Battle Of Hudson

The best thing going for the Rangers today is that they don’t play tonight. Marred by questions of why three quarters of their payroll is under performing, when players are returning from injury and when Tom Renney is getting fired, they need to right a sinking ship. The season is still early, and it’s not a time to panic, but it is a time to question, and there is a big difference between the two. Some hot topics on a slow Monday:

Martin Straka’s finger was broken at the base, meaning he will need some time off. In his absence, who replaces him on the second line and penalty kill? With Marcel Hossa getting closer to being healthy, chances are we see him tomorrow night against the Penguins. You might see Hossa on the first line though, and not the second. Nigel Dawes has been extremely impressive, but someone needs to jumpstart Jaromir Jagr, and with chemistry being there with Hossa already, Renney might try that out. Dawes would work on the second line also, playing with Drury and Shanahan could be good for him. He can have a shooting mentality more, since the pressure to get the puck to Jagr won’t be there. It would provide the same speed Straka had as well.

Fire Tom Renney? I understand he has an undying loyalty to several players that maybe he shouldn’t, and that his playing of youngsters is limited, but this would be a panic move. Who takes over for him if he were to be fired? Perry Pearn? Glen Sather? Ken Gernander? It’s not in the best interest right now for the Rangers to get rid of him. If we’re still struggling 15-20 games in, then maybe the question should be asked. You can’t blame him for Jagr, Drury and Shanahan all having only one goal.

Overhaul the defense. The defense looked good against the Bruins on Saturday. Unfortunately the offense didn’t show up. It is just a matter of time before they do though. The best part of the defense right now is the Tyutin – Girardi pairing. Renney rightfully made them the top pair on Saturday, and they continued to impress. Both are physical, both take away passing lanes and know where each other is on the ice and both have shown an increased desire to shoot the puck. Roszival and Malik look good, but might be better suited with less time on the ice. Staal continues to flourish, but Mara looks out of position and flat footed sometimes. With Strudwick proving that he can step into the lineup in emergency situations, the Rangers should look to trade Pock. They could get a decent return on him, as he still has a bit of upside. Maybe a pick in the draft, or a midlevel, older defenseman they can stash in Hartford incase injuries hit.

Got something else? Let me know. There won’t be much on the Ranger front today most likely so hopefully this can hold us over until the Penguins tomorrow.

Boston defeated the Rangers 1-0 in the shootout. Phil Kessel got the game-winner for Boston. Shame, because Henrik Lundqvist was fantastic. He made 9 great saves in the 1st period and 19 overall. Manny Fernandez stopped 26 for Boston. The Bruins are now 5-2, while the Rags are now 2-4-1. Who’dve thunk that?

Chicago came back from a 3-1 third period defecit to beat the Leafs in Toronto 6-4. Patrick Sharp got the winner for Chi-town, while Pat Kane had 2 assists. Mats Sundin got 2 for the Leafs in a losing effort. The Hawks are now 5-3. Who knows? Maybe they’ll compete. I think Kane has earned his chance here though.

Chris Higgins got the game-winner and added an empty net goal, as the Long Island native’s team defeated Buffalo at Le Centre Bell by a score of 4-2. Derek Roy and Paul Gaustad scored for the Sabres.

Another victory for the Senators, breezing by Florida by a score of 4-1. Ray Emery was big, making 31 saves. The Sens move to 8-1.

The Islanders beat the Devils 4-3 in Overtime.

Simon Gagne’s second of the night came :48 into overtime, as the Flyers beat the Hurricanes to maintain first place in the Atlantic, 3-2. Eric Staal got his third of the year for the Canes.

Ryan Whitney’s late second period goal turned out to be the winner, as Sid vs. Alex round 9 went to the Penguins. The Pens have won 5 straight vs. Washington. Jordan Staal finally scored his first of the year for the Pens.

Vinny Prospal’s hot start continued, netting his sixth and seventh as the Bolts beat the Thrashers 6-2. Brett Sterling got his first NHL goal for ATL, while Marty St. Louis got his first of the year for Tampa.

Mike Ribeiro had a game-winner and an assist as the Stars beat the Ducks, 3-1.

33 Saves from Nicklas Backstrom and an Eric Belanger game-winner lead the Wild over the Blues at Scottrade Center, 3-1. Scott Wagner got his first NHL goal for the Blues. Boy, I hope they win this year, bigtime, not only as a JD supporter, but all 3 games have sold out and been raucous.

Kirk Maltby’s 2 goals included a game-winner, as the Red Wings cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Coyotes. Henrik Zetterburg netted #7 for Detroit.

Jarome Iginla had the game-winner for Calgary at home against provinicial rival Edmonton, 4-1. It was Iginla’s 5th, while the hapless Oilers could only manage 18 shots on Mikka Kiprusoff. Sam Gagner scored his first NHL goal for Edmonton.

Jeremy Roenick scored #498 as the Sharks defeated the Preds at the Tank, 2-1.

I tried to show off some of the less obvious stuff, you’ve all seen pics of the rink and seating, here’s some more interesting stuff.

The Islanders blow another 2 goal lead, but come out on top of the Devils [sorry Steve] as “Dollar” Bill Guerin nets the game winner with only 3 ticks of the clock to go!

Miro Satan actually showed up to play tonight with his first goal tonight as well. Vasicek and Comrie also added goals in the win.

The Rangers on the other hand couldn’t put anything past Bruins goaltender, Manny Fernadez and were shut out once again this season. Phil Kessel netter the shootout winner.

* Ryan Whitney scored the game winning goal as Pittsburgh Topped Washington 2-1. Just a note about this game. Resident tough guys Donald Brashear and Georges Laraque dropped the mitts and had one off their best fights against each other in years.

* Mats Sundin scored twice as Toronto fell to Chicago 6-4. Patrick Sharp scored the game winner and Tuomo Ruttuu added an empty netter to seal it for the Hawks.

* Dallas outscored Anaheim 3-1 as Mike Ribeiro scored the game winner. There was no scoring in the third period.

* Ottawa held off Florida 4-1 as Sean Donovan scored the winner. In this game Anton Volchenkov hit David Booth as he went head first into the boards and had to be carted off on a stretcher. At the present time there is no update available on his condition.

* Simon Gagne scored in OT to put Philadelphia over Carolina. It was Gagne’s second goal of the game. Eric Staal netted his 6th of the season as well.

* Montreal held off Buffalo who has had it rough this season with the score of 4-2. Roman Hamrlik scored the winning goal as Long Island native Christopher Higgins added the empty netter.

* So much for the big win! Atlanta coming off their first win of the season drops another one. This time to Tampa Bay with a score of 6-2. All of the usual suspects scored tonight [sans Hossa]

* Brent Burns and Eric Belanger added late goals for Minnesota to seal a 3-1 victory over the St Louis Blues.

* Derek Morris and Steve Reinprecht have scored early in the first for Phoenix; making the score 2-1 over Detroit after 1.

* Calgary/Edmonton is tied 1-1 at this minute and San Jose/Nashville are scoreless in the first. Another update at 1:00am.

More coming from Ray at 11.

Boston 1-0 Rangers in the Shootout.

Chicago 6-4 Toronto

Buffalo 2-4Montreal

Florida 1-4 Ottawa

New Jersey 3-4 Islanders (OT)

Pittsburgh 2-1 Washington

Atlanta 2-6 Tampa Bay

Carolina 2-3 Philadelphia (OT)

Anaheim 1-3 Dallas (3rd)

Minnesota 2-1 St. Louis (3rd)

Detroit 1-0 Phoenix (1st)

Edmonton 0-1 Calgary (1st)

Isles beat the Devils on another terrible call from these bush league referees. We saw it on Wednesday when the Devils got 6 power plays in succession, including an idiotic Too Many Men Call after a play had ended.

Tonight, after Sergei Brylin clearly gets hauled down on a breakaway by Chris Campoli and nothing called, Andy Greene turning around to get out of the zone gets his skate caught up with Mike Comrie, he goes down, and somehow that’s a penalty? What benefit did “tripping” Comrie was there for Greene? The Isles got an odd-man rush from it!

A ridiculous call, and a Guerin goal on a rebound with 3 seconds left.

Good 3rd period from the Devils, who came back from 2 down after killing off a 4-minute high-sticking minor for Brian Gionta. Pandolfo got another goal on a knuckling wrister over the top, and Gionta tipped in a Paul Martin point-shot.

But oh well, let’s decide the game on what is barely a trip with 30 seconds left in OT.

The Rangers played good hockey tonight, and still ended up on the short end of a 1-0 score. The defense came to play today, with stellar play from every one of the six blueliners. The offense did not show up. As Kovy noted, the offensive firepower that we invested in over the off season has been a bust so far. There is no way that the talent that we have right now is going to stay this subdued for much longer, however. A few tidbits before the league recap:

– Gomez played well today, and I think he needs to be with Jagr, who was arguably the worst player on the ice tonight. He did very little that was beneficial for the Rangers. Maybe he’s trying too hard, or maybe he’s not trying hard enough. Whatever it is, he’s got to snap out of it quickly.

– Dubinsky with Prucha and Callahan worked wonders. I’m glad Dubinsky got the ice time he deserves. Same with Nigel Dawes. Unfortunately we lost Straka tonight to a broken finger, but when Marcel Hossa is healthy, one has to think he is extremely expendable with the emergence of players like Dawes, Dubinsky, Callahan and even some Hartford players waiting to come up.

– The team should be taking Lundqvist out to dinner tonight. He kept them in it the whole way. No way to fault him, Kessel pulled off a great shootout winner.

Elsewhere:

Toronto leads Montreal 3-1

Mats Sundin has a short handed marker and an even strength goal, and Tomas Kaberle has a tally for Toronto after two periods. Jason Williams has the goal for Chicago.

All tied a 2-2 in Buffalo v. Montreal, going into the third.

Paul Gausted and Derrick Roy have the Sabres’ goals, while Bryan Smolinski and Kyle Chipchura have scored for the Canadians.

Ottawa leads Florida 2-1 after 2.

Richard Zednick has Florida’s tally. Mike Fisher and Shean Donovan have scored for Ottawa.

Islanders lead the Devils 3-1 after 2.

Not a good start for Weekes. Josef Vasicek, Miroslav Satan and Mike Comrie hit twine for the Islanders, Zach Parise for the Devils.

Carolina up 2-1 over the Flyers, 3rd period.

Eric Staal continues to impress as he and Justin Williams have scored for the ‘Canes. Gagne has Philly’s goal.

Pittsburgh 2-1 over Washington in the third.

Brother Jordan Staal and Ryan Whitney have goals for the Penguins, Brian Pothier for the Caps.

Tampa Bay Up 3-1 in the second over Atlanta.

Chris Gratton has found a new home and is enjoying it as he, Vinny Lecavlier and Vaclav Prospal have TB’s goals, Iyla Kovalchuk for the Thrashers.

End of 1st, Dallas up 1-0 over Anaheim.

Brendon Morrow has the only tally so far.

Detroit vs Phoenix, Edmonton vs Calgary and Nashville vs San Jose all being played later on tonight.

A little taste…more coming later, I promise.

Devils up 1-0 on a Parise goal after one period.