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Rangers practice, no foolin’ • 04.01.09
Sidd Finch and Bernhard Holden have been put back in the trunk until the next April Fools. (Gotta love Carp!) But for real, Michal Rozsival was on the ice today, paired with odd-man-out Aaron Voros on the line drills.
When he got back to the locker room, Rozsival said his left knee felt fine during the straight skating, but that he could feel a bite on fast stops and pivots.
Rangers coach John Tortorella said he would make a decision on whether or not Rozsival will skate against Carolina after talking with doctors seeing how his defenseman feels later today.
Tortorella had the defensemen wearing green jerseys today, while the first two lines—Avery-Gomez-Callahan and Zherdev-Drury-Antropov wore blue. Sjostrom-Dubinsky-Naslund and Korpikoski-Betts-Orr wore white. Potter skated with Mara, Girardi with Staal and Morris with Redden.
Tortorella said he thought backing off some of his defensive schemes, the pinching, had helped during the 3-0 win over New Jersey last Monday.
The big topic was Carolina, which has won six strainght (nine straight at home) and is two points ahead of the Rangers in the Eastern conference standings. The good news is that the Rangers are very much in this playoff race, and they know that. There are five games left—Carolina, Boston, Montreal at the Garden and then a home-away split with Philly, with everything on the line.
Oh, and Knicks assistant Allan Houston watched practice today, and said it was the first time he’d ever watched the Rangers even though they have practiced on opposite sides of the same hallway for several years now. Maybe it’s the start of an exchange program—wonder if Antropov can dunk?
Rangers blank Devils 3-0 • 03.30.09
Rangers get a big win tonight and put three points between their seventh-place spot and Montreal in eighth. Hard not to talk about the playoffs this time of year.
“We don’t have a playoff spot,” John Tortorella said. “We are in the playoffs but we are still fighting for our lives. We are just trying to find a way to get points. I thought we played really well in Pittsburgh.
“We let a point get away in Atlanta. We played well enough in Pittsburgh to at least get a point but we didn’t come up with a big play, they did. Tonight, we started the first half, I thought we were solid just with our fore-checking getting through that neutral zone. We are just taking it a game at a time. I know playoffs is a subject, but we want to just get in and we are going to take it a game at a time to give ourselves a chance to get in there.”
Henrik Lundqvist addressed the question of whether he would like to meet the Devils in the playoffs and he said Whoa Nelly, or the Scandanavian equivalent.
The game was the main event, but the history between Rangers left wing Sean Avery and Devils goalie Martin Brodeur made for an interesting sideshow. Avery took it to a referee when Brodeur popped him with his stick after being screened.
It was a technique reminiscient of the move that generated The Avery Rule, but Brodeur said Avery didn’t bother him, and the shove would’ve been applied to anyone trying to block him.
“That’s his job,” Brodeur said, “and that’s my job to try to see so it doesn’t matter who was there.”
With the 3-0 lead in hand in the third period, David Clarkson grabbed a passive Avery and threw him to the ground — twice — before an official stepped in. Somehow, Avery was given two minutes for roughing even as Clarkson drew two roughing minors and a major misconduct.
“It was a 3-0 game at that point and I didn’t think there’s anything to be gained (from fighting back) at that point,” Avery said. “You fight for your team and you fight for your teammates. At that point I didn’t need to fight for either of them so there was really no point.”
“That’s the new Sean,” Lundqvist said. He’s been very focused since he got here.”
Devils at Rangers game thread • 03.30.09
Starting at 7 on Versus, the Devils (47-24-4) take on Sean Avery and the Rangers (39-28-9)! (Actually, borrowing from NBC’s hockey coverage in that lead-in.)
Before tonight’s game Rangers coach John Tortorella was asked if this is a must-win game for his team, and he said he just couldn’t put it in those kinds of terms. If he did, he asked, what would he say to them after a loss?
Tortorella also said the Rangers were having a hard time protecting the middle of the ice, and used as an example Pittsburgh’s go-ahead goal. I don’t want to describe it in too much detail because I know some of you have delicate stomachs, and between that and the Versus coverage… Anyway, here’s Torts.
I think it’s interesting that he says the system just can’t be installed this quickly. I’m wondering if that means something for the rest of this season. Enjoy the game!
Playoffs, Devils and emotion • 03.29.09
The Rangers practiced today on their home ice after losing a tough one in Pittsburgh. The two-game road trip yielded just one point, but captain Chris Drury said he thinks the Rangers can still make the playoffs despite the two losses and tough schedule.
In the audio clip below, coach John Tortorella answers a question about the low-producing third periods and how that has got to change.
I asked him about his 30-second interview, the one where he used some colorful words to describe his team after a shootout loss to Atlanta. Maybe you can tell from the clip below, but he has become a little more relaxed around us. Some of the other beat writers say it started in Pittsburgh, after the outburst. Hmmm… teachable moment?
Sean Avery, who had an epic blowup with Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, won’t talk to reporters until the Devils game is over tomorrow night. Tortorella said he was not sure if someone from the Rangers had contacted the league about the differences in officiating that he sees Avery subject to—Torts asked if someone else making the same moves would get the penalties Avery does, and he thinks they wouldn’t. …Paul Mara’s eye injury wasn’t the reason he didn’t play more yesterday. … Corey Potter was at practice. He’s the in the white jersey above getting ready to shoot. … Tortorella expects that Michal Rozsival will be back on the ice early this week.
Here is Henrik Lundqvist talking about New Jersey and Pittsburgh.
And that’s it for now. I tried to post a lot more audio because you have said you like the clips and I had the time to edit. I have noticed that if I try to upload something longer than about 1:30 I get a file-too-fat message. So alas, I will not be able to post an entire Tortorella presser—unless he storms out again after two questions.
And here’s the video of the screening tactic that gave birth to the Avery Rule.
Potter up, Sauer down • 03.29.09
After a poor performance yesterday in a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh (-2 in 1:59), Michael Sauer was sent back to Hartford and Corey Potter has been brought up to replace defenseman Michal Rozival, out for another week or so with a “lower body” injury.
Practice was pushed back to 11:45 today, and I’m at the training facility now. I’ll report back on what is said after a roadtrip to nowhere. And if Torts has another 30-second presser, you’ll hear every moment.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light • 03.27.09
If you wanted an idea of how rotten last night’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Thrashers was, all you need to know is that Rangers coach John Tortorella couldn’t keep it together for more than 30 seconds before storming out of the postgame.
“I thought we sucked right on through the game,” Tortorella said. “I think we’re fortunate to get a point, very fortunate to get that.”
And that was the composed part. How I wish I had audio of the whole thing for you all. The Rangers were up 4-1 in the second period before letting it all slip away. The NHL.com game recap is here. Andrew Gross of the Bergen Record has a first hand account of the debacle here. Larry Brooks of the Post asks some fine questions here. And Steve Zipay of Newsday asks why the system keeps giving up third period goals.
As for the standings, the Rangers are in seventh and a point behind Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference standings. And next up: the Penguins, tomorrow. The Canadiens are sneaking back up and are two points behind the Rangers in eighth place. Fasten your seatbelts…
Sauer debut, plus Thrashers • 03.25.09
When the Rangers lost to the Thrashers on Feb. 3, it was one of the lowest points of the current season. It was Adam Graves night, and a host of Ranger legends had taken the ice at the start of the evening to bring back the memory of that 1994 team.
And then the current Rangers couldn’t make a go of it against a team with a losing record. New York was booed, on it’s own ice and in front of a full house.
“I remember that was a really tough loss,” goalie Lundqvist said. “It’s funny how the energy and feeling can change really fast during the season. Right now we feel really good about how we play.”
New coach, new system and an influx of players before the trade deadline have made a big difference. The Rangers (39-27-8) have now won seven of the last 10 and are tied for seventh place with Pittsburgh with 86 points. Atlanta is 30-38-6 and out of playoffs contention.
“They’re a dangerous team,” coach John Tortorella said. “Their goaltender has played very well. They’ve got some quality people. Again they’re not in the playoffs and sometimes that makes them a very dangerous club they’re looking to knock people off.”
Here’s Tortorella on the power play.
“We got to keep them at bay,” Paul Mara said, “but we just have to concentrate on our own game and keep playing the way we have been and we’ll get two points if we keep playing with confidence and play the way we have been.”
Michael Sauer got good reviews for his Garden debut. His dad, Curt, was even there for the first time ever to watch his son play. But first, he took one of those doubledecker tours of the city. Here is some audio of me and Katie Strang of Newsday asking Sauer about how this opportunity can play out for him.
Markus Naslund didn’t practice today, but Tortorella said he would play against Atlanta. Aaron Voros skated in the line with Chris Drury and Nik Antropov. Tortorella kept the lines the same.
Updated: Sauer called up • 03.23.09
Defenseman Michael Sauer was recalled from Hartford this morning, which means that Michal Rozsival is not ready to go for tomorrow’s game against Minnesota. Rozsival, who had arthroscopic hip surgery last year, was injured in the second period of last night’s 2-1 loss to Ottawa at The Garden.
After the game, coach John Tortorella said he didn’t have an update on Rozsival, but he is reportedly scheduled for a 1 p.m. MRI today. The Rangers wouldn’t get specific about where the defenseman was hurt, characterizing it as lower body. He limped off the ice after the contact and didn’t reappear in the game. With Rozival’s medical history the caution is more than justified.
Sauer (AHL photo) is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and has played 59 games this season for the Wolf Pack. He has six goals and 16 assists.
I’m sure this will come up when Carp and I host a LIVE VIDEO CHAT tomorrow at 1 p.m. Stop by, bring a lunch and we will hack through the thicket of your Rangers questions together…
Update: Coach John Tortorella has dropped the skating part of the optional practice today. Reading into that, he must want to give the players a rest after two straight games and the last being pretty low-energy.
Update II: Assistant coach Jim Schoenfeld pulled the trigger on Sauer, saying he beat out Corey Potter, Brian Fahey and Bobby Sanguinetti.
“It’s actually one of the good situations you want,” Schoenfeld said. “You want players competiting for a job and because of the improved play of one he surpasses another.”
Torts said Rozsival will be missed.
“The key thing with Rosi is he can give you some offense,” Tortorella said. “He’s played well defensively but he gets us out of our end zone. He’s on our power play. The thing I liked about him, he’s been taking hits to make plays. He’s a good player and we’ll miss him. But you can’t belly ache about that, you need to find a way to make do without him and find a way to win.”
Rangers lose, 2-1 • 03.22.09
The Rangers had just four shots on goal in five power plays and, as somebody said after the game, you aren’t going to win many games if you only score a goal. Ottawa won 2-1 after Ryan Shannon gave the Senators the winning goal with 1:09 gone in the third, off a pass from Nick Foglino.
“We definitely had our chances to get the game going on the power play but for some reason we had a tough time getting the power play going tonight,” goalie Henrik Lundqvist said.
Little trivia for you, Shannon (right) grew up a Rangers fan, and watched the Wayne Gretzky retirement ceremony here. It was the first regular season game at the Garden for the kid from Darien, Conn. Look, I know you might be mad after the Rangers lost, but it’s a cool moment for him.
Back to the Rangers. With the loss, the Rangers (38-27-8) missed an opportunity to spring into a fifth place tie with Pittsburgh, and remains in the seventh spot with nine games left to play. Ottawa is 32-30-8 and has now won five straight.
“It clearly wasn’t our night, but it’s over and we’re back at it tomorrow,” Drury said. “They played well, they’re aggressive. They kind of take half the ice, pressure the wall. By the time we kind of figured things out, it was too late.”
“I don’t think that back-to-back has anything to do with it,” Sean Avery said. “(Ottawa) played back-to-back. We could have played a better game.”
Rangers coach John Tortorella tried to spark the Rangers by switching Ryan Callahan and Nikolai Zherdev, pulling Callahan to play with Sean Avery and Scott Gomez.
“I thought we were a little stale offensively,” Tortorella said.
It didn’t work, but the coach said he wouldn’t panic about one loss.
“This isn’t supposed to be easy,” Tortorella said. “It is not going to be and you are not always going to be at your best.”
The Rangers played much of the game without Michal Rozsival, who was injured in the second period on the same play that sent Colton Orr to the penalty box with 3:44 gone. Tortorella said he hadn’t spoken to the team doctors yet and would update the defenseman’s condition in the morning. They have an optional skate in the early afternoon.
Here’s the game recap.
Rangers vs. Ottawa • 03.22.09
Henrik Lundqvist will start in goal tonight when the Rangers host the Senators (31-30-10) at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. John Tortorella will use the same lineup as his did last night in the 5-3 win over the Sabres. The Rangers (38-26-8) in seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings and are a point behind the Hurricanes. With a win the Rangers would be in a tie for fifth place with Pittsburgh.
Tortorella said he realized the danger of overplaying a goalie, but that Lundqvist wanted to play and the Rangers need him. “This is crunch time,” Tortorella said.
And the other news, Torts has done a 180 degree turn on Sean Avery. “I never realized how good a skater he is, and he’s explosive,” the coach said.
But Torts said Avery needs to continue to keep it in check. “I watch him all the time to see that he stays within the limit of that line,” Tortorella said.
