Photo: Tim Thomas Gets Into Movember By Ordering All To "Grow Your Mo"

First it was Jonas Hiller.  Now Tim Thomas has gotten into the act of using his goalie mask to promote Movember. In Goal Mag posted the above images of what the Bruins’ goaltender will be wearing this month.

The mustache on Thomas is great all by itself, but it is the other touches to the mask that make it even better.  Having Thomas wearing a “Captain’s hat” ordering people to grow their mustaches is great stuff.  If that wasnt enough check out what the backplate is going to look like:

The touch of adding a mustache to the Bruin bear is phenomenal.  Thomas made the mask look good tonight with a shutout in the Bruins 7-0 win over Toronto.

In Goal has details on how you can participate in raising funds for the Tim Thomas Foundation and get a chance to win the mask directly from Thomas himself. 

Rangers Hold On For 5-3 Win Over Montreal, Extend Winning Streak To Three

The New York Rangers extended their winning streak to three games as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 Saturday night.  New York jumped out a 3-0 lead, but Montreal pulled to within one on two different occasions before Ryan Callahan sealed the win with an empty netter.  The goal came only 1:11 after Brian Gionta scored to cut the lead to 4-3.

Things got interesting early when Mike Blunden hopped off the Canadiens benched and flattened Brandon Dubinsky in the neutral zone.  The hit itself was a textbook example of how to lay someone out in open ice, but Ryan Callahan took exception to the hit and immediately went after Blunden.  The two fought and while they were fighting Michael Sauer Canadiens forward Petteri Nokelainen also squared off and were given game misconducts.  The Rangers came out big winners in terms of the penalties as Callahan got away without receiving an instigator while clearly initiated the fight against Blunden while Blunden got an undeserved interference.   

When the penalties were finished being doled out the Rangers ended up with a 5-on-3 advantage.  The Rangers cashed in the two-man advantage when Derek Stepan fired a beautiful cross ice pass to Erik Christensen for a tap-in goal.  Just after the second penalty expired the Rangers would make it 2-0 when Artem Ansiimov played an excellent drop pass to a pinching Dan Girardi who beat Carey Price over the shoulder with his one-timer.   

The Rangers extended the lead to three with another tremendous passing play as Anisimov dropped the puck to Stepan who found Michael Del Zotto streaking down left wing and Del Zotto danced around a defender before slipping the shot five-hole on Price.  It was the capper to a dominant opening period that had the Rangers looking like a runaway winner.

Never that easy with New York as they played a lousy second period that opened with Max Pacioretty’ scoring just 24 second in after a bad rebound by Henrik Lundqvist.  The lead shrunk to just one  when Andrei Kostitsyn scored while Montreal had a two-man advantage.

The Canadiens nearly tied it as Erik Cole beat Lundqvist with a shot, but it hit the far post.  The Rangers took full advantage of the break as Andre Deveaux won a battle along the boards, Brandon Prust got the puck to Brad Richards and Richards extended the lead by using Yannick Weber as a screen with only 1:10 left in the second.

• Del Zotto stepped up in this game not only with the goal but logging 27:26 of ice time with Sauer getting ejected so early.  Yes, 11:10 of that was on the power play, but big confidence boost for him getting that much ice time.
• Anisimov and Stepan were phenomenal tonight with vision and passing that created all three first period goals.
• Power play going 1-for-9 is certainly not helpful
• Fedotenko, Boyle, Prust might not have been on the score sheet but best game in terms of forechecking they have had this year.

Del Zotto Back To Where Rangers Need Him To Be

Michael Del Zotto had an extremely promising rookie season during the 2009-10 season recording nine goals and 28 assists as a 19-year-old.  With that display the expectations for the New York Rangers defender were sky high going into his sophomore season.  Instead Del Zotto has his play deteriorate to the point that he was healthy scratched at the NHL level and demoted to the AHL multiple times.  It was unclear what to expect from Del Zotto for this season because of how badly his confidence deteriorated last year, but the Rangers have to be pleasantly surprised with what they are seeing thus far.

Many fans will not let Del Zotto get over last season, but it is time to move on and judge him on what he is doing this year.  The fact is Del Zotto is doing exactly what the Rangers want and need for him to do thus far.  In 11 games thus far this year he has one goal, three assists and is a plus seven.  More important than the numbers is the level of confidence that Del Zotto is displaying; especially in the offensive zone.  The surprise of last season was not that he was still struggling to make the right plays defensively, but that he seemingly forgot how to be effective offensively.  Del Zotto is never going to be a great defensive defender and he has had his share of brain cramps already this season, but the Rangers need his offense from the blue line and are willing to deal with defensive deficiencies to get it. 

Del Zotto is the perfect example of how even in professional athletes confidence is tricky.  When he came up two years ago he played with a confidence that bordered on arrogance.  Rumors of him coming to camp out of shape last season and/or not putting in the necessary work over the summer would be the downside and manifestation of confidence going too far.  Last season that confidence vanished and left wearing Del Zotto's jersey was a 20-year-old defender that was terrified to do anything because he was afraid to make a mistake.  Gone were the instincts that he had played with his whole life and in their place was a player thinking way too much on the ice.  With some early season success you see the confidence and even swagger Del Zotto needs returning to his game.

The dedication that Del Zotto put in over the summer to erasing last year and getting back to where he was before is evident on the ice.  Helping him in that process right now are two key lineup changes from last season.  Due to the injury to Marc Staal, Del Zotto finds himself paired with Michael Sauer.  Sauer’s attention to detail in his own end and reliability on the ice have given Del Zotto someone to watch and learn from across from him along with more comfort to press the game offensively.  Pairing with Sauer also gets Del Zotto more ice time to earn the trust of the coaching staff given how much they trust Sauer already.

On the power play the signing of Brad Richards took an immense amount of pressure off Del Zotto in terms of being the solution to the long standing hole as power play quarterback.  By removing that pressure from his shoulders and playing him with Richards on the point, Del Zotto has shown the kind of patience and vision that you want from a player who could one day that mantle. 

For Del Zotto the judgment of his play will be in how he is helping to generate offense more than his work in his own end.  He is still prone to the huge gaffe that needs to be bailed out by Sauer or the netminder, but his defensive work is better than it was before and that needs to be recognized by fans who cannot get over his atrocious play last year.  He is still a work in progress, but for the first 11 games this season Del Zotto has gotten back on track for where New York needs him to be.  The more his confidence grows the more impactful he will become on the offensive end and that is a hidden addition to the Rangers this season.

Avery To Start Montreal With Wolski Out (Groin); Rupp Knee Surgery Looming

The moment many have been waiting for has arrived as Andrew Gross is reporting that Sean Avery will be in the lineup tomorrow against Montreal.  Wolski is having an MRI on the groin and the results will be out tomorrow.  The New York Rangers will be without Wojtek Wolski who is out once again with a groin injury.  Should there be anything serious then he would likely be placed on IR and someone like Mats Zuccarello should get the call.

No word on where Avery will play, but look for him to play on the fourth line with Christensen and Deveaux or with Boyle and Prust depending on who coach John Tortorella uses to fill Wolski’s spot.  Avery being reunited with Boyle and Prust would give him more ice time and a line he has worked well on in the past.

In other injury news, Mike Rupp is going to have arthroscopic knee surgery next week where they will determine how long he is going to be on the shelf.  This is what Rupp was hoping to avoid, but better to get in there and fix the issue instead of going off and on trying to play through it.

Rangers To Place Marc Staal On LTIR, Create Cap Room

The New York Rangers have been silent on the Marc Staal front for weeks, and those optimistic he was coming back soon probably wish it had remained quiet this morning.  According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Rangers are going to place Staal on Long-Term Injury Reserve.  Staal is already eligible for the move because he has missed 10 games and 24 days of the season with his injury.  The status of his comeback from the concussions is still unchanged, which at this point means his return is only getting further and further away.  The move today is purely about the salary cap.

The move allows New York to exceed the salary cap by the pro-rated amount of Staal’s $3.975 million based on the number of days he was out.  If he missed the whole season, then they would be able to go over by that amount, but there is still hope that won’t happen.  The move is necessary for the Rangers to open up the cap space to sign Anton Stralman, have Sean Avery on the active roster and potentially recall Mats Zuccarello now that Wojtek Wolski is out once again with a groin injury.

Video: Did Danny Briere's Shootout Goal Violate Rules?

The boundaries of what is and what is not a legal move in an NHL shootout keeps getting pushed further and further.  The latest controversy about what is and is not a legal attempt came Thursday night when Flyers forward Danny Briere drove hard in at Devils goaltender Johan Hedberg before slamming on the brakes.  Hedberg dove out at Briere attempting a pokecheck and Briere walked around him for the easy finish.  The only problem was that Briere appeared to violate Rule 24.2.

Rule 24.2 in part:

"The puck must be kept in motion towards the opponent's goal line and once it is shot, the play shall be considered complete.”

Here is the video via The Score:

When Briere slammed the brakes he clearly used his backhand to stop the puck from rolling forward towards the net, which should have deemed the attempt illegal.  According to Tom Guilitti at Fire and Ice Briere knew he was close to if not violating the rule

 “He kind of surprised me with the poke check and I almost fell,” Briere said. “I wanted to keep moving forward but he kind of surprised me and I stumbled and almost stopped completely. I know the rule. You’re not allowed to go backwards and you’re not allowed to stop completely. To be honest, I wasn’t trying to stop completely. I just got surprised and stumbled a little bit.”

In the end the goal was allowed to stand because the NHL focused on the fact the puck stayed in continuous motion and never came to a complete stop.  So the question now becomes is the focus of the rule on forward motion to the net or continuous motion because it would change what sorts of attempts we could see in the future.

Rangers Clip Ducks On Gaborik Nets Shootout Winner

Historically Marian Gaborik has been bad in the shootout, but on Thursday night he netted the winner in the third round to give the New York Rangers the 2-1 victory over Anaheim.  Following Gaborik’s goal Henrik Lundqvist got a little payback against Bobby Ryan shutting him down to end the game.  The payback for Lundqvist was both from Ryan’s shootout winner October 8th and his goal earlier in the game.  Lundqvist was back on his game tonight after struggling in his two prior outings.

The shootout followed an amazing overtime where the Rangers had numerous chances, but could not solve Jonas Hiller.  Hiller was phenomenal tonight making multiple highlight reel saves to keep a sluggish Ducks team in the game.

The Rangers only goal in regulation came from and unlikely source as Jeff Woywitka tallied his first of the year.  Woywitka let a slapshot go from the point that beat Hiller low late in the first period.  The shot deflected off Andrew Gordon’s glove.  Obviously Woywitka is feeling the pressure of the Rangers reported signing of Anton Stralman to a one-year contract.  Personally the one who should be feeling the pressure right now is Steve Eminger.

Bobby Ryan got the Ducks lone goal on a beautiful passing sequence between he, Getzlaf and Perry.  Lundqvist had no real chance to stop Ryan’s snipe far side.

Expect Sean Avery to be in the lineup Saturday as Wojtek Wolski re-aggravated his groin injury during the first period and did not return to the game.  Be interesting to see how Tortorella mixes up the lines for Saturday as he had started to get some semblance of consistency with them.

Breaking News: Rangers Sign Anton Stralman

According to TSN'S Bob McKenzie the New York Rangers have signed defenseman Anton Stralman to a one-year deal worth 900K. The deal has been rumored for the last couple of weeks.

More later

Rangers Roundtable Part II: Dubinsky, Del Zotto, Boyle, Surprises and Broadway Hat

Various Rangers blog sites have gotten together and agreed to review each five game segment of the New York Rangers schedule for different items going on with the team.  The sites participating 5-hole, SNY Rangers Blog, Blue Seat Blogs, The Rangers Tribune,and yours truly at Bleeding All Blue.  Jess Rubenstein of The Prospect Park will also share his thoughts on what is going on in the Rangers prospect world. 

This week discussion involved questions around Dubinsky's goal scoring, Michael Del Zotto's play, biggest surprise thus far, what to make of Brian Boyle's play, and the of course The Broadway Hat.  To check out everyone's thoughts head over to SNY Rangers Blog.

Richards Taking Stepan Under His Wing Is Added Bonus For Rangers

When the New York Rangers signed prized free agent Brad Richards this summer much of the focus was on what he could bring to the team himself as well as how he would help return Marian Gaborik to form.  Lost in the discussion for many was what a player like Richards could do for some of the younger Rangers in terms of learning the position of center in the NHL and how to deal with the ups and downs of the game.  Jim Cerny at Blueshirts United gives an example of Richards doing just that with second year forward Derek Stepan leading up to Monday's game against San Jose. 

"This guy over here (pointing to Richards) grabbed me one day at practice and said don't let your head think too much, just go play," Stepan explained. "I battle with this quite a bit actually. I did it last year when I went (17) games without a goal after my first three (on opening night). You have to get in between your own ears and battle it, get an ugly (goal) and get going again. And Brad helped me with that."

Last week Stepan was on MSG during intermission talking about his low confidence and that possibly sparked Richards taking this step, but it shows excellent leadership to help out a young player who was clearly pressing.  Stepan gave it back to Richards Monday with his first goal of the season.