Battle Of Hudson covers the Rangers and Devils, who's intense rivalry heated up in the 90's. With fresh faces added, they battle for supremacy in NYC and NJ..
A day later, there’s still conversation about whether the Sabres were offside on a Victor Olofsson goal that would’ve tied the score late in regulation.
The scoring play in question was negated due to the NHL Situation Room calling down to Buffalo to review for offside. On the Sabres feed, both Rick Jeanneret and Rob Ray were convinced that it was due to Rasmus Dahlin still being in the zone ahead of the play. However, it might not be so cut and dry.
The NHL Situation Room, according to a source, called the Sabres and Rangers to say it incorrectly called offside on the Sabres' disallowed goal that would have tied the game. https://t.co/xSBHgyh149
If we are to believe John Vogl of The Athletic, the NHL Situation Room called the Sabres and Rangers to say it incorrectly called offside on the disallowed Buffalo goal which would’ve tied the score. Former goalie turned analyst Martin Biron illustrated on MSG in Buffalo that Dahlin was able to tag up before Olofsson touched the puck with Tage Thompson onside.
Whatever the case is, it’s all too confusing. If you have such league personnel to review these plays, how can they get it wrong? It looked like they made the correct call by overruling the Olofsson goal. Regardless, it’s too late to go back and change the outcome.
The Rangers remain 2-1 winners of Friday’s game. Even if now there is a controversy that’s being debated. It reminds me of the NFL when they admit to losing teams that they missed a call in a close game. Ditto for the NBA. That doesn’t accomplish anything.
What’s done is done. The Rangers held on for dear life to earn their 18th win of the season. It wasn’t a well played game. They were lucky to get the two points. Had the Olofsson goal stood, Patrik Nemeth would’ve been a goat. He had the puck bank off him past Alex Georgiev. Why was he even out that late?
The Rangers will move on to face Nashville Sunday night at 7 PM. Another NFL Sunday game at MSG. They’ll want to take care of business before having to travel to the sizzling Avalanche, who are scoring goals at a high rate.
Finally, there’s this. Alexis Lafreniere is up to six goals after notching the game-winner last night. He has points in two straight. Kaapo Kakko remains stuck on three goals and is without a point in five. At what point does the second pick find consistency that made him that pick over Trevor Zegras?
If you were to grade the Rangers last night, they’d get a solid D. That’s how inconsistent they were. Luckily, a missed offside disallowed a Sabres tying goal late. They also can thank Alex Georgiev for the 2-1 win over the scrappy Sabres in Western New York.
Without the rejuvenated backup goalie, they would’ve been toast. In fact, almost half of his 36 saves came in a busy third period. With the Rangers opting to sit back and ‘protect’ a one-goal lead, it was Georgiev who got it done by making 17 saves on 18 shots to pickup another win.
Since Igor Shesterkin went down, Georgiev is three-for-three in starts. After coming on to replace the injured Shesterkin in the third period of a shared 1-0 shutout over San Jose, he’s 3-0 with a 1.54 GAA and .949 save percentage.
What a turnaround for the 25-year old from Bulgaria. It’s almost like he just needed to get in a rhythm by getting into games. It’s a big relief for the Rangers, who look like they no longer have to worry about their backup. The way he’s stepped up, Georgiev has gotten his confidence back. That was on display Friday night.
“Obviously, Georgie was outstanding. He made some top end saves. They had some Grade A chances and I thought [Ukko-PekkaLuukkonen] was good too. But Georgie was excellent. He was the difference,” coach Gerard Gallant said afterwards while pointing out that it wasn’t the Rangers’ best effort.
“We’re happy with the win. Maybe not happy with how we played for 60 minutes. We just gotta keep reminding ourselves what we can do when we do, when we stick to our game plan,” goal scorer Mika Zibanejad said after finally ending a 14-game scoring drought. “I try not to bear myself up over it. But again, I would be lying if I said I didn’t think about it. Human nature I guess.”
The Rangers played a good first period. They got off to a fast start. Following a scrap between Barclay Goodrow and John Hayden, they took the play to the Sabres. At one point, the shots were 11-2. To his credit, Buffalo rookie netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was strong. He kept his team afloat early on.
Special teams continue to be a factor in the wins for this team. Put on the power play less than five minutes in, the Rangers made short work of a Mark Pysyk tripping minor on Artemi Panarin.
On a broken play down low from Adam Fox and Panarin, Zibanejad was able to get to a loose puck and score his fifth of the season at 4:48. It was his first goal in 15 games. He looked to the heavens as if to say thank you.
They would go back on the power play a few minutes later. Despite some good chances that included a terrific pad save by Luukkonen to rob Chris Kreider on the doorstep, the Blueshirts were unable to increase the lead. Kaapo Kakko had him all set up, but Luukkonen made the save of the night.
Following the successful penalty kill, the Sabres finally began to skate better. They grabbed the momentum by finishing the period with a strong final five minutes. They also wound up with four of the last five shots. That included a point blank Jeff Skinner chance that Georgiev denied. A key stop.
The second period saw both clubs get chances. Both goalies were good. Georgiev robbed Vinnie Hinostroza in front off a good feed. Luukkonen made a key blocker ssve by stoning Julien Gauthier off a rush. Gauthier remains stuck with one goal despite creating opportunities.
Halfway through the second, the First Round Pick Line struck for a huge goal. On a good pass from Filip Chytil up to Fox for a low wrist shot, the puck rebounded right to a driving Alexis Lafreniere, who buried his sixth at 9:47. After assisting on a Chytil goal in Wednesday’s loss to Colorado, the 20-year old left wing made it two straight games with a point. A positive development.
Over a minute later, Brett Murray forced Jacob Trouba to hook him after he had a step in the neutral zone. In between, Trouba’s partner K’Andre Miller hit two goalposts. He was more aggressive shooting the puck throughout.
The Rangers killed off the Sabres’ power play. They didn’t get much set up. In two chances, they had three shots on Georgiev, who had no problem shutting them down. That included a Ryan Reaves cross-checking minor on Victor Olofsson with 44 seconds remaining in the period.
Despite taking a 2-0 lead to the locker room, it didn’t feel like a safe one. The Sabres outshot them 13-12. In particular, Skinner was dangerous throughout. He led all skaters with eight shots on goal. Had Georgiev not been sharp, it might’ve been a different outcome.
Sure enough, the third was conservatively played. Opting to sit back and protect the two-goal lead, the Blueshirts allowed the Sabres to attack the zone. They got six of the first seven shots. It had the eerie feel of a Buffalo comeback.
If you allow a weak opponent to stay alive, they won’t give up. One thing about the Sabres is they work hard under coach Don Granato. As defensively challenged as they are, they are effective on the forecheck. That hard work eventually paid off to make it a game.
On some sustained pressure behind the Ranger net, Kyle Okposo got the puck over to Pysyk, who slipped a pass from behind the net in front for an open Murray to collect and bury for a goal with 5:23 left in the game. He beat Kakko to the net for his second.
With the Sabres back in it, they also got an enormous save from Luukkonen on Chytil to rob him on a three-on-one. He was able to get over along the goalpost and keep Chytil’s shot out. That third line was good in limited action.
With time winding down, it looked like the Sabres had tied the game. But following a wild scramble in front that saw Buffalo beat Georgiev for what looked like a tying goal from Victor Olofsson, NHL headquarters called down to notify the refs that they were reviewing for offside.
Even the Buffalo feed which featured legendary play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret and Rob Ray knew Rasmus Dahlin was way offside before the eventual scoring play. It wasn’t even close. How they missed it I have no idea. For the Rangers, they caught a lucky break.
Time was put back on the scoreboard. It went back to 1:26 which gave the Sabres plenty of time to see if they could get it tied. But, that goal never came. Georgiev calmly made three saves including a clutch one on a Skinner backhand in tight.
The closest Buffalo came is when Tage Thompson narrowly missed on a long shot that hit the outside of the goalpost. After that close call, both Ryan Lindgren and Fox made key blocks before the latter made a key clear that killed the Sabres’ chances.
When the buzzer sounded, it wasn’t quite over. Goodrow sneakingly tripped up Dylan Cozens from behind. He didn’t like it, responding by giving Goodrow a whack. Eventually, cooler heads prevailed with Fox involved. The officials did a good job separating Cozens from Goodrow.
It wasn’t the greatest game. At the end of the day, they got the two points. That’s all that matters. They can now put the Avalanche loss in the rear view. Speaking of Colorado, they put up another seven spot in a win over Detroit. Yikes.
Not every win is perfect. Now, they’ll host Nashville on Sunday night. The Predators have already beaten both the Islanders and Devils by a goal. They’re a strange team. But have good players like Roman Josi, Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen playing well. Juuse Saros is a good goalie.
It should be an interesting game. We’ll see how it goes. They want to win that one with a rematch at Colorado on Tuesday.
3rd 🌟 Jeff Skinner, #LetsGoBuffalo 8 SOG, 9 attempts in 19:58 2nd 🌟 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, #LetsGoBuffalo 29 saves on 31 shots including 22/24 first 2 periods 1st 🌟 Alex Georgiev, #NYR 36 saves on 37 shots including 17/18 in 3rd
I can’t even figure out where to begin with this blog. There’s so much I want to say about this franchise, and yet I have so little interest in saying it at this point. It’s sort of a dual personality between the angst this team gives me watching it, and the apathy of knowing this is just going to be another crappy year anyway, so what’s the point of even ranting? Clearly I was better off not watching the team (last week) than watching them (this week). Although it’s even worse that the one game they did win this week I wasn’t able to watch at all, while I was in attendance for both our desultory shootout loss to Ottawa on Monday and our infuriating loss to the Hynes Gang against Nashville tonight.
It also figures that two of the three wins the Devils have had in the last month have come against maybe the only other team in the league that’s more hapless than we are, the suddenly crummy Flyers who have lost ten in a row themselves and fired coaches Alain Vigneault and Michel Therrien because of it. Wonder when there’ll be accountability for our continued losing? Take out the Flyer wins and we have one win in eleven games since November 11, when our season crested with a 4-0 shutout of the Islanders that upped our record to 7-3-2, eerily similar to the 6-3-2 start last year. Since then, the record’s basically been inversed at 3-7-3 – with only two wins over the lousy Flyers that they had to scratch out and a fluke comeback against Tampa Bay.
Even worse than the losing is how they’re losing…they’re losing with younger players regressing or not developing, more poor coaching despite an alleged upgrade behind the bench, still having defensive meltdowns despite all the souping up GM Tom Fitzgerald did with the blueline this offseason, and still not having enough physicality to handle teams going after their small, finesse players. Obviously Miles Wood’s injury doesn’t help with the latter, but regardless this team’s been soft for years. It’s partly why current coach Lindy Ruff bent over backwards to make Mason Geertsen a quasi-regular in the lineup but he’s not the answer either, he’s not even a viable enough goon to be a true enforcer let alone actually being able to play hockey at the NHL level.
It’s just difficult to know what to say right now, other than it’s just no fun watching this team at the moment…Monday was bad enough dropping a point to an Ottawa team ten points below us in the standings but tonight was the angriest, most apathetic I’ve been at a game since I don’t even know when. Obviously I wasn’t at any of the games last year and the 2019-20 season imploded so quickly I reached the apathy stage around the time John Hynes was fired and Taylor Hall got traded. Of course Hynes being behind the other bench tonight only added another level of annoyance, it’s like we’re really gonna get outcoached by this guy? We were supposed to have upgraded with Lindy, I still like the guy personally but let’s face it, the Devils had no answers for Nashville most of the night.
Our powerless play of course is what sent me over the edge in the first period, even before we gave up any goals. When you get three power plays in one period of hockey and can’t even manage a shot in any of them until the last few seconds of the final power play, that’s just unconscionably bad. As annoyed as I’ve been at Mark Recchi over the power play, it seems as if there’s plenty of blame to go around going by one of Corey Masisak’s last Devil articles before moving to the Sharks beat, where he indicated that ‘everyone on the coaching staff and even some in management’ have input on the power play. To me this is too many cooks in the kitchen syndrome, although I don’t really implicitly trust Recchi or even Ruff to fix our PP woes, there are actually some instances where sports teams are better served as an autocracy than a democracy.
You would think the multiple people working on the power play could come up with something better than just a lot of standing around, slow passing and hoping to thread the needle through two guys in front for the perfect cross-ice pass. When longtime penalty killing ace Dominic Moore says your PP is static, it’s static. Unfortunately, asking for even a competent NHL power play at this point seems to be a hopeless exercise, I’d have just as much luck asking Judge Smails in Caddyshack for anything
Not that our PK’s been that much better, of course they gave it up in the second period too but really it was just a horrible period all around, despite the Devils actually taking the lead when Jesper Bratt created a goal with a pretty feed from behind the net to Pavel Zacha, who scored his ninth of the season at 11:34 of the middle frame. You would think that goal might have given us some momentum, but really it was just a short-lived shot across the bow during a massive retreat of a period where the Predators peppered Mackenzie Blackwood with eighteen shots on net and eventually broke through with a little ‘help’ from Nico Hischier, whose failed clear and some other questionable defensive coverage from basically everyone on the ice – including our top defensive pairing – left Roman Josi wide open in front to pick his spot and score less than two minutes after Zacha’s goal. It was just a few minutes later where Eeli Tolvanen scored on the PP to put Nashville in front to stay, and if anything the Devils were fortunate the roof didn’t completely fall in that period.
Perhaps it was Nico’s turnover on the first goal, or his miss of a gimme chance off a feed from Jack Hughes late in the first period that originally built up frustration, but certainly he snapped late in the second period when Mikael Granlund speared him and the captain wailed on the offending player with a surprisingly…effective fight? Effective only from a fighting standpoint and a short-term crowd burst, the captain being in the box for the first five minutes of the third period on a matching major and with a possibly injured hand didn’t do anything to change momentum back. It was more of the same in the third period, with Yakov Trenin doubling their lead at 6:11 of the third after yet another Ty Smith turnover in the offensive zone led to a Nashville breakout, and Trenin scoring off a juicy rebound. I can’t really blame Blackwood though, by all rights the game probably should have been 4 or 5-1 late in the third anyway.
Finally when the game dragged onto the five minute mark with little life, that’s when I did something I never do – leaving a close game. Or as close as a 3-1 game is when you’ve generated very little offense the previous thirty-five minutes.
It’s not so much I really felt there was no chance for a miracle rally, as it was my own annoyance at everyone and everything just kind of boiled over by then – whether it’s Hughes making dumb, blind behind-the-back passes and trying to skate one-on-three in the zone, or Nico stinking up the joint aside from his frustrated fight, or $9 million man Dougie Hamilton stinking up the joint with a bad penalty and was one of many with horrendous coverage on the first goal. Other than Blackwood, and Bratt there really weren’t too many people that escaped my wrath tonight. Our sophomore jinxed group of Smith, Janne Kuokkanen and Yegor Sharangovich stunk it up again, Sharangovich’s late junktime goal be damned. He had another couple of open chances that he just shoveled toward the net earlier while Kuokkanen stayed invisible and Smith stayed awful. Not only does the organization not seem inclined to send him down, they don’t even seem inclined to reduce his role in the least. It’s just another example of the lack of accountability in general around here, the coach’s tough talk in recent pressers notwithstanding.
My reaction of hearing about Sharangovich’s goal and another illusory Devils rally was ‘but, of course’…I was so aggravated over the game I even left my long-sleeve shirt at the arena. Usually I’ll either wear long sleeves underneath a jersey or short sleeves (with a jacket during late fall/winter, obviously), but being mindful of my several-minute walk in cold weather I wanted to wear short sleeves inside and then long sleeves afterward so long story short, I took off my long sleeves in the arena and just forgot to pick up the shirt when leaving after. I guess I’ll find out if customer service still maintains a lost-and-found post-pandemic. It wasn’t really one of my favorite shirts so whatever, it’s probably just indicative as much as anything else of my mindset. Especially since I’m still more aggravated over the team and wasting another night with a dreadful game than forgetting my shirt.
Sometimes, you just get beat. In the Rangers’ case, they got hit by an Avalanche literally. Playing for the second straight night after traveling home from Chicago, they were no match for the Avalanche in a 7-3 loss at The Garden.
Facing one of the league’s best teams, they learned a lesson. The more rested Avs used their size and speed to perfection in a game that definitely was a step up. Unfortunately, the Rangers were no match. They had their season high seven-game winning streak snapped.
If you’re going to lose, you may as well get your money’s worth. To be honest, the Blueshirts were due for a bad game. With Gerard Gallant opting to throw rookie call-up Adam Huska into the fire for his NHL debut, it was a perfect storm.
They were outclassed by an established team who’s expected to compete for the Stanley Cup. It didn’t help that it was a back-to-back situation. However, that’s the schedule sometimes. They made far too many sloppy mistakes and paid for it against one of the game’s best offenses.
The seven goals Colorado put up were the most the Rangers have allowed this season. In fact, it had been a while since they gave up at least five. You have to go back to the hideous back-to-back losses to Edmonton and Calgary on Nov. 5-6. In each, they permitted six with the Flames routing them 6-0.
Gallant said this of tonight's loss:
"We didn't play good, strong defense like we had to… We turned some pucks over & they took advantage of it. They're talented team, and if you're going to give them second & third chances & odd-man rushes, they're going to take advantage."
Gallant nailed what went wrong. From the outset, the Avalanche were the aggressor. Utilizing their team speed and skill, they took advantage of mental mistakes by the Rangers. The first goal came when Mikko Rantanen was able to finish off a Nazem Kadri feed in transition for the first of two goals at 4:11.
Adam Fox’s long stretch pass was intercepted by Devon Toews at his blue line. He quickly passed for Kadri, who gained the zone and moved the puck over for a quick Rantanen wrist shot that Huska was slightly screened on. The puck went through him to give Colorado an early lead.
But it wasn’t all bad in the first period. Over a couple of minutes later, the Blueshirts replied back thanks to some good work from Ryan Reaves. On a forecheck, he went around the Colorado net and tried a wrap around that Artemi Panarin retrieved. He then circled out to find Trouba for a good wrist shot that beat Darcy Kuemper through a Reaves screen at 6:56.
On the next shift, Reaves drew a penalty on Toews for tripping. But with the score tied, the Avalanche were very aggressive at killing off the first Rangers’ power play. They didn’t give the top unit any time and space. In fact, a Panarin turnover nearly led to an Erik Johnson shorthanded goal. The Avs got two shots on Huska down a man and held the Rangers without a shot.
In fact, it was Huska who settled down to keep his team even. He made a few sparkling saves to deny the dangerous Avalanche counterattack. He faced 19 shots in a turnover prone first where puck management was an issue.
Despite getting outplayed, the Rangers took a one-goal lead before the period concluded. With Jacob MacDonald off for holding Mika Zibanejad, it was the second unit that got the job done.
Following another ineffective shift for the top unit, Gallant took my advice and sent out the second unit. It paid dividends when Nils Lundkvist scored his first career NHL goal at 18:15. On the play, Trouba and Filip Chytil found enough space to get the puck over to Lundkvist for a shot from the left circle that beat Kuemper with 1:45 remaining. A nice moment for the rookie defenseman.
Nils Lundkvist's first NHL goal was absolutely ripped.
Despite getting outshot 19-9 and outchanced, the Rangers led by one after a period. However, they couldn’t keep the momentum. The uncharacteristic mistakes finally did them in during an awful second period.
In what can best be described as an avalanche, Colorado outscored them 5-0. It was full meltdown mode at 33rd and 8th. Nathan MacKinnon got the party started when he completely undressed K’Andre Miller to score his first goal since Oct. 23.
On the play, the superstar took a Gabriel Landeskog pass and exploded around a flat-footed Miller before beating Huska in one motion to tie the score at 4:48. Sam Girard netted the other assist. This was a highly skilled play at warp speed by a great player.
It didn’t get any better. On a Colorado cycle, Valeri Nichushkin got the puck up top for Cale Makar. His shot pass for Kadri was redirected by Huska for a 3-2 lead 1:23 later. Kadri beat both Fox and Ryan Lindgren on the goal. Neither player had a good night. They were far from alone.
A few shifts later, Kadri drew a tripping minor on Reaves. On the man-advantage for the second time in the game, the Avalanche converted courtesy of their second unit. After just missing on one try, Alex Newhook skated out and buried a one-timer for his sixth at 10:42. Both Girard and Toews picked up helpers.
Just like that, the Rangers went from being a goal up to two down in the first 10:42 of the second. On the next shift, Trouba caught MacKinnon with his head down in front of the net. The star center tried to make a move, but was not looking. That allowed Trouba to deliver a big hit shoulder to chest that floored MacKinnon.
Landeskog engaged Trouba right away. The two exchanged blows in an even fight. Landeskog was assessed an extra for unsportsmanlike conduct. Whatever. It was an instigator. Can’t they call it by the book instead of altering it?
With MacKinnon in the locker room for concussion protocol, his teammates did the heavy lifting. After killing off the third Rangers’ power play, Logan O’Connor took a Kadri pass and went around Miller before scoring a beautiful goal that made it 5-2 with 2:46 left. He wasn’t done.
On the following shift, a brutal turnover at center ice allowed O’Connor to come in and beat a helpless Huska on a breakaway just 22 seconds later to make it five consecutive goals for the Avalanche. At that point, I felt sorry for Huska. He was not to blame for this. There were too many passengers.
With the game out of reach, MacKinnon returned for the third. That was good news for Colorado. It was only his 13th game. He missed significant time. I was surprised they let him play. But maybe they wanted to make sure he was okay. Indeed, he looked fine.
If you were hoping for a miraculous comeback, what you got instead were consecutive penalties on Chytil and Patrik Nemeth. Even though they killed the abbreviated 10-second five-on-three off and denied the Avs on the five-on-four, all it did was take time off the scoreboard.
With it still a four-goal deficit, Kurtis MacDermid went after Trouba like a fool after Girard ran out of real estate and interfered with Huska. While Girard got the original, MacDermid acted like an idiot. Trouba didn’t waste his time with him. Each received matching roughing minors while MacDermid was given an additional misconduct to hit the showers.
If anything comes out of this fiasco, the rematch is next Tuesday, December 14. I’d prefer the Rangers stick to playing better hockey than what was on display last night. They’ll at least have a day off after hosting Nashville on Sunday. They visit the Sabres tomorrow night. That must be a bounce back.
After failing to capitalize on the power play thanks to 1:48 of just awfulness by the top unit, the Blueshirts got one back thanks to the First Round Pick Line. On a rare good play from Miller, his outlet pass sent Alexis Lafreniere and Chytil in on a two-on-one. Lafreniere patiently waited before sending a great feed to Chytil for a one-timer that made it 6-3 with 8:08 remaining.
It was only Chytil’s third goal. His first since 11/5. Ironically, that’s also the last time he had a two-point game. He finished with a goal and helper on Wednesday. The issue is both came in defeats.
For the season, he has six points (3-3-6) in 22 games. That’s not enough production. He really needs to pick it up. This is an important year for the 22-year old. He isn’t facing the best competition. What is he? Chytil definitely has chemistry with Lafreniere and Julien Gauthier. But they need more goals for confidence. Hopefully, this helps.
Less than two minutes later before you looked up, there was Rantanen deflecting in a Johnson shot pass for his second of the game at 13:25. That allowed Colorado to kick the extra point.
Everyone talks about MacKinnon, but Rantanen is an explosive scorer. They boast a great 1-2 punch with Landeskog the power forward and Kadri cleaning up. Not to mention Makar. The Avalanche are a handful. The only question is in net. Can Kuemper stay healthy? They’re not good defensively. We’ll see where they wind up.
Nothing else worth mentioning happened the final part of the game. It was a thorough ass kicking by a proven opponent. I’m curious to see what happens in the rematch. Hopefully, they’ll have Igor Shesterkin back. He’s expected to practice on Thursday.
With Gallant giving Huska a baptism by fire, that gave Alex Georgiev the night off. You have to figure he’ll get the call in Buffalo on Friday. Then if he’s ready, perhaps Shesterkin returns for Sunday.
There’s no sense in getting too upset over this loss. They were due for a bad game.
THREE STARS 🌟 OF GAME
3rd 🌟 Jacob Trouba, NYR (goal, assist, fight for 2nd consecutive Gordie Howe hat trick joining Doug Risebrough as only players to record two in back-to-backs)
2nd 🌟 Mikko Rantanen, Avalanche (2 goals, #’s 11 & 12, 5 SOG, +2 in 19:39)
1st 🌟 Nazem Kadri, Avalanche (goal plus 2 🍎, +4 in 12:54)
It wasn’t a game to remember for the Rangers, who were outclassed by the Avalanche 7-3 at MSG. On a night their seven-game winning streak was halted by an elite team, there was one positive.
Jacob Trouba continues to play much better hockey in his third season as a Broadway Blueshirt. A night removed from making headlines for his strong hit that sent Jujhar Khaira to the hospital during a road win at Chicago, he again caught a player with their head down.
In what was a near repeat, Trouba delivered a heavy hit that sent Colorado superstar Nathan MacKinnon down to the ice. On the play, Trouba tucked his elbow in and went shoulder to chest on MacKinnon, who was shaken up. As he went to the locker room for concussion protocol, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog immediately challenged Trouba, who again answered the bell.
It was an even bout between two big men. Landeskog stood up for MacKinnon, who fortunately was okay to return for the third period. Trouba was accountable for his actions.
As for the game, let’s just say it didn’t go well for the Rangers. After taking a 2-1 lead after one period to the locker room on a goal from Trouba and the first NHL goal for rookie Nils Lundkvist on the power play, they were taken apart by the more rested Avalanche in a forgettable second period.
Colorado responded by hitting them with an Avalanche by scoring five consecutive goals in a lopsided second. That included a highlight reel goal from MacKinnon in which he left K’Andre Miller in the dust. Nazem Kadri followed that up by redirecting a Cale Makar shot to give the Avalanche the lead for good.
After Alex Newhook converted on the power play with Ryan Reaves off to make it 4-2, Trouba caught a leaning MacKinnon flush sending him to the ice to cheers. That lead to the fight between him and Landeskog. By also recording a goal and assist in the first period along with the scrap, it put Trouba in rare company.
He recorded Gordie Howe hat tricks in consecutive games. It left many to ponder when’s the last time a player did that. No. Eric Lindros never did it. Neither did Mark Messier or Cam Neely. In fact, Trouba became only the second player to record Gordie Howe hat tricks on back-to-back days, joining Doug Risebrough in February 1975.
Jacob Trouba of the @NYRangers has had a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist and fight) both last night and tonight.
He's the second player in NHL history to have a Gordie Howe hat trick on back-to-back days, joining the Canadiens' Doug Risebrough (February 15 & 16, 1975).
Unfortunately, it came in a blowout loss. A game in which most of the top players failed to show up. Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren had off nights along with Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome and Chris Kreider. They went a combined minus-13 with one assist. Only Trouba was okay offensively finishing with a goal and helper. However, he also went minus-two meaning not one top Blueshirt was a plus.
Following the game, Trouba did speak to the media. Asked about Jujhar Chaira, he said he’d exchanged texts with the injured Blackhawks’ forward. He relayed that Khaira was doing okay.
Jacob Trouba said he exchanged texts with Jujhar Khaira after his hit on him last night in Chicago
"Obviously no one wants to see that, no one plays the game to see guys get injured or injure guys" pic.twitter.com/AA4h94a6Q0
"It's a fast-paced game. It's easy to slow down & let your brain think when it's going half speed, but you're in the middle of the game & I don't think it was malicious. I don't think I jumped. I stayed on my feet, tried to tuck my shoulder & put it in their chest" https://t.co/0b9BwbC9dV
Undoubtedly, nobody wants to see players hurt. Especially Trouba, who plays an honest game. He is the Rangers’ most physical defenseman. Hitting is part of his style. Despite the overreaction from some misguided fans who never played, neither hit was illegal. Maybe they should Google Scott Stevens and see what they find.
Hockey is a tough game. The last I checked, hitting is part of the game. It’s the player’s job to protect themselves. Unfortunately, neither Khaira or MacKinnon kept their heads up. It reminded me of Lindros when he got caught by Stevens in 2000.
While the game has changed for the better with concussion protocol part of hockey to make sure injured players can recover, it’s still a man’s game. Trouba has let everyone know he’s going to play the game hard. Everyone is on alert.
There’s so much to digest about last night’s game. In a rematch three days later at United Center, the Rangers used a big third period to win for the seventh consecutive time.
A three-goal third broke open a tie game as the Rangers defeated the Blackhawks 6-2 in Chicago. They swept the two-game series. While it was the third game for the Hawks over four days, this was a home-and-home series for the Rangers. They continue to win games and pile up points in the standings.
Now up to a shocking 17-4-3 record with 37 points through 24 games, they’re even leaving former star Henrik Lundqvist and one-time backup Steve Valiquette speechless. Both were blown away by what they’ve accomplished so far. Nobody expected them to be one of the league’s top teams at this point. It’s been an unbelievable rise.
With plenty of season left, let’s not get carried away. There’s still a long way to go. I want to keep perspective about where they are. It sure has been exciting to see this team winning consistently. On my birthday no less, they go for eight straight when the Avalanche visit MSG. That should be a good test. I’m looking forward to seeing how they do against an elite team.
Before getting to the nuts and bolts of Tuesday night’s victory, I want to say how much I love this team. I haven’t felt this way about the Rangers since ’13-14. Keep in mind, that was a special team ready to compete for the Stanley Cup. Let’s not compare them. That was a more experienced roster that had playoff success. The ’21-22 Rangers boast a few special players along with some key young guns who will play a role in how they do.
Credit goes out to Chris Drury for assembling this group and hiring Gerard Gallant. He’s established four consistent lines and three defense pairings along with a top flight goalie before Game 25. That’s significant progress. Even without Sammy Blais, you know what the four lines are and feel confident about each. They are a T-E-A-M.
So much of the fabric of these new and improved Blueshirts is Ryan Reaves. When Gallant asked Drury to acquire him, it was due to his familiarity with the 34-year old tough guy. He might not score much, but this is the kind of strong character this team needed. Reaves knows his role and plays it well. It’s nice to see him having success in NYC.
His impact has been felt. Reaves isn’t only a guy who will stick up for teammates. He’s a winning hockey player who understands what he’s supposed to do. Whether it’s a big hit or good forecheck, he has made the team harder to play against. Now, Gallant can roll four lines thanks to the contributions from Reaves, Kevin Rooney and Barclay Goodrow.
Now for the game. Unlike Saturday’s home win which wasn’t the most memorable, this one had a lot that happened. First and foremost, I want to send my best wishes to Jujhar Khaira. It was in the second period that the Hawks’ forward was caught on a swivel by Jacob Trouba, who delivered a clean hard hit that rocked him.
Nobody wants to see a player get seriously injured. Especially on such a hit. There was nothing dirty about it. Unfortunately, Trouba stepped up and caught a leaning Khaira with a hard shoulder to chest hit that also got his chin, sending him down on his back. The scary part was his head landed hard on the ice. He was clearly out.
It happened so fast that everyone in the arena were stunned. That included Trouba, who was visibly shaken up standing in front of the Rangers bench. He looked on the verge of tears. There was no intent to injure Khaira. It was a very unfortunate play where he had his head down. At last check, Blackhawks interim coach Derek King gave a positive update that Khaira was up and talking at the hospital after being taken out for precaution on a stretcher.
UPDATE: Coach King on Jujhar Khaira's status – “He’s up. He’s talking. He’s very responsive.” https://t.co/2pks3F7F0f
A good sign. Following the game, Trouba wasn’t made available to comment. I’m sure he feels bad about what happened. He plays a physical game. That’s part of the sport. I can only hope Khaira will have a good recovery and be able to return. Keep him in your thoughts.
I am not going to provide the video of the hit. I have no interest in seeing it again. I will post some images of photos I took following the play.
All photos by Derek Felix courtesy MSG Network.
For the second straight game, Alex Georgiev got the start in place of the injured Igor Shesterkin. He had another solid outing. Although the game didn’t start off great, the backup settled in making 24 saves on 26 shots to earn his second win in a row.
In what was the 900th career game for Marc-Andre Fleury, the future Hall Of Famer was going for his 500th win. I thought he had a shot to get it. But his team couldn’t sustain their level. You have to wonder what he’s thinking playing for the Hawks after all the success he had in Vegas.
The first period started off fast. In fact, Trouba scored his fifth of the season only 61 seconds into the contest. One storyline MSG built up was Artemi Panarin in search of his 500th NHL point. In just his 457th career game, he got it by assisting on Trouba’s goal at 1:01.
On a play started by sidekick Ryan Strome, he got the puck over to Panarin. The 30-year old star drew attention before passing across for Trouba, who cut in and fired home his fifth past Fleury. That gave Panarin point number 500 against his former team. He began his NHL career in Chicago where he won the Calder and spent the first two years of his career before they traded him to Columbus. They couldn’t afford him. Part of the salary cap era.
But before you could get comfortable, the Blackhawks came right back to tie the game 43 seconds later when Erik Gustafsson scored his first of the season. On the play, it was a face-off win in the offensive zone. The puck came to Gustafsson at the point. He took a long shot that went past a screened Georgiev to tie the score.
At first glance, it looked like he just missed it. However, he was pretty animated. After it went in, Georgiev threw his hands up similar to Lundqvist. The reason for that was Patrik Nemeth set a perfect screen against his own goalie. That made it tough for Georgiev to pick up the shot. Goalies prefer to see shots. Nemeth likes to block them. He didn’t on this particular play, which allowed Gustafsson to even it up.
One thing about the first period. The Rangers didn’t exactly look sharp. They gave up some tough chances due to puck mismanagement. Something that couldn’t continue. On the second Chicago goal, another lost defensive draw resulted in Kirby Dach putting in a rebound for his fourth at 7:09.
This was another frustrating sequence. Dach beat Mika Zibanejad to win the face-off. Dylan Strome passed down for Alex DeBrincat, who decided to test Georgiev from a tough angle. His low shot caromed right out to Dach, who beat K’Andre Miller to notch his first goal since Oct. 27.
He hadn’t been producing. But he looks like more of a two-way center. That has Hawks fans frustrated due to Ducks’ gem Trevor Zegras. Let’s just say many teams missed on him. He is a special player. Don’t believe me? Check this play out from Zegras behind the Buffalo net where he made a lacrosse style pass for a Sonny Milano goal.
Pretty remarkable. While that show was happening, the Rangers were making life difficult on Georgiev. Fortunately, he came up with some big saves. The whole period was played at five-on-five. While both teams had nine shots, the Hawks had the better chances. Give Georgiev credit for holding his team in it. It could’ve been worse.
The second period was way more eventful. Penalties were taken. It became a battle of special teams. The way things are going, that’s a good thing for the Blueshirts. On a solid shift by the fourth line, rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist made a subtle move in the neutral zone with the puck to draw a hooking minor on Henrik Borgstrom.
On their first power play, the top unit went to work. After moving the puck around along with the Hawks’ penalty killers for over a minute, they finally found the opening they needed to draw even. On a misdirection play started by Chris Kreider with a pass for Zibanejad in the middle, the center tipped the puck towards an open Panarin for his eighth at 3:19.
It was magnificent work by the trio. Zibanejad was featured in the slot area. They tried to connect with him prior. This time, Kreider was able to get the puck to him. Instead of shooting due to being tightly guarded, he simply redirected a pass to Panarin for an easy finish with Fleury down. After having trouble scoring, Panarin now has five goals over his last five games. He’s been on a major roll lately.
Astonishingly, that was the only goal in the second. Despite having the better of the play, the Rangers couldn’t get another one by Fleury, who stopped 12 of 13 shots. His best save came when he got across and robbed Kreider shorthanded on a Zibanejad pass. It was a terrific stop.
Prior to that, the play everyone’s still talking about is the brutal hit Trouba put on Khaira. It occurred at the 6:10 mark of the second period. As Khaira tried to control a rolling puck coming out of his zone, Trouba stepped up and creamed him with a clean check. He didn’t know he was there and was lying flat on his back as play was stopped.
After a couple of Hawks went after Trouba, things cooled down. With obvious concern for Khaira on both benches, a lengthy stoppage lead to the trainers carefully checking him out. While Trouba stood in front his bench with a look of discouragement, the entire Blackhawks bench got up to surround Khaira. As he was being carried out on a stretcher, former Edmonton teammate Ryan Strome gave him a tap as the crowd politely cheered. It was a tough scene.
At that point, the game felt like an afterthought. There were still over 33 minutes left to play and it didn’t feel like it mattered. All of our thoughts and prayers were with Khaira. Following a brief discussion between King and a referee regarding the Trouba hit not being penalized (it wasn’t a penalty), they finally returned to playing hockey.
At that moment, everyone knew Trouba would be held accountable. It didn’t matter that it was a clean hit. In hockey, when a player is seriously injured, you know teams will go after that player. That’s part of The Code. Trouba knew at some point, he would have to answer the bell. He would do so later in the period.
Before that moment came, Panarin got physically involved when he boarded Calvin de Haan from behind. It wasn’t a good penalty to take. The perplexing part is the ref who was looking right at it didn’t make the call. Instead, it was made by the trailer. Utterly ridiculous.
It was Adam Fox who had a tremendous penalty kill. He was dominant. Blocking shots and breaking up a pass that likely would’ve been a potential goal, he was everywhere. This was as good a defensive shift as you’ll see. Overall, Fox played a superb game. He recorded two assists and had five blocks. What a player.
With his team playing better in front of him, Georgiev didn’t have to stand on his head. He made eight saves in a less stressful second. Also, the Hawks weren’t the same offensively following the Khaira injury. It had to have an emotional effect. You didn’t notice Patrick Kane much. He was held without a point.
The fight finally happened. With under nine minutes left in the period, Riley Stillman went after Trouba near the benches. He obliged against the son of former NHL star Cory Stillman. After Riley Stillman got started quickly, Trouba responded with some good shots. Then, it was over. Exactly what you’d expect from Trouba.
Although they had the better of the play, the Rangers were forced to kill off a hi-sticking minor on Dryden Hunt. They had no trouble taking care of business. Chicago struggled to establish anything consistent. When they did get shots through, Georgiev turned them aside.
If there was a notable difference, it was the Rangers’ play on special teams. A place they’ve had a distinct advantage on during the run. They successfully killed off all four Chicago power plays while going a perfect 2-for-2 on the man-advantage.
After Miller was called for a phantom trip on Dylan Strome with under seven seconds remaining, they again got out of trouble. The penalty kill got it done to finish off the remainder of the Hawks’ power play at the start of the pivotal third. A period that killed the home team.
A few minutes in, it was ’19 second pick Kaapo Kakko who drew a slash on ’19 third pick Dach. That allowed the Rangers to go back to work. On their second power play, this time they went back to the formula that’s worked a lot. Panarin got the puck up top for Fox who waited for Kreider to get into perfect position. He then made a good shot pass for the Kreider redirection for his 10th power play goal at 4:59. Well executed.
A Trouba hooking minor on Dominik Kubalik sent the Hawks on their fourth power play. But like the previous three, they were unable to take advantage. Instead of tying it, they lost momentum due to another Rangers’ kill.
There had been some discussion about the fourth line during the first. Absurd stuff I don’t understand. Why is Reaves playing? They’re not having a good game. Have these people not learned anything? It’s the work of the checking line that’s made them a more complete team.
As if to prove a point and drive it home, that fourth line was involved in a huge insurance marker. On a good play by Reaves, he made a between the legs backhand pass over for Fox, who then found a cutting Rooney for his sixth with 7:50 left in regulation. A splendid play started by noted playmaker Reaves.
Trailing by two, the Blackhawks lifted Fleury early with over three minutes left. That decision backfired. A good defensive play from Zibanejad allowed Trouba to get the puck to Panarin for an easy empty netter that made it 5-2 with 3:10 to go. It was his fourth point of the night.
In two games versus his former team, Panarin lit up the Hawks like a Christmas tree 🎄 for seven points (3-4-7). Since scoring a goal and adding an assist in a win over Boston on Nov. 26, the 30-year old Russian is 5-6-11 in the past five games. He’s overcome his slow start to lead the team in scoring with 30 points (9-21-30). Elite.
After the goal, Ryan Carpenter took a run at Hunt boarding him. It didn’t take long for Ryan Strome to respond. He had Hunt’s back. Immediately going after Carpenter and exchanging punches, Strome earned the last 2:52 off with a double minor for roughing and misconduct. The strong response wasn’t ignored by Joe Micheletti or Lundqvist and Valiquette in the postgame.
With the game decided, that fourth line padded the cushion when Rooney and Reaves combined to set up Goodrow for his 4th at 18:41. That gave Reaves two assists and Rooney a goal and a helper. Pretty satisfying.
With it being my birthday, all I really wanted was a win. They got one already in Chicago. However, now Colorado comes into MSG. That is a much better match-up. It features Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, Nazem Kadri and their own Norris candidate in offensive juggernaut Cale Makar (11 goals). This should be a good game to find out more about the Rangers.
Some games aren’t going to be Picasso’s. If you’re a good team, you can still find ways to win those. On Saturday night, the Rangers weren’t at their best. They still were able to defeat the Blackhawks 3-2 to post a season high sixth consecutive win.
They also overcame the refs. The Blackhawks had two goals count that were questionable. Confused is how Sam Rosen and Joe Michelleti sounded on the Alex DeBrincat tally that cut it to 3-2 with 1:19 remaining. It took a lengthy video review to determine if the shot DeBrincat took which Alex Georgiev saved actually was a goal. While it did look to cross the goal line, there was a question about whether Kirby Dach helped push it in.
Regardless of coach Gerard Gallant protesting at the bench after it was initially ruled no goal, his team composed themselves to close out the one-goal victory on home ice. An important one for Georgiev, who made 25 saves on 27 shots to earn his first win since Igor Shesterkin was placed on the injured reserve due to a lower-body injury. Afterwards, he acknowledged that coming in and playing nearly the final 15 minutes against San Jose helped his confidence.
A truthful admission for a goalie who’s had his struggles. Despite that, Gallant showed plenty of faith in Georgiev along with teammates, who were happy for him. That included Ryan Strome, whose hot play continued with a power play goal for a second straight game along with two assists. He and Artemi Panarin were the story last night. They each had a goal and two helpers to combine for six points to highlight the team’s 16th win of the season.
Through 23 games, the Rangers are 16-4-3 with 35 points. One of the best starts in franchise history has them a point out of first in the Metropolitan Division. They trail only the Capitals, who have played two more games. The Hurricanes are third with 33 points. Only the Penguins look like a threat to the top three. They won again at Vancouver to stay close with 27 points. The rest of the division isn’t strong. A lot can happen. But right now, the Rangers are among the division’s best.
Admittedly, their second game of a back-to-back wasn’t a great performance. It was okay to beat a mediocre opponent who they’ll again see this Tuesday in Chicago. To be honest, they got a bit lucky. I didn’t watch much of the game due to opting to take in an NWA pay per view even Hard Times 2 courtesy Fite TV on my phone. However, I still caught the third period on my Android in the background. It didn’t look particularly exciting.
The one takeaway is that they kept the shots down. A must if they want to get wins with Georgiev in net. We don’t know how long Shesterkin will be out. Take the three games they said with a grain of salt. What I was able to gather after catching the game highlights is that they gave up too many high quality scoring chances against a team that still has Patrick Kane and the emerging DeBrincat. They must’ve hit five goalposts.
Three came in a flat first period where the Rangers only got five shots on Hawks’ backup Kevin Lankinen. When Michelleti is calling to attention some of the bad turnovers they had that directly led to great opportunities for Chicago, you know it wasn’t an ideal start. Gallant hinted at it in his usual fashion following the game. He is blunt in his assessment when he doesn’t like things. But also can highlight what he liked. Obviously, Panarin and Strome we’re at the top of the list.
The Blackhawks got a strange first goal late in the first to grab the lead. On a quick transition off some sloppy play, Seth Jones had a high shot go off Brandon Hagel, whose stick looked high. However, the puck then went off Georgiev, who looked puzzled. That allowed Kane to sneak in and slip in the rebound for his seventh at 19:37.
Of course, many felt it shouldn’t have counted including Gallant, who challenged it. But if a player touches a puck with a high stick, it can be negated negated once an opposing player plays it. In this case, Georgiev which made the scoring play legal. So, it was 1-0 Hawks after a ho hum opening period.
More encouraging is that the Rangers were able to successfully kill off the delay of game minor penalty that comes with an unsuccessful coach’s challenge. Following the important kill, Filip Chytil drew a double minor for hi-sticking on Henrik Borgstrom. On the ensuing power play, some nifty passing allowed Panarin to dish across for a wide open Strome, who rifled home his fifth on the man-advantage into an open side to tie the score at 4:41. Adam Fox drew a secondary helper.
The Rangers picked it up afterwards. They held a 13-9 edge in shots. Lankinen was forced to come up with some good saves. For a backup who’s only in his second NHL season, he’s not bad. He gave his team a chance throughout the final 40 minutes. Lankinen made 23 of his 28 saves over the last two periods. The Rangers outshot the Blackhawks 26-20 over that stretch.
With not many penalties called during the middle stanza, most of the play was at even strength. I prefer five-on-five because Gallant has established four lines he trusts enough to roll. We know what the top six provides offensively. Even with Mika Zibanejad continuing to have trouble finding the back of the net, they’re going to generate offense. It was the second line that delivered.
What the supporting cast brings is a strong work ethic. The third line continues to improve. We’re seeing more confidence from Alexis Lafreniere, who’s been much more noticeable on the forecheck. He’s going to the right areas and creating space for both Fil Chytil and Julien Gauthier. At some point, they need to bury some of their chances. The second power play unit also is showing improvement when Gallant uses them. Positives to consider at this point of the season.
With the offense running mostly through the second line (Line 1 B), the trio of Strome, Panarin and the gritty Dryden Hunt got it done. On a good cycle in which Panarin was directly involved versus his former team, he created a rebound opportunity with Hunt. Following a Lankinen save amidst a maze of players, Fox followed the play up and snuck in to put the rebound past Lankinen for a 2-1 lead with 2:35 left in the second.
I would describe the play Fox made as being a very smart player. All he did was read and react. He went to the net like a forward because he knew the puck would be there. That is why he’s such a good player. This is one of the best defensemen in the game. He knows when to activate. He got rewarded for his scoring instincts with his fifth goal.
To their credit, they didn’t sit back in the third. To hear Gallant tell it, he wants this team to be aggressive. They’re not a great defensive team that can just sit back and shut it down. All you have to do is watch K’Andre Miller play defense. It wasn’t a good night for him. He made some poor decisions with the puck. It was his bad pinch that resulted in the Kane goal. He also got bailed out by Georgiev on a brutal turnover. Miller must improve his positioning. Jacob Trouba can’t do it all on that pair.
The Hawks tried their best to hand the Rangers a bigger lead. But they failed to capitalize on two early power plays. Not for a lack of effort. Zibanejad got one excellent opportunity off a perfect setup. But his redirection was shutdown by a sharp Lankinen. He had two good chances to score, but it’s not going in. At some point, that’ll change.
Lankinen also denied a Kreider bid off a rush by coming out to challenge and easily gloving the shot. He wasn’t the problem for the Blackhawks. They’re offensively challenged at five-on-five. Remarkably, they rank near the bottom in goals at five-on-five with the Islanders. Jonathan Toews still has no goals. Maybe it’s over for him. But he’s too good a player not to have at least one. Let’s hope he gets it tonight. Not Tuesday.
Dominik Kubalik had a couple of great chances. But both shots rang off the goalpost. Georgiev’s best friend in the game. Kane also hit a post back in the first. Sometimes, you need some puck luck to win. It was on the Rangers’ side.
Still clinging to a one-goal lead, finally they got some much needed breathing room thanks to the dynamic duo of Panarin and Strome. After a good pinch from Trouba that pushed the puck down low, Panarin went to work. First, he nearly had Strome for his second. But after just missing, Strome made a head’s up play by chipping a backhand pass across for a quick Panarin shot with Lankinen scrambling over. His seventh of the season with 5:14 remaining seemed to put it away.
For the most part, the Rangers defended well enough. But with Lankinen on the bench for an extra attacker, Kane was able to find a seam pass across for a DeBrincat one-timer that Georgiev made a save on with 1:19 left. However, a closer look showed that the puck went off the post and then crossed the goal line with Dach in the vicinity. Mass confusion followed.
In what felt like an eternity, the refs finally decided that the original ruling of no goal was overturned. Of course, Gallant was furious. They let him get his argument in. The delay took a while. Whether or not it was a good goal, I don’t know. Yes. The puck was in. Was it after Georgiev seemed to make the save? Who knows. When it comes to video review, nobody knows WTF is going on. Gallant didn’t have a challenge left.
It didn’t matter in the scheme of things. Ultimately, the Rangers did enough to get the ‘W.’ That’s all that matters. Was it perfect? No. But if you’re a good team which they are, you find a way.
Right now, we can relax and enjoy other games. It’s a nice change. Thank God they hired Gallant. He’s accomplished more than David Quinn did in his time here. There’s four lines and three pairs. There’s more structure and grit along with character. Characteristics a good team needs. All established before 25 games.
Plenty to be thankful for if you’re a fan of this team. The holiday season is upon us. It’ll be a happier one.
As expected, the Rangers placed starting goalie Igor Shesterkin on the IR due to the lower-body injury he suffered during the third period of last night’s 1-0 win.
At the very minimum, he’ll miss the next three games including tonight’s home match against the Blackhawks. It’s a game backup Alex Georgiev was supposed to get anyway. Something coach Gerard Gallant hinted at prior to Friday night.
For Georgiev, it’s an opportunity to prove himself. Given his struggles thus far, now he’ll get a chance between the pipes. With the Rangers having a busy schedule that includes games Tuesday at Chicago and back home Wednesday for the Avalanche, we’ll see if he’s up to the challenge.
With a COVID outbreak hitting Hartford, the Rangers recalled Adam Huska to backup. Keith Kinkaid is one of the Wolf Pack players who’s positive. So, we won’t be seeing him. Huska is 2-3-1 with a 2.20 GAA and .924 save percentage over six games with the Pack.
The 24-year old Slovakian is in his third pro season after attending the University of Connecticut for three years. Huska was a late seventh round pick in the ’15 NHL Draft. If for any reason Georgiev struggles, it’s possible he could get into a game. That’s the last resort.
One thing that Ryan Strome said in the postgame is how it’s a Next Man Up mentality. The veteran playmaking pivot feels that they’re a different team from years past.
“We’ve grown a lot in last year or two,” Strome stated to reporters following Friday’s win.
“We’re able to handle these things, no matter who goes down. We’ve had a ton of games where we’ve played with 11 forwards, either guys getting hurt or whatever. I think guys responded well on the bench, just turned it up, make sure we helped [backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev] out. He came in and did his job, he’s a good goaltender. He’s been waiting for an opportunity and he went in there and finished [it] off.”
“That’s what good teams do. Next man up.”
That’s exactly how they must approach things. Anytime you lose someone so important like Shesterkin to injury, it hurts. However, the strong response in the final 15 minutes of their win over the Sharks was a good statement. They attacked and defended well enough to make life easier for Georgiev, who stopped all nine shots to split a shutout with Shesterkin.
As far as it being a short-term injury, I’m not so sure. With a history of groin issues including last year when he wound up missing 10 games after the team indicated he was “day-to-day,” it’s hard to put a timetable on when Shesterkin will return. He’s supposed to practice first once he’s cleared.
The Rangers also visit Buffalo next Friday. Counting yesterday, that’s a stretch of five games over eight days. What they can’t do is rush him back. If I had to guess, a three week period seems more likely. That would give Shesterkin more time. Hopefully, he’ll recover and be available after Christmas.
Good teams find a way to win games without their best players. This will be a good litmus test. We’ll find out more about the Blueshirts. It starts in less than two hours.
Whenever your clear-cut number one goalie goes down to injury, you get worried. Especially given the recent history for Igor Shesterkin with the Rangers.
The latest concern is over a strange leg injury he sustained after making a save with players in front during what turned out to be a shared shutout with backup Alex Georgiev. Credit Georgiev for being able to come into a tough situation and be sharp enough to make nine saves in relief to help the Rangers blank the Sharks 1-0 at MSG.
It’s awfully tough to get too excited when Shesterkin got hurt. He’s so vital to the team’s success. Establishing himself as one of the better goalies in the NHL, the 25-year old Russian writhed in pain after flexing his leg while down on his stomach. Nobody made contact with him.
It looked like he tweaked something. It could be a groin, or something else. Early indications from coach Gerard Gallant is that it isn’t as bad as it looked. For the team’s sake, let’s hope so. Shesterkin has been brilliant in his third season. He entered with 12 wins. By making 19 saves before giving way to Georgiev with 14:52 left in regulation, he earned his 13th victory and improved his GAA to 2.05 with a .937 save percentage.
Seeing Shesterkin unable to put any weight on his leg as trainer Jim Ramsay helped him to the locker room, was very worrisome. He’s had setbacks the previous two seasons that caused him to miss time. It brings into question if he can stay healthy over a full season. If it isn’t a long-term injury as Gallant hinted, they obviously will be cautious. They need him.
Now with a season best five-game winning streak thanks to a Ryan Strome power play goal in the first period, the Rangers are off to a 15-4-3 start. The 33 points in 22 games is good enough for second place in the Metropolitan Division. Entering Saturday’s 8 PM home match versus Chicago, they trail the Capitals by two points with two games in hand. Two better than the Hurricanes in the same amount of games.
That’s a good place to be with Shesterkin down. Now comes the key part. Before he stopped the remaining nine San Jose shots to join Henrik Lundqvist and Antti Raanta as the only other Rangers’ goalie duo to share a shutout, Georgiev entered with over a 4.00 GAA and .858 save percentage. He’s scheduled to start tonight.
In order to survive, they’re gonna need Georgiev to play with more confidence and consistency. Areas that he’s struggled with since last season. Even if I’m not too high on him at the moment due to his drop off and postgame reaction the other night, he has to step up.
That means making the key stops like he did to thwart Logan Couture on a San Jose power play to keep the team in front. It was a positive sign when Georgiev made a quick reflex save to deny the Sharks’ captain off a good Timo Meier set up. He made a couple of big saves to help preserve the win. Now, he must do it over 60 minutes.
One thing Steve Valiquette said afterwards is that when a goalie is in a slump, they just have to play. Not over think things. Something that Georgiev has been doing. If you go out and play, the results are usually better. This new challenge could be his last chance. We’ll see how he reacts.
Obviously, knowing Shesterkin won’t be available for Saturday night, that means we’ll see Keith Kinkaid summoned from Hartford. Judging from his sarcastic response to a Vince Mercogliano tweet, he’s chomping at the bit to return.
Kinkaid has done well with the Wolf Pack this year. With another game postponed due to COVID outbreak in the AHL, the 32-year old veteran is 9-1-1 with a 2.59 GAA and .916 save percentage. In nine appearances in ’21 for the Blueshirts, he won three games with an identical GAA (2.59) and .898 save percentage. It would be another opportunity for the former Devils cult hero to play a role in the NHL on a good team.
In regards to the game played at 33rd and 8th over Penn Station, it was a pretty entertaining watch. For a 1-0 score, you wouldn’t have known it. Each goalie came up with good saves. Particularly Adin Hill, who got his second straight start on consecutive days due to James Reimer being under the weather. His biggest stops came when he robbed Chris Kreider on a power play and later Artemi Panarin on the doorstep to give his team a chance.
Shesterkin made a few quality saves during a more wide open first period in which both teams had 10 shots apiece. But the only goal came off the stick of Strome on the power play.
After klutz Patrik Nemeth shoved Noah Gregor into Shesterkin following a strong move to the net, he was given a cheesy goaltender interference call. Yes, he couldn’t stop. But let’s just say Nemeth didn’t exactly help. How they signed him to that contract I’ll never understand.
After moving the puck around well, finally Mika Zibanejad got it over for Adam Fox up top. All he did was hand the puck over to an isolated Strome for a rare opening. He doesn’t shoot often. But this time, he went to a slap shot and gave it a drive where Mama hides the cookies. To quote the Buffalo Sabres legend Rick Jeanneret. It was a great shot Hill had no chance on.
Strome’s fourth from Fox and Zibanejad came at 6:03 of the first period. Who knew that would be the only goal? True enough, I told Rangers buddy Sean McCaffrey that I felt this would be a low scoring game due to two hot number one goalies. I’m not a gambler, but I said take the under on the Total. Go figure it eventually became a battle of backups with Reimer sick and Shesterkin leaving at the 45:06 mark of the third.
Despite goals coming at a premium, it was an enjoyable game. You had both teams exchange chances in the more free wheeling first. That included another near miss from the power skating Julien Gauthier. A young player who continues to show promise, but isn’t yet able to finish off some of his moves.
I felt that third line with Fil Chytil and Alexis Lafreniere played well. They generated chances off the cycle and drew a penalty. It would be nice to see them get one. Gallant rewarded them with a late shift protecting the lead. That shows a leap of faith. Something we didn’t see under the previous coach.
Sometimes, I can’t help myself. I made this David Quinn gif during last year. Haha 😄 🤣
I want to commend the Sharks for how hard they played. It’s tough playing a back-to-back. Even if they had to work overtime to get the 2-1 win over the punchless Islanders, they played a tighter checking second where the shots were tougher. Maybe coach Bob Boughner deserves some credit for their defensive improvement.
Let's call it a patient game at MSG. The Rangers lead the Sharks 1-0. Open ice is hard to find. Igor Shesterkin and Adin Hill have stepped up and played well when needed. The Sharks feel they have to play this way; the Rangers can't bend because SJ does have a few gamebreakers.
With San Jose, you know they got big weapons Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson, who seems to be more like his former self offensively. He entered with five goals including the overtime winner the previous night. He can still be attacked behind his net as we saw a forechecking Kaapo Kakko do late in the third period. But Karlsson still has the quick stick and good shot which he used to force Shesterkin into a nice glove save.
The thing about the Sharks is it isn’t only the vets which include Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Youngsters Mario Ferraro and Jacob Middleton are playing key roles on the blue line. Both are solid defensively. Ferraro missed a bit in the first, but returned and was okay. If former Shark Barclay Goodrow can play with a black eye after a scary puck he took in the win over the Flyers, then you knew Ferraro would be back. Hockey player!
One storyline was Kevin Labanc being back in town for the Sharks’ trio of games in the metro area. A Brooklyn native who also played a bit out here in Staten Island before starring for the New Jersey Rockets and eventually the Barrie Colts, the ’14 sixth round pick has a top six role with the teal. A key shooter on the power play, he got a good scoring chance during the second. One-on-one with Shesterkin, Labanc just missed tying the game. That would’ve been a sweet homecoming. He had 10 people in the stands.
Even though the shots were 7-6 Sharks, I liked the physicality. Jacob Trouba laid a clean open ice hit on Labanc, who luckily didn’t land flush on the boards. One thing about Trouba. He plays an honest game. He led the Rangers with five hits in over 22 steady minutes. So far, his third year on Broadway has been the best. Hopefully, he keeps it up.
The Rangers had some chances to make it an easier win. But they failed to capitalize on a pair of power plays. One midway through when Lafreniere got a step on Vlasic, who pulled him down. The latter coming when Panarin stole the puck from Karlsson behind the San Jose net and was taken down.
It was the third and final man-advantage where Zibanejad looked to have a cutting Panarin all set up. But somehow, a sliding Hill got across to make a desperation pad save to shutdown the tuck at the far post. It was a great save. The one on Kreider that came earlier was his finest. He was beat on that, but never gave up. No wonder Hill earned the game’s Third Star.
It was a very evenly played game. I don’t know how much I’d read into that. The Sharks are much better than the defense optional Flyers. Maybe that explains it. They sure had enough left in the Shark Tank to challenge the Rangers.
If there’s one takeaway, it’s how they rallied around Georgiev. Following the Shesterkin injury, they immediately picked up the attack time with two strong shifts in a row. By that, they ramped up the forecheck and really tried to go for the knockout blow. That showed a lot of character.
After a routine stop to get into the game, Georgiev was called upon on the penalty kill. With K’Andre Miller off for a trip on Couture, he flat out denied his power play bid from the slot with a nice kick save to cheers. That had to feel good for him. He needs a confidence boost. Hopefully, he’ll be able to carry it over against the more offensive minded Blackhawks. Talk about a gutless organization. I’ll get into it in a different post.
The third again saw each side get their shots through. It was 11 up. A bit different from the second. When push came to shove, the Blueshirts shutdown the neutral zone the final five minutes. With Gallant going down to his top two pairs (who can blame him with how scary Nemeth is), the foursome of Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Trouba and Miller did a good job. Fox bounced back with a better game by breaking up several plays.
If there’s one thing I loved is how Turk used all four lines. He didn’t shorten up with the forwards. They all played and did a good job defensively by being responsible. You had Lafreniere persevere after his dump in was deflected by a Sharks player much to the blindness of Joe Micheletti. It was his third game working in a row due to filling in for Butch Goring (shoulder surgery).
The players all took away the middle of the ice and chipped pucks in deep. They defended very well. This was appreciated by the fans. One thing about the knowledgeable fans. They love good team defense in such close games. It was hard fought.
When Meier got off one final shot off a rush that missed its target, the buzzer sounded to more applause. The players congratulated Georgiev, who had to feel relieved. His last win was on Nov. 14 versus the Devils. He was pulled after two periods in the wild home win over Buffalo on Nov. 21. Now, he’ll look to find the form he once had behind Henrik Lundqvist and Shesterkin.
For a Friday night, The Garden had a good crowd. I just checked the attendance. They listed it at 16,726. One of the biggest so far. I guess I’ll find out from Sean M how good it was. He attended it. I know he seemed a little down on my commentary towards Igor. But it’s a legit concern. The Rangers need him to stay healthy. Let’s hope for the best.
Igor will have an MRI tomorrow and Gallant said that Georgiev will start vs. Chicago. But he also said the trainer, Jim Ramsay, told him the right-leg injury seems minor. He definitely seems like he's feeling some relief. #NYRhttps://t.co/AkveSq5vhf
It’s basically become a yearly ritual for me to post this classic scene from Wargames whenever crap completely hits the fan for the Devils, symbolically going to DEFCON 1 is my version of pressing the panic button. And make no mistake, there’s real reason to panic in Newark now after the Devils got popped in their third straight game, and have only won two of their last ten games overall. Yes the Devils are still technically at NHL .500 but come on now…they’re well off any playoff pace (playoffs? PLAYOFFS?!) with a goal differential of -11 and sinking fast. Losing by a combined score of 18-8 in their last three games is just inexcusable, and though the Wild and Sharks are apparently good teams this year, these games shouldn’t exactly be mismatches on the level of Rutgers going to Ohio State in college football here.
Even worse than the overall results are the fact this team continues to find different ways to lose – as losing teams will do. If it isn’t the power play letting us down, it’s the goaltending…or the coaching…or the offense…or the defense. Frequently it’s most or all of the above at once. I haven’t even needed to see the last two games to get annoyed, well I did turn on the third period tonight but this team’s already got me back in the apathy zone. Just like Lucy with Charlie Brown and the football, they make you think maybe this year’s gonna be different with another good early start, then the inevitable crash comes and you feel like a blockhead for even entertaining the thought this year’s gonna be different.
I’m gonna start my post-Thanksgiving carving up of of the team with someone I don’t want to carve up, and that’s the head coach. Make no mistake, I was a Lindy Ruff fan going back to his days in Buffalo. As such, I was more supportive of the hire than many Devils fans. But you have to wonder about the coaching in general when the team continually gets off to poor starts in games, it’s become an alarming trend in particular during this ten-game stretch. Other than the Philly win last Sunday you have…fall behind 2-0 to Minnesota, 3-0 in Nashville, 4-0 to the Sharks, 3-0 in Minnesota and 3-0 tonight in Winnipeg (shockingly rebounding to take the lead early in the second before the roof fell in, again). Even one of our two wins in the last ten games required us to fall behind 2-0 in Tampa. It’s hard to rebound when you continually go down by multiple goals early, especially when your power play sucks and you don’t exactly have the best offense in the world.
And someone’s gotta get the memo to Lindy that this is 2021, not 1985 or even 2003. First of all, there’s no excuse for the head coach to give a fourth-liner like Mike McLeod fifteen minutes of icetime a night. But he wins faceoffs! Who cares, you now literally have three centers on the roster you’re hoping to build the franchise around. Yet we’ve been giving Jack Hughes shifts on the wing since his return from IR, and now tonight even shifted Dawson Mercer and Nico Hischier to wing on and off. Yet McLeod (no goals and four assists with a -6 in 21 games) still gets his fifteen minutes of icetime a night, and got just thirty seconds less than Hughes did tonight, in a game we were trailing almost from puck drop. You would think being behind would lead you to play your offensive players more but nah, gotta win those faceoffs and match lines! Not to mention putting guys on the wing who aren’t used to playing wing is just asking for trouble, Hughes certainly looked like a fish out of water in his first couple games off IR playing wing while Mercer was a -4 with no points tonight. Coincidence? I doubt it.
Also, the coach needs to get it through his old-school skull that no-talent goons do not protect players anymore, and the proof of that should have been the second game of the season when Mason Geertsen being dressed did not stop Jack Hughes from being drilled along the boards and taken out for two months. Geertsen’s not even a good goon but the head coach continues to find excuses to play him, whether it’s throwing Marian Studenic into a black hole after some solid early-season games, or scratching Yegor Sharangovich and Janne Kuokkanen (granted, both probably deserved it) and using that as excuses to keep Geertsen in the lineup. It may seem like a little thing to argue about a fourth liner’s icetime, but in stretches of six games in ten days, it can make a big difference in managing icetime and juggling lines when you have a forward who can’t take a regular shift.
I’d even take the coach to task for his goaltending rotation – i.e. just handing Mackenzie Blackwood back his job when Jonathan Bernier was getting it done early in the season and letting Bernier cool off on the bench (starting just one game in the next three weeks after a 4-1 start) while overplaying Blackwood, and it hasn’t served either goalie well. But at a certain point both goalies just gotta make a bleeping save too. Goaltending was supposed to be a strength of the team with Blackwood and the vet Bernier finally giving us a 1-2 tandem but Blackwood’s given up four or more goals in three of his last six starts, including nine in his last two, while Bernier’s gone from god to clod giving up 4, 3 and 6 goals in his only three starts since early November. Quite simply he gave the team zero chance to win tonight with multiple soft goals allowed and deserved the hook after two periods, but the staff’s gotta manage their goalies a bit better too.
I’m certainly not going to let the players off the hook with this mess…if you’re going to give the keys to the franchise to the young guns then it’s only fair that they’re the first guys under scrutiny when the team continually comes out dead-legged in games. It’s harder to get on Hughes than Nico given the fact Hughes missed two months, but again we’re gonna have to see elite stretches from him that last longer than 7-8 games before he starts living up to his recent extension, or his hype. Don’t give me advanced stats or pretty moves, show me tangible production. Still, to me Nico’s the bigger problem at the moment. When you’ve been getting first-line center icetime (19:24) a night and you have three goals in 22 games, that’s a big problem. I don’t want to hear about his advanced stats either or all the chances he creates that wingers miss, heck that’s all the more reason why Nico needs to bring more scoring to the table. I understand he does all the little things well, but having a less durable version of Travis Zajac isn’t exactly what anyone had in mind when he signed his seven-year extension in two years ago. And it’s always easy to go the scapegoat route with the captain when things aren’t going well, but that’s fair game too when this team’s early-game jump is so conspicuously lacking, and the losing culture continues to persist despite vet additions in the offseason and a vet head coach.
As if the production from our #1OA’s wasn’t underwhelming enough, the powerless play continues to be a thorn in this team’s side. Sure they actually scored a power play goal tonight – against the 31st ranked PK in the sport – but they have a long way to go just to get back to being respectable after a month where they barely scored more goals than they gave up on the man advantage. At least our own PK’s been somewhat respectable lately but the D as a whole, not so much. For all the crap the goalies deserve for leaking goals, the shot totals and chances have also skyrocketed over this stretch. Ty Smith’s been certifiably awful this year (a -11 in 18 games with just five points), to the point where he may well deserve a demotion and Damon Severson, bro if you want a big contract after next year you’re gonna have to do better than six points and a -9 in 22 games.
I’m not even attempting a chalk recap of the last two games, what’s the point? Thankfully I only watched one period tonight and none of the previous two games, mainly because this season already is getting that ‘same ol same ol’ feeling to it (plus I actually wasn’t able to watch the Shark game, though I did see the third period on replay later) but that hasn’t prevented me from being annoyed over another season going up in smoke with no end in sight. I won’t be able to avoid the three-ring circus Monday, in what’s basically as close to a must-win as you can have in December against Ottawa. With any luck maybe the coach will stop forcing our top centers to the wing just to get scoreless McLeod and Jesper Boqvist more icetime, that’d be a nice start at least. More competitive first periods would be just peachy too…start giving me a reason to watch you guys again beyond the games I’m more or less obligated to be at.
hasan4978
Derek
Battle Of Hudson 
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