This game had it’s moments as the Devils did try to take advantage of the tired Rangers, but simply could not beat Henrik and on the offensive side, they got a pair from Dubinsky including a shorthanded goal which pretty much sealed the game.  This game was also one of the rare times through the years where they did not face Brodeur, who was out with an injury to his elbow.  The turning point of this game came after the Devils had put on tons of pressure and then were called for a penalty which resulted in the Rangers getting a PPG which made the score 2-0 late in the 2nd period.  Dubinsky now has 10 goals on the season, which is one of the tops in the league at this point and lets hope he keeps it up.  On another note, Gaborik is set to return to the team next week and it couldn’t be at a better time for the team and his offense is going to be welcomed.

In addition, it’s nice to see them bounce back after a lackluster perfomance the night before.  Their next game is Sunday night against St.Louis where they will face a very good Blues team at the Garden; game time is 7pm.  This is also the start of a 4 game homestand for them which I believe is the longest of the season.

Anyway, thats all for now folks, so until the next time,

Howie

Offensively, they have have done decently with Dubinsky and Callahan stepping it up as well as a couple of others.  One real disappointment has been Frolov who needs a GPS to find the net and has looked lost during some games.  In goal, they have gotten steady play from Lundqvist, but haven’t always given him enough support. 

If this type of play keeps up, the season may be over sooner than we think since they can’t continue to think they can win at all playing blah hockey like this.  I’m hoping that when Gaborik comes back that they can get back to some better efforts on the ice to stay in the race for a playoff spot.  I know it’s only late October, but playoff spots can be won and lost in the first 20-25 games and if they start to go in reverse, the last 70+ games could be agonizing to watch.

Well on the bright side, at least they have found ways to find the back of the net unlike last year, where it was a struggle to get goals from anyone besides Gaborik.  I do hope that this trend continues since it will keep them in games all season long.  I know that I have been rambling on for a bit, but I just wanted to get my points across about what I have seen so far. 

They finish the month tomorrow in Toronto where for some reason, they are meeting the Leafs for the 3rd time this year.  I am still at a loss to figure out how the league schedules these games, you’d think they would break them up so they meet early and late in the year.  Great going NHL Office, finding ways to screw things up on a daily basis. 

Anyway, that’s about it for tonight so until the next time,

Howie

Ilya Kovalchuk’s recent contract saga has certainly added an interesting twist to what had been a dull summer in the free agent market.

It remains to be seen how this situation will shake out. Will he and the Devils restructure the contract and resubmit it to the league? Will the NHLPA file a grievance on his behalf? Could he decide to revisit contract talks with the LA Kings? Inquiring minds wanna know but it could take some time to get the answers.

In the meantime it’s created a vacuum for free agent and trade news, so into the breach steps Hockeybuzz’s Eklund with a Kovalchuk rumor:

“Another rumor that just broke is the Rangers are considering trading Marian Gaborik to the LA Kings and signing Kovalchuk. Very interesting rumor indeed. We all remember Gaborik had wanted to play in LA going into last summer’s UFA period prior to signing in NY.”

It is interesting…but it also makes no sense.

Gaborik’s currently has four years remaining on a five-year contract with the Rangers paying him $7.5 million per season, which isn’t front-loaded. He’s never expressed any desire since joining the Rangers last summer of playing anywhere else and in fact had a career-season with the Blueshirts in 2009-10. Gaborik also has a “no-trade” clause.

The Kings might have had interest in Gaborik before he joined the Rangers, and who knows, perhaps they’d have interest in him if GM Glen Sather came calling even with Gabby’s current salary.

Problem is, they’d have to part with assets to make this deal work. You see, the Kings are also thinking long-term here, as they’ve got Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson and Wayne Simmonds to re-sign by next summer, when they become restricted free agents. 

Adding Gaborik’s $7.5 million would take a huge bite out of their remaining cap space for next season making it tougher to retain those key players. That was the deciding factor in why they ultimately couldn’t match the Devils’ hefty offer for Kovalchuk.

So, the Kings would have to part with some assets to clear up some cap space. Unfortunately the Rangers are in no position to accept too much salary back.  They have just over $4 million in cap space and even by demoting Wade Redden next season to the minors to free up his $6.5 million they still couldn’t afford to take back salary from the Kings, sign Kovalchuk and fill out the remainder of their roster.

Not only that, but why would the Rangers want to trade away Gaborik, a first-line right winger whom they’re very happy with, for Ilya Kovalchuk, a first line left wing?  Because he’s a “better player”? Marginally so, but that doesn’t justify trying such a move, and for that matter, we don’t even know if Kovalchuk would want to sign with the Rangers. Yes, yes, I know, large Russian community in New York, but he’s made his commitment to the Devils and I believe he’s going to stick with them, not bail out and try to shop his services around again.

The Rangers most obvious need up front is finding a first line center, not shuffling their first line wingers.

This rumor simply doesn’t make sense.

Lyle Richardson
SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey

This win came on the heels of a 5-1 thrashing of the Leafs on Wed. night where it was all Rangers all the time from the drop of the puck. I’m still amazed this team is alive for a spot considering that they were listless coming into the final stretch and showing no heart at all. This team has shown nothing but heart in this stretch where they have only lost 1 game in regulation.

There’s truly not much left to say other than that I want all the Ranger fans to root super hard for them on Sunday and whatever happens, that we are proud of the fact they didn’t give up when they could have folded up the tent and left.

So until Sunday,

Howie

The unbelievable part about this trip is that I gave them no hope for doing anything as far as getting near a playoff spot and here they are with one game to go in Buffalo on Tuesday with a 4-0-1 record.  After that, they finish off with 2 of their last 3 at home and now have some control of where they can potentially finish thanks to all the teams around them not playing quite as well at this time.

Anyway, there is still some work to do, but we Ranger fans appreciate the fact that they didn’t mail it in when they were just about out of it.  I will keep hope that they can sneak in and plan on being at the Toronto game on Wed. night, cheering them on.  Well, that’s about it for now, so until Tuesday night…….

Have a happy Easter and Passover all,

Howie

One other note, I don’t think I’ve seen Tortorella act that happy on a goal ever behind the Ranger bench, but when Drury scored, he acted as if his job was just saved.  Let’s be clear, I’m not sold that just because they have crept to within 3 points of the 8th spot, they still have a couple of teams to jump over and not many games left.  They still have 5 games left on this road trip starting with a game in Toronto on Saturday and then to the Mausoleum for a game against the Isles on Tuesday.  With 8 games to go, it’s gonna be a tough task for them, but hey you never know with the way things go in the league.

Anyway, thats pretty much it for the time being.

Until next time,

Howie

At this point, I’m not sold on this team getting there due to the many shortcomings that they have shown on most nights this year.  Too many defensive lapses in which Lundqvist has been hung out to dry and not enough offense on a lot of evenings.  I would rather see them retool for next season and try to become a true contender instead of a mediocre midpack team, which is what they have become over the last few years. 

Well, this homestand continues with games against MTL on Tuesday on VS, which I still don’t get thanks to Directv/Comcast’s ongoing BS and Thursday against STL, which is their last game vs. the West.  After this, they have to play 8 of their final 11 on the road where it’s a true crap shoot for them.  Well, I’m not sure about what else to comment about them except that I will continue to hope that they can sneak in to postseason play, but I won’t be upset if they don’t make it.

So, on that note, until next time

Howie

It seemed Jaroslav Halak and the Slovakians battled themselves over the course of the night with two too many men calls, and bouncing pucks that Halak had difficulty maintaining. One significant factor to the game was the poor ice surface that made the puck seem like a tennis ball on a rocky surface.

It was a game that saw some difficulties on Russia sorting out their specialty teams. With all of Semin, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk, Gonchar and Radulov on their top unit, none were willing to go to the net as they cluttered around each other looking to take the shot. Russia even had difficulty deciding who should be on the powerplay as a change on the fly left only three players on the ice waiting for others to step over the bench to join them.

Prior to one powerplay, Alexander Ovechkin stood from the side of the bench in order to decide which stick he’d like to use. After he couldn’t decide, he stepped onto the bench and looked for one himself. Content with his selection, he stepped back on the ice for the man advantage opportunity. Meanwhile, eleven other players and four officials waited for Alex the Gr8 to get settled for the powerplay opportunity. The wait lasted over a minute.

Russia opened the scoring with a goal by Aleksey Morozov and the KHL line five minutes into the second period. Russia then unleashed a flurry of shots as they attacked the Slovaks for the majority of the second period. Slovakia weathered the storm and regrouped for the third period.

Midway through the final frame, the Hossa brothers (Marian and Marcel) combined with Pavol Demitra to tie the game with a one-timer by Hossa from the slot. End to end pressure ensued for the remainder of the third period until both teams found themselves in sudden death overtime.

In the shootout, Jozef Stumpel opened the scoring with a sliding back hander on Bryzgalov. Ovechkin came back to tie it with a five hole goal on Halak. Three rounds and six shooters did not decide anything. It wasn’t until Pavol Demitra came in on his second attempt of the shootout and beat Bryzgalov short side on a toe drag flip shot in Round 8.

Slovakia earned the 2 points in the upset over Russia. Slovakia remains in the second seed in Group B, but it closes the gap on what many believed would be a runaway preliminary domination by Russia.

Halak made 36 saves and stopped 7 players in the shootout to earn the victory.

Micheal A. Aldred

It was nice to see them play a full team game even though they played short a couple of guys as Gaborik tried but couldn’t go after about 4 minutes of ice time in the first as well as Del Zotto, who was cut early in the game by an accidental skate into his side. This also was their first win over the Pens in their last 8 tries and was their first win in Pittsburgh since 2007, so this turned out to be a huge 2 points for them. Even though I don’t see them going anywhere, they remain in the hunt for the last few playoff spots.

Well, the final game before break is on Sunday vs. Tampa and then it’s 2 weeks off while Olympic Hockey is being played. I plan on doing a summary of the pre break highlights and lowlights as well as preview their final 20 games afterwards so stay tuned.

Until next time,
Howie

Next, Lundqvist can’t do it himself every night as this has become the theme for this team as they are offensively challenged on a nightly basis, scoring 1 or 2 goals most nights and relying on Henrik to stand on his head non stop.  I’m hoping at this point that they miss the playoffs even though they are in the pack withn a few points of a spot.  This could serve notice to the franchise that changes are needed to become a stronger team instead of the constant quick fixes.  First to go should be Sather since in 10 years as GM, the team has only 2 2nd round appearances and 4 spots overall.  This is a constant point of contention and the Garden faithful have made no bones about his firing with non stop chants.  Next, I would love to get rid of the deadwood contracts, but the key is finding a sucker GM  to take on those albatrosses.

Well, one last bone to pick and this one is with the NHL, why in the world did they not get radio broadcast rights for the Olympic hockey tournament???  They talk about promoting their game and the XM channels will be mostly silent for the next 2 weeks instead of having the games on them.  Another bonehead move by our esteemed Commissioner, who continues to show us all what a butthead he is.  This, the horrid officiating and other issues have made the league a joke.  The only thing he’s concerned with is the Winter Classic, which has created a boring contest and having teams start the season over in Europe.  Hey Gary, why not have the whole damn league start over there already, seems like that’s the plan eventually.

Anyway, I couldn’t be happier that the break is just about here since I’m sick of watching lousy Ranger hockey as has been the case most of this season.  The 2 games the have left are in Pitt on Friday vs. the Pens where they will probably get killed and then a Valentine’s Day tilt against the resurgent Lightning, who I’m sure would love to send them off to the break on a bad note.  Maybe the break will help them, but I have my doubts at this point since they have shown not enough life for my liking at this point.

Until next time,

Howie

Well, the Olympic break is about a week away and the Rangers are in a tight race with a bunch of other teams fighting for the bottom 4 playoff spots.  The only thing that concerns me is I don’t want to sacrifice any kids to bring in an over the hill vet for a futile one round playoff run.  Let’s think about the future since this has become a lost season in some respects as they haven’t shown any kind of consistency for most of the year.  They have shown ability at times that gives us hope, but then they play like absolute crap at other times that make you scratch your head.

Well a couple of things that are driving me nuts is still the horrid officiating on a nightly basis and the fact that all the league wants to do is put the Pens on national tv all the time.  I know they want to promote the sport, but there are 29 other teams in the league that deserve exposure too and it’s time to give them a chance to be on as well.  I forgot though, according to Bettman, there are only a few teams worth putting on national tv. 

One more thing, now that Kovalchuk has been traded out of Atlanta, how many people are going to go to the arena down there, like 10?  The franchise is in trouble and there is no sign of relief coming for them as well as many other franchises that don’t draw flies and have attendance issues.   Maybe it’s time to consider relocations for some of these teams or maybe contractions since there have been issues with some teams  financially before the economy went in the tank. 

Anyway, the Rangers have a few games left before the break and they are Wed at MSG vs. Nashville Predators, Fri. in Pittsburgh to face Sidney (Crybaby) and the Pens (Gary’s Boys) and then lastly, host Tampa on Valentine’s Day.  It would be nice if they could win a couple of these before the break to at least have a good feeling going into it since the league will be shut down for 2 weeks.

Until Wed. Night,

Howie

This season has had its shares of ups and downs which has given a lot of Ranger fans headaches at various times. With the team currently made up as it is now, I just can’t see this team doing anything should they get in the playoffs as a low seed. Right now, they are in a tightly packed bunch of teams where any night you can go up and down the conference standings. It will be a miracle if they hold on to a spot at all with this up and down play.

I can’t wait for the Olympic break to come maybe because this has been a hard season to sit and watch game in and game out and I need a rest from the team even though I will be blogging about the Rangers playing in the Olympics. Now I know how beat writers feel as they cover a team day by day, man is it draining, but I find doing this a lot of fun since I get to express my views on the team in this type of forum.

On another note, it looks like good riddance to Kotalik, who stunk after the first couple of months, and Higgins who was totally disappointing all year long and had only 1 goal at the Garden. I hoped that these 2 would be big contributors to this team but instead gave me constant frustration as I watched them stink the joint out most evenings.

Anyway, they have a few games left before the break including 1 on this trip, tomorrow in LA when they face the Kings. After that, they fly home and then face the Caps and Devils on Thursday and Saturday.

Until my next entry,

Howie

Not just that, but a fair amount of distress is generated when the ogre Carcillo goes after Marian Gaborik, who gamely fights his own fight while the rest of the on-ice Rangers glance anxiously at each other, wondering if it’s worth a third man in.

Most stories, bad and good, have arcs. This ten day odyssey ended where it started – at zero. On Tuesday January 12th, Ranger fans endured a Brodeur shutout but were treated to one of the best games of the season. Less pleasant was a 2-0 hiccup versus the Senators, followed by a 4-1 loss to the Blues.

Then, the Canadiens visited on the 17th, got two goals and gave up six. This was the return of Scott Gomez to MSG. $Million-a-goal Scott was the smirking, self-satisfied frat boy we all recall so fondly.

I easily remembered why I don’t miss him. John Giannone practically told him the same during an interview; I couldn’t tell if he was kidding or not.

Anyway, a nice win there.

Tampa Bay arrives two nights later and plays miserably, allowing eight goals to the Rangers.

Fourteen goals over two games? That’s almost a season’s worth on 7th avenue. The apex, the very peak of our 10-day arc. Don’t waste them, boys, please; you might need them against the Flyers on Thursday……

Ah well. Goals aren’t transferable between games, apparently.

In any event, the real highlight of Thursday night was the post-game hissing match between John Tortorella and Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Each seems to have a gift for annoying the other. I was a little surprised at how well-modulated the voices were; not a lot of shouting. Brooks was wondering out loud if Torotorella thought he represented New York well (not sure what prompted that line of questioning). Tortorella went after Brooks for his Wade “Gold Gloves” Redden crack in a previous article (which I thought was sort of funny). If I were Rangers management, I’d tacitly encourage one of these encounters every two weeks or so, especially after a loss. Keeps the punters tuned in.

So the caravan rolls on to Bell Centre for a Saturday night rematch against Montreal. The start of a new arc. We sit here at zero goals and a difficult loss last night, hoping Saturday brings a thunderclap of energy and hope. There’s been too much flat-lining around here lately.

I’m further disgusted since this poor effort came on the heels of back to back top notch performances at home where they scored 14 goals in the 2 games.  Maybe they left their scoring shoes at home because they showed zip tonight.  The other Rangers who didn’t play bad were Lundqvist and Avery but the rest of the team was pretty invisible tonight. 

The roller coaster ride with this team continues as some days they are up and others they are down.  I simply can’t make heads or tails regarding this bunch.  One thing I do know is that Kotalik is likely not going to be a Ranger much longer as he has been a total bust and they need to trade him before his no-trade clause or else they are stuck with him. 

I have a few things I want to discuss that are league issues.  The officiating has come under fire lately with the whole Burrows-Auger incident, which of course was brushed under the rug by the league as per usual.  I find it laughable that a professional league could have such inept officials in charge of these games.  Phantom calls and other interesting ones have made games less fun to watch as well as way too many discussions from announcers, bloggers, and twitterers regarding their total ineptitude.  One other issue is that there is too much of a disparity when it comes to doling out discipline.  It’s time that suspensions be the same for the same type of dangerous or dirty play, regardless of who commits the infraction instead of this bs system of preferential treatment depending on who you are.

Another thing is the oversized goalie equipment which has become an issue again as scoring has dropped off to a point where it looks like some games are pre lockout style hockey.  Other than Marty Brodeur, most other goalies including our own Lundqvist have the some of the biggest equipment I have seen yet.  These guys look like Michelin men and it’s getting out of hand since there is hardly any net to shoot at as well as way too many shutouts being recorded.

One last thing is that it’s becoming alarming regarding the downward slide in attendance in some cities as well as the financial issues of some franchises.  I get tired of hearing Bettman talk about how the league is solvent, I beg to differ since PHX, CLB, TB, FLA, ATL, NYI, NJ, DAL, and other teams have trouble drawing fans with lower bowls looking like ghost towns.  It’s time that things change in order to have 30 solid teams, but it might include relocating franchises and yes even maybe some back to Canada of all places to Bettman’s dismay or even contraction of some teams.

Now that I’m done with my NHL rant, back to the task at hand regarding the Rangers.

Hopefully they will get this dud out of the way and get back on the horse on Saturday when they faceoff against the Habs, who they beat on Sunday at MSG.  After that, they then face the Pens at MSG on Monday and then the Canes at MSG on Wednesday.

That’s it for now.

Your NYR Blogger

Looking at this game tonight, the top performers for this game were:  Callahan, who had a pair of goals including a PPG, the first in 6 games as well as 2 assists; Dubinsky, who had a pair of goals including a SHG; Gaborik with a goal and 2 assists; Drury, who had a goal and 2 assists; Prospal who had a pair of assists, and Lundqvist; who once again was solid in net when he had to be as the Rangers D limited the number of chances to score the rest of the evening after allowing 2 in the first.

Callahan’s goal broke a 147 plus minute goalless drought and the floodgates just seemed to open with goal after goal coming.  It then became a boxing match with a few fights with Redden and Avery being some of the featured pugilists.  Hey even Drury scored tonight and he played solidly for a change and acted like the Captain that he is out on the ice.  It was nice to see the Garden rocking and really loud for a change as it has not been pretty in the building lately.

Going forward this month, they will face Tampa on Tuesday at MSG and then they are off to Philly on Thursday to take on the Flyers at the Wachovia Center.  I will be in the building on Tuesday evening for the Tampa game.

Anyway, that’s it for tonight folks.

Until next time,

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

I want to give out some kudos tonight to several players for top performances tonight.  Avery, who was all over the ice, scored a goal for the first time in ages and had 3 assists and even took a 10 min. misconduct; Cally – EN Goal; Drury – 1 goal; Gabby – 1 goal; Kotalik – 1 goal; Henrik, who was solid in net and had a rare assist; and Christensen, Gilroy, & Del Zotto with solid efforts as well.

It’s finally nice to see this team put a stretch together where they don’t want to make me rip my hair out or want to throw the remote through the TV.  Hopefully they can keep this going for a nice stretch to pick up more points before the break.  I just want to be able  see them get another playoff spot this season which would make it their 5th straight if they did.

Anyway, their next games are on the road in Atlanta on Thursday and then face the Bruins for the 2^nd time in less than a week on Saturday up in Boston.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your content NYR blogger,

Howie

Amazingly, this was their first win on 12/31 in quite a long time and ironically, the last time they did win on this night, it was against these Canes.  Even after the horrid game vs. Philly, they are still 5-1-1 going into the New Year, which is amazing since they have played 2 duds in their last 8 games.

The one thing that drove me crazy tonight is that the officiating left a lot to be desired, but that shouldn’t shock anybody at this point as they have been bad all year.   Just watch any game and see players, coaches and hear the announcers just befuddled about some of the calls that these guys make.

I don’t want to take up any more time since I want to enjoy the rest of my night.

Anyway, their next games after Saturday are Monday where they will face the Bruins and the Stars on Wednesday at MSG.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Wishing Everyone a Happy New Year!!!

Your much calmer NYR blogger,

Howie

The team has no guts whatsoever and showed zip out there tonight, mistakes all over the place and no hustle at all for the majority of the evening.  News flash to the players, just putting on the uniform and showing up on the ice is not enough, you need to actually play the game with effort, which was absent tonight.  I wish that the fans could have been given their money back since the team should not get paid at all for that crappy effort.  If I went out at my job and performed like that, I would lose my job, but these guys never do.  I now know that things need to change in a hurry before any chance at a playoff spot disappears on them, which at this point I think will happen. 

The team needs to stop relying on the big 3 (Gaborik, Prospal, Lundqvist) and pick up the slack through other players (ha ha).  I’m not sure about how they are going to play the next bunch of games and at this point, they continue to throw away points in the standings and fall further behind in doing so.  Their next game is tomorrow in Raleigh to face off vs. the Canes, but I’m skeptical at best.

I have nothing left to say so I will stop now.

Until the next frustrating game,

Your aggravated NYR blogger

Howie

The bright spots tonight were that there were goals from Gaborik (SH), Prospal with 2 goals (broke a 14 game drought), and Drury who scored his 3^rd goal in 4 games and looks like he has come out of his funk.  This also was their first home win in a month, which shows you how bad it’s been at the Garden lately, maybe this will help them to play better at home going forward since they need the home cooking in order to get on a huge streak.  The other key at home tonight was that they had the crowd in the game all night long which gives the players extra confidence out on the ice to perform a little harder. 

It’s also nice to see the Rangers show some edge to their game this evening as well as Avery having returned to his annoying style of play and Callahan showed a ton of hustle all over the ice.  In addition, they played as a team again defensively and limited the Panthers for a lot of the night despite them having 4 power plays to work with.  This style of play can go a long way to them continuing to climb up the ladder and hey even some secondary scoring is beginning to appear as well.  The secondary scoring is important because without it, there is no way they could even stay in the hunt for a playoff spot. 

I now believe that whatever Torts is preaching in the locker room and practices is beginning to sink in during games as I haven’t seen them play this well since early October.  This is the time to pick up points as they are playing teams that are behind them in the standings and they should not throw away these potential points as they have over the long slump that looks like they are now out of.  If they lose to the teams ahead of them, that’s not a good thing, but is understandable if it happens, but losing to the league bottom feeders is a sure way to miss the postseason.

Anyway, their next game is at MSG on Saturday evening where they will face the Islanders and the reeling Flyers on the 30th before they head back out on the road on New Year’s Eve to face the Hurricanes after which they come home for another 3 game home stand on January 2nd to begin the 2010 portion of the schedule which leads up to the Olympic break in mid February.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well folks, that’s it till Saturday night.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

What I’m seeing over the streak is that this team looks like they are starting to build off of these wins and are beginning to make the climb up the standings as they have gone back over the .500 mark also after tonight.  The team played like they were one in these last 3 and I’m wondering if they possibly have turned a corner, but I guess I will just have to wait and see if this can carry over to the games at home, where they have not played quite as well and are currently 2 games under .500 there.  What they need to do is to make the Garden a place where opponents fear coming into going forward and it’s my belief that doing this can possibly help them in making the playoffs.

Anyway, their next game is at MSG on Wednesday evening where they will face the Panthers in the first game of another 3 game home stand where they will also see the Isles on the 26^th and the reeling Flyers on the 30th before they head back out on the road on New Year’s Eve to face the Hurricanes after which they come home for another 3 game home stand to begin the 2010 portion of the schedule in which they have 17 games in January due to the Olympics.

Well folks, that’s it till next Wednesday.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

One huge thing that Tortorella did was to sit a couple of veterans who were not playing well after last night’s game and they were Redden and Kotalik.  Hopefully watching the game from the press box sent a message that the coach is no longer tolerating lousy play from any of his players.

Lundqvist played extremely well as he made some great saves tonight and was the best player on the team in last night’s debacle at MSG.  The bright spots tonight were that the power play scored three times with Gaborik on a 5 on 3 and Callahan tallying twice, there was a Drury sighting as he scored his first goal in what seemed like ages (20 games) and Anisimov tallied on a beautiful move.  One huge moment came in the 3^rd when they were short handed for 4 minutes and played well not allowing the Isles anything.

What I hope is that maybe this team can build off of this win and maybe start a vertical climb up the standings and that they can finally put the puck in the net on a more regular basis.  I’m still not letting Sather off the hook though; he still is responsible for the team that is on the ice that for the most part has been awful a lot of nights with Wednesday’s game being true rock bottom. 

I know I’m going back and forth between games, but I had to get the point across that after the disaster against the Isles on Wednesday at MSG, I wanted to talk about the effects of what a team meeting and being lambasted by the coach can do for a team.

Their next game is Saturday afternoon in Philly where they will face a reeling Flyer team and then they are off to Carolina on Monday evening where they will face the worst team in the league.  Once again, I just want to reinforce that these games are vital and they need to pick up some points soon before the playoff train leaves them in the dust.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

I want to give full marks to Lundqvist, who played well again last night and kept the Atlanta from getting a go ahead goal in the 3^rd when they were on a 3 on 5 shorthanded situation with some great saves.  Higgins also had a great game, but just can’t seem to finish the opportunities as the majority of the team has the exact same problem.  The need secondary scoring and continue to get none and it’s a huge concern now.  Another issue is that even though they scored 2 on the PP last night, they pass the puck way to much, flashing me back to last season’s inept PP.

As I’ve said before, its time that Captain Invisible (Drury) (2 goals, 7 assists) gets this team to step up already, they do have talent but the chemistry just doesn’t seem to be there and it’s a head-scratcher at this point.  Maybe it’s because our schmuck of a GM Sather put a lousy team together and this is what we are stuck with thanks to the awful, overpriced contracts of Drury, Redden and Rozsival, who are totally untradeable at this point.

This was their 6^th loss in their last 7 games and 4^th straight at MSG and the fans are getting restless with the team.  Again, the only thing that helps them is that nobody has pulled away in the conference yet as it’s a tightly packed bunch from 5^th place on down to 14^th.  There still is time, but it’s starting to run out on them as lost points cannot be regained and the worst of it is that they continue to lose at home where they should make it a house of horrors for the opposition.

Their next game is day at home vs. the Islanders on Wednesday in the first half of a home and home set.  This set will end on Thursday at the Coliseum (Mausoleum).  I’m hopeful that facing the Isles is maybe what this team needs to turn things around; it always seems to bring out better play so let’s hope for the best.

Until the next game,

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

Lundqvist played extremely well as he kept them in the game again for most of the evening. It would really be nice if they could give Henrik some goal support for a change.  The lone bright spot was that the power play finally showed up and did score twice with Gaborik and Callahan tallying.  One huge moment came in the 3^rd when they had a power play and a chance to tie; they spent almost the entire time in the Buffalo zone, but took no shots.  This had me wanting to rip my eyes out after watching that abomination unfold out on the ice.

The biggest issue is that there is still no secondary scoring and tonight their 5 on 5 couldn’t even do anything to put a goal on the board.  I am at a loss for words to keep describing how this team continues to play like they are in quicksand and it’s totally frustrating for the fans to watch, whether in person or on TV.  Hey, at least on TV, you can change the channel and watch something more entertaining or at least a better game if you have Center Ice.

Again, this long stretch of mediocre, boring and sometimes unwatchable play since their 7-1 start has me scratching my head as to where this team is really headed and at this point, my conclusion is indeed, this team has no heart at all.  I ask myself at this point, if this team doesn’t care about the way it plays, why the hell should I?  I have invested 35 years of my life to this team and there has been more bad hockey than good and hey the 1994 Cup run was great, but I’d like to see another cup in my lifetime and share that with my kid as I did with my dad in 94.  To me, it looks like I may never see another cup with the way things are being run, starting with that moron Sather who has no clue at all what he is doing  by sticking the team with awful contracts which keep the team cap strapped.  I’m starting to wonder about Torts as well since whatever he is doing to prepare the team doesn’t seem to be working.

Their next game is Monday night against Atlanta who beat them the last time they were at the Garden in November.  After that, is a home and home with the Islanders Wednesday at the Garden and Thursday at the Coliseum.   I just don’t know what to make of it anymore, but again, these games are vital and they need to pick up some points soon before the train leaves them in the dust.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

Lundqvist played extremely well as he kept them in the game for most of the evening.  The one major problem is that Gaborik was held in check all evening by the Red Wings defense and the only goal was scored by Dan Boyle, again showing the clear lack of secondary scoring.  This was the kind of game that made you just shake your head since there was at least a point in the bag until that awful goal, which left me at a total loss for words long after the game was over.  It was an incredible letdown to such a great game and I was still on a high from the Giants win over the Cowboys earlier in the day.

This long stretch of mediocre play since their 7-1 start has me scratching my head as to where this team is really headed and at this point, I’m starting to wonder if this team has any heart at all since the only time I saw any emotion was when Drury (Capt. Invisible) smashed his stick on the bench at the end of the game.  They need to show that on the ice more often so that they actually look like they care about winning games instead of looking like they are going through the motions.

The weekend started off so promising with the big win in Buffalo on Saturday and finished with such a downer after the loss last night that it seems that this team takes one step forward and then two steps back.  This continues to happen too often and it’s quite frustrating not only to watch but to write about as well.  I can only hope that Torts can rally the troops before it’s too late.

Their next game is Wednesday night in Chicago where they will take on the much improved Blackhawks at the United Center and as has been the case, it will be another tough test to see if this team can get its act together before it’s too late to save the season.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

The bright spots tonight were that they finally got some secondary scoring from both Callahan and Higgins, who broke an 11 game goalless drought.  Gaborik continues to pile up the points as he now sits 2^nd in the league in this category as well as still leading the league in goals.  Lundqvist was as impressive as I’ve seen him be in a while with great stop after great stop keeping the Sabres at bay until the final minute of the game.  Lastly, I also want to mention that Drury had quite a game even though he didn’t score with his constant presence around the puck making sure that the Sabres would not be able to get great scoring changes.

There isn’t really much more to say other than that it was one game they simply had to have or I believe this team would have started to doubt themselves regarding their ability with the continued losing.  The fact that they played so well in a place where they have had a couple of nightmare games in the recent past could be a sign of positive things to come, one can only hope.

They will be back at home on Sunday night where they will face the defending Western Conference Champs, the Detroit Red Wings.  They already scratched out one win, I would be happy if they could at least pick up a point against these guys since they have not had much luck against them lately and playing them tough tomorrow would go a long way to turning their season around.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie