Monthly Archives: November 2008
The Rangers head down to Florida now for a battle with the Lightning tomorrow night and with the Panthers on Friday. The Rangers should be able to take Tampa Bay tomorrow night, but the game I worry about is Friday in Miami. The Panthers are a tough, young and rugged team that gives good teams problems. The Rangers will spend their Thanksgiving in Florida and hope to come back to NY with two wins.
….The team right now is healthy. Getting Gomez back is huge and having Lundqvist get a few breaks here and there has been outstanding.....the team is on the right page, but you can’t justify beating the Coyotes last night then go down to Florida and lose two in a row….they need to get down there, grab four points and come back to NY on a hot streak…More later…..
Rangers score four and allow only one. That 10 out of 10 times will equal a victory. It did so tonight as the Rangers beat the Coyotes 4-1. Scott Gomez looked as solid as he could for a return, netting an empty net goal. Nik Zherdev added three assists and Brandon Dubinsky notched his 5th goal, his first goal in 14 games and an assist. Henrik Lundqvist makes 35 saves and gets his league leading 13th win as the Rangers improve to 15-7-2 on the year.
….Blair Betts scored his 3rd of the season as did Dan Girardi…here is a tough pill to swallow: this was the 8th straight game the Rangers gave up the first goal…..in good news, the Rangers took one minor penalty with Markus Naslund taking a bogus interference call in the third…
……and for laughs, check out this video..
This is simple. Here is what it takes to beat the Coyotes on Garden ice tonight:
-Keep Shane Doan invisible.
-Rotate four lines to keep the legs fresh.
-Keep an eye on the young guys (Mueller, Turris…)
-Unlike Saturday, stay out of the penalty box.
-And finally…..GET A LEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Easier said than done….
More later……..
Scott Gomez will be back in the lineup tonight when the Rangers host the Coyotes at MSG. He will play between Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury. The Rangers went 3-2 without Gomez in the lineup.
….Whether we like it or not, he is their best player and needs to play for the Rangers to win….this is an early must win game to get back on track. Looks like Nigel Dawes will be a scratch tonight. Patrick Rissmiller was recalled from his conditioning assignment, but won’t play tonight….More later…
Well the Rangers ventured back to NY and will take on the Coyotes tomorrow night. While Scott Gomez‘s status is still ‘unknown,’ I think he will play. He skated skated a full practice today with Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury.
…He has been missed the last two games, and while I think they can live without him these early stages, it will be good to get him back and get back to their winning ways…Hank will look to get back to playing his style of goal as well after getting tanked by Vancouver last week. More tomorrow………..
Check out SNY’s latest NHL stats and info….
Check it out here.
Provides all the latest Rangers stats as well as the rest of the NHL.
…cheers!…
7:05P: Sorry for the long delay between updates. This is what happens when you work 15 different jobs. Obviously, the Rangers miss their top center in Scott Gomez. This is evident now after a 4-1 loss to the Sens today. The three early penalties didn’t help. Jarkko Ruutu made his presence felt again (now I know how NJ felt last April with #16 in a Ranger jersey), but clearly got away with a goaltender interference call on the Senators late second period flurry of goals. The team will have to look rebound on Monday at MSG against the Coyotes.
…I am drained right now, as shown by my previous post from the 6A hour this morning…I am currently eating chicken and carrots in the press room at the IZOD center as I prepare for the Nets-Clippers game….I can’t explain how much more excited I am to be here then at a watering hole in Manhattan somewhere….can sarcasm be picked up via blogging? Please let me know…I am really excited for Mondays game — it’s not often the Yotes make their way to MSG…In what continues to be a week of reunions and tears and emotions (Mr. Redden and Ottawa and Mr. Naslund and the Nucks), Fred Sjostrom will take on the Coyotes for the first time since last trade deadlines move to NY….More tonight….as I am eating halftime pretzels and drinking coffee to maintain the act of being awake…..
3:57P: Scott Gomez sitting and Steve Valiquette in nets. The game has faced off. And within a few minutes the Rangers are being outplayed and are taking taking penalties….and there it is, 1-0 Sens on a Jason Spezza goal. Oh, and Paul Mara thought it would be a good idea to jump Jarkko Ruutu.
Okay, I am awake at work for a charity event. I feel good about being here, good karma, maybe it will lead to a Rangers win. Let’s ponder some thoughts for tonight–
-Can Steve Valiquette rebound from his last game against TO….and not give up big fat juicy rebounds?
-How long will it take before someone runs Jarkko Ruutu? Will someone at all do so?
-Will Wade Redden be prepared for a not-so-warm response from his former home in Ottawa?
-Will Brandon Dubinsky get out of his offensive, or lack thereof offense, slump that has plagued him throughout November?
-We heard about Nik Zherdev, the streaky player, we are now seeing it…..we he get his act together?
Michael Obernauer of the Daily News released his weekly power rankings. He must have read my post last week complaining of where he had the Rangers, as they are up a slot. Well done sir.
..I was just busting chops, he has done a great job since replacing Mr. Dellapina, and is a top notch guy…
Scott Gomez skated yesterday!
..Still out of commission, may play Monday at home against Phoenix….he was truly missed for the first time Thursday against the Nucks…
Thanks for the responses and comments, keep them coming….email me at SNYRangersblog@gmail.com
Perhaps the Flyers are balking now at the thought of Brendan Shanahan. The Courier Post Online talks about Flyers and what direction they may be going.
..It looks like the Flyers may not sign Shanahan…if that is the case, what direction does he go now? My guess, St. Louis.
According to Sam Weinman in his ‘Ranger Report,’ Steve Valiquette will get the start tomorrow against the Sens.
…Is it weird 3 of his 4 starts will come against teams north of the border?….
Not to say the Rangers would get in the mix for Marian Gaborik, the top UFA-to-be this offseason, but if they were going to make a move for the oft-injured forward, what could get package together for him? Ranger fans won’t forget Gaborik’s gorging of the Rangers last year, netting 5 goals last December in a Wild thrashing in Minny last year. Gaborik has played only one game this season due to a lower body injury, but when healthy is one of the best skaters in the NHL and is a dominant force. So what could Glen Sather package together that work? It would have to fill gaps for Minnesota and the Rangers would have to clear enough salary so they could at least think about trying to re-sign him.
…Would the Wild take Michal Rozsival and his remaining contract? He makes $4.33 million over the next three seasons, but is a $5.0 million hit on the cap (according to nhlnumbers.com). So let’s build something around Rozsival — he would be a solid addition to Minny’s D, which already includes Brent Burns, Kim Johnsson and Marek Zidlicky.
1) Michal Rozsival, Nigel Dawes, Artem Anisimov and a 2nd Round Pick (2009)
2) Michal Rozsival, Petr Prucha, Antoine Lafleur and a 1st Round Pick (2009)
3) Michal Rozsival, Lauri Korpikoski, Nigel Dawes and Corey Potter
…Not sure any of those would get it done, but it’s fun to play GM for a few minutes…any thoughts? suggestions?….let me know, email me SNYRangersblog@gmail.com
More tomorrow….
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