Battle Of Hudson covers the Rangers and Devils, who's intense rivalry heated up in the 90's. With fresh faces added, they battle for supremacy in NYC and NJ..
After a reprieve of sorts in Carolina on Friday with a rare four-goal outburst in the third period of a 5-2 win over the Canes, tonight’s ugly yet gritty effort against the Sabres was more the norm for the Devils over the last two seasons, but with a twist. This time they actually won a game where they made the other team’s backup goaltender look great as Steve Bernier broke a scoreless tie with just forty-one seconds remaining in OT, firing a well-placed wrist shot past Jhonas Enroth and finally giving the home fans at the Rock something to cheer this week. Enroth (and some shoddy finishing) had foiled the Devils throughout regulation with 23 stops but couldn’t stop the only shot he faced in overtime, as Bernier secured a desperately needed second point out of this game with just his second goal of the season.
Honestly there wasn’t really much to say about this game. It gets old to say this but I thought in spite of the Devils’ lack of finish they were pretty good otherwise, holding the Sabres to just fifteen shots and killing off three power plays. I wouldn’t say this was a total rocking chair game for Cory Schnieder, particuarly in the second period where there were a couple of hair-raising near misses by the Sabres in their best period of the night. My big fear of this game coming into it was the Sabres’ two wins against the rival Leafs show they’re starting to take on the identity of new/old coach Ted Nolan. Whatever you want to say about why he’s been out of the NHL for such long stretches at a time, hockey fans know his teams always come to play. Hopefully for Brian’s sake the Sabres do the right thing and remove the ‘interim’ tag from Nolan sooner rather than later.
If we hadn’t given our best effort the result could have been very different. It wasn’t exactly our best offensive execution though…then again this was our seventh game in eleven nights with trips to the West Coast and an overnighter in Carolina sandwiched around three home games this week. Complicating matters tonight were Ryan Carter literally being TKO’ed by Marcus Foligno (son of Devils coach Mike Foligno ironically enough) on his first shift of the game and missing the rest of the contest due to ‘facial lacerations’. With Cam Janssen playing his usual sub-five minute night (3:27 to be exact) and Damien Brunner being benched for the third period essentially the Devils were rolling three lines by the end of the night. Thank goodness we won or I would have been livid over the fact that despite having Janssen in the lineup to be next to useless otherwise, it was Carter who took on what should have been Cam’s role as fighter and got thwomped in the process.
All of our defensemen played big minutes tonight too, with Andy Greene pacing the blueliners at 26:26 of icetime and Mark Fayne ranking last with 17:58. Nearly eighteen minutes is still a good night’s work – on some teams, the #6 defenseman barely gets ten minutes a night, if that. Interestingly Jon Merrill was in the lineup again for the third straight game, and got almost twenty-two minutes of icetime. Part of me wonders if we’re showcasing him for a trade since it’s not like there’s neccesarily going to be room for him once Bryce Salvador and Adam Larsson come back. The fact he’s played in the NHL for a week and doesn’t look out of place bodes well for our current and future depth on the blueline though.
Among other palace intrigue is the fact that suddenly Cory Schnieder has gotten two starts in a row playing both ends of this back-to-back in Carolina last night and here tonight, and now has three straight wins including this shutout. Clearly Martin Brodeur is going to get the start in Montreal on Monday but all of a sudden the goaltending question is back up in the air now with Brodeur having lost three in a row and Schnieder winning three in a row. I did bitterly text my sth friend who wasn’t at the game the following before overtime:
‘Too bad they used up their monthly quota of goals for Cory last night’ (referring to our 5-2 win in Carolina)
At least Bernier did manage to get one right when the team needed it the most. I would not have wanted to go to another shootout with our horrendous record in them. I’d be just fine with not seeing another shootout the rest of the season at this rate. Despite a slow start to the season, Bernier’s still getting top six time over the likes of Michael Ryder (who suddenly can’t do the one thing he’s known for – hitting the net) and Brunner. At least it’s better than last year when we were giving Stefan Matteau and the ghost of Alexei Ponikarovsky top-line time. It would be nice if Brunner and Ryder got going but I doubt it’ll be with each other. Having them as a line was predictably a trainwreck tonight – two individualistic players on one line is one too many.
Perhaps the most memorable thing from tonight’s game aside from the Bernier goal was what happened away from the play (see above) with Sabres captain Steve Ott looking like a fool trying to goad Adam Henrique into a fight – in the final minute of overtime – and he could only watch as Bernier scored. Henrique and the Devils got the last laugh…literally.
Brian Boyle takes a beating from Zdeno Chara. AP Photo/Winslow Townson
What a waste the first two periods were. For 40 minutes, the Rangers competed with the Bruins and led 2-1 in this Black Friday Thanksgiving showdown on NBC. They were ahead because they responded well early. Following Brad Marchand’s opener at 11:42 of a wild first, Rick Nash and Ryan McDonagh tallied 1:22 apart- making it three goals in a 2:44 span.
Nash’s third was an awesome individual effort. After retrieving the puck from Brad Richards behind the net, he came out and went around two Bruins including Selke recipient Patrice Bergeron to fire an off balance laser past Tuukka Rask. Just a tremendous play from a very skilled player. It marked the second straight game with a goal. Carl Hagelin picked up the other assist.
Taking advantage of poor Boston coverage, McDonagh snuck in from the point and beat Rask through a Benoit Pouliot screen. A great effort by an underwhelming player who finally did something worthwhile. Derick Brassard set it up with Ryan Callahan earning a helper. It gave Brassard points in two consecutive games. He’s had a better bounce to his step. Callahan also was more noticeable but still isn’t burying any.
Leading by one, the Blueshirts were handed a couple of power plays by the Bruins. But typically after getting two in Florida, they got nothing accomplished. They were 0 for 5 and didn’t register any shots on three straight. Impossible unless you’ve been a fan of this team so long. Failing to get that third goal came back to bite them.
The game became chippy early with the Bruins taking exception to a nothing Nash finish on Torey Krug. Adam McQuaid got an extra for roughing. Unlike our soft team, Boston has plenty of ammunition who will stand up for each other. It was a stark contrast that reared its ugly head late in the second period. With the Rangers quietly nursing a 2-1 lead, renown cheap shot artist Milan Lucic threw Anton Stralman into Henrik Lundqvist following a whistle. It led to an ugly scrum. Brian Boyle took exception to a David Krejci slash and was intercepted for his trouble by Zdeno Chara. The Bruins captain proceeded to beat him easily in a one-sided fight that awoke TD Garden. It was an embarrassment.
”I feel it’s been a while since the last time we’ve had a fight like that,” Rask pointed out after only being forced to make 17 saves. ”It usually happens in the blink of an eye. It gives a team a boost and really wakes up a crowd, a crowd gets really loud. I think as a team – I can’t say we woke up – but it definitely gave us an extra boost and we never looked back after that.”
Just what the Rangers needed. An angry Boston team who was coming off a blowout loss to Detroit. Now, they fumed. Much like last Spring, the bigger and stronger team took over the game. Using an aggressive forecheck, they dominated the end of the second and the entire third. At one point, shots were 9-1. By that point, they’d not only drawn even on a Bergeron bank shot off Dan Girardi’s skate. With under nine minutes to go, Chara stepped into a Krejci pass from the point and beat an unscreened Lundqvist. It was one of those shots he should’ve had. Instead, it went through him and gave the Bruins the lead for good. Another deflating moment that should’ve been prevented. The more you watch Henrik this year, the more you wonder where his head is. Contract?
”I don’t think we played the way we needed to in the second or the third,” critiqued Callahan. ”They seemed to be all over us and they eventually get the tying goal and the winning goal there. We’ve got to be better in the second and third. It wasn’t good enough.”
The Rangers went out in a whimper. They never threatened. Even an undisciplined Boston bench minor with 4:34 remaining resulted in zilch. Sadly, I barely paid attention to the power play. As if I expected the worst. That’s what this team does to you. Where no game is the same. They may have won the other night with a garbage performance. But that doesn’t cut it against a legit Cup contender.
If Devils goalie Cory Schnieder feels like he’s Bill Murray in Groundhog Day so do Devil fans watching this team. Because we’ve seen games like last night over and over again. Bad/unneccesary coaching decisions, costly mistakes, intermittent passion and an offense that couldn’t hit a float in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade with a bazooka until it’s too late. Our 4-3 loss to a Hurricanes team that came into the Rock on a six-game road losing streak in some ways was one of the most troubling of the season. If Monday’s loss to the Jets didn’t cancel out much of the good the Devils accomplished by going 2-1 on the West Coast, last night surely did. You’re not a playoff team yourself if you lose two straight games to non-playoff teams at home, it’s just that simple.
And yes Martin Brodeur gave up four goals when he contreversially got his third straight start in a five-day span (over two coasts). I’m not going to get into that in detail, Derek did a good job in his previous post, except to say people getting on Schnieder for his comments are being way too pious. He’s got a 1.87 GAA and a .925 save percentage and essentially lost his job due to a very minor injury. Cory turned in arguably the best Devils goaltending performance of the season against the Kings, and since that point he’s sat three games in a row. In the parallel universe where Brodeur would actually be benched with those numbers, let’s see if he wouldn’t be just as ticked off if not more so. People comparing what Cory said yesterday to Marty’s atitude when he was benched are nuts, Marty had an .860 save percentage when it was supposedly ‘Cory’s team now’. His performance merited a benching! What else was he going to say at the time? I understand Marty being the starter now, both goalies have been equally steady and in the case of a tie advantage goes to Marty because of who he is and what he’s done for the Devils. That does not mean however, that Marty has to get a disproportionate amount of the non back-to-back starts. Cory literally has not started a game that wasn’t in a back-to-back since October 24.
Not to mention coach Pete DeBoer is being disingenous when he cites the upcoming schedule as proof that both goalies are going to get games. We’re in the middle of a 9-game in 15-day stretch. Marty’s already played the first three of those games and he’ll get one game in each of the next two weekends which are both back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday. The other two non back-to-back games are against Montreal early next week and you know Marty’s getting those. So essentially a 41-year old Marty’s going to wind up playing seven games in fifteen days with Cory playing two. How does that make any sense, exactly?! Even if Marty was clearly playing better it would still be moronic to give him that much of a workload at this stage of his career. Apparently Pete thinks backup goalies can only play back-to-back games, unless the backup was Brodeur when he got some non back-to-backs earlier in the year when Schnieder had a slight plurality of starts. There’s absolutely no point in having Marty play 55-60 games if both goalies are playing well. Especially since you’re ticking off a guy a year and a half away from FA that you hope is going to be the goaltender for the next ten years after Marty finally retires and runs off to the Hall of Fame.
It’s not as if goaltending is Pete’s only questionable decision these days either. Up front you just knew when Cam Janssen got his two goals and the team won a few games he’d be impossible to dislodge from the lineup in the near future but even as Damien Brunner, Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson all alternate getting scratched and the offense continues to struggle with potential solutions down in Albany, Janssen’s played the last eleven games in a row. Not only do you have a completely ineffective forward in the lineup when Cam plays, but you also shorten your bench – and during a particularly compressed portion of the schedule – since he seldom plays more than five minutes a night (last night his icetime was up to 6:39, mostly because of an extended shift where the fourth line got caught on the ice for a minute then iced the puck, causing DeBoer to use a second-period timeout). It’s not even as if Cam’s physicality has been a big factor either, he’s had one fight since returning. It’s pretty sad when on a line of Tedenby-Josefson-Janssen when Tedenby’s the most talented one offensively, considering how little he’s done.
While DeBoer has found one line that works in Zubrus-Zajac-Jagr, the other three lines look like they’ve never seen each other before that night’s game. Putting Patrik Elias with Steve Bernier is another highly questionable decision. Especially while Elias continues to struggle in his return from back spasms and Bernier plays at a fourth-line level rather than the super third-line level player he was for a time last season. Elias had two assists in the futile third period rally sure, but he was also a -3 midway through the game and actually deflected Ron Hainsey‘s goal past Marty in the second period. Michael Ryder‘s a goalscorer but that’s all he does and his one-dimensional talent is wasted with the likes of Andrei Loiktionov. Loiktionov tries, but he just has not produced offensively after his first ten games last season. I would have the other three lines be like this for the time being:
On defense, Pete’s hand was pretty much forced last night due to injuries of varying degrees. Bryce Salvador, Anton Volchenkov and Adam Larsson were all nowhere to be found last night so Jon Merrill got to play his second straight game, and looked fairly decent in nearly twenty minutes of icetime on a pairing with Peter Harrold. Still, it was kind of bizarre to see Marek Zidlicky and Eric Gelinas as a pair, when both essentially have the same skillset. Both are offensive defensemen with booming shots that have defensive hiccups from time to time, and that pairing was not very good at even strength. Putting them together on the power play is one thing, although even then it’s more or less putting your eggs all in one basket. Putting them together at even strength does not work though, especially when you have almost no threat of scoring from the blueline aside from those two on the other pairings. Yes Andy Greene got a goal last night when we were 4-1 down whoopee. He immediately skated toward the other end of the ice and said a few (likely apologetic) words to Brodeur, no doubt because minutes earlier it was Greene who failed to keep a puck in the zone on the power play and let Patrick Dwyer get past him for a shorthanded goal. Greene got a second star in spite of that gaffe but d-partner Mark Fayne was far worse and certainly hasn’t made a case for staying in the lineup once the walking wounded return.
Aside from lineup decisions though, the effort level was pretty troubling for the first fifty minutes. Coming off two straight losses and back squarely below the playoff bubble you’d have figured on a better performance last night. For the first 47 minutes we were outshot 21-13 with few good chances against a team that just is not very good defensively. These players and coaches are fooling themselves if they think they got after it last night. Certainly the Elias and Greene gaffes were telling. Brodeur looked slow at times and even made a couple of puckhandling snafus that somehow didn’t cost us. Tedenby-Josefson-Janssen was actually noticeable energy-wise because our ‘2 and 3’ lines did absolutely nothing for the first two periods aside from screw up. It can’t be that this team got full of themselves on the West Coast, they didn’t even deserve to win the Kings game. But once again this team is full of underachievers offensively and GM Lou Lamoriello has to figure out why. Many of the players have changed from last year but the results are depressingly similar. If it was just one season it’d be hard to blame Pete for players underachieving but now this is two years in a row. Something’s just fundamentally wrong here when you have Ilya Kovalchuk scoring four even-strength goals last year or Ryder completely dissapearing this year. It’s telling that one of the few guys Pete can’t screw around with (Jagr – who’s playing in his usual RW spot despite being a lefty stick) is one of the few actually living up to expectations offensively.
Perhaps the only thing good last night for me personally was that I got my team calendar after all, after hearing a tip through the message board grapevine that you could get extras from Guest Services. So I wound up getting one for me and an extra for my friend, and I was in a good mood before the game. Even better when I saw my free seats for the night were in a prime location right behind the net. Too bad I saw three Canes goals scored down there and only Travis Zajac‘s second period marker in front of me. And I was more dour when the usher over in section 11 wouldn’t let me down there during the first intermission to visit a friend despite the fact my ticket’s just two sections away in 13, and I couldn’t get out of my section in time to see them after the game. My own usher outside of section 13 never checked tickets after the start of the game.
And yes the stands were full last night, but calling that game a sellout is incredibly disingenous when they literally had thousands of voucher seats that were only filled because of a canned foods donation at the Kings game where you got a voucher code for this game just by donating five canned goods (less than a $10 cost for me). If those are going to count towards the attendance why didn’t the Monday giveaway seats count as well, or the other various comp giveaways they’ve had this season? I was under the impression this ownership group didn’t fudge the numbers but I guess that’s wrong too. In their mission to take all of the fun out of the arena, they even ended Earl’s Dance Party – one usher led a ton of the other ushers in doing a dance routine during a stoppage of play. For some reason this ownership either feels like they have a huge STH waiting list based on increasing STH’s the last few years, or they systematically want to clear out the rowdy element and make it more ‘family-friendly’, at the expense of any kind of arena atmosphere. If you compare the arena a couple years ago to it now, there is no comparison and I’m talking about 2010 when we had a futile second-half run there was still more juice in the building than there is now.
On a day where we think of all we have to give thanks for, right now my sports teams (Devils, Jets, Mets) ain’t among them.
A scrambling Henrik Lundqvist gets a surprise visit from teammate John Moore. AP Photo/J Pat Carter
Make no mistake. Henrik Lundqvist was the biggest reason for this win. The final score was Rangers 5 Panthers 2. But it was far from indicative of tonight’s gobble fest on Turkey Eve. It was the brilliant play their goalie that allowed them to escape with their third win in four on a five-game road trip that concludes in Boston on Black Friday.
Playing against a young, faster opponent, the Rangers took them lightly. It could’ve been very different if not for some strong goaltending from Lundqvist during a lopsided second period. Ahead on a first period power play goal from Derick Brassard, they looked gassed. A determined Panthers got the first seven shots of the second while dominating territorially. Even with Alain Vigneault scape goating frequent target Mike Del Zotto, the team was sloppy throughout. The D turned over the puck repeatedly. However, they were bailed out by Lundqvist (31 saves).
Looking much sharper than Monday’s nightmare in Tampa, he stopped the Panthers in their tracks. In particular, he was strong with 12 saves during the middle stanza which propelled the Blueshirts to a 2-0 lead. Despite getting badly outplayed, they increased their lead thanks to a wise shot by Brad Richards that deflected off a Florida defenseman past Tim Thomas. The unassisted goal was a prime example of what our shooters need to do. Instead of overpassing as Mats Zuccarello was later guilty of, just take the shot. To quote the Great One, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
It certainly applies with this team. In the third, Florida continued its shooting gallery at Lundqvist. Some of their shots missed the net while a dozen others were blocked. Brian Boyle’s sliding block of one attempt exemplified how they have to play to win. Considering how ugly most of the game was, the old Tort philosophy was a key factor. They spent an awful lot of time in their end. The Panthers dominated in face-offs winning 37 of 61 (61 percent). If you’re going to do it that way, rely on your best player (Hank) and do the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
The Panthers certainly helped the cause. A blind giveaway to our top finisher Rick Nash led to a layup for his second goal since returning. Up to that point, he’d been kept in check. But he only needed one opportunity and made the most out of it. That’s all we can ask for. Nash is the one legitimate goal scorer on the roster.
Of course, our D made it interesting allowing two goals less than four minutes apart. With John Moore battling in the corner, he got the puck to Zuccarello. But a blind giveaway to Brad Boyes allowed him to feed Scottie Upshall cutting it to 3-1 with 7:32 left. Zuccarello slammed his stick on the top of the net in frustration. It was a silly turnover that gave Florida momentum. A few shifts later, Nick Bjugstad skated around Ryan McDonagh and snuck a backhand five-hole on Lundqvist for an unassisted tally suddenly making it a one-goal contest with 3:43 remaining. For as much credit as he gets, it was horrible D by McDonagh. Contrary to popular belief, he’s not a top 10 defenseman yet. Give it more time. Lundqvist fell asleep on it.
Fortunately, a good forecheck led to a hooking minor on Panthers rookie Aleksander Barkov. One of the themes from earlier was a beautiful power play goal scored by the second unit. On it, John Moore started the play with Derek Stepan dishing for Zuccarello, who one touched it for a sweet Brassard finish. Funny how when I call out guys, it works. 😛 Chris Kreider is also on that unit. He’s been more quiet lately but a strong shift following Florida’s second tally reestablished momentum. On the man-advantage, he parked in front of Thomas distracting him on a Moore shot. The rebound went to Kreider, who inadvertently deflect off his skate right to a much happier Zuccarello in front for his third. That second power play goal restored order with 1:28 left. Carl Hagelin scored into an open net to wrap it up.
The Del Zotto Principle: It wasn’t the prettiest victory. Ryan Callahan struggled again. The D still got caught pinching too much even without Del Zotto. Marc Staal in particular was shaky. For as much blame as Del Zotto gets after being a healthy scratch for a fifth time, what about Staal? He’s supposed to be one of the team leaders. His play has been anything but steady. Just once, I’d like to see Vigneault show some consistency.
It’s not just Del Zotto, who appears to be on his way out. The blueline has underperformed. Replacement Justin Falk didn’t have a strong game taking a bad penalty and falling down which led to a chance against. He did block two shots and deliver three hits in 21 shifts (12:04). The dilemma is this. If they move Del Zotto, what exactly can they get in return? It’s not like they’re showcasing him.
When Vigneault goes with Falk and Moore, that puts more pressure on McDonagh and Dan Girardi. Each took 27 shifts and had over 26 minutes. Isn’t that what our fans used to complain about with Tort? AV is falling into the same pattern. Anton Stralman saw 30 shifts (20:32) along with Staal (18:40). It’ll be interesting to see how their top four hold up over an Olympic season.
When the Devils play host to the Hurricanes tonight in Newark, Martin Brodeur will be in net. It’s his third consecutive start. The 41-year old legend has turned back the clock accounting for seven of the team’s nine wins. In 14 starts, Brodeur has posted a 2.06 GAA, .916 save percentage and two shutouts. Outstanding numbers for a player who basically admitted a month earlier that he probably wasn’t going to play much.
During the offseason, Lou Lamoriello’s biggest move was acquiring Cory Schneider from the Canucks in exchange for a first round pick (Bo Horvat). The trade stunned the home crowd at last year’s Draft- sending shock waves across the hockey world. At the time, he indicated that the 27-year old Schneider was the goalie of the future. Something Brodeur reiterated while vowing to come into camp ready to compete for the number one spot.
Everyone knew at some point, there’d be a goalie controversy. Something Schneider is quite familiar with having backed up Roberto Luongo. There were moments where he replaced Luongo leading to speculation Vancouver would keep him while moving the embattled number one goalie with the big contract. Instead, they reversed course stunning both. Schneider came to New Jersey hoping to be the man most nights. Early on when Brodeur struggled, it looked like it was his job. But an injury allowed Marty to get more starts and turn it around. Despite a brilliant performance in a win over the Kings, Schneider sat out the last two including Monday’s 3-1 loss to Winnipeg. A point not lost on Devil blogger Hasan.
The move was confusing. Why overplay Brodeur when you have a great second option? For the season, Schneider has two wins in 10 starts. That’s mostly due to a lack of support. Despite a 2-5-3 record, he’s posted a miniscule 1.87 GAA, .926 save percentage and one shutout. Perhaps that explains his puzzlement after learning Brodeur would again man the Devil net tonight.
“It’s Groundhog Day for me. I can’t seem to escape it,” Schneider told The Star Ledger’s Rich Chere this morning. “I’m just trying to work hard and do what I can. I’d just like to see the ice a little but more, that’s all.”
“No. Again, Marty is playing really well. He’s got the net and he’s running with it,” he reiterated. “It’s part of the game. But I just feel at this point in my career it’s something where I’d just like to play more. I am frustrated.”
Picture Schneider as Bill Murray in Groundhog Day as the frustrated weatherman whose day repeats over and over again. Except the story is different with the goalie unable to escape a situation where he rides the pine too much. This is a former ’04 first round pick who’s only appeared in 108 career games. He’s 57-31-11 with a 2.17 GAA, .927 save percentage and 10 shutouts. Outstanding numbers befitting of a number one goalie. Unfortunately, he’s never started more than 30 games in a season establishing a career high last year with the Canucks. He won 17 games with a 2.11 GAA, .927 save percentage with a career best five shutouts. Yet wound up traded.
It’s understandable why he’s upset. For Schneider, it’s more of the same. But he knew that going in. The Devils goaltending has been strong with each netminder doing their part. It’s the offense that’s held them back. Even with Jaromir Jagr leading them in scoring, it’s not enough. Adam Henrique and Michael Ryder have five goals and Damien Brunner (4-3-7) expressed frustration after being a scratch again.
“We knew with two starting goaltenders that we were going to get in situations where we were going to have to make tough decisions and this is one of them,” Pete DeBoer said. “Having said that, there are going to be plenty of games for both. If you look at our schedule, we’re in the middle right now of seven in 11 nights and it doesn’t get any easier in December. So I’m comfortable they’re both going to get plenty of opportunity to play.”
Of course, DeBoer’s right. There are plenty of back-to-backs that’ll require Schneider to be ready. It’s still a good situation to be in. With arguably the best goalie tandem in the NHL, goaltending shouldn’t be cause for concern in Jersey.
It’s a busy Turkey Eve in the NHL. There are 13 games tonight with 26 teams in action. That includes all four Battle Of New York teams. The Sabres play host to the Canadiens while the Devils are at The Rock for the Hurricanes in a home and home that concludes Friday in Raleigh. The Islanders look to snap a three-game losing skid when they host the Jets at Nassau Coliseum. Those three games all go off at 7 EST.
Meanwhile, the Rangers continue their five-game road trip with a visit at the Panthers in Sunrise. They’re looking to avoid a two-game losing streak following a disappointing effort that resulted in a 5-0 shutout defeat at the Lightning. It was so uninspiring that Alain Vigneault went out of his way to critique a listless performance referencing how they watched Martin St. Louis. The former Hart winner put on a show scoring twice and setting up another after being honored for playing in his 1,000th game. When the soft spoken coach calls it “a St. Louis love fest,” that’s not a ringing endorsement. Neither are the team’s offensive struggles. They’ve been shutout five times and been held to two goals or less in 15 of their 24 games. A point not lost on Vigneault.
“(Monday night’s 5-0 loss to the Lightning) was our 24th game, and in 15 of those games we’ve scored two goals or less,” Vigneault told Daily News reporter Pat Leonard following yesterday’s practice. “That’s a pretty good chunk if you want a segment that tells you what you have. There’s a chunk there that tells us we’re not scoring a lot. Maybe we’ve got to play even tighter to the vest than we are and go into games with that mentality of (trying to win) 2-1.”
At basically the quarter mark, the offensive-minded coach is already hinting at playing a more defensive style similar to former coach John Tortorella. That’s disturbing. When he was here, he tried a higher tempo but rebuffed after seeing mixed results where the D was getting caught. Similar results have the Blueshirts a mediocre 12-12-0 sitting in third place of the Metro a point ahead of the Devils. Brad Richards also came away frustrated following Monday’s loss, referencing missed scoring chances.
Taylor Pyatt returns to the lineup tonight. Hopefully, it’s for Benoit Pouliot or we have a problem. Like many Ranger bloggers, I’ve complained about Vigneault’s faith in Pyatt. But one thing you can’t question is his effort. Something you can’t say for Pouliot, who looks like another Glen Sather mistake. At least it’s only for a year. With Pyatt healthy, the Rangers finally sent down J.T. Miller. He was a healthy scratch four straight games and had just a goal and assist since his recall. Dwindling ice-time and not playing wasn’t helping his development.
“You always wonder where a guy can fit in,” Vigneault said. “Can he fit in your top-six or top-nine or your bottom-six? And with J.T., I haven’t figured out yet what exactly he is. Is he a top-six forward? Is he a top-nine or is he a third- or fourth-line player? He’s a young player who has a tremendous amount of upside. How that is going to unfold and how that is going to develop, we’re not quite sure. I am sure about one thing, though: You can’t develop if you don’t play.”
I fail to understand why they didn’t make this move before last weekend so he could play for Hartford. As it turned out, they would’ve been better off keeping Brandon Mashinter up. With this organization, you never know what the thought process is. The Wolf Pack have been struggling mightily and definitely could’ve used Miller recently when they were getting shutout four times.
In any event, it doesn’t impact what happens with the big club. It’s up to some of the established players to start producing. Ryan Callahan has slumped with one assist and an uncharacteristic minus-four rating over his last five. He’s also taken a couple of undisciplined penalties where he wasn’t moving his feet. It caused Vigneault to drop him off the Richards line. He finished the other night with Derick Brassard. Probably the most mystifying player on the roster. With just nine points (4-5-9), it’s not the production they’re expecting. With Rick Nash healthy and the lineup deeper, he must pick it up.
Carl Hagelin has also predictably slowed down. He’s not a point-per-game type. Chris Kreider has played well but must find the back of the net more regularly. Three goals in 17 games isn’t enough. Mats Zuccarello has two. Goal scoring is an issue. In order for them to turn it around offensively, they all must do a better job finishing. Brian Boyle isn’t a goal scorer. He has one goal so far. Even he can chip in more.
Good offense can start from the blueline. Outside of Ryan McDonagh, no one else has produced. The clock is ticking on Mike Del Zotto. John Moore has shown flashes but is tied with Del Zotto and Dan Girardi with four points. The combination of Marc Staal and Anton Stralman are being used as a shutdown pair. Unfortunately, Staal’s play has suffered. He was beaten badly by St. Louis. With just two goals and a helper, that isn’t enough production to merit his inconsistency. Stralman has been steady defensively. But two assists isn’t enough. In the past, he’s shown an ability to contribute.
Overall, this roster isn’t as talented as the one Vigneault had in Vancouver. There are no Sedins, Kesler or offensive type defensemen such as Jason Garrison that can aid the offense. Maybe he didn’t know what he was getting into. For years, the Rangers have lacked a true offensive D who can control the power play and carry the puck. Del Zotto is their most talented but remains an enigma. Will they give up on him? It’s hard to say. What kind of value does a struggling young defenseman have? I’d rather see Vigneault give him added responsibility and see if he responds. When Staal went down the last two seasons, Del Zotto elevated his level.
As far as Henrik Lundqvist, there’s nothing to discuss. He had a dreadful night. Move on. I probably would’ve started Cam Talbot tonight and saved Hank for Boston. I’m guessing Vigneault didn’t want the media asking more silly questions. So, he’s going back to Lundqvist and expecting a money performance. There’s no goalie controversy. In fact, it’s a big plus to have two good goalies. Especially in an Olympic year.
The real dilemma is what Vigneault can do with the roster. He must get more out of our core. There’s no reason they can’t score more with everyone healthy. Contrary to popular belief, there’s enough depth to have three capable scoring lines. Tortorella accomplished it with Brassard. AV wanted the challenge. We’ll see if he can get it turned around.
A Louis Louis Louis: Martin St. Louis celebrates one of two goals on a memorable night. The Canadian Press
Truth be told, Martin St. Louis is one of my favorite players. The undrafted free agent has gone onto a storybook career since signing with the Lightning in 2000. Recently, he became the 286th NHLer to reach 1,000 career games and was honored last night with a silver stick and other fun stuff. Prior to a game the former Hart winner put his stamp on with two goals and an assist in the Bolts’ 5-0 rout of the Rangers, he was honored during pregame with even ’04 Conn Smythe winner Brad Richards joining his former teammate for a special presentation that also included injured star Steven Stamkos walking out on the ice.
Maybe that should’ve been indicative of what was to come. Being that I worked the night shift, I guess you could say “I chose wisely,” to quote Indiana Jones. Sometimes, these games happen when you’re on the road. At least the Rangers won the first two before falling on their faces. It just wasn’t their night. One of the game’s class acts celebrated his big night by putting on a show in front of the home crowd. Even minus Stamkos, there was St. Louis- the lone Cup holdover lighting up our team. That included Henrik Lundqvist, who was pulled after allowing four goals in two period. He allowed two goals in 58 seconds with rookie Nikita Kucherov beating him on his first shift. St. Louis followed by going high glove.
“It’s pretty emotional,” St. Louis said. “The whole presentation. See my kids, my wife, my parents. When they started the (tribute) video, I couldn’t watch. I kind of lost it.
“It was a special night, and to be able to win the game and contribute. I’ll remember tonight for sure.”
From the sound of it, the Rangers were never in it. Though they did get one chance when they had a 5-on-3 for over a minute. But Ben Bishop was strong making 37 saves to pitch the shutout. How bad was it? They even let Nate Thompson push a puck forward and come in shorthanded forcing Lundqvist to make a save.
“We turned the puck over a couple of times in the neutral zone and they made us pay,” Alain Vigneault said while critiquing his team’s play for basically watching St. Louis dominate. “We were unable to make them pay, especially in the first period when we had quality chances.”
By that point, they trailed by three following a highlight reel St. Louis breakaway goal in which he fired a laser top shelf for career goal number 350. His combination of wheels, hands and hockey sense are amazing. At age 38, the future Hall Of Famer has shown no signs of slowing down.
“Guys like that rise to the occasion, and sure enough, he goes out there and scores two goals after that ceremony.” Bishop added after improving to 4-0 in his career against the Rangers posting his second shutout. His best stop came on Anton Stralman late in the first, reaching up with his outstretched glove to rob him. For all the talk about Vigneault’s offensive system, our team’s now been shutout five times. Three were uncompetitive.
Adding insult to injury, Teddy Purcell scored the first of a pair when he also went upstairs on Lundqvist. Prior to the goal, there was a lot of commotion on Twitter. Apparently, Brad Richards was hauled down at the point which led to the breakaway goal. I caught the highlights. They got hosed. But Lundqvist still should’ve stopped it. When he’s really off, the whole top of the net is exposed. It was one of those games. He allowed four goals on 22 shots before Cam Talbot relieved him for the third.
With the game all but over, the only remaining question was whether St. Louis would get the hat trick. Purcell came in on an odd-man rush and tried to pass it across to St. Louis. But the puck caromed off Mike Del Zotto right back to Purcell, who beat Talbot for his second of the game with 1:01 remaining- ending his shutout streak at over 165 minutes. It summed up a lost night.
The blowout defeat halted their six-game road win streak, leaving them one shy of a franchise best in 1935 and 1978. Here’s the deal. Win tomorrow at Florida and that’s 3-1 headed into the Black Friday showdown in Beantown. We’ll see how they respond.
Tonight’s home game against a non-playoff team like Winnipeg isn’t one of the games you should be worried about if you’re a playoff aspirant. Unfortunately the Devils had two things going against them…number one, the fact this game was just two days after we played on the west coast Saturday night (and our fourth game in six days no less). Number two, we just never do well against this team, particularly the last two years. They’re one of the quickest teams in hockey, we’re one of the slowest and time and again that’s the difference in these games. Especially since it seems like Evander Kane – no matter how much he feuds with his coach or slumps – somehow manages to score every single game against us.
Given all that, tonight’s 3-1 loss came as little surprise to this blogger although still dissapointing nonetheless after the Devils’ four-point West Coast trip seemingly put them back on the beam as far as being a contender. It’s hard to see how this team can ever sustain a good streak after nights like this. When Jaromir Jagr can’t dominate, few others are picking up the slack right now. Most of our FA shopping aside from Jagr has been a disaster. Ryane Clowe has only recently started skating after his month-long ‘headache’, Damien Brunner has been a total disaster after his early streak and Michael Ryder hasn’t been much better.
Even with my pessimism before the game, the fact I had car issues (wouldn’t start) and was prevented from even going to the game was an indicator that perhaps this wasn’t going to be my night. Then again I wasn’t too unhappy not to sit through that mess, though I would have liked to have gotten the team calendar after the game at least. Insane really that they wait almost two months to have the team calendar promo but of course the night they finally have it, divine intervention keeps me from being there. Just over twelve thousand were there in paid attendance although I’m sure many more took advantage of the Hockey Fights Cancer voucher handouts a few weeks back. Certainly the guys who play the horn and vuvuzela almost nonstop were there, you could even hear them on a MSG broadcast which all but mutes in-arena sound. Aside from the game itself, that’s the one thing I didn’t miss about not being there.
Perhaps the only good news is that rookie sensation Eric Gelinas avoided serious injury after developing a charley horse on a kneeing penalty late in the second period. We were already missing Anton Volchenkov, Bryce Salvador and Adam Larsson due to injury. At least Jon Merrill got to come back from his concussion and play an actual full game, though he really didn’t do much at least he has a better NHL memory now than getting wiped out within minutes at Minnesota. Our defense still manages to keep the goal/shot totals down no matter who’s in there, but with this offense all it takes is a couple of mistakes, like Andy Greene drifting yet again over to the right side and leaving trailer Mark Scheifele open for just his second goal of the season at 16:01 of the first period. Or Marek Zidlicky running out of the way of Kane’s second period one-timer right off the faceoff though in his defense he was probably trying to prevent Martin Brodeur from being screened and it’s still a goal Brodeur should stop.
Speaking of Brodeur, I love the guy but come on…why are we playing a 41-year old goalie less than 48 hours after he played on the West Coast, and on his third game in six days no less? Especially when you have another perfectly capable goalie in Cory Schnieder who just stole you two points in LA, and now he’ll be benched for a week since that game while Brodeur probably plays his third game in a row Wednesday. Yes Marty’s turned back the clock and played well but why are you running the guy into the ground when you don’t have to? It’s not like Schnieder hasn’t played equally well, he just hasn’t had the goal support although you wouldn’t know it from today since Marty didn’t get much goal support either. In fact this looked like it was going to be our seventh shutout of the season until Patrik Elias finally scored our one and only goal in two games against the Jets this year on a tip-in of Greene shot. This offense is almost as bad as the football Jets’ offense, and that’s saying something.
Hopefully Wednesday’s game will be better…maybe I’ll even get to go this time.
Cam Talbot gets a piece of Gabriel Bourque’s shot en route to a 17-save shutout over the Predators. He improved to 5-1-0 with 2 shutouts all on the road. AP Photo/Mike Strasinger
Once again, Cam Talbot delivered. With his Dad watching along with other teammates’ fathers, he stopped 17 shots en route to his second straight shutout. In just his sixth NHL start, the 26-year old rookie won for the fifth time backstopping the Rangers past the Predators 2-0.
He didn’t have to be special. But Talbot proved steady when needed coming up with timely saves. That included a couple of late goalposts from dangerous Nashville defenseman Shea Weber. It allowed him to extend his shutout streak to 146 minutes, 28 seconds.
”It’s nice to be back down south, I’ve always loved it down here,” a pleased Talbot said after a sort of homecoming. During his collegiate career, he played for the University Of Alabama-Huntsville which is 100 miles south of Nashville. ”It was fun to get the start down here.”
Most importantly, his teammates played well in front of him. They limited the Preds’ chances and took away the neutral zone. Against a stingy opponent who makes its living capitalizing on mistakes, the Rangers were able to sneak two past Czech rookie Marek Mazanec. He entered having won his previous three starts. Following a scoreless first period, Dan Girardi sent a shot towards Mazanec that partner Ryan McDonagh redirected past the Nashville goalie for his fifth at 13:13 of the second.
”G had a lot of time. I knew he was going to get a puck going to the net,” McDonagh said. ”We’ve talked about getting deflections and dirty goals, and I just happened to be in the right spot there. It was a great shot.”
Seeing McDonagh drive the net for the neat deflection was refreshing. He’s still only in his fourth year but already is within two goals of a career best seven achieved in ’11-12. His five markers and 12 points pace our D. He also was stellar defensively logging the most minutes (25:58) of our skaters with Girardi right behind (25:53). Speaking of Danny G, it’s nice to see him show confidence offensively. It’s been few and far between for a player who benefited most under John Tortorella’s defensive scheme. He has assists in two straight and is coming around. Vital for any Rangers success.
The Preds didn’t create many opportunities. But took seven shots in the middle stanza. Talbot stayed sharp. A good characteristic for a young NHL goalie. Sometimes when you don’t see much action, you lose focus. That clearly wasn’t the case here as his positioning was solid and looked poised throughout. There also was a scrap between Derek Dorsett and Kevin Klein. Dorsett didn’t like Klein’s hit that knocked Brian Boyle off balance into the glass. He took up for him and got clocked by Klein. It was still admirable for a guy gaining in popularity. That kind of stuff is good for team camaraderie.
Former Ranger Matt Cullen had the best chance I can think of. He fanned on a point blank chance in front and then Weber hit the post. It summed up a frustrating night for Nashville. With the Rangers clinging to a one-goal lead, Derek Stepan forced a turnover leading to him erasing a seven-game drought with his fifth at 7:45 of the third. Similar to the 3-2 win over Dallas, his defensive awareness led to a goal. Only instead of a teammate finishing like Chris Kreider, he took a Mats Zuccarello feed and beat a still recovering Mazanec for a crucial insurance tally. It was the kind of play you expect from Stepan. A smart two-way pivot who still must improve on face-offs. He lost nine of 12.
All that was left was whether Talbot would get the shutout. He turned aside all five Predator shots in the third and had some luck thanks to a couple of posts on top heavy Weber shots. Sometimes, you need the bounces. He got them. The most important aspect of this win was it was a solid overall performance. Their second consecutive win on a five-game road trip improved the Rangers to 8-6-0 away from MSG. Amazingly, they’ve won six in a row on the road. Dating back to Talbot’s first win- a 3-2 triumph at Detroit on Oct. 26- the Rangers have outscored opponents 16-8.
Interestingly enough, Talbot has started every game away from MSG and is 5-1-0 with a 1.32 GAA, .949 save percentage and two shutouts. You wonder if it’s by design. In any event, it’s certainly working out well so far. With three more games including two in three nights in Tampa and Florida, he’s sure to get at least one start. Figure Alain Vigneault to save Henrik Lundqvist for a Black Friday visit in Boston.
BONY 3 Stars:
3rd Star-Shea Weber, Nsh (3 SOG, 4 missed, 2 goalposts, -1 in 27:49-certainly had his chances)
2nd Star-Mats Zuccarello, NYR (2 assists, 3 SOG, +2 in 17:30-Zucc is a smart player)
1st Star-Ryan McDonagh, NYR (5th of season, game-winner, +1 in 25:58-one of his best efforts)
Jagr, Zidlicky and Zubrus celebrate Jagr’s OT winner in LA (TSN.ca)
I didn’t have many expectations before this West Coast trip, I’d have been okay with two points and ecstatic with three in our three-game California jaunt from Anaheim to LA to San Jose. Waking up this morning to the fact we have four now after an unbelievable performance by Cory Schnieder and another virtuoso display from Jaromir Jagr is off-the-charts. Even if the Devils were somewhat fortunate to win Wednesday’s game when Ben Lovejoy‘s bizarre backwards clearance hit off Corey Perry‘s skate and behind their own netminder Jonas Hiller (see Derek’s YouTube a couple posts below). Still, even that was nothing compared to last night on the good fortune scale.
I did not intend to stay up for a second consecutive weekday West Coast game – I did against the Ducks, which was a slightly earlier start time (10 compared to 10:30 last night). After I stayed up for most of the earlier West Coast games this season I was a bit gun shy in suffering from the whole ‘going to bed at 1 off a loss’ syndrome. Especially since the Devils had not won three straight games since February and that streak seemed unlikely to change last night against a Kings team that physically obliterated us last week. I was up for the first period but mostly doing other things, just the shot total alone (14-2) was frightening even if Schnieder somehow managed to keep the Kings off the board. Things didn’t go much better in the second period after I went to bed when we were outshot 13-3, bringing the total to 27-5 for the game.
Astonishingly, the game was still scoreless at that point though. This wasn’t a first for the Kings this year after their shootout loss in Buffalo last week where they outshot the Sabres 45-17 but were held in check by Ryan Miller. Full marks to Schnieder though, for not having sulked or gotten down this season with his lack of goal support which led to having only one win on the season. Last night he really had no support at all for the first 45 minutes of the game, and the Devils remained at five shots on goal until Ryan Carter roofed a backhander through traffic at 5:52 of the third which finally beat Big Ben Scrivens for our first goal against him in two games. That lead lasted barely a minute when the Kings got a two-on-one break and Anze Kopitar‘s shot squirted through Schnieder for an easy tap-in goal by Justin Williams. Coming just sixty-five seconds after Carter’s goal it could have been a killer but wasn’t. In fact the Devils actually outshot the Kings in the third by a 7-5 margin and (barely) avoided setting a team record for fewest shots in a 60-minute game.
So it was onto OT again and after being barren of OT/SO wins for the longest time suddenly the Devils got their second in two nights. It wasn’t quite as bizarre as the ending in Anaheim two nights ago, and it could have gone either way during a pulsating 3-on-3 that saw several quality chances on both ends. There was only a three-on-three because Dustin Brown was called for embelishing on a hooking penalty from Jagr. When asked about the penalty after the game, the future HOF’er responded with typical Jagr humor:
“I’m not that strong,” Jagr said. “I grabbed him, I held him a little bit, but I am not The Terminator and he is very strong. I think he acted a little bit. I did hold him. But he made it look good if you ask him about it, because I am not that strong. I wish I would be that strong. Maybe next month.”
Of course Jagr got the last laugh on the ice too, and he is the Terminator when it comes to NHL overtimes, scoring his NHL record 18th OT winner seconds after coming out of the box when he found space in the slot trailing a rush from Marek Zidlicky, and Zidlicky found his countryman for a goal that Czech-mated the Kings. It’s impossible to state how important Jagr has been to this team both on and off the ice. He’s still the team leader in points by a wide margin but more than that he’s brought his incredible work ethic and it’s rubbing off whether his teammates want it to or not. Jagr at 41 years old gives himself full workouts after OT games, and the results have shown up this season:
“I have to make myself tired,” explained Jagr, still breathing heavy from his ride. “I’m a freak.” At the end of almost every practice, Jagr does sets of skating back and forth from the blue line to red line. He has his linemates – Zubrus and Zajac – doing them now, too.
It’s human nature to wonder just how long Jagr – and Martin Brodeur for that matter – can keep turning back the clock although if tonight proved anything, they do have an answer if Brodeur gets hurt or his play falls back. Schnieder had his long-overdue coming out party as a Devil in LA, ironic considering both our last trip and his into the Staples Center brought back bad playoff memories. It wasn’t Cory’s fault he hadn’t had a signature moment yet, as he’s been playing well but last night was certainly a signature performance and finally another win.
We have no replacement for Jagr, that’s clear. He’s the most important acquisition from a team aspect (on and off the ice) the Devils have had in a long time. However, the more Jagr continues to defy the clock with his Rocky-like training methods, you start thinking anything’s possible. Jagr himself even mused about going to the 2018 Olympics…when he’ll be 46 years old. At this point I can’t put anything past him.
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Derek
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