Rangers Report Blog

Game 48.

The ticket contest is now closed. Thank you for playing. And a special thank you to the guys who did it wrong (deep exhale of exasperation). 

And may I just say that it’s going to be really easy to judge the contest if the Devils win the game, because you guys were relatively wildly optimistic.

In case you forgot, since it’s been a while, ya boys have won two in a row, three of their last four, and 14 of their last 18. They have won five of their last six road games, and 11 of 14.

The Rangers are 9-2 in Patrick Division games, and are unbeaten in regulation (6-0-1) in the first of back-to-backs (5-1-1 in the second game of back-to-backs).

They are 18-7-2 against the Devils since 2007-08, including 9-4-1 at the Rock.

The Devils have lost three in a row, all at home, the last one in a shootout.

Battle of the Martins: Biron vs. Brodeur, which means Henrik Lundqvist starts tomorrow in Buffalo. Otherwise, same lineup, so Wojtek Wolski and Erik Christensen are prucha’d

The contest for two tickets to the Feb. 12 game begins now, and ends when the “It’s Go Time!” thread is posted prior to tonight’s game (approx. 6:30 p.m.).

Only entries within this thread will count. Please scroll down to the previous thread to read the rules before entering. AND DO NOT EVEN DREAM ABOUT ENTERING TWICE.

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Pre-game notes, courtesy of the NYR:

NEW YORK RANGERS at NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 7:00 p.m.
Prudential Center — Newark, NJ
Rangers: 31-12-4 (66 pts)
Devils: 26-19-3 (55 pts)

• All information through NHL games on Jan. 25

  TONIGHT’S GAME:
  The Rangers will face-off against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center (7:00 p.m.; TV: MSG 2; Radio: 970 The Apple), in the first game of a back-to-back set. The Blueshirts currently sit atop the Eastern Conference standings, and rank second in the league overall, with a record of 31-12-4 (66 pts). The Rangers enter the contest having defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 3-0, on Jan. 24 at Madison Square Garden for their third win in four games, and are now 14-4-0 in their last 18 games. New York has posted a record of 28-9-2 since Oct. 29, after beginning the season with a 3-3-2 mark. The Devils enter the contest with a 26-19-3 (55 pts) record to rank eighth in the Eastern Conference, and have lost their last three games. Following the contest, the Rangers will face-off against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at First Niagara Center (7:30 p.m.), to close out their back-to-back set.

  RANGERS vs. DEVILS:

• All-Time: 99-82-27-5 overall (54-29-20-2 at home; 45-53-7-3 on the road)
• 2011-12: Tonight is the second of six meetings this season, and the second of three at Prudential Center. New York is 1-0-0 (0-0-0 at home; 1-0-0 on the road) following a 4-1 win on Dec. 20 at Prudential Center. The Rangers tallied four unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to overcome a one-goal deficit after the first. Marian Gaborik (two goals, one assist) and Derek Stepan (three assists) each registered three points, while Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves in the win.
• Last Season: New York was 4-2-0 overall (2-1-0 at home; 2-1-0 on the road). The Rangers held the Devils to one or fewer goals in four of the six meetings, and out-scored New Jersey, 16-8, in the season series. Brandon Dubinsky led the Blueshirts in scoring with four goals and seven points, while Artem Anisimov tallied a team-high, five assists in six games. Henrik Lundqvist was 4-2-0 with a 1.44 GAA, .953 Sv% and one shutout.
• Nine of their last 13 meetings have been decided by two goals or less
• Henrik Lundqvist has started in 32 straight games against the Devils
• New York ranks second with a 16-7-2 (34 pts) record on the road; New Jersey ranks 25th with a 12-9-2 (26 pts) mark at home
• The Rangers are 9-2-0 vs. the Atlantic Division; the Devils are 4-5-0 vs. the Atlantic Division
• New York lists one former Devil on their roster: Mike Rupp (2002-03 – 2003-04, 2006-07 – 2008-09)
• New Jersey lists one former Ranger on their roster: Petr Sykora (2005-06)

From the Rangers:

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR NEW YORK RANGERS ANNUAL CASINO NIGHT PRESENTED BY UNILEVER TO BENEFIT THE GARDEN OF DREAMS FOUNDATION
Full Team Event on Tuesday, February 28 – Gotham Hall

New York, January 30, 2012 –The New York Rangers announced today that tickets to the team’s annual Casino Night presented by Unilever are now available for purchase. The fundraising event to benefit the Garden of Dreams Foundation will take place on Tuesday, February 28th and will feature the entire New York Rangers team, coaching staff and select alumni for an evening of casino games at Gotham Hall hosted by MSG Network analysts Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti. The players will deal cards, join guests for a buffet dinner and host a live and silent auction featuring one-of-a-kind Rangers experiences and memorabilia. To purchase tickets, visit newyorkrangers.com or call 1-877-MSG-GOAL.

All net proceeds from the event will be donated to the Garden of Dreams Foundation; a nonprofit charity that works closely with all areas of The Madison Square Garden Company, including the New York Knicks, Rangers, Liberty, MSG Network, MSG Entertainment and Fuse to “make dreams come true for kids facing obstacles.” Garden of Dreams partners with local children’s hospitals, “wish” organizations and community-based organizations to build on-going, unforgettable programs for children in the tri-state area who are suffering from devastating illness, homelessness, abuse, hunger, extreme poverty and tragedy.

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OUR TICKET CONTEST RULES:

Our gracious and generous donor has given us two more pair of tickets to give away, so we’ll have two upcoming contests. The first involves tomorrow’s game at Newark, and the winner will get two tickets to the Feb. 12 Rangers-Capitals matinee at Madison Square Garden.

So let’s review the rules, shall we? (answer: yes).

1) This is the easy part. You pick the score, then a bunch of tiebreakers: game-winning goal, Rangers shots, Devils shots. Your entry should look something like this (with different numbers and names): Rangers 17, Devils 1. GWG: Avery. Rangers shots: 18. Devils shots: 44.

(Do me a huge favor, please. Don’t use NYR or Blueshirts or anything other than Rangers when you make your pick. It just makes it much easier for me to scroll through all the entries that way. Thank you.)

2) The score of the game must be exact. Not closest. Not margin of victory. You must have the exact score to move on to the tiebreakers, if needed. Note that the game-winning goal is the goal that provides the margin of victory, whether it be the second goal in a 17-1 game, or an overtime or (God forbid) winning shootout goal.

The Rangers’ shots tiebreaker shall go to the closest prediction without going over. If contestants are still tied, the Devils’ shots tiebreaker shall be used, and also will go to the closest prediction without going over. If all remaining contestants are over the number of Devils shots, the contestant closest to the correct total wins.

Finally, if still somehow tied, I will either give the tickets to Sally or flip a coin at Blog HQ … or I will wait for the next time I see the donor at a game and let him flip the coin.

3) The most important rules regarding entry into the contest: DO NOT EVEN DREAM ABOUT ENTERING MORE THAN ONCE. I will check IP addresses from any entrant whose screen name I do not recognize. Entries open when the Tuesday morning post goes up, usually between 5-6 a.m., and will close when the It’s Go Time! post goes up shortly after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Only entries in the morning post Tuesday will count. In other words, don’t put your predictions in any other thread.

4) Don’t get me aggravated with dumb questions or details.

5) *-The judge’s decision on all issues will be final. (*-I am the judge).

Good luck, and have fun. And don’t make your pick until tomorrow’s pre-game notes thread.

I’m back from my little, ahem, vacation. Got the cleanest garage in the Northeast.

Anyway, I guess the All-star game was as good as it could have been from a Rangers standpoint, with all ya boys—MVP Marian Gaborik, Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi, Smilin’ John Tortorella and Carl Hagelin—front and center throughout the weekend.

I’m not reviewing the game, but I must say that once again the NHL has proven to be completely inept at finding pre-game and/or between-periods entertainment for its big events. How else do you explain the selection of those two clowns yesterday, two fine young men whose top songs contain some of the most vulgar lyrics possible? I guess there are no other entertainers in Canada or America.

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We’re going to do another ticket contest tomorrow, thanks to our generous Bonehead donor. We’ll review the rules later today, and entries will open and close on the morning thread tomorrow.

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While I was away, I read a story about goalies in Sports Illustrated, by my friend Michael Farber, who is, IMO, the best hockey writer on this hemisphere.

At one point he was talking about some of the insane long-term contracts given to NHL goalies, when he came up with this paragraph:

The eternally goalie-bereft Flyers, belatedly embracing a Neale-ist approach, signed the chatty Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year, $51 million contract last June after his four seasons in low-pressure Phoenix. He has rewarded their faith with a save percentage of .891, well below the modern Mendoza line of .900. Goalie. Nine years. Philly. Nothing possibly could go wrong here.”

Here is the transcript from Gaborik’s post-game press conference, courtesy of ASAP Sports:

Q.  Marian, this game was supposed to be all about Swedish guys and Alfredsson and so on.  It ends up being all about Slovak guys.  How satisfying is that?
MARIAN GABORIK:  I think it was about Swedish guys, you could hear it out there.  I think, you know, there are more Swedish guys than Slovak guys.
But, overall, I think we had a lot of fun.  I’m glad I could play along with Marian and Pavel Datsyuk, and I was glad that he picked me in the draft.  He got me sweating there a little bit at the draft, picking me late.
But it was a fun event.  And I had a lot of fun.

Q.  Why do you think it’s so easy to score on Henrik Lundqvist?
MARIAN GABORIK:  It’s not easy.  I was just fortunate to be lucky against him.  But I think he’s one of the best, if not the best, goalie in the league, but I am glad I could get a couple of goals against him.

Q.  What was that goal celebration after your first one?
MARIAN GABORIK:  I was thinking about before the game if I score on Henrik, I wouldn’t do it any other way, but I wanted to do it against Henrik to get a celebration there.  So I don’t think he was too happy about that.

Q.  Was the thought to get into his mind early, I think you were tugging at him behind the net earlier in the game?
MARIAN GABORIK:  I was trying to get into his mind over the whole weekend.  And I think it was a pretty good challenge against him, and worked a little better for me.

Q.  What was it like to play on the line with Datsyuk and Hossa?  Looked pretty natural.
MARIAN GABORIK:  Marian, we played together on the international level.  But with Pavel, he’s one of the best.  You can just see pure talent, and he’s got all it all and just to be playing also with all the other guys was a lot of fun.

Q.  Do you think Torts will be okay with your celebration?
MARIAN GABORIK:  He was just jealous we won the game.

Q.  Will the Twitter war with Lundqvist continue after this weekend?
MARIAN GABORIK:  I don’t think so.  I posted up a picture hugging him during the skills last night.  So I think we’re good.  But it was friendly and it’s always?? we always have a good competition, even in practice.
And it’s challenging to score on him.  So as I said, he’s one of the best.

Q.  In regards to the Twitter war, was there any like prize outcome for the winner or loser that they’d have to do?
MARIAN GABORIK:  We haven’t talked about it.  So, no.

Q.  Do you think you did that celebration as well as Anisimov did?
MARIAN GABORIK:  No, way.  Did you see him doing that?  No.  It was?? I just wanted to it if I would score on Henrik.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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AP photo, above.

And to celebrate the All-star game in Kanata, Ontario, the Empire State Building today will be lit completely in Orange crud to honor Claude Giroux, Kimo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, and of course Ed Snider and Comcast and the Broad Street Bullies. … with the complete approval of the NHL, of course.

The game today, obviously, will be awful hockey. But better than the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which they have to hold in Hawaii to get all the players (some of whom are actually not felons) to show up.

Ya boys will be an interesting watch. Foremost, Marian Gaborik has exchanged a lot of twitter trash talk with Henrik Lundqvist, who remembers giving up five in one game to Gaborik when he was in Minnesota. And what the heck is Dan Girardi going to do in a game like this? Hope he scores a goal. And, is John Tortorella really not going to do any coaching? Is he going to leave the bench to Todd McLellan of the San Jose Soft-shelled Jumbo Shrimps?

Then we can get away from all this silliness and back to the season, which resumes with visits to Newark Tuesday and Buffalo Wednesday.

Meanwhile, here is Girardi’s blog from NHL.com, and here’s a twit pic tweeted by Gaborik last night:

Man, it’s slow up in here during the break.

As should have been expected, I guess.

I got nothing for youse today, nor am I supposed to even be here ‘til tomorrow.

Here’s your blank canvas.

We’ll do “It’s Go Time!” before the game this afternoon (4 p.m. on NBC).

No, not those skills competitions. Not those breakaway contests that they sometimes hold AFTER the hockey game ends.

Tonight is the real skills competition, featuring the NHL’s all-stars, including ya boys, Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, Carl “Haggar” Hagelin (who may be faster than Gaborik, according to a tweet by Gaborik) and of course, the passer, Dan Block Ness Monster Girardi.

Oh, and coached by John Tortorella, who has said he’s not going to do any coaching, but instead just sit back and watch … which is what a few of our readers think he does all the time.

The competition is scheduled for 7 p.m. on NBCSports Network, formerly Versus, formerly the Outdoor Life Network … with pre-show on NHL Network (I think).

See the roster for the skills events in the thread below.

Here are the rosters, and the story from Dan Rosen of NHL.com.

NHL.com also has some video of interviews from media day yesterday, including John Tortorella trying to say absolutely nothing, until the questions turn to Dan Girardi. Then Tortorella can’t say enough good things.

We’ll do a “Go Time” tonight.

Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater

All-Star backwards: Brian Campbell
Goalie: Jimmy Howard
Rookie: Colin Greening
All-Star: Phil Kessel
All-Star: Marian Hossa

All-State NHL Breakaway Challenge

Rookie: Ryan Johansen
All-Star: Patrick Kane
All-Star: Corey Perry
Goalie: Carey Price

Canadian Tire NHL Accuracy Shooting

Rookie: Cody Hodgson
All-Star: Tyler Seguin
All-Star: Jamie Benn
All-Star: Marian Hossa
Passer: Phil Kessel
Passer: Ryan Suter
Passer: Jordan Eberle
Passer: Brian Campbell

G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay

One-timer passer: Ryan Suter
One-timer right-handed: Dennis Wideman
One-timer right-handed: Jarome Iginla
One-timer right-handed: Joffrey Lupul
Passing accuracy: Patrick Kane
Puck control: Pavel Datsyuk
Stick handling: Gabriel Landeskog
Target shooter: Marian Gaborik
One-timer passer: Jordan Eberle
One-timer left-handed: Dion Phaneuf
One-timer left-handed: Zdeno Chara
One-timer left-handed: Jamie Benn
Passing accuracy: Kimmo Timonen
Puck control: Raphael Diaz
Stick handling: Evgeni Malkin
Target shooter: Phil Kessel

* Note: Two rookies must participate per team

Blackberry NHL Hardest Shot

Rookie: Luke Adam
All-Star: Dennis Wideman
All-Star: Dion Phaneuf
All-Star: Zdeno Chara

Tim Hortons NHL Elimination Shootout

Rookie: Colin Greening
All-Star: Pavel Datsyuk
All-Star: Evgeni Malkin
All-Star: Corey Perry
All-Star: Tyler Seguin
All-Star: Marian Gaborik
All-Star: Patrick Kane
All-Star: Jarome Iginla
All-Star: Jamie Benn
All-Star: Joffrey Lupul
All-Star: Kimmo Timonen
All-Star: Ryan Suter
Goalie: Carey Price
Goalie: Tim Thomas
Goalie: Jimmy Howard

TEAM ALFREDSSON

Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater

All-Star backwards: Kris Letang
Goalie: Jonathan Quick
Rookie: Carl Hagelin
All-Star: Keith Yandle
All-Star: Erik Karlsson

All-State Insurance NHL Breakaway Challenge

Rookie: Sean Couturier
All-Star: John Tavares
All-Star: Logan Couture
Goalie: Brian Elliott

Canadian Tire NHL Accuracy Shooting

Rookie: Matt Read
All-Star: Jason Spezza
All-Star: Steven Stamkos
All-Star: Daniel Sedin
Passer: Alex Edler
Passer: Dan Girardi
Passer: Claude Giroux
Passer: Henrik Sedin

G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay

One-timer passer: Nick Johnson
One-timer right-handed: Shea Weber
One-timer right-handed: Kris Letang
One-timer right-handed: Steven Stamkos
Passing accuracy: Henrik Sedin
Puck control: Milan Michalek
Stick handling: Logan Couture
Target shooter: James Neal
One-timer passer: Alex Edler
One-timer left-handed: Keith Yandle
One-timer left-handed: Scott Hartnell
One-timer left-handed: John Tavares
Passing accuracy: Daniel Sedin
Puck control: Craig Smith
Stick handling: Claude Giroux
Target shooter: Jason Pominville

* Note: Two rookies must participate per team

Blackberry NHL Hardest Shot

Rookie: Justin Faulk
All-Star: Daniel Alfredsson
All-Star: Jason Spezza
All-Star: Shea Weber

Tim Hortons NHL Elimination Shootout

Rookie: Carl Hagelin
All-Star: Steven Stamkos
All-Star: John Tavares
All-Star: Jason Spezza
All-Star: Claude Giroux
All-Star: Daniel Alfredsson
All-Star: James Neal
All-Star: Milan Michalek
All-Star: Jason Pominville
All-Star: Kris Letang
All-Star: Erik Karlsson
All-Star: Daniel Sedin
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist
Goalie: Brian Elliott
Goalie: Jonathan Quick

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So in Part I yesterday, I chronicled the Rangers rockin’ first half. But in order to see more stick salutes, its time for them to do the real heavy lifting. Teams will be desperate for playoff position. Points will be harder to come by. And now, they have become the hunted, used by other squads as a “measuring stick” for their success. What do the Rangers—players and management, have to do (or not do) from here—in order to make this spring truly memorable?  Read on.

1. Win lots of the monster match-ups—There will be lots of key games to keep the Rangers battle tested. Opportunities to show they belong atop the standings. These include five more matches against the Devils, three more against the Flyers, Bruins and Penguins, two against the Blackhawks and Capitals, and one against the Red Wings. Want to be the best? You’ve gotta win the tough ones.

2. A top-four seed will help them succeed—Captain Callahan spoke about it early on; the Rangers need to gain a top-four spot in the conference. It will be a big step up from last year and gaining home-ice advantage would be a major confidence builder.

3. Glen’s gotta know the deal—For the first time in his much-maligned tenure with the Rangers, general manager Glen Sather will not be buying with the intent of just making it into the playoffs. Any move he orchestrates from now until the Feb. 27 deadline will be made to position this team for a deep run. The Rangers could really use a scoring forward and with Michael Sauer suffering a setback in his attempted comeback from a concussion, they could use help on the back line, too. You can never have enough D-men—and that holds doubly true in the playoffs. But, let the buyer beware!

4. Marc cannot be Staaled—After missing 36 games this season with post-concussion symptoms, Marc Staal is going through his training camp right now. He is beginning to round into form and will need the rest of the regular season to do the fine tuning. However, should he go down again—particularly after the trade deadline—the Rangers would be in a tough spot.

5. Keep cookin’ at home—As I stated yesterday in Part I, The Garden has been great for this year’s team. They need to keep getting the wins at home—keep the crowd on their side. MSG needs to become a cauldron again.

6. Be prepared for March 17—I’m not talking about St. Patty’s Day. The 17 refers to the number of games the Rangers will play in March. Four back-to-backs will be included here. Remember, the Rangers have been great in these situations all season long.

7. Take care of the balance sheet—More balanced scoring is needed. The Rangers must get more contributions from Brandon Dubinsky, Brad Richards,  Derek Stepan, Artem Anisimov and Brian Boyle. Wouldn’t hurt if foot soldiers Brandon Prust, Ruslan Fedotenko, John Mitchell and Mike Rupp knocked in a few, too.

8. Fix the powerless play—I know the Bruins hoisted the Cup last year with a putrid power play. But special teams have been integral to many long playoff runs throughout the years. If they were only half as good on the man advantage as they are on the penalty kill, the Rangers would become a much more dangerous opponent.

9. Keep doin’ it “The Right Way” —The Rangers must continue to play with the requisite amounts of commitment, determination and enthusiasm that have become their trademarks. We’ve seen what can happen when their level drops even a bit. The coach will keep putting the petal to the metal with these guys and here’s why: other teams don’t like playing against the Rangers, because of the punishment they can dish out and the way they can drain the life out of ‘em with their relentless puck pursuit in all three zones. Gotta keep it up, boys.

10. Fast-forward to 2012 B.C.—B.C. as in Boston College—where the Rangers top prospect, Chris Kreider currently plays. If the 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior turns pro and can provide the Rangers with the size, speed and skill that they need up front—he could become a key player down the road.

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TV coverage begins on the NHL Network at 7 p.m., and the draft will be broadcast on NBCSports (formerly Versus), starting at 8 p.m.

Team Alfredsson includes assistant captain Henrik Lundqvist and co-coach John Tortorella (who will share the bench with Todd McLellan of the San Jose Soft-shelled Jumbo Shrimps).

Marian Gaborik could be picked by his buddy and fellow Slovak, Zdeno Chara, the Team Chara captain. And Gaborik tweeted after the game Tuesday that it would be OK with him:

MGaborik10 Important win tonite! Heading to Ottawa on thursday. Hope to play against Hank @HLundqvist30 and will lite him up:))) Should be fun.