Battle Of Hudson

1. Mike Smith (33/35 saves)
2. Steven Stamkos (two goals)
3. Zach Parise (goal)

1. Zach Parise (goal, assist, +1)
2. Martin Brodeur (29/30 saves)
3. Jaroslav Halak (26/28 saves)

As per Tom Gulutti via the Fire and Ice blog about a half hour ago, both teams have agreed to finish the remainder of their game tomorrow night at 6 PM. All tickets from Friday’s incomplete game will be honored, and unsold seats will be available for box office price (even on a weekend, how many get sold to a ‘game’ where you’re down 3-0? Maybe ten…and that’s only if there are $35’s available).

Probably the team could do nothing different here, cause it wouldn’t be fair to the paying customers for Friday to give the Sunday buyers a discount unless you got your money back for Friday’s fiasco. And that might still happen, since owner Jeff Vanderbeek promised ‘communication’ with all ticket holders from that game. So it’s probably important to withhold further judgement at least from that aspect until after Sunday.

With the game itself it was probably the fairest solution since both teams have two days off after Saturday and the Lightning will still be in the area after their game with the Flyers in Philly tonight before their home game Tuesday against the Capitals, plus if you waited down the road to settle this you would run into more problems with what to do about injuries, trades and all other new players on rosters and whether they should be allowed to play in the continuation of the game. As it is, if anyone gets hurt tonight (since both teams play) the NHL will have another issue to deal with.

I’m only surprised the Prudential Center could round up enough staff in time to play the game tomorrow since there was nothing scheduled at the arena. I also wonder how bad the ice will be after being used three times this week for hockey and tonight for college basketball. As far as the fans, it doesn’t give them enough time to change weekend plans to make the replay on the one hand but on the other it does at least give out-of-town visitors and college students a theoretical chance to make it back for the finish. Thankfully the Jets’ playoff game starts in a half hour today and not tomorrow, which would have made the decision even tougher for local fans if the two games somehow conflicted, but I doubt many will be able to show up or have the interest to do so quite honestly. Not in a game where we’re down 3-0 halfway through and playing for the third straight night.

While Gulutti’s blog this morning was a bit over-the-top, upon further review I do think the Devils could also have done better by the fans last night. At least run the MSG broadcast on the jumbotron, the fans would have had some form of update (and real entertainment) during the hour and forty minutes of limbo. Plus as I said last night it just looks bad when the players and staff are already clearing the ice before the announcement’s actually made to the fans.

During his brief stint as an owner, Vanderbeek’s proven to be more fan-friendly than his predecessors, as beloved as John McMullen may have been PR was never the team’s strong point anyway but it’s been getting better. In my mind at this point though, he’s going to have to do more than just give the fans a voucher for a free game that in all likelihood only serves to paper the attendance for a game that would otherwise have about 14,000 or less. What more is, I don’t know but I do think given his track record he’ll come up with something halfway decent.

UPDATE: And the Devils have now in fact stated that all ticket holders will be guaranteed a free game down the road in addition to being allowed into tomorrow’s conclusion (details still to come). At least it’s a bare minimum start. Hopefully they also make parking around the arena free tomorrow for anyone with a ticket stub, it wouldn’t do to make people pay twice for parking. Not sure there’s much you can do about the train costs though.

Updating Light Gate, according to WFAN’s Matt Loughlin via NHL spokesman Frank Brown, the game will be rescheduled at a later date with it being resumed with the Bolts up 3-0 with 9:12 remaining in the second period. There should be some sort of future announcement. The question becomes when. Hopefully, they’ll be able to work at out ASAP because the points could be crucial for both teams. For the Devils, perhaps a top seed at stake while for Tampa Bay, maybe the playoffs.

We’ll have a much better idea down the road. Special thanks to Matty and Sherry Ross for keeping fans informed during Devils postgame.

I know it’s cheesy. But I can’t think of anything else at the moment for what just happened in Newark. How else do you explain a two hour delay for a bank of lights that went out on a second-year arena? Wow. Lou Lamoriello has just termed it a circuit breaker. And PSE & G is there and won’t get it fixed tonight. Haha. Maybe they should find a new sponsor.

Light Gate is what we’re calling it because I’m too dumbfounded by the lack of communication, screwing over so many fans. It’s not all the Devils’ fault here as it was the genius at work with his little minions that couldn’t decide at an appropriate time that it wasn’t going to be resumed. What about the fans? Oh wait. They don’t count. If you didn’t figure that out by now following the lockout, then you’ve been living in a cave probably with Batman.

It’s just a very bad situation where nobody wins. The teams both wanted to continue playing and Andy Greene via WFAN Devils postgame was quoted as saying, they figured 10-15 minutes at the most. Lou indicates that the plan was to get the players back out for a 10-minute warm up before starting up again. Sensible. We agree that you always side cautiously with safety coming first. Something a smart man like Lamoriello knows. It’s a shame that it incovenienced so many with the fans not knowing until essentially two hours later.

Concluding on what is a very difficult press conference for Lou, he doesn’t have the slightest idea if they’ll resume with Tampa in front with 9:12 remaining in the second. What exactly does this say about the NHL? How clueless can they be? Is it fair for the Lightning to get screwed out of three goals and play it totally over? Who knows anymore. This is yet another example of poor leadership and it starts at the top. When will it finally change?

What started as a mundane game between the New Jersey Devils and Tampa Bay Lightning where the Devils fell behind 3-0 despite only allowing seven shots turned into utter chaos midway through the second period, when the lights went out at 9:12 of the second period – and as it turned out after a nearly two-hour delay, they would not be coming back on for the rest of the night. According to Lou Lamoriello in the postgame, or postpostponement if you will, the problem was caused by a circuit breaker that shut down and the PSE&G computer wasn’t able to fix it (insert bad power play joke here).

In a game our blogger is probably at, the Devils and Lightning currently are waiting to resume play. They’ve been delayed about an hour due to a power outage. With 9:12 remaining in the second period, the Devils were trailing the Bolts 3-0 when apparently, some lights went out at The Prudential Center.

Perhaps Hell was freezing over with Satan in disbelief over the score and decided to flip the switch. Tampa hardly came in on fire. So, it’s pretty shocking that they’re up three on the Eastern leader who never loses at home. The Lightning have three goals on seven shots against Martin Brodeur showing just how bizarre this Friday night is. Too bad it’s not Friday The 13th. Is there a full moon out?

The Devils outshot their guests 14-4 in the first but trailed by one due to a Steve Downie power play goal. Thus far, special teams have been the story with Tampa connecting twice in three power plays while New Jersey is 0-for-2. Speaking to how weird it is to see the Devs down like this, the immortal Brandon Bochenski– who once was dealt straight up for Kris Versteeg– has his first goal in three years. Wonder who won that deal?

Steven Stamkos has also tallied his team best 22nd from Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier with the third marker coming with 9:56 left. A mere 44 seconds before the magic electric trick. This can’t be what’s meant by PSE & G Power Play. 😛

It’s now over an hour delay in Newark. Per the Lightning on Twitter, a pic of Stamkos hoping to get back out there. We’ll know more soon.

UPDATE: After much dilly dallying while fans patiently waited hoping for more hockey, the NHL has postponed the game. The issue is that this was the final regular season meeting, meaning they’re going to have to find a date that works for Tampa and the Devils. Figure they’ll continue from the point it got halted with the Bolts leading 3-zip with 9:12 remaining.

Most appalling is how long this process took with fans who attended having no clue as to what was going on. Why did it take so long for the NHL to come to a decision? It should’ve been obvious that when it got to an hour that there wasn’t going to be anymore hockey tonight. Furthermore, this is embarrassing for the Devils as well because they didn’t announce anything until the Lightning players had cleared the bench and the nets had been removed my the maintenance crew. How bizarre can you get? Fans aren’t stupid. Many headed for the exits once they saw this, not waiting for PA announcer Kevin Clark’s announcement which thanked fans for their patience. Huh? Why did it take so long? I’m at a loss for words.

Rather than backtrack of what was 48 productive hours for the Blueshirts in which they earned three of four points (5-2 over Stars and 2-1 shootout loss in Hotlanta), I’m just going to give some quick thoughts on a nice improvement that’s suddenly got them back into a sixth place tie with the Sens. A point better than eighth Montreal, who blanked Florida and three ahead of the Flyers, who continued the Pens’ troubles by lighting them up for seven in a 7-4 road win. With their first win in 10, the Thrashers are tied with the Islanders for 10th with 44 points, three out.

Our Thoughts:

-Gotta start with Chad Johnson, who was utterly brilliant in his first NHL start making 31 saves against a rested Thrasher club before succumbing in the shootout. Many Ranger tweeps wanted to see what the kid from Calgary could do after a strong showing in camp and a great recovery in Hartford that got him here so quickly. I don’t think anyone expected him to be so impressive, stoning Atlanta until Jim Slater slipped behind waste Brian Boyle for a breakaway goal that forced extras. Johnson was very cool making big stops including a couple of highway robberies from in tight, allowing the Rangers to get a point. He didn’t hurt himself and John Tortorella hinted the Alaska-Fairbanks product acquired from the Pens for a fifth rounder should get another start this month. It’s important to give King Henrik a breather every now and then. Especially with the Olympics around the corner.

-If Ocho Cinco headlines the list, then Sean Avery’s monster game a day before in which he tormented his former Star ‘mates during a 5-2 MSG win has to be runner-up. It’s no great shock that Avery was Avery finally, playing arguably the finest game of his career by scoring a goal and assisting on three others, including a nifty spin-a-rama in which he undressed a poor Dallas D before making a sweet dish for Chris Drury for a huge insurance marker in the club’s second consecutive home win. In between, Avery was his agitating best irking Marty Turco to the point where he referred to him as a “twerp” following a game in which he allowed two shortside goals, including a tying PPG to No.16. Maybe Turco should just can it. That was a pathetic statement by Dallas.

–Henrik Lundqvist is third because he’s really turned around his season, providing a low scoring Ranger club with the kind of goaltending necessary to make the postseason a fifth straight time in a weak conference. Before Johnson was between the pipes, excluding the appalling 6-0 home rout to Philly in which he was pulled after 20, Lundqvist made 17 straight starts. During the busy stretch, he permitted two goals-or-less in 13, including 10 of the last dozen. Entering last night, the Blueshirts had won seven of 10 (7-1-2) with Lundqvist posting a 1.90 GAA along with a .932 save percentage. The return to form has the 27 year-old Swede gold medalist down to a 2.40 GAA and up to a .920 save pct. His career best is .922 established back in his rookie year. He’s facing almost 30 shots-per-start with plenty quality due to a suspect blueline that features freshmen Mike Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy. Not to mention overpaid Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival. For all our harsh criticism of Henrik’s faults this year, he must be given a ton of credit for keeping a flawed team in the hunt. Since Tort’s blow up following a dreadful shutout 3-0 loss to the Islanders on home ice, he’s put them on his back.

–Brandon Dubinsky has quietly played better posting nine points over the past 10. Though he’s been held off the score sheet three straight, the third-year Alaskan is playing solid in all facets while anchoring the top line. When he competes, Dubi is an asset. The Rangers must continue to see improvement from the 23 year-old center.

-It would be easy to overlook Chris Drury but he’s shown a pulse since Tort’s blow out that had the captain centering the fourth line. The 33 year-old vet has turned around his season, posting four goals and three assists with a plus-two rating over the last 11 contests, including a 5-2 win over the Islanders that started the four-game win streak. Anyone can critique Dru for a dismal season that’s only seen him light the lamp six times with 10 helpers but the reason Team USA selected him for a third Olympics is the kind of character the man has. Something we’ve finally seen with Drury doing a fantastic job on one of the best PK units, teaming with Ryan Callahan. You’ll see that next month in Vancouver too. Dru looks more confident playing with Cally and Chris Higgins on a checking line while continuing to sacrifice his body blocking plenty of shots. He’s also been taking more shots. That must continue.

-Callahan has always been a constant, playing with an edge fans in this area appreciate. Not the most skilled, Cally always comes to work, providing great energy with solid checks where he ranks fourth in the league (152). After a poor start, the 24 year-old Rochester native is up to 10 goals and 12 helpers along with 34 penalty minutes. The alternate captain doesn’t back down from anyone and is one of the few on our roster who will go to bat for a fallen teammate. This might seem biased but watching Callahan as much as we do, I feel he’s one of the best penalty killers in the game. His hard work is always leading to shorthanded opportunities. He might not have one yet but has been responsible for a couple including a great Marian Gaborik shorty in a win over Florida. One of these days, he’ll get rewarded.

-Speaking of the Great Gabby, the Rangers would be nowhere without him. While it’s true he’s slowed down since Vinny Prospal went down, there is Gaborik still tied for the league lead in goals (28) while his 53 total points have him in a third place tie with Alexander Ovechkin. Nobody has more PPG than the Big Ticket, who’s at a cool dozen. Not only has he been money but he’s proven to be underrated defensively as evidenced by his PK exploits, including the remarkable backhand finish from a supreme angle on Tomas Vokoun. What else do we like is his willingness to compete. When opponents try to throw him off with physicality, Gaborik goes right back standing up for himself. Earlier this week, he shoved down a player earning cheers from the Garden Faithful. So, whoever thought he was soft didn’t ever see him play. It’s been a great first season on Broadway for Gabby, who hopefully we’ll heat back up.

–Marc Staal is finally playing better. Back in a more shutdown defensive role, the third-year blueliner is playing better in his end, making the kind of reads Ranger fans have become accustomed to. He’s been a rock on the PK, getting in the path of shots while using his reach to make some excellent reads and clears like during last night on one dreadful Atlanta PP. Staalsie and Dan Girardi are back together most of the time and playing off each other. It’s hard to believe Marc only turns 23 in less than a week. For all the criticism he’s received, sometimes we’re guilty of forgetting how young he is. Blueliners take time to develop and Staal’s still a work in progress. The four goals and 10 assists, including a great set up of Enver Lisin for the team’s lone goal last night demonstrate his improvement offensively- already matching his career high of 15 points last year. The more confident he grows, the better for the organization moving forward.

–Ales Kotalik has finally gotten a couple of shots to hit the net. He didn’t make it three in a row last night but has been more active. The Rangers really could use Ally to find chemistry with Artie Anisimov, who’s had some tough luck lately with goalposts.

-We love Del Zotto’s compete. Yes. His scoring has dropped with the power play back to Perry Pearn status. The 19 year-old is the future and is going through offensive struggles with just four assists over a month. In fact, he hasn’t scored a goal since Nov.23 versus Columbus. A stretch covering 21 games. DZ is seeing all sorts of time under Tort playing every situation. What we admire most despite predictable mistakes is how hard he plays, throwing his weight around. Amazing to think how mature the kid is. It can’t be easy working with Rozsival, who at least has shown more confidence offensively since that Isle debacle (7 A). DZ is going to be a good one. In the words of The Big Whistle:

“Shoot The Puck!“

-And finally, we have to give due to Slats for picking up Erik Christensen, who’s found his way onto the top line and played well. The five points (2-3-5) he’s put up while playing with Dubi and Gabby is a bonus because nothing was expected. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like him. Always liked Christy’s speed. That’s been on display recently along with decent hands that produced a nifty one-handed backhand finish in a 3-2 win over Boston. Good stuff.

It would’ve been easy to dwell on the negatives. Like Boyle’s failure to catch up to Slater, killing Chad’s shutout bid and two points against a team we can’t beat. But hey. The team’s played better and at least is showing signs. Give ’em some credit.