Postgame: Rangers Snap Skid with 3-1 Defeat of Avs, Will Acquire Jokinen from Flames

On a bit of a hectic night in Ranger-land, the Blueshirts, led by Marian Gaborik, found a way to snap a five-game losing skid and defeat the Colorado Avalanche by the score of 3-1. It seems as if Gaborik may have a partner in crime moving forward, though, as TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that GM Glen Sather has acquired Calgary forward Olli Jokinen in a deal that has sent Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik to the Flames, however, it has not been totally confirmed just yet. Anyhow, onto the recap of the desperately needed win.

I am very happy I spent my time on an article earlier today detailing how critical it is that the Rangers start to score first in games and begin these tilts in a more dominating fashion, because that is what we saw here tonight in Denver. Marian Gaborik opened the scoring at 13:53 of the first period with his 31st goal of the season and his 5ooth National Hockey League point. The shot was nothing short of marvelous and he was not done there.

The Slovakian Star buried his second of the game in the second stanza when Vinny Prospal made a great feed to Gabs for the tap-in from behind the net. Then again in the third period, when Prospal hit Gaborik, this time right out of the penalty box, Marian registered the hat-trick goal (tenth of his career). I think it is an understatement to say Marian Gaborik has officially broken the slump, scoring four goals in the last two games. Also give credit to Vinny Prospal for two spectacular passes to set-up two of the three Gaborik goals.

Congratulation to rookie goaltender Chad Johnson for earning his first NHL win, and when I say earn, I mean earn. Johnson made 34 saves on 35 shots and some of them were highlight reel status. He was very impressive on this night, and did a great job of relieving Henrik Lundqvist, who was out with the stomach flu. The Rangers penalty-kill also gave Johnson a heap of help as well.

The Blueshirts actually established a forecheck in this game and I think that definitely helped the winning effort. The Avalanche did not register a shot on goal in the second period until the midway point, which goes to show that your best defense is your offense. That was the case for the Ranges in this game, which they dominated from the opening faceoff.

This is definitely a big win that the Rangers needed in the worst way. However, they now have to face a red hot club in the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, but by the looks of it, will be doing so with two new teammates. If they can somehow find a way to play like this more often, there would be many more tallies in the win column for New York, but unfortunately, consistency has been a major problem with this team.

I will cut the postgame analysis off there, because obviously all of the commotion right now is about the trade that seems to be just about complete. TSN is reporting that the Rangers and Flames will announce a trade tonight that would send forwards Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins to Calgary for veteran center Olli Jokinen and enforcer Brandon Prust. Jokinen is 31-years-old with a contract just over $5 million. He has eleven goals on the season.

Will have more details on the deal as they are released……
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)

Kotalik "Leaves" Rangers, Will be Traded (Update)

Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that forward Ales Kotalik did not accompany the team to Colorado where they will take on the Avalanche in about a half hour. Rumor has it that GM Glen Sather informed the struggling winger that he will be traded in the near future, and as a result, Kotalik basically "left" the Blueshirts before even being shipped off to a new club. If you recall, Blueshirt Banter had a story up about this several weeks ago, so credit must go to them.

This per Brooks:

"Kotalik, the 32-year-old winger who was signed to a three-year, $9M free agent contract this summer, accompanied the Blueshirts to Phoenix for the first game of their three-game western tour but did not accompany his teammates here for tonight's match against the Avalanche.

Kotalik, who registered 22 points (8-14) with a minus-18 rating in 45 games, was signed primarily for his big shot on the power play point. But after an encouraging start, Kotalik slumped with the remainder of the man advantage unit. His passive five-on-five nature did not go over well with Tortorella.

It is unknown whether GM Glen Sather has a tentative deal in place for Kotalik or whether this is simply the beginning of the process."

We will see if Sather is able to trade Kotalik prior to the roster freeze that is in effect once the Olympics begin in two weeks. Until then, it is a waiting process, but I have a feeling this move may come sooner than we expect.

More after the game...

UPDATE: This from TSN's Darren Dreger on Twitter:

"Flames expected to deal Jokinen to the Rangers for Kotalik and Higgins or Gilroy. www.tsn.ca will have the details as they break."

(Image courtesy of AP Photo)

Pregame: Struggling Rangers Meet Avalanche in Colorado (Update: Johnson Starts)

Now sitting in 12th in the Eastern Conference, the New York Rangers are currently on a five-game losing streak heading into tonight’s tilt with the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. Last night, the Blueshirts fell short of a third period comeback in Phoenix where they were defeated 3-2 by the Coyotes. Once the opposition hits three goals, you can pretty much count the Rangers out—prime example on Saturday. Things will not get any easier tonight with the up and coming Avalanche.

It seems like everyone is now talking about Matt Duchene and the rebuilt Avs, as they are sixth in the Western Conference at the moment. Colorado has dropped two straight games entering tonight’s match, but have won six of their last ten. They have received a lot of help from goaltender Craig Anderson, who is likely to get the start against the Rangers. Not a good sign for the boys in white being that they cannot score goals and now have to face one of the hottest netminders in the National Hockey League.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Callahan - Prospal -Gaborik
Dubinsky - Drury - Christensen
Higgins - Anisimov - Lisin
Avery - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy

Johnson (CONFIRMED)

Scratches: Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear

No confirmation on who will start in goal for the Rangers just yet. As we were made aware prior to puck drop last night, Henrik Lundqvist has been overcome by the flu bug and had to leave the bench in Phoenix. My guess would be that Chad Johnson will get the nod for the second consecutive tilt. Johnson, aside from the early jitters, was solid last night and made some stellar saves. I will be sure to have confirmation on the site when it comes.

I do not know how much I can stress this, but it is essential that the Blueshirts get off to a fast start in the game. They cannot afford to go down a goal early in this game, it is that simple. This team cannot play catch-up hockey because we have seen them fail while attempting to do so all season long. Read about this growing problem in my article from earlier today.

We will see how Marian Gaborik will go about building on his slump-snapping tally last night in Phoenix. Any frustration that Gaborik had built up in his head up until that point hopefully was released once that puck hit the back o the net, because the Rangers need him now more than ever.

Avalanche Projected Lineup

Wolski - Stastny - Stewart
Svatos - Duchene - Yip
Galiardi - O'Reilly - Tucker
Stoa - Durno - McLeod

Quincey - Hannan
Liles - Wilson
Cumiskey - Foote

Anderson

In-game updates as well as goaltending decision at twitter.com/RangersTribune.

Update: It has now been confirmed that goaltender Henrik Lundqvist (stomach flu) will not be up to playing tonight in Denver, leaving rookie Chad Johnson to fill in against the Avalanche.
(Pictures courtesy of Getty Images and AP Photo)

Rough Starts Hurting Rangers

Once again in last night’s 3-2 loss to the Phoenix coyotes at Jobing.com Arena, the New York Rangers found themselves in the box within the first five minutes, taking away from any momentum they had going in. Several minutes later, they found themselves down a goal thanks to a defensive mistake along the boards, and for the fifth straight time, got off to a rough start. It is sort of one of those things that is difficult to come up with an explanation for, but it is a problem the Blueshirts have been suffering from the entire season.

I believe a lot of this has to do with mental preparation. I will be honest here and say that I have no clue as to how the team prepares in the locker room before a game, or what is said by the players, but obviously they are going wrong somewhere. It seems like the Rangers are constantly getting pinned in their own zone right off the opening faceoff, forcing goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to be sharp early on. However, that duty was left in the hands of Chad Johnson on Saturday and the result is not what you would have gotten from Lundqvist.

The defense is never alert to begin the game, either. It takes them a lengthy amount of time until they find their legs, which means their pregame routine needs to change. There is no excuse to be sluggish at the beginning of a game when all you have done all day is sleep, eat, and skate in the warm-up. A professional athlete should have their body trained a bit better than that.

The defense is not the only area of this team that is to blame, though. The offense very rarely can establish a forecheck early on. Take last night for example; New York had just ten shots on goal at the midway point of the game, which is crystal clear proof of their offensive struggles. It took them until ten minutes remaining in the third period to actually apply pressure to the Phoenix defense and look, they scored two goals back-to-back. Well, what do you know?

Like I said, a lot of this has to do with off-ice preparation and however this team gets themselves mentally ready in the locker room needs an adjustment. Save for Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Callahan, and maybe even Sean Avery, who always hit the ice focused and on a mission. Maybe if these three can distribute some of their hyped up energy to the rest of this team, they would be much better, because that trio sometimes is the only players in the lineup that are doing much of anything.

I will have Rangers-Avalanche Pregame up on the site later. In the meantime, I shall wait and see what comes of all these talks about the Leafs striking several deals to bolster up their defense and goaltending. Yea, and Glen Sather says it is so hard to make trades to better your team. Yea, right.

Also keep tabs on twitter.com/RangersTribune for the starting goalie announcement for the Rangers tonight.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Postgame: Rangers Unable to Complete Comeback, Fall to Coyotes, 3-2

The Rangers played fifty minutes of horrendous hockey tonight in Phoenix, but somehow turned things up a notch in the final ten to score two goals and give the Coyotes a run for their money late in the game. The near comeback should not disguise the fact that the Blueshirts put up yet another pathetic effort in which they were dominated for majority of the contest. At the midpoint, New York had just ten shots on goal, count ‘em, ten shots on goal and that right there was indicative of how poorly the offense has been playing.

I do not know what it is about this team, but they just cannot get off to a good start in a game. The Blueshirts were guilty of a penalty 3:40 into the first period and that took away any momentum they may have had going in. They killed it off successfully, but seconds later the Coyotes converted on a 2 on 1 when Shane Doan was able to sneak a wrister through the legs of goaltender Chad Johnson. Just 41 ticks later, the ‘Yotes offense tore up the Rangers defense with a tic-tac-toe play leading to Mikkel Boedker finishing a beautiful move to put Phoenix up 2-0. The fun wasn’t over yet, as Sami Lepisto’s slapper through traffic beat Johnson and the score was then 3-0.

The second stanza may have been the most boring this season. The Rangers were not moving their feet and as a result did nothing but take penalties. In fact, they went to the box a total of four times in that period, two of which were taken by Michal Rozsival, but thankfully the penalty-kill was superb, exterminating each and every one. Based on the careless play in that period, one would have been smart in predicting a Jason Labarbera shutout going into the third period. However, our boys surprised us.

The third began slowly much like the prior two periods, but once the clock read 10:00, things began to change. Marian Gaborik got things started for the Rangers, tapping in a dazzling pass by Erik Christensen on an odd-man rush. That tally would be Marian’s 3oth of the season, erased a five-game goal drought, and put the Rangers on the board while on away ice for the first time since the game in St. Louis two weeks ago. Sean Avery followed that up by sending a wristshot past Labarbera two minutes later, and now the Blueshirts were on their way to staging a comeback. That is until Michal Rozsival went to the box for the third time in the game. No, it should not have been a penalty, but his stick was up and Prucha did a nice job of selling it, and although Gaborik batted one off the post, the Rangers would fall just short of the comeback.

Chad Johnson seemed to have the jitters in the first period, but after allowing three unanswered goals, the rookie netminder stood tall for the visitors. Making 24 saves, Johnson basically kept the Rangers in it when they were playing with the common lackadaisical attitude that we are so used to seeing. Give him credit, because he did not find out he was starting until later today when Henrik Lundqvist determined that the flu was too much to handle, forcing him to take the night off. That is not an easy task as a rookie playing on the road, but he handled himself well out there.

The question now is if Henrik will be up to playing tomorrow when the Rangers are in Colorado to take on the Avalanche. The all-star goaltender was on the bench early in the game, but then disappeared, and my guess would be to the toilet where he allowed the bug to leave his system. It is very unlikely that he will be able to go Sunday night, because I had the exact virus last weekend and was knocked out the following day. I would count on Johnson making the back-to-back start.

Marian Gaborik was bound to break his scoreless streak at some point, and has been coming awfully close as of late. Finally that relieving goal came tonight and he almost added to that by batting a Prospal rebound off the iron. If he can get going it would be a major plus to the lacking offense that accomplish the simple task of netting more than two goals a night. Beyond Gaborik, I felt Artem Anisimov skated very well, as did Brandon Dubinsky, but again, still no finishing. There is no consistency here, and to prove it, Sean Avery’s goal marked just the fourth game he has scored in this season.

The defense had many, I guess what you would call hiccups in this one. Michael Del Zotto was beat on the first two Coyote goals, and on the third, the defense bunched up in the slot, screening Johnson. And then there was the Petr Prucha opportunity where he was sitting all alone in front of the net, but somehow shot wide. Don’t ask me how he missed that because my jaw pretty much hit the floor. That was nothing short of unbelievable.

Anyhow, the Blueshirts will try and avoid dropping six straight Sunday night when they are up in the mountains to clash with the Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. I cannot stress this enough; they cannot, I repeat, cannot afford to allow the Avs to take an early first period lead. Let’s face it, the Rangers are not good at playing catch-up hockey, and that is all they have been doing during this losing skid. The Avalanche are a skilled up and coming squad and are not one to be taken lightly by any means. The Rangers will have their hands full tomorrow night.

My Postgame Analysis can also be found on Blueshirt Banter.
(Pictures courtesy of Getty Images and AP Photo)

Pregame: Rangers Desperately in Need of a Win in Phoenix

The New York Rangers will be looking for any signs of hope tonight as they take on the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena in Phoenix. Now only one game above .500, the Broadway Blueshirts are in the midst of a season-high four-game losing streak, with their most recent being a 5-1 drubbing by the Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. New York has only scored three goals in their past four games, with two of them coming from the same player, one of which was extremely lucky and should have not been allowed by Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury.

The Phoenix Coyotes, on the other hand, have been brilliant this season, currently sitting in the fourth place spot in the Western Conference with 67 points. The Coyotes are a young and talented team that has been through a lot with the threat of relocating after they were sold to the league, but they have fought through it all and have become one of the major surprises in the National Hockey League this season. Also, while playing on home ice, they are 20-8-2, which is a tremendous plus for attendance and sales purposes.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Callahan - Prospal -Gaborik
Dubinsky - Drury - Christensen
Higgins - Anisimov - Lisin
Avery - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy

Lundqvist
Johnson

Scratches: Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear (confirmed)

Henrik Lundqvist had one of his rare off nights on Wednesday, surrendering five goals to the Carolina Hurricanes. It seems as if Hank is beginning to buckle with all, and I mean all, of the pressure on him to win this team games since they cannot score if their lives depended on it. We have seen this in the past, and it is simply a case of Lundqvist overthinking. He just needs to go out and play while staying focused. Of course, a little offense here and there would help.

Erik Christensen will return to the lineup tonight against the Coyotes after being a healthy scratch in the two previous games. He will be playing on a line with Brandon Dubinsky and Chris Drury, meaning the trio will be made up of all centers. With this change, it is likely that forward Ales Kotalik will return to the press box after doing absolutely nothing in Wednesday’s tilt with the ‘Canes. He will probably be accompanied by enforcer Donald Brashear.

It is crucial for the Rangers to come out and score the first goal in this game. It seems like every night the opposition has the advantage right out of the gate because they find the back of the net with ease about a minute or so in. I put a lot of this on the defense, as they never look alert out there to begin the game. The Blueshirts need to establish a forecheck early if they want to come out victorious and possibly even score more than two goals. They cannot afford to be down one in the first five minutes.

Also, it is coming to the point where the first line on offense has to break out and score some goals. Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal, and now Ryan Callahan have all been quiet as of late, and are all due. Gaborik has just one goal in his last eleven and is now falling behind the league’s top scorers. I mean, obviously that is not the most important thing right now, but it just goes to show how he is off-pace compared to where he was at in October and November.
Coyotes Projected Lineup

Boedker - Lombardi - Doan
Prucha - Hanzal - Vrbata
Korpikoski - Lang - Mueller
Winnik - Fiddler - Pyatt

Jovanovksi - Michalek
Vandermeer - Aucoin
Lepisto - Yandle

LaBarbera

Tonight marks Enver Lisin’s return to Phoenix, and both Petr Prucha and Lauri Korpikoski will get shots at their former club in the Rangers. You can read all about this and more in this morning’s article.

In-game updates at twitter.com/RangersTribune.
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images and Reuters)

Familiar Faces

The message in the Rangers locker room today will obviously be about gaining two points in the standings as they are currently on a four-game losing streak. Anyhow, there will be some familiar faces in the lineups for both teams tonight at Jobing.com Arena, so maybe certain players will have a bit of a different focus. Enver Lisin spent the better part of two and a half seasons in Phoenix, while both Lauri Korpikoski and Petr Prucha were a part of the Rangers organization up until last year’s trade deadline and this summer.

Starting with Lisin, the 23-year old winger entered the league with the Coyotes in the 2006-07 season in which he played in 17 games. He also spent some time playing with AK Bars of the Russian Hockey League that year as well. In the following season, Lisin was in the ‘Yotes lineup for a total of thirteen games, but played with their AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, for most of the year. Last year was his first legitimate season in the NHL, as he played in 43 games with Phoenix, registering 13 goals and eight assists for a total of 21 points.

Coming over in a deal that saw GM Don Maloney acquire former Ranger Lauri Korpikoski, this year with the Rangers, Lisin has scored six goals in 47 games played. In a recent chat with Newsday’s Steve Zipay, Lisin stated that he is a peaceful kind of guy, and wouldn’t admit that he would love to stick it to his former club tonight for shipping him off. However, I think we all know that this game will have a ton of meaning to it for the Russian speedster.

"No, it's not going to be like just another game tomorrow," he said after practice. But he wouldn't take the bait from either me or Brian Boyle, who jokingly urged him to tell me that he was going "to shove it to them" for trading him.

"I'm not like that, I'm peaceful," said Lisin, who has played in seven straight and has six goals and seven assists for the season. "I play every game as hard as I can. But it won' t be like a regular game. I know I'll be able to tell tomorrow (at jobing.com arena)."

Petr Prucha, a fan favorite here in New York, called the Rangers his hometown team for about four years until being traded at last year’s trade deadline in a deal that brought Derek Morris over to play for John Tortorella. I never thought Prucha was given enough of a chance while playing under former coach Tom Renney, because now playing in 53 games this season, the Czech native has 11 goals and 18 points in that span, which is a pretty remarkable improvement to the numbers he put up while on the Rangers (excluding his rookie year). He really wanted to remain a Blueshirt, that was evident, but he may be happier on a winning team that gives him the icetime he wants in the Coyotes now.

Lauri Korpikoski never really was able to find his game with the Rangers. He was a rookie with a lot of promise, but he never seemed to make a major impact on this team. Personally, I did not mind seeing him go and I do not regret the trade now. Lauri has only seven points in 44 games this season, so it is not like the Rangers lost a lot in Lauri Korpikoski. Although, do not be surprised if he comes out with a two-goal performance tonight against his former squad because that is just the way things are going for the Rangers right now.

Back with the Pregame Later...

(Image courtesy of AP Photo)

Christensen Back in the Lineup

Andrew Gross is reporting that forward Erik Christensen will return to the lineup tomorrow night against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena. The 26-year-old waiver wire acquisition was skating on a second line comprised of Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky in practice today, meaning the first and third lines will remain unchanged despite a rather quiet performance on Wednesday against the Hurricanes. Sean Avery, Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear, Brian Boyle and Aaron Voros were all sharing spots on the fourth line. Obviously, two of the five will get the boot come Saturday's tilt with the ‘Yotes.

I find it odd that head coach John Tortorella has elected to put Drury, Christensen and Dubinsky together on the same line, as all three are natural centers, but can also play the wing. You would think they would be split up, but then again, how often has Tortorella been predictable with his line combinations this season? While Erik was producing when he was first brought to New York, his scoring has declined drastically as of late, and that has led to him being a healthy scratch often over the course of the past few weeks. Christensen has three goals and five assists in 30 games played this season.

No matter what changes Torts makes, no matter which players are playing with who, this team still cannot score. Like always, this minor adjustment will have a minimal, or no, impact in tomorrow's game in Phoenix, and if it surprisingly does, do not count on it lasting very long. If you recall, immediately after Christensen's first game on a line with Marian Gaborik, in which he had a goal and an assist, I predicted that he would fade off as time went on and that the combination would not last. Well, here you go.

Meanwhile, after being benched on Wednesday at Madison Square, defenseman Wade Redden will be right back at it in tomorrow night's contest. The veteran blue-liner had a lengthy conversation with coach Tortorella at the conclusion of practice, but apparently it was not as heated as their previous one out on the Island. I still do not agree with the Redden benching the other night, because it felt as if he was being used as a scapegoat. There were many other players that could have rode the pine over Redden for their poor play in that game.
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)

A Look at the Eastern Conference

As the New York Rangers begin their downfall through the standings, things are getting increasingly tighter in the Eastern Conference this season. It seems like as every year passes after the lockout, teams are much closer in the standings, and there are not as many clubs distancing themselves like they used to be able to do. In fact, the thirteenth place team, which is currently the Islanders, is only two points out of sixth. That is the tightest I have seen the East in quite a while.

The only team in which has a formidable lead over the rest of the pack is the Washington Capitals. The Caps are one of those rebuilt franchises I spoke about on Tuesday, and obviously you see the response is usual a positive one. Below them are the New Jersey Devils in second, and for me, they are not a team that I would have predicted would be so lofty heading into the season. Right now, they are leading the division and rank fourth in the entire league. I guess Jacques Lemaire’s system is still effective even after all of those years.

The Buffalo Sabres, another astounding team, and the defending Champion Pittsburgh Penguins have been in a back and forth battle for the third place spot. Buffalo is the current occupant and rightly so with what they have been able to do. Led by rookie defensemen Tyler Myers, the Sabres have lost only 14 games in regulation this season and are incredible while playing on home ice.

Believe it or not, the Pittsburgh Penguins are having a better season so far than they did in their Cup year last season. At about this time in ‘09, Pittsburgh was going through a coaching change, parting ways with Michel Therrien and bringing up Dan Bylsma. During that time, they were in and out of the playoff picture nightly, right along with the Rangers. Sure, they have hit rough patches along the way this time around, but overall they have had a much improved regular season and definitely have a shot at defending their Championship title when the time comes.

Occupying the fifth and six place positions are two teams which were calling the bottom of the East their home last season in the Ottawa Senators and Atlanta Thrashers. With the departure of Dany Heatley this past summer, many believed the Sens’ season was over before it even began—boy are they proving critics wrong. An eight-game winning streak has propelled them from ninth to fifth in the matter of two weeks. That is truly remarkable.

The Atlanta Thrashers are in sixth but have only a one point lead over the Flyers, Panthers, Rangers, and Canadiens. I expect these five spots will hold different teams each and every night, as will the three below them. The Bruins, Lightning, and Islanders make up the 11th, 12th, and 13th spots respectively. They all currently have 54 points and are on losing streaks of various lengths.

Finally, you have the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs battling it out for the fifteenth spot in the conference. Unless something miraculous happens, these two pretty much have no hope at making the playoffs at this point. Although, Carolina has been tearing up a storm lately, as we witnessed when they came in and slapped around the Blueshirts in a 5-1 beating on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

What does this all mean? Well, it means the playoffs, beyond the top three or four teams, are entirely up for grabs and will likely be that way until the very last day of the regular season. This has teams thinking they will have to fight a very difficult battle after the Olympics conclude, and you are not going to make it by scoring an average of one goal per game. This is where the Rangers come into play. They have not looked strong enough to engage in this to-be hunt for a spot in the postseason, and once they begin to detach from the group, there will be no coming back for John Tortorella’s boys. So if they want things turned around, that will have to come now or never. I would go with never based on what I have seen as of late.
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)

Making a Move for Dion Phaneuf

I think we all can say that this team has officially hit rock bottom, and it doesn't seem like they will be picking themselves up anytime soon. Let's face it, no matter how often the coach says they have to keep at it, no matter how often players tell you it is time to start from "square one" (a phrase I despise), this season is over as long as the inability to score goals persists. The Rangers are comprised of a squad of players that lacks the ability to finish, and if they someway find themselves in the playoffs come April, there is a snowball's chance in hell they come out of the first round victorious.

Now it is time to put this season behind us, realizing there is no use in attempting to make the playoffs at this point, and wait for GM Glen Sather to rebuild. While the major problem right now may be offense, Slats needs to start on the blueline. Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival are obviously dead weight on the Rangers salary cap, and at least one of them needs to be unloaded to begin the rebuilding process. I would say Chris Drury as well, but he has a no movement clause and is not going anywhere until it is waived, which I do not see happening. Redden has actually not looked terrible this season and I believe that benching last night against the Hurricanes was unnecessary. However, his salary is much to large for what he contributes and the same goes for Rozsival.

Well today, our friend Joe Fortunato at Blueshirt Banter brought up the possibility of acquiring Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf. At age 24, Phaneuf is one of the more established blue-liners in the game and certainly knows how to use the body. He is solid in his own end and great on offense. Dion has a cap hit of $6.5 million, the same as Redden, but is much more effective. He already has nine goals on the season, 21 points total. This would end up being one of Glen Sather's better trades in his tenure with New York.

The reason Joe picked Phaneuf out of all defensemen in the league is because there is a strong rumor out there that GM Darryl Sutter will have Phaneuf traded by the trade deadline in March. The Flames are falling apart and descending in the standings. They just cannot capture wins, and supposedly Dion cannot stand to be a part of the club anymore and has requested a trade. Phaneuf and Sutter have denied the rumor, but various general managers around the league claim they have spoken to the Flames about acquiring the 6-3 stalwart on defense.

It may not be easy, but it is worth a try and would be a move that would benefit the team in the future. If it means trading away Bobby Sanguinetti in a package with current NHLers, then so be it. We are all sick and tired of watching this soft as cotton defense take the ice night in and night out, and Phaneuf would certainly do his part in toughening it up. In fact, I could even see him dropping the gloves with Carcillo after the whole Gaborik incident. I think the fans here would get to like him quickly--the only problem would be convincing Sean Avery after what happened between the two last season, but tough, they would have to settle their differences.

Read Joe's Article Here
(Photo courtesy of Reuters)

Postgame: Rangers Crushed by 29th Place 'Canes, 5-1

Not much to say here after tonight’s 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes other than that it was the same old story for our New York Rangers. Scanty offense, atrocious defense, and now you can add shaky goaltending to the mix. The start in this game was horrific, things got a little bit better in the second, but after they scored their first and last goal in the tilt, the Blueshirts energy tailed off and they became that humdrum squad which we are so used to watching. This was about the same time last season when things went down the toilet and a coaching change was made; what will happen this time around?

The festivities began at the 3:11 mark of the first period when Patrick Dwyer made a beautiful deflection through his legs to beat Lundqvist low and give the Hurricanes an early 1-0 advantage. Just 25 seconds later Eric Staal’s shot from the boards confused Lundqvist, banked off his leg and into the back of the net, and in the blink of an eye the offensively challenged Rangers found themselves trailing 2-0. The home team probably did not even have to play the rest of the game because they were out of it already, but there were still 40 minutes of hockey left to play.

About a minute and a half into the second period, Ryan Callahan tipped a Marc Staal slapshot past Ward and gave the Rangers a bit of hope that they could come back and tie this thing up. They always say the shift after a goal is critical. Well, Tortorella and his boys obviously do not believe in clichés because less than a minute after Callahan’s goal, Sergei Samsonov was left wide open by Matt Gilroy and made New York pay the price by deflecting Alberts’ point shot to regain the ‘Canes two-goal lead (3-1). After that goal, Wade Redden would be yanked off the ice and would not step foot on it again for the rest of the night.

Sergei Samsonov then buried his second of the game at about the midway point in the third, which is one Henrik Lundqvist would definitely like to have back. Eric Staal followed that up with a 5-on-3 powerplay goal from the point and that right there was where the game ended. The Rangers generated very few legitimate chances, and when they did, they were denied by an outstanding Cam Ward in net for Carolina. No hitting, no forecheck, nothing. They just played it out as if they didn’t mind that they were just blown out by the 29th place team in the National Hockey League.

Starting with Lundqvist, I think he is putting way too much pressure on himself right now. He is aware of the fact that if he allows more than two goals this team automatically losses, and he knows that it is up to him to stand on his head and keep the team in it when the defense in front of him breaks down. All of this is rushing through his head and that is seeing him let the easy ones in—goals that should not be goals. Not to mention he has Team Sweden in the back of his mind with the Olympics coming up in just a couple of weeks.

On offense, Marian Gaborik actually looked snake bitten tonight. He had plenty of chances and when those came, he had some hesitation in his actions. Again, this goes back to the whole thinking thing, and obviously right now the entire team is dealing with it. Must give credit to Cam Ward, though, because he stoned Gaborik often in this one, and that is not something many goalies are able to do. Once Gaborik can break out of his slump, the team will be able to breathe a little easier knowing that they have some source of offense, but Gaborik himself is not going to solve all of the problems that this club faces.

This brings me to my next point. Standings-wise, the Rangers are in a better position than they were at this time last season, but as far as the record goes, they are eight points worse this year than they were in 08/09. Different coach, different players, and a year later this team is suffering from the same streaky defense and limited scoring. So really, you cannot say John Tortorella has made much of a difference during his tenure so far in New York. It really makes you wonder what is going through the head of GM Glen Sather right now because he is running out of options. There aren’t many places to run and hide. The New York Rangers are a losing team and the world now knows it.

What worries me even more than the goal scoring problem is the lack of effort at times. When this team isn’t giving it their all, they are an extremely pathetic and stale group to watch. No one provides excitement, they all look depressed, and nobody is stepping up to the plate to make an impact. Now you question the leadership on this team, which we originally thought was not an issue as far as the Blueshirts went. Maybe now it is.

Lastly, the whole Redden benching thing is just Tortorella making it look like he knows what he is doing. That was a move just to say “I realize my team looks like garbage and I realize they must face consequences.” So what does he do? He takes it out on the second most hated player by the fans, even though he did not make that major of a mistake. But hey, that won’t matter because everyone despises him anyway. I could pick out several players that looked worse than Redden at that point in the game.

The Rangers now kick off a three game road trip to the Wes Coast, going head to head with the Phoenix Coyotes Saturday night at eight o’clock. If they plan on turning things around soon, sweeping the trip with three straight wins would be essential in doing so. But then again, one goal isn’t going to get them very far so I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
(Pictures courtesy of AP Photo and Getty Images)

Pregame: Rangers Try to Avoid Fourth Straight Loss against Hurricanes

On January 2nd, the New York Rangers hosted the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden in a game that they were defeated by the score of 2-1 in overtime. Well what do you know? Almost a month later, the Blueshirts are faced with the same problems they dealt with in that very game, and by that I think we all know I am referring to goal scoring. New York has now lost three straight, only netting two goals in that span, and both of them have come from the same player (Artem Anisimov). The Rangers are fortunate enough to find themselves in seventh place in the East despite such a struggle, but are only three points out of 13th.

The Hurricanes are sitting in 15th in the East, 29th in the league, but are 5-5-0 in their last ten games. This is a last place team that is on a bit of a hot streak. Based on history, that fact would lead someone to believe that the Blueshirts will come out flat, underestimate their opponent, and eventually end up forfeiting two points in the standings that in tonight’s game. It doesn’t matter where any team in this league is ranked when they play the Rangers, because really, that doesn’t seem to affect John Tortorella’s club.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Avery - Drury - Callahan
Higgins - Anisimov -Lisin
Kotalik - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy

Lundqvist

Scratches: Erik Christensen, Donald Brashear (confirmed)

Henrik Lundqvist will be looking to rebound from, what I labeled a “so-so” performance on Monday against the Penguins. Two of the three goals allowed (4th was an empty netter) should have been stopped by Hank, but hey, how much can you expect from the guy, he is the only reason we are in the playoff picture. Lundqvist has been generally solid when facing the ‘Canes so I do not think there is much too worry about.

As reported this morning, Ales Kotalik will be back in the lineup tonight after being a healthy scratch in six straight games. Tortorella’s intentions with this move are to welcome Ales’ big shot from the point back onto the powerplay, which was 0 for 3 with the man advantage against the Penguins. I don’t see it helping much, because lately, Kotalik has done nothing but turn the puck over at the blueline.

I believe tonight may just be the night where Marian Gaborik is able to break his slump. Marian has just one goal in his last ten, but looked very good on Monday. He was skating, had the puck often and had five shots on goal. The Blueshirts desperately need him to break out of this thing; it has brought the overall offensive production down drastically.

The defense will also be looking for a better outing tonight after a rough game on Monday. Gap control was a huge problem in that tilt and led to at least one of the four goals as well as plenty other Pittsburgh chances. This Rangers blueline is almost as inconsistent as Tortorella’s forward combinations- I said almost.

Hurricanes Projected Lineup

Whitney - Staal - Jokinen
Tlusty - Sutter - LaRose
Samsonov - Cullen - Kostopolous
Brind'Amour - Yelle - Dwyer

Ward - Gleason
Wallin - Alberts
Pitkanen - Carson

Ward

In-game tweets at twitter.com/RangersTribune.

(Photos courtesy of Getty Images and Reuters)

Kotalik Returns

The word from Andrew Gross over at Ranger Rants is that head coach John Tortorella will plug forward Ales Kotalik back into the lineup tonight as the New York Rangers get set to play host to the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden. The coach's reasoning behind this is that he feels Kotalik's shot from the point may help to improve the Blueshirt powerplay, which is 0 for 9 in their last three games. Prior to tonight's contest, Ales was a healthy scratch for six straight games.

Kotalik is currently sixth on the team in scoring with eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points, which doesn't say much being that the second highest goal scorer on the Rangers has only nine goals in 46 games. His even strength play is whats found him in the press box recently, as the 31-year-old winger has a -16 rating. This is what leads us to believe that the rumor stating Ales has requested a trade may have some truth to it, even though certain beat writers have done everything in their power to shoot it down.

Tortorella has not yet confirmed who will sit in place of Kotes, but the probable choice would be enforcer Donald Brashear. Carolina is not a team, by any means, that is threatening from a physical standpoint so I do not think the absence of Brashear will make any sort of a difference. Also, Erik Christensen will sit for the second straight game in this one. Funny how he has went from first line to healthy scratch in just a matter of weeks.

Rangers-Hurricanes Pregame later......
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)

Talking Rangers Hockey on Blueshirt Banter Radio

If you happened to be listening to Blueshirt Banter Radio last night with Jim and "The Mouth", you would have heard yours truly hop on the show and talk some quality Rangers hockey with the boys. For those of you that did not, below I provided a podcast to the show in which you can listen to me, as well as many other guest callers, moan and grown about the struggling hockey club here in New York, with some humor added in here and there as well, of course.

Among the topics discussed were the possibility of the Rangers snagging star winger Ilya Kovalchuk, the Gaborik-Carcillo altercation, in addition to us sharing our thoughts on what steps this organization needs to take in order to move forward and turn things around. Before I called in, they also thoroughly discussed the Ales Kotalik trade request rumor, which apparently has gotten the attention of some lofty hockey associated people out there on the world wide web, just another reason to listen in.

So again, you can listen to the show in its entirety by clicking play on the first listed embedded player below, in which you can listen to my thoughts beginning at around the 85-minute mark or so. Also, you can click the link below the player if you are having trouble listening to the podcast here on the site.



Link to Show

Back Later with lineup updates for Rangers/Hurricanes.....

Teams are Getting Better, but Rangers Only Worse; Time to Rebuild

I would like to start by saying that I am not writing this piece just because the New York Rangers are in the midst of a three-game losing streak, but more because of the fact that fans are getting fed up with watching the same struggling team suffer from the same problems year after year, including this one, while teams around them are making moves to improve the franchise in the long run. F0r the first time in 16 years of being a Ranger fan, this is the first time I am seeing people that have followed the organization for a while now willing to see the team go through the rebuilding process, sacrifice the usual playoff spot, and work towards building this team into a powerhouse.

For example, the Conference leading Washington Capitals, if you recall, were a team that were sellers a few years back. By sellers I mean a team that was willing to dump their large salary and veteran players in order to gain key draft picks and future prospects. The Blueshirts actually benefitted from this by acquiring star winger Jaromir Jagr for Anson Carter- an obvious cap clearing move by the Caps. Washington then went on to be a cellar dweller in the East before drafting Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Niklas Bakstrom, Mike Green, all of which have become high caliber players in the National Hockey League, helping to propel their Capitals back into the contending picture. Now you fast forward to present time, and they are a favorite to enter the Stanley Cup Finals this season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, defending Stanley Cup Champions, went from an organization which had fans that did not even care if their team was moved out of the city, to a team that sells out every night, has one of the more dedicated fan bases in the nation, and has made it to the finals two years, not just one, but two years in a row, one in which they captured hockey’s most valued prize. After the Lemieux/Jagr era, the Pens were the laughingstock of the NHL, but now are a squad lead by homegrown talent in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and other such players that have excelled at the professional level. Again, another example of a team that has went from rock bottom to king of the hill.

The Philadelphia Flyers, granted they hit a rough patch earlier this season, are yet another organization that has brought themselves from the bottom to the very top. Where does this all begin? Again, with homegrown talent and draft picks. Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are two of the most dominant youngsters in the East, and continue to lead their club to conference championships, division leads, and what have you. Just three years ago, the Flyers were a team that you would expect a win against even when heading into the Wachovia Center to take them on in front of their hometown fans. Not the case anymore.

And finally, while many of you will not want to admit it, the Rangers intrastate rivals in the New York Islanders are on course to accomplish the exact same goals the three teams I listed above have. The Isles were a team, much like us, that were in the middle for a while. A borderline team with veterans such as Alexei Yashin and Mike Peca that brought them to the playoffs every so often, but they never managed to go very far. Since then, they have cleaned house, drafted and developed youth, and if it weren’t for some goaltending fiascos along the way, might have been a bit better than 30th the past few years. Sure, the fans out on Long Island have suffered, no question, but once this team gets players like Kyle Okposo, John Tavares, and Josh Bailey scoring like the big boys in the league, they will be an offensive threat, and then with the right moves, will be able to acquire a stable blueline as well.

The New York Rangers. Right now, that name does not have much meaning other than the fact that they play in the World’s Most Famous Arena. They are a team that is trapped in a mediocrity filled batch of quick-sand which will take a real strong effort to pick themselves out of. Since the team has made the playoffs every year after the lockout, they have disguised themselves to be a contender. However, as us fans know, they are simply a group of players that are thrown together each and every year, struggle on defense, cannot score goals, and would go nowhere if it were not for their world class goaltender. The solution? There are several, but General Manager Glen Sather seems to think that blowing up the roster every summer will fix all of the team’s problems in a blink of an eye. That approach has not worked the past five years, but hey, he keeps trying.

I think the best thing for this franchise right now would be to miss the eighth and final playoff spot this year, and to add insult to injury, to be beat out for that spot by the Islanders. That would be nothing short of an absolute embarrassment not only to the fans, but to the coaching staff, the players, management, and ownership. It will take some drastic events like that to turn things around here in New York, but until then, we will continue to see other teams in the division improve, while our New York Hockey Rangers are stuck in that quick sand and are unable to get out.

That is until either one of two things happen, of course. Either Glen Sather realizes that the team’s overall success is more important than his pride, or Slats is sent packing and we bring in a new front office. A front office willing do whatever they must to rid themselves of Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival, realize that trading for Vincent Lecavalier or Ilya Kovalchuk is not the answer right now, and will also introduce Derek Stepan, Ryan Bourque and other star bound prospects to the NHL. That is the only way in which this team will get things turned around anytime soon. Right now, the product that is sent out onto the ice is a disgrace, and is unfair to the people that call themselves fans.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Postgame: Third Period Mistakes Lead to Rangers 4-2 Loss to Pens

Another game and another loss for the New York Rangers, who are now 0-4-0 against the Penguins this season and have lost three straight games in which they have only scored two goals. Both of those goals coming from Artem Anisimov tonight, but that would be as much offense as the Rangers would generate in their 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh. This game didn’t have much of a feel until the third period when the overall pace picked up, but once again, nothing doing in the offensive end for our hometown boys.

The Rangers did not get off to the start that they may have wanted in the first period of this game, as it took just under three minutes for Sidney Crosby to find Chris Conner, who was just called up on Monday, wide open and uncontested in the slot. Conner ripped a wristshot over the shoulder of Lundqvist, who was deep in his crease, to give the Penguins an early 1-0 advantage. The biggest problem on this play is the fact that not one player in the blue jerseys, forward or defensemen, decided to step up and close the gap between themselves and the puck carrier. This has been one of the many problems on defense this season, as the New York blueline continues to be exposed in all areas of the ice. The Rangers did generate some chances towards the conclusion of the period, but Marc-Andre Fleury stood strong in net for the Pens after returning from a broken ring finger injury that kept him out for four games.

The second period saw the Blueshirts come out with a much better effort than we saw in the first. Artem Anisimov’s nifty tally at 13:04of the second stanza ended a 156:32 scoring drought for the Rangers and tied the game at one. While the effort may have been better, the Penguins controlled the pace of play with a quick transition and ability to walk into the offensive zone at will. One thing the Rangers did do well on defense was block shots, but even still, Henrik Lundqvist had to be stellar while shutting the door on two Evgeni Malkin semi-breakaways. If it were not for good ol’ Hank, this tilt probably would not have been a tie at this point in the tilt.

The third period brought along much excitement as four goals were exchanged between the two teams. John Tortorella’s club managed to do absolutely nothing on six minutes worth of powerplay time, but right after, Artem Anismov would sneak a shot from the goal-line past Fleury to make the score 2-1 in favor of the home team. Marian Gaborik followed that up with a slashing penalty, which cost the Rangers being that Evgeni Malkin’s howitzer, which looked like it deflected off of a sliding Drury, beat Lundqvist to tie things up at two. Chris Conner capitalized on a Sidney Crosby rebound exactly a minute later by sending a sharp-angled spin shot into the back of the net for what would be the game winner. Former Ranger Pascal Dupuis poured salt in the wound by depositing the empty netter at the end of that period, leaving you with a final score of 4-2.

This was a so-so outing for goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Henrik made 24 saves on 27 shots but I felt the game-winner (Conner’s rebound) should have been stopped, but even before that, Crosby’s shot should have been handled, never leaving the golden rebound sitting there for Conner. At the same time, Team Sweden’s to-be backbone in the upcoming Olympics kept the Rangers in this one when the defense was getting shredded by the beautiful rushes by Pittsburgh. That started with the Penguins transition, which like I said, was superb.

Speaking of that defense, it is a clear struggle for them to come up with a 60-minute effort. At times, they can be clutch with their ability to block shots like they did in the second period of this one. On the other hand, they could be atrocious by somehow allowing two Penguin breakaways while they were on the powerplay. Sure, you can say it is because they are young and somewhat inexperienced, but the veterans in Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival are just as much to blame as the rookies are. If someway this team does make the playoffs, I am nervous to see how the defense will look in games where they will have to play tight and shutdown key opponents.

Artem Anisimov skated extremely well tonight, making the most of his 12:43 of icetime by scoring two goals and registering a total of six shots on goal. It’s funny that the New York Post’s Larry Brooks stated in Monday’s column that Artem should be sent down to Hartford (AHL), and then the rookie center plays one of his best games of the season. I am sure it is just a coincidence, but there is a slight bit of irony there. Anyway, we have seen Anisimov score goals like his first one he did on Fleury tonight, but we have not seen that consistently from the hopeful Russian.

I also thought Marian Gaborik, one goal in his last ten games, was very active tonight. During his slump, Marian has gone through stretches where he is somewhat invisible, but on this night he was all over the place. The Slovakian native had five shots on goal in over 18 minutes of icetime, but on the downside, was on the ice for two Penguin goals in addition to one he watched from the penalty box. You know he will break out of this at some point, but the question is when.

So the Rangers certainly did not play as poorly as they did during the 6-0 mess in Montreal on Saturday, but this was more a loss because of little mistakes such as failure to close gaps in the defensive zone, inability to get a strong forecheck going, and a lack-luster powerplay. I feel like I sit here and list the same things for you guys night in and night out, but when you get right down to it, the Blueshirts continue to make the same mistakes.

They will look to possibly turn things around on Wednesday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden. The Canes are, without question, a club in which the Rangers should find a way to defeat, but you simply cannot predict anymore with this team. We will see what happens come Wednesday, but hey, at least they actually found the back of the net tonight.

You can also find my Postgame Analysis on Blueshirt Banter.
(Photos courtesy of Getty Images)

Pregame: Rangers Desperately Need Rebound Effort Against Pens

A big bounce back effort will be needed by the New York Rangers as they host the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at Madison Square Garden. On Saturday night, the Blueshirts were dominated in every aspect of the game and ended up being shutout 6-0 for the second time this year, this time by the Montreal Canadiens. After major losses like this weekend’s, New York always seems to rebound with a win, but since we have seen the pattern over and over again, I do not think the routine 2-1 victory will be satisfying many.

The Rangers, who have now sank to seventh place in the Eastern Conference, are due for a lively game in which they control the tempo and actually come out and show some life. That has not been the case in the last two losses to the Habs and the Flyers. However, it will not be an easy task as John Tortorella’s club is 0-3-0 against the Penguins this season, and have not been able to net more than three goals past goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury in any of them. The likelihood of tonight’s contest being a scoring struggle is quite high.

As noted on the site earlier, Erik Christensen will join forward Ales Kotalik in the press box tonight, allowing Donald Brashear to enter the lineup for the first time in five games. As for Kotalik, this will be the sixth straight game that he will be a scratch. Although Ales himself, in addition to his agent, have declined the rumor claiming a trade has been requested, the frequent scratches are making it more and more obvious that they may be trying to cover up.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Avery - Drury - Callahan
Higgins - Anisimov -Lisin
Brashear - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy

Lundqvist

Scratches: Erik Christensen, Ales Kotalik

After being chased from Saturday’s debacle against the Habs, Henrik Lundqvist will return in goal for tonight’s tilt. Up until Hank’s allowance of four goals in just over a period in Montreal, the all-star netminder was playing at the top of his game, only letting an average of two past him in the month of January. We will see if being pulled will have an effect on Lundqvist’s confidence going into this one.

Marian Gaborik has just one goal in the last nine games and the Rangers are clearly struggling because of that. I am not saying that is the only reason the offense has went downhill, besides the 14 goals in two games stretch last week, but it certainly is a big part of it. Team defenses are keying in on Marian more often than he was used to earlier in the season, as most scouts that have half-a-brain can see that the Slovakian Scorer is the main source of offense on this declining club.

Sean Avery was probably the Rangers best player on Saturday, Thursday too, and this has seen him bumped up to the second line with Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan. I actually liked the way in which Aves was developing chemistry with his fourth line mates, but I guess Tortorella believes he can get some production out of the pesky forward playing higher in the lineup. Hopefully he can use his mouth and other tactics to take players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin off of their games.

This leaves Chris Drury returning to center on the second trio, and Donald Brashear skating with Boyle and Voros on the fourth. Torts would not give a clear explanation as to why Brash is in the lineup tonight, other than he does not want him sitting for too long. Personally, I think it is to gain a physical presence that was absent when Marian Gaborik went at it with Philadelphia’s Carcillo last week.

Penguins Projected Lineup

Dupuis - Crosby - Guerin
Fedotenko - Malkin - Talbot
Cooke - Staal - Kennedy
Rupp - Adams - Godard

Gonchar - Orpik
Letang - Eaton
McKee - Goligoski

Fleury

As an addition note, tonight's game will be televised nationally on VERSUS, and as always, in-game updates will be available at twitter.com/RangersTribune.

(Pictures courtesy of Getty Images and AP Photo)

Brashear Returns to the Lineup, Christensen/Kotalik Scratched

According to Andrew Gross on twitter, John Tortorella has elected to shake things up for tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden, scratching forward Erik Christensen to allow enforcer Donald Brashear back into the lineup after leaving him to watch from the press box for five straight games. Whether or not this is being done just for the sake of changing the look of the lineup or if it is being done to help create the physical look this team apparently wants and everyone has been talking about, was not detailed, but I would go with the ladder.

Anyway, the more important thing to look at here is the fact that Erik Christensen has went from playing very well on the first line with Marian Gaborik, to once again being a healthy scratch. I said it after the first game the waiver-wire acquisition was placed with Gaborik; his production would certainly not last like many hoped it would. Christensen has been a streaky player his whole career and has always been in and out of the lineup for every team he has played for in the National Hockey League. That is why GM Glen Sather was questioned when making the move for Erik.

Lastly, this will be the sixth straight contest in which Ales Kotalik will be scratched, which would contradict Ales' statement denying the recent rumor that he has requested a trade from the Rangers. Tortorella may be harsh, but he would not keep Kotalik's bomb from the point off the ice for this long, especially during a struggle to score goals. While it has not been confirmed, all fingers are pointing at that rumor being true.

Back with Pregame Later.....
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)

Rangers Tribune Headed to the Olympics

I just got word this weekend that I will officially be going to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics from February 16th to February 20th. Still not sure exactly which games I will be attending, but I do know I will see a lot of hockey, likely including U.S.A., Canada, and Sweden. Of course, for all of the fans staying home, I will have complete coverage of the games right here on the blog, specifically Team U.S.A., Team Sweden, and Team Slovakia with Rangers Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist, and Marian Gaborik all participating for their respective countries.

The excitement in Vancouver will be unmeasurable and I am thrilled to be able to view it all live and be able to share the emotions and the experience with my readers. I am hoping to be able to take a lot of pictures sp I can post them straight to the blog. Again, The Rangers Tribune is honored to be able to cover the festivities live, especially Olympic Hockey, which will be the main event up in Vancouver.

Back to Ranger-land, where things are much more depressing, the Blueshirts will be taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at Madison Square Garden. Will have the pregame preview up later, in addition to any news and updates on twitter.com/RangersTribune.

Avery Calls Out Team for Poor Effort

Isn't it funny that Sean Avery was the same player to call out his team on a pathetic effort in a devastating loss to the Philadelphia Flyers by the exact same score about a month ago? What that tells me is that he is one of the few on this team who actually care more about the overall success of this team than their paycheck. Last night's domination of the Rangers by the Canadiens did not come as a surprise as blowouts like this one have become common with this team this season and that is when you would think someone within the coaching staff and management would realize that there is a huge problem with this team. But no, instead, it is the team's heart and soul in Sean Avery who comes out and speaks his mind.

"You can say it's a lack of preparation, but that's BS; it's a lack of competitiveness," said Avery. "We do not play hard enough."

That is what Sean Avery told Larry Brooks of the New York Post, who I did not notice during head coach John Tortorella's postgame presser. Although I did notice the giant microphone in Torts' face which he was seconds away from grabbing and throwing across the room.

"I don't have the explanation for it. I don't know if it's us not holding each other accountable, or what, but it's a total lack of respect for our fans and the organization. It's a joke."

Labeling it a joke is probably the best description of the struggle to score goals for the Blueshirts, because when people say it is because the team is snake-bitten, they simply do not know what they are talking about. It is due to a lack of effort and lack of will to go to the net. When the Rangers scored those 14 goals in two games, players were relentless in going to the net and finding loose pucks. They were consistently fighting in the corners and the forecheck was spectacular. Where have any of those factors come into play in the last two shutout losses to the Flyers and the Habs? Well, they have been non-existent.

"It's fine if you get beat," said Avery. "It's fine if you compete and get beat, but to play this way . . . that's not what it's like to be a Ranger."

Somehow it does seem that is what it means to be a Ranger; non-caring attitude mixed with mediocrity and nothing much to prove at all. At times like this, it is embarrassing to call yourself a fan of this team when they do not care except for select players.

Not expecting any news today, but if there is, I will be sure to have it up on the blog as well as on twitter.com/RangersTribune. Until then, hopefully we can see a New York team who plays with the right attitude in the Jets try to defeat the Colts and make it to the Superbowl in Miami.

(Image courtesy of Reuters)

Postgame: Habs Get Their Payback as Rangers are Shutout by Halak, 6-0

Not much to say after tonight's debacle other than that the Montreal Canadiens sure got their payback against the Rangers after last Sunday's game. The Blueshirts actually came out flying with a ton of energy to begin this one, but that faded rather quickly as the first period progressed. With this loss, New York has now been shutout in two straight and in four of their last seven.

The tilt started off physical and had a great pace to it, but former Blueshirt Scott Gomez buried a rebound in front of the net and that deflated the Rangers and their momentum. This goal is on defenseman Michal Rozsival for not taking out Gomez as he should have. It was a tightly played period from that point on and you thought the Rangers would have a chance at battling back from the one goal deficit in the second.

Well, that was not the case by any means. Two goals by Mike Cammelleri and one by Maxim Lappierre saw Henrik Lundqvist being pulled early in the second and gave back-up Matt Zaba his National Hockey League debut. Henrik's struggles at the Bell Centre really cannot be explained. It is The King's house of horror and his goals against average while playing there is over four. It was not Lundqvist's fault, though, as the defense in front of him was failing him yet again. Zaba came in cold but heated up quickly, making a few great saves. Benoit Pouliot would eventually deflect one past the rookie netminder and at that point, the score was 5-0 entering the second intermission.

While the scoring was not as frequent for the Habs in the third, the offense for the Rangers was absolutely invisible. They were being kept to the perimeter and when they did move the puck towards the middle, they missed the net more often than not. Give credit to Jaroslav Halak for playing a tremendous game making 32 saves, but the rebounds he gave up were not capitalized on by the Rangers. Finally, Plekanec was left wide open on the side of the net where he scored on a beautiful backhander that went over the shoulder of Matt Zaba.

I guess the one good thing coming out of tonight is that when Marian Gaborik was bumped by the Canadiens' Andrei Markov, both Aaron Voros and Sean Avery immediately came to his rescue, unlike in Philly on Thursday. I thought Gaborik played well tonight and was definitely determined. Unfortunately, none of his seven shots on goal were able to beat Halak. Once again, when Gaborik isn't scoring, neither is this team and recently, Gaborik has struggled greatly and the overall scoring on John Tortorella's squad has gone down.

The fourth line of Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, and Aaron Voros was the best for the Blueshirts on this night, no question. While that may seem pathetic, it is not surprising, at least in my eyes. These three work harder than anyone on this team and that is what leads to the generation of scoring chances. If only the rest of the team can play with the attitude these three play with.

Despite allowing two goals, Matt Zaba was fantastic in net for New York. This is the second time this season that Tortorella has elected to give a rookie his first taste of the NHL in the middle of a blowout. Zaba looked extremely calm and poised out there and he made some stellar saves. I was very impressed with Matt's 14 save effort tonight in Montreal.

Defensive mistakes certainly hurt the Rangers in this game, as they were too soft in front of their own net, they left players open, they did not clear rebounds and turned the puck over numerous times. The blueline for the Blueshirts has been a negative all season long, and that starts with veterans Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival. It is sometimes embarrassing to watch this defensive group run around like a bunch of pee-wee's.

Things will not get easier from here as the Rangers will be hosting the defending Stanley Cup Champions in the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Monday. Goal scoring continues to be a problem on this team and is hurting them majorly in the standings. At times tonight, I debated whether or not I should just head to bed to try and get rid of this viral bug, and after watching the 6-0 mess unfold, I regret not doing so.
(Images courtesy of Reuters)

Pregame: Rangers and Habs Rematch in Montreal

The Rangers will be looking to get back on course tonight in Montreal after playing in a boxing match on Thursday against the Flyers, in which they were shutout 2-0. The Blueshirts hosted the Canadiens less than a week ago at Madison Square Garden, when they managed to come back from a 2-0 deficit and win 6-2. That tilt had much importance in the standings, as will this one. The Rangers are sitting in seventh in the East, and two points behind them, sit the Habs in tenth.

Again, no lineup changes tonight for the Rangers as Head Coach John Tortorella has chose to sit Donald Brashear and Ales Kotalik for the fifth straight time. I said earlier that if the Rangers want to be the superior team, they need to play with grit and finish their checks. After allowing Carcillo to beat the tar out of star Marian Gaborik, I wonder why they would not go with Brashear in this one, but that is the way it will be.

Rangers Projected Lineup

Prospal - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Drury - Christensen - Callahan
Higgins - Anisimov - Lisin
Avery - Boyle - Voros

Staal - Rozsival
Del Zotto - Girardi
Redden - Gilroy

Lundqvist

Scratches: Ales Kotalik, Donald Brashear

Henrik Lundqvist back in net tonight as he was marvelous on Thursday in Philadelphia. Surprisingly, Henrik was the one that stated Carcillo should be ready for a beating next time around—if only Dan Girardi had the same mentality when it occurred right in front of his face.

I believe that Marian Gaborik was definitely off his game after his brief one-sided bout with Carcillo. He did not have the puck too often and all of his shots were missing the net. If someone would have come in and came to his aid, maybe it would not have had as big as an effect.

I though the Sean Avery line was one of the better for New York last game. Boyle, Avery, and Voros are all great friends off the ice, and I think it has showed on the ice. These three have been generating many chances for a fourth line. Tortorella has been very pleased with that line.

Canadiens Projected Lineup

Cammalleri - Plekanec - Darche
Pouliot - Gomez - Gionta
Moen - Metropolit - Pacioretty
Bergeron - Lapierre - D'Agostini

Gorges - Markov
Hamrlik - Spacek
O'Byrne - Gill

Halak

I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the late pregame and the brief post earlier, but unfortunately I have been taken over by a 24-hour viral bug that is slowing down the process. Anyway, follow game updates on twitter.com/RangersTribune.
(Photos courtesy of AP Photo and Reuters)

Brashear or not to Brashear

That is the question heading into tonight's contest with the Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Enforcing forward Donald Brashear, along with Ales Kotalik, have been healthy scratches in the past four games. However, the Rangers sure could have used the heavyweight on Thursday when Daniel Carcillo went after star scorer Marian Gaborik. Somehow, I do not think Carcillo would have been able to skate to the box uncontested like he did.

The Rangers have been the superior hockey team when playing physical and finishing their checks--i.e. Last Saturday's 6-2 blowout of the Habs at Madison Square Garden. With that being said tonight, maybe Enver Lisin sees the bench once again, because Aaron Voros and Brian Boyle have been playing good hockey and should remain in the lineup.

Will have Rangers/Canadiens
Pregame up later.......

Siding with Brooks

Even though it may be 12 hours after the fact, the debating over the battle between Rangers Coach John Tortorella and NY Post Journalist Larry Brooks, which can be viewed below, is ongoing. It has received a boatload of attention from the media, in the hockey world at least, which brings about varying opinions. Fellow writers Steve Zipay of Blue Notes and Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants tended to side with Brooks this time around, claiming that the controversial reporter did not do anything out of line.

First, Zipay on how the situation should have been handled:

"For what it's worth and in the name of transparency, yours truly and the Rangers coach had a nasty but brief post-game public clash back in November on the Western Canada trip. I was on deadline and livid, but we agreed to meet in the team hotel lobby the next morning before they boarded a bus. We exchanged our points of view, he apologized, and we turned the page. Doesn't mean it can't happen again, though.

The situation with the Post's Larry Brooks goes deeper. The veteran writer and columnist and the coach didn't just meet last week, of course, and it's increasingly clear that there's tension .

The question Brooks posed was legit and asked politely. At least two us were going to ask about the response to the Carcillo-Gaborik fight (and did minutes later), Brooks just asked first.

But the response was over-the-top, especially in a group setting. It was uncomfortable and totally unnecessary."

Now Gross on Torts making things personal:

"Obviously, the other topic out there in cyberworld, and no doubt shown on MSG or now on YouTube since it occurred during Tortorella’s post-game presser, was his go-round with the Post’s Larry Brooks.

Here’s the bottom line on that, whatever problems the two have, they should not be aired in public like that. And Brooks did nothing in that sequence to instigate. He asked a proper question, in fact both he and I started to ask the same question at the same time and he got his out while I stopped halfway through just so the question could get asked. Which was, should somebody have stepped in while Gaborik was being hit? In fact, Tortorella was asked that three times. But instead of saying no comment or I’m not answering that, Tortorella made it personal. That shouldn’t be the case regardless of what, in Tortorella’s mind, sparked that reaction."

Both writers make good points and are correct when saying that Tortorella did not have to get into personal issues--a respectful decline would have been just fine. However, Larry Brooks is well aware of John Tortorella's approach and how he handles things. If Brooks is willing to write "Golden Gloves Redden", he better be prepared to be called out in public.

No, Tortorella should not have acted the way he did, but that is not going to change anytime soon. He will always take things personally and find them offensive, and what is the case, he's willing to go at it face to face; although it should not have been on television.

So really, Tortorella and Brooks both made mistakes here, but both are stubborn and will likely never admit to them as long as they live. I do not expect this to be the end of the battle between the two, but you just hope it doesn't escalate into anything physical where people will end up losing jobs due to immaturity.

On that note, everyone needs to move on and focus on the next task at hand: the Montreal Canadiens.

Tortorella Postgame Conference (Battle of Brooks)

Instead of writing out and letting you read about the battle between Rangers Head Coach John Tortorella and the New York Post's Larry Brooks, our good friend over at the 5-Hole Blog uploaded the full conference, or what MSG Network showed of it, to Youtube so I embedded it in this post. There are also some remarks from the coach in regards to Carcillo forcing star winger Marian Gaborik into a fight in the second period on Thursday's match.



When Tortorella is calling Brooks out for being "sarcastic" in his article, he is referring to Brooks naming defenseman Wade Redden "Golden Gloves" after the struggling blue-liner stuck up for teammate Enver Lisin by engaging in a scrap with Benoit Pouliot of the Canadiens on Sunday. Like you saw, Brooks snobbishly replied that it was "funny"

Things just escalated from there until eventually Tortorella asked Brooks to go stand somewhere else, but Larry denied and stood his ground. Really, can you blame Tortorella for not wanting to answer this guy's questions? I can't, especially if he is going to write jokes about it like he did with Redden.

Redden deserved credit for what he did, and I feel it was unprofessional of Brooks to make the comment that he did. But now, I can only imagine what is going to be printed after the blowout they had last night in which they were quite close to getting physical.

Postgame: Rangers Come Up Empty in Eventful Night in Philly

Well you had to assume the scoring streak would end at some point, right? In a game that did not lack excitement by any means, the New York Rangers were defended extremely well by the Philadelphia Flyers and open lanes that were available in the previous two contests with the Canadiens and Lightning were not available to the Blueshirts on this night. In the second period, emotions were running high after a chain of fights, but other than that, the entire game saw New York attempt the same approach to generate offense, and they were denied each and every time.

Both clubs started strong in the first period with constant non-stop action up and down the ice. No, that style of play is not a coach’s favorite, but it sure is entertaining for the fans. Anyway, James van Riemsdyk broke the scoreless tie at 15:10 of the first, when he was originally stoned on the breakaway by goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, but his follow-up rebound found the back of the net and the Rangers found themselves trailing heading into the intermission. On this specific play, the Blueshirts were caught in a change leaving Marc Staal as the lone defensemen in his own zone, and he failed to knock the red hot rookie of the puck, leading to a goal.

About six minutes into the second stanza was when things began to get out of control. A minor scrum in front of Emery led to Daniel Carcillo dropping the gloves and leaving star Marian Gaborik with no choice but to defend himself. Obviously Gaborik went down after a few punches, but there are lines in this sport that you do not cross, and Carcillo crossed one of those lines by brainlessly attacking Gaborik as he did. You simply do not go after the star on the other team when the guy only has one previous fight in his career. This was nothing short of a cowardly move by Carcillo, but it doesn’t surprise me looking at his track record and the reputation of the team he plays on.

From that point on, it was all about drawing blood as there were a total of 44 penalty minutes in the second. Sean Avery was the hero by engaging in two fights in the period, one against Scott Hartnell and the other taking care of business with Carcillo. Avery was one of the few who actually seemed to be disturbed by the fact that their star was just pounded in the face (actually, Carcillo mostly caught the shield with his fist) and he stood up for his teammate. Avery must be applauded for what he did, but there is no doubt Carcillo deserved a taste of his own medicine after what he pulled. And Mike Richards managed to gain his team a 2-0 lead at the conclusion of the second when his slapper went off Marc Staal’s skate and past Henrik Lundqvist for a goal.

The third period began with Aaron Voros and Aaron Asham dropping the gloves right off the opening faceoff. Again, this was a case of the rangers trying to send a message, and may have even been instructions from Head Coach John Tortorella, who completely exploded on the refs and Flyers coach Peter Laviolette after the Gaborik incident. The remainder of the period was like watching the same thing over and over again with the Rangers getting shutdown on the rush. Avery again mixed it up with Flyers captain Mike Richards at the very end of the game, and rightly so.

The tenacious forecheck and pursuit of the puck we saw in the previous two games at home was not present tonight at the Wachovia Center. They did not have any sustained pressure, the zone was cleared after only one shot on goal, and to boot, there were very few quality chances for the Blueshirts. When there were, we missed the net more often than not. New York certainly did not look like the offensive dominators they were earlier this week that is for sure.

You do have to give credit to Philadelphia, though. They did a tremendous job of clogging the slot and blocking shots. They also had active sticks in the neutral zone where the Rangers were repeatedly stopped. The Flyers played a solid defensive game all around, and got the Rangers off theirs with the garbage they pulled on Gaborik and others.

Among players that I thought made a difference for the Rangers were Sean Avery, Enver Lisin, Vinny Prospal, and Dan Girardi on defense. Avery was all over the place, running his mouth and sticking up for his mates. Enver Lisin was skating very well and had two shots on goal in 11:33 of icetime. Prospal had five shots on goal in the game and was really the only player hitting the net. Girardi was solid in front of Lundqvist, who also made some outstanding robbery stops tonight.

Ranger fans got to experience goal scoring for two nights, but just like that the rapid production is gone. The team was brought back to Earth with their lack luster effort on this night. The Blueshirts will now head out to Montreal where they will take on the Canadiens for the second weekend in a row on Saturday night. Also, I will be sure to post the postgame quotes tomorrow because Tortorella let out a few comments that are worth reading.

You can also find my Postgame Analysis on Blueshirt Banter.
(Images courtesy of AP Photo)