Video: Was Brian Boyle's Hit on Spacek A Headshot?

There is no one who watches the New York Rangers that can claim Brian Boyle is anything but an honest hockey player.  The 6’ 7” Boyle plays a hard physical game and with that comes a significant amount of hitting.  What is at question for me right now is whether yesterday’s hit on Montreal Canadiens defender Jaroslav Spacek classifies as a headshot.

When the play initially happened I did not think it was anything but incidental contact, but after watching the replays it appears that Boyle does flare his elbow out, even if slightly, and the principle point of contact does appear to be the head of Spacek.  To me he should have gotten a two minute minor for elbowing on the play and that should be it.  I have no doubt there is no intent there for Boyle on the hit, but if the NHL headshot rule, and their added attention to it in the wake of the Crosby concussion, is going to mean something they might do something with Boyle here.  For me intent should not matter in whether some level of discipline is handed out because a player must be responsible for himself on the ice.  Where intent comes into play is in the severity of the discipline.  Also, I do not buy this trend that the level of injury determines whether a play was illegal or not and because Spacek was able to return to the game, then it must not have been that bad a hit.

It is that added sensitivity to it in the wake of Crosby that makes me nervous a suspension might come down tomorrow.  We will see.

Was it a headshot?  Does being unintentional matter in whether discipline should be handed out?  Does the level of injury matter?

Video via Sportsnet.ca

Video: Sean Avery vs Alexandre Picard Fight

Video: Tortorella Snaps on Fan Incident Question, "Ask A Question About the Game, G-d D*mn It"

Coach John Tortorella followed the lead of his goaltender tonight when he snapped at the press when asked about a supposed incident between him and some fans behind the New York Rangers bench during the second period. As you can see in the video Torts fires back, "Ask a question about the game , god---- it."

Furthering the story Steve Zipay tweets, that as he walked away Tortorella said: "Bleepin clowns."




According to twitter accounts of the incident in question from @snowkitten35 and @the_nange the incident itself was no big deal in that a couple of Montreal fans were heckling Torts from behind the bench and he ignored it.  If anyone has other accounts of what went on or video of it feel free to send it over.

Rangers Fall Short In Montreal, 3-2

For the New York Rangers tonight was a dangerous game when you combine the high of beating Vancouver on Thursday with the awful history they have had of late in Montreal and you just knew something was bound to happen tonight. 

Reality is the Rangers had no business even being in the game after forty minutes, but it was the stellar work and the fight in Henrik Lundqvist that had them with even a chance to just come up short in this one.  After stoning the Canadiens four times one power play Henrik Lundqvist gone run into by Max Pacioretty and after all the time he had been run coupled with the frustration of the game, Lundqvist snapped.  Henrik went all Ron Hextall on Pacioretty jumping on top of him and smashing him in the face with his blocker (video).

The team finally showed some life after that went on with 2:20 remaining in the second and played an excellent last 20 minutes, but it was too little too late in the grand scheme.  A goal by Mats Zuccarello made it 3-2 and they had chances late to tie, but could not get all the way back.  

Now for what went wrong before that point.  After playing a decent first 12 minutes that saw the Rangers get the only goal of the game to that point the wheels would fall off thanks to awful penalties.  The Rangers scored 6:58 into the game when a hardworking shift by Fedotenko, Boyle and Prust ended with Brian Boyle jamming the puck through Carey Price to make it 1-0.

The point where the game fell apart for the Rangers was 12:10 into the first when Brandon Dubinsky let P.K. Subban get too far into his head and took an awful penalty after the whistle.  On the ensuing power play Roman Hamrlik would drive one from the point off Dan Girardi and in at 13:19.

Following that Michael Sauer took a bad penalty on Scott Gomez at 14:02 which would see the Canadiens capitalize again this time from Tomas Plekanec at the side of the net off a feed from James Wisniewski to make it 2-1 Habs 14:50 into the first.

The final goal in the trio came at 16:03 when Andrei Kostitsyn following a faceoff win by the Rangers but a turnover where Kostitsyn ended up wide open in the slot for a slapper and in 2:44 it went from 1-0 Rangers to 3-1 Montreal.

• The only guys who showed up for the entire game were Boyle, Prust, Fedotenko, Newbury, Avery, Lundqvist
• Dubinsky was awful tonight and selfish to boot
• Gaborik excuses must end now
• Wolski was invisible as well
• On bright side as bad as they were for half the game they were inches away from tying it up

Video: Lundqvist Goes Ron Hextall Punching Max Pacioretty With Blocker

Over the past few seasons New York Rangers fans have seen Henrik Lundqvist run into by the opposition on countless occasions and all wondered at what point Henrik would just snap and go after a guy for doing it and it turns out the answer was January 15, 2011 in Montreal.

With 2:20 left in the second period and being one of the only players on his team to show up to that point in the game Henrik Lundqvist just flew off the handle after being run into by Max Pacioretty.  Lundqvist got up jumped on top of Pacioretty and proceeded to punch him in the face with his blocker.  In Pacioretty's defense he was pushed into Lundqvist by Dubinsky, but with the series of circumstances that would not have mattered to Lundqvist as he did his best imitation of Ron Hextall.  For the play Lundqvist was given two minutes for roughing, but if it means that he gets run even one less time in the future the penalty is more than worth it as keeping him healthy must be the number one priority of the organization.

If only his team had shown that much fight the first 38 minutes maybe they would have won tonight.  Good for Henrik for finally saying if the team will not stand up for him as they should, he will do it himself.

Update: New video from @Cathybytes

Pregame: Rangers at Canadiens, 1/15/11

Tonight's game against the Montreal gives the New York Rangers an opportunity to gain a measure of payback for Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at home and build on the momentum of their huge win against Vancouver.  With a record of 26-16-3, the Blueshirts currently sit in fifth place in the East with 55 points.  The key for the Rangers tonight as strange as it might seem is to forget all about their huge win Thursday night.  This team in the past, though less this season, has had trouble carrying over big wins to the following game and that would be a problem against Montreal tonight.  As fun as looking to see how far ahead X team is of the Rangers one must realize they are still only seven points ahead of ninth place Carolina, so every game is critical.

New York Rangers (26-16-3) at Montreal Candiens (24-17-3)

Key Opposition Player: Tomas Plekanec (13-21-34)

Rangers Lineup:
Dubinsky - Stepan - Zuccarello
Wolski - Anisimov - Gaborik
Fedotenko - Boyle - Prust
Avery - Drury - Weise

Staal - Girardi
Eminger - Sauer
McDonagh - Gilroy

Lundqvist
Biron

Scratches: Kris Newbury (healthy)

Up front the Rangers will still be looking for their star Marian Gaborik to get it going and he certainly seems to be getting closer to that finally happening.  His linemate, the newly acquired Wojtek Wolski did score his first as a Ranger in the last game and has shown good chemistry with Gaborik in the two games.  In addition the Rangers will be relying on Brandon Dubinsky to play the complete game he has been all season and for the line of Fedotenko, Boyle and Prust to be the consistent force they have this year.

Defensively the Rangers do not have to change anything from how they played against Vancouver as all six defenders played a very solid game once again.  Rookie Ryan McDonagh seems to be getting more and more comfortable with each passing game and that fact might be the key to determining how the defense of the Rangers looks by the time the end of the year rolls around. 

In net there are few if any goaltenders as hot as Henrik Lundqvist right now.  Since November 26, 2010 Lundqvist is 12-5-2 with a 1.71 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.  Numbers like that are why Lundqvist is not only an All-Star but is climbing up the Vezina standings. 

On the other side the Canadiens are likely to bring more weapons to tonight’s game as opposed to the meeting earlier in the week as All-Star goaltender Carey Price and sniper Mike Cammalleri are expected to be in the lineup.  Price boasts a 21-15-3 overall record with a  2.38 goals against average and .919 save percentage.  Price has had to be stellar this season because the offense has struggled to score goals ranking 27^th in the league with just 2.46 goals per game.  Contrast that with their number 5 ranking in goals against average at 2.39 and the Canadiens are playing a lot like Rangers teams of the past. 

Most interesting dynamic in the game might be Montreal’s stellar14-6-3 home record against the Rangers excellent 15-7-1 road mark.

Marc-Andre Fleury Stikes His Own Pose As Penguins Beat Price's Canadiens (Video)

Well that did not take long. Last week when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in a shootout, Canadiens goalie Carey Price decided the best way to celebrate the win was to strike a pose.

Well just six days later Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury would respond in kind by striking a pose back as the Pittsburgh went into Montreal and got to strut out with a 5-2 victory.

You can tell that the move by Price was very much on the Penguins mind for Fleury to do it and it does indicate that there is some bad blood now between the two teams which is always an interesting thing to consider as the NHL season gets closer to the playoffs and potential matchups.  

Now that each have posed at one another the obvious next step is for a dance off.

Habs Halt Rangers Three Game Streak On Pouliot Soft Goal

Scott Levy/Getty Images

The New York Rangers came into tonight’s matchup looking to extend to a season high four game win streak, but were unable to complete the deal losing 2-1 tonight against the Montreal Canadiens at Madison Square Garden.  There was no third period magic in this one and interestingly enough the outcome moved the Rangers who have been the best team when leading and trailing after two period to a paltry 3-7 when tied following the second intermission while Montreal moved to 8-0 in the same situations.  

The second period saw the Rangers come out strong, but it saw the Canadiens finish it strong dominating the last five minutes of the period including the goal by Spacek to tie it with 1:11 left.  After Lundqvist robbed both Gil and Gionta early he would be beaten by Max Pacioretty on a soft goal from the short side and a bad angle over his right shoulder at 6:03 of the third for the eventual game winner.  Lundqvist has to stop that one and it will lead to another day of hearing about how Henrik gives up all these soft goals and costs the Rangers games.  It is nonsense but he does have to make that save.  TThe Canadiens would hold on with a combination of Auld saves and some luck with Wolski hitting the post with 2:50 remaining in the period.

Rangers came out flying in the first period and after multiple chances would get on the board with a beautiful goal.  As was mentioned about 900 times during the broadcast it started with Henrik Lundqvist stopping the puck behind the net and giving it to Gilroy and Gilroy seeing a streaking Dubinsky down the right wing boards playing a bank pass off the boards which lead Dubinsky into the offensive zone and he would storm around Hal Gill and beat Auld far post with a perfect shot at 4:15 of the first (video).

Montreal got on the board late in the second after dominating play for a considerable amount of time a Jaroslav Spacek shot ends up going through Lundqvist at 18:49.  On the play Brian Boyle took down Benoit Pouliot in front and he would fall into Lundqvist and certainly had an impact on Henrik’s ability to keep the puck out.

This was certainly not the way the Rangers wanted to start this very difficult week of games against four very good teams, but they will have to shake it off and get ready for the scorching Canucks who come in on Thursday.

• Dubinsky played yet another excellent game for the club, but he did get frustrated late in the game especially after this slewfoot by PK Subban that had no penalty called.
• Wolski certainly created his share of chances in his first game with the Rangers and showed how dangerous he can be offensively.
• Gaborik showed chemistry with Wolski and was extremely involved in the first period but mostly disappeared after that.

P.K. Subban Slewfoot on Brandon Dubinsky; No Penalty Called (Video)

If you saw the New York Rangers take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight then you witnessed PK Subban's latest bit of dirty antics with what I believe was a slewfoot on Brandon Dubinsky during the third period which amazingly resulted in no penalty on the play. Even if it was not a slewfoot call it has to be at a minimum two minute minor for tripping against Subban.

Subban is quickly earning a reputation around the league as someone other teams are taking notice of for the wrong reasons.  Subban is a tremendous talent, but like other guys who chirp and can be seen as borderline there comes a point where someone looks to make a name good or bad at your expense.  Be interesting to see if the Rangers do something about the play when they go play Montreal again this Saturday.

So was it a slewfoot? Was it just a trip?  Was Mike Richards right about Subban? 


For those unaware of what Richards said...From Team 990's Shaun Starr (via Puck Daddy):

"He's a guy that's come in the League and hasn't earned respect. It's just frustrating to see a young guy like that come in here and so much as think that he's better than a lot of people. You have to earn respect in this League. It takes a lot. You can't just come in here as a rookie and play like that. It's not the way to get respect from other players around the League. "Hopefully someone on their team addresses it, because, uh, I'm not saying I'm going to do it but something might happen to him of he continues to be that cocky."

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