Devils call up Holtz after costly trip to Anaheim

Posted on November 4, 2021 by hasan4978

Might as well post this YouTube of Alexander Holtz’s two-goal night in Utica that the Devils put up on their channel last night (foreshadowing his callup today) instead of anything from Tuesday’s fiasco of a game. Pretty much the less said the better about the Devils’ 4-0 loss in Anaheim, it was a perfect storm of crap starting with the mere fact the NHL schedule gods somehow gave us a West Coast game barely 48 hours after a back-to-back on the East Coast. Couldn’t one of our excess off days in October have been used to help give us more of a travel buffer coming off a back-to-back? Not that we didn’t have other issues regardless, our special teams were abysmal yet again with no fewer than two power play goals and one shorthanded goal allowed among the four the Ducks scored the other night.

I had the game on, but I wasn’t really watching it – especially since I didn’t plan to stay up for the finish of a weekday West Coast game – as much out of curiosity to listen to the ESPN+ broadcast as anything (especially with three games exclusively on the streaming service in the next week plus), without belaboring the point not a fan of Leah Hextall tonally at this point to be honest. ESPN didn’t exactly have a lot of proven broadcasters to pick from so some inexperience in their booth is natural. It does make you appreciate our home guys more in a sense. My bigger pet peeve was the noticeable delay on their stream. On one of the Ducks’ power play goals in the second period I saw the update of 2-0 on Devils Twitter like twenty seconds before I actually saw the feed broadcast the goal.

Of bigger concern for Devils fans was the undisclosed lower body injury to Dougie Hamilton that kept him out of the final two periods on Tuesday and probably this weekend’s games as well though coach Lindy Ruff stressed this truly was a day-to-day situation. God let’s hope so. We’re not exactly Tampa who can send its best player to witness protection IR for an entire regular season and not have to worry about missing the playoffs. Part of me wishes we actually had a media presence enough to ask the coach what he and his beleaguered assistants plan on doing with this abomination that is our special teams, a la the Jet media grilling Robert Saleh on Mike LaFleur after their early-season offensive struggles.

At least the Devils finally had both their top goalies dressed for Tuesday night’s game. Not that Jonathan Bernier could have done much about the Devils’ special teams breakdowns. It does at least look like Mackenzie Blackwood will make his season debut this weekend in the LA/San Jose back-to-back. With both goalies finally healthy, Scott Wedgewood was waived – and subsequently claimed by Arizona. So goes the cycle of life as Wedge once shut us out in an Arizona uniform. For the moment, replacing Wedgewood is a Utica (AHL team) concern more than a Devils concern.

Along with the goalies coming back, there’s also other good news in Devils land as 2020 first-rounder Alexander Holtz got the callup to play his first NHL game tomorrow night after a hot camp and five goals in his first four AHL games showed he was ready for a shot with the big club. Although Tom Fitzgerald and his staff have been careful not to rush players they haven’t been afraid to pull the trigger either when guys like Holtz, or Dawson Mercer show they’re ready for more.

https://twitter.com/NJDevils/status/1456363427195150347?s=20

No kidding, coach…it’s hard to see how this power play (or our penalty kill) could get any worse!

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A Foxy Return! Rangers sign Adam Fox to well deserved extension

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Derek

It didn’t take long for the Rangers to get Adam Fox signed to an extension. Fittingly, after he notched the game-winner in last night’s 3-1 win over the Kraken, Team President and GM Chris Drury got the rating Norris winner signed to a seven-year extension through 2029.

Credit goes out to both Mollie Walker of the New York Post and Vince Mercogliano of USA Today for breaking the story. Walker was first to post that the Rangers had indeed got Fox signed to a brand new contract that doesn’t kick in until the ’22-23 season. Mercogliano followed up with the particulars. The 23-year old defenseman will earn an average cap hit of $9.5 million starting next season. A well deserved extension for a brilliant player, who’s become the most valuable New York Ranger.

Everything Drury told the media who attended the Fox press conference in Vancouver is true. He’s an unbelievable player who makes teammates better. With an uncanny ability to escape checks and make subtle plays transitioning from defense to offense so smoothly, the former Harvard University standout is a great skating defenseman who is good defensively and dangerous offensively.

It’s also his hockey IQ that he’s able to read and react to plays quickly. Take the goal be scored last night. He made a terrific stretch pass that sent Artemi Panarin into the Kraken zone and then knew he’d get the puck back once he entered for the snipe. Fox thinks the game so well. The pass he made to Alexis Lafreniere for a goal last week was brilliant. He circled the net and out of the corner, found a cutting Lafreniere for the finish. How many defensemen can do that? It’s limited to a special few.

Getting Fox done was imperative. Especially once the Bruins signed Charlie McAvoy to a long-term extension worth the identical $9.5 million AAV. Nothing against McAvoy, who’s an excellent overall defenseman that plays more physical. Fox will be getting paid the same money. They’re basically the same age along with Avalanche top defenseman Cale Makar ($9 million AAV). Miro Heiskanen is 22 and makes a bit less. Right now, Fox is better than the aforementioned players. Had they waited until next year, the cost would’ve gone up. It’s a great deal that keeps Fox in New York City until he’s 31.

After tallying 42 points (8-34-42) and a plus-22 rating his rookie year in ’19-20, Fox followed that up by going 5-42-47 with a plus-19 in 55 games for the abbreviated ’21 season. That was good enough to win his first Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman. He became the first New York Ranger to win the Norris since legendary Hall Of Famer Brian Leetch in ’96-97. So far, he’s continued his acceleration by starting hot with two goals and seven assists for nine points in nine games. Already with 98 points (15-83-98) over 134 career games, Fox needs two more to reach 100.

It isn’t only about production. A tremendous five-on-five player who also makes good defensive plays and blocks shots, Fox is normally in the right position when he needs to be while going up against quality competition with partner Ryan Lindgren. They’re already one of the league’s best tandems. Both are 23. Lindgren handles the nuts and bolts while Fox makes things happen in a similar fashion to former Devils’ Hall Of Famer Scott Niedermayer. Of course, Niedermayer wasn’t the biggest in stature either. However, he made up for it with his tremendous skating and ability to read plays, going from defense to offense as well as anyone. That’s who Fox reminds me of.

While I don’t like comparisons, I can’t think of another former player that Fox plays like. It isn’t Leetch, who was superb offensively and solid defensively. Leetch was in a different category on offense. I’d give the edge to Fox defensively. The transition is similar. But they’re different players. Leetch could score highlight reel goals and hit double digits 14 times including reaching 20 five seasons. He won two Norris Trophies and has a memorable Conn Smythe for the ’93-94 Stanley Cup Championship team. One can only hope one day, Fox helps lead this new era of Blueshirts to the promised land alongside Igor Shesterkin. They’re the best two players on the roster. Both with so much ahead.

In regards to where the Rangers would be for next year’s cap, Mercogliano provided an update on that below.

Of course, nobody knows what the cap will be by next off-season. Perhaps it might go up a little due to it being a full season with two new TV partners and fans back in every arena. Though attendance is predictably down with MSG no longer drawing close to what it was before the pandemic. We’ll have to wait and see.

There’s a lot to like about what the Rangers organization is doing. Under Drury, they’re getting players signed sooner. That’s better business. It saves money. Even if Fox will be paid top dollar. He’s worth it.

The Rangers return to action tomorrow night at 10 PM against the Canucks.

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No treat for Devils fans against Columbus

Posted on November 1, 2021 by hasan4978

In our post-relevant era, few teams have given us more fits than the Columbus Blue Jackets, who we’ve gone just 5-14-1 against since the end of the 2014-15 season. Of course we haven’t played the Blue Jackets in nearly twenty months due to the division changeover and COVID-shortened schedule last year and this isn’t your older brother’s Jackets team with no John Tortorella, no Artemi Panarin and no Sergei Bobrovsky. Columbus is supposed to be if not rebuilding, at least retooling with first-year coach Brad Larsen.

Yet yesterday was your typical same bleep, different year loss to the Jackets.

It looked like the Devils would actually give the just over ten thousand fans in attendance a treat for most of the afternoon, but horrible games from defenseman Ty Smith, third-string goalie Scott Wedgewood and our usual anti-power play turned a late third-period lead into another frustrating shootout loss. Just as well I decided to use yesterday’s game for a credit trade-in (you get to choose six games and apply the listed season ticket amount toward next season’s invoice, I’ve already done three including two of the preseason games).

Part of me actually wouldn’t have minded going just to see what kind of Halloween-themed stuff they incorporated at the arena, I noticed a different type of intro behind Erika Wachter during the pregame but whoever thought Sunday at 5 PM on Halloween would be a good start time in general needs their head examined. I barely even felt like tuning into the game after a shockingly emotional Jets game and unexpected hero of the afternoon Mike White, much less really sitting down and watching it intently. I was listening to it at least and they reeled my attention in when Jesper Bratt and Andreas Johnsson combined for the latter’s fourth goal of the season (and third in less than twenty-four hours) after just 67 seconds. It’s early, but Johnsson looks like he’s going from zero to hero this season and just months after being left unprotected – and unpicked – in the expansion draft. God knows we could use some unexpected scoring since many of our expected scorers haven’t been doing the job so far.

Not that prosperity lasted long for the Devils yesterday, after one rare evening where special teams were a positive factor, they were again a net negative last night with our penalty non-kill unit allowing yet another PP goal when Oliver Bjorkstrand’s shot slithered through Wedgewood. Timing screwed us in terms of our starting goalie yesterday, you weren’t gonna play a Jonathan Bernier on a back-to-back who’s been fighting injury since the beginning of the camp and Mackenzie Blackwood is still a couple of practices away from his return so voila you have one more game of Wedgewood, which proved to be one too many. Of course you can’t really blame a third-string goalie for playing like a third-string goalie, but it proved to be particularly annoying yesterday.

Of course Wedge was far from the only goat yesterday as Ty Smith’s turnover led to the second goal, which was a typical Patrik Laine wrister that handcuffed Wedge. It looked like another dead effort for the first period and much of the second but as if their internal clock turned on and told them a hockey game was underway, the Devils suddenly struck bang-bang in the second period to turn a typical CBJ loss into a…hey we might have something here game. If I was gonna name three stars after this game they would have been Johnsson and the two goalscorers here – Dawson Mercer (again) and Dougie Hamilton. Mercer scored his goal on a straight wraparound, corralling the puck behind the net in traffic, twisting around and beating Joonas Korpisalo for the third goal of his young career so far. Barely a minute after Mercer’s goal, Nico Hischier teed up Hamilton for a one-timer from the side that beat the Blue Jackets goalie and gave the Devils a 3-2 lead.

Almost as if his own light switch turned on, Korpisalo immediately switched into god mode after that, keeping his team in the game with a series of good saves combined with putrid finishing on our part. Overall we outshot the Blue Jackets 26-10 in the final two periods including 14-3 in the third. Like coach Lindy Ruff said after the game, we were playing the way you want to play with a lead. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder when the penalty call was going to come since third-period penalties made games against the Blackhawks and Kraken go from in the bag to dicey. Instead of a penalty that proved to be a fly in the ointment, it was another turnover from Smith who’s clearly struggling from his lack of a camp and perhaps still playing his way into shape after his undisclosed injury. This turnover was even worse than the first one as a careless clear in the middle of the ice under next to no pressure turned into a great individual play by Boone Jenner, grabbing the puck and beating three Devils to the front to score.

Guess you could say the injuries finally caught up with us yesterday. Not that the third goal was a particularly great one for Wedge to give up either, but that one you gotta lump the bigger part of the blame on the second-year defenseman. Even with that disastrous sequence the Devils should have still won the game in regulation when back-to-back Blue Jackets penalties gave the Devils three and a half straight minutes of power play time, including over half a minute of a 5-on-3, all of which the Devils promptly wasted. Oh they did get some good shots on the first end of the PP but the 5-on-3 was a disaster, as four guys wasted most of the time trying unsuccessfully to get the puck from Jenner along the boards, then when they finally got the puck they couldn’t even get a shot the remainder of that, or on the second 5-on-4.

I knew at that point we were probably cooked. In a best case, I knew we’d have to win the game before the shootout, cause we were never going to win a shootout with Wedge going against the Columbus shooters, never mind our own inconsistent (at best) offense. Of course so it came to pass, with the Blue Jackets almost toying with us in the shootout as their first two skaters missed the net, but of course we went 0-3 and of course when Jakub Voracek did hit the net, he scored and sent everyone home with a proverbial rock on Halloween.

One guy you can’t blame is Hamilton, though I’m not doing a three stars there still needs to be some kind of acknowledgement of an insane stat line and I don’t mean his goal or even ten(!) shots on net, apparently only the second Devils defenseman in history to get as many as ten shots in a game with Bruce Driver being the other. However the overall team production with and without Hamilton is even more insane

On the one hand that bodes pretty well for Hamilton being worth his contract and having the advertised impact, on the other that doesn’t exactly bode well for the rest of our D, considering everyone there is healthy at least.

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An Igor Heist: Shesterkin steals a win over the Kraken, Fox nets winner for Blueshirts

Posted on November 1, 2021 by Derek

Plain and simple, this was highway robbery committed by Igor Shesterkin. It was an Igor Heist in Seattle. Without the evolving 25-year old Russian netminder, the Rangers would’ve been minced meat at Climate Pledge Arena. Instead, they can thank their unflappable goalie for the 3-1 win to start a four game road trip on the right foot. He made 31 saves to propel them to their fifth straight road win.

In their first visit to the brand new home arena of the Kraken on Halloween, the Rangers learned that you can’t take an opponent for granted. In their inaugural season, the expansion Seattle Kraken sure play hard for coach Dave Hakstol. Already having beaten the Predators, struggling Canadiens and Wild, they don’t get outworked much. They’ve been in most of their games so far. This wasn’t any different.

Following a good start thanks to the sizzling Chris Kreider, who took a Barclay Goodrow cross ice pass and blew a wrist shot by Philipp Grubauer at 3:38 for his team-leading seventh goal, the Rangers started to turn pucks over. Methodically, the Kraken began to take over the game by winning puck battles. They also drove the net and mixed it up. On one such play, Adam Fox was taken down in front of Shesterkin. Although he returned for a shift, he went to the locker room. That was a scare. Fortunately, Fox returned after missing a few shifts.

By the time the first period ended, shots were 9-8 in favor of Seattle. The trouble they had was getting pucks past the brick wall known as Mount Igor. That much was obvious throughout a lopsided second period that saw the Kraken dominate the play. With their aggressive forecheck picking up, they fired good shots on Shesterkin, who was in a zone. As the neutral zone turnovers mounted, that fed the Kraken’s transition. They put constant pressure on Shesterkin, who stood tall by making 12 saves in the hectic period.

The Rangers had an opportunity to increase their lead. But after Ryan Lindgren drew an interference minor on a feisty Brandon Tanev during a heated scrum, it was wasted away. After getting nothing done, Dryden Hunt hooked down Tanev, who’s become a folk hero in Starbucks country. He leads the team with six goals and his gritty physical style is very popular. He is a very active player that is easy to respect. Even if on the opposing side. The Penguins will miss him.

Fortunately, as the Kraken pressed the attack, Shesterkin was stopping them in their tracks. They didn’t convert on any of their four power play chances. When Shesterkin wasn’t making critical stops (8 for 8), he had help from a strong penalty kill that blocked 21 shots. The trio of Fox, Jacob Trouba and Patrik Nemeth combined for 11. That kind of rugged play was needed. Seattle out-attempted the Blueshirts 73-40 and outshot them 32-18. At one point, they held the Rangers without a shot for over 30 minutes.

The Kraken’s persistence finally paid off when Jordan Eberle was able to beat Shesterkin with a backhand at 13:46 to tie the score. On a good play in the neutral zone started by Adam Larsson, Jaden Schwartz was able to make a good feed for Eberle. He cut to the middle and got off a good backhand shot that surprised Shesterkin to tie it up. It was the former Islanders’ second goal as a Seattle Kraken.

Things heated up in the final portion. Playing for Nils Lundkvist, who Gerard Gallant avoided addressing to reporters as to why, Jarred Tinordi cross checked Riley Sheahan. That gave the Kraken a power play. But while on the power play, Calle Jarnkrok slashed Ryan Strome’s stick breaking it. That ended the Seattle man-advantage. However, the Rangers didn’t do anything. With an open shot, Panarin waited too long. Instead, he made a low percentage pass that caught them in a bad change for a bench minor. While he’s putting up points so far, some of Panarin’s decision making has been frustrating. He only got credit for one shot. Mika Zibanejad didn’t have one. Both will have to be better as the season moves on.

Despite being outshot 13-2, the Rangers entered the third still tied. A good position to be in on the road. Something Henrik Lundqvist alluded to during an intermission segment with Steve Valiquette and Bill Pidto, who showed off his butterfly in a funny segment. There are games you’re not going to be at your best. This was clearly one of those. It was stolen by the goalie. Shesterkin has already done it a few times in the team’s first nine games. He’s the biggest reason for their 6-2-1 start.

It took some time. But after another too many men on the ice minor that had Gallant fuming on the bench, the Rangers settled down and played better for the remainder of the game. It helps when you have a hot goalie standing on his head. Right after Shesterkin robbed a Kraken player on the doorstep with a sprawling pad save, Fox moved the puck up to Panarin. On just a great give and go, Panarin gained the Seattle blue line and drew attention before finding a cutting Fox in the slot for a quick snapshot that beat Grubauer with 8:50 left. It proved to be the game-winner.

There were no more undisciplined penalties. The Rangers also cut down on the mistakes. In fact, a strong shift from the fourth line of Kevin Rooney, Hunt and Greg McKegg allowed the second line to come on and apply pressure on Seattle. Those back-to-back shifts with under five minutes left really helped put the game away.

With under two minutes left, the Kraken pulled Grubauer for an extra attacker. They came very close to tying it. On a Mark Giordano shot, Yanni Gourde chipped a backhand that just missed. It hit the far goalpost and was swept out of harms way. There was one more sequence where Eberle seemed to have all day to fire a shot at Shesterkin. Instead, he played around with the puck long enough for a diving Zibanejad to block the attempt and clear the zone to Goodrow for an empty net goal that sealed it with 1:39 to go.

Goodrow has been contributing to the Rangers’ good start. Two of his three goals have been empty netters. However, Gallant knows he can use him in different roles. For the time being, the former Lightning Stanley Cup winner is playing up with Zibanejad and Kreider, who’s been the leader of the team. Goodrow is getting valuable time at five-on-five and shorthanded. He’s also out at the end of close games. That’s the kind of good overall player he is. In a game where not much was going on, Goodrow finished with a goal and assist, three hits, two blocks and went 6-and-4 on face-offs. He went plus-two in 16:16. His play shouldn’t be underestimated. So far, so good.

Next up is Vancouver. That’s on Tuesday, November 2. Start time is 10 EST. They’ll see what they can do against Thatcher Demko, Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Quinn Hughes.

THREE STARS OF GAME

3rd ⭐ Brandon Tanev, SEA (2 SOG on 5 attempts, 3 hits in 15:34)

2nd ⭐ Adam Fox, NYR (GWG at 12:10 of 3rd period, 4 blocks, +1 in 21:10)

1st ⭐ Igor Shesterkin, NYR (31 saves on 32 shots including 22 of 23 the final 2 periods)

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Bernier’s return and Bratt’s penalty shot propel Devils to win in Pittsburgh

Posted on October 31, 2021 by hasan4978

I admit I could have watched last night’s game live but didn’t. After the awful last three games I needed a ‘show me’ effort since the Devils spent the better part of last week sulking around without Jack Hughes and skating like they knew they were cooked without their young franchise center (who’s now out for at least five more weeks after a follow-up examination of his dislocated shoulder). Facing a Pittsburgh team that dominated them last year didn’t make me any more anxious to watch last night, especially with a back-to-back against the Blue Jackets this afternoon.

Thankfully last night’s 4-2 win in Pittsburgh provided the first true boost of optimism post-Hughes injury. Especially since for the first time in four games they didn’t throw out a garbage effort in the first period (baby steps), although they did go behind early with a Dalton Heinen goal off a rebound. Unlike the Calgary and Washington games, they didn’t go in the tank after giving up the first goal and got a deserved break late in the first period when Andreas Johnsson’s…passshot toward the front of the net deflected off a Penguin skate and past Tristan Jarry with just 37 seconds remaining in the period.

For once, the Devils’ special teams were actually a net positive – though they went 0-2 on the PP they managed to kill off five different Penguin power plays and even scored a shorthanded goal late in the second period, when Jimmy Vesey sprang himself on a breakaway and deked past Jarry at 17:57 of the second to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. Perhaps it should have been more as the Devils outshot Pittsburgh 28-16 in the first two periods and had the lion’s share of quality chances as well, but…that’s hockey sometimes.

Credit Theodor Blueger for a great turnaround pass as he was falling down near the boards early in the third period that found Brock McGinn alone in front for the Penguins’ tying goal and set up a nervous twenty minutes for the visitors, who were outshot 17-12 in what turned out to be the game’s final twenty minutes. Devils coach Lindy Ruff admitted after the game that while the first forty minutes were probably the team’s best of the season, the final twenty it was returning goalie Jonathan Bernier and the Devils’ PK that held the fort against the Pens’ assault.

Somehow the game was still tied with three minutes to go when the key sequence of the game happened (YT link above), ironically it was Sidney Crosby in playing his first game of the season who fouled Jesper Bratt from behind, leading to referee Corey Sivret calling a deserved penalty shot against the league’s marquee player. Of course Crosby complained despite the fact it was a clear foul from behind, and there was even some question as to whether Bratt would be able to take the penalty shot, wincing in pain after the play. He did…and scored perhaps the Devils’ biggest goal of the season so far other than maybe the Hughes OT winner.

For once the Devils managed to put the game away without much fuss (despite an unconscionable too many men penalty in the last minute of play), even catching a break when the Penguins turned the puck over as Jarry was going to the bench for the extra skater – leading to the comical sequence of Johnsson deking his way around Jarry who got caught in no-man’s land near the bench, and putting the puck in the now-empty net. Even if both of Johnsson’s goals were a bit fortunate, it’s deserved good fortune as he’s played well to start the season and silenced the doubters like me who worried that his 2018-19 was the fluke, given his 13 goals and 32 points in 93 games since his breakout 23-20-43 season in Toronto. Can’t really complain about three goals and five points in six games so far, especially from a guy who was left unprotected in the expansion draft, and passed over by Seattle in favor of fourth line grinder Nathan Bastian.

It was also nice to see Bratt bounce back with a two-point night, if somewhat predictable cause it seems like his good scoring binges coincide with getting called out by various coaching staffs. Probably the most important Devil last night was Bernier though, after he missed three straight games with an undisclosed injury he returned in Pittsburgh and made 38 saves in a crucial road win, upping his record to 3-0. With Mackenzie Blackwood seemingly nearing a return as well (and finally getting his first vaccination shot) it’ll be very interesting to see how coach Ruff decides to divvy up the goaltending games going forward if Bernier continues to shine. In the immediate future it’ll be interesting to see if they actually give Bernier the start in a back-to-back after a taxing effort just off the injured list.

Devils Three Stars:

  1. Jonathan Bernier – 38 saves, win in his return from the injured list
  2. Jesper Bratt – assist and a very big penalty shot goal late in the third
  3. Andreas Johnsson – two goals in a possible ‘re-breakout’ season
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Kreider’s pair of power play goals and Fox’s amazing passing on display in Shesterkin shutout of the Blue Jackets, Lafreniere responds

Posted on October 30, 2021 by Derek

After three days off, they came ready to play. Although the start favored the visitors, it was a Rangers Night at The Garden. Two nights before Halloween hits the Big Apple this Sunday, the good guys put together their most complete effort in a 4-0 shutout of the Blue Jackets. That earned them their first home win.

It was a great response to Monday’s disappointment against what now looks like an improved Calgary if their play in New Jersey and Pittsburgh is any indication. Chris Kreider scored a pair of power play goals while Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin (remember him?) each had three assists to highlight the third career shutout of Igor Shesterkin’s NHL career. He was stellar when he needed to be turning aside all 31 Blue Jackets’ shots to pickup his first shutout of the season.

Most encouraging, Alexis Lafreniere had a much better game. He scored his third goal while continuing to find chemistry on a reunited third line with Filip Chytil and Sammy Blais. They were strong throughout thanks to an aggressive mindset that generated more quality chances.

If not for some superb goaltending from Elvis Merzlikins, Columbus would’ve been blown out completely. He definitely was the busier of the two goalies for a good portion. Even though he allowed four goals on 37 shots to lose his first decision in five starts, Merzlikins had a good night. He also showed some class towards the end by waving his teammates off to let Shesterkin get the shutout, and then saluted him with his goal stick. A nice gesture by the Latvian netminder who’s dedicated the season to former close friend and teammate Matiss Kivlenieks. He passed away on the Fourth of July in a tragic accident.

Playing without Ryan Reaves (lower-body injury), the Blueshirts were bolstered by the return of Kaapo Kakko. Although he didn’t get on the score sheet, he looked sharp throughout while playing on the second line with Panarin and Ryan Strome, who also scored a nice goal to get things started. There’s no doubt about the unique chemistry Strome and Panarin have. They play off each other so well. Maybe they didn’t quite connect on Monday in Strome’s return. But they came close. Having Kakko back at full strength gave them a boost. Their line was very effective on the cycle at five-on-five, often pinning Columbus in.

At the start on Essential Workers Night, it was the Blue Jackets who came out aggressive. Both Patrik Laine and Oliver Bjorkstrand had to be accounted for. So too did rookies Cole Sillinger and Gregory Hofmann. A sharp Shesterkin kept Columbus at bay to give the Rangers a chance to settle down. Once they did, things opened up. Each team traded chances off the rush, but failed to score thanks to the goalies. It wasn’t until a subtle defensive play was made that someone finally got on the scoreboard.

On a Columbus shot, rookie defenseman Nils Lundkvist made a good play to break it up in front. His outlet for Panarin led to a quick transition up ice. Able to draw defenders, Panarin found an open Strome in the slot for a wrist shot that beat Merzlikins at 12:29. It was a good snipe for Strome, who earned his first goal of the year. More importantly, Lundkvist picked up his first NHL point with a secondary assist. A nice reward for the young Swede who made a good read that started the scoring play.

With the Rangers starting to tilt the ice, this time it was some more magic created by Fox that resulted in a nice goal from Lafreniere. Following some good pressure from the third line, Fox regained puck possession and then skated all the way around the Columbus net. Somehow, out of the corner of his eyes, he perfectly setup Lafreniere for his third at 15:31. This was a brilliant play from a brilliant player, who gets better all the time.

You begin to understand why Fox has a degree from Harvard. It’s the way he thinks the game. It’s so instinctive. Equally as instinctive was Lafreniere, who drove hard to the net for the put away that increased the lead to 2-0. He didn’t take coach Gerard Gallant’s criticism hard. Instead, he acknowledged he wasn’t good enough on Monday and promised to be better. The 20-year old former top pick is a man of his word.

Late in the period, Fox took a Hofmann slash to earn the team’s first power play. Although they didn’t score in the final 63 seconds of the first, the remainder carried over to the second period. Despite having some looks on it, they were unable to score that third goal on Merzlikins. If he saw it, he stopped it. The lone exception being the Strome tally where Panarin moved the puck to get him moving laterally. The Lafreniere goal was a layup thanks to Fox. If you thought this would be easy, Merzlikins made sure it wasn’t. He made a lot of tough saves during a lopsided second where the Rangers doubled up the Blue Jackets in shots 14-7. He stopped all 14 to keep his team in it.

Although they did some good things in the period, the Rangers only led by two entering the third. Again, a Columbus penalty carried over. Only this time, Jack Roslovic could only watch helplessly as that consistent net front presence Kreider struck for his fourth power play goal. Fox moved the puck over for Panarin on the right side where he was able to thread the needle for a Kreider redirection past Merzlikins for a huge power play goal at 1:19. All he did was get position and change the puck’s direction to score his team-leading fifth goal (4th PPG). They sure are finding creative ways to get the puck to Kreider. It’s working.

Before they could put the game away, the Blueshirts had to kill a rare Fox penalty for high-sticking. Max Domi took an accidental stick to draw a Columbus power play down three. However, even without Fox, the penalty kill came through. One of the best penalty killers on Friday night was defenseman Patrik Nemeth. After an off game in the loss to the Flames where a bad giveaway cost the Rangers a goal against, he bounced back with a stronger defensive game. In fact, Nemeth led all skaters with five blocked shots. This was more in line with how he performed on the successful road trip. There’s another one coming up with the Seattle Kraken first up tomorrow night.

With a little over half the third left, things got interesting when Domi came to the aid of a teammate after a Strome hit. He didn’t back down as that’s not in his vocabulary. So, he took Domi off with him for two minutes leading to more open ice. While on the four-on-four, Kreider was hooked from behind by defenseman Jake Bean. That handed the Rangers a four-on-three power play. After initially not being able to score on the first part, Gallant used his timeout to give his first unit a breather. Whatever they drew up worked. Like a good repeat, there was Kreider in front tipping home a Fox shot pass from Panarin for his NHL-leading fifth power play goal. His six pace the team.

It’s not a coincidence that Kreider is performing well under Gallant. He prefers grit to skill. But it takes both to score the goals Kreider is getting. They night not have a captain. But that’s not the truth. Kreider is the captain. He doesn’t need a ‘C’ on his sweater to prove it. Maybe Mark Messier should find other things to do than make comments about the team not having a captain. Is he around the locker room? I love Messier. But he’s wrong here. We know who created this controversy.

All that was left was the shutout. After killing off a Barclay Goodrow minor, it was obvious that the Rangers wanted the shutout for Shesterkin. Something Joe Michelleti alluded to at the conclusion with Sam Rosen all excited about it. Even if Merzlikins had the class to tell his teammates to call it off with over 10 seconds remaining. The crowd who attended got what they wanted. There sure were a lot of chants of, “Igor, Igor, Igor!!!!!” Why not? All he’s done is play extremely well. So far, so good.

One thought regarding honoring Essential Workers. They deserve it. But not just the fully vaxxed ones. Every single one that’s sacrificed for this city deserves that honor. It’s a joke how last year’s heroes have been treated by this state. There’s only one direction to point. The biggest jerk to ever run New York City. The new governor isn’t exactly someone I’m a big fan of either. But she pales in comparison to the slime who was in charge prior. I’m glad he’s getting charged for what he did. That’s poetic considering what I just wrote about yesterday. He and the other fraud should dress up as Tinman and the Scarecrow for Halloween. That would be appropriate. Thank you to all essential workers for your true commitment and dedication.

One other comment on what the Panthers decided. Giving Andrew Brunette the interim tag is the right move. They have a good staff leftover with NHL experience. Florida won again in overtime last night. They’re 8-0. Good job by the players speaking up in support of Kyle Beach.

Side related. Does anyone else find it ironic that the Hurricanes blew the doors off the Blackhawks? They won 6-3. Chicago remains winless. Of note, Tony DeAngelo had a Gordie Howe hat trick with a goal, two assists and a fight. He’s got eight points so far for Rangers South. Not bad. Derek Stepan also scored his first. Both the Hurricanes and Panthers have not lost a game yet. Both are gonna be tough.

BATTLE OF HUDSON THREE ✨

3rd ⭐ Adam Fox, NYR (3 🍎, +1 in 24:07 including 5:09 on PP)

2nd ⭐ Igor Shesterkin, NYR (31 saves for 1st shutout of season, 3rd career)

1st ⭐ Chris Kreider, NYR (2 power play goals, leads NHL with 5 PPG, leads team with 6 goals, game high 7 SOG in 16:56 including 5:09 PP)

The next four games are in the Pacific and Northwestern Time Zone with games at Seattle Sunday, Vancouver Tuesday, Edmonton Friday 11/5 and Calgary Saturday 11/6. The Rangers return home for the Panthers on November 8.

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Kakko back, Reaves to IR

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Derek

Tonight, the Rangers host the Blue Jackets at MSG. The game can be seen on MSG at 7 PM. After a three day break following a 5-1 loss to Calgary, the Blueshirts look to get their first win on home ice. They’re 0-1-1 so far at 33rd and 7th.

Through seven games, the Rangers are 4-2-1 with nine points. That’s good for fourth place in the competitive Metropolitan Division. After playing a busy schedule with their first seven games over 12 days, they finally got some practice time in this week. Hopefully, that means an improvement on the power play. They rank 28th at 11.5 percent, having gone 3-for-26. It would be nice if someone other than Chris Kreider could score a power play goal. Paging Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.

The second unit should be upgraded with the return of Kaapo Kakko. After a strong preseason, he only played one game and a period before suffering an upper body injury on a hit against the boards. He sounds ready to contribute. Kakko is in his third year and looks like a different player. Now, it’s a restart for him. Aside from being featured on the second power play unit with Alexis Lafreniere, Sammy Blais, Filip Chytil and Nils Lundkvist, Kakko will play on the second line with Panarin and Ryan Strome.

While Kakko is finally healthy, Ryan Reaves was placed on the injured reserve due to a lower body injury he sustained in the first period against Columbus. He played just over a minute before not taking another shift. Without Reaves, coach Gerard Gallant has decided to go with veteran Greg McKegg on the fourth line over Julien Gauthier. Vince Mercogliano gave me a direct answer as to why Gauthier is out.

While it’s true that Gauthier doesn’t fit on the fourth line which will comprise Kevin Rooney, Dryden Hunt and McKegg, if he can’t consistently crack the lineup, what was the point of keeping him on the roster? This goes also for eighth defenseman Libor Hajek. Is he ever going to take a shift? Jarred Tinordi looks like a waste of a spot after only getting into the first game against the Capitals. A misguided lineup that got blown out at Washington. Overkill.

If the organization still views Gauthier as a potential top nine forward, there aren’t many openings. Not with Barclay Goodrow getting a look on the top line with Kreider and Zibanejad tonight. Goodrow is being used similarly to former Ranger Colin Blackwell. Goodrow got a look with Strome and Panarin on Monday and didn’t look out of place. That’s due to his work ethic. He can be moved around.

Truthfully, Goodrow should be on the third line. However, Gallant wants to take another look at Lafreniere with Chytil and Blais. They were impressive at the end of a perfect road trip. With Lafreniere being totally accountable for an off game where the coach mentioned him by name, I see nothing wrong with reuniting that young trio and seeing if they can continue to have chemistry. Especially with how hard Blais plays. It rubs off on Chytil, who seems energized.

Obviously, the rest of the lineup remains the same. All three defense pairs are intact. I would guess Igor Shesterkin will be in net. Columbus has ace goalie Elvis Merzlikins. He’s been splendid to start the season. Goals will likely be at a premium. So, Shesterkin should start. You go with your best. Especially with the Blue Jackets off to a good start.

I’ll be back later with a game review.

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Courageous survivor Kyle Beach exposes the Blackhawks, weak response a black eye for NHL, Quenneville resigns from Panthers

Posted on October 29, 2021 by Derek

It was a long time ago that Sheldon Kennedy spoke out about being sexually assaulted by former Junior hockey coach Graham James. It took years later for Theo Fleury to come clean with what James had done to both him and Kennedy. His book, “Playing With Fire”, exposed James for the pedophile he was. It’s a book I got and had personally signed from the courageous Fleury at a book signing before a Rangers game. I still have the picture saved from that night.

Having since read Fleury’s book a couple of times, I still can’t fathom what he went through during that rough period. Nobody should ever be forced to experience that. Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world where sexual predators exist. Many high up on the food chain who get away with it. I don’t have to cite names. These are untouchable people who are part of a despicable underworld where rules don’t apply to them. It’s sickening.

For over a decade, Kyle Beach lived that nightmare. A former Chicago Blackhawks first round pick in 2008, he never played one NHL game. Now we know why. It was back in 2010 during the Blackhawks’ run to the first of three Stanley Cups that Beach was called up to the Black Aces and traveled with the team that drafted him. What we didn’t know was what a terrible ordeal he went through. It wasn’t until recently that a John Doe had accused former video coach Brad Aldrich of sexual assault in May 2010. Eleven years after the alleged encounter, that victim filed a lawsuit against the Blackhawks on May 7, 2021.

An independent investigation from Jenner & Block LLP into the alleged assault found that Blackhawks higher ups that included former GM Stan Bowman and coach Joel Quenneville were aware of what happened. Instead of taking action against Aldrich, they didn’t respond to the serious allegations made by Beach. Instead, they prioritized winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since 1961 over the well being of their own player. An unthinkable way to handle something of such serious nature.

Regrettably, we see it all the time. USA Gymnastics comes to mind. The courage former Olympic champions Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Simone Biles and Maggie Nichols showed while testifying on September 15 against Doctor Larry Nassar, is amazing. They stood up for themselves and for former teammates who were sexually assaulted by Nassar while USA Gymnastics stood by and did nothing. Neither did the FBI. Maroney was a vocal critic of their investigation.

With his name withheld from the public as John Doe, Kyle Beach didn’t have to come forward. However, he wanted to have his voice heard in front of the camera on TSN’s SportsCentre. It was on Wednesday night at 6 PM that the courageous Beach appeared on TSN and spoke with Rick Westhead for approximately 25 minutes about his horrible experience. He talked at length about how Chicago Blackhawks management did nothing until after they won the Cup. Eventually, Aldrich was forced to resign. Somehow, they still allowed him to participate in Blackhawks’ Stanley Cup celebrations even being included at the parade where Beach was close by. He even got to have his day with the Cup.

The rest reads like a who’s who of how to not handle such a serious accusation. Aldrich landed another job at the University of Miami (Ohio) where he sexually assaulted two men in Fall 2012. He got letter of recommendations from the Blackhawks for that job and one at Houghton High School in Michigan where he assaulted a 16-year old boy on the hockey team. How could any organization promote this kind of crap? Aldrich is a sexual predator. Astonishingly, he only received a prison sentence of less than a year for these heinous crimes. Worse, he likely can’t be charged due to the statute of limitations. It honestly feels like a sad episode of Law And Order SVU where there is no justice. It’s agonizing.

What makes it worse was seeing the emotions Beach went through during his revealing exclusive interview. He fought back tears while he answered every question Westhead asked him. It was powerful stuff. He credited his girlfriend for being behind him throughout this whole ordeal. They’ve shared moments of tears, happiness and laugher with Beach finally feeling plenty of relief and vindication.

So many lies were told by the Blackhawks including Quenneville, who pretended he first learned about the gruesome details this past June. He was at the upper management meeting they held on May 23, 2010 with Bowman present along with former assistant GM and current Winnipeg Jets’ GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, former Blackhawks vice president of hockey operations, Al MacIsaac, former Team President John McDonough and Executive Vice President Jay Blunk. Once the news broke, Bowman and MacIsaac left their posts. Blackhawks CEO Rocky Wirtz informed the media that they would no longer be part of the organization moving forward. Beach called it a great step in the right direction.

One disturbing aspect after all of this finally came out was how the NHL responded to it. In typical fashion, they gave the Blackhawks a $2 million fine. A slap on the wrist. It was a decade ago that the Devils were fined $3 million and forfeited a third round pick in 2011 along with a first round pick for signing Ilya Kovalchuk to a long-term deal that they determined as cap circumvention. You’re telling us that a contract they thought violated the rules of the CBA is worse than a coverup by an organization that protected its own interests at the expense of a young player, who was sexually assaulted. The scary part is Beach said word spread around the locker room quickly. Everyone knew. He was teased about it by players. Thankfully, former defensemen Brent Sopel and Nick Boynton supported Beach. Boynton basically said the top stars knew including Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp. He really didn’t hold back.

The league also didn’t suspend Quenneville from coaching the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night against the Bruins. Instead, he was behind the bench for what should be his final NHL win. He resigned Thursday night. Although NHL insider Kevin Weekes hinted that John Tortorella could be the replacement, it looks like former NHL player Andrew Brunette will take over as Interim Coach for the time being. He was a top assistant on a coaching staff that includes Derek MacKenzie, Ulf Samuelsson and Tuomo Ruutu. The Panthers have started the season a perfect 7-0. They should be okay. There’s a plethora of talent and experience on a deep roster that should contend. Tortorella didn’t mince words while on The Point when asked by ESPN host John Buccigross how he felt about the sexual assault Beach was brave enough to reveal. He was a 20-year old kid. Now, he’s 31 and playing in Germany. Somehow, he’s held it together to have a solid pro career. He’s a survivor.

It’s hard to believe in this day and age that such despicable behavior still is allowed to go on behind closed doors. Harvey Weinstein is serving a 23-year prison sentence for sexual abuse allegations dating back to the 1970’s. Over 80 women came forward in October 2017. He was found guilty of two felonies in February 2020. He is currently serving time in Los Angeles at Wende Correctional Facility. Another disgusting person who was convicted of sex trafficking minors in Florida and New York was Jeffrey Epstein. After being arrested on July 6, 2019, he was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019. Considering some of the prominent list of wealthy names that appeared under him, it remains very strange how he died. I don’t believe he killed himself. That’s my only comment on it.

If we are to change as a society for the better, such despicable behavior cannot be tolerated. It is unacceptable. It’s sad that Beach had to experience the similar pain and emotional heartache that both Sheldon Kennedy and Theo Fleury did. The latter of who turned to alcohol and drugs at a young age as a coping mechanism. Fleury remains one of my favorite players. He was a fiery player who played much bigger than his slight frame. If not for the off ice issues, Fleury is a Hall Of Famer. He finished over a point-per-game for his career with 1,088 points in 1,084 games. He took a lot of verbal abuse from opponents who got below the belt about his substance abuse issues. That probably explained his crazy behavior. He battled so many demons.

There are many former players who have been taken advantage of. Daniel Carcillo said he also was a victim of sexual assault. He’s been pretty outspoken about the league’s mishandling of the concussion lawsuit. A separate issue that of course commissioner Gary Bettman won’t touch. Let’s just say there’s a lot of bad history when it comes to the NHL’s past. It’s incredibly disappointing that they didn’t take stronger action against the Blackhawks organization. They should lose first round picks and pay a heavier fine.

Even Jonathan Toews’ commentary on the Beach situation missed the mark completely. Nobody cares what he thinks about Bowman personally. The whole thing stinks. The Hawks were a great team that won three Cups last decade. Now, that is forever tarnished. It’s poetic that the struggling Maple Leafs rallied back to beat them in overtime 3-2 in Chicago. The Blackhawks remained winless. Only the abysmal Coyotes have a worse record. This isn’t about some of the younger players on their roster like Alex DeBrincat, Kirby Dach or the much respected future Hall Of Famer Marc-Andre Fleury. It’s about mainstays Toews and Kane still being there and not doing anything to help Beach. Unbelievable.

When a story like Kyle Beach’s breaks, it’s much bigger than the sport. You feel nothing but sadness and emptiness for him. I’m glad he had enough heart and strength to go public. He didn’t have to. Instead, he wanted to to tell his story. He told the truth and exposed the Chicago Blackhawks for gutless frauds. Cowards. That goes for NHLPA Executive Director Donald Fehr. Nobody did anything. It’s completely unacceptable.

The time has come for the good old boys’ club to die. I hope the courageous story of Kyle Beach is the beginning of a major overhaul in sports.

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End of Devils’ homestand flames out

Posted on October 26, 2021 by hasan4978

The last thing I wanted to do after getting back from this game – mercifully early because of the utter trash effort this team put on the ice for the first two periods – is write about this game tonight. Honestly there’s not much real analysis needed. For the third straight game this team was a complete no-show for the first thirty or so minutes of the game, certain players have been no-shows even more often than that and this team got eviscerated by the second actual good team they played on this homestand, just like they got eviscerated by the first good team they played in the Caps.

Not that I really paid much attention to analyze anything. Calgary killed us off farcically quickly in the first period with four goals in an under seven-minute span starting with a breakaway goal from 400-year old, 500-pound Milan Lucic. Considering it went five hole that might have been the most stoppable goal given up in the first period, certainly the second goal was on the immortal Jonas Siegenthaler, who not only turned the puck over inside the blueline, but also allowed Andrew Mangiapane to muscle his way around him for an easy ‘garbage goal’. Before you could even pick your jaw up off the floor, a PK Subban penalty led to another predictably easy PP goal allowed within twenty-two seconds, a deflection by Elias Lindholm that mercifully ended Nico Daws’ night. Poor kid, went from hero to zero tonight though you can’t exactly blame him for this team’s complete dumpster fire. Not that the goalie change helped matters as a horrid turnover by Jesper Bratt (one of a few that got him benched for much of the second period) led to another breakaway goal, this time by Mangiapane who faked poor Scott Wedgewood out of his skates.

Honestly I should have walked out then for how interested the Devils were in the game. Has this franchise ever come back from four down to win a game? I can’t think of an instance. I can think of a three-goal comeback a few years ago against Vegas, but not four although they had ridiculous ‘missed it by that much’ junktime rallies late last season against the Pens (six goals down) and the Rangers (four goals down). Because I was already there and have no intention of going to the ridiculous Halloween evening start against Columbus I stuck it out through the second period, but the team’s play and effort level really didn’t improve all that much even though they got a lucky goal from Pavel Zacha in the second after a giveaway from the immortal Dan Vladar, who would have been better off just continuing to nap in his net for all the pressure we put on him. To be exact, we had thirteen mostly inconsequential shots in the first two periods and to reference the old Zach Parise line, with all due respect they might have as well had a pee-wee goalie in net.

Since this is gonna be a night of toss around the blame, I want to focus on three people in particular – starting with the head coach. Obviously when your team is just not ready to play multiple games in a row the coach has gotta take responsibility for that. Not only that but you also have to question Lindy Ruff’s decision to again scratch Marian Studenic – after he had a terrific game against the Sabres – in favor of grinder Mason Geertsen. It was particularly puzzling after the coach’s postgame comments on Saturday on how the Devils were missing Jack Hughes and Miles Wood so there was some speed lacking in the lineup and Studenic brought some of that element. So Studenic plays well, you admit the team could use the speed element and you go back to the goon that isn’t even that good of a goon? I like Lindy personally but he’s definitely showing his….old-school proclivity on that one. From what little I read about the third period Geertsen took a bad penalty that led to the fifth goal, shocker. Not to mention the fact that the coach tinkered around with all the lines and d-pairings instead of just leaving the same guys together that finished the Sabres game on fire.

Perhaps my biggest disappointment of this season has been Yegor Sharangovich so far, the fact he doesn’t have a goal is bad enough but his effort and commitment have been sketchy at best this season, and he earned another benching in the middle of this game. Shockingly he has three assists in the first five games, but one of them was a junktime point against the Caps. I kind of expect this kind of mercurial up and down play from Jesper Bratt at this point though. So do Matt and Chico, who reportedly eviscerated him on the radio after some of his poor play early. I don’t want to hear hey, he’s a sixth rounder, we’re way past that now. Bratt is what he is, a maddening, streaky player who can get 15 points in 20 games but inevitably follows that up with a 4 point in 20 game stretch where he’s sloppy, gets benched and need to get the spurs put up his rear end before he responds.

Not that the turnover twins were alone in their poor play early, you could pretty much count the number of guys on one hand who actually played well tonight. I’m not sure you’d need five fingers either. Zacha had a second goal in the third period so you have to say he played well, Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist in the third period – albeit borderline junktime, but still the teen rookie is continuing his nice start. Dougie Hamilton had assists on both third-period goals, which turned a 5-1 game into a laughably faux close 5-3 finish. Ty Smith seemingly didn’t suck in his second game off IR, but that’s pretty much it for guys who played well.

You could take the glass half-full approach and say 3-2 is fine for the opening homestand but I don’t want to hear that. This is more of a glass empty 3-2 in my eyes, because you got eviscerated by the only two good teams you played on this homestand and were life and death to beat the other three bad teams at home with no back-to-backs and zero travel. You can’t even blame this on goalie play and missing Mackenzie Blackwood because Daws saved their bacon the other night while Jonathan Bernier (who seems to be in witness protection now) did well in his two starts.

Speaking of Blackwood, probably the only good news in the last couple days is twofold, both involving the presumptive starting goalie. He skated on the ice today, getting a step closer to a return and he got his first vaccination shot, so our long local nightmare of wondering if this guy was going to miss games on account of not being able to travel to Canada is over with. Maybe we’ll actually get Blackwood or Bernier back in time for the Devils’ next game in Pittsburgh on Saturday. It’s nice to have days off considering we still have multiple injuries we’re dealing with but obviously the days off haven’t helped the team this year after all the excuses given about NO PRACTICE TIME last year. Our special teams are still awful and this team’s still incredibly mercurial even with a far more spaced out schedule.

For now the Devils have to ask themselves why they continue to sleepwalk out of the gate in these games. If they don’t get a more consistent effort out of a young team that shouldn’t be taking nights off, not much else is going to matter.

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Blueshirts Flame Out in deserved home loss, Sloppy Play and Turnovers doom four game win streak

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Derek

It was a home fizzle. In their return from a perfect 4-0 road trip, the Rangers flamed out literally in a dismal 5-1 loss to Calgary at a less than capacity MSG. More on the attendance later.

Playing for the seventh time over a dozen days, it caught up to the Blueshirts on Monday night. They were sloppy from the outset. On a night they had 20 turnovers, nine came in an ugly first period. Outplayed and outshot by a sharper Flames, it could’ve been worse if not for the play of Igor Shesterkin. He bailed out the team as long as possible in a first controlled by the aggressive forechecking Flames. They doubled up the Rangers in shots, 15-7.

With the puck management far from ideal, they also were down a forward when Ryan Reaves went to the locker room for an unknown injury. Although he did return to the bench for the second period, he never took another shift. Reaves only played 62 seconds before coach Gerard Gallant went with 11 forwards the remainder of the game. He did a good enough job rotating, but even with a healthy Ryan Strome back following a 10-day hiatus for being COVID positive (fully vaxxed), this was a stinker.

For far too long, Shesterkin was left to fend for himself. He came up with a few big saves in a lackluster opening period. However, the Flames finally broke through with 1:10 left. On a good transition up the ice, Calgary created a three-on-two rush that ended up with defensive defenseman Chris Tanev finishing off a Johnny Gaudreau pass for what else but his first goal of the season. A player better known for blocking shots and defense, Tanev was able to beat Shesterkin at 18:50 to give the Flames a well deserved lead.

On the radio side, Pete Stemkowski was pretty critical of the Rangers’ careless play. Maybe it was a product of them being tired. However, no one used that excuse following the game. That’s not in the Gallant DNA. Of course, it was brought up by USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano in the postgame. But he wouldn’t directly say that was the reason for the 20 giveaways they were credited with. But Gallant did note that they’ve had the busiest schedule so far so, you know he’s aware that it hasn’t been easy. Just getting to this point with a 4-2-1 record through seven games is a positive when you consider both Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad have only one goal apiece. Plus Strome missed over a week and Kaapo Kakko again sat out. Hopefully, he’s ready by Friday when the surprising Blue Jackets visit. That won’t be no picnic with how well Elvis Merzlikins is playing.

If not for the strong play of Shesterkin, it easily could’ve been 3-0 Calgary entering the second. Instead, they only trailed by one. There was more than enough time to get things righted. But before they got in sync, a bad miscommunication between Patrik Nemeth and Filip Chytil hurt their comeback hopes. On a simple play where Chytil passed the puck back to Nemeth behind the Rangers net, Nemeth miscalculated by throwing a dying quail right to Andrew Mangiapane. He was happy to take the early Halloween gift and fire the puck past Shesterkin high glove side with little wiggle room at 2:09. The goal was unassisted.

I wonder if Nemeth just thought Chytil would be in a different spot. The play made no sense. You don’t pass the puck in front of your net like that. It was uncharacteristic for Nemeth, who’s actually been a solid addition to the blue line. On that one, he screwed up and paid the price. Just an inexplicable turnover that wound up in the back of the net. One point here. You can’t always rely on Shesterkin to make every save. They’ve done that in at least two of his starts. In particular, the shooting gallery at Toronto last week. He was unbelievable. This can’t turn into another Henrik Lundqvist. Speaking of which, he was in studio for the third time with John Giannone and Steve Valiquette. They sure had fun analyzing the game and cracking jokes.

Not long after the Mangiapane goal, Chris Kreider was tripped up by Mikael Backlund. Handed a first power play, the top unit really disappointed the crowd. Outside of an early Kreider chance in front on an Adam Fox pass, the reunited first unit stunk it up. Panarin again refused to shoot the puck. Instead, he forced another pass into nowhere. That led to a Calgary shorthanded bid. But nothing came of it. Blake Coleman is awfully good at reading plays and generating chances. He had a superb game.

With the top unit overstaying their welcome, they heard it from displeased fans. They only had two power plays. Neither were particularly memorable. If you wanted a good idea of how bad they were, Panarin only had two shots while Fox had zero. Mika Zibanejad only was credited with two. One was a tricky shot that fooled Jacob Markstrom, who still kept it out. Maybe if the top players actually shot the puck more, they would’ve been successful. When Jacob Trouba leads your team in shots (6) which was as many as Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider and Fox combined, that’s usually a bad sign. Nothing against Trouba, who played his third straight strong game. But he can’t be relied on for offense.

It wasn’t that the team was bad in the second. They played much better hockey. That included more active shifts and some edge that they lacked in the first. The best shift came from Kevin Rooney, Dryden Hunt and Kreider, who was double shifted. They did some superb work down low applying forecheck pressure. A pinching Fox kept the play going. However, Calgary was able to escape trouble with solid defense. A trait under veteran coach Daryl Sutter. They didn’t back up despite leading by two. Something Lundqvist mentioned after the period. The Flames didn’t give the Rangers much space.

Another strong shift from the trio of Barclay Goodrow, Panarin and Strome nearly resulted in a goal for Trouba. With Gallant not liking what he saw from Alexis Lafreniere in a quiet first, he moved up Julien Gauthier to the first line and bumped the second year left wing down to the third line with Chytil and Sammy Blais. He decided to give Goodrow a shot with Strome and Panarin on the second line. A hustling Goodrow recovered a loose puck behind the Calgary net. He got it over for Panarin, who made a nice move to get the puck to Strome. The center had a cutting Trouba for a backdoor. But after he was stopped by Markstrom on the first attempt, Trouba had a rebound smothered by Markstrom on what seemed like a open net. That’s the kind of night Markstrom had. He finished with 28 saves.

Despite carrying much of the play, the Blueshirts had nothing to show for it. They trailed 2-0 after two periods. Somewhat astonishingly, they were ahead on face-offs. Yes. In a game they were too loose in which is why they got a deserved loss, they won 61 percent (31-and-20) of the draws. That included Strome going a near perfect 11-for-12. He’s not exactly an ace in the circle. But he was sharp for having missed extended time.

In the third, the Rangers earned a second power play when the hard-working Goodrow was hooked by Oliver Kylington. The power play again was mindless. You had more epic fails from the vaunted top unit. It was despicable. They’ve only connected three times so far. All courtesy of Kreider. Panarin is not even close to where he was the first two years. Something’s missing. Zibanejad is getting shots, but they’re not going in. To be honest, the power play only works due to Fox. When he’s not able to control play and get shots through or find the seams, they’re not going to be successful. He and Kreider are the two most important power play players. One makes dynamic reads while the other is the net front presence.

By the time the second unit got on that included Lafreniere, who got off an acrobatic shot while down to force Markstrom into a save, the 13,590 fans made it known how they felt. Bronx cheers were heard at the World’s Most Vaccinated. Could you blame them? The power play has to get a lot better. When the little used second unit is doing more, that’s an issue. Hopefully, the extra practice time can get things fixed. This is a perfect time for them to have three days off. Especially with it pouring cats and dogs. Perhaps Panarin needs a booster shot.

Funny enough, Gallant had Rooney out for an offensive draw with his grinders. Rooney won the face-off and just as the power play expired, he went to the net and converted in front from Hunt and Trouba at 5:25. Trouba got his shot on net and both Hunt and Rooney were there. Even as it looked like it was Rooney who got it, they actually gave it to Hunt, who had a solid game. I now understand why he’s on the roster. He works hard and is a Gallant kind of player. Even though they eventually changed the scoring to Rooney from Hunt and Trouba, that was Hunt’s first point as a Ranger. The original scoring was Hunt from Trouba and K’Andre Miller. I didn’t get how.

What happened next was mind numbing. On a shift in their end, Gauthier was clearly clipped by a Flames player. Somehow, the four blind mice didn’t see it. Unbelievable. Making matters worse, after a failed clear, Coleman scored on his own rebound to restore a two goal lead. This was ridiculous. How do two refs and two linesmen not detect the high stick? That missed call changed the game. The Rangers had momentum. Then it was gone in the blink of an instant. Coleman is a pesky player who plays hard. At one point,he was lined up against former Lightning line mate Goodrow. The irony. On the goal, he took one shot that Shesterkin stopped, but found the loose change and went backhand to make it 3-1 at 8:13. Boos rained down.

At that point, it was too much to overcome. When you have such a call go against you which in this case was a missed one, maybe it isn’t your night. These things happen. Even the few conspiracy theorists were using the ridiculous prop bets as to why. I cannot stand those in game gambling advertisements. They are promoting degenerate garbage. It’s all over the TV and radio. Prop betting should be banned. That’s how gambling addicts lose money fast. It’s bad enough they legalized it. Go listen to Craig Carton on Saturday morning to understand how addictive and dangerous gambling is. MSG sure has sunk. How do you go from great programming like SportsDesk and High School Weekly to this nonsense? We know why.

Rant over. Back to the game. On what was a good night for Trouba, he and partner Miller still got victimized by Backlund. On a good Noah Hanifin lead pass to Coleman, he slipped the puck to a streaking Backlund, who caught Miller leaning. With Trouba on the other side playing the pass, Backlund easily got by him to sneak one past Shesterkin for a 4-1 Calgary lead with 8:28 left in regulation. Game over. It was lazy positioning from Miller and Trouba didn’t close the gap. Too often in today’s NHL where they emphasize every cockamamie obstruction foul while overlooking the stick fouls we saw with Gauthier, defensemen get burned because they become too passive on such plays. Probably for fear of getting called. But both Miller and Trouba have to know better. That effectively ended the game.

As if to confirm how awful the officials were, they just had to call Chytil for a weak high-sticking on Kylington with the game decided. There was 1:36 left. They’ll call that, but totally miss the obvious one on Gauthier that killed any comeback hopes. Amazing. Of course, Mangiapane got a late power play goal with five seconds to spare for bookkeeping. That is how it ended.

As they skated off the Garden ice, Shesterkin showed frustration following the loss. But as Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti said, this wasn’t on him. The bottom line is his team played poorly. I must say I like Shesterkin showing such intensity. He wants to win. A similar quality to Lundqvist. You want your goalie to have that edge. I bet it brought a smile to Hank’s face. He really fits this new gig perfectly. He’s very good and analyzes the game well. I hope we see more of him. He looks happy. It’s great to see.

BATTLE OF HUDSON THREE STARS 🤩

3rd ⭐ Jacob Markstrom, Flames (28 saves on 29 shots)

2nd ⭐ Michael Backlund, Flames (goal plus 🍎, 4 SOG, +2 in 16:08)

1st ⭐ Blake Coleman, Flames (goal plus 🍎, 8 SOG, +2 in 17:32)

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