The New York Rangers finished the North American portion of
their preseason with a 5-3 loss in Philadelphia. The game was sloppy and contentious game with
few highlights for the Rangers, so let us just get to the news and reviews.
Michael Sauer, who left the game after slamming his right
shoulder into the boards, has a sprained shoulder, which is expected to
sideline him for a week.
The two cuts were Andreas Thuresson and Andre Deveaux as
expected. Thuresson was solid in the
game and scored a goal for the Rangers while Deveaux did not do a whole lot
other than get into another altercation.
In case you missed it, Flyers
forward Wayne Simmonds appears to use a homophobic slur directed at Sean Avery.
Speaking of Avery, he had a very strong start to the game
with his work leading to the first goal and baiting Simmonds into a penalty,
but then Avery spoiled some of that taking a bench minor for unsportsmanlike
conduct that led to a Flyers power play goal.
John Mitchell, Brian Boyle and Mats Zuccarello were the best
Rangers tonight. Mitchell scored a goal
and rang another shot off the post.
Boyle deflected a Dan Girardi point shot in for a power play goal and
was back to last year’s form after a subpar performance on Friday. Zuccarello continued his strong camp with a
solid effort and made himself noticeable out there.
Hagelin and Bourque had a few moments, but Mitchell right
now appears to be the biggest threat to make the team of those not in the top
12.
Tim Erixon didn’t impress again tonight and is slowly having
his chance slip away other than the injury status of Staal and Sauer.
Del Zotto had another up and down game as he started very strong, but then struggled when he was put against better competition later in the game. Pairing him with Erixon was an awful move as the pair struggled together and exposed both of their weaknesses. With Erixon failing to
raise his level it might come down to Del Zotto fighting with Brendan Bell.
