more ROW (32-28) and make up an extra game later. The Wings have nine left and interestingly only have 28 which makes them more attainable. Even though they only have 76 points, the Devils boast more ROW (31) than Detroit, Washington (25) and Toronto (27).

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Lundqvist wins 30 for eighth time

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Derek

In Hank We Trust

Since Henrik Lundqvist entered the league in 2005-06, he’s been a model of consistency. He’s the only goalie in NHL history to win 30 or more in his first seven seasons. Following the shortened year in which he won 24 of 43 starts, Lundqvist has come back to win 30 for the eighth time during a nine-year career spent on Broadway.

In reeling off five consecutive wins during the Rangers’ best stretch, he’s once again demonstrated what makes him so valuable. With his team needing to win as much as possible in a tight playoff race, Lundqvist has once again delivered. He’s posted a 1.79 goals-against-average and .935 save percentage with a shutout during the five-game win streak.

That’s included passing Mike Richter for the most wins in franchise history in a 8-4 victory over Ottawa in which he made 35 saves. Then of course, stopping all 21 shots in a 2-0 win over New Jersey to pass Ed Giacomin for the most shutouts in club history with 50. He nearly had his second in three games against the Flyers if not for Jakub Voracek’s late tally with under two minutes left.

It seems that every year the Rangers find themselves under playoff pressure, Lundqvist elevates his level. That’s what makes him great. While it hasn’t yet resulted in a Stanley Cup, he always gives them that chance. Given how well they’re playing, they could be a tough out this Spring. The team has finally gelled under Alain Vigneault.

It all starts with number 30 donning the Blueshirt in net. As he goes, so do the Rangers.

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McDonagh, Rangers Flying High

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Derek
Ryan McDonagh blocks a shot as Henrik Lundqvist and Wayne Simmonds watch. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Ryan McDonagh blocks a shot as Henrik Lundqvist and Wayne Simmonds watch.
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Right now, things couldn’t be much better. In a statement game against an old nemesis under the NBC spotlight, the Rangers soared past the Flyers 3-1 to win their season high fifth straight. Ryan McDonagh scored again and Henrik Lundqvist was strong in net making 30 saves to push them three points up on Philadelphia for second place with eight games left.

”It was huge. I thought we played a really strong game,” Lundqvist said after being at his best early stopping all 15 Flyer shots in a busy first period. ”We just have to keep going, not think too much, just keep on our details.”

The latest test came against a potential first round opponent. It’s no secret that the Rangers are battling the Flyers for second in the Metropolitan Division and potential home ice. Most notably, by defeating them in regulation it gave them a needed cushion as they embark on a pivotal four-game Northwestern trip which begins Friday in Calgary. The Flyers still have two extra games remaining. The Rangers hold the first tiebreaker with two more regulation/overtime wins (37) than their old Patrick rival (35).

”It’s going to pay off to not make it too complicated for ourselves or think about the standings,” Lundqvist added of a tight playoff picture that includes a four-way tie in points (80) between Columbus, Detroit, Washington and Toronto. The Blue Jackets and Red Wings are the final two wild card leaders due to more ROW and extra games remaining.

That doesn’t concern the Rangers, who are playing their best hockey despite the mysterious lack of production from Martin St. Louis. He went a fourth consecutive game without a point and doesn’t have a goal in his first 12 games as a Blueshirt. At some point, that has to change.  Unless he’s saving it for the playoffs. They still have to get there first.

While St. Louis continues to struggle, others have stepped up. Not surprisingly, McDonagh boosted his Norris case by scoring his 14th goal. As usual, it was another game-winner during a torrid stretch that’s seen him tally 13 points over his last 12 games.

”For any team to win, you need your top players playing at a high level,” Alain Vigneault said. ”[Lundqvist] has found his game, and Ryan McDonagh has just been a force out there. He’s got to be getting some consideration for the Norris (Trophy) the way he is playing offensively and defensively.”

It hasn’t just been their top players. The fourth line continues to make key contributions. Derek Dorsett and Dominic Moore each scored. Playing a second straight game in place of Daniel Carcillo, Dorsett opened the scoring with his fourth in front. Brian Boyle set it up. It was the extent of their offense in a period largely controlled by the Flyers. They spent a good chunk in the Rangers zone but came away empty due to the brilliant play of Lundqvist. With Hartford recall J.T. Miller in the box, he was at his best denying a dangerous opponent that threw the kitchen sink at him.

”Philly dominated us as far as shots, and they got some chances on that power play at the end,” Vigneault noted. “But that is when your goaltender has to come up big.

”When we had some breakdowns, he was the difference.”

Having robbed former Islander Mark Streit of a goal with a big glove save through traffic, Lundqvist stoned Ranger killer Wayne Simmonds in front early in the second. Soon after, McDonagh made a great defensive play intercepting a clear and then skated in and fired a laser top shelf past Steve Mason. The unassisted tally put the Rangers up 2-0. They played a better period outshooting the Flyers and 17-10.

”We were able to catch them throwing pucks, and our D and everybody did a good job keeping pucks alive,” McDonagh said. ”We really wore them down in the offensive zone.”

Moore gave the Rangers some breathing room when he got a piece of a Kevin Klein shot from the right point and had the puck trickle through Mason over the goal line. He’s been playing well. When Glen Sather signed him last summer, it was a no brainer. His second stint on Broadway has again demonstrated why the former anchor of the HMO Line is easy to root for. He brings a tireless work ethic and fills his role nicely.

The Flyers tried to mix it up late. Despite the common tactics, they only were able to break Lundqvist’s shutout. Off a Claude Giroux faceoff win, Jakub Voracek one-timed a Streit feed past Lundqvist cutting it to 3-1 with 1:53 left. It was as close as they would get despite Simmonds and Scott Hartnell’s antics.

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Making a Norris case for Ryan McDonagh

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Derek
Moore Goals: Defenseman John Moore celebrates his second period goal with Ryan McDonagh. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Moore Goals: Defenseman John Moore celebrates his second period goal with Ryan McDonagh.
AP Photo/Alex Brandon

At the beginning of his fourth season, Ryan McDonagh entered having signed a six-year contract extension worth $28.2 million. Only 24, the defenseman the Rangers stole from the Canadiens has developed into one of the game’s premier blueliners.

A strong skating defenseman who has partnered with Dan Girardi to form the club’s top pair, McDonagh has assumed a leadership role helping fill a void left by former captain Ryan Callahan. Having represented Team USA in Sochi, he has not missed a beat under Alain Vigneault. Not only has he continued to log the most minutes (24:48 TOI) on the blueline drawing tough assignments against opponents top lines. His offense has been instrumental down the stretch.

In Monday’s come from behind 4-3 overtime win over the Coyotes, he set up Girardi’s game-tying goal and scored the winner finishing with a goal and two assists. During the Rangers’ four-game win streak, McDonagh has tallied at least a point in each game. He has two goals and four helpers with both markers game deciders. Over his last 11 games, McDonagh has 12 points (5-7-12).

Such clutch play is hard to ignore. You can make a pretty good case for him being included in the Norris discussion. In 73 games, McDonagh has posted 13 goals with 29 assists totaling 42 points. All career bests. That puts him tied for 12th among defensemen. His 13 goals tie him with Oliver Ekman-Larsson for sixth. McDonagh has also established new personal bests in power play goals (2), power play points (12) and his three shorthanded goals lead the team.

In order for Mac Truck to be considered, it will come down to how voters view the race. Will they reward offensive dynamos such as past two recipients P.K. Subban (10-40-50) and Erik Karlsson (D leading 20 goals, 69 points)? Another former winner Duncan Keith is the frontrunner with six goals, 51 assists, 57 points and a plus-24 rating. His closest competition could come from Alex Pietrangelo, who is the back bone of the league-leading Blues. He’s currently sixth among defensemen in scoring with 49 points (8-41-49), 22 penalty minutes and plus-22. Another strong candidate is the Pens’ Matt Niskanen, who has 10 goals, 41 points and ranks second among blueliners in plus/minus (31). Other potential candidates include Shea Weber (18-28-46), Victor Hedman (12-35-47), personal favorite Brent Seabrook (39 points, +30) and Zdeno Chara (16 goals, +24).

If McDonagh can continue to finish strong, he builds a stronger case. It might just be that it’s not his time yet. But for those who watch him, we know how special he is. Especially on a low scoring team that emphasizes the team concept. McDonagh ranks fifth on the Rangers with 42 points. The next closest defenseman is Girardi with 22. Such a discrepancy is eye popping. At 24, he’s already the team’s best blueliner and should get consideration for captain next Fall.

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