Rangers’ late push not enough in tough loss to Avalanche, Zibanejad and Panarin struggle in second consecutive defeat, Kakko slumping

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Derek

They certainly tried to make the most of an overturned J.T. Compher power play goal that looked like a very iffy call. Instead of being down and out, the Rangers had a new lease on life. They were able to pull within one goal with Alex Georgiev on the bench.

However, the late comeback push fell short in a tough 4-2 loss at Colorado. After Julien Gauthier was able to put in a rebound of a Dryden Hunt shot Darcy Kuemper misplayed to cut the deficit to one with 3:02 left, Chris Kreider came so close to tying it. But Kuemper made a sprawling save to deny him in front.

On a neutral zone face-off with Georgiev back in net, Mika Zibanejad lost the crucial draw to Nazem Kadri. Off the face-off, the scrappy Valeri Nichushkin wisely pushed the loose puck by Adam Fox and then turned it into a breakaway goal at 19:23 to ice the game for Colorado. A play where both Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin looked bad on.

Neither star played particularly well in the rematch against the elite Avs, who were without captain Gabriel Landeskog. Zibanejad went without a point in 17:26 with just two shots while Panarin picked up a secondary assist in an otherwise ineffective game for the Rangers’ leading scorer.

The Avalanche deserve credit for taking away Zibanejad, Panarin and for most of the night Kreider, who is in a mini-slump with only one goal in his last seven games. Undoubtedly, he’s been the most consistent forward this team has had. No other Ranger is in double digits. Kreider leads them with 17 goals. After that, Panarin has nine.

The problem is it’s now a four-way tie between Jacob Trouba, Ryan Strome, Alexis Lafreniere and Kevin Rooney with six. Zibanejad remains stuck on five with Fox, who’s point production has been consistent. You can’t have your top center with only five goals in 28 games over a week before Christmas. It doesn’t translate. They didn’t extend Mika at an average of $8.5 million so he could be a streaky scorer. He works hard at other areas. But he must start burying some shots. If not, this team is going to be in trouble.

Kaapo Kakko had another disappointing game. Since the stretch where he put up all eight of his points over seven games, he’s without a point in seven straight. Tonight, he lost a puck battle along the wall and took a penalty due to being too soft. It is a process for young players, but at what point does the former ’19 second pick start making more of an impact? He is a bad fit with Zibanejad and Kreider. It’s time to move him back with Strome and Panarin.

When Kreider isn’t finishing and Panarin isn’t going, the offense will struggle. Especially with Zibanejad firing blanks. Second center Strome has been getting it done. His redirection of a great Fox pass gave the Rangers some life in a more inspired second period. That goal cut a 2-0 deficit in half.

It was all Avs in the first period. If not for Georgiev coming up with some timely saves (10) in a lopsided period that saw the Rangers establish zero sustained attack, it could’ve been worse than a two-goal deficit. He made three good stops on the first of six Avalanche power plays. That bailed out Patrik Nemeth, who has become an eyesore.

With the game still scoreless, Nathan MacKinnon made a great play to set up line mate Mikko Rantanen for the first goal at 12:18. Carrying the puck, he went around Nemeth behind the net and came out and made a perfect backhand feed for a Rantanen finish behind Libor Hajek to open the scoring. On the play, Nemeth got beat and Hajek tried to help in front, but didn’t recover in time to pick up Rantanen. MacKinnon was able to also beat Alexis Lafreniere to make the gorgeous pass.

While the Rangers barely tested Kuemper, who could’ve been in a lounge chair, the Avalanche controlled play with their imposing combination of size, speed and strength. After he whined about an inadvertent Strome trip earlier in the first, Rantanen got a legit call when Kevin Rooney foolishly tripped him up in the Ranger zone.

That penalty hurt. Instead of escaping the period down a goal, the Rangers trailed by two thanks to Cale Makar ripping a laser by a screened Georgiev at 18:11. The sad part is it was his own player who made it impossible for him to track the puck. Nemeth screened out Georgiev on a perfect Makar shot that went blocker side to make it 2-0. The offensive dynamo leads all defensemen with 13 goals. He legit has a shot at 30. What a dangerous player.

After getting outplayed and outshot 12-7 in a flat first, the Rangers played a much better second period. They went to the power play early when Andre Burakovsky cross-checked Ryan Lindgren. On the man-advantage, they didn’t quite get the set ups they wanted. Colorado did a good job blanketing Panarin and Fox. Kreider wasn’t a factor either.

When Gerard Gallant went to his second unit, Hunt got nabbed for a pick play at the Avalanche blue line. Compher sold it to make it four-on-four for 43 seconds. After the Rangers were able to kill the Colorado five-on-four, Hunt drew an interference minor on one-time Blueshirt Jack Johnson by driving the Colorado net. A good play by a gritty player.

Although the second power play had better looks, they couldn’t cash in against Kuemper. He made the saves he needed to and the Avs killed the rest. If there was a notable difference, special teams went to Colorado. In most of their wins this season, the Rangers have won the battle of special teams. Tonight, they had four less power plays and allowed one power play goal.

In what can best be summed up as an intense heavyweight battle, Kurtis MacDermid got the decision over Ryan Reaves in an entertaining scrap. After Reaves landed some early shots, MacDermid came back with some of his own before two rights finally got the takedown. A rare loss for Reaves.

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Sometimes, teams get lifts from fights. Even though Reaves lost, it was advantage Rangers. Less than a minute following the fisticuffs, Fox made a terrific play by moving the puck down low for Strome. He was able to get the tip in for his sixth to cut it to 2-1 with 9:24 remaining. A superb effort even if it wasn’t conventional. It still counted just the same.

On the next shift, a flying Zibanejad broke in on Kuemper. But his backhand attempt was denied by the Colorado starter. A huge momentum turning save. Afterwards, a frustrated Zibanejad took a silly penalty by grabbing Johnson for holding. One of those regrettable offensive zone minors you can’t take against such a lethal opponent.

Even though they killed the penalty, the Avalanche are the last team you want to put on the power play. If there was one gripe about the game, the Rangers took too many penalties. Georgiev sure gave them a chance. He made nine saves on 10 power play shots and was good throughout despite allowing four goals on 31 shots. The loss wasn’t on him.

For most of the second, they did so many things right. But then they began turning over pucks to fuel the Colorado transition. Zibanejad had a bad one. It was finally a turnover by the fourth line that really came back to haunt them. Eventually, the Avs turned it into a goal when Kadri took a low shot on Georgiev for a rebound with two bodies in front. With only Lindgren back and Fox behind, Nichushkin steered in his eighth for a 3-1 lead with 1:15 to go.

That was a backbreaker. The Rangers had all the momentum. But the sloppy play crept in and really cost them. Of course, the guys on ESPN Plus were heaping praise on our players for playing a very clean period. It was like they jinxed them. All that talk about no turnovers and more shot attempts went up in smoke like the fancy chart garbage analytical nerds use.

The third period was interesting. The Rangers never gave up. But at times, it felt like the Avalanche were ready to put them away. A huge Georgiev save to stop Nichushkin point blank kept them alive. I know the statistics will say 27 saves and four goals allowed. But if you watched the game, you know better. He played well.

The Avalanche are such a deep team that it doesn’t matter who’s missing. They come at you in waves. They’re very big and fast. It can be a handful. There’s a reason they’ve been so hot and scoring tons of goals. This wasn’t a blowout like last week’s 7-3 dusting on my birthday.

The Rangers competed. They didn’t look outgunned. But they also aren’t yet in the Avalanche’s league. That’s fine. You aren’t going to be complete less than 30 games in when you haven’t sniffed the playoffs in five years. I don’t count the Play In Qualifier. That was expanded due to COVID. This team is still learning.

If there was a player who frustrated me, it was Kakko. He isn’t doing enough to play on the top line. He had two shots and a slashing minor because he wasn’t strong enough along the boards and chopped MacDermid’s stick in half. He isn’t there yet. I’m not sure about him. He needs to prove he can score consistently.

Filip Chytil is another young player that isn’t getting it done. He isn’t finishing on plays like the one he had in front. The overall play has improved. But he’s been around long enough where offense should be expected. He doesn’t draw the tough assignments. They must get more out of the third line to be successful. If not, a trade is needed.

Games like Tuesday night emphasize the importance of Sammy Blais. His size, strength and grit is sorely missed. Gallant wouldn’t be playing Kakko on the first line. Blais fit better because he’s more mature and can handle the physical toll. I’m not going to use the Pavel Buchnevich excuse. Blais was doing well until P.K. Slewban Subban ended his season. His career will be over soon. I bet Devils fans can’t wait for him to be gone.

Without Blais, Gallant continues to employ Hunt in a top six role. As much as I admire his work ethic, he isn’t that player. Stick him on the third line where he can create more space for Chytil and Lafreniere, who isn’t ready for a top six role. If he was a right wing, I’d feel differently.

At this point, I think Turk should bump up Gauthier to the first line. He puts in a lot of effort and is around the net a lot due to his skating and North/South style. I know he only just got his second goal. But what other choice do they have? This is where not having Blais hurts. Vitali Kravtsov sure would be intriguing if he were available. That’s not happening.

Let’s get to the Compher no goal. With Hajek off for delay of game, the Avalanche got the puck up top to Makar for another hard shot. Compher somehow managed to redirect it off the goalpost and then beat Trouba to put in a rebound for what looked like an insurmountable 4-1 lead.

But after some discussion with the refs at the bench, Gallant decided to take his shot at challenge for goaltender interference. From the replays ESPN Plus showed, I didn’t think much of it. While there was initial contact between Compher and Georgiev, it came before the puck arrived. It had nothing to do with the play. I felt it should’ve counted. To my astonishment, they overturned the call and ruled it no goal.

Overkill. They’ll do anything to protect goalies. It was soft. I would’ve preferred it to count and not lose the way the Rangers did. But that’s what the league has become. A predictable soft as Carvel league except when a certain player slew foots and injures opponents. Mind boggling. About as much as ESPN not showing most of their games on cable TV. Not everyone wants to pay a premium for a streaming service. Luckily, I can stream the games for nothing. I don’t get it. They’ll show collegiate sports over NHL hockey. How does that promote the sport?

In regards to the final few minutes, it was interesting to see Gallant shift Hunt back to the fourth line. With Reaves on the bench and Rooney also taking a seat after a second consecutive ineffective game, it was a new look checking line that produced a goal on the six-on-five.

With Georgiev on the bench, Goodrow won an offensive draw back for Hunt, whose shot rebounded off Kuemper right to Gauthier, who flipped in a backhand for his second to make it 3-2 with 2:02 remaining. All it wad a simple face-off play where Gauthier went to the net and got the loose change. There wasn’t enough of that from the top six.

With Georgiev again lifted, it looked like Colorado would seal it with an empty net goal. But a great hustle play from Lafreniere denied a bid when he batted the attempt out of the air with his stick. He got shifts at the end because he was effective. Gallant felt he was too cute when he sat him out the last 10 minutes against Nashville. I like Laf’s grit. He definitely works hard and has more sandpaper to his game than some of our other young players.

That one defensive play from Lafreniere almost led to Kreider tying it. He got to his spot. Off a face-off win, Fox moved the puck over to Strome, whose shot pass was redirected by Kreider into Kuemper. He got one crack at a rebound, but was shutdown before Makar checked him. That was the chance to force overtime.

Finally, Kadri won a draw at center ice from Zibanejad. Nichushkin made a smart play by pushing the puck ahead and slipped through both Fox and Zibanejad to earn a one-on-one with Georgiev. He made a good move and went forehand deke upstairs to salt the game away with over 36 seconds left.

It was a frustrating way to end the game. Especially given how they never quit. They were that close to forcing overtime thanks to an overturned goal that to me should’ve counted. The NHL remains very confusing.

Now, there’s another COVID outbreak. There are players all over the place testing positive. The Carolina/Minnesota game was canceled. Calgary and Chicago didn’t play on Monday. Supposedly, both the NHL and NHLPA are going to have a discussion over all the players in COVID Protocol tomorrow. I’m curious to see what happens. It isn’t only affecting the NHL. But the NBA and NFL. It’s worrisome.

The Rangers are back at it when they visit Arizona. It’s probably good to get another game. But what about the travel factor? What about the issue with Nashville, who just visited? Yeah. There’s concern. Players have expressed similar issues with participating in Beijing. I don’t feel it’s worth the risk. That isn’t a good idea.

That’ll do it. The Rangers want to bounce back. They’re now third in the division with the red hot Penguins gaining ground. That’s a surprising team to keep an eye on. I’m curious to see how the Rangers will do against the more defensive minded Pens. Don’t forget the sizzling Golden Knights visit MSG Friday. There then is a break in the schedule.

See you later.

THREE STARS 🌟 OF GAME

3rd 🌟 Nathan MacKinnon, Avalanche (2 assists, 5 SOG, 7-for-13 on draws in 22:32)

2nd 🌟 Nazem Kadri, Avalanche (3 assists in 20:01)

1st 🌟 Valeri Nichushkin, Avalanche (2 goals, 3 SOG, +2 in 16:21)

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It’s Groundhog Day in Newark…again

Posted on December 15, 2021 by hasan4978

Even more so than my Wargames clip, the more fitting symbol of what the Devils franchise has become is the Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day, where his character re-lives the same day over and over and over again. Only instead of living the same day as Devils fans, we’re living the same year over and over and over again. Yet I’m not sure I can remember a time where I’ve been this annoyed with the direction (or lack thereof) of the franchise as I am right now. It was one thing to be struggling when we were supposed to be rebuilding in the first few years of the Ray Shero regime, or when he tried to move towards a win-now approach and it blew up and then Tom Fitzgerald had to start rebuild 2.0. I’m not even asking for much as a fan at this point, despite all their additions this offseason pretty much my goal was just to have ‘meaningful games in March’ for only the second time in the post-Lou Lamoriello era.

This year should have been the time to see improvement from the younger players, especially with Fitz augmenting the core with a few vets this offseason. Instead, we have younger players stagnating or going backwards and an entire team that seemingly doesn’t know what to do on the ice, especially when special teams gets into the mix. Excuses have been the order of the day around here – Lou left the organization in bad shape, COVID screwed up seasons, the coaching sucks, yadda yadda yadda. When do we get to the day where we start to hold the players themselves accountable? Or better yet when does ownership start re-evaluating its whole process which clearly isn’t changing jack for the better?

If you go by the saying a fish rots from the head out, you gotta start with ownership and the general laissez-faire way they approach winning and losing both here and with the Sixers. I can’t even necessarily complain about who they’ve been hiring here as much as I do just the whole idea that every little thing has to be run as a democracy rather than just hiring people, letting them do their jobs and evaluate them on their own merit. Instead, we know that one of the reasons Shero was fired was that he wanted more autonomy and ownership wanted more of a collaboration. We have reports of upper management having input into the power play (like it’s helped) and other facets of daily coaching. And I loathe the fact this organization is making me call for Lindy Ruff’s head after like eighty-five games, but in the coach’s defense it’s not like he was really given any autonomy here, starting with his own staff. Was PP guru Mark Recchi really Ruff’s hire or Fitz’s? Given the Pittsburgh connection with Fitz and no other prior connection with Ruff, it seems obvious what the answer is. We know doggone well Alain Nasreddine was foisted on Ruff, which was even more ridiculous given that Nas had run his course both as an assistant under John Hynes and as the interim after Hynes’ firing.

I guess in a sense it’s fitting that Nas was kept from a prior administration, since after all Fitz himself was kept from a prior administration. Albeit a guy who was highly thought of and probably would have gotten his own GM job outside of New Jersey eventually, but still when you replace one coach and then foist his assistant on the next coach, while ownership promotes the assistant of the last GM it’s getting a bit…incestuous for lack of a better word? I’m just waiting for some organizational accountability to be shown and I don’t just mean firing a figurehead coach who has no real authority anyway. I’ve been a bit skittish about bringing in John Tortorella cause of the rationalization that his style with our finesse team would be an oil and vinegar match but at this point bleep the players. I’d bring him in just to light a fire at this point cause it doesn’t seem like we have anyone else in the organization willing to do it.

Ruff talks a good game but in the end just defaults to the same shuttle in and out fourth liners and run a few bag skates that most coaches do (with some of those moves making little sense, like scratching physical Nathan Bastian who can play for Mason Geertsen who can’t play the other night…like really now), without doing anything to even address the failing strategies on the ice. Ironically the one time he really put the hammer down on a key player, it worked – Jesper Bratt is one of the few players thriving in this mess of a season. But where’s a similar level of accountability for Ty Smith continuing to stink up the ice? He was named by the GM as someone just outside of core player status last year, but has shown to be anything but this season. And as much as I like the guy and think he does care, the fact this organization rushed to give Nico Hischier the C as quickly as they did before he fully established himself may well prove to be a mistake. It’s one thing to be a good person and try but that doesn’t give you stature or make you a good leader. Not that anyone else outside of maybe Dougie Hamilton is capable of wearing the C on this roster, but I can’t even make that claim with this season going up in smoke. Pretty much everyone needs to be called on the carpet for two dead-fish efforts in a row against the Islanders and Flyers.

Where is the realization by Ruff, ‘his’ staff or the higher-ups above that this so-called power play system just isn’t working? When even a gold standard player like Hamilton can’t run this system, the problem is usually with the system itself. It doesn’t seem like even now the coaching staff gets it, after nearly a monthlong stretch where the team’s literally given up more shorthanded goals than scored on its own power play (to be exact three PP goals scored in our last 36 attempts, with four shorthanded goals given up during that time).

Although finally admitting personnel changes could be made is a start, how about admitting that maybe this system itself needs to be re-evaluated? Or the process of it being more streamlined rather than Ruff, Recchi, Fitz and the analytics people all sitting in an office gaming out what, exactly? A different way of standing around and trying to thread the needle for a perfect pass in front? How about on a bigger level figuring out why quite a few guys when they first get here perform great, then stagnate after 15-20 games in this so-called system (yes I mean you Dougie, and your d-partner Ryan Graves)? Even a kid like Dawson Mercer has been pulled into the vortex of suck, with just one goal and a -8 in his last eight games.

This isn’t to absolve the players by any stretch, especially when you have a culture that for years has excused losing and blindly peddled a ‘better days are ahead’ mantra, the younger the roster gets without any real plan for developing all your younger players other than…they’re young, they’ll develop all on their own! At a certain point, our ‘captain’ or someone in the room needs to stand up and say this bleep is no longer acceptable around here, it shouldn’t be entirely up to the coaches and upper management to enforce accountability in the room. A good franchise breeds accountability both from management and peers. When the Devils were winning it wasn’t always Pat Burns and Jacques Lemaire giving speeches or pulling guys aside in the locker room. Sometimes it was Scott Stevens and Claude Lemieux letting players know their bleep isn’t gonna fly here. Right now as a franchise we’re missing a collective accountability both from above and from within. There’s too many milquetoast personalities who go with the flow and not enough guys who are willing to spice things up to get everyone going.

Part of my longing for some accountability comes from seeing other teams make coaching changes and immediately benefit from them, including the team that smoked us tonight – the Flyers, who’ve now won three straight not long after losing ten in a row. Vancouver was mocked for acting like a win-now team, hiring Bruce Boudreau but they’re winning now too. Both teams saw their season going up in smoke and did something about it, while we’re likely going to wait too long again just like we dragged our feet weeks after we should have fired Hynes in 2019. Not that I trust Fitz or ownership to do the right thing and bring in a name coach with some autonomy or even promote Kevin Dineen, who would seem to be the obvious in-season replacement with what he’s been doing at Utica this season – and get this, they actually have an elite power play down there! Think we could use some of whatever he’s brewing down there?

Apparently ownership (and/or Fitz) didn’t want guys like Gerard Gallant and Peter Laviolette during the 2020 offseason because they wanted more of a say in things than we were willing to give them. Gee, I wonder how their teams are doing now? Oh right, they’re so far in front of us we need a damn telescope to find them! Maybe it’s time to rethink the importance of coaching and not just trying to treat an NHL coach like a baseball manager, a guy who runs everything by the numbers and blindly does what management wants. No moneyball system on its own has been shown to win without any regard to talent or coaching yet. Maybe instead of just having a group of finesse youngsters you occasionally try to add in a couple of physical vets who aren’t outright useless goons?

Before we even talk about a philosophy change though, this organization needs to take a good hard look in the mirror and use one of its own corporate terms…self-evaluate. After eight years of two rebuilds I see zero evidence that our process is, or will work anytime soon. I’ve already gotten to the avoid watching games and dread going to games part of my yearly cycle of life. I didn’t watch a minute of the last two games and was better off for it, when the inevitable result happened Saturday with the fossilized remains of Lou’s ex-Devils (Andy Greene and Zach Parise) both scoring on us as if it was 2012 again. I don’t even want to hear about people being sick tonight at this point – when you do nothing but peddle excuses for years I’m sorry, I have no patience left for you even if this excuse has some truth to it in all likelihood.

It’s time to act like you’re in St. Louis and SHOW ME improvement, show me accountability. Give me a reason to watch your product again other than the games I’m self-obligated to go to, and a reason to keep my tickets after this season rather than just taking a bath on the ‘value’ of tickets for the sake of seat location and having playoff rights – god knows when we’ll ever get back to them.

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Predators out-grind Rangers in playoff style shutout, Kreider speaks up

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Derek

This one was all about style. It wasn’t fancy. But rather a grinding, physical game that was hard fought. Despite playing without stars Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen, the Predators out-hit and out-grinded the Rangers to win a playoff style game 1-0 at MSG.

Juuse Saros finished with 32 saves including 16 coming in the third period to record his second shutout of the season. Of all the top goalies that are frequently discussed, he’s the least talked about. All the 26-year old has done is replace Predators legend Pekka Rinne without any problem.

Aside from having difficulty getting pucks past Saros, who made himself look bigger than his 5-11, 180 pound frame, the Blueshirts also found it tough to get through the Predators in the neutral zone. They really packed it in defensively. That was by design under coach John Hynes, who knew his team would have to win a low scoring game minus Duchene and Johansen.

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It isn’t often an opponent out-hits the Rangers. However, they were the hunted on Sunday night. Nashville possesses some gritty players. Consisting of Yakov Trenin (6 hits, 5 SOG), Luke Kunin (5 hits, 3 SOG), Eeli Tolvanen (4 hits, 2 SOG), Tanner Jeannot (4 hits) and wrecking machine Mark Borowiecki (5 hits), those five players out-hit the Rangers 24-22. Overall, hits favored the Preds, 39-22.

That didn’t sit well with Chris Kreider. One of the team leaders, he called out attention to how he felt they played during a revealing postgame interview. It hit the nail on the head.

Both Steve Valiquette and Henrik Lundqvist agreed with his assessment. The proof is in how they’ve had most of their early success. This isn’t a team that relies entirely on skill. But on will. They like to outwork opponents by finishing checks and winning puck battles on the forecheck. They go to the dirty areas to score. There wasn’t enough of that last night.

Instead, it was the Preds who controlled the game. They hit hard and went after it. After beating both the Devils and Islanders, they weren’t satisfied with getting only two wins in the metro area. They put their hard hats on and dictated the terms to win a playoff caliber game behind Saros.

For a 1-0 game, it wasn’t dull. You had plenty of physicality and battles that intensified after a scoreless first period. Nashville was way better early by outplaying and outshooting the Rangers 13-6. They were tied due to Alex Georgiev, who continued his strong play by stopping all 13 first period shots en route to 23 saves.

Since Georgiev relieved Igor Shesterkin at the 44:52 mark of the third period in a shared shutout against the Sharks, he’s 3-1-0 with a 1.42 GAA and .951 save percentage. That steady play has allowed Shesterkin to take his time. He is getting closer to returning. But, it’s good to see Georgiev find his form. That’ll make the Rangers more formidable in net.

In a game where the refs kept the penalties to a minimum, it was the Predators who were able to earn the all important first goal less than two minutes into the second period. On an Alexandre Carrier forecheck, Filip Forsberg made a great pass up to Philip Tomasino for a good snapshot that went top shelf for the rookie’s fifth at 1:44.

Despite the Blueshirts picking up their play, that goal proved to be the difference. With the top two lines largely ineffective due to a stingy Nashville defense led by captain Roman Josi (4 SOG, 2 blocks) and Mattias Ekholm (3 blocks), the Rangers’ third line had the best scoring opportunities.

On the same shift, Filip Chytil had two wide open chances. Both came in transition where he’s most effective due to his skating. However, neither shot reached the net. While Joe Micheletti said both were deflected by Nashville sticks, I find that hard to believe. On one great chance, it looked like Chytil just missed high and wide. That’s how it’s gone for him.

While the 22-year old Czech was coming off consecutive games in which he tallied points, the bottom line is he needs to produce more than the three goals and four assists he has so far. It’s not enough from the third center. This isn’t to say there hasn’t been improvement in other areas. But his line isn’t facing the toughest competition. He’s the most experienced on that line. It’s up to him to lead the way.

I thought both Alexis Lafreniere and Julien Gauthier were more noticeable throughout. Chytil got one good shot on Saros that he saved due to a nice set up from Jacob Trouba. That was it. He also lost all five draws. Lafreniere was effective in a few shifts during the second. He nearly tied it when he stripped Josi and in one motion got a point blank shot on Saros that he saved. Despite being active, he hardly saw the ice late in the third.

Gauthier played well enough for Gerard Gallant to bump him up to the first line with Mika Zibanejad and Kreider. With Kaapo Kakko again beginning to disappear following his one good stretch, Turk made a change in the third by moving up the more visible Gauthier and sliding Kakko back to the second line with Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin. Kakko had a very ineffective game in 12:08.

As for Gauthier, he did some positive things due to his strong skating. But he didn’t register a shot. It’s awfully hard to justify bunping him up when he has only one goal. I thought Gallant made a mistake by sitting Lafreniere. He seemed to have energy and is looking more confident. Instead, he wound up with 9:18 of ice time.

Consecutive strong shifts by the top two lines late in the second period seemed to be a good sign. Buoyed by a great open ice hit from Trouba that had fans chanting his name (what a difference), finally Zibanejad got a good shot on net. The Strome line then spent some time around the Nashville net. Both Strome and Panarin had chances as did Adam Fox, who sent a shot just wide. Ryan Lindgren missed the net too.

That was the kind of effort they needed. While Trouba drew attention from Trenin and Kunin for another strong hit, the Rangers outshot the Predators 10-6 in the second. Saros wasn’t cooperating. He made the key saves to keep his team ahead.

In the final period, the Preds decided to protect the one-goal lead. They hardly forechecked. Opting to continue playing a tight checking style that made life tough on the Rangers at five-on-five, Nashville clamped up the neutral zone and stood up at the blue line.

It took a superlative effort from a changing Fox to draw a rare penalty. After receiving a pass at center ice, he flew past Michael McCarron and forced him to take him down. He was sent off for tripping. It was the brilliance you come to expect from Fox in a game where he was marked well.

The second power play was exclusively the top unit. They certainly had their chances. Strome got the best two on good passes across that allowed him to fire through. On one chance, it felt like he would score. But Saros quickly recovered to make the save. He also got the better of Strome on another bid. He doesn’t shoot a lot in most games. But in this one, Strome finished with a game high eight shots.

A frustrating night. He had nothing to show for it. Some games, it’s like that. Zibanejad continued to fire blanks. A game removed from getting a break to end a scoring drought, it was back to shooting pucks into the crest. His best shot actually came early in the third from a tough angle when he fired a puck short side that Saros got over for along the post.

There wasn’t much happening for Ryan Reaves. He hardly hit and didn’t see as much time. Barclay Goodrow got off a tough shot on Saros in the slot that he denied. Kevin Rooney didn’t register a shot.

There was one lineup change. Libor Hajek got into his first game due to Nils Lundkvist being out with a non-related COVID illness. He was okay. In 12:53 while paired with Patrik Nemeth, Hajek had two shots on goal and didn’t make any glaring mistakes. He plays a no frills game. I don’t get why they even signed Nemeth for.

If Lundkvist can’t go on Tuesday in the rematch at the red hot Colorado, expect Hajek to get another game. Considering the Rangers now must travel with a stop at Arizona Wednesday before returning home for Vegas Friday, maybe Lundkvist misses the trip. It’ll depend on how he feels.

The Rangers did get 16 shots in the third. But I never got the feeling they would tie it. It was just the way Nashville defended. They protected the house. If Saros saw the shots, he stopped them. Kreider alluded to it afterwards. They didn’t get enough traffic.

Gallant pulled Georgiev with 1:34 left in regulation. They never seriously threatened. Credit the Preds for playing a hard-working and tenacious game. Although they lost, it’s exactly the kind of style game the Rangers can learn from. They must adapt.

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Jack Hughes turns on the jets to score a beautiful goal

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Derek

What makes Jack Hughes fun to watch? The excitement he can create on a single rush that winds up being a highlight reel goal.

Late in the first period of a tie game after Noah Dobson scored for the Islanders, the 20-year old center took matters into his own hands to answer back for the Devils. Using his great speed and skating, the ’19 top pick took off and fired a slap shot past Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin to give the Devils a 2-1 lead.

Here’s how it looked on TV. And yes. That’s me at the beginning of the instant replay remarking about what I saw.

Jack Hughes turns on the jets to score a beautiful goal for the Devils in the first period. Video by Derek Felix courtesy MSG Network.

Having recently signed a big contract extension that’ll pay him an average of $8 million through 2030, Hughes is an exciting player who is capable of scoring and setting up goals. The future of the Devils hinges on the skilled American.

Without Nico Hischier and Ryan Graves due to COVID-19, the Devils will continue to need Hughes to lead the way. Maybe that goal was an answer to close friend Trevor Zegras. He’s been making a lot of news after his Michigan lacrosse pass resulted in a Sonny Milano goal for Anaheim. They are the first and ninth picks from that ’19 Draft.

Without a doubt, there should be more in store from Hughes. Something the Devils Red Army needs.

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Did the Rangers catch a break?

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Derek

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.

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?

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Georgiev’s 37 saves allow Rangers to hang on for one-goal win over scrappy Sabres, Lafreniere nets winner and Zibanejad ends scoring drought

Posted on December 11, 2021 by Derek

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.

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Devils’ lost home week only increases the angst of fans

Posted on December 11, 2021 by hasan4978

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.

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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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