I want to tip my cap this evening to Callahan, Kotalik, who had his first goal since the flood, Christensen, who has seemed to find his scoring touch and of course, Henrik, who is just awesome as usual.  I just wish that they would play D in their own zone a little better as they once again gave up a shortie.  Another thing that drove me nuts is that they got caught in their own zone and allowed the Bruins to tie the game in 1:26 in the 3^rd after they had built up a 2-0 lead through 2 periods.

I want to quickly get on my soapbox with my next comments.

My beef with these games on Versus is that I have to watch them on a pc since Directv still doesn’t have it on their lineup, which totally sucks.  The issue that I have with watching on the pc is that the picture is really small, but I guess being able to watch something is better than nothing.  I really think that it would be nice if both Comcast, who now owns NBC Universal and Directv would stop being stubborn and finally put their damn heads together to solve this issue before the playoffs come around. 

Anyway, their next game against the Stars on Wednesday at MSG and then they are off on the road in Atlanta on Thursday and then face these same Bruins on Saturday up in Boston.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your quite happy 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

I want to give full marks to Lundqvist, who played his ass off again last night and kept the Hawks from blowing the game wide open with some amazing goaltending.  If not for him, the game could have easily been 8 or 9-1 without him bailing the team out.  It was quite nice to see him show his frustration at the end when he slammed his stick at the bench.  One other note, Callahan played a great game, making an awesome move while on the PK stopping the Hawks from getting a great opportunity.

On the flip side, I want to criticize the rest of the Ranger team since the majority of them failed to show up once again and allowed wave after wave of Hawks players to get golden scoring opportunities.  The D was on its heels all night and it was just a brutal watch since you sat there waiting for the other shoe to drop with tons of goals going in, but thanks to Henrik, they only got 2.  The man cannot do it alone and its time that Captain Invisible (Drury) get this team to step up already, they do have talent and yet other than a couple of guys, a lot of nights it just doesn’t seem to be appearing out on the ice.

This was their 5^th loss in their last 6 games and 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 is separated by a mere 8 pts.  There still is time, but I believe that the next 10-15 games will tell the full tale of the season and whether they are going to the postseason or it’s going to be an early summer.  Maybe its time to think about rebuilding and bring up more kids to see what they have.

Their next game is Saturday at home vs. the Sabres and is the start of a 3 game homestand, which will be their longest of the season (they have 4 more of these) where they will also face the Thrashers on Monday and the Islanders on Wednesday in the first half of a home and home set.  This set will end on Thursday at the Coliseum (Mausoleum).

 Until the next game,

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

One continuous bright spot is Gaborik who scored both NYR goals and leads the league in that category. The other bright spot is Prospal who has been a great complement to Gabby on the top line. As far as the rest of the team goes, there is zero secondary scoring and it’s getting much worse by the game. The scary thing is that is simply isn’t getting better related to this problem. Higgins, Callahan, Kotalik, Drury, Lisin, and a cast of others have simply not done enough to contribute to the scoresheet which has been a huge part of this long slump. As far as the goaltending, Lundqvist is taking a lot of heat, but cannot do it all by himself and there have been times where the D has left him hanging out to dry by not clearing out the crease and leaving the middle of the ice open way too often.

To me, it looks like this team has no sense of direction, sense of urgency or any heart right now and things don’t seem to be looking up anytime soon unless by some miracle the secondary scorers begin to put some pucks in the net. I was in the bldg. last night and it just seems that something is missing besides that issue, maybe there is no team chemistry which also causes problems not only on the ice but in the locker room as well. They need to start having some fun when they are on the ice because it doesn’t seem like they are right now. Also, losing all of these games early means that they have thrown away a ton of points and giving away games at home which is also a bad trend.

The latest three game slide, where they have been outscored 18-6 and played tons of non-competitive, unwatchable hockey is just a continuation of a prolonged slump that has now spanned 19 games. I’m starting to believe like some other fans I have talked to that it may be time to show Sather the door since in his 10 years of running the team, they only have 2 2nd round exits and 2 1st round exits, some really bad trades, and a boatload of over the hill, overpriced free agents that haven’t worked out. As far as the bad free agents go, I wouldn’t know where to begin since the list is so big. The Dolan’s seem to have a love affair with this guy, but I think his time has run out with the team. At least Neil Smith in his 10 yrs won a Stanley Cup in 1994 and had them in the Conference Finals in 1997. I’m not sure who should replace Sather, but anybody has to be better than him to run this organization.

Anyway, their next games are on Saturday night in Buffalo against the Sabres at the HSBC Arena and then on Sunday night at the Garden where they will face the Detroit Red Wings. This is going to be a rough weekend, but maybe they can scratch out a win out of one of these.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Your NYR blogger,

Howie

 Lundqvist was his usual great self as he was solid throughout the game and shootout and P.A. Parenteau, who got his 2^nd Shootout winner for them.  Captain Chris Drury made his return and didn’t miss a beat from the games which he had missed from a concussion that he suffered from a hit by Curtis Glencross.  It was truly nice to see a team effort this evening and hey, maybe this is the start of a nice streak of wins for them.  These 2 wins have pushed them up to 6^th from 10^th place on Monday and not that it’s a big thing now, these points are really important to rack up, especially the intraconference ones as those become 4 point games which can affect their standing in the conference.

It looks like they might have to call up a D-man from Hartford if Redden is hurt badly as he left the game about 5 minutes in.  It’s a shame since he had been playing well going into the game tonight and actually was one of their best D-men.  I guess we will wait and see what happens with him.

On another note, it has become a trend in the league with the head shots and I personally would love to see the instigator rule go away as its being in the rules has prevented the players themselves from taking care of business.  If the rule was gone, you would see less of these kinds of cheap plays from certain players and they would have to deal with the other team’s enforcer usually with an ensuing fight.  It’s a shame that the league has become so soft that they allow this to happen and have selective punishment based on the players reputation is a joke.  A suspension is a suspension and should be in black and white, not a gray area which has become a huge issue.

Well enough of being on my soapbox as I’m just beside myself with the league and their policies.

Anyway, their next game is on Friday night in Tampa Bay where they will face LeCavalier and St.Louis as they take tomorrow off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Hey even they deserve a holiday to be with family if they can be.

Well folks, that’s it till next time.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your NYR blogger,