Author Archives: Jimmy Hascup

With the Rangers needing more luck than ever to make the playoffs, a New Jersey Devils defeat of the Philadelphia Flyers would’ve helped tremendously. However, the Flyers picked a good time to snap  a five-game winless drought – to stay  two points above the eighth place Bruins (tied for sixth) – against the New Jersey Devils, 5-1. Ville Leino (6,4 ) and Simon Gagne (17,22) scored and assisted, while Matt Carle (5), Kimmo Timonen (5) on the power-play, and Lukas Krajicek (1) scored the other goals for Philadelphia. Martin Brodeur was pulled heading into the third period after allowing four goals on 19 shots. Illya Kovalchuk scored his 39th for New Jersey. Brian Boucher earned his sixth win, stopping 32 shots on goal. The Devils were 0-for-5 on the power-play, while the Flyers were 0-for-3.

The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to pull off a 5-4 shootout victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs, as Sidney Crosby had two goals (47) and Brooks Orpik had three assists (23). A Matt Cooke (15) goal with less than three minutes remaining in regulation tied the game at four and two goals in the shootout clinched the win for the Pens. Tyler Kennedy (11) had the other goal for Pittsburgh and Marc-Andre Fleury recorded his 35th win. Tyler Bozak (8,15) and Phil Kessel (30,24) each had a goal and an assist; Carl Gunnarsson (3) and Colton Orr (3) had the others. Jean-Sebastien Giguere set aside 41 shots in the losing effort. Pittsburgh remains two points ahead of New Jersey for first in the Atlantic, with the Devils having played one less game

In a game with some playoff implications, the Philadelphia Flyers weren’t unable to stave off a 4-3 come-from-behind overtime victory from the Minnesota Wild, after leading 2-0 and 3-1 in the contest. Marek Zidlicky (6), on the power-play, Martin Havlat (17), Andrew Brunette (22) scored for the Wild – and Kyle Brodziak (9) had the game-winning goal in OT. Oskars Bartulis (1), Simon Gagne (16), and Daniel Carcillo (11) scored for the Flyers. Brian Boucher was able to stop only 17 of 21 shots on net for Philadelphia. Nick Backstrom made 32 saves and earned his 25th victory. By earning a point, the Flyers are now two points above the Boston Bruins, who fell to the Lightning last night.

Down 2-1 going into the third period, a two-goal outburst propelled the New York Islanders to their 30th victory of the season, as they defeated the Calgary Flamers 3-2. Trent Hunter (10), Matt Moulson (27) and Bruno Gervais (3) all recorded goals for the Isles. Former Ranger, Nigel Dawes (13), and Eric Nystrom (11) lit the lamp for the Flames. The Islanders won the takeaway battle 20-4 in this game and will face the Rangers at home on Tuesday.

(POSTGAME VIDEO FROM LAST NIGHT IS IN THE VIDEO PLAYER AT RIGHT)

With just an assist and four shots apiece, the individual showdown between Alexander Ovechkin (53) and Sidney Crosby (44) might not have resulted in the expected offensive performances. The game was enough to make up for it, though, as the Washington Capitals pulled out a thrilling 4-3 shootout victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with Mike Knuble netting the decisive goal. Knuble (26) also had a goal in regulation. Alexander Semin (34), shorthanded, and Eric Fehr (21) recorded the other two goals for the Caps. Maxime Talbot (2),  Bill Guerin (19), on the power-play, and Jordan Staal (21) scored for the Penguins. Jose Theodoer, 27th win, (39 saves) and Marc-Andre Fleury (29 saves) both were solid in net.

Backed by a four-goal second period and a power-play that went 3-for-6, the New Jersey Devils reclaimed first place in the Atlantic, with a 6-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ilya Kovalchuk (37,37) had a goal and three assists, Zach Parise (35,38) scored twice and added a helper, while Travis Zajac (23) chipped in with two of his own. Paul Martin (2,3) also finished with a goal and an assist for New Jersey, who sits atop the Atlantic with one game in hand on the Penguins. Antoine Vermette (23), Jakub Voracek (13), and Kristian Huselius (21) scored for the Blue Jackets. Steve Mason allowed six goals on 30 shots in the losing effort.

The Philadelphia Flyers have now lost five of their last six games, the latest coming to the Ottawa Senators, 2-0. Chris Kelly (14) and Daniel Alfredsson (18) recorded tallies for the Sens, while Brian Elliot made 26 saves, earned his 25th victory of the season, and recorded his second straight shutout. The two teams were a combined 0-for-13 on the power-play. The Flyers are just one point ahead of the eighth-place Boston Bruins.

In a rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup, the Detroit Red Wings beat up on the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1. Henrik Zetterberg (21) led the way for the Wings with two goals, while Valtteri Filppula (9,22) had a goal and an assist. Todd Bertuzzi (24) also had two assists. Jimmy Howard – with his 29th win of the year – was exceptional in net, allowing a lone goal by Pascal Dupuis (18), on 27 shots against. The Wings now sit comfortably in 8th place, four points up in the West. The Penguins remain two points ahead of the Devils, but have also played two more games than them on the year.

Staying within one point of the Bruins for the final playoff spot, the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1. Ron Hainsey (5,20) led the way with a goal and two assists, while Todd White (7) had a goal and Rich Peverly (20,32) had a goal and an assist. Mike Richards (28) was the only one able to get the puck by  Ondrej Pavelec who made 44 saves in the contest and recorded his 13th victory. Both teams were 0-for-3 on the man advantage.

Scoring Summary

First Period

Second Period

16:36: With four Rangers defenders caught on one side of the ice, Andrew Ference centers a pass to a wide open Miraslav Satan at the side of the net who one-times it by Henrik Lundqvist for the first goal of the game.

Third Period

10:20: Dennis Wideman takes a backhander from just atop the circle that beats Lundqivst high glove-side.

16:56: From just behind the net, Sean Avery (18) throws a pass through traffic to Michael Del Zotto at the blueline, who takes a hard shot which deflects off of Milan Lucic’s skate and into the net for his eighth goal of the season.

Statistics

Lundqvist made only 29 of 31 saves in defeat

Tuuka Rask set aside 23

Marian Gaborik played a team-high 26:24

Ryan Callahan did not play in the third period, after a collision in the second period

Vinny Prospal and Gaborik both finished with four shots on goal

Brandon Dubinsky and Dan Girardi had three hits in the game

Rangers lost the faceoff battle 37-24 (Christensen won three of 12) and were out-hit 25-17

Rangers had 23 penalty minutes in the game; Olli Jokinen had six

Special Teams

The Rangers were 0 for 6 on the powerplay

The Bruins were 0 for 3 on their powerplay chances

Next Game

The Rangers next game is on Wednesday in NEW YORK (home) against the ISLANDERS

Yesterday I posted about the Rangers‘ newly configured lines that they showed in practice. Nobody was sure whether those would be the ones heading into the game against the Bruins, but that is going to end up being the case (at least until they are reshuffled in-game). Two notable line movements have occurred: Chris Drury has returned to play center on a line with Vinny Prospal and Ryan Callhan; and Olli Jokinen is playing right wing on a line with Sean Avery and Artem Anisimov.

Torts had this to say about removing Jokinen from the center spot:

“Jokes (pronounced Yokes) can play both,” Tortorella said. “I still think Jokes has a little work to do away from the puck. This puts him in a situation where he’s not down low as much, he’s concerned about just his point coverages. Jokes didn’t play badly last game, we’ll see where it goes.”

…Jokinen has just two goals and eight assists in 15 games with the Rangers, so if Torts feels this will get him going a bit, then so be it. He’s not doing much to get re-signed by NY, but I’d love for him to get hot down the stretch and add some scoring punch this team desperately needs. Suffice it to say, though, Jokes is far removed from his 90-point years with Florida.

The Game:

The Rangers (31-31-9) visit the Boston Bruins (31-27-12) as they look to keep their playoff chances alive and move within one point of the final playoff spot.

For a preview, click here

The Goalies:

Tuuka Rask (16-10-4) vs Henrik Lundqvist (28-25-8)

Boston‘s Key Players:

Patrice Bergeron (16, 29) – David Krejci (14,26) – Zdeno Chara (5, 30)

Notes:

Aaron Voros and Enver Lisin are the healthy scratches.

Marc Savard (severe concussion) is out for the Bruins.

All Time:

Overall: 241-279-97-2
At MSG: 140-117-55-0
At Boston: 101-162-42-2

2009-10 Schedule Against Boston

Nov. 1 Rangers 1, Bruins 0 at MSG
Jan. 4 Rangers 3, Bruins 2 at MSG
Jan. 9 Rangers 3, Bruins 1 at Boston
March 21 Rangers vs. Bruins at Boston

How To Catch It:

The game can be seen on NBC starting at 12:30PM.

The Rangers postgame assessments always have a tinge of optimism in them and never enough criticism (besides Torts’ remarks). If they lose, you can pretty much stencil beforehand what it’s going to be like – mainly something about effort, the chances they created, and the positives to take from the game.

But with their season in flux, there’s no way the players could actually buy any of that, right?

For one, Chris Drury surely isnt: (from Michael Obernauer’s Blueshirts Blog):

“Seems like a lot of our losses this year have been close, where we could say we did good things, had good effort, had some scoring chances, but we lost. The ‘but we lost’ is not good enough right now,” said Drury. “We need to go in there and get a win, and that’s it. There’s no moral, momentum-swinging losses this time of year. We need wins.”

…The captain has been more vocal lately (somewhat to the chagrin of Torts), but he’s certainly correct in this statement. The Rangers either win or go home at this point. There’s nothing to be said for losing a close game where they have 85 shots on goal, but can’t convert on any of their chances. There are no losses that us fans can sit around and say, ‘You know what, we played really well tonight.’ It just doesn’t matter anymore. We earn the points or it’s a failure. Unfortunately, that’s what this year has come down to.

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