Can Lafreniere rebound in the second half to save his season?

Posted on January 10, 2023 by Derek

When they somehow lucked into winning the two-part 2020 NHL Lottery after getting eliminated by the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Qualifier, the Rangers knew Alexis Lafreniere would be the number one pick in the Draft.

Even after former GM Jeff Gorton and Team President John Davidson decided to extend Chris Kreider, which meant the two top left wings would remain Kreider and $11.64 million man Artemi Panarin, there was no way the Rangers could pass up the overwhelming consensus top pick in Lafreniere.

A very talented young player who dominated the QMJHL by winning MVP twice along with helping lead Canada to gold at the 2020 IIHF U20 World Junior Championships (WJC), Lafreniere was expected to become an impact player in the NHL. Instead, it’s been a struggle for the still young 21-year old Rangers forward.

One of the issues that might’ve hurt him was the ’19-20 season concluding later due to the pandemic. Like many young players, he wasn’t able to play any competitive hockey during the Fall. That delay was probably reason enough for the Rangers to assign Lafreniere to Canada where he could’ve played in the ’21 WJC. They didn’t allow him to return.

In hindsight, that was a mistake. Having Lafreniere play against his peers in the prestigious tournament would’ve benefited him. He could’ve helped Canada defend their gold medal. It also would’ve allowed him to get into game shape in preparation for the abbreviated 56-game 2021 schedule. A big miscalculation by an organization that doesn’t always see the big picture on handling its best prospects.

At the time, David Quinn was entering his third season as coach. After taking positive steps with the key additions of Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba and arrivals of Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, it looked like the Blueshirts were on the right path back to the playoffs.

The hope was that 2019 second pick Kaapo Kakko would improve on a tough rookie year. Lafreniere would come in and provide the scoring balance they lacked. The issue became how could he receive enough playing time behind a core that included Mika Zibanejad, Kreider, Panarin, Ryan Strome with Fox added to a top power play unit which became one of the league’s most potent.

Without ideal power play time and playing secondary minutes, Lafreniere found it tougher to break in. He even had a stint on the fourth line. A place Quinn also put Kakko when he wasn’t producing. It left fans frustrated with the process for younger players. That also included Filip Chytil, who for the most part centered a third line where both Kakko and Lafreniere wound up.

After he recorded 12 goals and nine assists for a total of 21 points all at even strength over 56 contests, Lafreniere entered Year Two with more expectations under new bench boss Gerard Gallant. A more experienced coach who tries to motivate the younger players through discipline, he’s made examples of Kakko, Lafreniere and newcomer Vitaly Kravtsov at different moments over the past year and a half. If they make mistakes that hurt the team, shifts can be missed occasionally. Or they can get dropped down.

Nobody can complain over the success the Rangers had in ’21-22. They went from no postseason four years running to surprising many by rallying from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Pens in a hotly contested first round where they eventually took advantage of their goalie edge along with Sidney Crosby missing the third period of Game Five and all of Game Six due to an upper-body injury sustained on a Jacob Trouba hit.

Although he didn’t explode in his second season due to being behind the top six, Lafreniere made strides by scoring 19 more even strength goals placing second on the team behind Kreider, who scored 23 times at even strength in a career year where he scored 52 goals including a single season franchise record 26 power play goals.

That Lafreniere had that kind of success playing mostly five-on-five on a third line with Chytil and Kakko proved that he was learning. He seemed to have a clear role on a team that won 52 games and totaled 110 points to finish second in the Metropolitan Division.

It felt like the then 20-year old left wing was on the right track. He played aggressively by using his speed and grit to get in on the forecheck and win puck battles. He definitely finished checks and went to the hard areas to score most of his goals. The chemistry Lafreniere had with Chytil and Kakko carried over into the playoffs where they contributed during series wins over Pittsburgh and Carolina. Their play was instrumental during the run to the Eastern Conference Final where they ultimately fell short against Tampa.

If there was one gripe about how he was handled by the coaching staff, it was the lack of power play time. Coach Gallant leaned heavily on his vaunted top unit that then featured Fox, Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider and Strome. The second unit was hardly used. That didn’t help Lafreniere or Kakko, who basically had to score almost every goal at even strength. That included Chytil, who wound up with 8-13-21 at full strength. He had one power play point. Kakko scored a power play goal in an injury riddled third season where he tallied 18 points (7-11-18) over 43 games.

Once new Team President and GM Chris Drury added key secondary scorers Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp and checking forward Tyler Motte at last year’s trade deadline, it locked the kids into their secondary scoring role. It wasn’t a bad place to be. They all were young, and there was less pressure. They were underestimated in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Chytil had a terrific postseason scoring seven goals and adding two assists for nine points in 20 games. Lafreniere did his part contributing two goals and seven assists for nine points. Kakko was strong on the forecheck, totaling two goals and three assists for five points. Although they didn’t always score, they put together strong shifts by cycling the puck and working the walls. This led to penalties drawn and more scoring chances as well as possession time.

Entering ’22-23, there was every reason to believe that Lafreniere would take the next step as a player. Many pundits including myself thought he could hit 25 to 30 goals and 50 points. I also had Kakko penciled in for 20 goals and Chytil around 25.

But in an unpredictable year where the team started poorly before picking it up over the last month to move up in the standings, there’s been little consistency. They can go from beating quality opponents to losing games to some of the league’s also rans. They’re capable of coming back to win games and also capable of imploding in mystifying losses.

It’s definitely not been easy in Year Two under Gallant. With unrealistic expectations due to the amazing run last Spring, some fans think it’s Cup or bust. I don’t. Last year, everything broke right for them to get far. Winning two series against a third string goalie and backup. They came oh so close against the championship caliber Lightning before running out of gas. Ondrej Palat be damned.

Strome left for Anaheim and was replaced by Vincent Trocheck. An upgrade due to his overall game and strength on face-offs. The issue is he doesn’t have good chemistry with Panarin, who has had a bit of an uneven season despite leading the Rangers in scoring. On the other hand, Trocheck has really come on during this stretch and proven his worth as a great team guy.

The lines have been mostly mixed up by Gallant, who has a tendency to panic when things don’t go well. It isn’t like last year where you knew he could pencil in Kreider and Zibanejad together while Panarin and Strome were on line two. Vatrano filled the right wing on the top line while the versatile Copp did the same for the second line, making the Rangers a much more balanced team. Motte was a great fit on the checking line with Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves, who makes his return to MSG when the Wild visit tonight. That should be interesting.

Reaves fell out of favor under Gallant, who loved him both in Vegas and New York City. It became a numbers game with Jimmy Vesey earning his stay by solidifying himself in a checking, penalty killing role. He was extended last week for two years at a fair average cap hit of $800,000.

Drury adding Ryan Carpenter to replace Kevin Rooney never made sense. A Gallant guy who played for him in Vegas, he didn’t have the skating necessary to stick in a checking role. Sammy Blais hasn’t been the same player since tearing his ACL due to P.K. Subban. He plays hard continuing to deliver big hits and forecheck. But he has no goals and is on the fourth line.

Jonny Brodzinski temporarily replaced Carpenter due to his speed and grit. He’s been an extra lately with Blais playing alongside Goodrow and the surprising Julien Gauthier. It’s his re-emergence that allowed the organization to part ways with Reaves, who was dealt to Minnesota who wanted him. He gets regular shifts and plays the same high energy role he did last season in NYC. You know he’ll have extra juice for this game.

While they’ve settled on a fourth line, there still are questions. Lafreniere got mixed in the shuffle. He went from third line to a few games up with Zibanejad and Kreider to playing the off wing with Trocheck and Panarin. The experiment with the Bread Man messed him up. His attention to detail suffered along with his play.

Perhaps being moved around so much by Gallant didn’t help Lafreniere. His role remains undefined. The opposite of last year when he seemed to make steady progress under Turk. He’s been used primarily on the third line back at his natural position for a while. He works best with Chytil, who’s on target for over 20 goals and 40 points.

With Kakko now being featured on the top line where his strong wall play has been a good fit with the reunited Kreider and Zibanejad, it’s Chytil between Lafreniere and Vesey. A player who’s consistently worked hard for his seven goals and seven assists. Vesey knows who he is and plays the same tenacious style in his second stint as a Blueshirt. There was too much pressure the first time which he couldn’t live up to.

With Lafreniere stuck on five goals in 40 games that even included Gallant sitting him out for a game for the first time in his career, the word “bust” has been tossed around by frustrated Rangers fans. Of course, it’s been underwhelming for a good, mature kid who says all the right things even when it’s not going well. He’s handled it well despite how it’s gone.

It’s my belief that it’s all mental. Confidence can be so fragile for athletes when they slump. Even the best players have been through it. Clearly, Lafreniere isn’t where he wants to be. With 18 points including a new personal best 13 assists during an uneven first half, there’s still half a season remaining.

That’s enough time for him to figure it out. Lafreniere is most effective when he’s aggressive on the forecheck and finishing checks. We haven’t seen that edge as often. He is capable of getting in and winning those battles beneath the dots. Lafreniere must get back to that consistently along with driving the net for tips, deflections and rebounds. That’s a key part of his game.

Skating remains an issue. He doesn’t possess that extra gear which we see from ’20 third pick Tim Stutzle, who’s become a star on Ottawa as a center/wing. It definitely has helped Stutzle develop that he’s given top line minutes along with power play duties on a rebuilding club that also features power forward Brady Tkachuk, scoring wing Drake Batherson and injured center Josh Norris. But the Senators have underperformed after adding Claude Giroux and Cam Talbot. They don’t look playoff bound.

Can Lafreniere be better? Of course. It’ll take that extra effort for him to snap out of it. Even in a game he earned a primary assist in on a Vesey goal, he received heavy criticism due to a turnover during three-on-three in overtime that allowed Damon Severson to beat Shesterkin on a two-on-one rush in a Devils’ 4-3 come from behind victory.

It was harsh. Did he make a mistake trying to make a tough pass across for Chytil? Sure. He did. Lafreniere got blown up by Jonas Siegenthaler on an incidental hit. That led to Severson winning it. Mistakes happen during the hectic overtime format. We’ve seen more established stars mess up leading to OT losses. Hello, Panarin?

It was total overreaction due to it being Lafreniere. It’s been that kind of season for him. That doesn’t mean he can’t turn it around. He needs to show more during shifts to prove he can make a difference. The notion of giving up on a 21-year old who was hyped to the moon is ridiculous. That would be a typical Dolan move.

What Lafreniere can use is a goal. He is without one over the last 12 games. That’s after going 2-1-3 in wins over St. Louis and Vegas. With only five helpers since, that isn’t enough production for a young player who much was expected for.

Has he been jerked around? Undoubtedly. Going line to line and playing out of position because the team’s highest paid player won’t shift over to the right side isnt conducive. It’s pathetic how much they’ll bend over backwards for Panarin. A great player. But a frustrating one who can disappear in big spots. The over passing and East/West plays that cause more problems when opponents defend him well. He didn’t bury his chances along with Zibanejad on Saturday.

Would a stint in the AHL with Hartford have helped? Absolutely. The Rangers have never considered it. They should have for Kakko when he was lost in his rookie year. Lafreniere could’ve benefited from some time with the Wolf Pack. He would’ve gotten top minutes including power play.

Look how long it took Chytil to develop into a better player. Injuries aside, you see a more confident center who knows when to shoot and when to pass. He also gets his nose dirty. Something that started last postseason.

Sometimes, patience is required for young players to develop. That means putting them in the best position to succeed. They’ve done it with both Chytil and Kakko. They haven’t yet with Lafreniere. Who’s at fault? It isn’t only about the player.

Here’s a polarizing question for our fans. What exactly is going to happen when Brennan Othmann arrives? You’re talking about a logjam at wing. Are they gonna screw him up too? If you’ve seen him play for Canada who repeated at the WJC winning an exciting gold medal game over Czechia 4-3, then you know how capable he is.

What about Will Cuylle? In his first full pro season, his nine goals are tied for the team lead. On a low-scoring team, Cuylle ranks second in Wolf Pack scoring with 16 points (9-7-16). The feisty left wing also has 34 penalty minutes playing the strong game hrs known for. He’s only 20. Othmann just celebrated his 20th birthday last Jan. 5. Cuylle will turn 21 February 5.

Given the way the Rangers have handled some of their top prospects with the general exception of goalies (Lundqvist, Shesterkin) and defensemen (Staal, Del Zotto, Sauer, McDonagh via Mtl, Fox, Lindgren via Bos, Miller, Schneider), one wonders if they’ll do a better job in helping those aforementioned promising forwards make the smooth transition.

For now, we’ll continue to track the progress of Lafreniere. Hoping for better.

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Rangers blow game to determined Devils in bad fashion, Hudson rival turn tables in overtime comeback win in final meeting, Goodrow’s brutal giveaway proves costly in loss, Turk’s Buddy System

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Derek

There are games that a team loses and they’re just shrugged aside. Then, there are bad losses like the one the Rangers had in Newark earlier this afternoon. They blew a two-goal lead after two periods to lose in brutal fashion 4-3 to the more determined Devils in overtime at The Prudential Center.

In the third and final meeting of the regular season due to the ridiculous NHL schedule, it was the Jersey side of the Hudson Rivalry that dug deep to prevail on Damon Severson’s overtime winner at 2:47. The veteran defenseman picked up a loose puck in his zone ane came two-on-one and rifled the unassisted goal by hard luck loser Igor Shesterkin to snap the Devils’ eight-game home losing streak.

By rallying back from a 3-1 deficit on goals from stars Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes (2 goals and assist), the Devils gave their fans plenty to cheer about in a great atmosphere of 16,514 that was fairly split between both sides. That’s what makes it a unique rivalry. To hear Severson tell it, nothing beats these games.

Too bad there aren’t more. You know. If common sense actually prevailed in a league that prioritizes playing the other conference twice and the division in their conference basically as many games (3) as division rivals. Well, at least in our case, the Rangers have now concluded their regular season series with the Islanders and Devils. Both lasting three games. At least there’s four versus the Caps with three remaining.

In losing the game, the Rangers blew an opportunity to pass the rival Devils in the standings. However, once they choked away the two-goal lead and went to overtime, it guaranteed that the Jersey side of the rivalry would stay in second place due to a game at hand and the first tiebreaker of regulation wins.

Instead of picking themselves up and winning it, they found a way to lose. Mika Zibanejad missed high and wide on a breakaway on Vitek Vanecek early in the three-on-three, it was just a matter of time before the Devils won it. Neither Zibanejad or Artemi Panarin could beat Vanecek, who steadied after allowing three goals on 15 shots. He stopped the last 19 including all 11 in the third period.

For all the talk about the edge they have in net, Shesterkin lost twice against the Devils in the three match-ups. He allowed three or more in every game, giving up 11 goals on 109 shots (.899 save percentage) with a 3.61 GAA. It isn’t about him as much as it is about how his team has played. An indictment on the team defense and checking.

The Devils were without key defenseman John Marino (week-to-week) and checking forward Nathan Bastian. The Rangers had a full lineup, but still didn’t prevail. It wasn’t about the younger players making mistakes either. Rather experienced veterans who played a role in the Devils coming back.

Barclay Goodrow is the biggest scapegoat. A reliable checking forward who Gerard Gallant trusts to use in close games, it was his bone-headed mistake that let the Devils back in the game.

After Julien Gauthier had scored his sixth from Adam Fox and Goodrow to give the Blueshirts an undeserved 2-0 lead early in the second period, it was Goodrow who made a big mistake.

Following a failed power play with Miles Wood off for interference, Goodrow inexplicably threw the puck from inside the Devils zone back to the Rangers zone. His foolish back pass somehow wound up right on the stick of Hughes, who then scored his 25th unassisted at 9:24 to get the Devils back in the game. The goal should’ve read:

NJD Jack Hughes (25) EV from NYR Barclay Goodrow at 9:24.

It was mind-numbing. Why Goodrow passed back without noticing that he had no teammate open but Hughes is a mystery. I’m not interested in the explanation. However, I do have a question for the coach. We’ll get to that later.

Up till that point, it was Shesterkin who kept the Devils off the scoreboard. He made 19 big saves in a lopsided first that included a five-on-three for 1:27. He had to be very good during the opening period.

Jimmy Vesey got the Rangers off to a good start by scoring against his former team just 1:34 in. A few days removed from a well deserved contract extension for two more years, Vesey was the recipient of a good feed from Alexis Lafreniere in the Devils zone. He then made a nice move and beat Vanecek stick side for his seventh.

It’s amazing how well he’s played. Good for him. Credit Jacob Trouba with a key secondary helper. He made a good outlet up to Lafreniere, who was able to set up Vesey for the opening tally.

Following the goal, it was mostly Devils. They sure dictated play during a hectic first for Shesterkin, who was dialed in. He denied Hughes twice and then stopped Nico Hischier in tight on a tough backhand rebound of an Ondrej Palat shot. He recently returned to the Devils lineup.

That’s how the period went. It was Shesterkin called upon often to make big stops. It included a few more on Hischier, Bratt and Hughes when they were on the power play. Bratt came close to tying it. But his shot rang off the crossbar with over a minute left.

Somehow, the Blueshirts escaped the period leading by one. They could thank their goalie. Shesterkin has had to work extremely hard in many games. Too much so. He shouldn’t have to bail out this team time and time again. The defense must be more consistent along with puck management and team discipline. If that doesn’t improve, they have little chance of getting far in the playoffs.

After being out-shot 19-9, they were better during the second period. Able to pick up their play, the Rangers doubled their lead thanks to some nice work from the checking line. After Fox took a Goodrow feed in transition, he made a great pass in front for a cutting Gauthier, who did the rest by sticking with it to score a nice goal that made it 2-0 at 3:28.

It was a great effort. Gauthier has improved on these kind of power moves to the net and gotten rewarded. While he isn’t the best finisher, he certainly has made the organization look good for believing in him. He earned a spot after being recalled and has been a good secondary scorer. Combine that with Vesey and that’s 13 goals from two unexpected sources.

But in a better period they held an 11-6 edge in shots, they couldn’t convert on a key power play. Then came the costly Goodrow mistake. I don’t know what he was thinking. It was a very bad decision to back pass in that spot. I’m not a fan of that play. It can only lead to trouble.

Goodrow’s pass allowed Hughes to easily pick it off and cut in on both an unsuspecting Ben Harpur and Braden Schneider and zip one past Shesterkin upstairs to cut it to 2-1 with 10:36 remaining. It was mindless.

Although Chris Kreider would finish off his 19th in front on a K’Andre Miller rebound thanks to a great cycle started by Mika Zibanejad, it was still only a two-goal game. It should’ve been more.

That Goodrow error was ridiculous. Of course, he never missed a shift. That only applies to select younger players when they mess up. Something every fan of this team would notice at a critical point later.

The Rangers could never put the Devils away. As much as some of our fans bag on their goaltending, Vanecek seems to have a habit of making big saves when his team needs it. He stopped Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Gauthier to keep his team alive. That was a good signing by Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald.

It really could’ve been over. However, Vanecek never allowed the fourth goal. He made a few more big saves to keep the deficit at two in the third.

The Rangers also failed miserably on a power play with Dougie Hamilton in the box for a phantom hook on Trocheck. It was a weak call. Par for the course in this soft and softer league.

Instead of taking advantage, they did absolutely nothing. Panarin missed on a good chance wide from an area he has to hit the net on. Fox had a shot blocked that led to a key Devils clear. The second unit came on with 42 seconds left and never got set up. It was a wasted opportunity.

The turning point came when Kaapo Kakko was nabbed for a tacky slash on Hughes in the neutral zone. Honestly, it wasn’t much. Similar to the Hamilton call. If that’s how they’re going to call it, it cheapens the game.

Be that as it may, the Devils cashed in on their chance. On a good passing play started by Hughes, Hischier found an open Bratt at the top. He fired a laser high inside the post to score the power play goal with 11:32 remaining. That cut it to one.

It only took another 2:04 for the Devils to draw even. On a key face-off win from Dawson Mercer who beat Goodrow, Ryan Graves had a shot deflect right to Hughes who buried it for his second of the game to tie the score.

It was an unlucky bounce for Shesterkin. But that can happen when you fail to finish off a good opponent. The Devils had lost eight consecutive games on home ice. Maybe they were owed a break. They sure got it. Who else would they want with the puck in that spot? With 26 goals, Hughes is on pace for 53 goals.

With the game tied and less than 10 minutes remaining, things tightened up. Even with Trocheck off for a slash on Jonas Siegenthaler, it was the Rangers who got the best opportunity shorthanded. Zibanejad broke free for a bid, but missed over the top. Part of a frustrating day for the top guns.

Predictably, Gallant did something that irked fans. Well, maybe the better word is divided. Not everyone loves Vitaly Kravtsov due to what happened last year in Hartford. However, he went back home and had a good playoffs in the KHL. Then, has handled all the kid treatment well. Even having missed time due to injuries and mysterious scratches, he’s earned a spot on the second line.

Despite again being active on some shifts and nearly setting up Panarin for a goal that would’ve put the game out of reach (Bread Man missed a backhand over the net), Kravtsov was replaced by Goodrow with the game tied. He never saw another shift with 8:18 remaining after Trocheck took a penalty.

Now, here’s the issue. Didn’t Goodrow make a brutal puck decision that led to Hughes’ first goal? Didn’t he also lose a key defensive draw to Mercer, who doesn’t play much center in his second year? That also resulted in Hughes getting his second to tie the game.

I like Goodrow. He’s been a good Ranger. I understand why Gallant loves him. He’s a trusted vet he can rely on and move around. However, he deserved to sit. I’m not alone in this line of thinking.

Chris is one of the really good fans of this team. I’ve known him for over a decade. He is knowledgeable and makes sense. I’m going to introduce something new. Turk’s Buddy System.

What is it? It’s simple. If the coach loves you, you play no matter what. Outside of Kreider, who was demoted during a game to the fourth line because he can take it, no veterans are held accountable. They can turn over pucks, take undisciplined penalties or be invisible during shifts. Gallant will not bench them.

This isn’t exclusive to Panarin, Zibanejad and other key personnel. It extends to Miller, who as good as he’s been offensively lately, he remains an enigma in his end. He’s a defenseman. They rely on him for top minutes. Sometimes, you have to shake it up. We’ve seen Schneider bumped up occasionally. But despite being more solid than Miller, he doesn’t get as many minutes. That should change soon.

We all understand that when push comes to shove, Gallant will cut down to three lines and four or five defensemen. He did it this afternoon. It sure didn’t help them win. Playing Goodrow over Kravtsov was foolish. He went conservative for the point. Well, how did that work out coach? You got burned.

In overtime, we never saw Kakko or Kravtsov. Why would we? Kakko got punished for a weak penalty and Kravtsov was done for the day. Why stick with your most gifted forwards during a three-on-three when you can limit your options?

This is why Rangers fans can’t have nice things. It perfectly explains why nobody ever properly develops. Lafreniere got a shift in OT. That came after Zibanejad reset and then turned on the afterburner to skate in on Vanecek. Of course, he missed wide. No finish from Mika on Saturday.

The duo of Chytil and Lafreniere stayed out for an extended shift. They came on with 3:22 left. After Fox replaced Schneider, critical mistakes were made. Following a save from Shesterkin on Hughes, Lafreniere carried the puck into Devil territory. Looking to make a pass for Chytil, he was blocked by Severson.

It became worse when Lafreniere got blown up inadvertently by Siegenthaler. For the contingent who claimed interference, it wasn’t. The hit was accidental after Lafreniere lost the puck. With him down and Chytil behind, Severson wisely picked up the loose puck and skated two-on-one with Hischier.

Afterwards, he said he was looking pass. However, Fox took it away. Severson made a good shot to win the game.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1611828814291632128?t=lpRVSd8vxzzFlIoC05hAZQ&s=19

There isn’t anything else to add. Lafreniere didn’t really have an opening on his attempted pass. I thought it was a poor choice. However, seeing one reaction to his miscalculation made me sick to my stomach. You can be a fan of this team and critique his play. Don’t cross the line with name calling or post offensive terms. That’s childish and pathetic.

It definitely reflects poorly when any fan resorts to that. Especially on a social platform. I won’t say anything else. Lafreniere hasn’t delivered in Year Three. But geez. It’s a damn game. Not life or death. I’ll be attending a wake for someone I knew growing up. That’s very different from the way some overreact to losses. Let it go.

Instead of moving ahead of the Devils into second in the Metro Division, the Rangers got a point and temporarily are ahead of the Caps for third. At the halfway point, they’re 22-12-7 with 51 points. One up on the Caps. Two behind the Devils, who hit the road. Five up on the Islanders, who lost two ugly games in Edmonton and Calgary. The Pens remain seven behind having dropped three in a row. They have three games in hand.

We’ll see what happens. For now, the Rangers return home on Tuesday for Ryan Reaves and the Wild. That should be interesting. The first place Stars also visit Thursday. That’s two good games to start the second half.

Believe it or not, the countdown is on once Game 42 is played. It won’t be long before we’re in February with the trade deadline around the corner. The next few weeks will determine a lot. We’ll find out much more about this team. Ditto for the other five playoff contenders in the division.

Losses like Saturday afternoon happen. The Devils did what they had to do to get the win. Give them credit. It wasn’t good enough from a Rangers perspective. Time to move on.

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Devils rally to win another wild Battle of the Hudson game in OT

Posted on January 7, 2023 by hasan4978

Finally, our long state nightmare is over…the Devils’ home losing streak ends at eight after a roller-coaster 4-3 come-from-behind win in OT over the Rangers this afternoon. I was tempted to just let Derek do the game recap and I’m sure he probably will add some thoughts later, after what was a brutal (from his standpoint) loss…but this game was so wacky – not to mention meaningful – it deserves a double recap here.

I suppose you wouldn’t expect anything less when these two teams play, especially when they’re on a more even playing field this year than they’ve been most of the last decade – though as I said in a prior blog a lot of times you can pretty much throw the records out when these two teams play anyway. Both games at the Garden earlier this year were also roller-coaster rides, with the Devils winning the first meeting after falling behind by two barely three minutes into that one, while the Rangers came from two down in the second game after scoring a pair of goals seven seconds apart.

While I’m sure both teams wanted to win this matinee special, tangibly this game was probably bigger for the Devils than the Rangers, given the fact we’re about to go on a two-week road trip and have been slumping lately (albeit with a couple of road wins mixed in), while they’ve been playing well the last few weeks for the most part. In fact, a Ranger win would have put them in front of us in the standings for the first time since mid-October, before our thirteen-game heater.

Given all that, the game could hardly have started worse for the Devils – or the fans in attendance – when Vitek Vanecek allowed a shockingly poor goal by one-time Devil Jimmy Vesey, after Vesey deked his way around ex-Ranger Brendan Smith to get to the left side of the ice before beating Vanecek short-side. I somehow had the feeling the Rangers would score first, but this soon on this type of a goal? And to Vesey of all people, a guy who basically was just roster filler for a season here and looked to be on his way out of the league after last year before being revitalized back in Ranger blue?!

If the early deficit was predictable, so too was how the rest of the period turned out with frustration piled upon frustration. It was bad enough the Devils managed to outshoot the Rangers by more than double (19-9) in the first period without finding their way to a single goal, but they even failed to score on an eighty-seven second long 5-on-3. I don’t want to hear that the conversion rate for 5-on-3’s is ‘only’ thirty percent, how many of them were nearly a minute and a half long?! That whole period felt like one big sick joke.

A sick joke that continued into the second period as the Devils continued to pepper Igor Shesterkin with little to no success in the middle frame, and still fell further behind after what seemed like an innocuous play at first when Barclay Goodrow’s long pass wound up being tape to tape onto Adam Fox’s stick and Fox’s nice drop pass set up Julien Gauthier for what turned out to be a nice deke and hand-eye play in front to score the Rangers’ second. At the arena it looked like just a dribbler that found its way through Vanecek but it was actually a deke where Gauthier almost lost the puck but regained it in front to put it home for his sixth goal of the season. At this point I was rolling my eyes wondering when, exactly were we going to start turning our chances into goals?

When in doubt, there’s at least almost always Jack Hughes to count on – and the Devils’ star brought our portion of the crowd back to life again midway through the second period – with assistance from whoever it was that turned the puck over right onto Hughes’ stick, and he split the D for what turned out to be a mini-breakaway goal, his 25th of the season.

I joked to a friend the Rangers were probably going to quadruple-team Hughes going forward. Finally at least we had some hope back, although I still didn’t have much hope that anyone not named Hughes was scoring. And what little momentum we got from that goal died again less than four minutes later when Chris Kreider put home a rebound from a K’Andre Miller shot, restoring the Rangers’ two goal lead. All told, the Devils somehow managed only one goal on thirty-three shots in the first two periods. Give Shesterkin all the credit in the world, but you could have told me Jaroslav Halak was in net and I’d believe you given our propensity to be shut down by just about ‘anyone’ at home lately.

As far as the crowd goes, I actually figured there would be more Devil fans than there were given the team’s overall position in the standings, in comparison to past years where it was predictable that we’d inevitably cash out on games which had little tangible meaning for us anyway. It was still uncomfortably close to 50-50 on a decent – for January – Saturday afternoon though, although to be fair Devils fans did represent nicely in at least the first game at the Garden just after our long winning streak had ended. Still, part of me wondered if there was a few more Ranger fans in the building would it feel enough like a road game to get the best out of this team?

I didn’t exactly have the crazy first two games in mind as the third period slogged on to what seemed like an inevitable conclusion several minutes in, after all the Devils had been playing much better a few weeks ago during those games…actually the second game at the Garden (the come-from-ahead OT loss) had pretty much started our December malaise. At least Vanecek had started to redeem himself from the horrible-looking opening goal as the Rangers started to put more pucks on net late in the second and in the third period, fortunately good Vitek returned and kept us within shouting distance until finally came a breakthrough, and on a power play no less. This time, it was Jesper Bratt whose one-time slapper off a Nico Hischier feed dinged the camera in the net and came out, but clearly a goal which pulled the Devils within one at 8:28.

Whereas I still felt a bit meh about our chances after we pulled to within 2-1, this one felt like the start of a rally. Sure enough, the pressure finally resulted in another break when a Ryan Graves point shot deflected off Dawson Mercer and right onto the stick of Hughes with an open net waiting. Not only did Hughes cash in to tie the game, but then immediately tugged on the NJ logo to celebrate with the crowd.

Asked about the jersey tug and the crowd after the game, Hughes said he was representing the state with the logo pull and referred to the crowd just making a lot of noise and going nuts after his tying goal without fully realizing what it was about. I’m sure he was more or less referring to when the dual chants started, with the ‘Let’s Go Rangers!’ from the visiting fans followed by ‘Let’s Go Devils!’ several times in a row which was both hilarious and annoying. But hey this is an actual rivalry, and not a faux rivalry dependent on either individual players or teams happening to meet in the playoffs a couple of times.

Inexorably the game went to OT, and ironically the Devils outscored the Rangers 2-0 in the only period they were outshot in during the game, though they narrowly avoided disaster when Damon Severson’s dangerous pass through his own crease just missed deflecting off the skates of an unsuspecting Vanecek. In another situation maybe you’d be happy with just getting a point out of a game you were trailing 3-1 in, but a moral victory wasn’t going to be enough today. They needed an actual win with the home losing streak still needing to be dealt with, not to mention having to fend off teams in the standings. Early on it looked bad as the Rangers got a breakaway – at this point I forget who it was and who got blown by on the play – but Vanecek stood tall one more time and gave us a chance to win.

Finally, maybe even deservedly they did get that all-important W after a great individual play from of all people Severson, who was nearly the goat a few minutes earlier but left the Rock a hero after both stripping Alexis Lafreniere to start a two-on-one the other way, then converting on the two-on-one for an emotional OT winner.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1611828814291632128?s=20&t=1xVP9jit0V5igXoV2L9CNw

After all my kvetching over our home losing streak was it…actually worth the wait to end it this way? Assuming it starts us going in the right direction again, I’d say yes. Of course playing in Carolina the next game (and the first of a long road trip) after this kind of an emotional win doesn’t do us any favors. That’s next week’s problem though, at least we have a couple of days to savor finally getting off the schnied at home in a fun, albeit stressful afternoon at the Rock. But would you want it any other way in a rivalry?

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Devils’ jekyll and hyde nature leaves them stuck in limbo

Posted on January 6, 2023 by hasan4978

If there was a more perfect prism to view the last month of Devils hockey, these last two games provided it. Considering the Devils are 14-2-1 on the road and 10-10-2 at home with eight straight losses at the Rock, maybe we shouldn’t have expected any different than what the team gave us this week – which was a dominant 5-1 win in Detroit on Wednesday followed by more frustration against a banged-up Blues team last night in a 4-3 defeat. I’m at a loss to even begin to explain the Devils’ sudden bipolar nature where they turn into the Hulk on the road and mild-mannered Bruce Banner at home.

Since the Detroit game was first, let’s start with the good news of the week, our nearly drama-free win on Wednesday. Granted, the Devils were outshot by the Wings and scoreless after the first period but as we’ve seen on multiple occasions this year (and would again the following day), shots mean very little if you don’t convert them. Almost everything found the back of the net in the last two periods of the game in Detroit though, starting with power play goals by Dougie Hamilton and Nico Hischier – both off of Hamilton point shots – the latter being a tip-in by the captain, prompting a bow and arrow celebration from one exuberant Devils fan in the building.

Hischier had a two-point night on his birthday despite a hand injury suffered in the previous game against Carolina which limited his usage on faceoffs to power play only. In the third period the Devils tacked on with finally some of the secondary scorers chipping in, led by a newly constructed fourth line of Michael McLeod, Alex Holtz and Miles Wood which combined for the first two goals in the third. All three combined on the first goal, with a Holtz pass to Wood on a two-on-one being stopped by Ville Husso, but the Detroit goaltender was out of position when Holtz was able to corral the rebound and feed McLeod with an open net waiting. Holtz got a deserved reward for arguably his best game of the season seconds after another power play ended when a nice entry from Damon Severson and feed from Wood led to Holtz having time and space to score his third goal of the season. For good measure, Jack Hughes added his 22nd goal of the season to make it 5-0, a nearly spotless game only spoiled by Vitek Vanecek losing a shutout with two minutes remaining when Detroit got one power play goal of their own.

At least Vanecek had another strong game with 32 saves including key stops early before the Devils’ power play got the offensive show rolling. Unfortunately with a back-to-back at home the next night it was unlikely Vanecek would play both ends of it, especially given his career high in games played (AHL and NHL) is 42 last year, and he’s already played 25 games this year in just under half a season so barring injury he should set a career high. The days of Marty playing 70+ are long over with, not just with the Devils but in the NHL in general. Instead of Mackenzie Blackwood against the Blues however, we got the return of Akira Schmid when Blackwood took a shot off his hand in practice and was scratched from an almost certain start last night. While Schmid earned a lot of respect for his play during his first callup, he hadn’t been nearly as stout since returning to the AHL and was now being called back up to play on short notice.

With a third-string goalie playing in less than ideal circumstances, the Devils needed to step things up against the Blues. They tried, but as has been the case often this season got frustrated by another highlight-reel goaltending performance, this one from Jordan Binnington who partied like it was a playoff run (since that’s the only time he usually plays well). Having a 3.21 GAA and .894 save percentage didn’t suggest we would see playoff Binnington appear at the Rock last night, but appear he did. Unfortunately, the early-season Schmid did not appear with him. Despite outshooting the Blues 39-19 last night, and having the shot edge in every period it proved to be yet another frustrating defeat.

Not all the goals against were on Schmid, certainly our ‘top pairing’ of Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler (a combined -5 last night) need to be better, and coach Lindy Ruff even called out Hamilton by name in the postgame, as well as rookie Fabian Zetterlund who was a healthy scratch.

Still, when you basically allow three quality chances against in the first two periods you’d like to see more than one save on them, especially when the other goalie makes approximately eight saves out of ten quality chances against him. Actually, the worst goal on Schmid was probably the Blues’ go-ahead goal in the third when Brandon Saad beat him through the legs. It’s hard to be critical of a rookie who shouldn’t have been playing this many games in the first place, and I feel like we’re in the movie Groundhog Day after I was saying the same thing about Nico Daws last year when he fell off after initially playing well as a rookie callup.

Of course just as much blame for last night lies with the offense who did just enough to lose, with newly-minted All-Star Hughes being the entire offense in the first two periods with two more goals, but nobody else could convert – whether it was Tomas Tatar getting robbed by the glove on the doorstep or McLeod flubbing an empty-net chance after a nice feed by Erik Haula, or Dawson Mercer failing to even register a shot on net after getting a short-handed breakaway in the third period, a play that was described harshly by the coach.

Hard for me to entirely agree with Lindy here, given the Blues already tied the game, and the fact it was hardly the only frustrating miss on the evening. What was doubly annoying is the fact the Devils had two wins and an OT loss in their previous three games, seemingly coming out of a month-long malaise – and also had the long-awaited return of Ondrej Palat to the lineup last night, to boot. Of course they won both those games away from the Prudential Center, while they haven’t sent the home fans happy since beating the Blackhawks on December 6, exactly a month ago today. And if they don’t beat the streaking Rangers (eleven wins in fourteen games) tomorrow, they won’t get another chance to end the home losing streak for another two weeks. I wanted to call tomorrow’s game a must-win but given the bubble cushion is still seven points at the moment, I’ll stop short of that and say it’s imperative we’re not sitting on a nine-game home losing streak for another two weeks before a long road trip awaits.

Given the fact the rest of the division is still streaking, a split against two non-playoff teams didn’t ultimately do us much good this week. Sure, the margin to the playoff bubble is still seven (with the Penguins having a game in hand) but I’m not sure we can rely on the Devils being a .900 team on the road all year, especially with a five-game trip coming up starting with a Carolina pitstop before a four-game West Coast swing. If you think the Devils are the 2011 New York Giants reincarnate where they can just win every game on the road all year well vaya con dios, you can’t rely on those type of historical anomalies long-term, especially in a long 82-game season compared to a sixteen-game one.

Of course, it would be nice if Vanecek got more of the home starts at this point given that he’s only started three of the eight losses, and didn’t even get a decision in the Islander loss while the other two games he was the victim of insane goaltending (or lousy finishing by us) against the Flyers and Carter Hart, and the Bruins with Linus Ullmark. He’ll almost certainly start tomorrow’s game, which should help but they’re more than capable of getting frustrated by Igor Shesterkin, assuming he’s in net as well. Or Jaroslav Halak, or anyone else the Rangers put in net. In a rivalry, frequently the records don’t matter – and in this case, the record’s pretty well even after the Devils were lapping the field fifteen games ago – all that matters is getting more goals than the other team. You wouldn’t think the Devils had scored sixteen goals in the last four games given all the hand-wringing over the offense, but other than the Detroit game there hasn’t been enough secondary scoring, and for all the chances they got last night you gotta get more than three with the third one being a Nico goal on a 5-on-3 after we fell behind by two.

There have been too many games like last night in general where the advanced stats zealots pound their chest and say the Devils ‘dominated’…well that ain’t gonna help when you fail to win, especially when the home crowd continually leaves the arena annoyed. If you want the crowd not to tense up and get even more negative, take it to the Rangers tomorrow. Fans are looking for a reason to cheer, give us that.

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Chytil, Blueshirts take care of Canadiens, Canada repeats in unbelievable conclusion edging Czechia in sudden death to win gold st WJC

Posted on January 6, 2023 by Derek
Shane Wright celebrates with the trophy after Canada’s dramatic 3-2 gold medal win in sudden death over the resilient Czechia in a memorable World Junior Championships in Halifax and Moncton. Rangers prospect Brennan Othmann won gold with two assists. Photo courtesy NHL Network

Last night was a hockey night. Anytime you can get the marquee event at the World Junior Championships in a great gold medal match while there’s a good slate of NHL games, that’s about as good as it gets for the sport.

It didn’t disappoint. While the Rangers prepared for their game against Laval Montreal up at Bell Centre, the puck dropped on an intriguing final played between tournament host Canada and the impressive Czechia up in Halifax.

On the heels of a wild bronze medal game won by USA 8-7 over unlucky Sweden in overtime on a hat trick goal from Chaz Lucius, tournament favorite Canada went up against Group A foe Czechia in a rematch. The same team that dealt them their only loss. It was 6-3.

Out of that defeat, they discovered that backup Thomas Milic was the goalie they’d lean on after he played well in relief of Ben Gaudreau. The undrafted 19-year old out of British Columbia was brilliant throughout the tournament by winning all six starts he made and posting a 1.76 GAA with a .932 save percentage.

Even though they pulled away from USA in the much hyped semifinal winning 6-2, it was much closer. Milic made 43 saves on 45 shots to really make a difference. He made big stops on Jimmy Snuggerud and stoned Lucius on a key breakaway when it was anyone’s game. After being overlooked twice, Milic should be selected in the 2023 NHL Draft. He gave Canada the clutch goaltending needed to succeed.

Czechia boasted their own great story in net. Tomas Suchanek was also undrafted the prior two years. The unheralded netminder was the only goalie to make every start in the tournament playing every minute. His clutch play helped Czechia upset Canada in their first meeting. He kept his team afloat in the stunning come from behind 2-1 overtime win over Sweden. He finished on the All Tournament Team posting a 1.52 GAA and a .934 save percentage.

Undoubtedly, it was the surprising revelations of both Milic and Suchanek that were instrumental in getting their teams to the gold medal match last night. Without their brilliant play, neither makes it. Even with Connor Bedard setting all kinds of records, Canada would’ve been cooked without Milic.

While much of the focus was on Bedard who entered the big game with a tournament best nine goals, 14 assists and 23 points, it was actually the strong supporting cast that got the job done to make Canada the first repeat winner since 2009.

It sure didn’t come easy. Czechia was an experienced team with a lot of character and resiliency. Like they had in their remarkable comeback win to stun Sweden, who must be heartbroken after how they lost the bronze medal to USA, the pesky Czechs again showed their steely determination in nearly shocking an overwhelming pro Canadian crowd at a raucous atmosphere in Halifax.

In a tightly contested first period, Canada used their dangerous power play to grab the lead. With key Czechia defender David Jiricek off for holding, Brennan Othmann and Brandt Clarke combined to set up Guenther for one of his lethal shots that beat Suchanek to make it 1-0.

Although Czechia would get a couple of chances, they were unable to beat Milic. He’d replaced Gaudreau in the 5-2 preliminary loss on Boxing Day. The Czechs did all their damage against Gaudreau, who was reduced to cheering on his teammates from the bench.

Following some strong saves from Suchanek who robbed Logan Stankoven and denied Joshua Roy shorthanded, Shane Wright made an impact with a highlight reel goal that a power forward can score.

Skating at center one on two, he gained the Czech zone and made a strong move cutting inside two defenders to get off a wicked backhand that beat Suchanek high glove inside the goalpost to give Canada a 2-0 lead at 24:35. An absolute beauty from a player who will benefit from playing the WJC. He was reassigned by the Kraken to Kingston of the OHL. He’s expected to be traded to a playoff contender.

Although the captain of Team Canada didn’t dominate like the younger and generational talent Connor Bedard, the ’22 fourth pick showed some why he was highly thought of. He centered the second line playing with best friend Othmann and Guenther. He definitely has the look of a two-way pivot capable of scoring at even strength and on the power play.

Wright finished with seven points (4-3-7) including the beautiful goal on his 19th birthday. Ironically, bestie Othmann turned 20 yesterday. They share a birthday. Too bad they won’t play together for the Rangers. That would’ve been a dynamic duo. You could see the chemistry they had together.

While Montreal can’t seem to figure out what to do with top pick Juraj Slafkovsky, Seattle has made the right decision with Wright. Big difference between a second-year expansion team and a puzzling Original Six franchise that needs better direction to become relevant again. My friend Anne wants them to keep losing so they can have a better chance at Bedard. Can you blame her?

Leading by two, Canada could’ve padded their lead with Jakub Brabenec off for a tacky interference call. Even TSN’s Gord Miller and Mike Johnson didn’t think much of the penalty. However, it was moot over a minute later when they got caught with too many men on a bad line change.

Although Czechia got a power play for 1:29 late in a period controlled more by the forecheck of Canada, they couldn’t do much with it. It wad the aggressive play of the Canadians on the penalty kill that created a shorthanded opportunity. But Suchanek was strong. He was unflappable all tournament. His team needed it in the first part of the third period.

As Canada methodically started to dictate the terms with their cycle game while defending well to protect the house, it really felt like they’d find a third goal and get Milic a shutout. He wasn’t under too much stress. He made timely saves and got plenty of help from his defense which included forwards coming back.

They did get chances to put it away. But Suchanek wouldn’t allow it. His biggest stop came on a Wright high try labeled for the upper portion of the net. He really was steady and controlled most of the rebounds.

Czechia also deserves credit for limiting Bedard. He found it more difficult to find time and space. The defense tandem of captain Stanislav Svozil and David Spacek matched up against the top Canadian scoring line of Bedard, Stankoven and Roy. Every time Bedard made a rush with the fans anticipating something, he was checked well and limited to the outside by a strong Czechia defense. He was held to three shots and without a point.

Bedard shined in a telling postgame interview by taking the spotlight off him and speaking about the team and the great experience.

As time became the enemy for the Czechs, they never panicked. On a great keep by Matyas Sapovaliv, he made a diagonal pass for an Eduard Sale point-blank shot that Milic denied. However, Jiri Kulich was right in front to put the rebound in for his seventh goal to make it 2-1 with 7:30 remaining. The Sabres prospect was terrific and played the hero in beating Sweden. He was named to the All Tournament Team.

Less than a minute later, the game was suddenly tied. On a Tomas Hamara shot pass, Jakub Kos redirected the puck past Milic to tie the score. Just like that, the Czechs had rallied with a pair of goals in 54 seconds to shock the crowd.

It was in line with how Czechia played. They had clearly been one of the best teams during the two weeks. Their experience helped. Having a top four blue line that features Jiricek, Jiri Tichacek, Svozil and Spacek, who looks like a steal by the Wild in the fifth round last year, they were a strong team that competed well. They defended better and back checked. They also forechecked as we saw on the consecutive goals that put Canada on the ropes.

There was a brief moment late in regulation where it looked like Czechia would pull it off. They were going for two wins against Canada. Something even past USA teams couldn’t accomplish. It’s hard to beat as polished a team as Canada twice in a short tournament.

With less than 15 seconds left in regulation, it nearly happened. They needed a gigantic pad save from Milic to even reach overtime. Czechia was that close.

Unlike past years, they now play three-on-three in sudden death until someone scores. No more shootout. So, had they needed a second 20-minute overtime, they would’ve played it until there was a hero. My only issue is that it should be at least four-on-four. Three-on-three is too wide open. Plus the resets are frustrating. Ask any NHL fan.

Unlike the OT they played versus Sweden where they couldn’t complete passes and were on their heels the first eight minutes with Suchanek bailing them out, Czechia went for it. They didn’t hold back.

It made for a more exciting three-on-three overtime. You had both sides looking to end it early. While Czechia did go back to reset for personnel changes, it was smoother. Canada did the same. Czechia nearly won it on one good chance. But Milic made a save. He finished with 24 stops on 26 shots.

Perhaps the biggest play was made by Brandt Clarke. He blocked two Czech shots which looked dangerous. Bedard also made a key defensive play. Even though he didn’t score, he still played well defensively.

It was Clarke who stopped a rush by Kulich at the blue line that led to the winning goal. After he shutdown the aggressive Kulich, it trapped two Czechs causing a two-on-one rush for Canada.

Guenther and Roy came down the ice with only one Czechia defender back. Finally, Roy feathered a perfect pass across in the wheelhouse of Guenther who scored by burying the one-timer upstairs against a helpless Suchanek, who could only lay down on the ice in pain at the unbelievable ending. Guenther scored his first even strength goal at 66:22 to play the ultimate hero for a joyous Canada, who mobbed him.

It was a great scene. The celebration was something to behold. If you love this tournament, that game gave you everything you wanted. The favorite ahead looking poised to repeat without any doubt. A resilient opponent who never gave up and stunned everyone to draw even. A dramatic overtime with a memorable conclusion. An exciting ending to a great WJC. Class exhibited by the winner who shook hands with the hard luck loser who managed a few smiles despite how close they were. Respect earned.

Unlike last summer when it was Kent Johnson who scored the golden goal to save Canada after they blew a two-goal lead in the third against Finland, this time it was Guenther. When asked about the gold medal winner, he sounded genuinely surprised. He didn’t even take his gloves off. The Coyotes rookie with three goals should form a good duo with USA top player Logan Cooley, who went 7-7-14 to finish second behind Bedard in scoring and be named to the All Tournament Team.

The crowd was so loud and great. Having the rescheduled tournament in a junior hockey town was way better than an NHL one like Edmonton. Fans filled the arenas and made lots of noise. There were chants and even songs that were sang. It looked like an awesome environment.

Kudos to both Halifax and Moncton for hosting following Russia losing the rights due to the war in Ukraine. It’s a shame that their kids are being punished for the irrational actions of a madman. They deserve to participate in the tournament. Similar sentiment echoed for Alexander Ovechkin, who’s being crucified by bitter reporters who are very judgmental on a complex situation they have no clue on. Ask Artemi Panarin about that after they forced him to take a leave of absence from the Rangers due to a false accusation.

I can’t imagine having family in Russia. It must be pretty scary and uncomfortable for players who play in the NHL. Maybe journalists should butt out. Stick to what they’re more familiar with than making wild assumptions on an all-time great who’ll go down as the greatest goal scorer ever. Ovechkin is up to 29 goals. He’s 37 and on pace for over 50 again. That’s ridiculous.

Regarding last night’s game up in Montreal, the Rangers had one objective. Come out with two points against a bad hockey team. Do it without any injuries. They were successful winning 4-1 over the Canadiens in a place that was once the House of Horrors. Not anymore.

The Habs have really struggled lately. Coached by Hall Of Famer Marty St. Louis, they don’t have much team defense, goaltending or scoring depth. If you can shutdown the top line of leading finisher Cole Caufield, captain Nick Suzuki and former Blackhawk first round pick Kirby Dach, you have a very good chance of winning.

Montreal skated without Brendan Gallagher and Mike Hoffman which made it even more difficult for them. They came off a long seven-game road trip in which they dropped the last five games in regulation to finish 1-5-1. Outscored 26-8 over the last four including a 9-2 drubbing against the Ovechkin Caps where the Great Eight recorded a hat trick and even posed for a picture with the Montreal Moms, they were no match yesterday for the Rangers.

With the gold medal match at intermission due to starting a half hour earlier, I watched a good chunk of the first period. It was a bore and snore fest. Absolutely nothing happened that was noteworthy on the ice. Even Joe Micheletti sarcastically remarked to Sam Rosen, “I’m not sure who’s keeping the crowd out of this game.”

At that point, the Habs had no shots through the first 12:52. It would extend to nearly 17 minutes. The only problem was the Rangers didn’t exactly play well either. Perhaps they were lulled to sleep too. The classic rivals combined for a paltry 10 shots with the Blueshirts ahead 6-4 in a blah period that had no hitting or penalties. Holy crap.

As I was locked in on the second period of Czechia versus Canada, Vitaly Kravtsov made a bad line change to get nabbed for a bench minor. As punishment, he served the minor for too many men. Remarkably, it actually resulted in the game’s first goal for the Rangers.

On a bad turnover by the Canadiens, they allowed public enemy Chris Kreider to get a clean breakaway from the center ice. He cut in and beat Jake Allen with a wrist shot stick side for his 18th unassisted at 7:43 of the second. It was a shorthanded goal. Kreider trails team leader Mika Zibanejad by one for the lead in goals.

While veteran backup Jaroslav Halak made a few saves en route to 17 on a light night facing his original team he once carried to the Eastern Conference Final, the Blueshirts went about their business methodically.

On a good shift by the second line, Kravtsov passed the puck up top for Braden Schneider. He then moved it down low for Artemi Panarin. With some room on the side, he went back up to Schneider for a wrist shot that beat Allen with Vincent Trocheck providing a screen directly in front.

Up by two, they looked for more and got it. On a rather simple play that was started by Jimmy Vesey, his wide shot off the boards cams right over to Ryan Lindgren. He then found an isolated Filip Chytil for a one-timer from the high slot that went high glove on Allen for his 10th at 13:27. That gave the Rangers two goals in 59 seconds to increase the lead to 3-0.

After two periods, the Habs had totaled 11 shots. Only a couple could be classified as scoring chances. Halak made timely stops on Joel Armia and Evgenii Dadonov. Jake Evans missed an open net late in the second.

Ahead by three, the only thing they wanted to do was not get too cautious. They maintained the three-goal lead for over half the period.

That included killing off a Panarin tripping minor. It was cut short by Kreider drawing a slash on rookie Arber Xhekaj with 27 seconds left on the Montreal man-advantage. After some four-on-four, the Rangers failed to capitalize on the power play.

Shortly after that, the Habs made a nice play in transition to finally break the Halak shutout. Evans got the puck up for a fast moving Xhekaj who gained the Rangers zone. He sent a shot towards the net that deflected right to Armia in front. He was able to put home his first on the play to cut it to two with 5:14 remaining.

Of course, it was the first of the season for Armia. Always a hard-working player who hustles, he hasn’t played as much under MSL. So, he was all smiles when he got his first goal in 27 games. He hadn’t scored since April 11, 2022 against Winnipeg. A former team he was dealt to from Buffalo in the Evander Kane deal. Yes. It was a while ago. Kane has since moved on from San Jose to Edmonton where he’s on LTIR.

With under three minutes left in the game, Armia took a cross-checking minor on Lindgren. The Canadiens had to pull Allen for a five-on-five to have any chance. Eventually, the Rangers took advantage when off a face-off in their zone, K’Andre Miller and Adam Fox combined to feed Chytil, who scored into an open net from the red line for his third goal in the last two games. He also scored a power play empty net goal to put away the home win over Carolina who lost to Nashville last night despite getting 67 shots on Juuse Saros in regulation. He made 64 saves. That’s insane.

Aside from Ovechkin getting his 29th this season to stay hot as he pursues Gretzky with the Capitals winning again 6-2 over lowly Columbus, everyone else that’s in the division race lost. The Devils fell again at home to the Blues 5-3 despite two more goals from the dazzling Jack Hughes. The Penguins lost 5-2 in Vegas to continue their Jekyll & Hyde season. The Islanders lost at Edmonton 4-2.

At this point, the Rangers find themselves tied with the Caps in points with 50. However, they’re third due to one less game played. Both teams trail the Devils by a point for second. New Jersey has developed this weird habit of losing at home and winning on the road. They’re 10-10-2 (10-12) at home while boasting a 14-2-1 record on the road.

None of that means anything. When the two Hudson rivals do battle for the third and absurdly last time tomorrow afternoon at 1 PM (genius schedule makers), the winner should be in second place in the Metro. The Devils only need one point to stay there. They’ve also played one fewer game (39) to the Rangers’ 40. The Devils have two more regulation wins (21-19). The most in the division. That’s the first tiebreaker.

The question is are the Devils going to be able to rebound from their recent lull. They’ve won three of their last 10 games. Fortunately, the Islanders and Pens are consistently inconsistent.

The Caps aren’t. They’ve somehow managed to win a lot over the past month. They’re still waiting for Tom Wilson to return. Nicklas Backstrom (hip resurfacing surgery) plans to return. He had the same surgery as tennis star Andy Murray. If it works, it could open some doors for other players who have bad hips. I highly recommend Emily Kaplan’s piece on Backstrom. It’s excellent.

While the Islanders are at 46 and the Pens remain at 44, can the Sabres make up ground? They had two games postponed due to the awful snowstorm that blanketed most of the Midwest and Northeast upstate.

Buffalo has been rolling thanks to the stellar play of first time All-Star Tage Thompson. He and Alex Tuch have formed a potent duo. They are scoring a lot along with Jeff Skinner and Norris candidate Rasmus Dahlin. If they add a defenseman or key forward to a good young nucleus, they’re a team to keep an eye on. The Sabres have 40 points in 36 games entering Saturday’s home game against the Wild.

With Detroit fading and Florida continuing to puzzle, the Senators could also sneak up. Alex DeBrincat is finally scoring. Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson are all playing well. It’ll depend on the goalie. They’ve hung around and are still hopeful Josh Norris can return eventually. Anton Forsberg recently won two straight starts. Cam Talbot is the number one goalie.

At the moment, one can fairly assume the top three of the Bruins, Maple Leafs and Lightning will all represent the Atlantic Division. They remain the top three with Florida taking a big step back. Their season isn’t over. They boast enough star talent to get back in it. But it says here that Spencer Knight should get most of the starts over Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Rangers have tried to make Alexis Lafreniere feel better. Vincent Trocheck presenting him with the Broadway hat following a recent win was a nice gesture. The rumors that the Canucks are interested in the former 2020 number one pick don’t mean anything. They also asked for Braden Schneider last year in a package for J.T. Miller, who’s not taking all the losing well. Can you blame him?

I still feel it’s critical for the Rangers as an organization to figure out where Lafreniere fits best. He’s 21. Not 25. Don’t throw him away. Most reports are that they’re not considering a trade. Something I believe would be a big mistake. They haven’t traded Kravtsov and he’s coming around. You can see the confidence growing. Obviously, you don’t want him making mistakes like the line change everyone killed him for. It’s a learning moment.

Considering that the Predators dropped Eeli Tolvanen and he’s since put up points (2-1-3) in every game for the Kraken, that’s proof teams should remain patient with young players. They also won all three games since he joined them.

You never know how it’ll turn out. Chytil took time to develop into a reliable player. He’s in Year Five. At 23, it’s clicked. He has 11 goals and 10 assists for 21 points in 32 games. He needs four more goals to set a new career high and five more assists to do the same. The most points he’s had over a single season is 23. He did it twice at 19 and 20. Making $2.6 million ($2.3 million cap hit) in a contract year, he’s raised his value. It’ll be interesting to see what happened over the second half.

If he can score enough in the remaining 42 games, Kaapo Kakko can justify the $2.1 million salary he’s signed through ’23-24. He has nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 40 games. It would be nice to see more consistent goal production from the improving 21-year old forward.

The Rangers have interesting decisions this summer to make on Chytil, Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller, who’s picked up his offensive play over the last month. Are any of the key restricted free agents worth long-term investments? It’ll depend on how they finish and the salary cap which isn’t increasing that much next season.

Igor Shesterkin was named to his first All-Star team yesterday. He should’ve made it last year. But the way it’s set up isn’t exactly great. Having a field of four teams playing three-on-three for a pool of money isn’t as appealing as the classic five-on-five format where it was either East versus West or North America vs World. That rewarded more deserving players.

There will always be something lacking from this street hockey style. The skills competition remains good. That’s the best part of All-Star Weekend. Ditto for the watered-down NBA where defense optional and the three-point shot have ruined the game.

It’s a miracle that Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin is alive. I think everyone who follows sports have been preoccupied with the freak accident that happened to Hamlin on Monday night during the Bills/Bengals game in Cincinnati.

I didn’t see it. It wasn’t even a hard tackle. But he took the brunt of the hit on Tee Higgins to the chest which resulted in him going into cardiac arrest after passing out on the field. It really sounded bad.

The EMT’s who performed CPR and used a defibrillator saved Hamlin’s life. They are to be commended on everything they did. It truly is a miracle. That Hamlin went from critical condition with 50 percent breathing capacity to now being able to talk to some of his Bills teammates is remarkable.

He even asked if they won the game. It was wisely stopped thanks to the coaches of both teams and players who realized this was much bigger than football. We’re talking about someone’s life.

Damar Hamlin is only 24. So many prayers and well wishes have come his way. They’ve now raised over $7 million on what once was a toy drive for children whose goal was $2,500. It’s amazing the progress he’s made so far.

Hopefully, things continue to improve. I’m sure there’s a long way to go. Never take what the people in the Healthcare medical field do for granted. They are true shining stars. Thank you to them.

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Rangers two for two in New Year: Back up victory over messy Cats with good third period comeback over Hurricanes, Canada versus Czechia for WJC gold, goalie interference reversal mars USA in ugly loss to Canada

Posted on January 5, 2023 by Derek

So far in ’23, a lot has happened. So far, so good for the Rangers. After taking care of the messy Cats in a mind-numbing game on New Year’s Day during football Sunday, they had their best win of the season in coming back to defeat the first place Hurricanes 5-3 on Tuesday night at a more lively MSG.

Even though they didn’t draw a sellout, the crowd was much more into the first meeting between the new rivals. Considering that the Hurricanes entered having not lost a game in regulation in their previous 17, this was a good test. Especially coming off the memorable seven-game second round series victory last Spring.

You could feel a buzz at The Garden through the TV screen. A good sign that the fans who spent lots of money to go see the big divisional match-up were emotionally invested. They knew how good Carolina is. There’s a reason they’ve consistently won games. They’re a hard-working team with a relentless style. Plus they entered leading the Metro with 56 points.

The Rangers needed this game. They’re jockeying for playoff position in a very closely fought division. By rallying back from a one-goal deficit to hand the Canes their first such defeat when leading after two periods, the Blueshirts demonstrated that they have some moxie. Indeed, character and resilience were on display in a superb third period by the Broadway hosts.

In getting the game’s last three goals highlighted by K’Andre Miller’s redirection of a Mika Zibanejad point shot on a good play set up from Kaapo Kakko, this was the kind of win that can point them in the right direction.

Following a disjointed first period that saw the Hurricanes score two of three goals on strong plays on the wall and in front with both Miller and partner Jacob Trouba victimized, the Blueshirts played a more inspired second.

Although they could only score once on a Zibanejad shot pass that went right through rookie Pyotr Kochetkov for a key power play tally that evened it briefly before Jalen Chatfield had the fortune of his shot going right off Filip Chytil’s stick past Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers competed much better.

They held an 11-7 edge in shots and were able to create more offense than the lackadaisical start in which Kochetkov could’ve had a beach chair and read a newspaper on Brighton Beach. He did make at least one good save on a Chris Kreider deflection of an Adam Fox shot. But it was pretty quiet.

At least in the middle stanza, Kochetkov was forced into some tough stops. Like elder Russian counterpart Shesterkin, who delivered the big saves during the key moments en route to 20 stops, he had to work harder. That was a welcome change we’d see more of in a dominant third period the Manhattan hockey club controlled.

Despite some tacky calls by the officials including one we’d never seen work an NHL game before, it was hard fought. A listen to Jimmy Vesey during intermission when interviewed by MSG reporter Michelle Gingras told the story. He was pleased with the second noting the improvement. The surprising checking forward would get a just reward a day later re-signing with the Rangers for two years, $1.6 million ($800,000).

If there was a notable difference between the teams, it came via the power play. Similar to last Spring, the Blueshirts had the advantage on special teams. Not only did they easily kill all three Candy Canes’ power plays. But they cashed in going 3-for-5 on the man-advantage.

That even included only the second power play goal by the second unit. A play in which captain Jacob Trouba fired a shot way wide that banked in off two Canes for just his third goal of the season. But then came a bad step up by Miller that allowed Andrei Svechnikov to easily set up Martin Necas for a 2-1 lead 16 seconds later with 3:18 remaining in the first.

Zibanejad would get the second PPG unassisted when he skated in and tried to make a pass for a cutting Vincent Trocheck in front. But with Kochetkov anticipating the pass, the puck instead missed Trocheck and went underneath the surprised goalie to temporarily tie the score with 3:15 left in the second.

That was short-lived due to Chatfield taking a feed from Teuvo Teravainen and letting go of a right point shot that Chytil accidentally put in his own net. He stuck his stick out and it worked as a perfect deflection by a shocked Shesterkin 29 seconds later to again give the Hurricanes the lead.

Due to the line of Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere and Vesey being ineffective, Gerard Gallant switched it up for the final period. Unhappy with the defensive work of Chytil, he bumped up reliable veteran Barclay Goodrow between Lafreniere and Vesey. As for Chytil, he was in the doghouse getting one even strength shift on the little used checking line with Sammy Blais and Julien Gauthier.

Turk opted to shorten his bench and mostly go with three lines. That included Artemi Panarin on the second unit with Trocheck and Vitaly Kravtsov. With the rookie starting to play better (assisted on Trouba goal), that line was effective. However, it was a Panarin solo effort that allowed him to score for the fifth time over the last eight games.

On some strong play from both Fox and Ryan Lindgren down low, Panarin took a pass behind the net and skated all the way around to the top and let go of a seeing eye wrist shot from long distance that fooled Kochetkov to draw even for the third time. His 11th goal came only 36 seconds into the period, going right through the wickets.

Able to ride the momentum despite Kochetkov recovering to make some good saves, it was an aggressive Miller pinch that pushed the puck behind the net for Kakko. He would come out and send a back pass for a covering Zibanejad up top. His long one-timer would go off the stick of Miller for the clutch go-ahead goal with 9:33 remaining.

It was Miller’s third of the season. His first goal in seven since Dec. 17 in a road win at the Flyers. Part of a season best seven-game winning streak that helped turn the season around. In fact, since 12/5, they’ve lost only twice in regulation. The other defeat coming at the Lightning in a goalie duel between Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy on Dec. 29.

When Miller fed Chytil for a power play empty net goal after a dubious broken stick call on Jordan Martinook that was incredible or incredulous if you looked at his reaction along with coach Rod Brind’Amour, the Rangers improved to 10-2-1 in the last 13.

They exited back to the locker room to a standing ovation from the crowd who stayed. Despite some mishaps that left him and Trouba minus-three at one point, a happier Miller was named the game’s First Star with a goal and assist. A nice reward for sticking with it. Zibanejad got the second star with a goal and assist including his team-leading 19th. Kakko grabbed the third star with a helper and strong play in over 16 minutes.

It was a satisfying victory for the Rangers, who moved ahead of the Capitals into third place with 48 points. They’re up to 21-12-6 in 39 games. With 20 coming at home, they’ll hit the road for two games including a trip up to Montreal later tonight. That’ll be followed up by a visit to Newark for the third and final regular season meeting versus the Hudson rival Devils on Saturday at 1 PM.

It’s hard to believe they’ll really be done with both of their closest rivals. They already completed the three-game series with the Islanders by taking the final one before the holiday break 5-3 at MSG. The Isles won two of three. Now, they’ll play the Devils for the third and last time during the 82-game schedule. The teams have split the first two both at 33rd and 7th.

It’s incredible that these close bitter rivals aren’t playing more times. I’ve voiced this all before. The schedule remains an eyesore. It’s like the way “goaltender interference” is interpreted. There’s some foreshadowing for you on a polarizing topic I’m sick of.

At the moment, the Metro Division has the Canes at the top with 56 points in 38 games. They lead the second place Devils by five after they soundly defeated the fading Red Wings 5-1 last night. Nico Hischier celebrated his 24th birthday with a goal and assist. Vitek Vanecek made 32 saves with his shutout broken up by Lucas Raymond with two minutes left.

By virtue of one fewer game played, the Rangers sit in third with 48 points over 39 games. The Capitals also have 48, but in 40 games. They fell to the hot Sabres in overtime the other night. Alexander Ovechkin got two more goals to continue his chase of Gretzky. But Tage Thompson completed a hat trick to get the win for Buffalo, who suddenly are up to 40 points.

With the Caps in the first wildcard, the Islanders remain in the second by virtue of their 6-2 laugher over the defense optional Canucks. If you caught any of it, you know how bad Vancouver is. No wonder Thatcher Demko got hurt. They’re the worst defensive team in hockey. Yes. I’d even rank the Ducks higher. At least they’re younger. The Islanders are in fifth holding the second wildcard with 46 points in 39 games.

The Penguins are a streaky team. At times, they look like a contender due to the brilliance of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin along with Tristan Jarry. Then, there are moments where they look like a pretender with bad losses. Not that the one to the Bruins during the Winter Classic was bad. But they blew a 1-0 lead losing to the league’s best team 2-1 on two pair from Jake DeBrusk. He put in the winner from Taylor Hall with over two minutes remaining at Fenway Park.

The Pens currently are sixth in the division with 44 points in 37 games. They hold games in hand on every team ahead of them inside the Metro. We’ll see about the injury to Jarry. Kris Letang is still mourning the loss of his father. Condolences go out to the Letang family.

At the moment, all of the Metro top six have more points than the Sabres (40), Red Wings (39), Senators (39) and the league’s biggest disappointment the Panthers (39). In regards to the Cats, they have little chemistry and don’t play much defense or get consistent goaltending. It has to be recent USA hero Spencer Knight in net over Sergei Bobrovsky.

If things don’t turnaround in Florida, the blame should be placed directly on GM Bill Zito. He broke up a terrific roster that won the President’s Trophy in ’21-22. The Matthew Tkachuk blockbuster trade hasn’t netted desired results. But he’s been excellent recently recording a hat trick in old fashioned shootout win over the Coyotes.

Aleksander Barkov hasn’t been entirely healthy. His goal output is low. The defense is a mess. By subtracting MacKenzie Weegar, who fit perfectly in the uptempo system they like to play, it weakened the defense. Aaron Ekblad hasn’t been the same since returning from an injury. Only Brandon Montour has performed well. Marc Staal is a third pair D who plays penalty kill. Reunited with older brother Eric Staal, who’s getting too many minutes, it’s a tall ask from veteran coach Paul Maurice.

It’s hard to fathom that they let go of Jack Adams candidate Andrew Brunette and replaced him with Maurice. He’s a good experienced coach who preaches tighter checking. The way the Cats are constructed doesn’t fit his style. Production is down mostly for most forwards including Sam Reinhart and Sam Bennett. Anton Lundell hasn’t been consistent in Year Two.

There’s not much edge without Mason Marchment, who’s doing for the first place Stars what he did for the Panthers. A salary cap victim, he got his contract in Dallas, who must be taken seriously. Florida has also been without veteran team leader Patric Hornqvist. Although he’s nearing the end, when he plays, you notice him battling in front and during scrums.

A final conclusion on the mediocre Panthers. They don’t play with much emotion. If you caught any of the Rangers’ 5-3 win over them, that was evident. Sure. They kept it interesting by pulling within a goal twice. But you never got the sense the Rangers were ever in trouble. Especially with Bobrovsky in net. He gave up one from old friend Panarin right between the legs to make it 5-3 and take the wind out of his team’s sails. They skated around aimlessly.

The dissection of the messy Cats is one that many predicted. However, I don’t think anyone believed they’d be this bad. Seventh out of eight teams in a mediocre Atlantic where the top three have separated themselves from the pack, isn’t what anyone could’ve expected. Their power play also is mindless without Jonathan Huberdeau, who’s had a tough time adjusting to Darryl Sutter in Calgary along with Weegar.

In terms of the World Junior Championships over in Halifax and New Brunswick, USA took Group B by defeating Finland. Czechia won Group A by not losing in regulation which included an overtime defeat to Sweden. They also surprised tournament favorite Canada early on.

Both groups were more competitive due to the improved play of Czechia and Slovakia. Switzerland also was competitive in Group B making it unpredictable. It made for more entertaining games during preliminary action. When you can have both Canada and USA upset by Czechia and Slovakia respectively, that makes it a better WJC.

Even as I caught most of USA, I wasn’t overly impressed by what I saw. Outside of Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud, Red Savage and ’23 Draft Eligible goalie prospect Trey Augustine, they weren’t as imposing.

You saw it in the loss to Slovakia, who got superb goaltending from Adam Gajan (undrafted). He nearly backstopped Slovakia to a mammoth upset of Canada in the quarterfinals.

Only Connor Bedard saves them with a highlight reel goal that’s still getting replayed. He’s amazing. Deking three players including the goalie for a remarkable overtime winner should be impossible. Not for Bedard, who broke Eric Lindros’ Canadian record for most points and passed Jordan Eberle in most goals. He could only applaud the feat.

If you were looking for a story, it’s being written by Czechia. While USA stumbled against the more imposing Canada; whose physicality turned around a two-goal deficit into a 6-2 win in the semifinals, Czechia showed so much determination in finding the tying goal from defenseman David Jiricek with 38 seconds left to force OT.

It took everything for them to find a perfect shot to break up the shutout for spectacular Sweden netminder Carl Lindbom. He was that close to a third shutout. Instead, one more icing doomed his team. That allowed the desperate Czechs to get the perfect setup when David Spacek found Jiricek for a heavy one-timer that beat Lindbom underneath to send it to overtime.

In the three-on-three, the Swedes dominated. They had every opportunity to still prevail like they did in Group play. However, the brilliant goaltending from Tomas Suchanek wouldn’t allow it. Another undrafted netminder who turns 20 in the Spring, was the story. He stoned Sweden at every turn including denying Isak Rosen twice one on one.

It wasn’t until over a minute left that Czechia got their first shot on goal. After coming out of their zone in transition started by Spacek, he moved the puck up for Matyas Sapovaliv. As he moved through the neutral zone, he found Jiri Kulich isolated on one defender.

Kulich then made a great move to beat him and he fired a wrist shot that went far side past Lindbom to win it at 69:10. His clutch goal in the final minute of the 10-minute overtime made Czechia a 2-1 winner. They celebrated while the stunned Swedes were reduced to shock and tears.

That’s the essence of the tournament. There’s always a tale of two sides. Especially when it’s so closely fought. Sweden defended extremely well during the second and third period. They limited the Czechs’ chances to the outside with few rebounds. A great glove save from Lindbom on a Jiricek laser looked like it would be the save of the game.

However, an unnecessary icing led to the turning point. Spacek got a great pass over for a Jiricek blast that Lindbom couldn’t stop. The blue line of Czechia that features Jiricek, Spacek, Stanislav Svozil, Jiri Tichacek as a potent top four make them the best defense in the WJC. It’ll be interesting to see if they’re a factor in the gold medal game versus Canada.

As far as USA who couldn’t handle Canada’s grit and physicality after predictably overwhelming Germany, it was a classic case of not being tested in the previous round. While host Canada had their hands full with the impressive Slovaks who rallied back from a two-goal deficit to force OT before losing to the Connor Bedard Show, USA won easily over Germany 11-1. It’s tough to go from that opponent to top heavy Canada in the next round.

While I liked the cycling and hard work they did for most of their goals during the tournament, I wasn’t fond of a small blue line that got exposed. There were too many instances where despite their team speed, the back end anchored by Devils prospect Luke Hughes were soft.

It really showed last night with the more aggressive Canadians targeting Hughes with some thumping hits. Every single one clean that sent a message. Hughes never really had the tournament most thought. While he did score three times and assist on another goal, he struggled with the combination of Canada’s speed and ferocious play. Credit them for sticking to a game plan Hughes shrugged off prior to the big game.

There wasn’t enough size or physical presence to the American blue line. I get that the game has changed. There’s so much emphasis on speed, skating with defensemen acting as rovers. However, that is a risky style. Players can get caught. We saw it during the loss to Slovakia. Hughes struggled to get back and had some issues.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of attention to detail in front of Augustine, who supplanted Kaidan Mbereko in net. The defense was leaky allowing the front exposed. They were beaten on goals against. Never was it more visible than during Canada’s semifinal win. They scored almost all of their goals from directly in front.

That included face-off plays in which Bedard finished off his ninth due to getting position in front. A quick response to a Kenny Connors rebound goal that had made it 2-0 less than two minutes before.

Although they escaped the first still ahead, you could tell that once Canada upped the intensity, USA was on the ropes. They were like a punch drunk fighter. When a similar offensive zone drew resulted in Logan Stankoven beating four USA players to a loose puck in front only 47 seconds into the second, it again showed the team’s biggest weakness.

They still got on a power play with the game even. But Canadian netminder Thomas Milic thwarted Jimmy Snuggerud twice and then denied Chaz Lucius on a breakaway to keep the game tied.

As Canada continued to press the attack with relentless pressure, top American draft prospect Adam Fantilli was all set up for a goal. But his shot rang off the crossbar and stayed out leaving the building buzzing by the close call. Fantilli would get another crack at it.

On another face-off this time in the Canadian end, they won the draw and quickly moved the puck without any USA resistance. An Olen Zellweger pass to an open Fantilli saw him move the puck across the ice for Zach Dean.

As Dean got a step on the USA defense, nobody took a cutting Fantilli who easily buried the Dean centering pass by a helpless Augustine for a 3-2 lead. He looked like John LeClair on that play who often got those power forward goals from Lindros.

The turning point for USA came when Jackson Blake appeared to score on a Hughes rebound past Milic. The goal would’ve tied the score and given the Americans much needed momentum.

Instead, Canada challenged for goaltender interference. This controversial video review really changed the game. Although Blake made some contact on his turnaround rebound, it didn’t affect Milic whatsoever. This was a clear case of another soft call going against USA. IIHF rules are much stricter. This was a bad call that left Blake and father Jason Blake in s state of shock. They never recovered from the overturned goal.

Nobody ever likes to complain about officiating. However, there was no justification for disallowing that goal. It still didn’t excuse USA for more lackadaisical defensive play. They were their own worst enemy. The lack of checking is what really allowed a relentless Canada to finally get a measure of revenge for three straight losses including for the gold medal.

On the fourth straight goal, you had Bedard and Stankoven combine to throw the puck in front. A rolling puck came right to Joshua Roy, who was able to beat Augustine with a backhand while there were two teammates down and another two puck watching. That was a crusher. It made it 4-2.

It was Roy who was the best player scoring twice and assisting on two others. He’s always been underrated. He’s a complementary player who does a lot well. That includes being defensively responsible. He nearly had a shorthanded goal too.

Although my 6-3 prediction looked pretty poetic, I decided to watch the beginning of the third. I shouldn’t have. It was another goaltender interference challenge that negated an early USA goal.

Rutger McGroarty thought he had jarred a rebound loose from underneath the pad of Milic. The initial shot was a low one that the Canadian netminder had under his right pad. However, it was hard to tell if it was frozen. What complicated the play was a loose stick in the crease which created a distraction.

McGroarty poked at the puck and appeared to put it in. That would’ve cut the deficit to 4-3. The issue was the ruling on the video review. They never fully explained what negated the goal. Did he push Milic’s at pad to put the puck in? Instead, all we got was a bland explanation from the officials which really was the end of it.

I don’t usually checkout of these games. Especially USA/Canada. The best rivalry in hockey. I’d had enough. The overturn of Blake’s goal was still hard to grasp. You could make a better case for disallowing the McGroarty one. I’d seen enough.

If they had to have Canada in the final so bad due to all of the fan support up north, fine. They didn’t need any help. They still would’ve won. They were the better team. I knew what it would end up at. So, I shut it off and went out.

It takes a lot for me to give up on a game. I was incensed by the officiating and not thrilled with the soft play from USA. They lost too much from the last team that went undefeated in Group play only to lose to Czechia in the quarterfinals last summer. That was a better team.

Hughes stunk defensively most of the WJC. He didn’t have an impressive tournament. He’s exceptional at creating offense. But his defense and weaknesses with physical play were exposed. I didn’t think he deserved one of USA’s best three players. Maybe he’s not yet ready for the NHL. He needs to get stronger.

I would’ve gone Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud and Trey Augustine, who was blameless last night. He kept it competitive and was the biggest surprise. Red Savage honorable mention. He really works hard.

Cooley got better during the tournament. However, I didn’t particularly care for his hand gesture when he got the game’s first goal to the fans. That was idiotic. Have some class. It was only the first goal. I did notice later him out of position on one of the Canadian goals. He’ll be a very good player for the Coyotes. Cut the obnoxious attitude.

Canada is supremely skilled. Bedard is otherworldly. But you have Stankoven and Roy who’ve fit perfectly on the scoring line. Shane Wright has the size and skill to be a power forward. He’ll benefit from this experience and be a better player for the Kraken. Brennan Othmann is always around the net, has good speed and vision. He hasn’t scored much, But has the look of a promising future for the Rangers.

Zellweger and Brandt Clarke are the top defensemen. Zellweger looks very polished while Clarke possesses a great shot, but isn’t there yet. The D can be exploited by a more aggressive team that attacks the net. Czechia should. USA didn’t stick to the game plan.

It’s USA vs Sweden for bronze this afternoon. Canada and Czechia for gold. The first appearance in the final for the Czechs since 2001. I’ve been rooting for them. That would’ve still been the case had USA advanced. They’re the best story. I’d love to see them win. It’s a rematch from Group A that Czechia took. Hopefully, we get an exciting game minus anymore dopey controversial rulings.

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Devils ring in the new year with goals, and mixed results

Posted on January 2, 2023 by hasan4978

First, for the good news…the Devils are still five points up on a playoff spot with a game in hand as we move from 2022 to 2023. And though yesterday’s shootout loss to the Hurricanes wasn’t ideal (especially as it extended our home losing streak to seven in a row), at least three points out of the two weekend games were a slight improvement over recent results. Ultimately though, this weekend was still more frustrating than encouraging – starting with Wednesday’s loss to the Bruins in the second of a rare home mini-series.

Whereas in the pre-Christmas game at least the Devils’ offense managed a third-period surge, in the second meeting with the Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark kept the door slammed shut throughout, aside from one Nico Hischier goal in the third period that finally woke up a post-holiday sellout crowd that was generally tense and frustrated. Small wonder, given the team’s lack of finish in a game the Devils dominated the opening thirty minutes before failing to score, then proceeding to give up a goal that sapped the energy from both the team and the crowd in the middle of the second period. Admittedly, even the Hischier goal didn’t get me as fired up as a spectacular save by Vitek Vanecek a few minutes later, one so proposterous I couldn’t help but think ‘okay, we’re gonna win this game now’:

Of course, the Devils did not win the game as a Patrice Bergeron tip-in goal that went off of Vanecek and the post before going in with under five minutes remaining led to an eventual 3-1 defeat – with of course Pavel Zacha sealing the win on an empty-netter. It was alarming in the sense that we couldn’t even win a game after we get the momentum back on both sides of the ice and get the crowd energized?! Not to mention that it was the Devils’ sixth straight home defeat (all regulation losses). What’s puzzling about the Devils’ home woes is that they did start 10-3-1 at the Rock before this recent skid.

Whereas the road has been sweet for the Devils all year, as they improved to 13-2-1 away from the Prudential Center with a wild 4-2 win over the Penguins Friday in which the main takeaway on the ice was the Devils’ special teams (and Vanecek) stepping up, killing off nine Penguin power plays and even scoring shorthanded. It’s a cliche but it’s true, your best players need to be your best players and that was the case on Friday night with Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton and Nico getting all four goals, Hughes’s empty-netter sealing a game that was marred by two inexperienced referees getting whistle-happy to the tune of fifteen power plays. It’s somehow telling in a weird way that it was the Penguins getting a bench minor for abuse of officials after Hughes’ second period goal that got the Devils on the board, and the Penguins were the ones that would get NINE power play attempts in the game.

However it occured, a win is a win and one that was still very much needed after losing eight of nine with seemingly every other team in the Metro on a winning streak at the same time, or at least enough teams to somehow put what seemed to be a sure playoff berth in serious jeopardy. Following up our win in Pittsburgh with two points at home against Carolina wouldn’t be easy, and somewhat controversially coach Lindy Ruff started Mackenzie Blackwood on New Year’s Day over Vanecek, after he had turned in two good performances last week following Blackwood’s stinker in the first Bruins game before Christmas. Giving Blackwood chance after chance wouldn’t annoy me so much if there wasn’t a clear double standard between both goalies – i.e. Vanecek getting benched for two games in a row after winning three straight earlier in the season while Blackwood got to play out his winning streak.

In spite of my misgivings, Blackwood responded with a mostly solid game yesterday (sans a scary puck handling snafu on goal number two), and one that was needed since for a rare time the Devils didn’t dominate the CORSI battle – getting outshot 47-28 by the Metro leaders – who also had the benefit of Derek Stepan turning back the clock to his Ranger days with two goals. Unfortunately for the Canes, Antti Raanta couldn’t turn back the clock similarly, as a few soft goals helped keep us in the match. Maybe it was some form of payback for Ullmark’s stoning us time and again against the Bruins. Again though, it was the Devils’ key players getting the goals with Jesper Bratt contributing a pair to go along with Jack and Nico each lighting the lamp once themselves.

Still, the Devils couldn’t clamp down a game they had a late lead in, thanks in part to a weird sequence caused by a nonexistent embelishment call on Jonas Siegenthaler – probably more stupid game management since the refs didn’t want to give a late power play in a tie game – that eventually led to the Devils having to kill off a five-on-three, and being unsuccessful at the penalty kill this time. Blackwood actually made a bunch of stellar saves in the third period and overtime to preserve the tie, but in the Devils’ first shootout of the season they looked every bit like a team who hadn’t had a shootout in months with Tomas Tatar, Bratt and Hughes all failing to score in the skills competition as the game was finally lost.

I can’t say Sunday’s game (especially being outplayed for the most part) is any kind of a sign that our freefall is over, but at least we managed points in consecutive games for the first time in a month. The next step is to actually build off it and get points off of both Detroit and a battered Blues team before the next Hudson showdown with the Rangers on Saturday afternoon. At least the cavalry seems to be arriving – apart from John Marino who’s still week-to-week to return – with Ondrej Palat returning to practice, not to mention Ryan Graves’ surprise return to the lineup yesterday after a scary-looking injury in Florida a few games back. Palat, in particular would be a sight for sore eyes, maybe with another legit top six wing in the lineup then coach Ruff will finally unstaple the ineffective Erik Haula from the Hughes line.

However it comes, just go and get a result on Wednesday and break the home schneid Thursday, let’s turn our three points into the start of a turnaround.

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Lafreniere benching the latest in a puzzling season, A look at Rangers history of drafting and developing players, Vasilevskiy outduels Shesterkin as Lightning take shootout 2-1

Posted on December 30, 2022 by Derek

Leading up to what turned out to be a playoff caliber rematch in the second season meeting with the Lightning, there was plenty to unpack for the Rangers. An organization that’s clearly at a crossroads even as they end the calendar year sitting just outside the second wildcard behind the resurgent Islanders.

If you thought they’d finally figured it out after winning eight of nine prior to the holiday break, you were wrong. The first two games indicate otherwise. A bigger issue that’s been plaguing the organization for years.

Of course, I’m referring directly to Alexis Lafreniere becoming a healthy scratch in the 37th game of a puzzling season. The former 2020 number one overall pick had a bad game in Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to the Caps. However, he wasn’t alone. But even in Year Three where he has only score five goals yet still has 17 points in 36 games, its the 21-year old who’s been singled out after a disappointing loss.

At least he now knows how Vitaly Kravtsov feels. In and out of the lineup whether it was due to injuries or second-year coach Gerard Gallant opting to keep another former first round pick up in the press box, it’s clearly a trust issue when it comes to the handling of the recently turned 23-year old Russian.

In similar fashion, Lafreniere has not been given a clearly defined role in his three years as a Ranger. An indictment on the organization who still can’t seem to figure it out. When it comes to the younger players, they have to put more trust in them. They’ve always given Kaapo Kakko more rope than Lafreniere, who’s been forced to play the off wing in a failed experiment that hurt his overall game.

When you luck into a consensus number one pick, you do everything possible to give them the best chance to succeed. For some reason, the Rangers have done the opposite. It’s resulted in Lafreniere losing his confidence. A mature player who always says the right thing in interviews even if it’s not going well, he remains a question mark at this point in his young career.

What is he? That’s something the Rangers need to find out. It wasn’t that long ago that Lafreniere showed improvement at the end of his second season finishing with 19 even strength goals and totaling 31 points. It was also while teaming with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko that he performed well contributing two goals and seven assists during the 2022 Playoffs. A surprising run that saw the team come within two games of playing for the Stanley Cup.

Lafreniere has played in 171 career games. He has yet to score a power play goal. A fact that’s shocked other team’s fans who are quite familiar with the success he had winning two MVP’s in the QMJHL and producing 10 points (4-6-10) for Canada in the 2020 U20 World Junior Championships. Great things were expected for him.

It hasn’t happened yet. Before anyone makes the ridiculous observation that he can’t play in New York City, that’s not it. He has the high character and maturity to handle the pressure packed environment in the Big Apple.

This is more about how the Rangers have gone about it. The process isn’t working. Not after Garden CEO James Dolan made an abrupt change by replacing John Davidson and Jeff Gorton with Chris Drury and basically snake Glen Sather, who still is lurking in the background. They also made the necessary move to bring in Gallant to replace David Quinn, who lacked experience to steer the group where they wanted to go.

While I respect Gallant, whose experience certainly has helped, there are more questions than answers in Year Two. There’s no doubt that last season, things went extremely well. Carried by Vezina winner Igor Shesterkin, who stole many games in the first half to provide the Rangers with an impressive record, they went onto post a 52-24-6 mark with 110 points to finish second in the Metro Division.

It really helped to have Shesterkin standing on his head most nights en route to a 36-13-4 record in 53 games (52 starts) with a 2.07 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts. He was remarkable. Having Alexandar Georgiev as a steady backup post 15 wins in 33 appearances also allowed Gallant to give his ace netminder enough rest. He doesn’t have that luxury in Year Two. Georgiev became a cap casualty and now stars for the Avalanche. Jaroslav Halak can’t play as many games.

In his first year as Team President and GM, Drury did an outstanding job. He made a good hire in Gallant who guided the Panthers to the playoffs and took the Golden Knights all the way to a Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. He also made key additions by signing Barclay Goodrow and dealing for Ryan Reaves. Even Dryden Hunt worked out well in the Gallant system.

Adding key pieces Andrew Copp, Frank Vatrano, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun really solidified the Blueshirts. They provided secondary scoring and depth that proved crucial last Spring. With the Big Four of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox performing at a high level along with Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, Ryan Strome and underrated checking pivot Kevin Rooney, it all came together.

Sometimes, things fall into place. That superior depth post trade deadline kept the pressure off Chytil, Kakko and Lafreniere. The former Kid Line built momentum late in the season and rode it during the playoffs to help make key contributions in all three rounds. They were an effective third unit who got pucks in behind opponents and created offense off the forecheck.

Up until recently, Gallant had reunited that line and played them more. They were instrumental during the season high seven-game win streak. But following the shutout loss to the Capitals which he termed, “We were garbage,” during a candid postgame, Gallant broke up that line and benched Lafreniere in favor of Sammy Blais. The less said about Blais, the better.

Whether you agreed with the lineup changes, it felt like desperation from an experienced bench boss who’s tinkered with his lines all season. There’s no consistency. That can’t be good for team chemistry. It’s one thing to adjust in game depending on the situation. But quite another to panic the way he’s done.

It has to be confusing for some players. Maybe not the established stars and key veterans I cited. But for younger kids like Lafreniere who’s been moved around like a nomad, and Kravtsov who can go from sitting out to playing his way from the checking line into a top nine role, there has to be frustration. They haven’t gained the trust of the coaching staff.

It’s easy for some to point to the numbers. Kravtsov has two goals with an assist in 17 games despite standing out on Thursday night by being involved in a breakaway that Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped and beating Victor Hedman on a great move to get in and just miss on another chance.

He also led Julien Gauthier for an early opportunity that he missed wide on. Gauthier was also denied on a breakaway by Vasilevskiy (45 saves) later in a great game the Lightning won 2-1 over the Rangers in a six round shootout.

While Kravtsov showed a lot more confidence with the puck in 15 shifts including 11:58 at even strength and another 47 seconds on the struggling power play (1 for its last 17 including an epic failure on a four-on-three in overtime), all Lafreniere could do was watch from the press box.

What did he learn exactly? His next game won’t be until 2023. That was the final game of the calendar year. The Rangers next play the Panthers on New Year’s Day this Sunday. Hopefully, Lafreniere will return to the lineup and respond well.

Why is it okay for Gallant to play Kravtsov on the fourth line, but not Lafreniere? He did it last year. Lafreniere played through his struggles and worked his way back up with Chytil and Kakko. He will go to the corners and compete for pucks while taking the body. He’s also stronger on the wall and adept at takeaways to keep plays alive. The problem is he’s not finding enough room or shooting enough.

There’s been all kinds of reaction about not just Lafreniere. But about how the Rangers have handled young players who were selected high. Development again has come to the forefront. While they have done a good job with goalies (Lundqvist, Georgiev, Shesterkin) and defensemen (Fox, Lindgren, Miller, Schneider), developing their forwards who were selected high remains a problem.

https://twitter.com/Cville300zxtt/status/1608679567639875584?t=1p6MhBfrN5NaJLvGJ6_Euw&s=19

I feel like both Jeff who celebrated a birthday, and Jared are onto something. Jared responded to an original post from Alex (FutureCanes), who I think nailed it about the way this team drafts and develops players. Don’t forget. Fox and Lindgren were trades. Fox played collegiate at Harvard and never played in the AHL. Lindgren did before finally earning his keep after Libor Hajek failed to establish himself during ’19-20.

It’s important to note Benoit Allaire. His influence on the successful Hall Of Fame career of Henrik Lundqvist, who was very driven, certainly helped him become one of the game’s best goalies. What he did with Georgiev was impressive. He signed as a free agent. After spending time in Hartford, he became a part-time starter before Igor Shesterkin was called up and eventually supplanted him.

You have to wonder why they rushed Kakko in that rookie year. He struggled mightily. I understood the rationale behind the rebuild after the letter. But given how lost Kakko was, why didn’t they send him down? They had that option due to him being European. It probably would’ve been better for his development. Look how long it’s took for the 2019 number two pick to improve.

They also could’ve optioned Lafreniere due to the abbreviated 56-game schedule in his rookie season (’21). But after spending some time on the fourth line, he finished with a dozen goals and showed signs under Quinn before he was fired. All due to what happened against the Islanders and then the Tom Wilson incident involving both Pavel Buchnevich and Panarin. Sather and Mark Messier got in Dolan’s ear about allowing that to happen to their star player.

When they committed to the rebuild, it really sounded like Davidson and Gorton wanted to see it through. Despite spending a ton on both Panarin ($11.64 million) and Trouba ($8 million), they seemed to want to remain patient. Many would ask why give Panarin all that money if you’ve promised to rebuild. Ditto for Trouba, who they acquired from Winnipeg and immediately signed him long-term with a full NMC through ’23-24. It’s moderated the final two years of the contract. Panarin has a full NMC with his deal expiring in 2026.

Did they expect Lafreniere to fall into their lap following the three-game humiliation to the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Qualifying Round? Of course not. They made the decision to extend Kreider on what now is a bargain with his $6.5 million cap hit which runs through 2027. His NMC becomes a moderated no-trade starting in ’24-25.

When they came so close with Panarin finishing third for the Hart and Zibanejad erupting for a career best 41 goals including a memorable five-goal game I attended with family and friends prior to COVID pausing the ’19-20 season, I think it altered the organization’s view. They believed they could return to the postseason in ’20-21. Despite Kakko not being fully developed and Lafreniere in his first season, it felt like a rush job.

That’s always been an issue with rebuilding here. Look no further than the Dark Ages when the Garden went dark between ’97-98 thru ’03-04. They took ridiculous suggestions from Larry Brooks who basically suggested Valeri Kamensky, Stephane Quintal, Sylvain Lefebvre, Brian Skrudland and Mike Keane. Aside from Lefebvre, all failed.

Theo Fleury would’ve been successful if not for all the off ice issues that plagued his career. It’s astonishing that he was leading the league in scoring and had seven shorthanded goals with what was happening away from the rink. God bless him for overcoming years of sexual abuse, depression and substance abuse to become a true survivor. One of my favorite memories was meeting Fleury at a book signing at Borders with family. He couldn’t have been nicer.

In all of that time during that Error, it was first Neil Smith who kept making the mistake of overpaying players who either were close to done or didn’t want to be here (Quintal). Hockey is different here. Who could forget that? Ask Bobby Holik. There was no structure or consistency.

Even bringing in Eric Lindros backfired due to getting his bell rung after looking like the dominant force who terrorized opponents in the 90’s. They traded for an injury prone Pavel Bure. He looked great, but didn’t last long.

There was also Alexei Kovalev II. That didn’t work. Instead of logic prevailing, they played him out of position on left wing and never had him play the point on the power play. He was gone quickly to Montreal for the forgettable Jozef Balej (hype machine) and draft pick failures. Of course, Kovalev produced as a Canadien.

This was already after Trader Neil was gone for Sather. Smith’s great work was taking Pavel Brendl and then giving away Marc Savard to Calgary and moving up to grab Jamie Lundmark. A player who did well with the Wolf Pack when I was up in Bristol at ESPN. But after a good camp, he was blocked by Messier II. One of the worst moves of the Slats Error. As much as I love Messier, he played too many minutes and didn’t take a backseat.

It’s hard to believe this all happened. I left out the Czech Mates. That was short-lived. Petr Nedved, Jan Hlavac and Radek Dvorak were fun to watch. But as good as they were offensively, they didn’t really back check.

There wasn’t much of a system either in those days. They truly wasted the remaining prime years of Rangers legends Brian Leetch and Mike Richter. It was sad. Too many poor choices whether it be coach (Muckler, Low, Trottier) or players (Malakhov, Dunham, Karpa, Ulanov, Fraser). Not much luck either with injuries to key young players like Stefan Cherneski, Dan Blackburn, Tomas Kloucek and Hugh Jessiman.

Manny Malhotra was butchered as well. Even though John Muckler was proven correctly on the kind of player he became, they definitely didn’t help him develop. I’m glad he had success in Columbus and Vancouver where he was a trusted checking center who could win draws and kill penalties. He’s now a Leafs assistant coach. Good for him.

You also had the nightmare of Slats not bothering to ask Leetch if he would be open to a trade at the ’04 deadline. He instead dealt the greatest defenseman the franchise ever had on his birthday without communicating to the Maple Leafs. That went over well. The return was Maxim Kondratiev, Jarkko Immonen, a first round pick that became Lauri Korpikoski and an ’05 second.

They then mishandled both Korpikoski and Immonen. The latter eventually returned home before having a successful career in the KHL. Korpikoski was barely a blip on the radar when they foolishly dumped him to Rangers West the Coyotes for Enver Lisin. Korpedo had some decent seasons in the NHL while Lisin lasted 57 games and totaled six goals and 14 points. He went back home.

Even if Korpikoski didn’t have the career of former Devil Travis Zajac (taken a pick later), he had a solid career putting up 201 points in 609 games. The team wasn’t patient. The crazy aspect is this was when they finally got good due to Lundqvist, Jagr, Martin Straka, Fedor Tyutin, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Michael Rozsival, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez and Sean Avery.

When it comes to most first round picks, the Rangers don’t have the best track record. They seem to do better finding players later such as Callahan, Dubinsky, Derek Stepan, Petr Prucha, Lundqvist and Shesterkin. Artem Anisimov was a good player they took in the second round. Eventually, after a good season with Dubinsky, they were packaged to Columbus for Rick Nash in a deal that also netted Pavel Buchnevich. Too bad Buchnevich couldn’t be kept and all they have left is Sammy Blais.

If you want to point to successful first round picks, Kreider tops the list. He’s one of the best power forwards and a great leader. It’s nice to have a homegrown talent blossom as he moves up the all-time franchise goal scoring list. After Kreider, there’s J.T. Miller, Marc Staal, K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider.

They’re getting better. But there’s always an Al Montoya or Lias Andersson that is etched in the bad memories. At least they got a second round pick which turned into Will Cuylle, who’s doing well on the Wolf Pack. Montoya was a Sather Cuban cigar special. That draft kind of sucked.

We see the growth of Chytil, whose game continues to be on the upswing. That’s what remaining patient can do. Kakko no longer is lost. He has more confidence and makes plays with the puck. The nine goals might not seem like a lot. But he is on track to reach 20. That would be progress. He was effective on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Kreider in last night’s shootout loss to the Bolts.

As for Lafreniere, who knows where his head is at. So much of the game is mental. It isn’t easy getting moved around from line to line. Or being miscast on the right side when his natural position is left wing. That set him back. He must be more noticeable during shifts.

One scout in a recent piece asked, “What kind of player does he want to be?” Is it a gritty forward who drives the net and finds rebounds and deflections. He will go to the net. We’ve seen it. Or can he improve enough with his skating to create more time and space to get off his wrist shot? It’s not like he isn’t capable of scoring in transition off odd man rushes. He has during his Rangers career.

The concern is that he is where he is currently. Not looking as confident or playing consistently enough. He shouldn’t have sat out on Thursday night. But that was the coach’s decision. To give him a chance to take in a game from above. Sometimes, that can work. It should light a fire under Lafreniere. How will he be handled when the Rangers return to the ice to take on the Panthers in two days?

Even if you still are optimistic about this team after the run they had last Spring, there’s no reinforcements coming at the moment. There’s also no guarantee that if Drury risks it all for 34-year old future Hall Of Famer Patrick Kane at the deadline, it’ll work. He has a full no-move clause in his contract which expires. Same as Blackhawks teammate Jonathan Toews.

I think you have to ask the tough question. Is this roster as constructed good enough to seriously contend? They’ve played 37 games and sit outside the top eight behind the Islanders with 44 points. Both the Isles and Caps passing them in a very tight division. Only five teams can make it from a division. So, even if Florida doesn’t turn it around or there’s no fourth team competing from the Atlantic Division, you’re looking at six Metro teams for five spots.

It isn’t going to be easy. When they put forth a good effort as they did in the tough 2-1 loss to the Lightning in a shootout where both Shesterkin and Vasilevskiy were terrific, there’s hope. That they’ve played two of their best games against the rival Bolts highlights that they’re capable. Even if Tampa isn’t quite as deep without Ondrej Palat or Ryan McDonagh.

Fact is following a fluky Zibanejad goal (5th even strength) that saw Kakko and Lindgren touch the puck before Erik Cernak accidentally had it deflect right to Zibanejad for a great one-timer, they never scored again. Even totaling 46 shots and creating a ton of quality scoring chances that included three breakaways, they couldn’t beat a superb Vasilevskiy again.

There was a sneaky Kravtsov pass off the boards that sent Gauthier in only to see him miss wide. There was a very visible Kravtsov getting behind for a breakaway only to have his shot shrugged aside by the blocker of Vasilevskiy. You had Gauthier in again on an outstanding play by Fox only to have his shot denied by the great Lightning netminder.

Chytil had some of the best chances. He was flat out robbed by Vasilevskiy on a one-timer from a sharp angle where you couldn’t believe it. But the acrobatic former Vezina winner who’s won two Cups got over to make a great save to stone Chytil.

The power play continues to fizzle. Another 0 for 3 extending the misery to 1 for its last 17. No worse than a gifted four-on-three in overtime. There must’ve been three or four missed shots including a pair from Panarin and one from Zibanejad, who expressed his disappointment about not scoring the winner with an open net. He always gives great interviews. He wasn’t satisfied with the point they got.

High and wide or off the goalpost or crossbar could be a good title for the 2022-23 New York Rangers. They rank second in missed shots behind the Hurricanes, who always blow chances as we witnessed last Spring. But they’re winning and are in first place.

Vincent Trocheck has been good so far. But I’ve never seen a player hit as many posts or go high and over the net like him. He could have 20 goals by now. Similar to some of the opportunities he blew with Carolina. If he could hit the net more, who knows.

Of course, there were a couple of goalposts in the game. Panarin had a shot from distance beat Vasilevskiy only for it to ring off the crossbar. Then, in an entertaining six round shootout, Kakko had a chance to win it. After Panarin had evened it in the third round to reply back to Brayden Point, who also tied the contest in the third period, Kakko made his patented move. But his deke and backhand hit the post.

Of all people, Alex Killorn was able to beat Shesterkin stick side to give the Bolts the win. Fox tried to patiently out-wait Vasilevskiy. But his backhand attempt short side was foiled by the cat-like reflexes of the goaltender.

Obviously, it’s frustrating not to get two points in a game they played well enough in. Shesterkin still had to make 39 saves on 40 shots. His best work came when he denied Steven Stamkos in front and stoned Point. He also had to stop Anthony Cirelli off a face-off win point blank. The Rangers got killed in the dot losing 34 of 55 draws. They won 38 percent.

There was also some physical edge. Jacob Trouba stepped up and had an awkward hit on Vladislav Namestnikov that incensed Zach Bogosian. He took himself out of the play to go after Trouba. It led to Jimmy Vesey having Blais all set up. But he predictably missed wide. It didn’t even come close. He remains stuck on zero goals in his Rangers career.

A tough Blais hit on Cernak along the boards sent him to the locker room. He looked to be in some discomfort. He never returned. Pat Maroon went after Blais during a shift. But nothing happened between the former Blues teammates who won a Cup together in 2019.

The two teams combined for 86 shots (46-40 NYR), 160 attempts (82-78 NYR), 35 missed shots (19-16 NYR), 80 hits (40-40) and 39 blocked shots (22-17 NYR).

The game was hard fought. But the Rangers will be kicking themselves for some of the chances they didn’t cash in on. They had three power plays to the Bolts’ one. The officiating favored them with two missed calls on Rangers during the third that drew boos from Lightning fans. One a blatant trip that went undetected.

The penalty on Victor Hedman for tripping Chytil in overtime wasn’t a great call either. The Rangers had enough chances to take advantage. They couldn’t. Panarin tried a sneaky wrist shot late in the four-on-three that Vasilevskiy made a nice leg Save on. They out-shot the Lightning 5-3 in overtime.

There also were a couple of sequences during a 19 shot second period where they left you exasperated. Zibanejad passed up a wide open shot for another low percentage East/West pass for Kreider that went nowhere. It’s those kind of shooting opportunities that leave fans wanting more. It’s too predictable.

Every skater had a shot except Jonny Brodzinski, who took an undisciplined tripping minor behind the Tampa net in the first. When Lafreniere returns, maybe he comes out instead of Blais. Barclay Goodrow can slide down and center the fourth line. He didn’t exactly do much with Trocheck and Panarin.

There isn’t anything else to add. This became more a column about the past history of the Rangers organization when it comes to first round picks and personnel decisions.

Given what’s been happening, it had to be done. Now, they don’t play until the New Year. That’s a game they gotta have. Regardless if Aleksander Barkov came back and posted a hat trick with five points in a Panthers 7-2 rout of the Canadiens. They’re not good defensively and can be exploited. The goaltending isn’t great either. No excuses.

https://twitter.com/BattleOfHudson/status/1608661144046309380?t=q3zCVynYgAi_QQ45LO9TtA&s=19

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Gallant won’t change power play despite accurate critique, Lafreniere struggles

Posted on December 28, 2022 by Derek

Gerard Gallant had a critique of the power play today after practice. He thinks it’s too predictable. He’s right.

On one hand, the Rangers coach pointed out the obvious to USA Today beat reporter Vince Mercogliano. They can’t use the same two plays. That being either Adam Fox or Artemi Panarin passing the puck over to the left circle for the Mika Zibanejad one-timer.

The other usually is Fox shooting for Chris Kreider in front for a tip-in. Panarin also has started shooting more which helps. They also like to run a simple play in the slot for Vincent Trocheck. He’s been effective with seven power play goals on either shots, deflections or rebounds. He ranks second behind Zibanejad (10) on the team.

If there is a noticeable difference from last season, it’s Kreider with only four. He hasn’t been able to score as consistently on the man-advantage. They haven’t been able to execute the high to low play much. A disappointment for a top unit Gallant relies on. Maybe that’s what he meant about getting more traffic in front.

With the power play only 1 for its last 14, that is a concern. Interestingly, Kreider is having more success at even strength. He’s scored 11 of his team-leading 16 there. He also has one shorthanded tally. He’s been separated lately from sidekick Zibanejad, who’s been cold. He has no goals over the last eight games. His last three all came on the power play including a pair at Vegas on Dec. 7 and one versus Chicago on Dec. 3.

During that stretch, Zibanejad still has six assists. He’s still contributing. He’s also been getting plenty of scoring opportunities. They’re just not going in. He’s due. When he doesn’t score on the power play, it’s not as effective. Ten of his fifteen goals have come on it. They just can’t be too predictable as Gallant cited.

If there’s a disappointing aspect, it’s that the top center only has four even strength goals. Hardly the kind of production expected from such a quality player. They need more from him at five-on-five.

When you look at the team’s power play production, it’s coming mostly from three players. Of the 25 they’ve scored, Zibanejad, Trocheck and Kreider have combined for 21 power play goals. Panarin is next with two. Fox and Filip Chytil each have one with the latter highlighted due to it being the lone PPG scored by the second unit. A unit that’s gotten more looks since Vitaly Kravtsov has been added to Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere and Jacob Trouba.

With the man-advantage slumping, they’re down to 17th in the league clicking at 21.9 percent. That breaks down to 25 for 114. A far cry from where they should be. Especially given the personnel they feature on the number one unit.

My question for Gallant is why won’t he consider a change. He indicated to Mercogliano, “No… These guys are too good to put somebody else in there.” If that’s the case, then shouldn’t they be better? Adding Trocheck to replace Ryan Strome has helped lead to more PPG’s in that spot. But it’s not as consistent.

Obviously, Kreider hasn’t been able to duplicate his career season. He scored 52 goals including a single season franchise record 26 power play goals in ’21-22. However, if the five-on-four was functioning better, the real leader of the team would have more than four on the man-advantage. Some of it has been bad luck. But he’s the net front presence Gallant is alluding to.

Is that more a criticism of Kreider or is he displeased with how it’s run up top. There’s an awful lot of passing between Fox and Panarin. Fox is a terrific quarterback who is unselfish to a fault. As good as he is, Fox needs to shoot the puck more. He should have more than one power play goal. Most of the time, he makes shot passes for deflections.

The power play issue is one that must be resolved. Even having won eight of nine games before Christmas, one bad loss exposed the issue. When they don’t convert, it hurts the team. In defeats to the rival Pens and Caps, they went a combined 0 for 8. Conversely, Pittsburgh and Washington scored three times in six chances. A losing formula.

The disappointment of Alexis Lafreniere isn’t going away either. He has five goals in 36 games. Way too few for the former 2020 top pick. All five have come at even strength. Of course they have. In 171 career games, he’s never had a power play goal.

Can you imagine this happening in any other organization? It’s absurd. Lafreniere remains a secondary player on a team reliant on proven veterans. So, like Kakko who has shown improvement in Year Four with nine even strength goals second behind Kreider, Lafreniere remains on the second unit that includes Chytil, Kravtsov (for now) and the miscast Trouba. It should be K’Andre Miller or Braden Schneider.

That doesn’t explain the lack of goal production. Lafreniere is 21. He was coming off a good second year where he scored 19 goals on 110 shots (17.3 percent). In his rookie year, his shooting percentage was 17.9 (12 on 67). This season, it’s a paltry 7.9 with only five scored on 63 shots. Hardly enough.

Is it a lack of confidence? He hasn’t been looking shot much. Whatever it is, it can’t continue. At some point, the Rangers need more from Lafreniere. Regardless that he still has 17 points with 16 coming at even strength, it isn’t pointed in the right direction. Yes. He did finally pick up a power play assist. His third power play point of what’s been an underwhelming start to his career.

When they had him fall into their lap due to a flawed two part lottery system, the Rangers weren’t prepared to add a third left wing behind Kreider and Panarin. That’s meant Gallant at times shifting the younger player to the off side. An experiment that didn’t help.

With him averaging a shade over 15 minutes, it’s up to Lafreniere to figure it out. He must find more space and not pass up shots for low percentage passes that result in turnovers similar to the ones we’ve seen from leading scorer Panarin.

Lafreniere needs to simplify his game. I don’t mean finishing checks which he does as evidenced by the 70 hits. He does take the body. It means thinking shot more when opportunities present themselves. It also means getting in front and scoring a garbage goal. Something he’s capable of. Time is ticking in Year Three.

The Rangers visit the Lightning tomorrow night. Face-off is after 7 PM.

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Gallant: “We Were Garbage”

Posted on December 27, 2022 by Derek

How to sum up tonight’s listless performance. “We Were Garbage.” Those were the accurate words of displeased coach Gerard Gallant on his team’s lackluster play in a 4-0 shutout loss to the red hot Capitals after the Rangers heard it from the crowd at MSG.

Sometimes, it’s really that simple. Playing for the first time since the Christmas break, the Rangers didn’t have it. It wasn’t all bad. They had some chances during the first part of the rivalry game against Darcy Kuemper. But were unable to cash in failing on two power plays and missing the net on some other opportunities.

Special teams were lousy. They were 0 for 5 on the man-advantage. On the flip side, the Caps went 1 for 3. They also tacked on a shorthanded empty netter for good measure to conclude the scoring.

The first of four regular season meetings against a team they’ll likely be competing with for the playoffs, the Blueshirts failed the test. Instead, it was #AllCaps like their hashtag. As the game went on, they dictated the terms by outplaying and out-hustling the Rangers.

It wasn’t pretty. After a decent start, they ran into penalty trouble. Ryan Lindgren was already off for slashing Conor Sheary when Chris Kreider held Alexander Ovechkin to create a five-on-three.

On it, Ovechkin actually was the decoy. The league’s second all-time goal scorer watched as Marcus Johansson got a piece of a loose puck that Jacob Trouba accidentally put in his own net. Trying to carefully move the bouncing puck away from the crease, he made the mistake of putting it in past a helpless Igor Shesterkin.

That was the only goal of the first. The Rangers got their own power play when Nick Jensen closed his hand on the puck with 7:25 left. Despite some good zone time, they couldn’t beat Kuemper. He stopped Mika Zibanejad twice on slap shots and turned aside Kreider and Vincent Trocheck.

The second unit also came close. But Filip Chytil just missed as time expired. It was a blown opportunity. They moved the puck well. But never hit the net. It looks like that unit is getting better. They’re being given more time. It’s just about getting results.

Back at full strength, both Chytil and Kaapo Kakko were stopped by a sharp Kuemper, who made his second start after missing time after an injury on Dec. 3. It was actually Charlie Lindgren who filled in nicely, helping the Caps go on a run. They’ve turned their season around. Credit Kuemper for not being rusty. He stopped all 32 shots he saw for his 28th career shutout.

Late in a period they held a 13-8 edge in shots, the Rangers got sloppy on consecutive shifts. First, Anthony Mantha got loose for a dangerous chance. But Shesterkin made a huge save to deny him. Then, they left Alexander Alexeyev wide open in the slot. Fortunately, his wrist shot hit the crossbar. Shesterkin also had to make a save on Lars Eller before the period expired.

Trailing by one, they got a second opportunity on the five-on-four when Zibanejad was taken down by Dmitry Orlov. However, they again came up empty-handed. Despite three power play shots including a pair from Kreider and a late one from Vitaly Kravtsov, they still couldn’t solve Kuemper.

Shesterkin would make a key save to deny a Mantha backhand. He was a factor throughout. After saves on Chytil and Kakko by Kuemper, the Rangers looked to be on the verge of breaking through. However, the Caps really took over from that point. Shots were 18-10.

Afterwards, the Rangers barely mustered any offense. With the Caps winning most of the face-offs which were an issue, they were the better team getting the next five shots on Shesterkin, who did as good as he could to keep it at one goal.

In a more physical contest where checking was tight and hitting picked up, it favored the more detail oriented Capitals. They did a good job in the neutral zone and at their blue line taking away time and space.

One of the rare moments where there was a scoring chance was when K’Andre Miller transitioned from defense to offense. However, his shot went wide. As the second continued, several shots missed the target. In fact, Mike Rupp noted along with John Giannone during intermission that the Rangers missed 15 shots. They couldn’t shoot straight.

Julien Gauthier got one of the best scoring chances. Using his speed in the neutral zone, he broke in and got a tough shot on Kuemper that he stopped. After the play was blown dead, they went upstairs just to make sure the puck didn’t go in. It never did. It took longer than expected.

On another opportunity, Eller rang one off the goalpost. The second the Caps hit. But it didn’t alter anything. It continued to be a stronger defensive game from Washington.

There was one close call. But Trocheck missed high and over the top on a good set up. He then went down to the ice. Bent over in pain, he was clearly hurting.

In what amounted to an eye opening mistake, both Kakko and Artemi Panarin (invisible otherwise) made a poor line change. They didn’t realize Trocheck was hurt. This allowed the Caps to come back down with a four on two rush where they scored to go ahead 2-0 with 2:59 remaining.

On the play, Dylan Strome got the puck up ice and passed for a Sheary shot that rebounded off Shesterkin right to a pinching Erik Gustafsson who rebounded the loose change home at 17:01.

In what turned out to be a failed risk by the Rangers bench, Gallant decided to challenge for goaltender interference. On the play in question, Sheary was in the crease and made a little contact with Shesterkin. From my vantage point, it wasn’t enough. It looked like it didn’t affect Shesterkin’s ability to play the Gustafsson shot.

However, the way the rule is described, I thought it might get overturned. The league has gone out of their way to over protect goalies. We’ve seen it in recent time. When they upheld the goal, I was surprised. Not because I felt it shouldn’t have counted. But due to the description.

I thought they got it right. In my opinion, they need to alter the wording so the officials don’t sound like idiots when explaining why the goal counts. This led to confusion from incensed fans who can’t tell the difference when a goalie is impeded and not. This is an NHL problem.

They should make it clearer on what really is goalie interference and what isn’t. Sheary hardly made any contact which is why I felt they got it correct. Despite the whining from a fan base who booed Ovechkin like it was 2012. He’s an all-time great. The year is 2022 going into 2023. Ridiculous. New fans don’t get anything.

Due to the failed coach’s challenge, it led to a Caps power play. Although they killed off the delay of game penalty, the Rangers couldn’t quite escape the period down two. Instead, they left too much gap for Eller to gain the zone and pull up and fire a shot that went high blocker on Shesterkin to increase the deficit to three at 19:23. A crusher.

On the scoring play, Mantha got the puck up for Eller, who cruised by a lazy Kakko stick check to fire home his seventh with too much room given by Miller and Trouba. Honestly, that goal was on Kakko. He should’ve taken Eller up high. He let him pull up for the open shot.

As much as I’ve liked how he’s played lately, Kakko didn’t do a good enough job. Was Panarin even in the picture? He was moved onto a line with Trocheck and Kakko by Gallant, who shuffled the deck. Somehow, neither forward got punished.

Panarin did nothing last night. Oh. He attempted 10 shots and four reached the net. But he wasn’t much of a factor. The lack of attention to detail included two giveaways and left him on for two goals against. As a team, the Rangers had 14 giveaways including three from Zibanejad, who didn’t do enough either.

There were too many passengers. Even Lindgren (penalty) and Adam Fox were minus-two. They’re not superhuman. They’re a terrific top pair who really carry the back end. Although Miller has been much better lately. Trouba is still frustrating. Ben Harpur and Braden Schneider are a decent third pair.

I didn’t like how unnoticeable Alexis Lafreniere was. At this point, it’s increasingly frustrating how he only has five goals. The sad aspect is he has two more points than Kakko, who’s been better.

Lafreniere was a consensus top pick Canada hyped to the moon. Five goals in 36 games in Year Three is ridiculous. It’s sad. He gives the effort. But you’d think by accident he’d have eight or nine by now. He doesn’t think shot enough, falling into the pass mode we see too often from more established stars. It can’t continue.

The final period stunk. The Caps won every battle. They were the aggressor and defended like they were coached by Barry Trotz in 2018 during their Cup year. Not Peter Laviolette. I gotta give him credit. I didn’t think he could get the Caps to play this defensive style. They’re tenacious. That’s why they’re winning games.

The Rangers did manage 12 shots in the third period. But I never got a sense they’d score on Kuemper. He was a brick wall. Not enough traffic in front. If he saw it, he stopped it.

The other bothersome thing was the lazy turnovers the Caps forced just from all out effort in the neutral zone and on the forecheck. It was pathetic. Shesterkin still had to make six saves. It wasn’t good enough.

They did get a couple of late power plays. Even though Gauthier was mugged during an active shift he was on with Zibanejad and Kreider. They gave the Rangers two more opportunities. Even a six-on-four with Shesterkin off early didn’t get it done.

Instead, Sheary blocked a Panarin shot and despite being in pain, he fired the puck down the ice for an empty net shorthanded goal with 3:02 remaining that summed up the game. One team was more determined and played like it. The other had too much egg nog. Christmas hangover?

Now, they must go to Tampa Bay on Thursday and then play Florida on New Year’s Day. A bit weird that there’s no game on New Year’s Eve. NHL scheduling. Geniuses.

No three stars tonight. It’s not worth it. If I did it, it would be All Caps. No pun intended.

There’s World Junior hockey on NHL Network. USA faces Slovakia tomorrow. One of two games. Canada hosts Germany. I’ll try to have something up on Day Two. The best game was actually Switzerland coming back to defeat Latvia 2-1 in a shootout. Czech Republic is 2-0 after blitzing Austria 9-0. Sweden won 1-0 over Germany and Finland turned back Slovakia 5-2.

That’s going to do it. Happy Kwanzaa!

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