Battle Of Hudson

The AHL All-Star starters were announced today. The game will be played Monday at Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence. Islander prospect Nino Niederreiter headlines the Eastern Conference lineup. The former No.1 pick has 19 goals and 17 assists totaling 36 points in 40 games for Bridgeport. He recently requested a trade from the Islanders. They’d be nuts to oblige.

El Nino will be joined by teammate Matt Donovan. In his second pro season, the defenseman has six goals and 14 assists for 20 points with a plus-six rating and 47 penalty minutes. Albany’s Bobby Butler is also a starter. The ex-Sen has tallied 25 points including 15 goals for the Devils’ AHL affiliate. He was expected to make the big club but New Jersey opted to keep Stefan Matteau and Mattias Tedenby, who played on the top line in their 3-2 overtime win over the Caps last night.

Also notable are ex-Ranger properties Tim Erixon and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, who each are representing Springfield. Erixon was included in the Rick Nash trade with Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky. He didn’t make the Blue Jackets out of camp but is having a good second pro season with the Falcons. In 39 contests, he’s posted five goals and 24 assists for 29 points with a plus-nine and 34 PIM. Last year with Connecticut, Erixon was 3-30-33 in 52 games.

Audy-Marchessault has continued to prove he can score in the ‘A.’ The 22-year old who caught on with the Whale last year has fared well in the Jackets’ system. In 41 games thus far, he’s registered 16 goals with 28 helpers for 44 points and a plus-15 rating. In ’11-12 with the Whale, he tied for the team lead with 64 points (24-40-64) and added four markers in the AHL playoffs.
Not the biggest in stature, the Quebec native is listed at 5-9, 180. His Twitter nickname appropriately is JAM. A little easier to pronounce. Considering how thin the Rangers are, you have to wonder why they didn’t re-sign him. Would it have hurt to keep him and see if he eventually could help our roster? Or was the Mats Zuccarello experiment enough for Slats to give Audy-Marchessault the cold shoulder? They gave P.A. Parenteau a chance and he showed flashes. But was let go of and made it with the Islanders. He’s off to a decent start with Colorado.

Is the Ranger organization properly evaluating their talent? Bobby Sanguinetti and Tomas Kundratek start for the Canes and Caps. It seems to me that they sour on kids too soon.

The East lineup is rounded out by Providence goalie Niklas Svedberg, who’s posted 17 wins with a 2.23 GAA and .921 save percentage. Here is how the West stacks up:

G Justin Peters (Charlotte Checkers)
D Michal Jordan (Charlotte Checkers)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Texas Stars)
F Andrew Agozinno (Lake Erie Monsters)
F Marc Ocobello (Oklahoma City Barons)
F Ryan Hamilton (Toronto Marlies)

New Islander Keith Aucoin celebrates his first goal. Copyright Getty Images

The Islanders had a nice comeback at Air Canada Centre tonight. They rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Maple Leafs 7-4. Matt Moulson tallied twice. Michael Grabner had two goals and an assist. Brad Boyes had three points (1-2-3). John Tavares and Frans Nielsen each tallied two helpers as the Islanders won their second in a row.

A pretty good start for a young club who picked up their first win on Martin Luther King Day by holding off the Lightning 4-3. That was a game they controlled for large portions. But nearly blew a four-goal lead. In that one, Kyle Okposo had three points including a nice finish on a two-on-one with Tavares. David Ullstrom’s shorthanded tally proved the difference to even their record at 1-1-0.

Tonight was a different story. After Moulson tied it with his first of the season, Toronto scored two straight over a 3:04 span. First, they got a bounce when Nazem Kadri’s rebound of a John-Michael Liles shot sailed over Evgeni Nabokov into the net. With early momentum, the Leafs increased to 3-1 when Mikhail Grabovski beat the Russian vet on a wrist shot from the left circle. He came off the rush and surprised Nabokov.

Trailing by two, the Islanders responded with five consecutive goals. Team captain Mark Streit got the party started by connecting on the power play for his first. Set up by Boyes and Tavares, he fired past Leaf starter Ben Scrivens. Scrivens had a rough night, allowing five goals on 25 shots before being replaced by James Reimer. Less than two minutes later, Boyes scored his first as an Islander from Nielsen and Grabner. Those were the only two goals in the second period, allowing Jack Capuano’s club to be tied entering the third.

The onslaught continued when Grabner snuck his second past Scrivens for the Isles’ first lead. Just over a minute later, Keith Aucoin chased the Toronto netminder with a routine wrister. The kind of goal that deflates the home crowd and inspires the road team. In this case, the Islanders who continued to pour it on. Moulson took advantage of a sloppy Leaf turnover, burying his second from the slot.

With the Islanders up 6-3, Matt Frattin got one back to make it interesting with 2:13 remaining. The Leafs nearly cut it to one on the next shift. A crazy sequence that saw Nabokov dive across to deny Clarke MacArthur. Phil Kessel had what looked like a gimme but Aucoin made the play of the game, clearing the puck on the goal line. Instead, he saved a goal and maybe some Islander hearts- stunning Toronto.

With 1:10 left, Grabner scored into an empty net to allow his team to breathe easier. The Isles can take a lot of positives with the supporting cast coming through. Grabner’s off to a quick start with three markers and Boyes had a big night. Aucoin was a late addition that some of our fans scoffed at on Twitter. Well, he sure came through for his new club.

Capuano played everyone including Marty Reasoner. I’ve never heard of either Joe Finley or Colin McDonald before checking the boxscore. McDonald had an assist for his first point with the Islanders. Nabokov made 39 saves for his second win in three starts. We still don’t know when Rick DiPietro will play. From his new look, he now resembles Chewbacca.

The Islanders (2-1-0) are back at it tonight against the Bruins at TD Garden. They visit Winnipeg Sunday. It’s part of a crucial five-game road trip with stops at Pittsburgh and New Jersey.

In the game of the night, Edmonton stunned the Kings 2-1 in overtime. The game featured an apparent tying goal wiped out with 1:05 left that angered the Oilers and their fans who littered the ice with debris. It was definitely a bad call.

However, it all turned out okay thanks to rookie Nail Yakupov. The 2012 first overall pick tied it with 4.7 seconds left in regulation. It seemed impossible. First, they won the draw against one of the league’s best Jarrett Stoll. Then off a scramble, Taylor Hall’s desperation turnaround shot caromed off Jon Quick right to Yakupov, who batted the puck out of mid-air for his second NHL goal- touching off a wild goal celebration that’ll be replayed over and over.

The Russian teenager emulated Theo Fleury by sliding across the ice in similar fashion to what Fleury did with the rival Flames in ’91 after beating the Oilers in a series. It prompted this tweet from Theo:

Theo FleuryVerified
‏@TheoFleury14

Definitely one of coolest celebrations. The video will go viral. It’s awesome to see that kind of youthful enthusiasm from Yakupov, who delivered a clutch goal against one of the top netminders.

To top it off, Sam Gagner won it in OT on a four-on-three power play when he steered home Ryan Nugent-Hopkins feed to give Edmonton an exciting comeback win on home ice. Rexall went bananas. Rookie defenseman Justin Schultz had two assists. Yakupov will score many more goals. This one will be remembered.

The Rangers fell to 1-3 after losing in regulation to the hated Flyers 2-1 at First Union Center. I’m not bothering checking the name. I don’t care. I hate them anyway. That’s the kind of effort our team gave against a team it owned last year. Newsflash MSG: 2012 is gone. Hopefully, not our Cup chances.

I am going to be as blunt as possible. This team stinks right now. They look completely disjointed. Everything seems forced. There’s no fore-check and little chemistry. I know it’s early. But you have to be a little concerned with the start. They couldn’t score two on Ilya Bryzgalov. That’s worrisome.

You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out that this should’ve been an automatic two points. I could care less if it was another back-to-back. The Flyers lost team leader Scott Hartnell for at least a month. They’re already without Danny Briere and have looked awful so far. Not so tonight against our exhausted team. They were much better, dominating the first period with their physicality. Niklas Grossman battered Marian Gaborik. No response.

So far, the new Blueshirts lack identity. It doesn’t help that John Tortorella had one of his worst games. By sitting out Chris Kreider for goon Kris Newbury, he shortchanged his bench. Newbury looked okay in a couple of rare shifts but then lost his head instigating a fight with Tye McGinn. A foolish act that resulted in the game-winner. A Jakub Voracek put away in which Brian Boyle fell down. Ugly.

Tortorella’s fourth line was seldom used. He may as well have not dressed them. Stu Bickel had his early scrap with Tim Sestito. That was it. Jeff Halpern took a penalty kill shift in the third and only was used twice on face-offs. That’s what he was brought in to do. But because he was 0-4 last night, Tort’s hardly playing him. When you already miss Arron Asham, it’s not a good sign. Neither was the coach’s decision to go exclusively with two lines for the first half of the second in a back-to-back.

Outside of Henrik Lundqvist, there was little else to get excited about. The game had all the excitement of a fly on the wall. It was an embarrassing effort. In a season where you need every point, Tortorella cost his team two. Inexcusable.

QUICK HITS

-Bryzgalov only had to make one quality save on another extended five-on-three. It came on Rick Nash, who was ignored by teammates. Why did we trade for him again?

–Mike Del Zotto was dreadful. He played almost 24 minutes and stunk. Why Tortorella continues to roll him out on the power play is mystifying. He saw twice the action Anton Stralman (11:07) did. Why?

–Taylor Pyatt scored once again. It was his third straight game with a goal. It came on the power play off a brilliant feed from Marian Gaborik, who was probably our best forward. To the surprise of nobody, Tortorella didn’t use Pyatt on the five-on-three. Pyatt did pass up a golden opportunity to shoot. Nash cleared space. Instead, he passed for Del Zotto.

-Lundqvist was on. He made 11 saves in the first and finished with 31 altogether. By far his best performance. Without him, it would’ve been a blowout.

-To the fans ripping on Boyle. Where were you last Spring? Short memories.

–Ryan Callahan played his usual spunky game, leading our team in shots (4) and hits (5). It wasn’t enough.

-Tortorella needs to break up the Staal/Del Zotto pairing. It’s about as mismatched as Manti Te’o and his imaginary girlfriend. Stick Stralman back with Staal and have MDZ play with Steve Eminger. Speaking of which, did he play?

–Derek Stepan is a nice player but boy does he get muscled off the puck a lot. Outside of that, great move to get around a Flyer defenseman for a point blank chance. He nearly tied it on our five-on-four.

–Ruslan Fedotenko looked ugly in those orange jerseys. But he had a strong shift with the Flyers down two men, including a big clear. Should’ve kept him.

–Carl Hagelin does many things well. But in order for this team to have any success, they need offense from him.

-So, the Rangers recalled a glorified AHLer. But gave up on Chad Kolarik for ex-Shark Benn Ferriero. What kind of offensive talent does he possess? And they trade Kolarik to the Pens. Brilliant.

-Between the gross mismanagement going on in Connecticut and the lack of depth Slats has left us with, you really got to wonder sometimes. If you’re keeping track, Tomas Kundratek and Bobby Sanguinetti are both in the NHL. We’re stuck with Eminger, Bickel and Matt Gilroy. What am I missing here?

-Our team is getting softer instead of tougher. They parted with valuable players like Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky for Nash. Understandable. But when you do that, you lose some of your core. They were part of that identity and guys Tort trusted. Brandon Prust is now helping the Canadiens, who aren’t as bad as advertised. And Fedotenko filled his role well for the enemy.

-Finally, Mike Sauer probably will never return and that’s a shame. Slats still hasn’t replaced him. He made a huge difference defensively and brought edge that’s severely lacking on our back end. Our GM also included Tim Erixon in the Nash trade. Dylan McIlrath needs a year in the AHL and Brady Skjei is far away. Suddenly, our D is a mess.

It looks like John Tortorella has decided to give his goalie a heavy workload. When the Rangers visit the Flyers at Wachovia Center tonight, Henrik Lundqvist will make his fourth straight start.

Part of it might have to do with the 30-year old Swedish King’s slow start. He’s allowed 10 goals so far and was pulled in the 6-3 home defeat to the Penguins. Lundqvist was alright yesterday finishing with 26 saves. He’s definitely showing signs of rust by spraying juicy rebounds like the one Milan Lucic deposited to tie the score in the second.

Last year’s Vezina winner also has given up a couple of softies including a stoppable shot from Nathan Horton that forced overtime. Fortunately, Marian Gaborik scored his third of the night to give the Rangers their first win of the season. Perhaps that’ll give the team a boost.

As for Lundqvist, he’s too good to continue having issues. It should also be noted that last year’s Conn Smythe winner Jon Quick also has come out of the gate slowly. So has Mike Smith, who was relieved by former Ranger Jason LaBarbera after suffering a lower body injury in the Coyotes’ win over the Blue Jackets. So much of goaltending is repetition. Unless you’re Martin Brodeur, who defies logic, it’s tough to just return after a work stoppage and be up to speed.

We’re also seeing more penalties from players who haven’t caught up. There’s no question that guys who played during the lockout are further along. Most of our team didn’t play. However, Rick Nash teamed with Joe Thornton for HC Davos in the Swiss League. He’s been the Rangers’ best player, registering points in his first three games. He could have a lot more than a goal and two assists with the former Jacket having at least half a dozen breakaways. He was robbed by Tuukka Rask in the final minute of regulation. So far, so good for Nash who looks every bit the star power forward Glen Sather acquired.

*The Rangers defeated the Bruins 4-3 in overtime at MSG. Their first of 2013 following losses to Boston and Pittsburgh. They travel to Philadelphia to battle the winless Flyers tonight.

*Marian Gaborik scored the third of three goals at 27 seconds of OT to get the collective monkey off their back. It was his 14th career hat trick.

*Henrik Lundqvist made 26 saves to record his first win. His 253rd as a Ranger. He has allowed three-or-more goals in all three starts, posting a 4.03 GAA and .877 save percentage. The problem has been rebound control. A product of rust. More game play should see a return to form for the Vezina winner.

*Rick Nash assisted on Gaborik’s first goal. It was his third straight game with a point. He has a goal and two assists thus far.

*Brad Richards tallied an assist, giving him points in all three games. He paces the Blueshirts with four points (1-3-4).

*Taylor Pyatt scored for the second consecutive game. The ex-Coyote has been one of the team’s best forwards. As advertised, the big man has gone to the net and been in on the forecheck.

*Derek Stepan registered an assist on Pyatt’s goal. His third in the last two games.

*Marc Staal and partner Mike Del Zotto each picked up an assist while combining for six blocked shots and finishing plus-two. A strong effort from both.

*Carl Hagelin drew a penalty and had a goal disallowed due to an iffy roughing call on Mike Rupp.

*Steve Eminger made his season debut on the blueline taking eight shifts (6:06) while posting a plus-one rating.

*The Rangers got back to taking the body, registering 28 hits. As usual, captain Ryan Callahan led the charge with a game best nine.

*Captain Cally was also part of the Ranger block party. Reestablishing their team identity, they blocked 25 shots. Callahan registered four while five teammates (Brian Boyle, Del Zotto, Gaborik, Jeff Halpern, Staal) each had three.

*The Blueshirts were dominated in the faceoff circle by the Bruins, who won 36-of 53. Patrice Bergeron went 12-3 and David Krejci was 9-5. Richards took 24 draws and won nine. Halpern lost all four and Boyle was 4-for-11.

*The Bruins goals came from Brad Marchand, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, who notched his first goal in over a year (1/19/12 vs NJD). He missed the second half of last season and the entire postseason due to a concussion.

*Rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton recorded his first NHL point. An assist on Marchand’s power play goal. He was taken by the Bruins ninth overall last draft and should become a fixture on Boston’s back end.

*Tuukka Rask finished with 29 saves. The Finnish netminder robbed Nash on a breakaway and stoned Gaborik in the final minute of regulation to earn Boston a point.

*Rookie Chris Kreider struggled throughout, taking just nine shifts (7:21). The former Rangers’ No.1 pick will be a healthy scratch tonight. Kris Newbury has been recalled from the Whale for tonight’s game.

Leave it to our team to make things more interesting. The bottom line is the Rangers got their first win of 2013. An exciting 4-3 overtime victory over the Bruins thanks to Marian Gaborik’s 14th career hat trick. The great Gabby lived up to that billing with a money performance after being teamed with Brad Richards and Rick Nash.

They certainly could’ve made it easier on themselves. But that’s not our team. They like to make us sweat a little bit and cause anxiety. I’m sure Dad, Justin and Mike enjoyed themselves. I came home from scoring a pair of basketball games in Park Slope. Already, I could tell from the radio call of Kenny Albert and Dave Maloney that they came out much sharper. A welcome change for every #TwitterBlueshirt.

Gaborik already put the Rangers ahead before I parked. Fortunately, I caught the replay. A wonderful goal that was started by Michael Del Zotto from behind the net. A great play up ice with Richards and Nash combining to set up Gaborik for a sweet finish. An all around awesome goal that featured our dynamic trio. It was a big night for our top line. Neither Richards nor Nash finished but they found instant chemistry with Gabby. A big positive in their first game together.

Over a couple of minutes later, Gaborik struck again. He converted his second of the game to put the Blueshirts up 2-0. Del Zotto and Marc Staal netted assists. They took a two-goal lead to the dressing room.

The Bruins had already started pushing back. Tough defenseman Adam McQuaid took exception to Brian Boyle taking a shot after the whistle, immediately challenging him. Not shockingly, he got in most of the blows. Boyle just can’t fight. He sucks at it. At least he held on and limited the damage. Besides, we need him on the ice supplying energy and killing penalties.

Off the opening draw in the second, Staal was forced to take down Milan Lucic. How did our D allow him to get behind in 18 seconds? Just awful. The team defense has been atrocious. Sloppy turnovers are leading to undisciplined penalties and goals against.

Boston had no trouble scoring on the power play. Brad Marchand deflected home a shot from 2012 No.1 pick Dougie Hamilton. A great read by a future star who Pierre McGuire gushed over too much. Shut up!

Boosted by it, they began cycling the puck and winning board battles. Henrik Lundqvist was tested more, coming up with some key saves. However, he couldn’t control a Zdeno Chara rebound- allowing Lucic a second opportunity to put home his second. David Krejci tallied the secondary helper.

Encouraging was that the Blueshirts responded the following shift thanks to pickup Taylor Pyatt. Taking the place of a struggling Chris Kreider on the USA unit, he followed up a Derek Stepan shot for his second in two games. Fans will love Taylor’s hustle. He uses his size effectively and will score the dirty goal. Clearly the case here to give our team a 3-2 lead after two.

Early in the third, our team had a great chance to get insurance. They had over a minute two-man advantage but didn’t come close against an aggressive Bruins’ penalty kill. What a waste of a timeout from John Tortorella. You’d think he’d learn by now. It proved costly with Boston coming back to tie it thanks to a sloppy turnover. Greg Campbell stole the puck and fed for Nathan Horton, whose routine wrister eluded Lundqvist. A cruddy goal anyway you slice it.

Nash nearly won it in the final minute, coasting past the Bruins for a breakaway. But a sliding Rask stoned him and then dove on top of a Gabby chance. Rask was tremendous.

The game went to overtime. It didn’t take long for the Great Gabby to end it. He stole an errant pass at the Boston blueline and pushed it ahead for a one-on-one with Rask. After being denied the first time, he batted the puck out of mid-air past the Boston netminder for the Rangers first win.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Marc Staal, NYR (assist, 3 blocked shots, strong D- easily his best)
2nd Star-Rick Nash, NYR (assist, 6 SOG, +2, all over the ice- points in 3 straight)
1st Star-Marian Gaborik, NYR (14th career hat trick incl. OT winner 27 seconds in)