Battle Of Hudson

Well, Game One of three on the first day of Olympic Men’s Hockey is in the books. As we noted in our previous entry, Team USA defeated Switzerland 3-1 on goals by Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone. Some quick thoughts on it as host Canada battles Norway in the Crosby love fest…

-As noted a few times already, Backes was USA’s best player. He was all over the ice during shifts skating, finishing checks and scoring an awesome end-to-end goal deking Jonas Hiller. He played mostly with Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan, who also had a whale of a game just missing his first goal and coming close to setting up Ryan’s second.

-Speaking of Ryan, the 22 year-old Duck was tremendous splitting time on the fourth line while also getting some work with Joe Pavelski and Malone, who both were very effective. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Jersey kid who was selected second overall in the ’05 Draft behind Sid The Kid. In Year Two, the super soph has 28 goals or a couple better than more well known ‘mates Zach Parise and Patrick Kane. Not bad company. He uses his size well and possesses a lethal shot like the halitzer he blew past Hiller from the slot. Really liked the physicality he showed along the wall. Think the kid was pumped?

“Once I scored, I was able to settle down and come back into my own a little bit. You definitely don’t want to come from behind early. To get the lead, I think it settled the game down quite a bit for us.“

-The aforementioned Pavelski and Malone were strong in front with the Sharks’ much overlooked second line pivot helping screen Hiller, allowing Malone to get to the loose change. Each were rock solid on the forecheck doing good things. Nice to see Malone get an early one as he’ll be a key player if Ron Wilson’s underdog squad is to medal.

-The checking line of Dustin Brown, Ryan Kesler and Captain America Jamie Langenbrunner were decent, putting together a few strong shifts early. They can be a good cycle line that can match-up against top scoring lines. Kesler’s one of the most underrated two-way centers in the league and Langenbrunner has always been a solid overall player who complements linemates well. Brown was the only shaky one guilty of a couple of turnovers. He did get better in the third, playing a more straight line game.

-Kane, Parise and top center Paul Stastny were fairly quiet with the Avs’ playmaker trying to do too much. What we mean by that is too much skating and passing. Sometimes, simple is better. He had a great opportunity to shoot the puck on a three-on-two but didn’t, possibly costing his team a fourth goal. Of the super fast trio, Zach Attack was the best generating a couple of chances with his speed and shot, forcing Hiller to make two tough stops.

-The blueline was okay but must tighten up. The Johnson & Johnson pair consisting of LA’s Jack Johnson and the Blues’ Erik Johnson were the best doing some stellar work in their end while jumping in when the chance presented itself. In particular, Jack’s ability to rove and then recover reminded us of Brian Leetch or Canada’s Scott Niedermayer while partner Erik’s physical presence meshed well. Ryan Suter assisted on Malone’s power play tally but also struggled in his end with one dangerous turnover that nearly resulted in a goal if not for Ryan Miller. Oddly enough, the player traded for Jack Johnson Tim Gleason, worked with Brian Rafalski, who was too quiet and must get more involved as the tournament unfolds. Paired up with former Pen ‘mate and Paul Martin replacement Ryan Whitney, Brooks Orpik made his presence felt with a few crunchers in a hard fought third.

-Only facing 15 shots, Miller was good with the exception of admittedly being a little too aggressive on Roman Wick’s centering feed which resulted in SUI’s lone goal. But when called upon, the Buffalo netminder was there to bail out sloppy teammates.

–Phil Kessel didn’t do much in 11-plus. He saw time both with Pavelski and Stastny. The Toronto sniper must shoot the puck. The idea of subbing him with Stastny and Parise while shifting Kane to Pavelski’s line might make sense because it would give the top unit a dangerous right-handed shot opposite Parise on the left side. Just a thought.

-On the Swiss side, Hiller finished with 18 saves in defeat. He could hardly be faulted but was beat high by Ryan and wasn’t aggressive enough on Backes’ breakaway where a pokecheck might’ve worked. He was a little too far back in his crease. The Malone rebound was tough because of traffic.

–Hnat Domenichelli was the Swiss’ most effective player, assisting on Wick’s tally while also being in front to distract Miller. The former NHLer who played for the Whalers, Flames, Thrashers and Wild who stars for HC Lugano was visible, creating his country’s best chances. He always had good speed and certainly displayed it.

–Julien Sprunger and Vito Wuthemann also had opportunities but couldn’t finish with Sprunger blowing a three-on-one point blank chance while Wuthemann was denied by Miller.

-Swiss captain and Isles’ defenseman Mark Streit helped set up Wick’s PPG, logging the most minutes (22:33) of any skater with no USA player going over 20:00.

-Former Ranger products Philippe Furrer and Andres Ambuhl were decent with Furrer showing off his puckhandling skills that never even got a look here while Ambuhl played with edge.

-D prospects Luca Sbisa (Ana) and Yannick Weber (Mtl) also played with Sbisa not really noticeable while Weber was for the wrong reason, getting victimized on Backes’ highlight reel goal.

-Swiss world vet Romano Lemm saw plenty of ice but didn’t register a shot.

-Switzerland played their usual pesky tight checking style, finishing every check and taking away the neutral zone, which caused problems for the Americans. Trailing by three, they opened it up in the third and easily could’ve had more than one goal. But the necessary skill required wasn’t there. I also would’ve pulled Hiller to get that second goal.

Both teams are off tomorrow before returning to the ice Thursday. Team USA faces Norway while the Swiss have to deal with Canada in primetime. Yikes.

 
It was far from perfect. But Team USA did what they had to, holding off a feisty Switzerland team for a hard fought 3-1 win on Day One of Olympic Hockey in Vancouver. Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone scored the goals for the Preliminary Round win, allowing the Americans to earn three points. Somewhat predictably, Ryan Miller didn’t have a ton of work but turned aside 14 of 15 Swiss shots earning the victory.

After a sluggish start probably due to all the travel, Ron Wilson’s group got on the board first when Cherry Hill, Jersey native Ryan whistled one home from the slot past Anaheim teammate Jonas Hiller with 1:01 left in the first. On with Ranger duo Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury, the 22 year-old kept a play alive with a hit along the boards, eventually getting to a loose puck and rifling home his first Olympic goal. He sure was pumped, raising his arms emphatically as teammates congratulated him.

Even though they didn’t get a ton of shots, the Swiss had opportunities to tie it in the second with former NHLer Hnat Domenichelli and Julien Sprunger combining for a stuff try which Miller snuffed out. Another close call from Thierry Paterlini saw Miller kick out the puck, leading to a brilliant goal by Backes who went coast to coast for his first of the tournament. On the play, the St. Louis Blue blew past Yannick Weber in the neutral zone going around the Hab product before deking Hiller and finishing off with a brilliant forehand at 5:52. As both Doc Emrick and Ed Olczyk noted on USA Network, Miller should’ve been credited with an assist.

Less than three minutes later, Malone increased to 3-zip when he tallied on the power play. Following a quiet shift from the top line of Patrick Kane, Paul Stastny and Zach Parise, the Tampa power forward who entered without a goal in his last 11 had no trouble getting to a Ryan Suter rebound with Joe Pavelski in front, steering the puck home for his first. A nice read by Suter, who wisely took the shot with plenty of traffic distracting Hiller enough to let out a rebound that Malone finished.

Despite being up three, Team USA wasn’t sharp turning over the puck numerous times leading to a few odd-man rushes the Swiss failed to capitalize on, including a gaping net for Sprunger set up perfectly on a three-on-one, that he fired over the top. A couple were the result of bad pinches while a few others were just careless mishandles like a Suter turnover that Miller had to be ready for. That kind of carelessness can’t continue when they face powers Canada and Russia after Norway Thursday.

Credit Switzerland for hanging in there, changing their physical trapping style to more attacking late in the second and third with good results. In fact, they controlled a large majority of the final stanza staying on USA and generating chances. As clashing analysts Jeremy Roenick and Mike Milbury alluded to, some were missed wide while others Miller got or a US defender blocked. Pretty evident on a couple of penalty kills where Ryan Kesler sacrificed his body on a point shot. The Americans didn’t get much in terms of chances with Kesler ringing the post and a Callahan/Drury shorthanded rush forcing Hiller to make a save, allowing his teammates to come the other way and finally score their first of the Olympics when a Roman Wick backhand centering feed went in off a pokechecking Miller. The PPG cut it to 3-1 with under nine minutes to go.

Swiss continued to be aggressive coming dangerously close a couple of more times but ultimately couldn’t draw closer. Finally, Team USA strung together a couple of good shifts with their best player Backes doing solid work along with Pavelski and Dustin Brown, who otherwise had an ineffective day. With a couple of minutes left, veteran Switzerland coach Ralph Krueger opted not to pull Hiller due to Pierre McGuire referencing goal differential as a key tiebreaker. Still, we felt he should’ve as his team deserved a better opportunity to make it closer. What if they’d scored to make it 3-2? Isn’t two goals and a potential one-goal defeat better in the long run? Oh well.

Time finally ticked down as the Americans emerged victorious in their first Olympic game of the tourney, with 1980 Miracle On Ice hero and former captain Mike Eruzione lending support from the stands.

3rd Star-Hnat Dominichelli, SUI (assist, SOG in 10:23)
2nd Star-Bobby Ryan, USA (scored first goal of Olympics)
1st Star-David Backes, USA (1st of tournament)

At the end of two periods of play, Team USA leads Switzerland 3-zip. Second period goalscorers for the Americans were David Backes with a great end-to-end rush culminating in a forehand deke, and Ryan Malone banging home a rebound for a power play goal. USA’s first of the tournament. Some second period thoughts:

-Backes has been USA’s best player, noticeable every shift and on for two of three markers. He’s really throwing his weight around and utilizing his size and speed. Can he develop into a power forward in St. Louis? The Blues hope so.

-Disappointed in Paul Stastny, who’s overskated and passed up a great opportunity from 16 feet away in the slot, messing up a 3-on-2 by passing to Patrick Kane on a bad angle. Stastny’s the No.1 center on this team but he’s slowed down both 20 cent and Zach Attack.

-USA has been guilty of two poor pinches leading to odd-man rushes against, including a dangerous 3-on-1 that should’ve been converted. However, Julien Sprunger couldn’t cash it shooting over the top with Miller down and out. He also had a quality chance in first but his wraparound was stuffed by the Buffalo netminder.

-Like what I see from Joe Pavelski, who’s wearing No.16. He was doing some excellent work in front distracting Hiller enough so Malone could get to the rebound and steer it home. However, as much as I like him, he’s not a “poor man’s Joe Sakic” yet Pierre McGuire. But certainly a guy the Sharks must lock up this summer. If they don’t, I’d love the Rangers to go after him.

-Nice work also by Phil Kessel on one shift, creating a chance for linemates. He’s seen some top line duty and time with Pavelski.

-Drury and Callahan continue to impress along with Ryan. All three have been real noticeable.

-Nice read by Ryan Suter on the PPG seeing the traffic and getting the shot through for a helper. Erik Johnson’s also looked strong on the blueline.

-Third period’s on. We’ll be back to wrap up hopefully a Team USA victory.

They finally dropped the puck in British Columbia. With the 30-Year anniversary of the greatest Olympic hockey game less than a week away, another bunch of gritty Americans not expected to medal have begun their journey against a pesky Swiss team that was a huge story four years ago in Torino upsetting mighty Canada thanks to Martin Gerber. The first period was pretty competitive with the pesky Swiss playing a physical, tight checking game which gave our boys trouble. Especially in neutral zone. Ryan Miller even had to make a couple of big saves before a sweet finish with 61 ticks left by our breakout player Bobby Ryan for the period’s only goal. Other observations:

-great work by David Backes on Ryan’s goal hustling in the corners as did the Duck, who as Doc Emrick duly noted, beat a Duck in Jonas Hiller.

–Ryan Callahan was one of USA’s best players playing his usual physical game, finishing checks. He and Ranger ‘mate Chris Drury nearly hooked up for a goal thanks to a strong Ryan takeout of a Swiss along the boards. Dru made a nice dish across for Cally, who patiently waited but fired off the side of the net.

-Not much heard from the top line but Zach Parise did get a quality chance from the right circle, rifling a high riser off Hiller’s mask.

-former NHLer Hnat Domenicelli impressed for SUI generating a couple of chances including one dangerous one. Former Ranger property Phillippe Fuhrer was also good.

-no commercials speeds up the game so much. My Dad’s right.

Game is already back on. Here are lines from what we gather:

Kessel/Kane-Stastny-Parise
Brown-Kesler-Langenbrunner
Malone-Pavelski-Ryan
Backes-Drury-Callahan

Later today, Olympic Hockey drops the puck with six countries in action on Day One in Vancouver. Team USA faces off against Switzerland at 3 ET on USA Network. It’ll be our first chance to see how the Jamie Langenbrunner captained American bunch featuring Devil teammate Zach Parise, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller, Patrick Kane, Bobby Ryan, Joe Pavelski and Ranger PK duo Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury look. Islander defenseman Mark Streit leads the Swiss along with Jonas Hiller in Ralph Krueger’s final swan song as national team coach. Something he’s done for 13 years.

Strong host favorite Canada also gets underway against Norway in primetime on CNBC at 7:30 ET. A star studded roster features Devil netminder Martin Brodeur, who’ll get the day off due to “playing a lot.” Haha…Roberto Luongo gets the first start with MB30 in for Game 2 against the Swiss. While much of the attention will be on the two goalies, it’ll be hard not to keep our eyes glued to All-Star talents Sidney Crosby, Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards and Shark trio Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton. Did we mention a D that includes Chris Pronger, Scott Niedermayer along with Norris hopefuls Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty? Scary to say we didn’t list everyone which is why Canada has to be the favorite. Especially playing on home soil. Look for them to get strong competition from defending champion Sweden, Russia and Finland. USA, the Czech Republic and Slovakia could fly under the radar.

In the late game, the mighty Russians take on Latvia. Sometimes, the super skilled Rycckuc take lesser opponents lightly. But does anyone seriously see that happening against a roster loaded with high end skill. A look at Russia’s five-man units per Bob McKenzie is enough to make you drool in envy:

Ovechkin-Datsyuk-Semin
Grebeshkov-Korneev

Kovalchuk-Malkin-Afinogenov
Tyutin-Gonchar

Fedorov-V. Kozlov-Radulov
Kalinin-Volchenkov

Zaripov-Zinovyev-Morozov
Markov-Nikulin

Nabokov
Bryzgalov

Does Latvia have any shot? About as much chane as we do with Brooklyn Decker. If anyone wants to see the onslaught, 11:55 ET on CNBC.

Here’s a look at the rest of the schedule. We’ll take our shot at predictions later.

No Gaborik. No Del Zotto. No problem. In what amounted to a pivotal game before the Olympic Break, the Rangers made their Valentine’s Day extra sweet by rallying back to defeat the Bolts 5-2 at The Garden this afternoon. A big second period proved to be the difference in their second consecutive win that moved them into 10th with 63 points, tying Tampa Bay who by virtue of one less game played, is ninth a point behind Montreal.

Following up a great character win in which they lost both Gaborik and Del Zotto with a rare victory on home ice was exactly the recipe. With their next game not till March 2 at Ottawa, the Rangers showed more fight in rebounding from a tough first by exploding for four goals in the second en route to their 28th win of the season. Erik Christensen scored twice and set up another to break out of a slump that saw him enter with only three points (all assists) over the past 14 contests.  The three points matched a career best that came against Boston on Mar.29, 2007, which coincidentally was his last multi-goal game. Nice to see the versatile waiver bargain get rewarded.

“I think it’s been a steady climb since I got here,” he said after also just missing his first career hat trick when a shot rang off the right post. “I was unsure of myself when I first got here, trying to keep my head down. I didn’t know what to expect. Management had been working with me to become a more confident person, and a more confident player.”

Christensen atoned for an undisciplined minor that negated a power play midway through the opening 20, stemming the tide. Both clubs came out playing tight defensive hockey with few shots. Following a Zenon Konopka–Aaron Voros scrap, the Rangers blew consecutive man-advantages with Christensen negating the second with a trip. Eventually, the Lightning capitalized on an abbreviated five-on-four when dangerous finisher Steven Stamkos sent a left point shot that changed direction off a sliding Ryan Callahan, fooling Henrik Lundqvist for the game’s first goal. After a brief encounter between Matt Walker and Brandon Prust, Tampa kept it going with sustained pressure that led to Steve Downie deflecting home another Stamkos shot for a 2-0 margin 1:40 apart. Alex Tanguay added a secondary assist.

In a two-goal hole minus two top players, the Blueshirts came out flying during a huge middle stanza that saw them connect four times on 10 shots. It started early thanks to an unlikely player doing an unlikely thing. Sean Avery converted a penalty shot just 100 seconds in injecting life on the bench and the building. The oddity took place when off a Downie turnover inside his blueline, Artem Anisimov slipped a pass for Avery, who was hauled down from behind. Thinking penalty shot, he pointed to center ice and then was properly awarded the opportunity. What came next was more shocking with Avery coming in with the puck and going way wide to the left before snapping one past Smith from a tough angle for his seventh of the season. For a guy who hasn’t scored much, it was a revelation. The goal was sweet, eerily reminding us of a No.11 that hangs from the rafters. Ser—iou—sly.

“Avery’s shot was a great move and a big goal for us,” Lundqvist expressed. “I challenged him a couple of times in practice and told him he would never do that move in a game. It was awesome.”

Many instances this season, the Rangers have gotten scored on before a goal was announced, sucking the air out of MSG. It nearly reared its ugly head again. Out of all people, Nate Thompson who scored yesterday in a loss to his former team the Islanders, had a glorious chance to make it 3-1. Instead, a sliding Lundqvist stretched over to rob Thompson’s point blank backhand, getting the glove out in the nick of time. Before they drew even, the rating Swedish gold medalist who’ll hop on a plane with Team USA duo Callahan and Chris Drury stoned Martin St. Louis during a four-on-four. A Dan Girardi turnover led to a two-on-one with Victor Hedman backhanding one across for St. Louis, who was denied by Lundqvist. He kicked it out. With the crowd serenading the popular netminder with familiar “Hen—rik, Hen—rik,” chants, the Blueshirts came the other way three-on-two with Christensen and Marc Staal setting up Vinny Prospal in the slot for the equalizer. It was his fifth goal in five games. With an assist later, he went into the break with eight points over that stretch.

Carrying momentum, the Rangers didn’t let up. Using a relentless forecheck, they tilted the ice spending extended time in the Bolts’ end. One sequence eventually led to Christensen’s first of the day. Off some strong defensive work, they worked the puck to an open Michal Rozsival, whose point blast went just wide. But they recovered it and cycled back to Rozsival, who dished to Prospal. Feeling like a power play, he quickly moved it to an isolated Christensen who came out of the right corner and fired thru Smith’s five-hole for the lead at 12:06. He wasn’t done. On the next shift, an excellent read led to a breakaway. After stealing the puck from Martin St. Louis, he broke away and netted his fourth as a Ranger 1:46 later. Evolving into a three-on-one, the quick skating Christensen felt backcheck pressure and fired upstairs from the right circle for an unassisted tally, suddenly making it 4-2.

Despite being outshot 13-10, the Rangers had superior skill and goaltending. They also played sound two-way hockey, paying attention to every little detail transitioning for offense. As Dave Malonely noted, a page out of the Tom Renney book. Not a bad thing against an offensive-minded Tampa team that was victimized in its end.

A couple of days after standing up to the whiny Crosby Pens, the Rangers didn’t back off at any point against a Lightning club that also has quite a few grinders. We already referenced the two fights with Konopka and Walker dropping the gloves against Voros and Prust. Their roster also features Colton Orr victim Todd Fedoruk, who exchanged pleasantries with Avery between benches. Thompson is no stranger to fighting and even slumping Ryan Malone (assist) can scrap. With our lineup more bulked up featuring newest Ranger Jody Shelley (8 shifts-2:51), who debuted donning his trademark No.45, the rough stuff shouldn’t be an issue anymore. Not surprisingly, Shelley and Konopka had words following a shift but nothing materialized. A frustrated Downie tried to stir it up at the end of the second with he and Avery each getting matching roughs.

Perhaps that rubbed off on our D with Rozsival finishing every check and pushing guys away from the net while partner Staal had a strong game finishing plus-three. Even Wade Redden played with more edge. Emergency recall Corey Potter (21 shifts-15:37, 2 hits) was fine and Matt Gilroy sufficient.

Echoing Prospal’s words about the well earned triumph Thursday, the Rangers finished the job with a workman like third. Out of Tampa’s nine offerings, only a couple were dangerous with Lundqvist making a couple of tricky saves off redirects, including one from Downie. Other than two weird goals, he was superb turning aside the last 22 to shut the door. Exactly what they needed and must continue when the season resumes with 20 games left. The guys in blue, red and white also were disciplined, handing the Bolts only three power plays. In the win over Pitt, they permitted two.

Avery came close to scoring his second with Smith just getting a piece of a right circle shot against the grain. It didn’t matter. When Drury sealed it with an empty netter for his 10th, it was the vet’s 250th goal and 600th career point, getting congrats from an excited bench. Fitting for a guy who’s played better with more important games coming for our country in Vancouver. Hopefully, he can help Team USA surprise many and continue the upswing down the stretch.

Notes: Enver Lisin was a healthy scratch again. … Prospal-Christensen-Callahan were a combined plus-nine. … Smith permitted four goals on 22 shots. … Vincent Lecavalier was held off the scoresheet with just one shot and a minus-two rating. …Only five Rangers didn’t register hits (Callahan-5). Callahan also had four takeaways. … Rangers blocked 15 shots to Tampa’s eight with five players all getting in the path of two, including Anisimov, who made a key block during Bolts’ power play in third.

… Having played 62 games, the Rangers are 28-27-7 with 63 points sitting in 10th a point behind the Habs. They visit Ottawa 3/2 and return home to host Pittsburgh 3/4 during a tough four in six day stretch that includes a visit to Washington and a second of back-to-back versus Buffalo at MSG.

3rd Star-Sean Avery, NYR (PS goal-7th of season, 4 SOG, 3 hits in 17 shifts-13:38)
2nd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (27 saves incl. final 22 for 25th win of season-3rd in 4)
1st Star-Erik Christensen, NYR (2 goals incl. GW, assist, 2 takeaways, hit, +3 in 20:42)

I admit, looking at the schedule I never expected to win tonight’s game against Carolina anyway. Six games in nine days (with of course Martin Brodeur playing every last one of them), going from New Jersey to Raleigh the next night. And lately Carolina’s actually played like the team that knocked us out of the playoffs last year, although they’re still too far buried that nobody but the most delusional fans believe they can make the playoffs – especially with Cam Ward‘s star-crossed season in jeopardy thanks to a back issue. Even Jim Rutherford started waving the white flag by trading Matt Cullen just before the roster freeze. With no Ward and the Canes wearing their less-intimidating black third jerseys, it just didn’t seem like a Devils-Canes game.

That is until their kid goaltender Justin Peters started making some Ward-esque saves, we botched 943 power plays in the first period and then Anssi Salmela, who rushed back to play this game looked like his body was in mud on a crucial first-period turnover that led to Zach Boychuk‘s first-ever NHL goal. While our power play continued its startling downfall (21.9% in the first half of the season and 4th in the league at that point, 8.9% and last in the league since then) Carolina managed to score three power play goals before the game was half over. Thanks to a quick whistle that stopped play just before the first, only two of them actually got posted on the scoreboard though.

Most embarassingly though, after an early Danius Zubrus penalty in the second period, the Devils took another quick penalty. Instead of Carolina giving up the puck and starting the five-on-three they possessed the puck with enough time to get the goaltender off the ice, having a six-on-four, and then getting several scoring chances before Rob Niedermayer finally touched the puck an entire minute later! When the Canes finally got the five-on-three chance, Eric Staal and Ray Whitney showed us (2-15 on the season last I checked in these situations) how it was done, with Staal’s pass finding Whitney for a quick one-timer that basically ended any interest I had of watching this game.

So I turned on the Olympics and literally the first time I turned back to the game, Carolina had a 3-0 lead and were on the power play again. I didn’t even look to see who scored until just now – apprarently it was Whitney one more time (does he have more power play goals one period than our entire team since January?). If the Devils are going to punt this game, fine – so will I. See you guys in March, hopefully when you decide to show up for more than one game in a row and don’t need me in the stands to actually win a game at all. Amazingly enough the Devils’ last two game winning streak was over a month ago, when we beat the Wild and Stars on the 2nd and 5th of January. And yet we’re in first place going into the Olympic break.

All I have left to say is, everyone like Scott over at 2ManAdvantage who wants to claim that this team has so many injuries, they’re tired (despite everyone else playing the same compressed schedule and really the Devils had less games played than most teams until this recent stretch), whatever excuse you want to use for this recent malaise – and that’s what it is, it went beyond a slump weeks ago – the Devils better and I mean better come out like a machine in March. If all it takes for us to you know, actually go on a winning streak, is everyone but our best few players having a few days off then the Devils will return to their pre-January form like nothing ever happened. And if not I don’t ever want to hear about the schedule, our IR list and all that crap again.

At least it’ll be nice to watch hockey for a couple weeks to just enjoy it. No recaps, no team bumbling on the power play, just talent at work. And Doc Emrick actually broadcasting games again (he missed the final three for the Devils getting some well-deserved rest before his own hectic Vancouver schedule).

Before yesterday’s 3 PM Olympic deadline, the Rangers beefed up by adding vet heavy Jody Shelley by acquiring him from San Jose in exchange for a conditional 2011 sixth round pick. If they opt to re-sign the proven scrapper who avenged a loss to ex-Ranger Colton Orr by KO-ing him with a right last week.

In his ninth season, the 34 year-old has made a living with his fists accumulating 1,310 penalty minutes in 517 career games with Columbus and San Jose, including over 200 PIM three consecutive seasons (’01-02 thru ’03-04) with the Blue Jackets where his career started. The Manitoba native is a decent skater who actually can take a regular shift if needed unlike unreliable Donald Brashear, who’s a shadow of the player he was several years ago. This despite his claims that he’s better than Orr, who’s doing just fine in Toronto. Huggy Bear cleared waivers and reported to Hartford where he’ll likely debut tonight.

In 36 games this season, Shelley has three assists and 78 PIM. At least he should provide the Rangers with a legit heavyweight so newly acquired Brandon Prust doesn’t have to move up in weight and take on Andrew Peters next time the Rangers meet the Devils on March 10. While it’s a decent move, you have to wonder why the lack of trust in Dane Byers, who did nothing wrong in his brief stint even scoring a goal in a loss to the Wild. We’ll leave that for the organization.

If there were one word to describe the Rangers’ hard fought 3-2 overtime win over the Pens in their final regular season match at Mellon Arena- something John Tortorella didn’t give a damn about- it would be gritty.

For a struggling team which had only won two of their last 10 coming in last night, this was a welcome change. Considering the garbage golden boy Sidney Crosby and Matt Cooke pulled, it was easily one of the best wins of the season. Especially with both Marian Gaborik and Mike Del Zotto departing early due to lacerations shortening the bench to 16. Gaborik (6 shifts-4:02) tried to go after missing a game but it was too much. Del Zotto was cut in the ribs by Evgeni Malkin’s skate and played just two shifts (1:20). He needed 50 stitches and likely is out for tomorrow’s final game before the break at MSG against Tampa Bay, who fell today 5-4 to the Islanders. They’re two points up. So, it amounts to a large game for a team that can’t win at home. The Rangers are one of four teams to have a losing record (13-15-4) on home ice. Will a character building win in which they stood up to the hated Pens, finally snapping an eight-game losing streak to their rivals, be enough to follow suit tomorrow?

“The playoffs have already started for us; we have to start winning,” Henrik Lundqvist pointedly declared after turning aside 25 of 27 shots for just his second win in nine. “A big part of the game is to be focused. Whatever happens during the game, you can’t let that affect us—if it’s a goal or a guy can’t play for us, all the guys have to step up even more. We did that tonight.”

“For a change, tonight we were able to put together a 60-minute—more than a 60-minute—hockey game,” goalscorer Vinny Prospal noted after scoring for the fourth time in four to put his club ahead 2-1 in an outstanding second period. “And I think that was maybe the difference between the last few games and tonight’s game.”

After a tenative first that saw them fall behind on Crosby’s career best 40th of the season set up in the slot by Bill Guerin and Malkin, the Blueshirts controlled the second outscoring the mighty Pens 2-zip and outshooting them 13-6. It didn’t take long to tie it with Chris Drury, who played like a captain all night, setting up Brandon Dubinsky in front with a no look backhand feed 88 seconds in. Olli Jokinen added a secondary helper on the great play by the oft-criticized Drury, who’s played better lately. He was good the prior two contests playing much more active and getting chances. Maybe he finally has jump. Considering that he always plays hurt sacrificing by blocking shots for the team like he did last night, it’s hard to say he doesn’t care. The man’s been snake bit not finishing plays like the one where he had a open side. But Brooks Orpik saved a goal.

With momentum, the Rangers continued to play well taking it to Pittsburgh who struggled in their end. If there’s one area which could be an issue for the defending champs, it’s defense. They can be forechecked and our team did a good job. Perhaps they do miss Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill more than first thought. Some superb work from Sean Avery, who played one of his spunkiest games, distracted the Pens and eventually led to Prospal putting the Blueshirts up. Winning puck battles in the corners and throwing his weight around, he also was near Brent Johnson’s crease agitating Orpik who took a whack at the agitator. It should’ve been a penalty but the Avery Rules were in effect. After a glance at the refs, instead of letting it get to him, he kept playing during the shift. Pittsburgh came the other way and got a shot on Lundqvist, who repelled it to Matt Gilroy. He quickly worked the puck to Artem Anisimov, who on a two-on-one made a perfect feed to Prospal who went upstairs for his 13th at 9:44. A beauty that put them ahead.

That’s when the game became more interesting. On the very next shift, a clean Drury takeout of Cooke who earlier this season blindsided Anisimov led to the instigator repeatedly challenging our captain who finally obliged landing a couple of rights before being taken down. Typically, Cooke made a bush league move continuing to hit a defenseless Drury.

“He kept saying it was a dirty play, and I was like, ‘What, I’m not allowed to hit you?‘ ” said Drury. “He asked me so many times to go, that I figured I might as well.

“The way we responded tells you about our preparation and focus. Considering who we were playing and who we didn’t have playing for us, it was probably our grittiest game of the season.”

 
Frequent target Michal Rozsival had seen enough coming to his aid, pushing Cooke away to earn a misconduct for being third man in. Exactly the kind of response that should’ve happened when Daniel Carcillo goaded Gaborik into dropping ’em while new Tinman Dan Girardi stood and watched. It earned the Rangers a power play which they did nothing with, looking lost minus Del Zotto and Gaborik. Girardi, who saw point duty on a second straight was dreadful, leading to a couple of Pens’ shorthanded bids which Lundqvist denied. He’s been a solid player here since the club brought him in as a free agent, pairing with Fedor Tyutin to success in our only decent run. While Girardi’s had his moments, he’s not consistent and hasn’t developed. Last night, it was two glaring turnovers which led to both Crosby’s goals, including the tying power play redirect of a Sergei Gonchar shot in the third. It’s very hard to pick on a player when we still have Wade Redden and Rozsival, who’s played better since Tort’s December tirade following an awful Islander loss. However, Rozy’s boosted his play and been more effective than Girardi, who’s supposed to be one of our best. Granted. He’s cheaper but that’ll come to a halt this summer if they retain him. He’s in line for about three million. Is he really worth it? That’s why I’m a fan of moving him before the March 3 deadline. Now, they have to wait. If you could get a pick for him or package with Dubinsky, who’s far from consistent for say a more talented player (i.e. Frolik, Versteeg, Benn), you do it. Many are split on Girardi but tend to overrate him. D is our one system strength. It’s about time they found out what Bobby Sanguinetti, Mike Sauer and Heineken can do.

Back to the game and Crosby’s antics. Not taking kindly to Dubinsky late in the second, the whiny Hart candidate gave a one-handed slash to our center’s wrist. This after the a ref pushed Dubinsky away during the period’s final shift. How can that be allowed?!?!?!?!?! Ridiculous. How overprotected can Cindy be? The chop to a place that’s not protected could’ve resulted in a broken wrist. Of course, the league won’t bother. Why would they? Double standards. Gotta love Dubi’s response during an MSG interview with John Giannone:

Dubinsky calls Crosby baby

Though he’d tie it with No.41 thanks to a diagonal Girardi pass right to Gonchar (secondary assist, anyone?), Sid & Co. would come up short in OT thanks to a brilliant winning shot by Jokinen, who must step up with Gabby banged up. He beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a lethal wrister from the right circle through a Kris Letang screen 62 seconds in giving them their first extra session win of the season. The play wouldn’t have been possible without a great defensive gem by Rozsival, who took a Pen off the puck behind the net and subtly fed Jokinen who did the rest for his 13th and second as a Ranger. Since the trade, he has five points in five games.

 “I used (Letang) as a screen and tried to go higher—tried to go high-glove,” the hero said after praising Rozsival. “Sometimes when the puck doesn’t go where you want it to go, it goes in.”

“I think he’s been playing OK for us but… OK isn’t good enough because we’re not winning,” Tortorella assessed. “So it’s a big play by him… Hopefully it will give him some confidence. You always want to be accepted when you come to a new group, and when you score an overtime game winner that’s a big avenue for him as far a joining in with the team.”

Now, they’ll aim for two in a row and a chance to go into the break on a high. They know what’s at stake and say the right things. We’ll see if they’re up to the challenge.

3rd Star-Olli Jokinen, NYR (OT winner 1:02 in, game high 7 SOG, 2 blocked shots, hit, +2 in 20:50)
2nd Star-Michal Rozsival, NYR (assist, 10 PIM, 5 SOG, 3 blocked shots, 2 hits in 21:31)
1st Star-Chris Drury, NYR (assist, fight, 2 SOG, 2 hits, blocked shot, +1 in 18:22)

After a rough month plus for the Devils finally they saw some light at the end of the tunnel last night in their final home game before the two-week Olympic break, with a 5-2 win over Nashville. New Jersey’s win coupled with the Penguins’ OT loss assured the Devils of remaining in first place at the Olympic break. All of the Devils’ go-to forwards scored goals including Ilya Kovalchuk, who made his first goal as a Devil count big-time by breaking a 2-2 tie at 8:24 of the third period and setting off an unusual celebration by the crowd.

Normally throwing hats on the ice is reserved for when a player scores a hat trick, however upon Kovy’s first as a Devil the ice was immediately littered with dozens of hats. Why? Well conveniently the Devils gave away baseball caps tonight and many of them were among the debris that had to be swept off the ice but more importantly it was an odd, if heartfelt showing of love from the Devils crowd towards their newest acquisition. Personally I went from ‘what the **** is this crap?!’ and being worried about a delay of game penalty to ‘okay, that was kinda fun’ in my reactions to that odd goal celebration. Technically it was a Devils hat trick I suppose, and in itself three goals has been a rarity for the team lately.

Even before the so-called Kovy trick, it was an interesting game. Jacques Lemaire made a couple of lineup changes from Wednesday night’s loss, scratching Rob Davison in favor of Cory Murphy (yes, he’s baaack!) and in what’s perhaps been a first since the Robbie Ftorek administration Jay Pandolfo was a healthy scratch in favor of Matthew Corrente, also back with the big club after Pierre Luc-Letourneau Leblond came down with his mysterious upper-body ailment again and was put on IR. As much as I like Pando, no Pando = no checking line which is a good thing, although to be honest that’s been pretty well phased out anyway since the acquisition of Kovalchuk. For his part Corrente played well in his 5:28, even getting a couple of shots on net. I was actually surprised his icetime was that low considering I noticed him a bit – well mainly early.

As has been a pattern throughout this recent malaise, the Devils again started off well and jumped out in front at 9:49 when Jamie Langenbrunner‘s pinpoint pass just eluded Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne and found Travis Zajac‘s stick. Zajac had an easy open-net goal as a result, for his nineteenth of the season. Fellow PZL linemate Zach Parise also assisted on the goal. However, the Devils blew a golden opportunity to get that dreaded two-goal lead when they received a 1:26 five-on-three power play seconds after Zajac’s goal, and did absolutely nothing with it. Granted, I’ve seen worse power plays from the Devils but there was still too much passing and not enough shooting. And when we did shoot, invariably it missed the net.

Seemingly that missed opportunity changed the momentum, and the Predators showed us how it was done at 18:30, scoring on their own power play when Cal O’Reilly blasted one through a screen in front to tie the game. Then just forty-six seconds into the next period the Predators took the lead when Jordin Tootoo‘s shot seemingly deflected off a Devils defenseman (either Mike Mottau or Colin White). While being down 2-1 was all the more annoying given our recent woes, maybe it was better than having a lead. Patrik Elias did respond less than two minutes later when he blasted one from just inside the blueline past Rinne at 2:30, with Mottau getting the lone assist on Elias’s eleventh goal of the season.

Going into the third period, Lemaire made two crucial adjustments to his lines, having Elias center Kovalchuk and putting Danius Zubrus back on the Parise-Zajac line, where he was so effective for two straight games before Lemaire split them up. It was Elias who fed Kovalchuk for the wrist shot at 8:24 that set off Kovy’s Jeff Friesen-like goal celebration, hat-gate and gave Kovalchuk his 32nd goal of the year. Langenbrunner also had an assist on that goal, which seemed to loosen everyone up. Finally on their fifth power play of the night, the Devils’ man advantage had a breakthrough, when Parise went to the net (thankfully) and scored off a rebound from a Kovalchuk shot. Zajac also had an assist on Parise’s 27th at 13:08. At first I exhaled then realized ‘oh ****, here’s the dreaded two goal lead’ and almost on cue, Nashville had a great scoring opportunity that Martin Brodeur snuffed out.

Tonight wouldn’t go according to that script however, and Langenbrunner sealed the deal with an empty-netter at 19:18 for his 15th of the year, ironic because all night it seemed as if the captain wanted to play the role of Adam Oates and pass the puck all over the place (and to his credit he did get two assists). His only shot on goal came in a situation where he couldn’t help but get one, all alone with the puck and an empty net right in front of him. Finally, came a sigh of relief and celebration from the crowd, who gave Kovalchuk a huge ovation for being the first star.

Typically I had a couple of misadventures before the game. Before the lockout, I wasn’t much of a jersey person and usually stuck to wearing t-shirts but finally started getting and wearing a couple of jerseys during the 2005-06 season, and since then I’ve pretty much worn a jersey except for very early in the season or in the spring when I go back to t-shirts. Long story short, tonight was the first time ever that I literally forgot to put a jersey on before leaving to go to the train station. And attempting to leave a ticket for someone at will call, apparently my super-small writing was too small to read and the guy who was supposed to get the ticket couldn’t.

Fortunately both issues had a happy ending (along with the game). I’d actually planned to buy one of the limited quantity of green jerseys now on sale at the Devils’ Den anyway and get it customized but instead of doing that I just wound up wearing it during the game and held off on the customizing. Even if it isn’t totally authentic, it’s close enough for me and looks nice so that’s pretty much what counts in my book. And my acquanitance managed to get another ticket anyway, so for a night all’s well that ends well. Especially considering the Devils have somehow gone 15-1 in the home games I went to after October. By blind luck or freak snowstorms or flu-like symptoms I managed to avoid some of the most brutal losses of the season, or at least having to experience them live.

Of course now I have to wait a month to attend another Devils game, since they’re at Carolina tonight and have three more road games before their return to the Rock March 10th against the Rangers, which will feel like Opening Night II. Oh well, at least we ended the home slate with a bang and will remain in first no matter the result of the weekend games. It’s been a rare night lately when both me and Derek can write a happy recap!

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Ilya Kovalchuk (game-winning goal, assist, +3 and 7 SOG in 21:51)
2. Patrik Elias (goal, assist, +3)
3. Zach Parise (goal, assist)