Battle Of Hudson

First off, let me just start by saying that Brian Gionta is one of the sneakiest players in the league. He gets away with plenty in front of the net. While the Devil sniper is a very good player, he’s a notorious hacker who takes full advantage of the rules which basically put defensemen at attacking forwards’ mercy. Want a comparison? See former Devil Pat Verbeek who went onto a great career.

Officials have begun to pick up on the gritty Rochester native’s agitating style by calling him for more of those slashes. Maybe just once he’ll finally get nailed for goalie interference. He’s always in front of the net on that edge pushing the envelope.

It’s my stance that he wasn’t pushed in by anyone last night. He skated directly in the crease and nudged Marc-Andre Fleury and then Ryan Whitney went after him like any good defenseman would. The same way Colin White would’ve if the same thing had happened to Martin Brodeur. Think the Devils miss him? Their defense is as soft as tissue paper without White around. His absence due to an eye injury is a big reason why teams are scoring at will and not paying any price. They’ve made up for it the past couple of games by scoring 11 goals against poor defensive teams.

Now, let’s go back to the play in question which was ruled a goal. How is a goalie supposed to stop the puck nevermind see it when he’s down on the ice with Gionta on top of him there? He has no chance of making a save in that position which I believe is in the rulebook. That’s why it never should’ve counted.

What’s even more appalling was new WFAN Devils’ color analyst Sherry Ross’ take on it between intermission. Opting just to discuss how the puck was loose which was true while neglecting to mention Gionta’s role in crucial play. Why else did she think an animate Fleury shoved the net at the official for? Hint: It had nothing to do with the puck being loose. If you want to be an objective analyst, do us a favor and discuss every detail next time.

To rule that a goal seems illogical. There’s absolutely no way either LaRue or Morton could’ve seen the puck. In that case, it should’ve been whistled dead immediately. From my vantage point watching this controversial play, I couldn’t tell where it was.

How are those two refs going to see the puck in that pile with all those battles taking place in the crease? The view had to be obscured which is why the decision didn’t make much sense.

My main feeling on this game is that the Pens got screwed out of a point. If they were smart, they’d send a copy to the league and put it up for immediate review. You have to wonder what the guys up north were thinking watching that second period. Do you think it was discussed?

I’d love to find out.

What’s written here is coming from as passionate a puck fan out there. This isn’t about an archrival benefiting from questionable decisions. It’s about the integrity of the game. This could’ve happened to any team. I was witness to one of the worst called playoff games last Spring yet the Rangers overcame it to prevail. However, there’s no way the game would’ve needed three OT’s to decide without some very poor judgments by the two referees.

As a fan of the sport, I believe I speak for many when I say that when I attend or watch a game on TV, I don’t want to notice the stripes. That task is becoming more and more difficult lately. Part of it is the strict enforcement of the rules where they’re calling every phantom hook. Another aspect of it is that some of the refs up here clearly aren’t capable of making proper calls. You’d think the league would start to take notice how the standard has dropped the past few years since going to the two ref system.

They haven’t done enough. What becomes clearer is that there aren’t enough good officials for all these games. It’s like running a competitive HS Basketball League with D officials who have never been on big games before. There’s bound to be some loss of control and controversies which doesn’t bode well for the players or coaches. It impacts everybody.

I want to see what the league does after this latest incident. I’d like to believe they’ll take a hard close look and put LaRue and his lost partner on notice.

It’s high time!

Derek, I’ll level with you that the officiating was awful, and it does sour what was a great game and an even better win. But there’s not a chance that was an interference call.

And you mention Chico, and he’s not ever known for agreeing with something that happened to a goaltender. Ever. Regardless of team being played for.

Anywho, onto the recap.

After some early 1st Period chances from the Penguins that were stopped artfully by goalkeeper Martin Brodeur (Whom, despite the score, saw a return to form, and perhaps only Malkin’s goal in the 2nd he might be blamed for) the Devils set to the attack, and it was that legendary offensive duo known as Madden and Pandolfo – with a little help from sparkplug David Clarkson (Who saw his own reflection 15 years from now in Gary Roberts on many occasions). On an early attack about 6 minutes in, Clarkson attempted a wrap-around that instead directed towards Pando in a good shooting position, and he ripped one top shelf past Fleury to make it 1-0.

The Madden-Pando-Clarkson combo struck again later in the period, as Pandolfo entered the Pittsburgh zone, dropped it to Madden, who said “Bitch, get out ‘da way” to Marc-Andre Fleury and just ripped one to the twine. At 9:58, it was NJD 2-0.

The Pens then nailed home 3 straight on deflections from Maxime Talbot and Gary Roberts, followed by a biting, knuckling slapper from Sergei Gonchar, that may have hit Karel Rachunek. Brodeur was much better than in Atlanta, but I think maybe a rest in Thursday at the Wachoff Center is a good thing for the Islanders and Rags next week.

It was then that Zach Parise got the first of his three assists on the night with a slap pass to Travis Zajac, who half-shot, half-angled the puck past Fleury. Parise and Zajac ain’t the future, they’re the present.

It was later in the period that things got crazy. Ridiculously, six consecutive calls on the Penguins. Including a very controversial one where Malkin and JStaal broke in 2-on-Goalie and Malkin scored, and only after the play did a penalty for too many men get called. Morton and LaRue should absolutely be suspended for this, but not for what happened next.

Brian Gionta went to the net as usual, and parise took a shot that I believe went off the boards and through the crease and stayed loose, even on my awful television, you could clearly see the puck was untouched. Gionta was pushed into the net. Three Pens around the goal, none of them close the puck, all battling Gionta and their own netminder to find it. Travis Zajac found it and potted his second of the game.

The Penguins got justice with a 5-on-3 later in the period which Malkin cashed in on, clever pass from Sid the distinguished diving Lady, and the game tied at 4 headed to the third.

Midway third period. Elias a great bank pass away from Crosby, finds Zach Parise cross-ice, he sends it across where Aaron Asham, of all people, finds it on the tape and puts it home for his second of the season, and Parise’s 3rd helper of the night, 7th of the year – quickly becoming the Devil answer to Jason Spezza. It was 5-4 and would stay that way the rest of the game.

We’ll look further into this one tomorrow folks.

What took place at Mellon Arena was a travesty. There’s no other way around it.

When you have Chico Resch agreeing with irate fans over blatant interference by Brian Gionta on a play they somehow ruled a goal when they clearly lost sight of the puck, you know it’s bad. Especially when a ticked off Marc-Andre Fleury practically shoved the net at one of the refs. The still young 22 year-old netminder was far from sharp but he certainly had a valid point in an instance which cost his team a goal. They lost the game by a goal too.

The penalties in the second period were discouragable:

Is this supposed to be hockey? They ruined a good game.

Aside from that, the late too many men on the ice penalty after Evgeni Malkin had scored looked extremely questionable. It seemed kind of odd to wipe out that goal. You’re telling me the Devils didn’t have too many men on the ice as well? It was about as poor a change as you’ll ever see. And here’s why it should’ve probably counted. From the AP story:

The Penguins appeared to take a 4-3 lead with 7:36 left in the second when Jordan Staal fed Malkin during a 2-on-0 — but Pittsburgh was called for too many men. Defenseman Brooks Orpik made a pass from near his own net to Staal on the opposite blue line as both teams were making line changes. No whistle blew and neither referee appeared to raise his arm before the goal.

I’m extremely curious as to how many other instances have you seen a goal which btw was ruled that on the ice then got overturned about a minute later. This was a very eerie situation which drew the Pens’ fans ire. It didn’t help much when a couple of tacky calls insighted fans who tossed debris on the ice which was embarrassing for everyone.

I hate to say it but the officials got exactly what they deserved in this instance. The team of Dean Morton and Dennis LaRue clearly lost control out there. If I were Pittsburgh coach Michel Therien, I would’ve taken my team off the ice in protest.

It’s rare when the officiating becomes so bad, that fans who coughed up good money are justified in their actions. But I can’t say I blame them.

This was the worst officiated game I’ve ever seen. And sadly, this is becoming more the norm in today’s league.

It’s bad enough that they put in a stupid rule moving faceoffs to center ice away from dots and the new league site stats can’t even be understood. What can’t be tolerated is what took place tonight to help impact an ultracompetitive contest.

Congrats to the digusting duo of Morton and LaRue. They’ll probably get a league bonus for that performance.

So I after watching the Islanders sweep the home and home series from the Presidents Trophy winning Buffalo Sabres recently, I noticed that all the scoring had been coming from the “Power Line” of Guerin–Fedotenko–Comrie. I’ve been telling people that if that line cannot be consistent, the Islanders aren’t going to win.

Fast forward to tonight’s match up against the Capitals and the Islanders have lost three straight. The top line has thus cooled off and no one is scoring outside of the “big 3″ and the defense. So I ask you….”Does anyone else play on this team?” Trent Hunter, Mike Sillinger and Miro Satan have been counted on to provide offense and combined they have 1 goal.

Today at practice, Ted Nolan dropped Guerin to the second line, in an effort to get Sillinger and Satan the puck more often and moved Hunter up to the top line with Comrie and Tank. Will that spark the team?? I have no idea but like I said before, someone on this team better start taking the game a little more seriously or this team will end up right where Sports Illustrated picked them for; LAST PLACE.

The other move Nolan made was taking Andy Hilbert, who in my opinion shouldn’t be playing on this team, and demoted him to the fourth line and moved up Sean Bergenheim. The result; more scoring opportunities for Vasicek and a bit more energy to the line as well. Bergenheim, has showed plenty of energy in limited ice time and provided a spark for his new line. They were clearly the best line on the ice the other night against Philadelphia and produced the teams lone goal.

Tonight the Islanders play Washington who beat them 2-1 last Monday. With Ovechkin neutralized, they were beat by an old friend by the name of Tom Poti, who left the Island in search of more money. Rick Dipietro must once again save the day as the defense starts to get to know each other. Now lets see if those “new line” combos produce anything. Remember, you cant win the game if you cant score.

Pandolfo and Madden for NJ, Talbot and Roberts for Pittsburgh.

These see-saw games have to stop.

More later.

As already pointed out, the Rangers are off to a slow start. With the 0-6 Thrashers as the next opponent, the Rangers have been mixing and matching lines at practice all week. Here’s what tomorrow’s lines very well may look like:

Jagr – Gomez – Dawes
Prucha – Drury – Callahan
Shanahan – Betts – Straka
Orr – Dubinsky – Hollweg

Roszival – Malik
Tyutin – Girardi
Staal – Mara

Some glaring differences right off the bat. Marcel Hossa is nursing a groin injury, which forced the Rangers to recall Dawes. Since Dawes serves no purpose on the 4th line, Renney inserted him right on the top line with Jagr and Gomez, who he played very well with in preseason.

There are essentially 3 top lines. Shanahan and Straka are not 3rd line players, and Drury is not a third line center. Betts is not a second line center and neither is Dubinsky yet. So what this amounts to is a viable scoring threat up and down the line up, with a tough checking line as well.

The only real problem I see with this lineup is Marek Malik. Sure he will probably break out of whatever funk he is in right now and yes, he will end up as one of the top +/- players in the league at the end of the year, but he needs a day off to mentally compose himself. Thomas Pock skated with Roszival at practice today, but Renney said it was just to gauge his conditioning. With Staal looking better and better every game, Pock is the odd man out. Mara makes a lot of money, but he has a valuable offensive ability. We should either give Pock a legitimate shot, or send him somewhere else. With defensemen such as Liffiton, Baranka and Sauer in the minors, he is easily replaceable.

Hopefully this lineup shows some offensive outburst tomorrow. The 0-6 Thrashers will undoubtedly be playing like a desperate team. They’ll have a new coach at the helm as well, as Bob Hartley was fired last night. We shall see.

I know what you’ll say. It’s early and yes, you’d be proven right. We’re almost two weeks into this promising 2007-08 Ranger season. Sure, they’ve only played five games but is anyone else a little concerned about the lack of chemistry Tom Renney’s club has displayed?

After landing center duo Scott Gomez and Chris Drury hours apart back on the first day of unrestricted free agency in July, much was expected of a Blueshirt team which won its first playoff round in 10 years and pushed Buffalo six games in a series they easily could’ve prevailed in.

By subtracting Michael Nylander and adding two younger pivots, the thinking was it would make the Rangers even better offensively. Maybe Ranger brass didn’t realize that the two newcomers who play more of a North American style might have issues meshing with the East-West game of captain Jaromir Jagr. Thus far, there’s been little chemistry to speak of with either big ticket pivot getting turns with No.68. This isn’t a surprising revelation. It was going to take time for either to work well and adjust to the Czech star’s game.

Will it eventually click? It better or the Rangers are going to have a lot of egg on their faces for not saving some cash and just giving the better suited Nylander his money. They also would’ve saved some cap space. Instead, he’s now in Washington working with youngsters Alexander Ovechkin, Alexei Semin and Nicklas Backstrom.

With Drury (1-3-4) and Gomez (1-1-2) out of the gate slowly and Matt Cullen (3-2-5, 2 PPG) already lighting it up back with Carolina, one has to wonder if maybe management didn’t think everything through.

Are the additions of Drury and Gomez really that much of an upgrade over what they had? You can be sure Nylander will score more goals and points than Gomez who they severely overpaid for. You also can take to the bank that Drury for as good a player as he is, the former Trumbull Connecticut Little League World Series star isn’t going to score 37 goals like he did last year with an explosive Buffalo team who came at opponents in waves.

Now, if it’s true that Drury and Gomez are the top two pivots, then it’s also true that the Rangers have no replacement for the gritty Cullen who even without playing point on the man-advantage on Broadway still finished strong working well with Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan to comprise a solid forechecking third line.

Then there’s the Marcel Hossa experiment. How does the left wing go from in Tom Renney’s doghouse to suddenly logging over 20 minutes a night playing top line because Sean Avery is out? The recently turned 26 year-old Slovak is a diligent forechecker and backchecker who also teams with top penalty killer Blair Betts while shorthanded.

He did finish well playing with Jagr and Nylander last Spring attaining new marks in goals (10) and points (18) and outplayed older brother Marian by a lot in the Rangers’ sweep of Atlanta.

So how does he go from that to being a healthy scratch to start the season? Then suddenly there he is on the top line. While it’s true he has three assists in three games, it just doesn’t make sense to go from one extreme to the other. Are they playing him that much for a showcase to possibly free up a spot for Nigel Dawes who impressed in preseason and clearly doesn’t belong in Hartford? Maybe.

But it says here Hossa could have a place on this team if Renney concludes that neither Drury or Gomez can work with Jagr. The coach still hasn’t tried an all-Euro unit with Hossa, Straka in the middle with Jagr. By shifting Straka to center, that would allow Renney to try Drury with the goal-less Brendan Shanahan and maybe use Gomez with speedsters Prucha and Callahan which could make better sense and give the Blueshirts a more balanced look up front and most importantly better chemistry.

The question is with Avery still out a couple of weeks due to a shoulder separation suffered at the hands of a good hit by Ottawa’s Chris Neil, what happens with rookie Brandon Dubinsky who looks better and better when he gets more ice-time?

With a former student of Renney Dave Scatchard still trying out and possibly getting ready to sign, does that spell Hartford for Dubinsky who’s one of the few young forwards with speed and pizzazz with Avery out? It makes about as much sense as scratching Hossa for Ryan Hollweg.

As for Dawes, considering how he looked with Gomez and Shanahan in exhibition, he deserves a shot there. What is the organization waiting for? To fall into the same kind of slow start they did last year before needing a Yankee-like finish just to qualify for a third straight postseason when they’re expected to finish near the top?

It’s little secret that favorite MSG target Marek “Big Bird” Malik has struggled thus far and been out of position for at least four of the 10 goals a sharp Henrik Lundqvist has permitted. Since his three assist night in a victorious home opener over Florida, the 32 year-old Czech who’s not the fastest skater has been victimized badly in a couple of defeats including the most recent one to Ottawa.

He’s gotten out of the gate slowly before and recovered well to log valuable minutes in key situations with more steady D partner Michal Rozsival. Much of how the D performs depends largely on the 6-6 240 pound fares. When he and Rozsival are in synch, they’re one of the most underrated tandems in the league.

With Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi blossoming into a reliable shutdown second pair proving that last Spring wasn’t a fluke, if Malik can settle down, suddenly the Ranger blueline will be much more formidable. Especially with former 2005 top pick Marc Staal gaining the trust of the staff and being put into key situations.

The other question is what does Renney do with Paul Mara having already been scratched twice for the more physical but slower footed Jason Strudwick? While Malik has struggled, he’s not the only defenseman who’s missed assignments and cost his team goals against. Mara has been brutal in his three games hurting the pairing with Staal.

Could the Blueshirts possibly look to deal Mara and unload his contract? Stay tuned.

When your most consistent forwards are Colton Orr and Betts, it’s not a ringing endorsement. Neither is Shanahan showing some age by firing nothing but blanks (league leading 32 SOG) so far.

It is early but the sooner this team finds chemistry, the better it will be for their season.

Toronto – Buffalo is on VERSUS at 7PM.

Detroit – Anaheim at 10PM.

San Jose – Vancouver also at 10PM.

Enjoy.

Sorry for not being around for the game tonight. I haven’t seen any of it, and might not get a chance to at all. Three goals from Ottawa in 52 seconds in the second period is tough to swallow. Jagr scored from Gomez though, which is a good sign.

As for where I was. I was actually at the Wolfpack v. Syracuse Crunch game out in Syracuse tonight. The Wolfpack looked great at times. Greg Moore hustles to every puck, Nigel Dawes was impressive, Darius Kasparaitis scored, Al Montoya was sharp, Artem Anisimov played extremely well and I was very impressed with Alex Bourret’s play. Al Montoya was nice enough to take a picture with me out in the rain after the game while others like Kaspar, Sauer and Jessiman stuck around as well to sign stuff for fans. Mitch Fritz was a scratch, and we passed him in the trainer’s room several times, cheering for him each time. He smiled and shook hands with my friend on the way out. It was a good time, and the Pack won 5-3.

The Rangers are off until Thursday, when they travel to Atlanta to play the Thrashers.

Take a look at the highlights to tonight’s game, currently available in the “Last Game” section of the Devils website.

What you’ll see is the Thrashers local broadcast and what you’ll notice, other than Red Bulls play-by-play man JP Delacamera going to the lowest-common-denominator of homerism, is that it really is quite dark-looking in that arena.

Could that have had something to do with the goaltending tonight?