Random Recaps: Rangers vs. Panthers | Dec. 23, 2009

With the new NHL season just around the corner and, for me, the thought of getting back into the swing of writing game recaps in mind, an idea was born.

Welcome to Random Recaps!

This new series that probably doesn’t need a detailed explanation, but will involve me looking back at random New York Rangers games from the past, recalling what I can from them and taking a trip down memory lane with the players involved and the state of the team during that time.

Here we go!

Prospal Propels Rangers in 4-1 Win Over Florida

Now, you’re probably asking yourselves why on earth I’m starting with some random December game against the Florida Panthers long before they were anything close to the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion powerhouse they are now. Well, this was my very first Rangers game at the World’s Most Famous Arena. I believe I was in eighth grade at the time and given that it was Christmas Eve-Eve, it must have been my big Christmas present. If memory serves, I found out that morning that I was going. It was supposed to be me, my parents and one of my good youth hockey buddies and his dad, but my mom was day-to-day with a cold and became a last minute healthy scratch, so another youth hockey buddy filled in. 

Growing up in Southern Connecticut, I was no stranger to New York and absolutely adored going to the city, but on account of how expensive the Rangers were, and everything else going on in the world at the time, I hadn’t been able to experience a Rangers game before then. This was almost two decades ago, so unfortunately I don’t have super vivid memories of walking into the Garden on a game night for the first time. But I imagine I was totally blown away. I’ve been to countless games since and there’s still a bit of magic associated with watching the New York Rangers play on any given night at the Garden. Needless to say, this is a cherished memory and only fitting for me to start the series with. 

Just four minutes into play, the Rangers gave up the first goal of the game as Victor Oreskovich snuck one past Henrik Lundqvist to give Florida an early 1-0 lead. The goal was assisted by once-upon-a-Ranger Dominic Moore.

I know exactly what your thoughts are regarding the goalscorer: Who?! A second round pick (55th overall) in 2004 by the Colorado Avalanche, Victor Oreskovich certainly took the scenic route to the NHL, playing in two leagues I didn’t even know existed before making it to the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL. A productive season there helped him get picked by Colorado that summer and after two seasons with Notre Dame, he joined the Rangers for a pair of seasons—the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL that is. 

Heading into the 2009-10 season, he joined the Rochester Americans of the AHL and while researching this game, I got excited and had to ask myself if we got to witness this guy’s first NHL goal that night. Turns out it was his second career goal, as his first came a month earlier against none other than current Ranger and then Los Angeles King Jonathan Quick. Those would be his only two goals of his NHL career that only consisted of 67 games. Although his career two goals coming against Quick and the 2009 Rangers wouldn’t be his only connection to the history of the Rangers. 

In the summer of 2010, Oreskovich was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in a package that included future-former Ranger Michael Grabner—a trade that actually brought him very close to celebrating a Stanley Cup championship, as he remained with the Canucks through their 2011 Cup run. Alas, the Canucks lost Game 7 and after re-upping on a one-year deal, Oreskovich hoped to make the Canucks roster the following season. However, the Rangers decided to put Dale Weise on waivers and Vancouver decided to claim him and waived Victor Oreskovich in a subsequent move. 

The Rangers connections don’t end there as his last NHL game came as a result of former Ranger Chris Higgins getting injured and Oreskovich being called up in his place. Future-former Rangers Coach Alain Vigneault didn’t think Oreskovich played a physical enough game, which is ironic considering he had seven penalty minutes in that one game, one of which had to have been a fight. Unfortunately for him, that w the end oasf his hockey career as Oreskovich had some injury problems, including concussions, that resulted in him deciding to retire at the end of that season. 

So, now that we covered the short career of Victor Oreskovich, let’s get back to the Rangers side of this game from almost sixteen years ago. The Rangers answered about a minute and a half later with a goal from then-captain and current general manager Chris Drury. Coming off back-to-back seasons averaging 57 points with the Rangers, Drury would go on to score 14 goals and 18 assists in 77 games that year. Assists on that goal came from one-hit-wonder Enver Lisin, and the one and only Sean Avery. 

A 50th overall pick, selected by the Phoenix Coyotes just five spots ahead of Victor Oreskovich in that 2004 draft, Enver Lisin had three respectable years in the desert before joining the Rangers for the 2009-10 season. In 57 games, Lisin recorded six goals and eight assists for a total of 14 points, which wasn’t terrible for the role he was best suited for. Lisin was quick and had great hands with offensive upside, but aside from being a shootout weapon, he didn’t contribute as much as the Rangers were hoping. In theory, he was a solid bottom-six forward you could move around your lineup, but the Rangers wanted to cash in on his upside and count on him to play a top nine role at minimum. That would become Lisin’s last year in the league as he spent the next eleven seasons in the KHL. 

With the game tied at one heading into the second, Vinny Prospal took control of this game, as he gave the Rangers the lead close to five minutes in with a power play goal. Assists on that goal came from Ryan Callahan and Marion Gaborik, which all things considered wasn’t a bad power play combo for a late 2000s’ Rangers team. Prospal was a very good player in the NHL, but like most cases came to the Rangers towards the end of his career. In that 2009-10 season, he recorded 20 goals and 38 assists for 58 points in 75 games, which is pretty darn good. However, he would only appear in 29 games with the Rangers the following season before heading back to Columbus for the last two years of his 1,108 game career. 

Prospal struck again just 23 seconds into the third period to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead, this time with assists coming from Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal. This helped the Rangers maintain control through the third period and a shorthanded goal from Gaborik, assisted by Drury, solidified the final score at 4-1. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 33 of 34 shots on goal.

Some other one-time Rangers on that Panthers team included Radek Dvorak and Bryan McCabe. Judging by the Rangers roster for that game, the lines probably looked something like this:

Prospal - Anisimov - Gaborik
Avery - Drury - Lisin
Higgins - Dubinsky - Callahan
Brashear - Boyle - Kotalik

Redden - Rozsival
Staal - Girardi
Del Zotto - Gilroy

Lundqvist - Chad Johnson 

The 2009-10 season was a fun, albeit frustrating, campaign. The Rangers finished 4th in the Atlantic Division (different times) and 9th in the Eastern Conference. All throughout the season they were a fringe playoff team, and at the start of February they made their one “big” move to try and get them into the playoffs. They sent Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik to Florida in exchange for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust. Now this is extremely important to the story because if you remember this season as well as I do, you likely recall one Olli Jokinen moment in particular and feel the same rage as I do thinking back on it. 

Game 82 of 82. Rangers vs. Flyers in Philadelphia. The two teams were fighting for that last playoff spot in the East and it all came down to a shootout. Tied 1-1 after sixty, a playoff berth was up for grabs with that one extra point. Danny Briere put the Flyers on the board with the first attempt, beating Lundqvist on a nifty little move. Erik Christiansen, who was 53% going into the attempt, was shut down by Brian Boucher. Mike Richards missed for the Flyers but it was P.A. Parenteau—another blast from the past—who was 2-for-2 in his career going into the attempt, beat Boucher to tie up the shootout after round two. 

A young Claude Giroux beat Lundqvist to kick off round three, leaving the fate of the Rangers season in the hands of Olli Jokinen. Jokinen came in with tons of speed and promise but delivered an underwhelming forehand-backhand that was stuffed right into the pad of Boucher, putting an end to the Rangers playoff hopes for that season, becoming their only playoff miss between 2006 and 2017. A brutal end to a memorable season as a Rangers fan.