Monthly Archives: October 2008
According to a report in Newsday, Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro will sit tonight when the Blueshirts head to Nassau.
Bob McKenzie on NHL Live! mentioned DiPietro’s knee will be checked out today.
How does this effect tonight? Again, it makes this even more of a “go in and handle business” game.
Reports say Rick DiPietro may not play tomorrow night when the Rangers head to Long Island for their first battle with the Islanders. TSN has a story on the situation. If he is out, Joey MacDonald will play. MacDonald has played four games this season while DiPietro sat out with a knee injury.
This takes some juice out of tomorrow nights game if he doesn’t play because he is what makes this a rivalry these days. Either way — this is a ‘take care of business’ game for the Rangers. The Blueshirts need to go in, take two points and get ready for Atlanta Thursday night. The momentum from the shootout win over the Pens Saturday night will hopefully carry over.
It wasn’t until I got home from what was a ‘musical’ evening that I was really able to comprehend what happened at the Garden last night. I strolled in around 2A and ‘Rangers in 60′ was on — and I watched the entire thing and to see the Nikolai Zherdev goal…like 20 times.
Zherdev would score a late goal (8.1 left on the clock) that was quite possibly one of the most exciting game tying goals I have ever seen. I felt like he would start to bust out and start playing at a new level — and in the last two games, he has done so.
The Rangers would win in a shootout (3-2 final) at the Garden to go to 8-2-1 in this early season.
To quote JD and Dave Maloney tonight: “OH BABY!!”
And how about Fred Sjostrom? No one was sure if he would be on the roster this season — he was won two games with shootout goals. He knew they needed to play well in the third.
This was a gutsy game and one the Garden faithful loved. Henrik Lundqvist continues to shine — as he made three unreal saves in overtime, including a mini break-in by Sidney Crosby. Unreal. 8-2-1. And Nikolai Zherdev defines why they do not need Brendan Shanahan. Zherdev could score 40 goals in this league — hey, maybe more.
Three more things –
Is Markus Naslund breaking out?
Will Brandon Dubinsky be a point-a-game player?
….and was anyone else shocked Petr Sykora didn’t use his nifty backhand shot in the shootout???
Amazing night at MSG….more tomorrow……………….
Update 9:40P – I don’t have words for what just happened. I was getting up because I thought they lost — but Nik Z comes up huge with what was an incredible late goal to tie the game, then win in a shootout on a goal from Sjostrom. Hank would then stop Sidney to end it all for the win. 1st place Rangers.
Update 8:30P – Rangers now down 2-0 after Sidney Crosby knocked one in late in the 2nd. The Rangers had a two-minute 5 on 3 late in the 2nd, but were unable to convert.
I mean, come on, you gotta score on a two-minute 5 on 3. To quote a local sportstalk show host: “Bro, what are you kidding me?!?!!!”
Update 7:48P – Live here from the Garden — Rangers down 1-0 after the 1st on a goal by veteran defenseman Daryl Sydor. Tom Renney is behind the bench tonight after suffering a concussion last night in Columbus. Rangers came out with some energy, but seemed to lose it after killing off a mid-period penalty.
More later……..
Although coach Renney appeared at the Rangers skate this morning for a little bit, his availability tonight is still in question after suffering a stick to the head last night.
I would still be shocked if he doesn’t coach tonight. Renney is a tough dude and a hockey coach, the toughest of them all. But a stick to the head is a stick to the head, so I can’t really comment on how he is feeling. If he is unable to go, Perry Pearn and Mike Pelino will run things — something I know all Rangers fans will be confident in.
This was what they needed. After a few mediocre performances, the Rangers got a necessary two points against the Blue Jackets, with a 3-1 win — and people can say whatever they want, Columbus is a hockey town, with a great fan base and a team with some solid young players.
I constantly get into arguments with people about the NHL needing retraction — but I disagree, it’s like spreading the wealth of the worlds best athletes across North American, it only makes sense.
Nikolai Zherdev reminded Blue Jackets fans he was alive and well, with a three point performance (1 goal, 2 assists).
I had a feeling he would start to breakout….not sure if this is the beginning of this, but a three point night is a solid start.
Henrik Lundqvist made 25 saves for his 5th win of the season. Dan Girardi continued to be effective, notching his first goal of the season and adding his sixth assist. Markus Naslund had two assists and Brandon Dubinsky scored his fourth of the year.
Dan Girardi has been a pleasant surprise this season offensively (1 goal, 6 assists). Can he keep it up? I think so. If he gets solid PP time, he will get share of assists and the occasional goal. He did have a few 30+ assists seasons with the Wolfpack.
In other news, Tom Renney was smacked in the head with a stick in the 2nd period. NHL.com has the story.
He is a hockey coach, he will be OK and hopefully back behind the bench tomorrow.
More later….
The Rangers will see a few familiar faces tonight when they drop the puck in Columbus for a battle with the Blue Jackets tonight. Former Rangers Fedor Tyutin, Christian Backman ….and Manny Malhotra…and even RJ Umberger (never actually played a game, but his rights were traded for a few years back).
For the Rangers, Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev return to town to visit their old team.
Henrik Lundqvist will get the start tonight — still unsure who will start tomorrow.
After tonights game they will head home for a visit from the Penguins.
I am high on Columbus this season. Rick Nash is one of the best pure goal scorers in the the league…see here in case you were wrapped up in ‘Sportscenter’ instead of “NHL: On the Fly” on the NHL Network.
Talent alone does not win hockey games (see the movie ‘Miracle’), however the Rangers are better then they have been in the last week, just on talent alone. Markus Naslund and Chris Drury are due to get hot, or at least better and Nik Zherdev is going to break out, it seems like a matter of time (Ranger fans hope).
In some news on the blog, we should start adding more features (polls, videos etc..) in the next few weeks and even a few new contributors.
More tonight…..
Solid performance out of Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro tonight, as the Stars beat up the Isles 5-3. DiPietro gave up 5 goals on 29 shots in his home debut.
Quiet night here — and when Mr. DiPietro struggles, I do enjoy it. Not as much as Mr. Brodeur, but he is going to break some records and is likely the best goalie of all time. Hopefully King Hank will challenge those records years from now…..
More tomorrow…………………..
Sam Weinman’s ‘Ranger Report’ reports that coach Renney will once again change the lines–
Dawes-Gomez-Callahan
Naslund-Drury-Zherdev
Voros-Dubinsky-Fritsche
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr
Despite having a good record and scoring goals during some of those games, any fan can see they are lacking consistency. Petr Prucha and Lauri Korpikoski will sit and Patrick Rissmiller will be ….who knows really? Mars?
The one real move here is moving Zherdev to a line with Naslund and Drury. Zherdev has been skating well thus far this season. I think one thing Rangers fans fear is he reminds them of some guy who wore #27……..and that can be scary.
Scott Gomez will join the Michael Kay Show on 1050 ESPN radio today at 4:40P ET.
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