Cooper heaps praise on Goodrow, who has a special night against former team

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Derek

If there was a memorable night for a player from last night’s 4-3 win over the Lightning, it came from Barclay Goodrow. The interchangeable Rangers’ forward who was moved up by Gerard Gallant rewarded him by scoring a pair of goals.

That included a shorthanded goal during the second period. A play where Tampa backup Brian Elliott made his second mistake of the game. His turnover allowed Greg McKegg to help set up Goodrow in front for the shorthanded tally that gave the Rangers their first lead.

On an emotional night where the Lightning presented him with his championship ring and then showed a nice video tribute during a stoppage in the first period, Goodrow showed why the Rangers went out and got him. He would also score his second of the game to give his new team a 3-2 lead on a nice deflection with under seven minutes remaining in the third period.

Although they weren’t able to hold the one-goal lead due to Corey Perry putting in a rebound of a Steven Stamkos shot with just under two minutes left, it was Goodrow’s strong play that impressed former coach Jon Cooper. The Lightning bench boss paid him a nice compliment following a shootout loss at Amalie Arena.

“He meant so much to us on and off the ice,” Cooper said of Goodrow when speaking to Arthur Staple of The Athletic. “Did we want the two points? Of course. But if they were going to get them and Goody was going to score two, I can live with that.”

Even Goodrow felt pretty shocked by his good luck facing the team he helped win consecutive Stanley Cups with.

“It’s one of those moments where you’re thinking, ‘What is this life?’” the veteran forward said. “It’s something beyond my wildest dreams. Being able to score a couple goals to top it all off — there was a lot of good things that happened today.”

For Goodrow, he continues to fill whatever role Gallant asks of him. Whether it be moving up to the second line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome or sliding down to play on the fourth line while providing good penalty killing and energy, Goodrow does it without a fuss.

The 28-year old Toronto native is up to six goals and seven assists for 13 points in 32 games thus far. Even if he does get paid a lot ($3.64 million AAV) per year, Goodrow is a high character player who brings intangibles. Never a big scorer, his tenacity and grit are what make him successful.

In 55 games last year, he tallied six goals and 14 assists for 20 points. The key secondary scorer added six points (2-4-6) in the playoffs while playing on the third line with former Bolts Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman. All three now play for different teams with both Coleman and Goodrow cashing in via unrestricted free agency. Gourde was taken by Seattle in the Expansion Draft.

With still over half a season left to be played in the 2022 calendar year, Goodrow is two goals away from matching his career high in ’19-20. The 26 points (8-18-26) he put up with both San Jose and Tampa are a career best. He hit 20 points for the second time last season. He could be on his way to a third straight year of 20 points or more.

Goodrow also doesn’t shy away from hits. He has 61 so far while also blocking 23 shots. He also has taken his share of face-offs. In fact, he’s already took more this season than last year. Goodrow has won 49.0 percent of draws by going 173-and-180.

That’s the kind of hard-working player he is. It’s exactly why Team President and GM Chris Drury sent a ’22 seventh round pick to the Lightning last off-season to negotiate a new contract to get Goodrow signed. His addition along with Ryan Reaves and Dryden Hunt helped the Rangers establish more grit on their secondary lines. A healthy balance to go with their skill.

He won’t have to wait long to see his former teammates again. The Lightning visit The Garden tomorrow afternoon on January 2 in the first game of 2022 for both teams. If it’s anything like Friday night, it should be interesting.

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A New Year’s Eve Bash! Goodrow celebrates return in style, Zibanejad beats champion Lightning in shootout, Rangers overcome sluggish start to end 2021 with a good win

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Derek

This was an irate Gerard Gallant getting his money’s worth before a critical face-off with over two minutes left. He sure had his say at refs Corey Syvret and Graham Skilliter, who let him sound off. Maybe he knew the delay in which Chris Kreider was sent back to the bench for Ryan Strome was a key moment.

At the time, Barclay Goodrow had put the Rangers ahead 3-2 on an unbelievable deflection of a K’Andre Miller shot with 6:25 remaining in a strange third period against the defending champion Lightning. Despite at times looking disjointed including a total no show in a bad first period, here they were with a chance to beat the Lightning in regulation.

Somehow, they led by a goal thanks to Goodrow, who sure had a memorable day getting his Stanley Cup ring while catching up with a classy bunch of former teammates. He then got a nice ovation from the appreciate crowd who understood what he meant to those back-to-back Stanley Cups. Now, he looked like the hero for the Rangers, who were on the verge of a statement win even if the Lightning didn’t have ace goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

But there was still that defensive face-off. One that highlighted Gallant all fired up over how long they took to review who was on the ice. Of course, they were right. When the Lightning won the key draw, chaos ensued. Off a feed from Ondrej Palat, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos’ heavy one-timer from the left circle rebounded off Igor Shesterkin and took a favorable home hop right to Corey Perry, who buried his eighth to tie the score with 1:57 remaining.

Predictably, Gallant was fuming on the Rangers bench. His face was beet red. The perfect color for New Year’s Eve. It’s those face-offs that matter. Instead of escaping trouble and possibly winning in regulation, his team had to work a lot harder. Following a strange overtime that included a failed Rangers’ four-on-three power play along with some rare four-on-four and finally three-on-three, nothing was decided.

It was Mika Zibanejad who scored in the third round of the skill competition to give the Rangers a 4-3 road win over the Lightning in Tampa. After Shesterkin made a great point blank pad stop to deny the very tough Brayden Point on a series of dekes in the top of the third, here came Zibanejad with his more simple one fake and forehand high glove past Tampa backup goalie Brian Elliott to give the Rangers a good win.

Even if it was at times ugly and choppy hockey, they got the job done. It would be easy to point directly at the role Elliott had in helping our team mount a rally in a bizarre second period. Without two awful mistakes from the veteran netminder, the Blueshirts probably don’t come back to win. But Elliott was the Best Ranger of The Game in the first two periods. He sure helped the cause with not one, but two primary assists on goals.

After mailing in the first period where they only could muster three shots on goal, the Rangers predictably fell behind when Stamkos let go of a rocket for a power play goal at 18:21 of the first to put the Bolts ahead. Ryan Reaves got sent off for roughing Perry. He protested, but it didn’t matter. Chris Kreider was unable to clear the zone. Palat then passed over for Victor Hedman, who found Stamkos in his office for the hammer past Shesterkin.

Playing for a second consecutive night after getting blown out by the Panthers 9-3 when they had more of an AHL roster, the Lightning got back Elliott along with defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Andrej Sustr. Not exactly significant except for Sergachev, who is the third big defenseman they have behind behemoth Hedman (game high 33:27) and Ryan McDonagh (25:02). Sergachev logged 27:09. The irony being Darren Raddysh got 7:55 as the sixth D. He was with the Wolf Pack the previous three years.

Let’s just say Tampa had its top four which includes Jan Ruutta. Zach Bogosian was out with an injury. The Lightning have been winning a lot of games without Nikita Kucherov and other top players including Point, who missed significant time before recently returning. They skated without Anthony Cirelli.

The less said about it, the better. I’m fed up with the situation. What Hasan said about the NHL caving into the old mighty buck due to Canada is the absolute 💯 truth. It’s an absolute joke what’s going on. How many more games do they plan to cancel? One look at what was on the schedule the past three days and it defies logic. That’ll be my only commentary going forward.

If the first period wasn’t much to talk about, the second provided some much more interesting stuff. Even if most of it was ugly hockey, the Rangers took advantage of two dreadful Elliott misplays to get into the game. Prior to that, it could’ve been worse.

A very undisciplined hi-sticking minor on Zibanejad where he caught Point off the opening draw wasn’t exactly the start to the period they had in mind. However, a good penalty kill of the dangerous Lightning power play helped. They contributed by continuing to over pass to Stamkos, who only managed one low shot that Shesterkin kicked out.

It was a dump in behind the Tampa net that changed things. With an aggressive Julien Gauthier in on the forecheck, Elliott panicked and threw the puck away right to Alexis Lafreniere, who took the early New Year’s Eve gift and deposited it home for his seventh unassisted at 5:30. Every time he’s called it by fans including in this space, the 20-year old former top pick does something to silence the doubters. If only he could get a real center. More on that later.

If the opening period wasn’t much, the middle stanza had its moments. Gallant began tweaking the lines. In search of a spark with Dryden Hunt having a bad first period that included an offensive zone penalty, he decided upon Goodrow to play with Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin. The very curious thing is Goodrow got double shifted. After previously taking a shift with Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, he moved up to the second line. They looked better.

So did the fourth line which spent some time in the Lightning zone. Hunt was moved down to that line alongside Reaves and Gauthier, who was sparingly used. He got less than seven minutes. But did more than Filip Chytil, who really seems to be losing Gallant. He hasn’t done enough to merit consistent ice time. At this point, I’ve seen enough. There’s a good chance he could be gone by March.

Gallant also made one other notable change. Unlike Wednesday, he decided to move Libor Hajek off the top pair and down with Nils Lundkvist. You hardly noticed them. That’s a good way of saying they didn’t play a lot. In Hajek’s place was everyone’s favorite Patrik Nemeth. You know my thoughts on him. However, he gave a good account in over 22 minutes while paired with Adam Fox. Like Hedman, Fox also saw plenty of shifts and logged 30:51 including over 10 minutes of special teams. For all that time, he can do better than just two shots.

Speaking of Nemeth, he drew an undisciplined holding minor on Alex Killorn. It was a bad penalty by a gritty and skilled player who is that guy you hate if he’s your opponent. But love if he’s on your side. He once broke Ranger hearts a while back. The guy seems to get better with age. A good asshole.

While on the five-on-four, Kakko got nabbed for running into Boris Katchouk at the Tampa blue line. He was attempting to set a pick play. If you’re not subtle, they’ll get you every time. Kakko’s interference minor put each side on some four-on-four.

When it became a Tampa man-advantage, another ridiculous Elliott misplay allowed Goodrow to score shorthanded. He simply intercepted the dying quail and went backhand five-hole for an emotional goal at 14:30. Greg McKegg got credit for an assist on the play. No complaints about the honest effort from the Keg Man.

Suddenly up a goal without really having done anything except receive generosity from Elliott, the Rangers gave it right back. Late in the period, a turnover resulted in a quick Lightning transition up ice. Killorn made the play to Point, who then gained entry and found an open Ross Colton for a one-timer that went past the glove of Shesterkin to tie the score with 2:29 left. It was another stoppable shot.

Before the second was out, some sloppy play in their end nearly put them behind. A bad turnover allowed Perry to drive a one-timer off the crossbar. The puck then caromed out to Gauthier. Out of frustration, Perry tripped him up to put the Rangers on a power play with 46 seconds left in the period. A key Hedman clear sent the game to the third still tied.

Despite having over a minute left on the power play, they weren’t able to capitalize. After the Bolts got their kill, things slowed down. The teams played more defensive minded. Very expected in a tie game between two playoff caliber teams.

On a Rangers’ scoring chance, Hunt got into a wrestling match with Katchouk in front of the benches. After Katchouk gave Hunt a shove, he retaliated with two punches. It wasn’t much between the two other two minutes of roughing apiece.

There wasn’t much in the way of shots. The Rangers had six on Elliott, who managed to settle down when the crowd wasn’t getting on him whenever he had to play the puck. It was funny. The Lightning got eight shots on Shesterkin, who was sharper. He had to make a couple on Stamkos and also turned away Hedman on a great use during a four-on-four.

It was Goodrow who looked like he would play the hero. On a offensive draw won by Strome to Panarin, the puck was moved up to Miller. Having played one of his better games, he fired a low shot that somehow Goodrow was able to redirect past Elliott for a 3-2 lead with 6:25 left in the third. It was splendid work by the gritty former Bolt.

Unfortunately, the Rangers again couldn’t hold a lead. They simply haven’t handled prosperity well in third periods lately. With the Lightning pressing for the equalizer, Shesterkin made a couple of good stops in tight. But he had to face more.

Finally came the hotly debated face-off that drove Gallant nuts. When Palat set up Stamkos for that heavy one-timer past a diving Jacob Trouba who went for the block, it screened Shesterkin just enough to leak out a juicy rebound that Perry finished at 18:03. Tie hockey game.

Honestly, I wasnt shocked. The game had overtime written all over it. It was eerie and unpredictable. There was a twist before they got there. A Sergachev misplay over the glass while under pressure had Jon Cooper hot under the collar. He incorrectly felt that it was deflected. There also was an questionable icing that helped lead to the fourth Rangers power play with 1:14 remaining in regulation.

I thought at that point, they’d win it. But Elliott suddenly made a couple of big saves including one on a tough Zibanejad shot that Kreider deflected. He isn’t exactly a lights out goalie anymore. But his two clutch stops forced it to extras.

Still on a four-on-three to start, the Blueshirts simply weren’t able to cash in. In fact, the overtime was played very cautiously. The only two shots were from Rangers. Elliott stopped both. They had most of the puck possession.

The best chance came when Filip Chytil had Lafreniere wide open for what looked like a gimme. Instead, his pass was 12 feet behind Lafreniere. It was hideous. The reactions from irate fans told the story. Many are fed up with Chytil, who looks like another overhyped prospect. Lias Andersson plays harder in a fourth line role for the Kings. I’m not kidding.

Finally in the non-hockey portion, it was shootout time. In Round One, Shesterkin stopped Hedman followed by Elliott stuffing Kakko on the backhand. Then, Stamkos went for high glove but missed the net. But Panarin was turned away by Elliott.

It came down to Round Three. Point, who’s usually money in these big spots, came in with a lot of speed. But Shesterkin stayed right with him to get his left pad on the forehand deke to keep it out. Then out came Zibanejad. Everyone knew what he’d do including Elliott. He still couldn’t prevent Zibanejad from winning it with his trademark forehand deke top shelf.

The Rangers earned two points against the champs. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t a masterpiece. It didn’t have to be. Just a good character building win with the rematch Sunday afternoon on January 2nd at MSG. That should be interesting.

https://twitter.com/BattleOfHudson/status/1477131900657577990?t=R7Z71vom81ZnbDG6_xkQPQ&s=19

Happy New Year 🎇 ✨ 🎆⭐🎉

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Wild OT win over Oilers sends New Jersey into the New Year on a high

Posted on December 31, 2021 by hasan4978

I don’t normally double up on blogs with two in the same day, but this game deserved it – and in a good way for once. Plus I don’t really have much else to do on New Year’s Eve anyway, with most of the people I know laying low because of the COVID variant spreading through NJ (and most other places) like wildfire. Other than the three home games I went to in December, this was the most I’d watched any Devils game the rest of the month. Not that I was really watching it all the time but I had it on and didn’t flip channels other than getting the occasional update from Rutgers’ ill-fated (and gifted) bowl loss to Wake Forest.

From the start you knew this game was going to be entertaining if nothing else, with three goals in the first 3:05 of the game, four goals in the first six minutes and five goals in the first 11:10 with the action going back and forth all afternoon long. In a wild coincidence all five goals in the first period were scored by former first-round draft picks, with the first three goals all coming from former #1 overalls. Jack Hughes’ power play (!!!) goal was quickly followed by Connor McDavid taking advantage of some…interesting coverage by the Devils (re: zero) to score a wide-open goal. Just seventeen seconds after McDavid’s first goal, Nico Hischier scored off a rebound, caroming the puck off of goaltender Mike Smith’s skate and into the goal. Our second lead didn’t last much longer than the first one as Kailer Yamamoto’s deflection went past Mackenzie Blackwood to tie the game again at the six-minute mark. A nice give-and-go play by Andreas Johnsson and Dawson Mercer gave the rookie his ninth goal of the season and the Devils their third lead of the period.

Shockingly after that barrage of goals, there would only be one more until the third period. Not so shockingly, it was McDavid who scored again in the second period after he split defensemen Ty Smith and Ryan Graves on a breakaway and put home his 19th of the season. Still, in a wide-open game like this one you knew more goals were coming. And come they did in the third period, with Janne Kuokkanen’s slapshot beating Smith to give the Devils their fourth lead of the night at 5:14 of the third. Less than two minutes later, Devin Shore tied the game again when a Ryan McLeod feed went through Ty Smith and right to Shore in front.

As if the game wasn’t wild enough after four blown leads, the most inexplicable sequence of the game occured barely a minute later and gave the Oilers their first lead of the night when Yamamoto scored his second of the night after a delayed penalty. Things got dicey was after it was obvious Dougie Hamilton clearly swatted the puck as the ref was calling the penalty and Hughes arguably touched it later on in the sequence as well, before Leon Draisaitl’s cross-ice pass found Yamamoto for the goal. Interim coach Alain Nasreddine challenged the play but after a nine-minute review (!!!) the officials did an about-face and said the call wasn’t challengeable in a garbled attempt at an explanation. Clearly they thought it was, or we would have been tagged with a delay of game on it as well.

It was right about then I was glad I wasn’t at this game, I might have gone hoarse shouting ‘REF YOU SUCK’ after that sequence. As annoyed as I was at the refs, I also knew to a degree we deserved our own bad luck on that when Hughes stopped playing, appealing for the call off the second touch and allowed the cross-ice pass through. Even more laughably, the refs tagged Yegor Sharangovich for a delay of game on a faceoff a couple minutes later, claiming he played the puck with a hand pass when he arguably was just making a motion getting up after falling down. That was less possession of the puck than Hamilton had on the non-whistle on our delayed penalty.

As if the hockey gods were looking to make things right, both Sharangovich and Hughes would gain redemption soon after. First, there was the matter of tying the game again. Still trailing 5-4 with the net empty, Sharangovich’s top-drawer deflection beat Smith to tie the score at 5-all with just thirty-two seconds remaining in regulation. Then came overtime, with both Jesper Bratt and Hughes getting stopped on breakaways early, but a Hughes slapshot on his next shift of OT hit the beleaguered Oilers goalie, bounced off him and into the net for the winner – Hughes’ second OT winner of the year, and second souvenir stick tossed into the crowd. So at least we’ve gone from six losses in a row to two wins in a row. As they say in the movie Major League, you win one more…that’s called a winning streak! I don’t really want to think about who we have to play to earn that winning streak (the Caps at Washington – shudder), for one night I’d rather just enjoy the Devils pulling out an entertaining win with Hughes having his second dominant game in a row, showing signs he may well be taking that next step.

Notes: So in the first post-break game with the new arena protocols the Devils’ announced attendance was 13,044…oof. I didn’t think it’d be that bad, even with noticing how much ticket prices dropped for this game. I’m not too unhappy about missing this game, even with a lesser than expected crowd. Clearly I’m not the only one who’s got some ambivalence about going to games with a mask in the midst of another pandemic surge either.

BoNY Three Stars:

  1. Jack Hughes (two goals including the game-winner, one assist in 19:40)
  2. Dawson Mercer (goal, assist, +2 in 15:54)
  3. Yegor Sharangovich (game-tying goal)
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Devils, all of hockey still in a COVID cloud on New Year’s Eve

Posted on December 31, 2021 by hasan4978
https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1476957631860326401?s=20

Not exactly the news I wanted to see getting home from a half-day of work before watching the Devils take on the Oilers in their second post-break game. It’s one thing when players get put on the COVID list, but when it’s your 60+ year old coach that’s a little different in terms of concern level. Even if Lindy Ruff is presumably vaccinated and boosted a la almost the entire NHL. While this season’s wave of COVID hasn’t even been as bad (so far) as last season’s was for the Devils on the whole with only three players currently on it, the sheer amount of people testing positive around the league just casts a pall on this part of the hockey season at least.

Especially after the WJC had games forfeited and eventually the whole tournament canceled. I can’t say I get into watching the prospect All-Star games in general, but I was even less inclined to pay attention this year given the COVID recess that both sidelined the NHL through the holiday and canceled the women’s version of the WJC. People in charge of running the tournament starting with the IIHF need to answer for why they thought they could pull off the men’s tournament without a true bubble in place and a far more contagious variant running rampant. Not to mention if only one or two positive tests per team were going to be enough to constitute a forfeit, how did anyone think it would be possible to have a legitimate tournament play out? Either have a real bubble with draconian forfeit rules, or no bubble with large taxi squads and a willingness to play on.

All of these leagues and sports seem to be making it up as they go along without much regard for consistency, and in the NHL’s case they have the added complication of multiple Canadian teams and that country’s different rules and standards compared to our own. In the case of our sport, we’re going to have to find a happy medium between trying to curb the spread and just continually sidelining asymptomatic players in a league where supposedly 99% of players and staff are at least vaccinated, thereby reducing the symptoms for the vast majority of symptomatic players to cold/flu territory. You can’t have it both ways and exercise extreme caution while still trying to make decisions based on financial considerations. Canadian teams having games postponed because they can’t have fans in the building is just the latest example of the NHL wanting its cake and eating it too. So if teams are healthy enough to play now then get ten guys on the COVID list when it’s rescheduled they have to play with a bunch of AHL fill-ins because the NHL and teams wanted more fans in the building?

By the same token, it isn’t ideal to have home-ice advantage in some arenas and not in others based on different rules in each city and province. Unfortunately, this is the world we still live in at the moment. First priority in every decision whether to postpone or play should always about be health and safety but second priority shouldn’t be financial, rather it should just be finding a way to play 82 games with as close to optimum rosters as is possible given realistic safety protocols and the normal wear and tear of an NHL season. If a team like say, the Islanders misses the postseason by a couple of points they’ll have a justifiable beef given the NHL made them play a few games early in the season with far from an optimum roster simply because they didn’t want to compromise home dates when tickets for the new Belmont arena were in higher demand.

It’s not an ideal world for anyone including the fans. After nearly a half season of shall we say loose requirements for fans to attend the Prudential Center, the protocols are getting beefed up at the arena with a mask mandate in effect immediately post-holiday pause and a vaccine mandate to go into effect on January 10, per the city of Newark. I’ve already made my complicated feelings known about the mask mandate, I actually do welcome the vaccine mandate though. That won’t affect me in the least since I’ve already got my green card for the Prudential Center indicating my vaccination status, nor will it make me look any more forward to the next time going to the arena wearing a mask. I’ll probably have to go to at least a couple games this month given the market for tickets at this point – everything considered – is practically nil.

I won’t be going this afternoon but that was mostly due to the fact I didn’t know how late I would have to work today so a 1 PM start probably wasn’t going to be ideal. It turned out I wound up leaving at 11:30 so I could have easily made the game, but to be honest I’m just as ambivalent watching a game in a near-sellout crowd at the moment as I am doing it in a mask. While I’m not especially afraid of getting this variant – particularly soon after getting my booster – it’s still at best an annoyance I don’t want to deal with. Plus you factor in this is also cold and flu season, and with cases spiking it’s hard to get instantaneous results on a COVID test, so you basically are forced to quarantine even with the flu or a cold.

While ticket prices have plummeted since I sold my pair of seats (one of the rare times where I made out by selling early), I’m still expecting today to be a near sellout given the fact most people have – or can get – this afternoon off. Unless there are a lot of no-shows given fear over the spread of the variant, there’s no way I really want to be in a crowd with bumper to bumper traffic in the hallways and people behind me all game long. Games like next Thursday against Columbus or the following Monday against Tampa where there’ll be maybe 10000 people in the building? I don’t feel as crowded upon then, especially with an aisle seat and the ability to move around the arena to an even more open area if need be.

This is more than I wanted to go on about the variant, but hopefully the last time I’ll need to drone on it, though I’m sure I’ll comment on my first post-new year game assuming I do go to the Rock next month in a mask. I’ll have to go to at least one of the next two games to pick up my long-sleeve t-shirt holiday gift from the Devils and probably wouldn’t be able to sell all my tickets next month regardless. There still isn’t really enough team-related news to discuss, although they did manage to break a six-game losing streak by wining their first post-break game against the Sabres 4-3 the other night with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt leading the way with respective three-point nights (each with a goal and two assists). For Bratt, he’s continuing his star turn and contract drive while hopefully Hughes can use Thursday as a springboard to achieve more consistent production of his own.

That’s about as high a note as I can end this blog on, hopefully everyone has a happy and safe New Year!

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Duclair, Cats’ big third period spoils Shesterkin’s return in tough one-goal loss

Posted on December 30, 2021 by Derek

Finally, there was hockey played. For the Rangers, the early Christmas break allowed Igor Shesterkin and Artemi Panarin to return. But also meant no Ryan Lindgren and Kevin Rooney due to COVID Protocol. Both regulars were missed.

However, the Rangers were in good position to improve to two-for-two against the Panthers. But they blew a one-goal lead after two periods by allowing three Florida third period goals in a tough 4-3 loss on the road. A one-goal defeat that was winnable.

It happens. You’re not always going to be able to protect leads in the third period. Even in a home loss to Vegas where they got beat in a shootout, the Rangers didn’t handle prosperity well. Coincidentally, that was the last game they played before games were postponed.

Even with a 12-day layoff, they played well enough to win against one of the league’s elite teams. Let’s put it this way. The effort in the second meeting against the Cats was much more consistent than the one where they relied on Shesterkin to steal a 4-3 home decision on Nov. 8.

Unlike that game, the teams were on even terms. The Rangers didn’t get outplayed or outshot in the rematch. It was a simple case of Shesterkin having a rare off night while counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky stole the show. This time, it was the former two-time Vezina winner who came up with the difference making gems that allowed his team to post a sixth third period come from behind win.

Goals from MacKenzie Weegar, Carter Verhaeghe and Anthony Duclair reversed a 2-1 Ranger lead into a 4-2 deficit with 5:20 remaining in the third. Despite not playing their best, the Rangers didn’t give up. With Shesterkin on the bench for an extra attacker, Chris Kreider was able to find a loose puck for his team-leading 19th of the season with over 44 seconds left in regulation.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time for a comeback. To their credit, the Panthers defended well and protected the one-goal lead to pull out the hard earned victory on home ice. A place they’ve only lost three times. They improved to 15-3-0 at FLA Live Arena (seriously?). If there is a consolation, the Rangers are the better road team. Even though they lost, they fell to 11-5-2 away from MSG. The Cats are only 4-4-4 on the road.

Normally, I don’t look at such things following tough losses. But if we aren’t honest about how this team handles business on the road, then we would be ignoring a positive fact. The truth is in Year One under coach Gerard Gallant, this team knows how to play away from The World’s Most Vaccinated. Even if they had about 40 percent of the crowd due to all the Ranger fans who live down South, more often than not they’re in these games. It was no different Wednesday night.

The difference between winning and losing can be very minute. The little details matter. Unlike most games we’ve seen, there was no edge in special teams. They were crap throughout. Both sides took the collar in two power play opportunities. This came down to even strength play and the two Russian netminders.

Considering they hadn’t played since Dec. 17, the Rangers looked okay early. In fact, after wasting an early power play, they got a few key saves from Shesterkin, who made his first start since Dec. 3 against San Jose. It was in that one that he was forced out due to a groin injury. Alex Georgiev relieved him and split a shutout. Shesterkin believes he needs to do more stretches. This isn’t the first time he’s had issues with his groin. The same thing happened last season.

One thing about the Panthers. They have a relentless attack. They’re extremely good in transition due to their skating ability combined with the skill they possess. They had Aleksander Barkov back for this match. In fact, all four centers played. That hasn’t happened often. One through four, the quartet of Barkov, Sam Bennett, Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen is as tough as any in hockey. Don’t forget Sam Reinhart can play center too. They’re a handful.

While Shesterkin took care of a dozen shots sent his way including a tough one from Duclair up high, Bobrovsky also was busy. He faced 15 shots in a wide open first that probably more favored the Cats. Despite that style, it was Artemi Panarin who made a brilliant play to score a highlight reel goal at 11:08.

Following a Jacob Trouba outlet to Ryan Strome, he made a nice lead pass for Panarin who did the rest. Able to make a great move to the outside on Aaron Ekblad to get in, he then went to the backhand and slid the puck between Bobrovsky’s pads for his 10th. It was an unbelievable play by a great player. Panarin had it working throughout.

https://twitter.com/AlexJCasares/status/1476352367973085185?t=wcGfgeGd3cqfponriUaSZg&s=19

Leading by one, the Rangers had a chance to go up more. Libor Hajek was able to stay on his feet and escape with the puck in his end. Verhaeghe reached in and tripped him to send them on their second power play. Unlike the first, this time they got good setup time. The top unit did everything but score. Bobrovsky made critical stops on Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider to keep Florida within one.

That was a turning point. Against a great offensive countering team like the Panthers, who are never out of a game, I really felt the Rangers needle to score in that spot. They came close, but ultimately didn’t due to Bobrovsky (14 first period saves including 5 for 5 on PK).

After the teams combined for 27 shots and a lot more attempts, the second was more under control. The tempo was more deliberate. Each side settled in and played more cautiously. Unlike the first, defense wasn’t optional. Shots and scoring chances were harder to come by.

Even after Strome slashed Bennett in the defensive zone, the Rangers did a good job on the penalty kill. Shesterkin was never threatened. Credit the penalty killers for being aggressive and getting key clears to change on the fly. The Panthers did nothing with their first five-on-four.

Despite the successful kill, the Rangers allowed the Cats to regain momentum quickly. On a good offensive shift from the third line, Ryan Lomberg set up a quick Gustav Forsling low shot that Shesterkin couldn’t control. With Hajek in front and Strome too late, a wide open Lundell put home the rebound for his sixth at 5:09 to tie the score.

The very next shift, the Panthers got a great point blank opportunity to take the lead. Off the face-off at center ice, Mason Marchment stole the puck from K’Andre Miller and broke in on Shesterkin, who stopped his initial shot and then stuffed the rebound chance. On the play, only Trouba was back scrambling to try to get to the other side. It was all about Shesterkin there. He also was contacted from an attacking Marchment, who braced himself. Nothing malicious there.

Following that sequence, a Kreider shot was denied by a sharp Bobrovsky. Things settled down. The Rangers tightened up after a stoppage. The Cats found it tough to get shots through on Shesterkin. The defense did a much better job containing the neutral zone and limiting the Florida counter attack.

With not much happening, Panarin made another terrific play that led directly to Zibanejad scoring for a third consecutive game. After a smart play by Hajek to keep the play alive in the offensive zone, a slick Panarin lifted the stick of Radko Gudas and stole the puck. Coming in with lots of speed two-on-one, he then threaded the needle across for a Zibanejad one-timer past a helpless Bobrovsky for his eighth at 12:43. That gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

These are the kind of superstar plays Panarin made in his first two seasons on Broadway. Like I said, the jump was back. He really looked like the elite player he is. Worth the price of admission. It’s also nice to see Zibanejad finishing again. It was the third straight game he had a goal and assist giving him six points (3-3-6) over three. That’s what they need from the number one center.

Things got a bit testy late in the second. Throughout, Cats’ pest Patric Hornqvist was running around hitting Rangers while mucking it up during a few heated scrums. That’s who he is. Whether it was with Pittsburgh or Nashville, he’s always right in the middle of the action. He even exchanged pleasantries with Ryan Reaves during a stoppage as both went back to their benches. He is a chip off the old block.

Finally, it boiled over. After Hornqvist delivered a clean check on Adam Fox that was a little high, Hajek went right after him in defense of his teammate. During a scrum behind the Ranger net, Hornqvist remarked, “What. I’m not allowed to hit [Fox].” He had a point. We see clean hits all the time answered quickly. It’s nothing new. I have no problem with the hit or Hajek defending Fox. That’s hockey now.

Of course, Hornqvist got no penalty afterwards. Instead, both Hajek and Lomberg each received two minutes each for roughing with 48 seconds left in the period. The teams skated four aside for the remainder of the period and first 1:12 of the third. However, nobody knew how important those penalties would wind up.

Still playing while both players were serving their penalties, they finally were able to return to action. The trouble was Hajek came back out and wasn’t able to change. That meant he was the third defenseman on for an extended shift with Trouba and Miller. Playing as a forward high, Hajek was on when the Panthers had one of their counters that resulted in Weegar tying the game at 5:56.

On the play, both Marchment and Luostarinen combined to find Weegar open for a good shot that might’ve tipped off Dryden Hunt by Shesterkin. Either way, it’s normally a shot he has. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to stop it. Weegar’s first of the season gave Florida new life with 14:04 left in the third.

Despite that tying goal, it was the Blueshirts who would get a couple of great chances to reclaim the lead. First, Strome took off and let go of a wrist shot that rang off the goalpost. That close. Then, a good keep in from Alexis Lafreniere created a two-on-one down low. Filip Chytil passed for Julien Gauthier on the doorstep. But a hustling Bennett broke it up.

Afterwards, with plenty of players back for a Florida transition, Verhaeghe let go of a wrist shot in the circle that snuck right between the pads of Shesterkin for the go-ahead goal with 9:29 left. This was a horrible goal to allow. It was a low shot that didn’t have a lot on it. But he let it go through him. Making matters worse, Gudas picked up an assist as did Forsling.

With over five minutes to go, it was another Florida quick hitter that helped put it away. With the Strome line again out, they got lost in coverage. A Bennett perfect feed for an open Duclair saw him go top shelf for his 10th to make it 4-2 in favor of the Panthers with 5:20 remaining. He also made the defensive play to start it before doing in his former team.

The thing about the Panthers is they have a strong supporting cast. In a game where Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau were held in check along with Ekblad and Reinhart, it was the depth players who got it done. Lundell, Weegar, Verhaeghe and Duclair scored the goals while Forsling (2 assists), Gudas, Marchment, Lomberg and Luostarinen hit the score sheet along with Bennett. That depth is what will present a problem for whoever they draw in the playoffs.

The Rangers got nothing from their supporting cast. Only the main characters. While the fourth line created a few opportunities including one for Reaves and another for Barclay Goodrow, the third line didn’t get enough done. As much as I like them, two shots (both from Chytil) isn’t scaring anyone. There were positives from Lafreniere, who is willing to go to the hard areas. But he needs to show more.

Even though he wound up with an assist when a Zibanejad shot accidentally tipped off him for a late Kreider goal that made it interesting, I didn’t like Kakko’s game. He didn’t do enough to impress. The statistics say three shots and a plus-two with an assist. But he wasn’t that noticeable. It’s up to Kakko, Lafreniere, Chytil and Miller to improve their production. Gauthier can be included because he creates enough chances.

That’s really what the season is going to be about. We know what the stars can do. It’s the young core that will have to step it up. The games only get harder. They got the defending champion Lightning on New Year’s Eve. That’ll be a big one for Goodrow, who’ll get his Stanley Cup ring and a video tribute from the first class Bolts. He was part of back-to-back championships. It’ll be special.

In terms of where we are with games returning, there’s still way too many cancellations due in large part to Canada. There’s 80 games at last count to make up. They can’t keep postponing games. That won’t work. Let’s hope things turnaround.

I also have close friends who have COVID-19. Most are vaccinated including close friend Brian, who’s triple vaxxed. It really is scary. Sending my best to all of our friends. Take care. For anyone out there, be careful.

THREE STARS 🌟 🤩 ✨

3rd 🌟 Anthony Duclair, Panthers (game-winner at 14:40 of 3rd, 10th of season)

2nd 🌟 Artemi Panarin, NYR (goal and helper in a virtuoso performance)

1st 🌟 Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers (30 saves on 33 shots including some clutch stops in the 3rd)

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Truthful commentary from frustrated players on Canada’s strict rules hurting NHL, questions persist on adjusting COVID Protocol

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Derek

With another game postponed as NHL play resumed tonight, there’s no end in sight to the COVID issues hurting the league. While other major sports such as the NFL and NBA revise their rules to make recovery quicker for asymptomatic players in protocol, the NHL is finding it more difficult.

That’s due to having seven Canadian teams. With the enforcement tougher north of the border, many games have been postponed. With the NHL in a bind having to make up in surplus of 50 games now that the Olympics are out, February will be a busier month. Many games will be rescheduled for the period the league originally put aside for Beijing.

Some players are starting to show frustration with the slow process at dealing with new CDC recommendations for reducing the number of days a player can miss. In the NFL, it’s now five days if a player is asymptomatic and tests negative. That means Carson Wentz could still play for the Colts versus the Raiders despite being unvaccinated. A fair way to go about it.

Lightning NHLPA player representative Alex Killorn spoke out about the serious issues the NHL is facing. He was very honest and specific about the way the Covid Omicron variant is being handled in Canada, where Team USA was forced to forfeit their Group B game against Switzerland earlier this afternoon due to a mandatory self quarantine after three players tested positive at the U20 World Junior Championships in Edmonton.

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s NHLPA representative Alex Killorn had this to say about his thoughts and where he placed the blame.

“Either something’s got to change or we’re just going to have to deal with it and just know that the product’s going to be inferior that we’re putting on the ice…

It seems like it’s always Canada that’s the reason that a lot of things don’t happen, so I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that. But it seems reasonable that we would do that and implement it as soon as possible.”

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1475936000971005964?s=20

It’s painfully obvious that the way Canada is being governed isn’t helping the cause. I’ve communicated with plenty of acquaintances who live in Ontario. They’re extremely upset with how little they can do. For one friend, she couldn’t even see her family for Christmas. Definitely a hard time for people who live up North.

When it comes to canceling games due to locking down the border which means no American teams can travel, it only makes one wonder how they’re ever going to be able to pull off a full 82-game schedule. What if things don’t change? There are plenty of NHL players in COVID Protocol. It is complicated. There doesn’t seem to be a solution to fix the problem.

If Hockey Canada and the IIHF can force USA to forfeit a game when every other available player was negative, why can’t the NHL force Canadian teams that can’t play to forfeit home games? I know it will never come to that as it would put into question the integrity of the league. But what happened with our young players at that tournament is an absolute joke.

Furthermore, the same IIHF decided to cancel the U18 women’s tournament. How is that exactly fair? So, it’s okay to allow men’s hockey players to compete in a pandemic, but not women? Where’s the logic? There is none. I could care less what they told Ray Ferraro, who obviously has to toe the company line during the TSN broadcast with Gord Miller. But it’s sad that they pushed back the 18 and Under women’s tournament.

https://twitter.com/scottmayfield2/status/1475921891911245828?t=uhwLi7P_a6YpKL9ZiC9LVA&s=19

None of these developments are good for hockey. We all love the sport and want what’s best. Instead, we’re seeing the worst due to utter confusion at every level over how to handle a pandemic that’s almost two years in. At some point, they have to make it easier for the players.

The bottom line is they can’t keep postponing games. That won’t work. Even without the ridiculous Olympic interruption that no other major sport has to worry about, many arenas have other events booked that they’re committed to. They have to play the games and make up every single one missed.

In regards to realignment, that’s a resounding no. Stop catering to Canada. They got their way last year. We all now know how tainted the Canadiens’ run was. Carey Price covered up a lot of mistakes. But they only reached the Stanley Cup Final due to playing in the North Division.

If you already are in the middle of a season, you can’t change the divisions. This isn’t musical chairs. It’s a real sport with established divisions and two conferences. Let’s keep it that way.

I’m not going to bother with Brad Marchand’s criticism of the NHL not being able to allow the players to compete in the Olympics. I was against it due to China and their ridiculous three week quarantine for any player who tests positive. Imagine the amount of pressure an Olympian will experience. It’s absurd.

Ryan Strome also had some interesting commentary on the league issues. Here’s what he thought about things.

From My Instagram Story.

Undoubtedly, players are concerned about what will happen. There’s still over half the season to play. That is if they do play the full amount. What we are left with are only more questions. At some critical point soon, the NHL must provide the answers.

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A Christmas Wish

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Derek

Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 ☃️🎁❄✨⭐ everybody!!!!! We all need a little Christmas spirit in our lives. So, you better not be naughty. Not now anyway.

I could go off on the NHL right now due to my thoughts on how the league is handling the COVID Protocol. But why bother? If they want to continue to push games back until at least next Tuesday, December 27th as of this writing, then go right ahead.

While somehow the NBA plays with much fewer rotation players in light of the mild Omicron variant along with the NFL still going about business, hockey is being extremely cautious due to the overly strict rules in Canada. That could become a serious issue that damages the regular season due to the traditional divisions.

But let’s leave all of that for another day. Later today is Christmas. For all my Canadian friends struggling to even see family, my heart goes out to you. Best wishes. Make the best of it. To anyone here who have had their plans ruined, don’t let it tarnish this day.

‘Tis the season

For Believing

And daydreaming

Let it be the reason

We spread holiday cheer

As Santa’s reindeer are near

Full of gifts for all

As the pretty lights shine above

Inspiring us to have a ball

Shining stars always spread love

I have a Christmas wish

That made my list

For hockey to return

And bring dangles, dekes, goals and saves

As the crowd rises up

Singing holiday cheers with a shot cup

Oh Santa comes down our chimney

And leaves our stockings full

Like the Christmas cookies we left

Saint Nick will laugh and bellow ho, ho, ho

To his reindeer and little helpers

As they take off in the gray skies

Suddenly snowflakes will magically appear

To be seen this morning

Bringing smiles and laughter everywhere

That indeed it is a white Christmas

For all who believe in the magic

And one day the puck will drop

Once again on the ice very soon

We’ll get through it I promise

And feel as high as the moon

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas

May God bless us all on this day

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NHL COVID restrictive measures leads to more cancellations, Canada closing its border, early Christmas Break, no Olympics, plus a look at hockey history nicknames

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Derek

In predictable news that was expected, the NHL’s new COVID restrictive measures lead to more cancellations. With spikes in COVID due to the new Omicron variant, Canada also decided to close its border. That means no games between American teams and Canadian teams.

For how long nobody knows. Ultimately, with a dramatic increase in players testing positive around the league, the NHL decided to pause play earlier. Only one game was played on Tuesday night with the Lightning completing a come from behind 4-3 win over the Golden Knights in a potential Stanley Cup preview at T-Mobile Arena. At least it was a proper sendoff for hockey fans who could see it (thanks ESPN). I watched on NHL 66. It was worth it.

As Hasan detailed in his previous post yesterday, the Christmas Break comes early for hockey. With as many as 50 games postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak stemming from the contagious Omicron variant, that means the NHL and NHLPA had to reexamine Olympic participation. With so many games needing to be made up, the best solution was opening up February when they were supposed to be on break for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

Confirming the obvious, the NHL and NHLPA announced that they won’t be participating in Beijing. It’s just as well. Given all the unknowns about the pandemic along with the possibility of a player who tests positive having to quarantine for three weeks due to China policy, it never made sense to go. I’ll withhold my opinion on their country because this isn’t the right forum. I’ll only say I feel for Peng Shuai. A tennis star athlete who sure represented China well.

Obviously, the Rangers don’t have a game tonight on December 22 against the Canadiens. Instead, they have the entire week off including the traditional Christmas break through the weekend. Their next scheduled game is home for the improved Red Wings on Monday, 12/27. That is expected to be played. The NHL revealed that teams could return to practice on Boxing Day. The same day the World Junior Championships get underway in Red Deer and Edmonton. I can only wish the kids who are partaking for their respective countries the very best. It truly is a great tournament. NHL Network will have coverage.

If you love following prospects as much as I do, check it out. There won’t be any other hockey on December 26. I’ll have a preview up on Hockey Prospects. I’ll also link it up here. Let’s call it a Christmas present. If your team is not looking playoff bound such as the Devils, then there’s gotta be prospects playing in the U20 IIHF WJC. Due to the pandemic, there will only be one exhibition game for each country. Let’s hope there aren’t any issues in the bitter cold out in Northwestern Canada.

Is it disappointing that we won’t see NHL players take part in the Olympic Games? Of course. We’ve gotten used to seeing our favorite stars play for their country since ’98 in Nagano. The Dominik Hasek Tournament. That’s what I refer to it as. The ’02 Games in Salt Lake City were memorable. Who would’ve ever thought we’d see USA challenge Canada for gold? While they did fall short, it was fun to see Mike Richter go up against Martin Brodeur one final time. You had other memorable moments like Henrik Lundqvist with the save on Olli Jokinen in ’06 Torino to win gold for Sweden. Zach Parise force sudden death in 2010 before Sidney Crosby beat Ryan Miller to win gold again for Canada.

There sure have been some great headlines to come from NHL participation in the Winter Games. Now, it’s about what’s best for business. Having lost so many games already, there was no realistic way for the league to make it work. We didn’t know what could’ve lied ahead. For any athlete participating in Beijing, I can only wish them the best. The same unknowns apply to any participant who’s made every sacrifice to chase their Olympic dreams.

With hardly any hockey the past couple of days, it’s given me time to see my best friend who traveled back from North Carolina to visit his family and friends. He isn’t vaccinated. That’s his choice. The thing about it is I respect people’s choices. That’s part of who I am. He chose to do what was best for his family which includes two great boys including one who shares a birthday with me. An ironic coincidence. Even though we couldn’t do much, we met up last night near our old grammar school and caught up for a while outside. All the same, it was great to see him. Family and Inner Circle are what matters most in life. Let’s not forget that.

As for hockey, NHL Network showed the classic documentary The NHL: 100 Years. That was great to re-watch. I absolutely love how they document the history of the NHL from its inception to surviving once the Original Six became established post World War II. People forget there were other teams like the New York Americans, Montreal Maroons, Pittsburgh Pirates who played. Ultimately, they didn’t survive. What they were left with were the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs.

I feel like the history of the NHL isn’t discussed enough. Unless you’re like me or buddy Sean McCaffrey, who did a book on the full history of the Rangers which is ignored by Madison Square Garden like the plague, the unique past of the sport we love is something to behold. Don’t forget there were the original Ottawa Senators who were champions too. I highly recommend The NHL: 100 Years to any devoted puck fan. Think about classic names such as Eddie Shore, Bill and Bun Cook, Frank Boucher, Howie Morentz, Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel, Red Kelly, Jacques Plante, Terry Sawchuk, etc. There’s too many to list.

It makes me fully appreciate that I interned for U.S. Hockey Hall Of Famer Stan Fischler. Being up in his old apartment in Harlem, I was always mesmerized by all the hockey books and his other passion of trains when I made the trip from my Staten Island home that’s closer to the Outer Bridge than Manhattan. I never would’ve known about Frank Mahovlich or his brother Pete. Or been to Nassau Coliseum for a morning skate and taken in hockey history even if it was at enemy territory. I think it’s poetic that I wound up working production truck for the Devils in ’00-01. I wasn’t afraid to talk to Martin Brodeur or legendary Larry Robinson or joke around with Doc Emrick and Chico Resch.

I learned a lot under Fischler, who deserves his rightful place in Toronto as well. But as I know all too well from the bias with the Hockey Hall Of Fame that inducted noted Selke winner Guy Carbonneau before much better players such as Alexander Mogilny and Jeremy Roenick as well as the much overlooked Steve Larmer, it’s expected. They don’t always do what’s right. To me, Stan The Man will always be a legend. The Maven doesn’t need a plaque in Toronto. I saw how dedicated he is and astonishingly still is while living with grandchildren in Israel. His enthusiasm and charm are characteristics you can’t teach.

We could reference The Bread Line or Sauerkraut Line. I listed The Production Line above. You know. Nicknames for great lines used to be a hockey tradition. The Perfection Line just isn’t it. How about the New England Clam Chowder Line? Or the Killer B’s Line. What about the Avalanche of Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen? What should they be called? Probably are the most dominant line in the current game. I guess I’m a sucker for cool nicknames. Maybe we need to again be more creative. Not just with The Rat, Brad Marchand.

There’s so much talent in today’s game. The unconscionable duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton. The Great Eight, Alexander Ovechkin, who continues to chase Wayne Gretzky. Sidney Crosby is no longer Sid The Kid. But still plays the game well enough to lead a surprising bunch of Pens. What about Auston Matthews? Shouldn’t someone with his remarkable release have a nickname? You got Bread Man for Artemi Panarin. Steven Stamkos is Stammer in Tampa. Following last night’s rocket from his office on the power play, I referred to him as Stammer The Hammer.

What would you call Andrei Vasilevskiy? I watch a lot of Bolts games and it’s his stellar play in net that has Tampa right at the top in the East despite no Nikita Kucherov or Brayden Point. Is he merely Vasy or Kitty as most diehard Lightning fans refer to him as? His reflexes are quick like a cat. Maybe that works. Other goalies have better numbers this season. Nobody is more valuable than Vasilevskiy is to their team. Maybe except Carey Price. I had to. Look at how miserable the Canadiens are without him.

Nicknames for the game’s best are fun. In the 90’s, you had The Russian Rocket for Pavel Bure and Golden Brett for Brett Hull. The Big E for Eric Lindros. Moose for Mark Messier. The Great One for Gretzky obviously. Super Mario for Mario Lemieux which was cool if you loved Nintendo. It worked. Finnish Flash for Teemu Selanne. Alexander The Great by legendary Sabres’ announcer Rick Jeanneret for Mogilny.

The Next Generation is here with Trevor Zegras front and center. I think I’m going to go with Mr. Unpredictable or The Highlight Machine. Lucas Raymond is silky smooth in Detroit. How was he behind Alexis Lafreniere again? Sorry Laf. He’s gonna have to prove himself. I like Tim Stutzle in Ottawa. Terrific skater with great moves and a dynamite shot. Is Moritz Seider still off the board? Looks like the Red Wings knew as did Steve Yzerman. No wonder they’re in the mix.

There are many exciting stories so far. Not just the Rangers being relevant again. But teams like the Ducks being led by Zegras, Troy Terry and Jamie Drysdale. The surprising Sharks behind James Reimer, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl, Logan Couture and the reemergence of Erik Karlsson. The Canucks suddenly winning again due to Bruce “There It Is” Boudreau and Thatcher Demko. Who had the Flames being good? Johnny Gaudreau sure is gonna make them pay along with Matthew Tkachuk.

There also was the sudden departure of Paul Maurice in Winnipeg, who just felt it was time for a new voice. Only time will tell if he’s right. Dave Lowry takes over. Kyle Connor is a superstar and Connor Hellebuyck is still elite. But he needs help from the defense. Less surprising was Alain Vigneault going bye bye in Philadelphia. It wasn’t a good fit. We’ll have to wait and see what happens in Montreal. The Blackhawks play harder now, but still leave Marc-Andre Fleury out to dry too much.

That’s going to do it for now. To everyone out there. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! 🎅

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Devils, NHL postpone games until after Christmas break

Posted on December 21, 2021 by hasan4978

In something that seemed inevitable for days, the NHL yesterday finally acknowledged the reality that a pause was needed for an NHL season already unbalanced by multiple team shutdowns and canceled blocks of games. Nobody thought we’d get to this point a couple weeks ago, but with the number of teams already shutting down due to a number of positive tests – while others like ours played with severely compromised rosters (more on that in a moment) – it’s the only sensible thing left to do, although due to travel there will still be two games played tonight before the mini-pause takes place. I’m not quite sure if it’s well-timed or ill-timed considering the holiday break provides even more vectors for multiplying infections. Although there’s been no official announcement yet, rumors are flying the NHL will decline to participate in the Olympics this year which is the only intelligent decision to make, all things considered – including the number of postponed games that will have to be made up after this stretch.

This decision should have been made days ago, the NHL was pretty much making it up as it went all year – starting with the Islanders – in terms of who was immediately sent to a medical timeout and who they told screw you, go play the games. Of course we were one of the latter teams. To be fair, it’s not like we had a ton of COVID cases (especially compared to last year) with just a handful of guys in protocol, and ironically all came back to practice yesterday just before the news of the team and league shutdown. However, when you couple COVID with the flu/cold season also beginning, and the natural injuries each roster will have by December then even a few COVID positives can make things dicey as it did for us. Add in the fact that the minor league team also had a number of positives and it limited the callups we could do, and that made things even worse.

Things reached a nadir this weekend when the Devils played with a 19-man roster as several key players were out and they were unable to call up a single player from Utica – until the next day when Chase DeLeo was recalled, only for DeLeo to not play at all when Jesper Bratt returned from his illness. Maybe playing with a 19-man roster doesn’t sound so bad, but then you factor in that several of the players who did play were either sick or just returning from sickbeds to the ice. Coach Lindy Ruff admitted after last Monday’s game against the Flyers that it was the first time he had to put together lines based on who had enough stamina to play a regular shift and keeping all the players who were either playing sick or returning from illness on different lines.

What made last week even more annoying was after the Devils got beaten up in Detroit on Saturday, the next day the Wings were given a pause due to their own outbreaks, while we had to play a travel back-to-back and the league turned down our initial request for cancellations due to a compromised roster and the few healthy skaters on it being taxed beyond normal limits. Finally after losing to the Penguins at the Rock on Sunday, the league acceded to GM Tom Fitzgerald’s repeated pleas to halt the Devils schedule, literally on the morning most of our COVID cases came back to practice. That said, the GM admitted in his post-pause presser that it would have been asking too much for these players to come back for a game last night after only one practice.

Also in that presser was predictable support for the head coach and putting the onus on the players to turn the season around after heading into the holidays on a six-game losing streak. It’s not really the time or place to argue with the GM on how good he thought the team looked early in the season, except to say even when the Devils were still puttering around .500 you knew they still had some issues. Issues that were not going to be fixed with Jack Hughes’ return alone, especially if Hughes continues to play like a swashbuckler who has no idea what to do on the ice. His raw numbers are iffy enough (three goals and five points with a -11 in eleven games since returning to the lineup), but you just can’t make mistakes like he did on Sunday, when a lazy cross-ice pass led to yet another shorthanded goal against, the sixth so far against the Devils this year compared to just eleven goals actually scored on the power play. I would say maybe he’s another one of the sick guys that have been discussed, except that he really hasn’t played much better than this on a consistent basis throughout most of his three years so far as a Devils.

At least we get a few day break from watching this Devils team, although when play resumes things are going to be different – and I don’t just mean increased player protocols but increased fan protocols as well.

I can’t say I’m totally surprised at this point. It’s both understandable and annoying, understandable due to the sheer rise in case numbers, but annoying due to the fact that I’ve already been to twelve games this year in a largely unmasked crowd after getting over my preseason skittishness over the lack of a real negative test/vaccine mandate for the fans. As a vaccinated + boosted person, I’m not really looking forward to having to watch games with a mask on after the New Year (I’d already sold my tickets for the NYE game, so my next home game would be on the 6th), especially to watch a team where losses are mounting about as fast as COVID cases state-wide. I also don’t envy the ushers and arena workers having to try and enforce an in-season mask mandate with a ton of yahoos in the crowd that don’t take kindly to being told what to do.

Even in bad seasons I’ve never gone out of my way to count the number of home games left the way I have just now (twenty-three, including the postponed Thursday game against the Habs). Hopefully by the end of the non-Olympic break there’ll be enough reason to lift the mask mandate by then but will the team be even worth watching then or in the meantime? That’s another story. It’ll be interesting to see just how badly ticket sales tank in the last 2/3 of the season given everything – team losing yet again, mask mandates, increased prices for marquee games – hah. Too bad both our Ranger home games are in late March/early April, they’ll no doubt be MSG South games given the Rangers’ current position in the standings and ours. Those will likely be sell and cash out games and I don’t usually do that with Ranger games but really now, how much ‘fun’ will it actually be when the game means very little and you know there’s gonna be a heavy opposition fan presence in your own building?

I just looked up when my last Ranger home game was, actually it was November of 2019 since we played them twice early in the pre-pandemic part of 2019-20 at home, and that was just before the firing of John Hynes. Not exactly a lot of fun involved in that game either, seeing as it was a 4-0 Ranger shutout. There aren’t a lot of actual must-games to go to at this point, I kind of want to go to see them play other bad teams like Arizona and Montreal just to up my chances of seeing some more home wins, since I’ve only been at one home win since the first week of November. After starting the season 4-1-1, my in-person record is 1-3-2. Forget about promos, hah…the only real giveaways are on St. Patty’s Day (a Mackenzie Blackwood bobblehead) and maybe Fan Appreciation Day, if they deign to give us more than a soda or even 20% off at the Devils Den of their overpriced by 30% merchandise for having to watch this team. There’s Travis Zajac night in mid-March but there’s a chance I might not even be able to make that game regardless…tbd.

So few actual promos, a mask mandate and a ton of losses…should make everyone run out of their chairs to want to see the Devils live in 2022!

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Devils and NHL limp towards holiday and possible league-wide pause

Posted on December 18, 2021 by hasan4978

Right now it’s hard not to be apathetic about the state of the Devils as a team on the ice, and sports/society as a whole off it with the Omicron COVID variant wreaking havoc on three major sports at the same time, despite the majority of all players and coaches being vaccinated. It would take a whole separate blog that delves too far into the political or moral realm to discuss the merits of the current protocols in all the major sports at the moment and debate which teams should have games canceled/postponed and which shouldn’t. To sum up my feelings on the larger issue, it’s hard not to see us coming to a day soon where we just start allowing players to play if they’re vaccinated and asymptomatic. All the information to this point (emphasis on the latter) suggests that this new variant, while it’s more contagious could actually be milder than the original strands, and at the very least poses minimal danger to those who are vaccinated and boosted.

If we didn’t have mass cancellations and postponements across the major sports would we all be feeling as helpless right now? Probably not as much, although the skyrocketing case numbers throughout the country in general are both worrying and incredibly misleading. Sure the number of infections may be skyrocketing up, but to this point the number of hospitalizations has only increased marginally, and mostly in the unvaccinated population. To a certain level I don’t envy all these sports, we’re almost learning about this new variant on the fly and continually assessing the level of risk for everyone. There almost has to be a better way than this though. Multiple games moved this NFL weekend, teams playing with short rosters all over the NBA, no fewer than five teams having pauses already through Christmas in the NHL with others like us playing with short rosters.

Despite the team-wide outbreak last year and now complete vaccination numbers this year, the Devils have been hit with a 1-2 punch of both COVID and non-COVID illness this week. It’s almost impossible to keep track of who’s out with what. Nico Hischier, Ryan Graves, P.K. Subban and Jesper Boqvist are all on the COVID list, Mackenzie Blackwood has a neck injury and is out for tonight’s game, backup goalie Jonathan Bernier is out long-term with a serious hip condition that may well lead to surgery (so much for having the reliable 1B vet, again) and Jesper Bratt was a late pre-game scratch with non-COVID illness. Other guys have been fighting illness all week, including Blackwood himself during the whipping by the Flyers on Tuesday.

For reasons beyond my understanding, the Devils were unable to call up anyone from Utica to fill out the roster despite the fact they were able to play their own game last night, so we’re basically playing with sixteen skaters on the front end of a back-to-back, plus enforcer Mason Geertsen. With our short lineup and crappy play in general lately (not to mention the sight of the third jerseys), I have little interest in watching tonight’s game – despite the realization that we may well be headed for another shutdown – albeit what should be a more temporary one than the complete halt the world came to in March 2020. Ironically if there’s any league best positioned for a pause, it’s the NHL given the three open weeks they have in February that almost certainly will not see NHL players go to the Olympics at this point with everything going on off the ice, health wise and politically.

UPDATE: It took now-former Devils beat writer Corey Masisak to give some more context over why the Devils were unlikely to be able to make a callup from Utica

Le sigh. I can’t say I’m looking forward to going to next Thursday’s game, though the struggling Habs may be one of the few teams we can match up with at the moment – assuming the league hasn’t paused by then or they don’t become one of the individual teams that has to pause their season. I already cashed out on tomorrow’s game and the expected New Years Day beatdown against the Oilers, as much because I don’t want to be a statistic right now as because of the team’s poor play. There won’t be a huge crowd for a weeknight game against the Habs so I’m not as worried about people being on top of me that night sadly.

If on the off chance last night’s game against Vegas was my last home game of 2021 and/or for a few weeks after, at least it wasn’t the total beatdown I feared and I got to hang out and have some fun with one of my buddies and her friends who don’t go to games very often. Not that I ever really thought we had a chance to beat Vegas, although things looked interesting after Jack Hughes put home a rebound from a Dougie Hamilton shot just 1:41 into the game to give us the early lead in a five-minute period we dominated.

After that, it was all Vegas for the rest of the first and into the early part of the second when they took the lead after goals by Dylan Coghlan (on an extended power play in the first) and William Carrier in the second. I even got to witness a bizarre occurrence when after yet another failed power play in the second, the crowd let out very audible ‘Fire Recchi!’ chants. For those of you who aren’t really following the team, Mark Recchi is one of our assistants who ostensibly runs the power play, although I’ve gone from blaming him myself for the state of the power play to just feeling like he’s a scapegoat for larger organizational issues. Still, I was a bit bemused all things considered, it’s not like I have any real loyalty to Recchi or like 90% of the roster at this point.

Despite the still hopeless PP, the Devils stabilized the game a little and it wasn’t completely out of reach at 2-1 after two. That is until Vegas overran us in the first ten minutes of the third, with first Wild Bill Karlsson turning on the jets past slow as molasses Ty Smith, and beating Blackwood shortside for the first of two eh goals in a less than minute span in the third period. Nicolas Roy’s shortside floater just thirty-three seconds later caved the roof in and seemingly put the game out of reach at 4-1. Just when I’d pretty much given up all hope for the night, the PP actually came to life with Tomas Tatar scoring just over halfway through the period. Even then I wasn’t all that excited and not because I missed the goal talking with my friend Sandi (ironically, she was asking about the Chico Resch Colorado Rockies jersey on the person in front of us), I was more like ‘okay, now you guys finally decide to score on the PP?’. I didn’t even stand up to cheer that goal, but I did actually stand up a couple minutes later when Jimmy Vesey lucked into a shorthanded goal off his chest that got the Devils to within one.

Still, despite the Devils’ improved play and game effort in the third they came up short yet again and suffered one final indignity when after Vegas scored an empty-netter to make it 5-3, Hughes’ apparent goal with ten seconds left was overturned because of an offside. Then a senseless endgame fight happened as we were leaving, because Lindy Ruff decided to be a sore loser and put out Geertsen on the last shift and it just prolonged an already messy ending, in part due to a clean hit on Hughes minutes earlier. Derek in his last blog detailed – with the help of a Mike Rupp tweet – how Hughes sometimes puts himself into harm’s way allowing himself to get popped unnecessarily. It’s a fair concern, if you’re around six feet tall and 180 pounds especially you gotta keep your head up and not just be a swashbuckler going anywhere and everywhere on the ice. His recklessness is both part of what endears fans to Hughes and what tests our patience, when he does things like taking unnecessary hits or making senseless passes to nowhere. He’ll have to get better at the latter to fulfill his potential as a star and the former to stay on the ice enough to be a franchise building block.

Maybe I’ll turn on the last two periods now that I’m almost done venting here. Like I said up top, we may be having another break soon although this is not March 2020 all over again, that’s just silly media-driven fatalism. We didn’t have knowledge, a vaccine or known treatments in March 2020. Still there is a certain amount of indignance I’m feeling toward the thought of another virus-induced break in both sports and society at large. Maybe I haven’t been the most careful or introverted person in the world, but I have gotten the vaccine/booster and was as careful as I needed to be until getting the vaccine, and still have been somewhat careful and lucky enough to not get it to this point (at least as far as I know). I’m not the most outgoing person in the world either, and was more fine than most with the shutdown in the months immediately following in the start of the pandemic but at this point I almost feel like we’re all gonna get it over time anyway with how quickly this one is spreading, so at least I’ve given myself the best chance to get through it if I do, and that’s about all any of us can do at this point. That and try to encourage everyone around us to trust our doctors and not what we read on social media.

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