Postgame Reactions - Rangers at Avalanche 1/31

Rangers 3, Avalanche 1

• First of all, congratulations to Chad Johnson on his first career NHL victory.  He still has a lot of room to grow in controlling his rebounds, but he was good enough tonight and almost earned a shutout to boot.
• Second, congratulations to Marian Gaborik on his 10th career hat trick, this one being of the natural variety.  For as much as he's been slumping lately, Gaborik's game was ON tonight.  His first goal was a thing of beauty, beating Craig Anderson to the far post with a wrister.  The second was courteousy of a pretty no look pass from Vinny Prospal after Marc Staal pinched to keep the play alive.  And the third was a breakaway tally, beating Anderson 5-hole, after a nice defensive play by Staal and head man pass from Prospal.
• Marc Staal was stellar tonight, and showed that he still has more room to grow.  He was a defensive stalwart, pinched effectively to keep plays alive, and helped create offense.  The next step for him is to do this with more consistency.
• Vinny Prospal had his best game in a long time, and certainly since coming back from his knee surgery.
• Christopher Higgins was very solid again, but this may have been his last game in Rangers blue...more on that later.
• An illustration of how tight this Eastern Conference race is, the Rangers just jumped from 12th place into a tie for 6th place with their win tonight.  On a games played tiebreaker, the Rangers currently sit officially in 8th position.
• Overall, tonight was a team effort: team defense (good backchecking by forwards), great penalty kill (6-for-6), team effort for the full 60 minutes.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Coyotes 1/30

Coyotes 3, Rangers 2

• With tonight's final, the Rangers are guaranteed to finish January with a losing record.
• Michael Del Zotto was brutal tonight.  He played just 3:04 in the first period, but was on the ice for all 3 goals against and is now a minus-18 on the season.
• I've been writing it since the beginning of this blog...Del Zotto and Girardi should not be playing together.  DZ-Rozsival, Staal-Girardi.  They play that way sometimes, but it should be permanent.
• The Rangers allowed far too many odd man rushes; completely inexcusable, especially since they weren't generating any offense.  I think they allowed more odd man rushes than they took shots on goal in the first period...unacceptable.
• As I said after his first appearance, Chad Johnson is not an NHL goalie right now.  He's the best option we have in the system, but he's just not ready yet.  The third goal, a high slap shot through a couple of screens, was a tough one.  He needs to stop one of the first 2 though.
• Christopher Higgins had one of his better games, but he still needs work on hitting the net with his shots.
• Ryan Callahan...9 hits...WOW!
• Marc Staal had a very strong game, and did a great job of going in deep and creating offense down the stretch as the Rangers tried for the tying goal.
• Michal Rozsival was whistled for 3 penalties.  At least 2 of them looked very soft, including the final penalty of the game, where Prucha skated right into Rozsival's stick and did some Academy Award-worthy acting.  Stephane Auger has always been one of my least favorite officials, even before the Borrows incident, and it was clear why tonight.  Piss poor officiating.

My question for this team after tonight...what happened that they finally had energy in the third period?  The Rangers were a completely different team in the third, and even more so after they scored their first goal.  The Coyotes were lucky to hang on, but the Rangers put themselves in a bad position by playing a piss poor first period and mediocre second.  Hopefully the intensity they played with in the third will carry over to tomorrow night.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Hurricanes 1/27

Hurricanes 5, Rangers 1

• I don't know where else to start than this: This may have been Henrik Lundqvist's worst game of the season.  Eric Staal's eventual game-winner that came just 3:36 into the game was a terrible, terrible goal.  There's no other way of putting it.  The 4th goal wasn't much better.  The 1st and 3rd were nice deflections, and Hank had no chance at Staal's 2nd goal of the night (a one-timer blast to the top corner).
• After going 10 straight games allowing 2 goals or less, Lundqvist has now allowed 3 or more in 3 straight games.  My guess is that either Chad Johnson or Matt Zaba will get the start in Colorado on Sunday night to give him a couple of days off.
• Cam Ward was great in net tonight for the Hurricanes, and was very much deserving of the first star honors he received.
• The second period was a solid period of hockey, save for the shift after the Rangers pulled the game back to within a goal.  It looked to me like Matt Gilroy blew the coverage on the 3rd Carolina goal.
• Wade Redden was benched from that goal on, and I can't say I'm sure why.  His play didn't seem all that bad and it certainly wasn't his man who deflected the puck past Lundqvist.
• Watching Marc Staal play against either of his brothers is always entertaining for me.  There are always extra shoves between brothers and they seem to all love playing against one another.
• The past two games have revealed a not so good trend from last year of giving up goals on the shift immediately after a big goal.  Tuesday night, taking a quick penalty and giving up a quicker power play goal to let the Pens back into the game after taking a 2-1 lead.  Tonight, after closing to within a goal.
• Artem Anisimov had his 2nd straight strong game after I wrote that he needed a night off.  I was wrong (and am quite happy about that).  He should never have a shift without Enver Lisin on his wing.
• One rush in the third period pretty much summed up how things have going offensively for the Rangers of late: the puck jumped over Marian Gaborik's stick as he was attempting a wrist shot, then Vinny Prospal's stick broke as he attempted a slap shot following up.
• Gaborik also had the puck jump over his stick as he was trying to fire home a rebound in front of Ward.
• In person, Ryan Callahan's goal seemed to be one of the laziest deflections I had ever seen.  Now that I've had a chance to see a replay, Cally did a great job to fight off the defender and get his stick on the puck.
• Ales Kotalik was absolutely brutal.  I can remember 1 decent shift for him in the game, but his passing was FAR off, his shooting was off, and his play was poor.  Can we have Erik Christensen back in the lineup? PLEASE?!?
• Sean Avery was pretty much invisible tonight.  He threw his body around a bit while playing with Boyle and Voros, but he certainly wasn't anything close to an agitator.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Penguins 1/25

Penguins 4, Rangers 2

• Artem Anisimov...I was wrong.  I said he needed a day off, and it's a good thing he didn't get one since he provided all of the Rangers' scoring.  The best part for me was that he scored one goal using his stick handling skills and the 2nd goal by crashing the net.  He was also robbed by Fleury at least twice on very nice deflections in front.
• John Tortorella did a lot of line juggling during the game, and I can't say I blame him.  When your team hasn't put a single puck in a net for 7 straight periods, you have to try something.  That said, I still don't understand the thought process between sending Erik Christensen to the press box.  For a team that's hurting on the scoreboard, sitting a guy who can cash in for the 5:36 that Brashear played makes no sense to me.  If Torts was set on benching Christensen, Ales Kotalik should have gotten the chance.
• While I'm on personnel decisions, I still don't like the Girardi/Del Zotto pairing.  Girardi/Staal and Del Zotto/Rozsival seems much more effective.
• Henrik Lundqvist had his worst night in a LONG time.  Both goals by Chris Conner (7g in 77 career games before tonight, called up from the AHL today) looked rather soft to me; and according to Stan Fischler, Hank admitted he blew it on the game-winner.
• Without the benefit of replay, I didn't see the apparent slash that Marian Gaborik was called for (and led to the tying goal).  It seemed like a terrible call and I just had a feeling that the PEns would cash in on it.  The usually outstanding Rangers PK seems to have issues killing off penalties that appear to be bad calls.  That's something that needs to be fixed, and it's a 100% mental issue.
• On the officiating...where to start?  I already mentioned the call on Gaborik that seemed to be a soft call to me, but to have Wade Redden essentially bear hugged away from the puck minutes later right in front of the referee and have no interference called is just mind boggling to me.  If there is a video being made to teach new officials what interference is, a clip of that play should be on it.  Also, there was one play in the third period when the puck so clearly hit the netting that all 10 players stopped playing, but it took 4 players staring at the referee for anyone to blow a whistle.
• Marc Staal and Christopher Higgins both rebounded with strong showings.
• What is there not to like about Ryan Callahan?  6 hits, 4 shots on goal, and the best backcheck I've seen all year in catching Orpik from behind on a shorthanded breakaway and taking the puck away before Orpik could get a shot off.  Now if only he could have netted one of those...

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Canadiens 1/23

Canadiens 6, Rangers 0

• After the first 8 minutes or so, watching this game was just as bad as watching the last 6-0 loss (to Philly).  This is now the 2nd time in as many weeks that the Rangers have been shut out in back to back games, and this one time it's far less excusable (not that it ever was to begin with).
• Jaroslav Halak was excellent in net for the Habs tonight.  The Rangers had 3 point blank chances in the first 5 minutes, and Halak stood tall.  He also robbed Chris Drury on a one-timer from the left circle.  The most disappointing part of tonight for me: Halak is on the bench for my fantasy team today.
• Pulling Henrik Lundqvist was the right move.  Not because of anything he did, but because the team was playing putrid defense in front of him.
• Before everyone jumps on Michal Rozsival for letting Gomez get to the net on the opening tally, it was Drury who lost the draw clean to Gomez and then blew the coverage by following the puck instead of his man (as noted by Joe Micheletti on the broadcast).  Rozsival did the best job he could to go to the open man, but got there a split second too late.
• Marian Gaborik failed to score a goal for the 3rd straight game and 8th time in 9 games.  He looked better and recorded 7 shots on goal, but couldn't find the twine.  He also missed a wide open net a few minutes into the game.
• Michael Del Zotto had a horrid game.  Maybe it's time to call up someone from Hartford to give him a rest for a game.  I'm ok with rookie mistakes, but he's looked tired both mentally and physically in the past couple of games.
• I thought Marc Staal rebounded from a terrible showing against the Flyers and was the best Ranger on the ice tonight.
• Ales Kotalik should play on Monday night against the Penguins.  Artem Anisimov or Christopher Higgins should sit.  Anisimov has looked tired like Del Zotto in the past few games and could use a rest.
• Aaron Voros and Enver Lisin should absolutely stay in the lineup.  Voros took a bad penalty night, but I like the passion he's been playing with.  
• Plus, Voros got Marian Gaborik on Twitter.
• Matt Zaba looked ok in his NHL debut.  There's no way to really judge it though, very similar to Chad Johnson's debut in the last 6-0 defeat.
• The Rangers need to regroup and regroup fast.  Familiar foes Pittsburgh make and appearance at MSG on Monday night, and the fans are itching for something to cheer about (see also: goals, a win, and Sidney Crosby getting knocked on his butt).

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Flyers 1/21

Flyers 2, Rangers 0

• Paul Devorski has got to be one of the worst referees in the entire NHL.  First, for no interference call to go against Asham after he clearly bowled over Lundqvist is unacceptable.  Then, for Dubinsky to get 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct for his shouting match with Carcillo--who didn't get the same--is asinine.  Especially after Carcillo cowardly went after Gaborik.  Officiating didn't decide this game, but I would be happy to never see Devorski in another Rangers game EVER  again.  You can ask anyone in section 403 how I react when I find out he's on the ice for a home game.  He's been one of the worst for a while, and nothing has changed.
• The Rangers showed very little of the physical play that I felt opened up the scoring in the last 2 games.
• I don't know why Marian Gaborik felt the need to drop the gloves with Carcillo.  (For those of you who think it was reactive, watch the video again.  Gabby dropped the gloves first.)  He has to show more discipline there and stay out of a 5 minute mini vacation.
• I like that Wade Redden "accidentally" laid the body on Hartnell a few minutes later after the whistle had blown.  Say what you will about Wade, but he's been sticking up for his teammates more than anyone else in recent times.
• Marc Staal had what was probably his worst game of the season.  He was beaten (twice) on the first goal, and the second went in off his skate in front.
• Christopher Higgins...where to start?  First, HIT THE DAMN NET WITH A SHOT!  ...is it too much to ask?  Second, on the PK with 10 seconds left in the period CLEAR THE PUCK!@#$% His failure to do so led directly to the 2nd Flyers goal.
• The NHL has to do something about these ridiculous slashing calls.  If you're gonna call slashing when a stick breaks, start calling it when there's a slash that's 5x harder but has a different end result since the elbow pad takes the punishment.  Personally, I think the slashing call for a broken stick should be eliminated.  This boils down to the root problem in NHL discipline--both on the ice and off--which is that oftentimes the punishment is due to the result, not the action and/or intent.
• The Rangers did a terrible job of testing Ray Emery, who has been shaky of late in returning from an abdominal injury.  I don't care how many shots the score sheet counts, I counted 3 scoring chances for the Rangers.  I know Torts keeps track of this, and I'm interested to know how many he counted.
• I hope that in 2 weeks we can say the same thing we said recently about the last loss to the Flyers, that it was an aberration along the way.  Either way, it makes no sense that the Rangers have folded twice in the past month, and both times against the Flyers.  This game looked a lot more like that 6-0 loss than the score sheet shows...and it wasn't fun to watch.
• Henrik Lundqvist has now gone 10 straight games without allowing more than 2 goals.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Lightning 1/19

Rangers 8, Lightning 2

• 3 Stars: Marian Gaborik (4a), Vinny Prospal (1g, 1a), Brandon Dubinsky (1g, 1a, 1 fight).
• I'm very tempted to write a ton tonight, but I'm going to resist that urge and keep it short and sweet.
• 16 Rangers registered points tonight (6 had at least 2 points), each goal was scored by a different Ranger, every Ranger except Aaron Voros played over 10 minutes, and the team as a whole showed a superior battle level throughout the game.
• Marian Gaborik tied a career high with 4 assists.
• Aaron Voros scored his 1st goal of the season, fought twice, and drew a penalty by wisely refusing to fight Konopka in the third period.  He's earned an extended stay in the lineup.
• After their recent scoreless stretch, the Rangers now have scored 2 or more goals in 5 straight periods.
• I said it Sunday night and I'll say it again now: the only way I see Kotalik or Brashear re-appearing anytime soon is if Higgins sits.
• The Lightning showed me very little tonight.  I expect Thursday night in Philly to be a bigger test for this team and their recently rediscovered scoring touch.