Rangers get hit by an Avalanche literally as win streak ends

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Derek

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 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.

https://twitter.com/Sports24x7_/status/1468738003984130053?t=Tk55lfooPnRCHTemrRAHlA&s=19

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.

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)

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Trouba earns second Gordie Howe hat trick in as many nights, texts with Khaira

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Derek

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.

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.

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.

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A big third period propels Rangers to seventh consecutive win in sweep of Blackhawks, Panarin records point number 500, Trouba hit injures Khaira

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Derek

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.

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.

https://twitter.com/BattleOfHudson/status/1468394319656755206?t=4wKuv3zyKG6Ps_nRAVyUzw&s=19

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.

https://twitter.com/Sports24x7_/status/1468433512051191812?t=xjIHiFsDLTO5-Qu6_9kJdg&s=19

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.

I’m definitely looking forward to it.

https://twitter.com/BattleOfHudson/status/1468435380626235392?t=6DdwIohnancdbprs09ssxQ&s=19

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Good teams win even when not at their best, a happy holiday season for Rangers fans

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Derek

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.

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Rangers place Shesterkin on IR, Next Man Up

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Derek

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.

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Georgiev relieves injured Shesterkin in second ever shared shutout in Rangers history, 1-0 win a character builder

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Derek

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.

https://twitter.com/Sports24x7_/status/1466927717924888576?t=8vIuQ7E66t_940kJlyeJZg&s=19

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.

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.

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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.

THREE STARS 🌟 OF GAME

3rd 🌟 Adam Fox, NYR (primary helper on Strome tally, 3 blocks, 3 attempts, takeaway in 25:14)

2nd 🌟 Ryan Strome, NYR (power play goal, 4th of season, 4 SOG in 7 attempts, 6-and-6 on face-offs in 18:34)

1st 🌟 Adin Hill, Sharks (26 saves on 27 shots, kept it close)

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Devils’ road meltdown indicative of larger problems

Posted on December 3, 2021 by hasan4978

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.

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Blueshirts Flying high following latest win over Flyers, Kakko stays hot and Shesterkin stands tall, time to get rid of Georgiev

Posted on December 2, 2021 by Derek

One positive characteristic about Gerard Gallant is he tells it like it is. Following a the latest win, the coach was honest in his assessment of the Rangers’ 4-1 victory over the stumbling Flyers last night.

They played great up until Dryden Hunt was called for a charging major and game misconduct early in the second period. By that point, Chris Kreider had made the score 3-0 when he converted his team-leading 16th goal of the season thanks to some great passing from Kaapo Kakko and Mika Zibanejad at 34 seconds into the second.

Over a minute later, Hunt who scored his third goal in a dominant first period, closed fast on a prone Justin Braun to send him into the boards and down. He was cut on the play. I thought it was going to be a boarding major. Instead, they ruled it a five-minute major for charging and ejected Hunt.

What I didn’t notice was that Hunt didn’t leave his feet. That’s why Gallant disagreed with the call. He took up for his player and explained it well after the game. Hunt plays a hard-nosed gritty style. It’s nice to see him get rewarded offensively. His goal in the first came off a good Artemi Panarin pass. Hunt made a strong move and beat Carter Hart for a 2-0 lead.

Even if Gallant had a point on the major penalty the Rangers killed off, he was correct in his assessment about the game. To their credit, the Flyers got seven shots on Igor Shesterkin during the five-minute power play. They did everything but score due to Shesterkin, who was the Rangers’ best penalty killer.

Chants of “Igor, Igor!”, filled the home arena for the number one goalie. The heir apparent to Henrik Lundqvist continues to grow in stature at MSG. Even though he doesn’t speak much English, the 25-year old Russian has a dry wit. During the postgame, when asked about the chants, he said it gives him strength, but he has to keep from crying at the love to chuckles.

His best saves came during a sequence when the Flyers applied pressure in the later stages of the big power play. On a point-blank chance, Shesterkin got just enough of a shot with a stick to push it off the crossbar. Playing with Jacob Trouba’s stick, he then denied two more bids with tremendous blocker saves to cheers.

That kind of clutch goaltending illustrates why people are talking about Shesterkin around the NHL. In 17 games, he’s 12-3-2 with a 2.15 goals-against-average (GAA) and .935 save percentage. Those numbers aren’t even the best at the quarter mark. But when you look at what he’s doing while getting little to no help from Alex Georgiev (more on him later), you could make a case that Shesterkin is at the top of the list for the Vezina. If Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid weren’t in another category along with the ageless Alex Ovechkin, Shesterkin could be a dark horse MVP candidate.

Even in a period where the Flyers controlled the play due to the momentum they got off the extended power play, they never could break the concentration of Shesterkin. He stopped 15 of 16 shots in the second to keep the Blueshirts ahead by two. The only Flyers player to bear him was Morgan Frost, who converted in front after beating Alexis Lafreniere to the net.

Despite not being able to seize back control, the Rangers had a workman like mentality in a no frills third that eventually saw them skate without two forwards due to Barclay Goodrow taking a puck to the face. Luckily, Gallant provided an update by indicating he was okay. Playing with only 10 forwards, he mixed and matched to replace Hunt on the second line. Kevin Rooney and Lafreniere were used after Goodrow left the game.

In a game where Adam Fox wasn’t too good for a rare change, it didn’t matter. A Frost hi-sticking minor put the Rangers on an early man-advantage. After the first unit did nothing, out came the second unit. In a welcome change, they combined for their first power play goal to open the scoring.

Nils Lundkvist combined with Kakko to set up Jacob Trouba for a good one-timer from the point that beat Hart at 3:41. It was the third goal in four games for Trouba, who was the best defenseman last night. Interestingly, he already is up to four goals and nine points in 21 games. Last season, he had 12 points (2-10-12) over 38 contests. Gallant has been pleased with Trouba, who said the second unit didn’t press before finally getting one on the power play.

With the Flyers giving up plenty of room, that allowed Fox to move up the puck for Panarin, who gained the zone. He then found an open Hunt, who cut to the net and beat Hart short side for a two-goal lead at 9:32.

It easily could’ve been more. But a bad miss took a goal off the board. On what was a good play with Fox involved, the whistle blew before the Rangers scored. It was ruled an offside. However, none of the players believed it. The replay on MSG clearly showed that the play was onside. Unfortunately, you can’t challenge such a call. So, it remained 2-0. How the two linesmen and two refs missed it I don’t know.

In the same period that saw them outshoot the Flyers 15-11, Panarin hit the goalpost. Hart also made a big save to keep it within range. He was really left by himself due to the pitiful Flyers defense. Let’s just say it looked familiar. Alain Vigneault coaches them. They are down a lot of players, but have enough to play better like they did following the Hunt major. It was their seventh consecutive loss.

To start the second, the Blueshirts turned to some fancy passing that would’ve made the Harlem Globetrotters proud. After just missing on a scoring chance, Kakko took q cross-ice feed from Mika Zibanejad before centering for a quick Kreider diving snapshot that went inside the post to make it 3-0 at 34 seconds. How that happened so quickly in a new period was inexplicable. Terrific finish by the sizzling Kreider, who remains third in goal scoring trailing only Draisaitl and Ovechkin.

Although they didn’t convert on the five-minute power play, the Flyers played much better down three. They finally got on the board a few minutes afterwards. On a good passing play, Claude Giroux and Cam Atkinson combined to set up Frost in front for his first of the season. On the play, Trouba was occupied with a Flyer while Frost beat Lafreniere for the goal. That cut it to 3-1 with 10:23 remaining in the second.

They had other chances. But Shesterkin was there to keep them from making it more interesting. He was the Rangers’ best player in the lopsided period that saw them only register five shots on Hart. He finished with 33 saves to earn the game’s First Star. Thirteen came with the team shorthanded.

Although the third wasn’t a Picasso, the Rangers did what they needed to. As Trouba put it in the postgame, they turned it into a boring period. Sometimes, when your down a couple of skaters, that formula works best. Don’t forget the five-day layoff in between games. Something he referenced. Trouba said it was strange not playing. They have had two games postponed due to COVID hitting the Senators and Islanders. Both will be made up.

Aside from killing the remainder of a K’Andre Miller cross-checking minor to start the third, the Rangers also had to kill off two minutes for a rare Fox delay of game penalty in the final five minutes. Special teams was again a difference. They went 1-for-2 on the power play while the Flyers were 0-for-3.

One thing Gallant was pleased with was how his team defended. He liked how they took away time and space from the Flyers down the stretch. They effectively neutralized the Flyers. Shots finished 8-7 Rangers in a more defensive minded period.

On some sheer hustle with under a minute to play, Panarin took away the puck and scored his sixth unassisted into a vacated Flyers net. It was one of those shifts where Panarin put the extra effort in. Although he had two points which was nice, something is missing.

He hasn’t been the same player since Russia Gate. He also avoids contact more. Is that PTSD from the Tom Wilson incident? No clue. But when the game’s intensify next year, they need Panarin to be more physically engaged. He still leads the team with 23 points (6-17-23). It’s not as dominant.

In a game highlighted by Kakko picking up two more points (helpers) to continue his good stretch, there was something else I didn’t notice. Following the win, teammates congratulated Shesterkin. That usually means plenty of hugs. Except for one.

I’m not one to try to read too much into anything. But the look on Georgiev during the postgame celebration isn’t one of joy. Neither was his quick hand slap with Shesterkin. Normally, goalies are very close.

We’ve seen this over the years. Mike Richter had a good relationship with Glenn Healy. Henrik Lundqvist always was extremely close with his backups which included current Wild starter Cam Talbot and Carolina backup Antti Raanta. He treated Georgiev well and then handled himself with grace when Shesterkin took the mantle with Georgiev backing up mostly.

You’d think Georgiev would be a bit classier. This isn’t a good look for him. Neither was the stuff that came out last season with Tony DeAngelo. Former GM Jeff Gorton and Team President John Davidson went out of their way to take his side after the skirmish with DeAngelo. Maybe he was right all along. Despite how badly it ended, he remained a popular player with former teammates.

I’m not sure that’s the case for Georgiev, who’s been awful. He hasn’t been the same player since then. His play is very unsteady. It’s why Gallant has given Shesterkin the bulk of the starts so far. At the current pace, he’s going to be around 65 to 70 games.

Is it manageable? He’s never played over 39 in a season dating back to the KHL. Last season, Shesterkin played 35 games. As long as he can remain healthy, there shouldn’t be an issue. However, we don’t know how he’ll do playing nearly double the amount of games. He looks good.

There definitely is an issue with Georgiev, who made a trade request last off-season. Chris Drury shopped him with no success. He wants out. His body language isn’t great. His confidence isn’t high. Neither is his value.

I feel the Rangers need to cut ties with him. Keith Kinkaid has played well in Hartford. He’s a good team guy who doesn’t think he should be the starter. I’d rather have a player who wants to be here. If Georgiev is so good, then trade him to the Sabres. They’re starved for goaltending. I don’t care if it’s a sixth round pick. It’s time.

Finally, a quick plug. Sean McCaffrey has a great Rangers blog that is always entertaining. He recently attended the first game at UBS Arena won by the Rangers. He gave a full review and then had a Report Card on our team. While we don’t always see eye to eye on everything, it’s worth a look.

Also of note, Stan Fischler was in attendance at the game last night. The Hockey Maven has covered the sport for eight decades. A legendary writer whose books are excellent, Fischler is finally being recognized for his work. He will enter the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame with Paul Holmgren and Peter McNab this month.

It’s a well deserved honor for Stan. I interned for him at the beginning of the 21st century. That was a life changing experience. It was always a pleasure to be part of The Fischler Report which astonishingly enough is still published. He lives with his grandkids in Israel. What I admire about him is his enthusiasm and passion. He truly loves what he does.

At 89 years young, Fischler is a remarkable person. I wouldn’t have gotten to work for MSG working the Devils production truck where I met great people including the legendary Doc Emrick along with the classy Chico Resch. I wouldn’t have ever stepped foot at ESPN twice to work as a Remote Production NHL researcher. That was a great experience.

This is a man who’s done so much for so many. If there were more quality people like Stan, the world would be a better place. He had a good sense of humor. Those production meetings were fun. He would start with a joke that kept things light. I’m glad the Rangers recognized him last night. Congrats to Stan!

Normally, I do a three stars here. I’m going to leave that for another game. I picked Shesterkin First Star followed by Kakko and Panarin. Trouba was named a star by the media. Good for him.

The Sharks have been a pleasant surprise so far. They still have Logan Couture, who remains one of my favorite players. Timo Meier is off to a good start. Brent Burns still patrols the blue line, but isn’t as productive. Neither is Erik Karlsson although he scored his fourth goal in a recent win over the Devils.

Keep an eye on Staten Island native Kevin Labanc on the power play. James Reimer has assumed the starter duties and played well. They visit the Islanders tonight before facing the Rangers Friday. A back-to-back. Following that one, the Rangers host the Blackhawks Saturday night. Start time is 8 PM. Interesting. They’ll then visit Chicago on Tuesday before hosting Colorado on my birthday.

That’s all for now. A bit late with this game story. But I was tired last night after watching the final episode of The Sinner. What a great show. If you never watched it on USA Network, I highly recommend it. Bill Pullman was terrific as Harry Ambrose over the four seasons. It’s got a lot of mystery, intrigue and suspense. If you have On Demand, you can re-watch the final season in entirety.

Until next time, this is Derek Felix signing off. Peace.

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Devils’ Tuesday was more productive off-ice than on it

Posted on December 1, 2021 by hasan4978

For one day and one day only it feels irrelevant that the Devils put up another stinker at home, this time losing 5-2 to the Sharks in a game where they were down four after two periods and despite a third period where they showed some life, a game they were never truly within striking distance. It probably helped my mood that I was at a trivia night with friends as opposed to wasting my time watching last night’s dud, even if I wasn’t able to sell my tickets at all. At least I didn’t have to waste the $7 on parking – though Sunday night I was able to park on the street and save the minimal fare then as well. It’s certainly concerning that the team’s only won two of its last seven games with a tricky back-to-back in Minnesota and Winnipeg coming up this weekend but I’ll harp on this team’s level of play more in my next blog if things don’t improve.

To be fair, last night the story for the Devils was off ice, and it was two-fold though both parts involving the same individual. First, word came out in the morning that franchise center Jack Hughes was indeed returning to the lineup last night after missing the previous seventeen games with a shoulder injury.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1465727490698227720?s=20

With Hughes’ return, the Devils are finally as close as they’re going to be to having a full lineup this season, given the hip injury with Miles Wood is rumored to be a season-ender. There are no excuses left up front for what so far has been an inconsistent offense, and a poor power play. Hughes himself recognizes this with a leader-like quote after last night’s debacle:

Nice to see some accountability from within and without after a poor performance on the ice, it looks as if Lindy Ruff did his best Herb Brooks impression at practice today, saying (among other things) that if they don’t work hard during the game they’ll practice hard. More practice is all well and good but sometimes better schemes would help too, specifically on the power play. Even the line management was questionable last night with the staff wanting to lighten the load on Hughes by starting him at wing in his first game back.

Anyway, back to the better news – as if Hughes’ return wasn’t enough excitement for player, team and fans for one afternoon, word came down late in the day that the Devils had reached an agreement with their 20-year old center on a long-term extension for eight years and $64 million (an $8 million AAV).

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1465802092652773378?s=20

It’s kind of ironic that the Devils managed to couple news of an extension with Hughes’ return to the lineup just several months after Nico Hischier’s own return to the lineup off a long injury was linked to the announcement of him being named captain that same day. Also ironic that the team lost both games with dud performances, so maybe it’s a good thing we have the captaincy settled with both players signed until close to the end of the decade, since the good news days off the ice tend to lead to letdowns on the ice.

There isn’t really much to critique about this extension, obviously you would have liked to have seen some more production from Hughes on the ice first but last season’s COVID-riddled disaster and this season’s early shoulder injury made that near impossible. So basically, GM Tom Fitzgerald had to take a leap of faith and hope the team’s most recent #1 overall developed into the top-line center many believe he will be. There was no world where signing a bridge deal would have worked for the Devils – either he would have way outperformed the bridge deal and cost us even more down the road (assuming we’d be able to keep him once he got closer to FA), or if he didn’t outperform the bridge deal it would be bad news for the franchise long-term regardless.

Like it or not, when you have two #1 overalls that are 22 and 20 years old respectively, the future of your franchise is pretty much tied to their success whether they’re on bridge deals or long-term contracts. You can’t really argue with the order of the Devils’ biggest money contracts with their best player Dougie Hamilton having the highest AAV with $9 million, then Hughes at $8, then Nico at $7. Plus as any Devil fan who’s been burned by the Scott Niedermayer defection would know, you also have to consider the Hughes brother factor since the paranoia would have been off the charts if Jack got to UFA before brother Quinn.

All signing Hughes did was push even more chips to the middle of the table in banking the next several years on the development of Jack and Nico. Sure, Dawson Mercer looks like a keeper who may well get his own mega extension in a couple of years, and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood’s certainly important to this team’s future as well but by the same token goalies are almost never a sure thing (though Blackwood’s been more consistent this year). Plus as awesome as Mercer’s been, he’s been helped by not needing to be the #1 guy at the start of his career the way Nico and Jack both had to be right off the hop. If Hughes and Nico both develop into the players we need them to be, this team’s future is certainly bright. If they don’t, we’ll have bigger problems than the combined $15 million per year on their contracts.

As if Fitzy didn’t have a busy enough week already with the Hughes signing, came word today that recent first rounder Shakir Mukhamadullin signed an entry-level deal with the understanding he’ll stay in the KHL the rest of this season on a loan deal. You always worry about Russian players eventually deciding to stay in the KHL so it’s always good when they take the next step toward playing in the NHL, and given he won’t even turn 20 until next month he still has plenty of time to develop in the team’s system.

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Devils feast on the Flyers to close holiday weekend

Posted on November 29, 2021 by hasan4978

It’s only been a few days since my last blog but there’s been a bit of Devils news since then. First and foremost, after coach Lindy Ruff called Jack Hughes’ imminent return from a shoulder injury close last week, he modified it to ‘very close’ a few days later. So seemingly our top center’s return is days, not weeks away at this point – and also not a moment too soon after the Devils lost five of six heading into last night’s weird 7 PM Sunday start against the Flyers. Also making a different kind of return was Nathan Bastian, claimed off of waivers from Seattle just before Thanksgiving. Although he only had three goals and ten points in 41 games last year, the affable fourth-line banger remains popular inside and outside the locker room, and the celebration of his return after getting taken in the expansion draft this summer is one of the few things I’ve seen universal agreement on by Devils fans in recent years.

On the negative side, another thing Devil coaches, players and fans were pretty much in agreement on was the fact that Friday’s 4-2 loss in Nashville just wasn’t a good enough effort by any standard. Really the scoreline flattered us considering that our second goal came in junktime the last few seconds of the game. If it wasn’t for the Devils having lost four of five already before the Nashville game, I would have been a little more willing to excuse that lack of effort given that a day-after-Thanksgiving road trip to Nashville for a 6 PM start isn’t exactly ideal. Still, when you’re slumping you have a little bit less margin for eating schedule losses without a fight. Coach Ruff certainly wasn’t happy after Friday’s game:

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1464412085253771268?s=20

Given that backdrop, Sunday night’s showdown with the Flyers was key and not just because they’re a division rival in a similar position in the standings. I said in my last blog I wasn’t going to this game but that was before I wound up making plans for Tuesday night, so I went to the game last night after all – though I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about it through the first period. Maybe it was the weird start time with a weeknight-type crowd, the team’s recent poor run of results or having already invested time listening/watching to the Jets football game earlier in the day. More likely it was some combination of all three that led to me feeling a bit blase early, having NHL games on the same day in a market with an NFL team isn’t ideal for fans of teams in both sports (even in a season where the locals are both out of it, you still find reasons to watch 1 of 16 games) but sometimes unavoidable.

Still, a 7 PM start on a Sunday? My friend Rudy (who sits in a section almost directly on the other side of the arena from me) seemed surprised by the weeknight-looking crowd, I wasn’t really, particularly with how problematic it was for me to finally sell my extra seat. Especially with people going back home after a holiday weekend. Even going through the motions a bit myself, it was hard not to get juiced for the early start the Devils got off to when the unflappable Dougie Hamilton got the home side on the board at 5:07 of the first, and just moments after ringing a shot off the crossbar! Hamilton’s deflection of a Andreas Johnsson feed had some special meaning for the Devils’ best player:

I haven’t known that many people who’ve had to deal with cancer myself other than my arena friend Kristi who usually sits in the lower bowl, but hasn’t been coming to games this season (she’s had other health issues related to all of the chemo and other treatments she’s had for her previous cancer). I do think of someone like her last night and hope things are getting a little better at least. I’m sure we’ve all either known someone firsthand or secondhand if we haven’t had to deal with cancer itself, so it’s always good when the NHL or any league does what it can to raise awareness and help charity. I actually kind of wish the NHL would let players wear some of the specialized equipment they wear during practice in a game. God knows we have to deal with thirteen games in our new black jerseys, we could afford to have one with the purple cancer jerseys, and different masks for goalies like Mackenzie Blackwood’s custom-made that got shown on the jumbotron but was only worn during the pregame skate.

Back to the game, Hamilton’s goal really was the only highlight for the Devils in the first as the Flyers took a little control of the game back the rest of the period, and again made a monkey out of our clown-show power play after Scott Laughton’s shorthanded goal tied the game. For the entire month of November the powerless play is 4-37 (10.8%) and has given up three shorthanded goals. So basically our PP is a net of plus one for the entire month. If this were the NFL, Mark Recchi’s seat would be getting hotter by the day. I guess we’ll see if the PP improves with Hughes back, it almost has to improve from those numbers but will it improve enough to get out of ‘among the worst 3-5 in the NHL’ territory? Somehow I doubt it.

I got more into the game from the second period on though, helped in no small part by Johnsson’s early goal that put the Devils back in front, and once again moments after missing a golden opportunity when Nico Hischier sprung him for a breakaway and Johnsson got stopped, then put the rebound over the net. Fortunately, new best friend Jesper Bratt found Johnsson in front after keeping the puck in the zone, and Johnsson beat Martin Jones high to give the Devils back the lead at 1:47. This time the Devils maintained territorial control for much of the middle frame, but couldn’t quite put the hammer down and the score remained 2-1 after two.

After the second period I wound up going to the other side of the arena to see Rudy and his sister Tiffany and sat with them for most of the third period, it was only the second time I’d seen him and the first time I’d seen her since the pandemic since I didn’t go to games last year, and for one reason or another (some of my lower-bowl seats, and them not being there for most of the games I was in the upper level) I hadn’t gotten to see them much yet this season. Fortunately, it wound up being a good period to hang out with friends – although it got off to another bumpy start in part due to a referee who didn’t really make an attempt to avoid a Pavel Zacha clearance that wound up right on the stick of Laughton in front, and he fed Joel Farabee on a bang-bang play to tie the game and had the coach steaming, he referenced the ref not getting out of the way two different times during his postgame presser. Honestly I didn’t even realize it was as bad as it was until I saw the replay now, that actually looked intentional it was so bad.

Despite the game being 2-2 and the Devils failing on another couple of power plays during the third (one that looked competent, one that didn’t), they finally started getting the breaks their play in the last two periods deserved. A Flyer turnover led to another piece of Johnsson and Bratt magic on a two-on-one, this time Bratt scoring to give the Devils back the lead at 11:57. Then a couple minutes later came a bit of feel-good magic, when a pretty Hamilton feed found Bastian alone in front for a nice welcome home goal in his second game since coming back to the Devils.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1465145964700778496?s=20

After an early goalie pull brought on a 6-on-5, Johnsson’s empty-net attempt had eyes and found its mark from nearly 200 feet away for the clinching goal, making the game 5-2 and giving Johnsson an amazing two goal, two assist night. Despite the powerless play and some early frustration, the team got an all-important two points and got one game closer to Hughes’ return with a full-ish lineup, or at least as full as the lineup will get without Miles Wood.

Devils Three Stars:

  1. Andreas Johnsson (two goals, two assists, +5)
  2. Jesper Bratt (goal, two assists, +4)
  3. Dougie Hamilton (goal, assist, +2 and team-leading 10 SOG)
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