Monthly Archives: December 2009
Last night was perhaps the Rangers worst home loss in years. Losing 6-0 to the Flyers in a game they were never in to begin with.
Well Marian Gaborik, what happened?
“We weren’t ready. They got three quick goals and then nothing was working out for us. It is obviously unacceptable. The positive thing is that we play tomorrow. We need to redeem ourselves.”
…They weren’t ready for damn sure. It’s interesting because around the the Christmas break last week, John Tortorella and the players talked about not thinking ahead to the break and playing that game. It’s hard to believe that they were looking forward to New Years, when they have another game tonight and one of their biggest rivals was in town.
For all that was shown on MSG after the game, each and everyone that spoke, spoke of tonight as a redeeming game. They were upset with last night, but glad that they get to rectify tonight in Carolina.
Sounded a lot like the postgame to the first Islanders game a few weeks ago, minus the very angry Torts, and the Rangers followed that up with four wins. Lets hope they can do it again.
Update:10:35PM: The following quotes are from the Rangers:
John Tortorella on going forward…
“We start over. That is the best thing for us right now is to get on a plane and play. Some things, obviously, there has to be some discussion on certain situations but we have to start over. We have to start over. The best thing for us is to play right away.”Marian Gaborik on tonight’s game…
“We weren’t ready. They got three quick goals and then nothing was working out for us. It is obviously unacceptable. The positive thing is that we play tomorrow. We need to redeem ourselves.”Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…
“We were into a really nice rhythm before the break. The last two games, I think, our energy was okay but not tonight. In our zone, we have to be ready to battle. We just made it way too easy.”
Original Post:For a recap and stats, visit SNY.tv
To see my running thoughts from tonight’s game, click here. and here.
Scoring Summary
First Period
:54: Former Ranger Blair Betts opened the scoring less than a minute into the game as he was unchecked and knocked in a loose rebound.
11:51: Danny Briere made it 2-0 on a nice nifty move to slip the puck past Henrik Lundqvist.
13:28: Claude Giroux made it 3-0
…Not a fun period
Second Period
:23: Simon Gagne welcomed Chad Johnson to the NHL by scoring on the first shot that he faced after a Brandon Dubinsky turnover.
14:41: Gagne added another, on the powerplay, as Johnson couldn’t go from post to post fast enough to stop the shot.
Third Period
11:30: Gagne added another goal to complete the hat-trick. His second career against the Rangers.
Statistics.
Pulled after one period, Lundqvist stopped eight of eleven shots thrown at him. None of the goals were his fault, all the results of defensive breakdowns.
Johnson stopped 17 of 20 shots in his NHL Debut.
Michael Leighton stopped all 21 shots that he faced for the shutout.
The Rangers had five shots in the first period, five shots in the second period, and twelve in the third.
Dubinsky minus four, Sean Avery and Michael Del Zotto minus three.
Artem Anisimov, Erik Christensen, Enver Lisin, Brian Boyle and Ales Kotalik were the only Rangers players that weren’t on the ice for a goal.
Higgins led the team with four shots, Kotalik had three.
Marian Gaborik only had one.
Del Zotto led the team in ice-time with over 23 minutes.
Special Teams:
The Rangers were 0-4 on the powerplay
The Flyers were 1 for 2 on their powerplay chances.
The Rangers next game is tomorrow night against Carolina. (more…)
Update: 6:34PM: Al Trautwig said on MSG that Drury is “good to go”
The Game:
The Rangers (18-16-5) look to extend their point streak to five games against those Broad Street Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers (18-18-2)
For a preview, click here
The Goalies:
Michael Leighton (4-4-0) vs Henrik Lundqvist (16-13-4)
The Flyers’ Key Players:
Notes:
Chad Johnson will back-up Henrik Lundqvist
Erik Christensen will replace Vinny Prospal in the lineup
Chris Drury is questionable because of illness. Aaron Voros would replace him in the lineup
Blair Betts and Ian Laperriere are former Rangers that play for the Flyers
All Time:
Overall: 106-101-37-6
At MSG: 54-44-23-4
At Philadelphia: 52-57-14-2
2009-10 Schedule Against The Flyers
Dec. 19 Rangers 2, Flyers 1 at Philadelphia
Dec. 30 Rangers vs. Flyers at MSG
Jan. 21 Rangers vs. Flyers at Philadelphia
March 14 Rangers vs. Flyers at MSG
April 9 Rangers vs. Flyers at MSG
April 11 Rangers vs. Flyers at Philadelphia
How To Catch It:
The game can be seen on MSG 2 starting at 7:00PM.
According to MSG, State Officials from New Jersey are sending a letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman about having the 
2011 Winter Classic at the New Giants Stadium.
The Stadium opens next season and the Jets will play the last football game there this Sunday.
The Winter Classic has been previously held at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, last year at Wrigley Field in Chicago and this Friday in Boston at Fenway Park.
Yankee Stadium has a College Football bowl game starting next season that will probably eliminate itself from being chosen.
…This is probably the best option for the Rangers to be in the Winter Classic unless they do it at Citi Field. The problem with this, is that it won’t attract a national media hype because these two teams play so often, are so close, and it would happen in New Jersey. Its too regional but its the only way the Devils or even the Islanders could play in it.
It just seems like the Rangers will have to wait to hold it at Yankee Stadium. No other option seems like it would work as well. Having it at Citi Field would be really cool, but it doesn’t have the same cache that Yankee Stadium does.
Central Park would be the ultimate option, but the cost for that would be astronomical. Seats and stands would have to be added everywhere and locker rooms. It would be by far the coolest and it wouldn’t matter who the Rangers played, but that just seems to far fetched.
Hockey Canada announced its roster for the 2010 games this February in Vancouver.
Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Roberto Luongo, Martin Brodeur and Marc-Andre Fleury highlight the team.
No Ranger made the team.
…Marc Staal was the only guy who could have made this team, he was at the Team Canada camp, but wasn’t chosen. Maybe in the future he will make the team, but with so much talent from Canada its going to be tough. It would be cool to see all three Staal brothers make it. Eric made this years team.
The Czech Republic also named its Olympic Roster this morning with no Rangers on the team.
…Vinny Prospal seems to have been snubbed while Michal Rozsival, not so much.
Jaromir Jagr did make the team.
News from practice is that Chris Drury is feeling ill and may miss tonight’s battle with the Flyers.
If Drury doesn’t play, Aaron Voros will take his place in the lineup.
…As Larry Brooks tweeted, it could be VOROS TIME! ( I added the Caps)
Also from practice is that Chad Johnson will not start tomorrow night in Carolina. John Tortorella said that he will start “sometime in January, according to Andrew Gross.
…I thought for sure that Johnson would start tomorrow, it makes sense and gives Henrik Lundqvist a break after playing tonight.
For more on practice, and reaction from Michal Rozsival about not making the Czech Olympic team, visit Ranger Rants.
While Rangers prospects are tearing it up for Team USA at the World Junior Championships, Ryan Callahan is hoping to make another team USA.
Callahan is hoping to get picked for the United States Olympic Team:
“It’s hard not to think about it a little bit,” Callahan said. “It’d be a huge honor to be on that team. There are so many good players, though, so it can’t be too much of a disappointment. I did what I could to this point. It’s out of my hands.”
Read more from Callahan and the Olympics at the NY Daily News.
John Tortorella is an assistant coach for Team USA. The roster will be announced on Friday during the Winter Classic.
…A lot of prognosticators have Cally making the team. He provides energy, grit, goes to the net, he is the type of guy that any team could use.
A nice problem that Team USA has though, is that there a lot of American players that are vying for the same spot. Its quite nice to see a bunch of talented players from this country try and bring them back to glory. Hopefully Callahan can be apart of it. Along with Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Matt Gilroy and Bobby Sanguinetti in the future.
Having Vinny Prospal in the Rangers lineup added a veteran playmaker who was second on the team in scoring. Losing Prospal to knee surgery for maybe up to three weeks puts the Rangers in even more of a bind to find goal scoring than they were already in.
The Rangers are 17th in the league in goals for with 103 and averaging 2.71 goals per game.
Arthur Staple in Newsday writes about how the Rangers will continue to search to find their offensive game.
…Goal scoring won’t be easy for the Rangers without Prospal. It wasn’t easy with Prospal, so losing the guy who is second on the team in goals can’t be good. As John Tortorella said yesterday, someone has to step up. However that has been said plenty of times since the season started.
Its time for Christopher Higgins to breakout. Its time for Ales Kotalik to do something that ends with the Rangers getting a scoring chance and one not going the other way.
Yesterday John Tortorella put Christopher Higgins on the other side of Marian Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky to form the Rangers top unit while Vinny Prospal is injured.
Higgins has four goals and six assists this season for the Rangers:
“We all know what Higgins brings. He makes great plays and should bring great energy to our line,” said Dubinsky. “Although he hasn’t scored as much as he’d like, he can certainly put the puck on the net and we know that. It’s a good opportunity for him and a good
Read more about Higgins at the NY Post
….Higgins has seemed to cool a little from the few weeks where it seems like he was averaging about six shots a game but not scoring. As Dubi says, he will bring energy to the line but also an attitude. This could be his last chance to get top six minutes for the Rangers. He is constantly rumored to be the guy the Rangers are looking to unload because he has disappointed since being acquired.
Higgins, 26, is a free agent after this season.
For more on what losing Prospal means to the Rangers, visit Andrew Gross at the Record.
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