Battle Of Hudson

The other night after I had returned from The Garden of the Rangers’ latest victory over the Hudson rival Devils courtesy of King Henrik’s second 1-0 blanking of New Jersey, I couldn’t help but notice the wacky boxscore between the Blues and Avalanche:

On the strength of sniper Milan Hejduk’s hat trick and six points, the Avs prevailed in an old fashioned 1980’s style shootout (no not the damn skill competition) 9-5.

Yes! You read correctly and probably did the same double and triple take I did when I saw it.

The polar opposite of one of the more tactical games between the Blueshirts and Devs which predictably had few scoring chances where each Vezina contending netminder just had to stay focused when called upon. In particular Henrik Lundqvist who saw only 17 shots the entire night.

Now, crazy as it might sound, I figured out in my head the combined score of the first half of games between the bitter Lincoln Tunnel enemies:

Rangers vs Devils (Games 1-4 2007-08 reg. season): 12

Yes! The two Atlantic division foes have actually combined to score two fewer goals than was the case in one unpredictable Western Conference match-up between Joel Quenneville’s Avalanche and his former club- currently coached by Jack Adams candidate Andy Murray.

Now, I’m not implying anything here. Just mesmerized by the ridiculous difference between one contest and four games between close rivals.

You might wonder why I am even bothering bringing this up.

For a couple of reasons:

1.It demonstrates why the league erred in its latest new schedule set to begin next season with two less rivalry games between divisional opponents. We’ll get to a little quick point after too.

2.It is true that the game Sunday lacked a lot of chances. Now, as everyone’s favorite writer Larry Brooks pointed out, the Rangers and Devils possess two of the elite goalies in the game. Let’s just cut to the chase here: Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur are the best netminders in the Eastern Conference and outside of maybe Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo, the best that the NHL has to offer.

Here’s the point which is open to debate. Why would these two teams play such conservative styles?!?!?!?!?! They have great goalies. Wouldn’t you want to go for it a little more and take some chances once in a while? I’m not advocating a wide open style where players are irresponsible in the other end. Not in the least. The good teams know how to play defense and backcheck. But it would be nice to see a little more aggressiveness. After all, it’s not like each team doesn’t have skilled players who are supposed to put the biscuit in the basket.

NJ- Parise, Gionta, Elias, Langenbrunner, Zajac, Zubrus

NYR- Jagr, Shanahan, Straka, Prucha, Gomez, Rozsival

It would just be nice to see one of our own BONY goalies be forced to stand on their head from time to time. There are different kinds of games and that’s understood. Especially lowscoring ones. I had a buddy who called me to wish a belated Happy Birthday and called him back and we discussed the game between the second intermission.

He made it a point to talk about how exciting the Pens’ 2-1 shootout victory was over the Canucks. Now, you might say, ‘Well there was only two goals scored in that.’

He raved about there being more end to end rushes and many scoring chances which had to keep each goalie on their toes.

And that’s the point I’m trying to push here. That there can be very exciting 1-0 or 2-1 games. It all depends on the style.

Lastly, I will say that both teams the other night played extremely hard. The players had to fight for every inch of the ice. So it wasn’t a bad game. It was good. All we’re advocating here is that from a fans’ standpoint, it could’ve been even better!

Now onto our earlier comment about the schedule:

I agree that it’s nice for fans to see the other conference at least once. To get a chance to catch a Kopitar, Phaneuf, Getzlaf, Perry, Luongo, Iginla, Nash, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Kane or Toews is worth the price of admission.

Here’s my only gripe. This is a part I don’t like for next year:

A.Divisional games: 6 each totaling 24
B.Other conf. opponents: 4 each totaling 40

That is inexcusable. You’re telling me it makes sense to play 16 more games against other divisions. We’re talking only about a quarter of the schedule against your own division.

Why not subtract a game from one division (ie play 3 each against the Southeast and 4 each against the Northeast)

Here’s the total:

vs Northeast- 20
vs Southeast- 15

That’s 35 games. Now what if they went back to 8 against the rest of the division. Where does that leave us?

vs div. foes- 32
vs rest of Con- 35

Total 67

Well, would you look at that?!?!?!??! 67 GAMES PEOPLE!!!!! No Leafs fans. It’s not aimed at your team. So relax. 😉

That would mean you’d have the remaining 15 games against the opposite conference.

Now, wouldn’t this schedule idea be the best of everything and give the fans more of what they want?

The choice is yours. I think I’ve made my point here.

Hope you’ll enjoyed it!

I don’t know about you, but I loved tonight’s Rangers v Devils game. The final score was 1-0 Rangers, in overtime, off of a Brendan Shanahan one-timer a mere 30 seconds into the extra frame. Fedor Tyutin and Scott Gomez got the assists. Henrik Lundqvist was his old self in the shutout.

It wasn’t that the game was played overly well, but both teams played with a lot of heart. There was a lot of passion, some good back and forth action, some terrific saves and some bone crunching hits. It was good hockey all around.

The Rangers didn’t look like a team that had lost three straight. The Devils, however, played extremely well, but their winning streak came to an end. Martin Brodeur made some big saves, robbing Petr Prucha with a brilliant glove save, stoning Gomez on numerous opportunities and keeping Jaromir Jagr in check. Lundqvist stopped Zack Parise in the opening seconds, and Jamie Langenbrunner later on in the game. Colin White laid a few good shots, one big one on Marcel Hossa, and Ryan Hollweg was his usual self.

All in all, it was a great hockey game. The Rangers are back on the ice on Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals, 7 pm on FSN NY. I won’t be around until pre-game, it’s finals time here. Enjoy the beginning of the week. Relish in this if you’re a Ranger fan. Hopefully this jumpstarts us back to the caliber of play that we are capable of.

The Rangers hope to snap their losing streak, while snapping the Devils’ winning streak in this evening’s game. The Devils have won a ridiculous nine in a row, while the Rangers have had poor showings in three staight losses.

The lineup for the Rangers will probably remain the same as Friday’s game against Atlanta, as no call ups were made. The lone exception will be Henrik Lundqvist back in net, as expected.

In Hartford related news, Nigel Dawes continues to tear up the AHL, with five more points last night. In 12 games with the ‘Pack this season, Dawes has recorded 23 points. Greg Moore also recorded a hat trick last night, bringing his goal total up 14 in 24 games. One of Moore’s goals may actually go to Dawes after being reviewed, giving Dawes a franchise record six points on the night.

Should be a tough one tonight at 5:00. Let’s see if the Rangers can get back on track.

Mike Sillinger’s two-man advantage goal in overtime with just over 27 ticks left was the difference as the Islanders snapped their five-game winless skid (0-4-1) with a 3-2 win in Tampa Saturday night.

There was a Bill Guerin sighting as the Fishstick team captain finally scored. Ironically, it was the first time he tallied since another Isles’ win over the Lightning over a month ago.

Andy Hilbert scored the other Islander goal as they overcame a two-goal night from Brad Richards to get a much needed victory, getting to 30 points and remaining just four behind the first place Devils and a couple behind the logjam for second between the Flyers, Rangers and suddenly resurgent Penguins who won again for the fourth straight time 2-1 over Vancouver in a shootout.

Later today at MSG, the slumping Rangers play host to the sizzling Devils as they put their nine-game win streak on the line and try to pickup their first win in the season series. The Blueshirts took the first three (two in regulation).

Look for Henrik Lundqvist to return in goal for the Blueshirts who have dropped three in succession.

Hopefully, it will be a good game.

Lenny, in case you didn’t catch the game, the effort was better than the past two games. However, even in a tightly contested game, the Rangers got nothing out of it because of Kozlov’s surprising wrister which beat Valiquette thru a screen. It’s definitely one which fooled the backup and might have surprised him.

However, he did play well. Don’t be fooled by the SOG (34-21 Rangers). The Thrashers had many odd-man rushes and great chances which tells you that the Rangers aren’t all there right now. They’re a fragile team which could be very bad timing for tomorrow.

Jagr did show some semblance of life hitting a post and skating better. But at the end of the night, once again the Ranger leader wasn’t on the scoresheet. There have been too many instances where that’s happened. They’re not paying him to just show up. But to score and setup teammates.

He and Straka also were again guilty of not getting back for one-time Blueshirt Pascal Dupuis’ tying marker off a two-on-one.

Whatever the reason, this team misses Sean Avery badly. They are average at best without the pest.

I found it rather amusing that Jonathan Coachman kept referring to Atlanta as Hotlanta on MSGNY, so I had to incorporate it into a recap. I was unable to see any of the game, since I did not get MSG2 here. From what I am reading today, Jaromir Jagr was off his game, Stephen Valiquette played well, but let in a few softies, and Garnett Excelby had his way with Marcel Hossa.

Having not seen the game, I don’t know if the effort was better than previous games. I do know that if the effort is not there on Sunday, we will take a beating like the Sabres took against the Kings the other night. (8-2 if anyone didn’t catch that, 7 goals in the first 30 minutes of the game for the Kings)

Tom Renney hasn’t called anyone up for the struggling Rangers, but didn’t rule it out. You have to imagine Nigel Dawes would be the lucky recipient, as he has been dominant since his demotion.

As much as the Rangers have been struggling, the Devils have been surging. Winners of nine straight, they will surely be on top of their game against the Rangers. The defensive presence of Colin White was surely missed, as they are undefeated since his return to the lineup eight games ago. The Rangers will have to muster up all the offense they can, clamp down defensively and play a solid 60 minutes of hockey. Hopefully the days off have helped Henrik Lundqvist rest up and refocus and he will be back to his solid net minding ability.

If any lineup changes happen, I’ll update this post. If not, I’ll check in pre-game tomorrow. Should be a good one tomorrow.

The Rangers take on the Thrashers tonight after back to back games where they played like the Charlotte Checkers. Stephen Valiquette will be in net for the Rangers, who have been outscored 10-2 over the last two games. The break gives Henrik Lundqvist some time off before Sunday’s tilt against the Devils.

Colton Orr may also not be in the lineup tonight, as he was still suffering from some blurred vision and a swollen eye from his fight last night with Wade Belak. If he can’t go, which will be decided at pre-game warm ups, Jason Strudwick will move up to the fourth line, Paul Mara will be reinserted into the lineup and play with Marc Staal or Marek Malik as the third defense pairing. A Malik-Mara pairing doesn’t really excite me, but Staal has played better with Michal Rozsival.

Tom Renney also said that depending how tonight’s game goes, a call up tomorrow is possible. With the lack of production from Ryan Callahan, Marcel Hossa and Petr Prucha, their jobs could be in jeopardy right now. They all play a fantastic hardworking game, but they are not producing. If the top lines were scoring though, this wouldn’t be a problem. We’ll see how they come out against the revamped Atlanta Thrashers.

Since the game is on MSG2, I won’t know if I can see the game until moments before puck drop. Enjoy the game and I’ll check in later.

If you want to say the other night against Carolina was a fluke, maybe not. There were absolutely zero excuses for how pathetic the Rangers were in tonight’s 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs before a disappointed Garden crowd which booed loudly and then quietly filed out as Leafs Nation enjoyed their team’s win.

This was a real stinker. 6 GA on just 16 shots with King Henrik permitting four on only 10 before being lifted in favor of backup Steven Valiquette who gave up a couple of more on six shots in the final stanza.

“I don’t know the reason,” Lundqvist admitted to the AP afterwards. “I know I have to play better. … The first one was a bad rebound. The other three were not bad goals. I need to work harder in practice and get my game back.”

You really couldn’t pin this one on the all everything Swedish netminder who has carried his team despite a continued lack of support.

From the very outset, the Blueshirts looked out of synch for the second straight game and they paid for it on the scoreboard almost immediately as Matt Stajan got to a bad rebound on a delayed call 3:30 in. Toronto captain Mats Sundin also was allowed to get to a rebound and stuff one home 7:06 later for a two-goal Leaf lead.

But the Rangers rallied with two power play goals in the last four minutes from D tandem Dan Girardi and Fedor Tyutin to tie the score. Scott Gomez and Chris Drury notched the helpers on each.

The big issue on this night was it was the only instance where Tom Renney’s club showed any heart. They then went right back into the tank thanks to a mistimed Marek Malik double minor for high sticking which Leafs’ forward Nik Antropov capitalized on steering one home in front en route to a natural hat trick- the gifted Russian’s second career trifecta nearly eight years later (Dec. 20, 1999 at Florida as a rookie).

He would deflect home two more finishing off the hat by perfectly tipping home a Pavel Kubina slapper 3:34 into the final stanza for a 5-2 lead.

“Almost exactly eight years,” he later noted. “I remember it though.”

Oddly enough, after a scorching start, Antropov had gone ice cold for a 10-game stretch but seems to have found the magic touch again notching five goals in his last three.

“It was (10) games without a goal but I didn’t think about it a lot. I did pretty much everything the same, it just didn’t go in,” he said. “Nobody can go the whole the 82 games scoring every game or every second game.”

So right he is. These days, Antropov and the resurgent Leafs are winning after all the calls for John Ferguson, Jr. and Paul Maurice’s heads. They’ve now won four in a row and are right back in the mix at 12-11-6 for 30 points, vaulting ahead of the slumping Islanders for eighth in the conference despite three more games played.

Now with 14 goals and 15 helpers for 29 points, the still 27 year-old who the Leafs selected in the first round back in 1998 is starting to untap the potential which once saw his name in rumors such as for Eric Lindros when No.88 was a superstar. Good thing they never did that deal as Lindros eventually spent an injury plagued season in Toronto before retiring just a couple of years later a month prior.

Antropov has never had better than 45 points (16-29-45) in a season and that came back in 2002-03 when the versatile forward played in a career best 72 games.

If the Leafs are to continue their climb up the standings and get back to the postseason, they’ll need the gifted Russian in their lineup.

As for the Rangers (15-11-2, 32 pts), they’ve now been outscored 9-2 in two embarrassing home defeats and must travel to Atlanta for a game tonight against a Thrasher team which has turned it around since GM Don Waddell took over behind the bench for Bob Hartley.

That turnaround began when Atlanta thrashed the Rangers 5-3 in a game which never was a contest on Oct. 18.

So how do you think this suddenly struggling team will deal with league leading finisher Ilya Kovalchuk (23 goals). Gulp. Did we mention Marian Hossa’s getting healthy finally and Slava Kozlov is always dangerous?

Yeah. This might not be the right time to play them. But it gets even better because they then return home on football Sunday (why does the league insist on playing games against the NFL) to host the red hot Devils. Can you say disaster?!?!?!?!?! Not literally of course but potentially this could get really bad very quick. And in this conference, you can go from the penthouse to the outhouse in a hurry.

“You always feel good about yourself when you come from behind and tie the hockey game. It didn’t help us much,” Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr said after being invisible for the second consecutive game. “We know we didn’t play very well. Tomorrow we get another chance to prove we are a good hockey club.“

Speaking of No.68, why is it that a guy of his calibre seems to take nights off? Is this what you expect of one of the greatest superstars to ever lace’em up?!?!?!?!?!

Tonight, the third period was a perfect opportunity for Jagr to step up and get his team back in it. They were only down two goals against a miserable Leafs’ team who wouldn’t know the term “defense” if it hit them right in Mats Sundin’s cranium. Apologies to Sundin who btw did show up and never seems to stink no matter if his linemates are Jonas Hoglund, Mikael Renberg or Chad Kilger.

He just might be the most overlooked superstar in the game. If only the Leafs had a better blueline.

Jagr is as physically talented as any player in hockey. When he wants to, he can flat out dominate a game like no other. Why is it only in spurts these days? It’s certainly not the skating. And it’s not the strength cause that’s still there in shifts. Is it the willingness to compete daily? Is it a 36 year-old athlete wearing down or not wanting to push his body to the limit during a long 82-game schedule saving it for next Spring?

What if they don’t make it? Crazy thought. But in this wacky division and conference, unless you’re Ottawa who lately has stunk, you aren’t safe.

Now you tell me who’s performing up to capabilities out of these forwards?

Jagr- 28 GP, 7 goals, 14 assists, 21 pts
Gomez- 28 GP, 5 goals, 16 assists, 21 pts
Shanahan- 28 GP, 9 goals, 9 assists, 18 pts
Drury- 27 GP, 6 goals, 13 assists, 19 pts
Straka- 13 GP, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 pts

And I really hate to do this but this problem actually goes a little further:

Prucha- 28 GP, 2 goals, 5 assists, 7 pts, 37 lousy shots
Hossa- 24 GP, 0 goals, 5 assists, 5 pts, 32 SOG and plenty of spin-a-ramas
Callahan- 12 GP, 1 goal, that’s it

I will exclude the fourth line cause they never dog it. Yeah. They have hands of stone but those guys are the only ones who really tried the last two games.

And what’s more? The Rangers suddenly have dropped four of their last five at the Garden. That can’t continue.

Neither can Girardi’s blunders which are becoming Malik-esque. Two more giveaways tonight led directly to two Leafs’ goals. Is the kid tired? He’s never played a full 82-game schedule. He’s definitely not making the crisp decisions we’re accustomed to.

On a night where Malik got brutalized like usual, I didn’t hear anyone muttering a word about what’s happened to Girardi’s game (minus-six now).

When you lose as bad as this team has the past two games, every player is accountable.

They have a lot of soul searching to do.