Rangers Report Blog

This is as well as the Rangers have played in any three-game stretch this season, includng the seven-game winning streak … all against good Eastern teams. And I still don’t think they’ve nearly hit their stride, even at 10-2 in the last 12 and 7-0 in the last seven at home.

I thought the Penguins took it to them at times, and it was pretty clear which team had more skill. But the Rangers’ top players played better than the Pens’ top players, and their bottom guys didn’t play like bottom guys.

Thoughts:

1) I said this during the game, and have said it many times the last two years: They’re better with an edge. They just are. So hats off to Sean Avery, who is indeed proving that he is better than some of the guys they kept over him when they made their cuts. A lot better. I’ll take a plate of crow.

2) That double-minor call on the first fracas is tough. It’s obviously Advantage: Penguins to be 4-on-4 against any team. That said, the minors allowed the players to exit the box during play and simultaneously and engage again. Good for Avery there.

3) Prust did that with Simmonds Sunday. Reminds me of one of my fave Jeff Beukeboom stories. In Florida, Bill Lindsay (a Matt Cooke type back then) elbowed, I think it was, Kevin Lowe. Knocked him silly. Lindsay got a penalty, a minor for elbowing. Near the end of the PP, Beuk went over and stood right outside the penalty box door, waiting for Lindsay to get out, and beat the crap out of him as soon as he hit the ice. Hahaha.

4) And good for Lundqvist, too, sticking up for himself against that Dick Vitale guy. He went after Skid Crosby last year, too. Vitale did elbow him in the mask before Lundqvist’s punch. I don’t think that should have been a power play for Dicky V’s team.

5) The Garden was loud. From the start. And spontaneously. More so than I can remember in a long time.

6) I don’t know if their play will flatten out at all, but right now, Carl Hagelin and John Mitchell sure look like what the Rangers needed, some lower-line guys who can skate and create and do a lot of things well. Kind of reminds me of when Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh showed up last year? They both are also better than some of the guys who began the season here. And could be the ticket to Hartford for some of those guys.

7) Michael Del Zotto had a Del Zaster of a shift when he set up Malkin, who was robbed by Lundqvist, and then whiffed on a shot in the other end. But before his shift ended, Del Zotto made the home run pass high off the glass that ended up in the Hagelin-to-Mitchell goal. And while Del Zotto struggled, the PP scored twice in a one-goal win. So, you know, there are two sides to this kid’s story.

8) This might have been Brad Richards’ best two-way game if he hadn’t just had a better one on Sunday vs. Philly. So far, so good with the $60 Million Man. And I don’t think this is as good as it gets with him, either. And Marian Gaborik was just dominant, more than Skid Crosby.

9) While the PP won the game, the first 1:22 of 5 on 3 was awful. So cute. Like they were trying to be the Harlem Globetrotters.

10) I was wondering on that piece of carcillo Cooke’s disallowed goal, if it might count because it went in off of Sauer. I think, once upon a time, it would have. But here’s the rule:

80.3 Disallowed Goal – When an attacking player causes the puck to enter the opponent’s goal by contacting the puck above the height of the crossbar, either directly or deflected off any player or official, the goal shall not be allowed. The determining factor is where the puck makes contact with the stick. If the puck makes contact with the stick below the level of the crossbar and enters the goal, this goal shall be allowed.

11) At 4-3, with 7:19 left, the Rangers on the ice were gassed, sticks on knees, bent over after an icing, and John Tortorella had already used his timeout. Lundqvist stalled by fixing a buckle. Then he made a remarkable play, lunging forward and poking the puck away from Malkin right in front, and in behind a wiped-out Del Zotto, as the Rangers could barely move. Might have been the play of the game. And then Malkin took a dumb slashing penalty to bail them out.

12) The ice looked awful. Advantage: Rangers.

13) And how about Brian Boyle going 11-4 on draws, Richards 13-3, and Brandon Dubinsky 11-5? The team was 40-17. Are these really the Rangers?

14) Saw three old-time Rangers last night: Tony Granato, Tie Domi and Anders Hedberg. Good stuff.

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My Three Rangers Stars:
1) Brad Richards.
2) Marian Gaborik.
3) Henrik Lundqvist.

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AP photos, above.

courtesy of the New York Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
November 29, 2011 (Game 21, Home Game 9)
Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

Team Notes:
-        The Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3, tonight at Madison Square Garden to extend their home winning streak to seven games, and have now won their last three contests overall.

-        New York improved to 13-5-3 (29 pts) on the season, including a 7-1-1 record at home.

-        The Rangers tied their season-high for goals in a period, tallying all four of their goals in the second.  It is the fourth time this season New York has registered four goals in the second period.  The last time was in a 6-3 win at Washington on Friday.

-        The Blueshirts have out-scored their opponents, 26-10, during their current seven-game home winning streak, having held the opposition to one goal or less in four of the seven games.  The Rangers are 7-35 (20.0%) on the power play during the home winning streak, while surrendering just two goals against in 19 shorthanded situations (89.5%).

-        The Rangers’ 7-1-1 start through nine games at Madison Square Garden is their best start at home since they posted a record of 7-1-1 through nine home games to begin the 1992-93 season.

-        The Blueshirts are 4-13 (30.8%) on the power play during their current three-game winning streak.

-        The Rangers have now registered at least one point in eight of their last nine meetings with the Penguins (6-1-2 over the span), including wins in their last three.  New York has out-scored Pittsburgh, 14-8, in their last three meetings.

-        The Rangers improved to 8-0-1 when leading after the second period, including a 4-0-1 mark when leading after two at Madison Square Garden.

-        The Blueshirts out-shot the Penguins in the contest, 30-27, and remain the only team in the NHL who are undefeated when out-shooting their opponent (7-0-0).  New York has now out-shot their opponent in each of the last three games (95-77 over the span).

-        New York was credited with 43 hits and 20 blocked shots in the contest.  The Rangers had 16 of 18 players register at least one hit, with eight players recording three or more hits.  The Blueshirts now rank second in the NHL in hits per contest (26.7) and fourth in the league in blocked shots per contest (16.0).

-        The Blueshirts registered a 70% success rate on faceoffs in the game, winning 40 of 57 faceoff attempts.  Brad Richards led all skaters with 13 faceoff wins in 16 opportunities (81%), while Brandon Dubinsky (11-16, 69%) and Brian Boyle (11-15, 73%) each registered 11 faceoff wins.

-        The Rangers are now three wins shy of 2,500 wins, having won 2,497 games all-time in franchise history.

Player Notes:
-        Marian Gaborik notched the game-winning goal, on the power play, added a power play assist and registered four shots on goal in 22:49 of ice time to earn first star honors.  He has tallied 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in the last 14 games, including four points (two goals, two assists) in the last four.

-        Brad Richards registered his second three-point performance of the season with one goal and two power play assists, and won a game-high 13 of 16 faceoffs (73%) in 20:48 of ice time.  He has tallied 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in the last 13 games, and six points (three goals, three assists) in the last three.  Richards has also notched a goal in three straight games.

-        Ryan Callahan recorded a power play goal, added an assist and tied for the game-high with six hits in 19:41 of ice time.  He has registered 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in the last 13 games, including nine points (three goals, six assists) in the last seven.

-        Carl Hagelin registered an assist, led all skaters with six shots on goal and was credited with three blocked shots in 11:50 of ice time.  He has now tallied a point in three straight games to begin his career, and is the first Ranger rookie to do so since Steven King registered a point in four consecutive games to begin his career in 1992-93.

-        Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves to improve to 10-4-3 on the season, including a 5-1-1 mark at Madison Square Garden.  Lundqvist completed the month of November with a record of 8-1-0, along with a 1.88 goals against average, .937 save percentage and one shutout.

-        John Mitchell notched his first goal as a Ranger with an even strength tally at 14:09 of the second period.  He has now tallied a point in each of his three games as a Blueshirt following his recall from Connecticut (AHL) on Thursday (one goal, two assists over the span).

-        Michael Del Zotto tallied the primary assist on Gaborik’s power play, game-winning goal, was credited with five hits and two blocked shots, and led all skaters with a season-high, 27:41 of ice time.  He has recorded an assist in each of the last two games.

-        Brian Boyle registered an assist and four shots, and won 11 of 15 faceoffs (73%) in 15:36 of ice time.  He was also credited with three hits and three blocked shots.  Boyle has tallied two points (one goal, one assist) in the last three games, and has posted a plus or even rating in 11 straight (plus-seven).

-        Ruslan Fedotenko recorded the primary assist on Richards’ goal at 15:39 of the second, and has now tallied three points (two goals, one assist) in the last three games.

-        Brandon Prust tied for the game-high with a season-high, six hits in the contest.  Dan Girardi was credited with four hits and four blocked shots, and now ranks second on the team in hits (57) and first in blocked shots (56).

Post-Game Quotes:                                                      
-        John Tortorella on John Mitchell… “He’s bringing it. He’s doing the work along the walls, scores a big goal for us. He and (Carl) Hagelin have stepped right in and added some speed, handled the puck and made plays. Hopefully we continue.”

-        Marian Gaborik on playing at Madison Square Garden… “Home games should be an advantage and I think we took advantage so far this year.  Like I said it’s a long year but hopefully we can keep it up.  The fans are behind us which is great and we feel very confident playing here.”

-        Henrik Lundqvist on the team… “It’s important to have your top guys play strong in big games and Gaby (Marian Gaborik) and (Brad) Richards were really good out there, but I think all four lines played a really good game. We’re building confidence right now and we’re winning in different ways.”

Here are some post-game interviews, and John Tortorella’s press conference.

John Tortorella:

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Brad Richards:

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Marian Gaborik:

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Henrik Lundqvist:

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Game 21—or the “sort of” one-quarter pole.

Ya boys on a two-game winning streak and a run of six consecutive wins on Garden ice.

Cover your eyes, or ignore the next few lines:

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are here! Whoopeeeee! Everybody celebrate. Bring frankincense and myrrh to the Garden tonight. Hockey is saved.

The Skidder is 2-7-9 in four games since his return. He wears the same number that Donald Brashear wore as a Ranger.

Sorry, I just wanted to get you used to all of this, because there will only one way to escape this tonight. Turn off the TV and the radio. In fact, by the time this is posted, I’m sure you will have seen and heard about Skid on TV at least once already. By the way, a lot of the papers in town will have extra reporters here covering, well, you know who. So be warned about going to the newsstand tomorrow, too.

On the positive side, I got to chat with Penguins assistant coach Tony Granato, one of my all-time favorite Rangers and a guy who would have fit in perfectly with this current team. Or any team.

Same lineup for Rangers, meaning Anton Stralman and Erik Christensen are prucha’d. Bel Biv Deveaux serves the final game of his suspension. Henrik Lundqvist in goal.
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Oh, by the way, I’ll be guesting with Kenny Albert or Dave Maloney on the radio between the first and second periods. So give us a listen. Maybe a RR or Boneheads shout-out coming.

 

 

 

I’ll put up the brief audio in a moment.

But suffice it to say, you knew it was going to be quick if anybody A) asked about Sidney Crosby or B) asked about Marc Staal … especially since there was really nothing much more to ask.

So it was short.

Unfortunately, I turned off the recorder when it was over, before Tortorella stopped and turned to the media and said, “Do we have to do these anymore?”

When Larry Brooks, who’s the chairperson for the New York Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association, said, “Yes,” Tortorella said, “I wasn’t asking you Brooksie; I was asking everybody else.”

And when Brooks told him he has to be available pre-game, Tortorella asked him if he was the representative. Told that, yes, Brooks is, Tortorella sarcastically said, “Oh, you’re the representative.” And then he left the room.
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Here’s the audio. The first question(s) are about Marc Staal. Then Stan Fischler asked how excited he was about tonight, with the inference that Sid the Skid was in town:

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Pre-game notes from the Rangers:

NEW YORK RANGERS vs. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Tuesday, Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Madison Square Garden – New York, New York
Rangers: 12-5-3 (27 pts)
Penguins: 14-6-4 (32 pts)
* All information through NHL games on Nov. 27

TONIGHT’S GAME:
The Rangers will face-off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m.), in an Atlantic Division matchup. The Blueshirts currently rank third in the Atlantic Division standings, and sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 12-5-3 (27 pts). The Rangers enter the contest having defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, to extend their home winning streak to six games. New York has now won their last two games, having completed a sweep of their back-to-back set against Washington and Philadelphia. The Penguins enter the contest with a 14-6-4 (32 pts) record to rank first in the Eastern Conference, and have lost five of their last seven games on the road (2-4-1). Following the contest, the Rangers will face-off against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, Dec. 1, at RBC Center (7:00 p.m.), to begin a two-game Southeast road trip.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:
·TV: MSG Network
7:00 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game Show with Al Trautwig
7:30 p.m. – Rangers vs. Penguins
Broadcasters: Sam Rosen (Play-By-Play), Joe Micheletti (Analyst), John Giannone (In-Game Reporter)
·Radio: 1050 ESPN Radio and newyorkrangers.com
7:00 p.m. – Rangers Pre-Game Show
7:30 p.m. – Rangers vs. Penguins
Broadcasters: Kenny Albert (Play-By-Play), Dave Maloney (Analyst)

RANGERS vs. PENGUINS:
·All-Time: 115-97-23-8 overall (64-46-9-3 at home; 51-51-14-5 on the road)

• ·2011-12: Tonight is the first of six meetings this season, and the first of three at Madison Square Garden.


• ·Last Season: New York was 4-1-1 overall, with a 1-1-1 mark at home. The Rangers power play was 7-22 (31.8%) in the season series, while the penalty kill was 20-22 (90.9%). New York out-scored Pittsburgh, 21-15, including a 10-4 margin in the third period and overtime. Ryan Callahan led the Rangers with five goals, nine points, four power play goals and three game-winning goals in six games, while Brandon Dubinsky tallied a team-high, six assists in the season series. Henrik Lundqvist was 4-1-1 with a 2.29 GAA and .926 Sv%.


• ·The Rangers have registered at least one point in seven of their last eight meetings with Pittsburgh, posting a record of 5-1-2 over the span


• ·New York has won their last two games against Pittsburgh, having out-scored the Penguins, 10-5, in those contests


• ·New York ranks 15th with a 6-1-1 (13 pts) record at home; Pittsburgh ranks 10th with a 6-5-2 (14 pts) mark on the road


• ·The Rangers have posted a 2-1-0 record vs. Atlantic Division opponents; the Penguins are 4-0-0 vs. the Atlantic Division


• ·Henrik Lundqvist has posted a 20-13-5 record with a 2.41 GAA and two shutouts in 38 career regular season games vs. Pittsburgh; Martin Biron is 13-15-3-2 with a 2.98 GAA and two shutouts in 33 career regular season games vs. the Penguins


• ·Brad Richards leads the Rangers with 22 assists and 28 points in 27 career regular season games vs. Pittsburgh; Marian Gaborik has tallied eight goals and 17 points in 18 career regular season games vs. the Penguins


• ·New York lists three former Penguins on their roster: Erik Christensen (2005-06 – 2007-08); Ruslan Fedotenko (2008-09 – 2009-10); Mike Rupp (2009-10 – 2010-11)


• ·Pittsburgh lists one former Ranger on their roster: Pascal Dupuis (2006-07) (more…)

OK, I’m mildly curious to see the Rangers’ Winter Classic jersey—cream colored, old-school look, and throwback Rangers crest—today.

Mildly.

Of course, you guys are probably more excited than I, especially those of youse who might do exactly what the NHL/Rangers want you go do: dig deep and buy one.

Anyway, the unveiling, as you know, is at 4 p.m. on the Rangers’ site. Don’t know when they’ll make it available to the public otherwise. Good way to generate traffic over there, though, no doubt.

I just got back from Syracuse and state football championships late last night. So I’m going to be sleeping in, then pretty busy, and not at all sure I’ll be interested enough to check in on the jersey this afternoon. If I’m around and have a minute, I will.

Enjoy the unveiling.

Thoughts:

1) I don’t believe most staged fights serve any purpose. But when two rival teams get together, or when there is an axe to grind, and two guys go at it right off the first draw, well, that does set a tone.

2) Brandon Prust is certainly willing, and more than tough, and he’s a very good fighter, But he’s not a heavyweight (duh) and he takes some shots, for sure, in his bouts. Man, how does he do that? And how about the honor of removing helmets before the fight? Awesome.

3) Sean Avery, as I’ve said before, makes a huge difference in games against arch-rivals from Philly, Newark and Uniondale.

4) Question for yesterday’s referees: How in Holy Hell do you go from the pansification, call every little ticky-tack tap or touch for the first 19 games, then let absolutely everything go? Not that I mind the game being called the way that first period went, and how it continued pretty much throughout … I wish it was that way all the time.

5) And correct call(s) as Ryan Callahan was tackled by Braydon Coburn, into Bobrovsky, on the part of the referee who didn’t wave it off, and on the part of the NHL video folks to disallow it because Callahan batted it in with his hand.

6) Did you just love the edge in Michael Del Zotto’s game?

7) Great game by Brad Richards, and all the guys (including Block Ness Monster Dan Girardi) who frustrated the heck out of Claude Giroux. And he was frustrated. This might have been the Rangers’ best start-to-finish game, especially defensively … and to repeat myself … they’ve always seemed to play better in games that have some growl.

8) The ice looked nice and bouncy, didn’t it? I’m sure B.U. and Cornell enjoyed it last night, too.

9) Did anybody mention the Winter Classic yet? Actually, the best part of this whole hype-and-sell fest is going to be hearing the mic’d up coaches and players on “24/7”. They must have gotten a couple of shows’ worth yesterday alone.

10) Braydon Coburn can play for my team any day.

11) Gotta like what you’ve seen from Carl Hagelin and John Mitchell so far, eh? Little better than the guys they’ve replaced?

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My Three Rangers Stars:
1) Brandon Prust.
2) Ryan Callahan.
3) Brad Richards.

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AP photos, above.

NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES
November 26, 2011 (Game 20, Home Game 8)
Madison Square Garden – New York, New York

 Team Notes:

-        The Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0, today at Madison Square Garden to extend their home winning streak to six games, and have now won their last two contests overall.

-        New York improved to 12-5-3 (27 pts) on the season, including a 6-1-1 record at home.

-        The Blueshirts have out-scored their opponents, 22-7, during their current six-game home winning streak, having held the opposition to one goal or less in four of the six games.  The Rangers are 5-29 (17.2%) on the power play during the home winning streak, while surrendering just one goal against in 15 shorthanded situations (93.3%) over the span.

-        The Rangers’ 6-1-1 start through eight games at Madison Square Garden is their best start at home since they posted a record of 6-1-1 through eight home games to begin the 1992-93 season.  New York began that season with a 7-1-1 mark though nine games at MSG.

-        The Rangers have won their last three games against the Flyers, out-scoring Philadelphia, 12-2, in those contests.  New York has now shutout Philadelphia in each of their last two meetings at Madison Square Garden.

-        With today’s win, New York completed a sweep of their back-to-back set, having defeated Washington, 6-3, yesterday at Verizon Center.  The Rangers improved to 2-0-1 in the second game of back-to-backs, including a 2-0-0 mark when the game is played at home.  Since 2009-10, New York is 23-8-3 in the back-end of back-to-back sets, including an 11-3-1 mark at MSG.

-        The Rangers improved to 7-0-1 when leading after the second period, and are 11-1-0 when tallying the game’s first goal.  Their 11 wins when scoring first are the most in the NHL, while their .917 winning percentage ranks second.

-        The Blueshirts out-shot the Flyers in the contest, 32-29, and remain the only team in the NHL who are undefeated when out-shooting their opponent (6-0-0).

-        New York now leads the league in goals against average, allowing just 2.05 goals against per contest, and have surrendered the fewest total goals on the season (41).

-        The Rangers are now four wins shy of 2,500 wins, having won 2,496 games all-time in franchise history.

Player Notes:

-        Henrik Lundqvist turned aside all 29 shots he faced to post his second shutout of the season, and improve to 9-4-3 on the season with a 4-1-1 mark at home.  The shutout was his 40th career overall, with 37 coming in the regular season and three during the playoffs.  He has now started on consecutive days 56 times in his career, and improved to 35-14-7 with a 1.82 goals against average, .935 save percentage and six shutouts in the second game.  Lundqvist is 7-1-0 with a 1.74 goals against average, .942 save percentage and one shutout during the month of November.

-        Brad Richards opened the game’s scoring with a power play goal 0:54 into the second period, and logged 20:56 of ice time to earn second star honors.  He has registered 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in the last 12 games, including six points (four goals, two assists) in the last six.  Richards is now tied for second on the team with eight goals on the season.

-        Carl Hagelin notched his first career NHL goal with an even strength tally at 5:06 of the third period while making his Madison Square Garden debut.  Hagelin, who recorded an assist in his NHL debut yesterday at Washington, also registered three shots on goal in 10:55 of ice time.

-        Michael Del Zotto tallied a power play assist, led the team with four shots on goal, and was credited with four blocked shots and a game-high, five hits, in 21:27 of ice time.  He now ranks second on the team in power play assists (four) and is tied for third in power play points (four) on the season.

-        Dan Girardi recorded the primary assist on Richards’ power play goal, and was credited with two hits and two blocked shots in a team-high, 27:26 of ice time.  He has registered 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the last 14 games, including three assists in the last two, and is now five assists shy of 100 NHL career.  Girardi leads the team in power play assists (five) and power play points (six).

-        Ryan McDonagh tallied the primary assist on Hagelin’s third period goal and led all skaters with a career-high, six blocked shots in 24:39 of ice time.  He has now registered an assist in each of the last three games, and has recorded five assists and a plus-11 rating in the last nine games.

-        John Mitchell registered an assist in 11:51 of ice time while making his Madison Square Garden debut as a Ranger, and completed the Blueshirts’ back-to-back set with two assists following his recall from Connecticut (AHL) on Thursday.

-        Brandon Prust, who captured third star honors, was assessed two fighting majors in the first period, including one 0:04 into the contest.  The Rangers are now 9-2-0 when Prust is assessed a fighting major in the game’s opening five minutes since he joined the team on February 2, 2010.

Post-Game Quotes:

-        John Tortorella on Carl Hagelin…

“You always get that juice when you come (up from Hartford).  I think Ken Gernander and that group down there with the minor league team deserves a lot of credit because he’s not only fast, but he’s playing smart also. Both him and Mitch [John Mitchell], they’ve added to us right away these first two games.”

-        Henrik Lundqvist on today’s game…

“I think we played with a lot of confidence and we made it really tough for them to create chances. They had a couple in the first and in the second, I feel like we really shut them down. We did a really good job and I think we carried over the confidence from last night.”

-        Carl Hagelin on his first career goal…

“To be able to do that here, at MSG is pretty amazing. There’s such a great crowd here and they really love their team. They’re probably the best fans in the world.”