Rangers Recap: Rangers Kept off Scoreboard by Marty and the Devils, Lose 1-0 in SO
by Nick Montemagno on Jan 12, 2010 10:36 PM EST
in New York Rangers Recaps
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PrintIt may have taken over 65 minutes of hockey before the first goal was scored in this game, but it was by far the best paced contest the New York Rangers have played in all season long. Everyone knew coming in that it would be close and that the two all-star netminders would be the highlight players, but I do not think anyone would have predicted 96 shots would have been sent on goal between the two teams, or that both goalies would reach season-high save totals. It may go down in the score sheet as a shutout for both goalies, but I know Henrik Lundqvist will not see it that way unless he made that last save on Elias in the shootout.
To open the game, I felt the Blueshirts were dominant on the forecheck and were battling very hard. Tortorella was rotating all four lines in that first period, and quite honestly, the fourth trio was one of the better in the offensive zone. There was only a total of nine faceoffs through the first twenty minutes, just to prove the back and forth action of the game. Both goaltenders made some spectacular stops on great opportunities, but the score would be tied heading into the second.
It was more of the same in the second, but this time around, the overall quality of chances was a bit better. For instance, Brian Boyle's breakaway sticks out in my head as probably the best chance for the Rangers, not only in that period, but in the entire game. Michal Rozsival made a magnificent headman pass to spring Boyle, who tried to snap one through the five-hole of Brodeur but the door was shut and the game remained scoreless. Lundqvist faced some of his own with some tricky shots from New Jersey star Zach Parise as well as Captain Jamie Langenbrunner. The period saw a total of 30 shots on goal and numerous powerplay opportunities, but yet again, no one was able to hit the twine.
The third period was when the gates really opened up and every time a player made a move toward the net, the Garden faithful held their breath in anticipation of what would come of it. This was the only stretch of the tilt that I thought the Devils had control offensively, outshooting New York 19-14. I also believe that this was when Henrik Lundqvist had to stand on his head. We have seen it many times over the course of the season; the Rangers defense gets careless towards the end of a game and Henrik is left bailing them out. Luckily, more often than not, he gets the job done. However, the Blueshirts did find ways to counter-attack with shots of their own.
To overtime we went, thinking a hero would emerge in the next five minutes. Well, Marian Gaborik was inches away from being that hero when he sent a wrister on goal which Brodeur originally had trouble with, but it was Marian's rebound that slid across the goal line, hit the post, and just laid there waiting to be put in. Realizing that they had just almost lost the game, the Devils took the puck back up ice and bombarded Lundqvist with about three straight shots. Hank was there again, and would eventually send this thing to a shootout.
Last season, it was almost guaranteed that the Rangers would come away with the full two points when entering the shootout, but that has not been the case this year as Tortorella's selected shooters have had trouble scoring. That was the exact problem on this night, as Erik Christensen simply lost control of the puck and Gaborik, Kotalik, as and Dubinsky were all denied. Lundqvist was putting on quite a show down on his end as well, until Patrick Elias (will this guy ever go away?) came in and put one past the glove of Henrik to give New Jersey a 2-1 edge in the season series, as well as a tally in the win column.
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Henrik Lundqvist, as he has been for about eight straight weeks now, was phenomenal. The Swedish puck-stopper made a season-high 45 saves in the tilt and gave the Devils no room whatsoever. This reminded me much of the game against the Atlanta Thrashers where back-up goalie Chad Johnson was stellar in his first National Hockey League start, but the offense was not able to get him the victory. Similar story here tonight as I felt the defense, despite allowing 45 shots, played a fairly solid game.
Ed Olczyk made a great point during the first intermission by saying that the Rangers were doing a good job of not clogging the middle, but closing up the lanes along the boards. The Devils build their game off of transitions out of their own end, which usually results in the puck possessor carrying wide or dumping and chasing. New York did not give them either of those options so the boys from Newark were forced to go up the middle where the Rangers did a dandy job of blocking shots. This right here is what teams have scouts and tapes for.
Vinny Prospal was effective in his first game back after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery just about two weeks ago. Prospal was making his usual dishes to his mates, and signs of the chemistry between the 34-year-old winger and Marian Gaborik of coming back were there. Vinny finished the night with one shot in 19:34 of ice time.
Among other forwards who stood out, Dubinsky and Christensen played very well, in addition to Ryan Callahan who was hounding the Devil defenders when in on the forecheck. Brian Boyle led the fourth line to some great opportunities as well. I mean, there may not have been much, or any for that matter, scoring in this game from the Rangers, but their battle level on the forecheck was amazing.
So the Blueshirts are now 8-1-4 in their last thirteen games and have collected points in seven straight. You have to give credit to Martin Brodeur and the New Jersey defense for their tremendous effort in this one. They keyed in on Gaborik and did the best they could to shut him down. Yes, you can say the Rangers continue to struggle to score goals, but with the way Marty played in net tonight, I am not sure if anyone would be able to beat him. The Rangers next game will be on Thursday when they host the Ottawa Senators at Madison Square Garden.
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I just got back from the game, one of the best I’ve ever seen. (Although I haven’t seen them win yet this season – losses to Caps, Pens, Flyers and now this).
It was hard to tell from high up, but did Higgins fan a couple of times on an open net? And did Rozival actually play fairly decent?
I honestly thought I would be more bummed after an SO loss (which I predicted to my brother) than I was. We went toe-to-toe with the best team in the East and played just as well. Just came down to a skills competition, unfortunately. I’m not against shootouts, but this should have really been a tie.
Devils fans made hardly any noise during the game, just after the game was safely won.
Lame guys, very lame.
Ditto
Great atmosphere in the garden tonight. Was twenty times better than Rangers-Isles game I went to earlier this year. (There was a little kid with a #77 Fortunato jersey in the section over from me…Joe F.- are you actually 8 yrs old?)
Rozsival did play decent. He still backs off the rush too much and lets guys walk in, but he had a good game.
I thought Boyle had an outstanding game. Breakaway aside, he was using his size (finally!) and the 4th line was really effective, and I give all the credit to him.
Brodeur wasn’t sharp tonight I felt, but he was certainly good enough. Henrik was solid as always.
And Brashear is a wuss. He passed up on at least 4 hits that I noticed.
Joe1969 – you were in the wrong section. Devils fans all around me and they were quite vocal throughout.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 12, 2010 11:17 PM EST up reply actions
It was awesome
I wasthere too
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
by Joe Fortunato on Jan 12, 2010 11:25 PM EST up reply actions
Were you in sect. 115?
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 12, 2010 11:28 PM EST up reply actions
no lol
311 good to see someone has the name though!
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
by Joe Fortunato on Jan 13, 2010 12:48 AM EST up reply actions
313
I was in 313. Right in front of the idiot Devil’s fan in the front row of the 400s whose whole vocabulary seemed ot be the word “sucks.”
Great game.
by It may HAVE to Last a Lifetime on Jan 13, 2010 11:00 AM EST up reply actions
ties
are a slap in the face to every sports fan. they a render 3 hour time investment into an infuriating tug of war with no victor. Anyone who attends a sporting event that ends in a tie should demand their money and/or riot in the streets.
I know alot of people feel that way. I don’t. It wasn’t broken. Around alot of the world soccer is a biggest sport and ties are accepted. The shootout proves nothing.
My suggestion… that will never happen.
Get rid of the shootout. Put 5 skaters on the ice for OT and make it longer. 10 minutes or a full period.
While your at it get rid of the trapazoid.
Higgins
Enough with the bashing of the poor guy – he’s out there crashing the net, trying to make things happen. The few opportunities where he was in position, the puck was like bouncing about.
Great game by the Rangers but it’s time to start winning shootouts. First Atlanta and now this. T
That first period was fantastic, and then it just got better.
It was reaffirming to see what the Rangers look like when they’re firing on all cylinders. Now if they could’ve just found the back of the net once or twice…
Amazing Game
I must say that I am gaining a lot of respect for two people who I was severely dissing a month ago. Torts and Drury. It is becoming very clear that Torts is building this team into one that will contend in the playoffs. He’s structuring our style to beat Washington, New Jersey and Pittsburgh. Our slump is increasingly looking like growing pains as Torts systematically molded the team into one that can 1) play a style that can match the top teams in our division and conference and 2) get the points necessary to put us into the playoffs…no illusions. If we listen to his post-game remarks over the past month it is clear to me that he saw the signs, knew what he had, and wasn’t fooled by our fast run and gun start — which he gave a chance until he saw it simply wasn’t going to work. game after game for a stretch he tried to play that style and, except for Gabby, the team just wasn’t scoring. At some point he switched tactics and it took the team awhile to adjust. I remember that blow-out against the Flyers he just kept pointing to the defensive end.
Very mature coaching. Excellent motivation. The truth is that teams had us pegged early on, they adapted, and now we’ve adapted. Teams are beginning to dismantle Pittsburgh in the same way and for pretty much the same reasons that they began to throw us off our game us…Crosby’s scoring a goal or two a game but they aren’t winning anymore. good news is that they just figured us out earlier which gave us the middle season to adjust…so to me its actually beginning to look like a blessing in disguise.
And if we step back from our frustration with having a low scoring team for a moment, we can see that Drury has been leading the way in this transition. i almost pitched into the thread on Drury a few times. i wanted to come to his defense because i dissed the guy so bad and was slandering him to everyone who would listen…but my crazy work schedule never let up. Yes, blocked shots and penalty kills and helping a team learn to play a system is worth good money — ok, granted, maybe not seven million bucks.but i am becoming convinced that he is one of the central reasons for our slow, steady rebound. I have been utterly impressed by what I’ve seen from him lately and other players are following his example. He plays very intelligent, blue collar hockey and I see Avery, Higgins, Cally, and the defensive units shaping up. But its really about learning to grind for 60 minutes and follow a system. Remember how we would play so well and then totally break down for a ten minute stretch and lose a game? He has not gotten distracted by his scoring drought and has stuck to the hard work ethic fundamentals. A lot of players don’t do this because fans like us start howling and its a largely thankless task. But we aren’t in the dressing room and at the practices and I bet he’s got the respect of his mates and coach…otherwise he wouldn’t still be wearing the C.
Anyway, I wish they had won, but the team looked fantastic tonight. Better than I’ve seen them all year. This style of hockey can win games and move a team deep into the playoffs. That said, unless we can get another sniper and play-maker to work with Gabby, or to split the other teams top defensive unit up, I don’t think he’ll stay in the scoring title hunt for the second half of the year. His amazing skills have taken him far, but carrying a team on ones back is too much to ask of anyone. Gabby might not like it but that’s ok with me as long as we gel as a team the way I saw us doing tonight. After all, he shone with Minnesota but I don’t think they were serious contenders.
Big props to the Rangers for this one. Keep it up boys!
voice
You might be right? Butt…
It was a great game and the team played well. I’m not sold on Torts doing a great job, I sure think he can and will do a great job… but I don’t think he’s been great up to now.
Maybe Lisen should have been on the ice? Maybe Dubi should have been on the top line instead of Prospal? Maybe Gaboric isn’t a shootout guy? Maybe Kotalic isn’t playing up to his potential (his shoot out expertise included)? I know it is easy to criticize now. But did you really think we would win that shootout?
PK aside, Druri looks like a 3rd line center who’s good at facoffs. He may be a great captain… but I have seen no evidence to suggest he’s doing anything great at the moment. Maybe he could have scored one of his clutch goals?
As for the post that says it is time to get off Higgens back. It’s time for Higgens to score goals. I like the guy and hope the goals start flowing, but it looks like he couldn’t put the puck in the ocean, from the beach, at high tide.
maybe, maybe, maybe, but for me the point is that he’s managed to turn this club around. we’ve been on him for juggling but each move he makes shuffles the team. i agree with you on the shootout rotation. brodeur is great but there’s no excuse for not getting ONE puck past him…
We had a great game, but couldn’t score a goal, even in the shoot out. Yes, I’m tired of the shuffling as I posted before… but that said maybe the first line that was starting to score shouldn’t have been shuffled? Yes I say a maybe because it could have turned out the same or worse. I think it would have been a better choice.
I have no idea what goes on in practice, the locker room, or Torts head, but I am baffled why we don’t see more of Lisen (and AA) and less of brashier? I get the argument that we want toughness, but I don’t think Brashier brings it anymore.
I guess my only real argument is, I don’t see this as a turnaround yet… an Improvement yes. I hope it really is a turnaround… but I wouldn’t declare it one yet. We had a pretty good slide and I was baffled by some of Torts decisions. It’s only been 2 weeks since the embarrassing loss to Philly (and I had to watch it in a bar in Boston with Philly’s and B’s fans…. arghhh). We’ve only beat the B’s and Dallas since then.
oh...
i should have made it clear that i actually DO agree with the idea of playing Lisen and AA more. maybe it sounded like i was blowing off that suggestion, i was just saying that, you know, there are so many variables that its hard to say what should have happened.
but you don’t see this as a turnaround? we’ve gotten points in how many games out of how many? i’m sorry but this team SUCKED a month ago. we’re now five games over .500 when we were two under par. we haven’t learned to score which is getting pretty weird if you ask me…but given that reality, we’ve figured out how to scrape and be competitive. and really, it comes down to hard work. we’ll see if they can keep it up…they’ll probably get blown out against ottawa and kovey will score four goals like he did the other night.
damn, i’m so tired it hurts when i breath and my chin is hitting my chest. its bedtime.
later ct…
Great post, perceptive and positive. I agree on Torts too – he makes weird decisions sometimes, but he has more than a clue on how to work with what he’s got.
Thanks
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by Nick Montemagno on Jan 13, 2010 9:55 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Brashear's best game
Great game. I am still in favor of the 3 pt system as no way either team should get a W for that game.
And better still, it showed the Rangers can hang with an elite team. Definitely a positive sign and a great effort.
Although not as important (and I still would have preferred Lisin in the lineup), Brashear had his best game in my opinion
He actually looked like he could skate and even made a little move. He could have hit a bit more and of course have a nice tussle or two, but he looked like he was a hockey player, rather than an over-the-hill boxer who they put on skates an hour before game time.
by truebluesince75 on Jan 13, 2010 9:08 AM EST reply actions
Sheldon souray
“defender Sheldon Souray’s willingness to waive his no-trade clause is huge. “I wouldn’t at this point hold them back from doing anything that makes the team better,” he said, opening the door for the sort of significant deal this team desperately needs. "
Do you think this would be good for our team?
I have said here a few times that it would be easier to get (insert player name with bad contract here) to waive their no trade clause then to get someone to swallow their bad contract.
Souray is NOT the answer
not even close
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
by Joe Fortunato on Jan 13, 2010 10:29 AM EST up reply actions
ok
but could we offload Redden for souray? I would assume we would have to give up Cally but do you think we could get a good replacement for him that is currently on the Oilers?
by NewburghHockey on Jan 13, 2010 11:00 AM EST up reply actions
Or redden, AA
For
Souray and their 2010 #1 draft pick?
by NewburghHockey on Jan 13, 2010 11:35 AM EST up reply actions
Did anyone else notice the Herpes all over Parise's face?
great game – even though it was a loss, it was a big test, and the Rangers played very well, against one of the best teams in the league right now.
he got rocked in a game the other night, vs MTL I believe, and his visor cut open his cheek/upper lip area. . But I wish it was herpes, he deserves it playing in Jersey.
Favre 4 Ever
I Believe In Chris Drury
RIP Buddy <3 Love you
could someone tell me what the problem was with the ice? I didnt catch all of it and I heard the announcers mention it once or twice
Favre 4 Ever
I Believe In Chris Drury
RIP Buddy <3 Love you
the Garden ice always sucks
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
by Joe Fortunato on Jan 13, 2010 12:39 PM EST up reply actions
I think the Rodeo was in town the night before so they laid down fresh ice in a short time period. They said there were cracks, but beneath the playing surface.
IMO it didn’t affect the play too much.
by truebluesince75 on Jan 13, 2010 11:44 AM EST reply actions
...except for Christensen on the SO attempt ;)
"...also I'll brush my teeth and remember to turn off the stars at night and put the hyena out." ERNEST HEMINGWAY
forgot that
watching at home it looked more to me like he just lost the puck rather than it bouncing due to the ice, but hey, what do I know.
Hi-def can only see so much.
Anyway, bad ice is still better than a producer refusing to share replay video and missing a goal :)
by truebluesince75 on Jan 13, 2010 12:03 PM EST up reply actions
Shame we lost, 'twas a dynamite game
Far and away the best game I’ve watched this season, even though we couldnt get on the score sheet. The 4th line played a great game, especially Brian Boyle. He was awesome on the forecheck. As others have said, Brash was surprisingly good. Marc Staal was his usual shut down self, and Roszival was solid overall despite a few mistakes. I’m really loving Anisimov lately. I cant figure out who he reminds me of, but it’s awesome. He should really be centering the second line with Dubi on the first.
Higgins and Drury were invisible at even strength, unfortunately. It’s a shame that Higgins’ problem is scoring and not something like effort. I’d like to see him scratched in favor of Lisin just for a game. Maybe he can get his head out of his ass after the Olympic break and help us make a playoff run.
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He is so strong, and he even tucks in his jersey and looks just as retarded as JJ.
Can we start a petition?
10000 signatures for 12 minutes a game for AA?
For some reason
Peter Forsberg came to mind, but then I realized I never really watched Forsberg play and thus have no idea what he looks like.
I’m thinking maybe Eric Staal? His play is somewhat similar to Jagr, but he looks to have a broader, more powerful frame whereas Jagr was ridiculously more powerful than he looked.
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Best Game
of the year(so far) in my humble opinion(of course larry brooks has to find only the negative as always,i question whether he even likes hockey),I had to watch it online,in my uncomfortable computer chair,but it was well worth it!!…I woulda killed to have been there,you guys that were there,the “Marty” from watching it on tv,seemed the loudest I’d ever heard it,it was AWESOME!!!
Si Vis Pacum Parabellum
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Atlantic Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Rangers
|
53 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 75 |
|
Philadelphia
|
55 | 31 | 17 | 7 | 69 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
55 | 31 | 19 | 5 | 67 |
|
New Jersey
|
55 | 31 | 20 | 4 | 66 |
|
New York Islanders
|
54 | 23 | 23 | 8 | 54 |
(updated 2.12.2012 at 8:46 AM EST)
Rangers Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
@
Boston
|
Tue 02/14 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
Chicago
|
Thu 02/16 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
Columbus
|
Sun 02/19 | 8:00 PM EST |
|
@
Pittsburgh
|
Tue 02/21 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
@
New York Islanders
|
Fri 02/24 | 7:00 PM EST |
Last 5 Games
|
Washington
|
Sun 02/12 | W 3 - 2 |
|
@
Philadelphia
|
Sat 02/11 | W 5 - 2 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
Thu 02/09 | OT - W 4 - 3 |
|
New Jersey
|
Tue 02/07 | L 0 - 1 |
|
Philadelphia
|
Sun 02/05 | W 5 - 2 |
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