Rangers Recap: Kaleta scores twice, Sabres down Rangers 3-2
by Jim Schmiedeberg on Dec 12, 2009 10:34 PM EST
in New York Rangers Recaps
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PrintPatrick Kaleta scored a pair of goals including one while the Sabres were shorthanded as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Rangers 3-2 at Madison Square Garden Saturday night.
Turnovers in their own zone, and the continued inability to play well in front of their own net did the Rangers in again tonight. On Buffalo's first goal, there were three Rangers in front of the net, but Derek Roy was still able to put the puck in the net.
Ryan Callahan continued to show signs that he is coming out of his slump by picking up his sixth goal of the season in the first period. Callahan now has three goals in his last seven games. The Rangers got back to doing what worked on the power play early in the year, constant movement with the puck, putting the puck on net, and the results showed on the scoreboard, as the Rangers went 2 for 6 with the man advantage.
Marian Gaborik snapped out of his mini-slump with two points on the night, picking up an assist on Callahan's goal, and scoring one his own on a rare 4-on-3 power play.
Chris Drury had himself another tough night, he was on ice for Buffalo's first two goals. On the second one, Drury had two chances to clear the puck, and couldn't do it. He did have one of his better games in the face-off circle, winning 13 of 20. But as we've said before, the Rangers need more than face-off wins from their Captain.
Ales Kotalik is practically begging to be benched with his lackadaisical play. With the Rangers on a power play in the second period, first he was beaten along the boards by Jason Pominville, and then after a pass bounced over his stick and got to Patrick Kaleta on a breakaway; Kotalik barely gave chase as Kaleta scored a shorthanded goal. Mistakes will happen with every player, that is a given, but there is no excuse for laziness. Kotalik put a pretty little bow on his "Period in Hell" by taking a cross-checking penalty late in the second.
Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves in a losing effort.
Notes and Quotes from the Rangers after the jump.......
NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES
December 12, 2009 - New York Rangers 2, Buffalo Sabres 3 (Game #31, Home #15)
Click Here For The Official Game Summary
- The Rangers were defeated by the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2, in front of a sold-out crowd (18,200) at Madison Square Garden, and are now 14-15-1 (29 pts.) on the season and 7-8-0 at home.
- New York have sold out 171 consecutive regular season games, dating back to Nov. 5, 2005 against New Jersey; the last regular season non-sellout was Oct. 31, 2005 vs. Montreal (17,697); including the playoffs, the Rangers sellout streak is now at 185 games.
- The Rangers tallied two power play goals in six opportunities to improve to 27.6% (16-58) at MSG this season.
- Marian Gaborik tallied one power play goal and added an assist to record his 13th multi-point game of the season; he has now registered a point in 25 of 29 games this season.
- Ryan Callahan notched one goal, on the power play, and registered four shots in 20:06 of icetime; he has tallied a goal in each meeting with Buffalo this season.
- Vinny Prospal collected one assist and won a game-high 15 faceoffs in 26 attempts (58%); he also tied a game-high with four hits in the contest.
- Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves in the contest, and has now stopped 132 of 142 shots (.930%) over the last four games.
- Ales Kotalik and Michael Del Zotto each recorded one power play assist apiece in the contest.
- Chris Drury won 13 of 20 faceoffs (65%) and recorded five shots in 21:28 of icetime; Christopher Higgins registered a game-high seven shots.
- The Rangers practice schedule for tomorrow, Dec. 13, is 12:00 p.m. at the MSG Training Center.
- The Rangers return to action on Monday, Dec. 14, when they will face-off against the Atlanta Thrashers at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of their three-game homestand; the game will be televised live on MSG Network and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.
POST-GAME QUOTES
John Tortorella on tonight’s game…
"Well, we just need to make one play, an offensive play. I thought at times we had chances. They defend pretty well. Our last power play, we threw it away a couple of times there and that hurt us a little bit. Again, it is just getting over that hump in making another big offensive play or maybe a goal go in off you, getting a shot through at the point, having it deflect off you."
Henrik Lundqvist on tonight’s game…
"Bottom line, we know we have to win. We are doing a lot of good things and the work ethic is definitely there. We work really hard. We just come up short a lot of nights. I don’t know what else to say. We just have to keep battling and hopefully it will turn around."
Ryan Callahan on tonight’s game…
"Obviously we need to crash the net more, get pucks into the paint, and get an ugly one there late in the period or even in the second (period). I thought we were forechecking well and we had the puck in their end and controlling them. It’s just a matter of getting the pucks to the net, getting a guy there and getting an extra crack at it."
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Another Loss
Effort was there, conversion was not. What else is new??
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by Nick Montemagno on Dec 12, 2009 10:40 PM EST reply actions
kotalik is a pure waste…his effort in the second period was embarassing and insulting…he doesn’t deserve to wear the sweater…and drury had another fantastic game…how many game without a goal mr. captain? and for the people who defend him by using his defensive game as an excuse well tonight he decided to suck there too…he won a few faceoffs tonight big whoop he’s an embarassment to all the past players who wore the C
LETS GO RANGERS
Kotalik is really frustrating to watch
I’m a Sabres fan, and I’m pretty glad hes not wearing our laundry anymore. He was constantly in Ruff’s doghouse and for good reason. He goes through stretches where hes basically uninterested in the game being played. He was good for the Sabres with his power play slap shot and shootout skill, but not much else.
"always thinking one step ahead, like a carpenter...who makes stairs..."
And Remember
He has a 3 year contract to boot. :)
My Rangers Blog: www.rangerstribune.com
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by Nick Montemagno on Dec 13, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions
and a semi no-trade clause
if not a full one. The details werent released
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 13, 2009 10:49 AM EST up reply actions
it is sickening…if the whole team was playing hard and putting all out there i don’t think i would be half as upset…but there seems to be this whole nonchalant “everythings gonna work out eventually” that is really pissing me off…when will they realize that the ship is sinking, not starting to sink, but sinking…starting with the san jose game they’ve gone what 7-14-2? that is not a few wrong bounces or bad luck…thats the mark of a bad team…yet don’t worry “we’re working hard” and other bullshit quotes like that come from the locker room
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Dec 12, 2009 11:48 PM EST up reply actions
and...
that comes from the leadership, starting with the head coach and good ol’ captain clutch…first off torts is a punk and a bully, plain and simple…to call out gilroy publicly is just wrong…its one thing to try and put a fire under someones ass and/or to hold someone accountable, its another to pick and choose who you do it to and how you go about doing it…to call gilry awful (or whatever the quote was) was a punk move…call out the rookie who was playing with HEART, something this team sorely lacks…but, hey tortsy, don’t call out rozi, perhaps the worst d-man in the nhl right now, or don’t call out our “leader”, drury, who hasn’t scored a god damn goal in almost 20 games…but please do call out a first year player, who yes, was struggling, but tried his best and worked his ass off…thats the mark of a great coach and leader torts…and by the way, this is his idea of accountability? torts is a grade A punk and his coaching sucks
LETS GO RANGERS
by sloppyseconds on Dec 12, 2009 11:53 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t remember him calling out Gilroy.
“With Gilly, this is part of the process. Don’t confuse this that he was on the ice for the last goal – honestly, the last goal wasn’t really his fault: we had a horse—— backcheck by one of our top players (Marian Gaborik). Even on the tying goal, we’ve got Boyle and Reds picking their (noses) too on that play. This is a situation where we’ve talked for probably two weeks now on Gilly and what is best for him. There’s one part of his game that we feel he needs to be consistent with, or at least make an effort on it, is the competing part. We’ve explained it to him, we’ve showed it to him; we still don’t think he completely understands.”
Yea he really ripped him a new asshole…
my dad and i were at the game tonight and my dad said that one reason y the rangers are losing is because that they havent adapted their game…wen the rangers were hot and winning teams took notice and began to change their game plan to shut the team down (not that the team getting in its own way doesnt help) wouldnt it benefit the rangers and tortarella to…oh i dont noe…change ur game up a bit….maybe change the way you breakout or set up in the offensive zone…just a thought…also rosival must not hold the puck longer than 2 seconds
We're a point behind the Islanders right now.
……I’ve made a late addition to my Christmas list. A Rangers parachute.
"It ain't over till its over"---
How come no one covers Steve Smith?
i remember i was begging for the rangers to resign zherdev and people were saying he had no heart.
he put up 60 points with no heart than. we could sure use that now.
kotalik is a consistent 40-45 point player and we thought it was necessary to give him 3 mil. greatt..
oh and i need to say something. idk what torts is trying to pull by picking on the young kids. but honestly, it doesnt bring the team together. if hew ere an ass to everyone, (like herb brooks) than it brings the team together. BUT when he picks and chooses who hes gonna be an ass to he just splits the team in half.
if i were lisin or gilroy id be pretty pissed that im being punished but rozi and drury arent, and the captain isnt even sticking up for me.
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
I'm with you Mosh
I was a Zherdev supporter from the get-go and I thought it was a huge mistake to let him go. Oh well at least we have Drury
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 13, 2009 10:50 AM EST up reply actions
it would be sad to go into a zherdev discussion so early after his departure. but i had a flashback and he was on the ice with 1 minute left last night. it looked better. imagine having two right wingers that can score!
by #17ToTheRafters on Dec 13, 2009 12:43 PM EST up reply actions
at this rate i rather get the first pick than get 8th place and loose in the first round.
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
Yeah you know if and when we ever got the first pick
There wouldn’t be ANY real prospects out there. It would be an Alexander Daigle year.
by Lunkwill Fook on Dec 13, 2009 11:47 AM EST up reply actions
Was at the game last night … at least the first period was exciting … I thought our fourth line actually did a good job in the second and third …
by NYR9320 on Dec 13, 2009 12:20 PM EST via mobile reply actions
yeah but putting the 4th line out there with 2 minutes left down by a goal….cally needed that icetime last night…
by #17ToTheRafters on Dec 13, 2009 12:46 PM EST up reply actions
When was the last draft we had a good pick anyway
1965 was the only year the rangers had the number 1 pick overall, if you look at our drafts since 1995 we pick a bunch of bums in the first round that amount to nothing. We had the number 15 pick in the best draft year and still picked Hugh Jessiman. Our GM and scouting department has to be one of the worse in the league. We were horrible for a decade, missed the playoffs from 1998-2004, and barely have anything to show for it. Jaime Lundmark, Pavel Brendel, even if we had a sure fire draft we’d botch it anyway. I know it stinks to just throw away money, but we need to just get rid of Rosival to Hartford now because he has the least amt of years on his contract and let him rot in the minors. If were going to lose I rather use young players like Gilroy or Saguenetti let them get a step better and more experience. Redden still has too many years left on his contract to eat and Drury is immovable. Glen Sather has created a mess and compounded it this summer with signing Brashear and Kotalik. I told all my ranger friends that we should of kept Zherdev and Orr. Orr only would of cost us a million a year and Zherdev would of cost us another year at 800,000 more and we could of let him walk after this year for a 60 point player who was a plus player last year and could of played with Gaborik. Alright you want to save money, but then you sign Brashear for alot more money than Orr would of for a guy who should log 5 minutes a game and then you sign Kotalik for 3 million at 3 years for 20 less points and horrible 5 on 5 play a year rather than Zherdev? It makes no sense the only move that made sense was Gaborik for Gomez and I can put up with Higgins lack of scoring because we needed to get rid of Gomez to sign Gaborik. Signing Prospal for a million which was low risk high reward. This mess Sather created can be good if we drafted well, but looking at our track record with the draft I don’t think we can trust Sather to pick the young talent to compete for the cup. I think the sooner we change our personnel department the better for this Franchise.
not that i'm a sather fan or anything.
but i think the rangers have done much better drafting in the last 10 years or so.. hank (205th), cally (127th), duby (60th), prucha (250-ish), we’re all low draft picks. MDZ was drafted two years ago and he’s already showing dividends. dan girardi was not even drafted and we picked him up.
Let’s focus on better contracts, the youth is here…
by #17ToTheRafters on Dec 13, 2009 12:56 PM EST reply actions
Maybe your right I just feel we should have better talent considering we just squeeze into the playoffs each year while Jersey finishes atop the division each year and seem to have better talent than us. I feel no closer to a Stanley Cup today than I did ten years ago. I feel we could have made better picks in the early rounds of the draft when the upside to a player is better than getting lucky in the latter rounds of the draft. Maybe I’m being negative because the talent I see on other teams is just as good as ours when i feel we should have an abundant of resources.
Sather is a brilliant drafter
it is one of his biggest strengths
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 13, 2009 1:17 PM EST up reply actions
I agree
Just look over the past few years. Only two busts, which is pretty damn good.
2003: Jessiman – Obviously, a tremendous bust.
2004: Montoya – Wasn’t need with Hank, and we traded him for crap.
2005: Staal – All Star defenseman
2006: Sangs – Enormous potential
2007: Cherepanov – May he RIP… had the potential to be a lights out goal scorer.
2008: MDZ – Already playing, potential to be All Star defenseman
2009: Kreider – Good potential here… though, obviously it’s too early to tell.
Sather excells later in drafts though. Over the past 5 years:
Anisimov, Stepan, Werek and Dubinsky (2nd round)
Grachev and Ryan Bourque (3rd round)
Callahan (4th round)
Horak (5th round)
Prucha and Lundqvist (7th round)
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 13, 2009 1:45 PM EST up reply actions
Wait a minute
Montoya was a waste so why are you putting him up there and Sangs hasn’t done anything of note yet and was drafted 2 years ago. We passed on Mike Green, Zach Parisie, Mike Richards. Look at the players around our players in each Draft and all I’m saying is that the other teams in the league are drafting just as talented players with their picks and other teams are getting Franchise players with their picks in the early rounds. Thank god we found Lundquist are we still be wasting our first round with Goalies. Now we have decent players but are lacking a play maker up front with our picks that have been available when we picked. I was just looking at every draft since we won the cup and maybe thats unfair to Sather since he came later, but I feel we wasted more opportunities than we have taken advantage of a low draft pick.
No way
Sangs has been very solid, Jessman was a risk but it was a high risk hgh reward. Give Sather credit where it’s due
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 13, 2009 1:49 PM EST up reply actions
he’s also good at contracts, and has great deals on illegal hand-wrapped cuban cigars.
by #17ToTheRafters on Dec 14, 2009 11:21 AM EST up reply actions
I hope I'm wrong
I just feel we should be in a better place considering we haven’t finished first in 15 years and should have more NHL ready players and screw this going through the process crap I’d rather see rookies fail than overpaid vet using his career stats to retire with the Rangers on past glories for other franchises
Call up the wolf pack - send em all down to the minors
I vote to call up the wolf pack and send everyone you can without waivers down to the AHL. They’d probably try harder and it would at least be interesting to watch.
the only people who can be sent down without waivers are
Chad Johnson, P.A Parentenu and thats it. So uhh good luck with that
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by Joe Fortunato on Dec 13, 2009 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
going nowhere fast ..
this team just does not score enough or play solid defense and you can,t win with that .once lundqvist comes back from the olympics he is going to be more burned out then toast biron is going to be traded once di peietro comes back because the backup goalie problem we have is horrible all the backups we have stink so glen sather please do something soon ..
valley is a great backup. having a terrible year. he still is one hell of a backup goalie. he also led the team in shutouts until not too long ago! :). jokes aside, i think he’ll turn things around in hartford.
by #17ToTheRafters on Dec 14, 2009 11:19 AM EST up reply actions
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