Battle Of Hudson

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.

Just got home from Prudential Center. I am impressed, to say the very, very least.

I’ll post photos as soon as my buddy gets ’em to me.

Kevin Weekes will start against the Isles for NJD tonight. Sheldon Brookbank was placed on wavers.

The Bruins defested the Rangers 1-0 in a shootout. Poor Lundqvist.

Photos coming soon!

So far, there’s absolutely nothing doing in this game. If you’re a Blueshirts fan, what a waste so far. The offense is pathetic. They can’t even get shots on Boston backup Manny Fernandez. The power play is awful. How about just a freaking quality chance guys?

It’s clearly not working. Drury and Gomez continue to be wasted. If not for a highway robbery by Henrik Lundqvist on Marc Savard with an open net where King Henrik slid across and made an amazing glove stop, Boston would be ahead 1-0, which actually might have been enough considering that the Rangers have maybe 10 shots through half the game against Claude Julien’s improved Bruins who are playing great team D. Why was Julien fired again?

Brendan Shanahan can’t hit the net from 18 feet out. What’s he still doing on the power play?

At least Renney came to his senses and flipped Dubinsky with Betts.

This has been almost as boring as last nite’s Jackets-Sabres game.

Shots are 12-12 and no score with 6:26 left in the second.

Nigel Dawes again looks good.

Malik’s back in.

That’s about it.

Well, we’re back. After 40 minutes, still no score. The Rangers had a big 5-on-3 kill late in the stanza. Chara and Savard missed the net on one-timers and Michal Rozsival broke up a setup for a cutting Glen Murray and cleared the zone.

Both Fernandez and Lundqvist have each stopped 14 shots in what’s been a tightly contested battle with both team’s power plays fizzling out, combining to go 0-for-10 thus far.

One goal is probably going to do it given how it’s been played and how each netminder has looked.

Be back after.

The Rangers continued to drive their fans nuts with another baffling offensive display that was on par with Notre Dame.

They scored no goals in 65 total minutes against the Boston backup Fernandez who entered with a 5.00 GAA and sub-.800 save percentage. You can’t make it up.

And what’s worse? That despite playing a good third in which they outshot the Bruins 11-4 and out chanced their opponents at The Fleet Center, they couldn’t find the back of the net.

The best chance came off the stick of rookie Brandon Dubinsky, who despite less than nine minutes of ice-time (why???) was one of the best players and made a great individual effort to go around two Bruins and force Fernandez to make a tough stop on a backhand from in tight.

Each team finished 0-for-6 on the man-advantage as the penalty killing units thwarted them with diligent backchecking and solid goaltending.

The game wound up in OT. Despite Nigel Dawes logging his most time in an NHL game with over 16:00, he somehow didn’t see the ice in 4-on-4 along with Dubinsky. How is that even possible when once again the team’s veteran leading stars Jagr, Shanahan, Drury and Gomez hardly generated anything?

With apologies to Drury and Gomez who did try unlike the other two. It just wasn’t good enough to get as many shifts and over 20 minutes of ice.

Tom Renney is a good coach who’s very well spoken and usually has a good read on what went wrong in losses. But sometimes, the game decisions he makes can be baffling.

Such was the case in OT by not using the two kids and Petr Prucha who’s one of their faster and more effective forwards in 4-on-4.

Also, how are the lines going to have any semblance of chemistry when the coach continues to mix and match? It can’t work if you don’t give it a chance.

The Rangers missed the net 13 times (Jagr-2, Shanahan-2, Drury-1, Gomez-1).

They also missed twice not even testing Fernandez in a shootout with only Jagr’s stuff attempt coming close. Why was Shanahan even out there? He has no hands right now and looks washed up. It’s like expecting Britney Spears to stay sober and take responsibility.

It was fitting that he, Drury (wide) and Jagr would be the three guys who failed while Phil Kessel delivered in the Boston 1-0 shootout win.

See ya’ll next time.

Two more games and seven to get to The Rock. I will be heading their about 4:30-6:00, so I’ll try and get a few pictures off while I’m there.

This would be a pretty big win for New Jersey. Going to the Garden at 4-4 would be a lot more reassuring than going in 3-5. The Islanders are a hott team, but if you can stop Comrie-Guerin-Fedetenko, there’s not much past it. The Devils played the Isles well last season, taking 6 of 8 from the blue and orange and outscoring them only 17-14. Among Devils last year still with the team, Jamie Langenbrunner lead the team in scoring vs. NYI with 1-6-7 (He’s useless for another month), while Parise had 4-2-6, Elias 2-4-6 and Pandolfo 1-5-6. John Madden had four goals against the Isles last year. Marty shut out the Islanders 3 times, and beat them 6 times letting in 6 goals.

Devils can’t just play solid road periods, they have to beat it into the Isles heads that they are a hungry team and will not be stopped offensively. Push that “new” Devils philosiphy of offense early, go back to the D when necesary. Also, Marty must rebound. He’s gotta pitch a classic tonight.

Prediction: Not Quite…Devils 5, Islanders 3

Today’s Rangers vs Bruins game is being pushed up to 4 PM (Eastern time) today. Some team called the Boston Red Sox are playing at 8 PM, and I guess fans were unhappy with the conflict. (Sorry. Die hard Yankee fan.)

The only difference this really makes is that I might be able to catch the game. It was originally scheduled to be blacked out for the Buffalo game, but I’m not sure that’s the case now. I do have to work until 6 though, so I will provide a recap if I get to see it after I am done watching the recording.

I don’t have anything concrete, but I would expect Malik back in, Dawes still in and possibly Valiquette getting a start. The Rangers have a few tough games next week in New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay. I would expect if Valiquette doesn’t start today, he’ll start Saturday the 27th when we play Toronto. Lundqvist could use a day off.

Back later on for a recap.

Here’s the complete wrap-up of the night in the NHL:

Pascal Lecaire got his 3rd shutout of the season as the Columbus Blue Jackets skated into Buffalo in front of a sold out, bloodthirsty, Michael Peca-not forgetting crowd, and shut out the Sabres 3-0. Peca scored his first as CBJ, and Rick Nash added one after earlier being denied on a penalty shot by Ryan Miller. The Jackets have gotten points in four of their first six, while Buffalo drops to 3-3.

Sidney Crosby scored the shootout winner as the Penguins defeated the Hurricanes 4-3 (3-2 in the SO). Petr Sykora netted 2 for Pittsburgh, while Danny Sabourin got his first NHL Victory, making 29 saves.

Two names Blackhawk fans hope they see in the 5th column of the scoresheet marked “Goal Scorer” for years to come, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews led the Hawks to a 5-3 win over Colorado. It was Kane’s first NHL goal, and the rookie added two assists to bring his point total to 1-6-7 in 7 games, while Toews added a goal, his 2nd of the year. Wolski, Svatos and Smyth scored for the Avs to tie it at 3 in the third, but Tuomo Ruutu got the game winner with 1:34 to go.

WATCHING THE HIGHLIGHTS: Draw-Jopping, er, Jaw Dropping goal from Toews. Top 5 of the year when it’s all said and done, mark it down.

Michael Cammalleri’s 8th gives the Kings a 4-2 win in Vancouver. Oh, who cares, I’m going to watch that Toews goal again on NHLTV. I suggest you do the same.

The Jackets-Sabres game was the most boring one I’ve seen this year. It took hockey back about half a century.

Columbus surprisingly beats Buffalo, 3-0 at the HSBC. Nash, Peca and Zherdev scored for CBJ. If the Jackets get scoresheets like that most of the year, they’ll be competitive. The Jackets have gotten points in 4 of their first 6. Buffalo falls to 3-3.

Pens and Canes tied at 3 in OT. Petr Sykora has 2 for the Penguins.

Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews have both scored for the Blackhawks, as they lead Colorado after 2 periods, 3-1. That’s Kane’s first NHL goal, while he also added an assist. Wojtek Wolski has the lone Avs goal. It’ll be interesting to see, with 3 games left before the junior send down deadline for the Hawks, if Kane will go back to London. 6 points in 7 games from an 18 year old with the burden of resurrecting a franchise? I’d say he’s earned his spot.

Kings and Canucks are scoreless in the first.

A recap coming at 1AM.

Here’s your night in hockey, planet pals…

As reported earlier by our various columnists, the Isles won 5-2 in Washington, the Devils fell to Philly 4-0, and the Rangers lost to Atlanta 5-3.

Marco Sturm scored twice as the Bruins won their home opener over the Lightning 4-1.

Nik Antropov scored the game winner with 28 seconds to play as the Maple Leafs squeezed by the Panthers 3-2.

Jason Spezza’s first of the year couldn’t have come at a better time, as it won the game for the Senators, 4-3 over Montreal. Spezza’s goal came with 6:45 to play. Dany Heatley added his 7th for Ottawa, and Nick Foligno of the Senators got his first National Hockey League goal.

Calgary came back from a 2-0 defecit to beat the Kings 4-3. Daymond Langkow scored two, including the game winner late in the second. Mike Cammalleri’s 7th and Anze Kopitar’s 4th buoyed the Kings’ totals.

Raffi Torres netted two, including the game winner, as Edmonton was too much for the Coyotes, 4-2. Peter Mueller scored his first NHL goal for the Yotes.

Datsyuk and Zetterburg have scored as the Wings are headed towards a 4-2 victory in San Jose.