On a bit of a mini-roll, the Rangers headed to Carolina for the second time in a week and promptly put an end to their mini-roll. The listless Blueshirts were listless in a match against an inferior team that they should have handled.
The Rangers defense was terribly sloppy handing two goals to the Hurricanes on horrible breakdowns.
After a post-Olympic mini-slump, the Rangers faced the Red Wings in a critically important matinee matchup at the World’s Most Famous. Looking to build off their sloppy come-from-behind win in Carolina, the Rangers struck first and locked down the Wings for the rest of the match.
Henrik Lundqivst, solid throughout the contest earned his 300th career win good for second all time in Ranger history (1 behind Mike Richter) and 49th career shutout most all time in NYR history.
When Boyler finds the back of the net, something must be going right.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
CARCOSA!
Guaranteed to make you absolutely effing crazy.
Riding the wave of a three game losing streak, the Rangers travelled to the Carolinas to take on the Hurricanes and try to get on track. In what was for 55 minutes, a truly boring hockey game, the Rangers, with their full compliment of players, looked a lot like the Peter Nedved Era Rangers as they fired a bunch of shots from the perimeter, but didn’t bother to attack the net.
After a ton of Ranger (mostly from the perimeter) shots and two nothing power plays, Jordan Staal put the Canes up 1-0 picking the puck up off the wall and sniping one over Hank’s glove to give Carolina the lead with 2:11 in the first. Yet another NYR first where they heavily outshot their opponent but trailed after twenty.
After a sloppy, snoozefest of a second, the Rangers headed to the final frame down a goal and looking pedestrian. Then, Ryan McDonagh ripped a shortie and the Rangers picked up their play. Shorthanded in their own zone, Rick Nash worked the puck from the corner and broke out with Derek Stepan. McD joined the play to give the Rangers numbers and Nash sent a pass to the trailing McDonagh that the defenseman tattooed five hole past Khudobin to tie the game at 1-1.
Jeff Skinner broke free of the Rangers defense and was in alone on Henrik Lundqvist before Anton Stralman hooked him off the puck just before he could get off a shot. Skinner was (correctly) awarded a penalty shot and he calmly skated in on Hank and ripped one low glove to put Carolina up 2-1 with 8:53 remaining.
The Rangers began to attack the net after the Skinner goal, Chris Kreider crashed the cage and mixed it up with Ron Hainsey and Brett Bellemore. Of course no other Blueshirt came in to help out their teammate because, disappointingly but not shockingly, the Rangers are one of the softest, if not the softest teams in the NHL. However, they did start going to the net.
On a 4-on-4 John Moore crashed the net and Nash threw one to the defenseman that Andrej Sekara re-directed through the Greatest Goalie in the World (at least according to Sam and Joe) Anton Khudobin and the Rangers were tied at 2-2.
Then the Rangers got two consecutive, concurrent breaks. Already short for throwing the puck over the glass, the Hurricanes did it again. The Blueshirts worked the puck patiently and St. Louis sauced a beauty to Stepan back door that D-Step corralled and roofed to for the GWG.
Carl Hagelin added an empty-netter and however they arrived there, the Rangers had a win.
The Blueshirts played a terrible game against an inferior team that they should have smoked. They hung on the perimeter until the McDonagh goal and they’re still incredibly soft. However ugly, they picked up their play and they got the W and that is critical right now. Possible points are finite and diminishing and every one they gain helps. They are going to be in a dogfight just to make the playoffs and they will have to be better.
Next up the Red Wings.
Let’s go Rangers!
Oh hai Marty, hai!
The Martin St. Louis Era began at the World’s Most Famous as the Rangers hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Bluehsirts, led by the Brad Richards St. Louis Carl Hagelin line, came out flying in the fast-paced contest with the Leafs. The Rangers looked very good and did everything right, except score.
In the second, the NYR kept up their accelerated pace, but got caught sleeping when James van Reimsdyk found Tyler Bozak streaking behind the defense with a home run pass. John Moore caught up to Bozak and hooked him off the puck, getting called for a penalty shot. Bozak beat Henrik Lundqvist five-hole and the Leafs had a 1-0 lead.
Early in the third, Richards fell asleep in the Rangers zone. Nikolai Kumelin stripped Dan Girardi behind the net and walked out into the high slot firing a shot off Hank’s pad that came right to an all alone Nazim Kadri in front for the put back putting the Leafs up 2-0.
And then the Blueshirts caught a break. Shorthanded in the third, the Rangers pressed the Leafs on the forechek and Brian Boyle did what he does best. He skated into Cody Franson and fell down. The puck squirted into the corner where Dominic Moore sent the puck into Ryan McDonagh in the high slot. McD wound up and ranked a shot about 10 feet wide that hit Dion Phaneuf’s skate and found it’s way into the net.
Then amazingly on the same penalty, Dominic Moore (in Ryan Callahan’s vacated PK spot) picked off a Phil Kessel pass and broke in two-on-one with Derek Stepan. Step hit Moore and the NYR forward wristed one high blocker on Jonathan Bernier and the Rangers were tied 2-2.
Welcome to the NYR Marty! Now go win us a Cup!
The game went to overtime and just 1:51 in, Girardi and McDonagh chased Kessel and the puck behind the net and Rick Nash and Richards didn’t bother to over anyone in front. Kessel found Bozak in front and Bozak found the back of the net, giving the Leafs the OT win.
The Rangers played at a solid pace. They skated well and had several good chances. Hank was solid and The Richards-St.Louis-Hagelin trio had instant chemistry but the Rangers didn’t score enough and didn’t win. The race is tightening up and with 19 games time (and potential points) is running out. The Rangers need to get back on the winning track and fast.
Next up a trip to Carolina.
Let’s go Rangers!
D Zone Coverage? Naaah.
Boomer was right all along!
The trade deadline has come and gone and it was quite and interesting day for the NYR.
On the positive side, Glen Sather was not held hostage by Ryan Callahan’s ridiculous contract demands. Callahan, who played very hard for the Rangers and who willingly gave up his body to block shots or hit people, was asking for way too much money for way too much term.
Callahan is a nice player and has been a good Ranger, but he is essentially a third line winger. In 2014 Cally is the the third best RW on the squad. Giving him 6+ million for 6 years would be a terrible investment. Cally’s game does not lend itself to longevity, as his recent spate of injuries proves. His game also doesn’t lend itself to much goal production and it wouldn’t logically seem to improve in the later years of his contract when Callahan is in his mid 30′s. Callahan’s hustle will be missed, but it isn’t worth tying up the NYR salary cap moving forward.
Another huge positive is gaining Martin St. Louis. While the knock on St Louis, the reigning Art Ross winner is his age (38), St Louis is one of the best conditioned athletes in the league. St Louis produces points and should continue to do so in NYC. Also, he’s locked up for another year after this at a 5.6. MSL is a battler, who despite his size, became a star in the league when it was extremely difficult for small players to succeed in the NHL. He is a winner and a proven leader and will help the Rangers.
Maybe he’ll start taking care of himself now that he is with the Blueshirts.
A negative to the deal is that Sather had to throw a 2015 1st round pick in the deal. St Louis wanted out of Tampa and has for a while. He lives in Greenwich, CT and listed the NYR as the only team he would waive his no-trade to go to. Steve Yzerman was boxed in with this request, yet he still got the better of Sather as most GM’s (except Bob Gainey, thanks!) trading with Slats often do. To be fair, Slats had to get something for UFA Cally and the league knew it. But the #1 pick, not to mention the conditional #2 seems a bit steep.
When Callahan is safely in Buffalo on an insane contract, MSL will be putting up numbers. This will help the Blueshirts, this year, next year and possibly longer. Martin St. Louis is one of the best players in the league, today and he will help the New York Rangers in the locker room and on the ice in all situations!
Let’s go Rangers!
Thanks for everything Cally. You got a bit greedy at the end, but you were a good Ranger.
Looking to bounce back a day after dropping a rotten one to the Flyers in Philly, the Rangers took on the Big Bad Bruins at MSG. But on the 32 birthday of the King Henrik Lundqvist, there was no bounce back just set back.
With the Ryan Callahan contract hostage crisis lingering in Rangertown™ like a bad egg fart, the Blueshirts blitzed the Bruins in the first period with a 20 shot barrage while holidng the B’s to just 9. They even took the lead on a JT Miller nice breakaway goal but could only muster one Tuukka Rask. And once the Bruins reverted to their game plan of physically abusing the Blueshirts, the NYR were done.
Just as they did in last year’s Five game playoff mauling, the Bruins had their way physically with the NYR. The Rangers have no physical answer for imposing teams. None. This has been a problem for the Blueshirts and teams in the Eastern Conference know it. Like the Flyers on Saturday, the Bruins pushed the Rangers around with impunity.
It started when off a harmless dump-in, Milan Lucic blasted both Dan Girardi and JT Miller allowing David Krecji to hit Jarome Iginla in front for a tap in. With that, despite clearly dominating the the entire first, the Rangers found themselves tied 1-1 after one with the momentum swinging towards the guys wearing the yellow and black.
“Guys, guys just blast them all you want no one is going to do anything.”
In the second, it was all Boston. Dougie Hamilton and Carl Soderberg put the B’s up 3-1 before Brad Richards sniped one over Rask in the closing minutes of the period to draw the Rangers to within one.
But the third period was more of the same as the B’s pushed around the NYR. Gregory Campbell scored an easy shorthanded goal with 9:04 remaining that essentially broke the Rangers. Campbell (son of Colin) added another goal four minutes later and Milan Lucic scored in the final two minutes of the laugher.
Ryan McDonagh popped a power play goal and the game ended 6-3 Boston.
Wiiiiiiide Open.
In what could be Ryan Callahan’s last game in a Ranger uniform, the Rangers played with little heart as they were manhandled by the physically superior Bruins. After a great first period, the Blueshirts were no match for the bruising Bruins. On Henrik Lundqvist’s birthday, the NYR defense uncharacteristically left the slot wide open in front of the King as Boston had several easy goals.
Perhaps, the Callahan situation is to blame, but the Rangers are currently in a funk that hopefully snaps after the trade deadline passes. More alarming is that the Rangers have no answer for physical teams like the Bruins. It was painfully obvious in the playoffs last season, and nothing has been done to address it.
Maybe Slats addresses this glaring need at the deadline?
Who knows?
Let’s go Rangers!
After a sloppy feel-good win against the defending champs, the Rangers travelled 90 miles south to take on the Flyers in a very important Patrick Atlantic Metropolitan Division matchup. With just three points separating the clubs, the matinee was a critical four point game.
But from the looks of it, the Rangers didn’t realize that. The Blueshirts looked fresh at the start and skated well. However they vomited up two 0-fers on a pair of early power plays and didn’t get the opening goal they needed.
Damn Stralsie.
Jam Time!
Finally back on the ice after an eternity the 19 day Olympic break, the Rangers faced the defending champs on home ice. With Henrik Lundqvist getting an extended rest and Cam Talbot between the pipes, the Blueshirts and their 6 Olympians took on the Hawks and their 10 Olympians.
With the crowd at the World’s Most Famous it’s customary quiet self, the guys in blue and the guys in white played a pretty even, if not underwhelming first period. Watching from home, the drop off in play from the Olympics to this game was palpable.
Newly called up JT Miller looked like the best player on the ice for the NYR. Miller, who has been skating with Hartford skated well and hit everything in his sights. The young winger, in for the injured Mats Zuccarello, was tough on the forecheck and created the chance that led to the Rangers first goal.
Miller chased down Johnathan Toews in the Hawks zone and with some back pressure, nudged the puck away from Toews directly to Benoit Pouliot. Pouliot then fed Derick Brassard in the slot and with Miller crashing the net, D-Brass fired a shot on Corey Crawford and buried his own rebound.
Jam Time Miller setting the tone!
The Blueshirts killed off two Hawks power plays and took a 1-0 lead into the second.
And the second period was kind of a snoozer with the Rangers holding Chicago to just seven shots, while the NYR Fired off 11. Maybe it was the Olympic hangover, maybe the Hawks were looking to their outdoor game on Saturday, or maybe the Rangers defense was just that good. Whatever the case, the Blackhawks didn’t generate much on the Blueshirts until they seemed to come alive in the third.
The Rangers, falling into some kind of New York Jets prevent defense pumped a measly two shots on Crawford, the second of which found the back of the net. Derek Stepan made a nice play at the hawks blue line sending the puck into the Hawks zone where Rick Nash scooped it up and scored a goal scorer’s goal firing a low shot by the Hawks netminder. And although the NYR only had teo shots on goal, they had a 2-0 lead with 4:57 remaining.
Excuse me, baby…
The defending champs picked up their play in the Foxwoods Final Five™ but Marc Staal, Kevin Klein and the rest of the Rangers defense fended off the challenges and appeared to be cruising to Cam Talbot’s third shutout of the year. But Peter Regin broke through the Rangers defense and beat Talbot with 12 seconds to go spoiling the goose egg.
Off the ensuing faceoff, the Hawks nearly tied the game on a set play, but Talbot was brilliant. Chicago won the draw and Duncan Keith sent the puck along the wall to Jonathan Toews. The Blackhawk captain fed Patrick Sharp in the high slot and the rebound of Sharp’s shot came to a wide open Patrick Kane on the doorstep. As Kane fired what would be the tying goal on net, Talbot kicked out his pad and sent the puck into the corner preserving the win and the Rangers winning ways.
Talbot was solid in net stopping 31 of the shots he faced. Staal was excellent and Ryan (still here) Callahan was his customary solid (but not 7 million dollar) self. And kudos to Dan Carcillo on a savvy play. After having iced the puck, with the NYR completely exhausted, Carcillo “tested” his stick by leaning on it and snapping it. The trip to the bench bought his exhausted mates a much needed breather.
Also, what the hell was with Marcus Kruger playing wack-a-mole on an invisible puck on the goal post. Kruger smacked at the post an amazing 8 times with the puck (and the play) no where near him. Strange.
Although the game was a bit sloppy, it was a big win for the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts are in a dogfight and with 22 games and 44 possible points remaining, the NYR need to keep rolling through March and into April.
The Flyers up next in a Saturday matinee.
Let’s go Rangers!
Is there a better backup in the game?
After a wet fart of an effort in the penultimate game before the Olympic break against the Oilers, the Rangers faced the mighty Penguins at Consol Energy center. The crucial matchup, the last before the two-weak hiatus was of huge importance to the Blueshirts as they desperately wanted to avoid a two-game losing streak heading into the break.
With the Rangers top line mired in a serious funk (Derek Stepan and Rick Nash 0 pts in their last 5 games and Chris Kredier 0 pts in his last 7) the Pouliot-Brassard-Zuccarello got things started 63 seconds in. Marc Staal threw a point shot on net that caromed off the endboards to Mats Zucarello at the doorstep. Zucc outworked Tanner Glass in the slot and wedged the puck between the post and Marc-Andre Fleury’s skate before Benoit Pouliot skated in a jammed the puck over the goal line to give the Rangers the early lead. Pouliot goal, his 10th of the season was the perfect example of a Ranger going to the net and getting rewarded. Most goals come from the greasy areas of the rink, a place the Blueshirts avoided last year, but frequent this season.
The Penguins potent power play evened the contest at 11:43 when Olli Maata crashed the net and banged home a bouncing rebound of a Sidney Crosby rebound.
Thirty seconds into the second, James Neal was whistled for slashing Chris Kreider and the Rangers dormant power play (0 goals in 6 prior games) struck back off the draw. Brassard won the faceoff clean to Dan Girardi at the point and with Pouliot’s big body providing a screen in front, Girardi blasted one past Fleury to put the NYR up 2-1 just four seconds into the PP.
But after Rick Nash took a dumb penalty, the league’s best power play answered back at 8:29. Evgeny Malkin and Neal played catch on the off-wing before Malkin tattooed a one-timer by Hank tying the score at 2-2.
In the third, the Rangers went ahead on the power play when Pouliot went to the net and cashed in again. Girardi sent a shot on net that went wide and Pouliot seized on the rebound off the back boards and tucked the puck home for the 3-2 lead at 9:24.
But despite outplaying Pittsburgh, the Rangers couldn’t close out the Pens and with 2:56 remaining Maata found Neal in front and the game was tied at three. Neal, wide-open thanks to a covering no one Ryan Callahan, was able to beat Hank with a quick snapshot from the slot.
The OT produced only one shot (by the NYR) and the Rangers headed to a shootout against the insanely skilled Penguins. But the Rangers have Hank and he was back on his shootout game allowing a goal to Malkin, but forcing a Jussi Jokinen miss off the post and stopping Crosby.
The Rangers sent the hot hand Pouliot (and we love AV doing this) first, but Fleury poked checked the puck away. The Oslo Magician™ Zuccarello went second and opened Fleury’s legs before sliding the puck five-hole. Broadway Brad Richards went last and waltzed in zipped a wristshot off the post by Fleury and the Rangers had an excellent win heading to the Olympic break.
Yay. We win! Two weeks vacation!
Well, we all saw it coming Admiral.
With the a matchup against the Penguins followed immediately by the Olympic break looming, the red hot Rangers hosted the dreadful Edmonton Oilers at the World’s Most Famous in a contest that was the definition of a “trap game.”
And on cue, the Blueshirts walked directly into the trap.
Playing against the Oil and their terrible defense, the Rangers simply did not play hard enough. They put forth an unacceptable effort against a team they should have smoked.
The Blueshirts showed up as if all they had to do was show up to win.
Rather than blitz the young, vulnerable squad early, the NYR played like it was Puck Night at MSG, handing the Oilers an astonishing 10 giveaways in the first period. They looked nothing like the Rangers of the last 15 games or so. The Oilers opened the scoring when 100 year old veteran Ryan Smyth popped the puckk by Cam Talbot, in for Henrik Lundqvist, just 2:56 in.
The NYR tied it up on the first shift of the second period when The Oslo Magician™ got things started. Fiesty Mats Zuccarello, the Rangers leading scorer and best player this season, got into it off the draw with David Perron exchanging shoves and slashes. The nastiness continued as the puck found its way into the Oilers zone and Zuccarello forced a turnover along the while before engaging in some more nastiness with Perron. As the puck came to Zucc he slid a quick pass to Derick Brassard, who ripped a one timer by Ranger nemesis Ben Scrivens tying the match with 39 minutes to play.
At this point, the Rangers should have taken off, but they didn’t. The jump, the net crashing and the fire from the earlier games was absent. The Rangers muddled through the final two periods until the Foxwoods Final Five™.
With 1:38 left in the match, Brad Richards became floppity Brad Richards from last year falling all over the place trying to keep up with Taylor Hall behind the NYR net. After Richards lack of defense, Edmonton won the puck and Sam Gagner sent it in front to a wide open Nial Yakupov who buried the winner from the high slot.
Post-game, the Rangers were bitching about not getting a power play (Edmonton had one) as an excuse for losing. But, except for the blatant elbow to the face by Ryan Jones on Mats Zuccarello, the Blueshirts didn’t work hard enough to earn a man advantage.
The Rangers didn’t work hard enough to win the game. Despite the 35 shots on Scrivens, they didn’t look much like the Blueshirts of their recent hot streak. Alarmingly, the top line of Rick Nash, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider threw up blanks again. The suddenly cold line has to pick it up tomorrow and the Rangers will have to pick it up tomorrow with Hank back in net against the mighty Penguins before heading to the two week Olympic break.
Let’s go Rangers!
Here you go Smytty, here’s a freebie.
