Spezza Scores Twice, Anderson Stops 34 In 3-0 Win Over Rangers

The same day the Rangers had Henrik Lundqvist, Dan Girardi and Marian Gaborik announced 2012 NHL All-Stars the Ottawa Senators All-Stars stole the show in Madison Square Garden.  Jason Spezza scored two twice and Milan Michalek while Craig Anderson stopped all 34 Rangers shots in a 3-0 victory.  The loss snapped the Rangers five-game win streak before they head to Canada for a weekend set against Toronto and Montreal.

The Rangers played very well in the first period, but could not solve Anderson before Ottawa got their own offense going.  Jason Spezza opened the scoring 8:54 into the second he used Dan Girardi as a screen from the left faceoff circle to beat Lundqvist.  The play was in transition after Artem Anisimov failed to get the puck deep in the Senators zone, which promptly got Anisimov benched for the remainder of the period.

Michalek made it 2-0 on another transition goal.  After Brian Boyle seemed poised to tie the game before Jason Spezza got his stick in the way to deflect the shot wide, Erik Karlsson pushed the puck up the ice and found Michalek in the slot for the wrist shot that beat Lundqvist.

Spezza continued his work on the power play collecting his own rebound for the final goal of the night.  The Rangers were pressing for a goal to get them back in the game, and it led to a 2-on-1 the other way when Spezza initial stop fell between Lundqvist’s legs, but Lundqvist had no idea where the puck was when Spezza tapped it in.

• Wolski was noticeable through the first half of the game and solid for his first action in weeks.
• Anisimov has to raise his level back to where it was earlier.
• Dubinsky and his energy was clearly missed at different points tonight.

Rangers Lundqvist, Gaborik, Girardi Selected To All-Star Team

This afternoon the NHL announced the remaining All-Star Game roster and the New York Rangers were rewarded for their tremendous first half with three All-Stars on the roster.  Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Dan Girardi were those selected to represent the Rangers in Ottawa at the end of this month.  Lundqvist's first half and Gaborik's resurgence in goal scoring made both of them locks to make the squad, but Girardi was one where it was unclear if his value would truly be noticed. 

The efforts of all Rangers fans to put his name in the conversation through their write-in voting certainly did not hurt Girardi in getting the league recognition he deserves.  Girardi was the key to holding the defense together in the absence of Marc Staal through much of the first half. 

Ryan Callahan and Michael Del Zotto likely got significant consideration for the team, but the combination of others deserving to go and each team needing to be representing left them off the roster.  Next comes the All-Star fantasy draft on January 26.

Carl Haglein was left off the rookie team, but the injury to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could give Hagelin an outside chance to be a replacement selection later if RNH is not ready to return yet.

Stepan Sends Rangers To Fifth Straight Win Sixth Round Shootout Winner

The New York Rangers and Phoenix Coyotes played yet another tight game Tuesday night with the Rangers coming away with a 2-1 shootout victory this time.  Derek Stepan scored the deciding goal in the sixth round of the shootout to give the Rangers their fifth consecutive win.  The Rangers appeared like they were going to win with 1:50 left in the overtime period when Marian Gaborik had Mike Smith twisted in multiple directions on a shootout, but Smith somehow made the sprawling save with his goal stick. 

Tortorella made the right decision in going right back to Gaborik in the third round of the shootout with the Rangers needing to score to stay alive and Gaborik sped in, slammed the brakes and beat Smith the second time. 

Lundqvist was not overly tested on the night, only needing to make 18 saves, but a number of them were on quality chances.  The win was Lundqvist’s career-high seventh consecutive victory.  Only Radim Vrbata was able to beat Lundqvist on the night as he scored in both the shootout and regulation.

The Rangers offense came from Ruslan Fedotenko who scored 2:27 into the third period.  His line with Brian Boyle and Carl Hagelin had numerous chances on the shift and Fedotenko finally converted from the slot with Boyle creating a tremendous screen.  It was the production that coach John Tortorella called for from his bottom six as the Rangers top two lines have been carrying the offense this season.  The other lines have played well within games, but their contributions have been missing from the scoresheet.

The Vrbata tying goal came mid-way through the third period.  After Marc Staal blocked a shot off his foot the Rangers defense was in scramble mode the rest of the shift when Marc-Antoine Pouliot found Vrbata in the faceoff circle for the goal high glove.

• Each line had dominate shifts during the game, and the Rangers only scoring once was more about Mike Smith tonight than any failures of Rangers offense to generate.
• Marc Staal is looking more comfortable with each passing game.

Video: Mike Smith Sprawling Save Robs Marian Gaborik On Penalty Shot

Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith was excellent all night against the first place New York Rangers, but his best save of the night came in overtime against Marian Gaborik on a penalty shot.  With 1:50 left in the extra session Gaborik was awarded a penalty shot and seemingly had Smith beaten, but Smith sprawled to rob him with the goal stick for a save of the year candidate.

Video: Bruins, Canucks Have Line Brawl In Stanley Cup Rematch

For those that thought the bad blood from last year's Stanley Cup finals would not carry over to the regular season where proven wrong rather quickly during today's game between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks.


Just under four minutes into the game a line brawl erupted with Shawn Thornton and Alex Burrows smacking each other with their sticks in front of the two benches. During the brawl Vancouver's Dale Weise and Boston's Nathan Horton squared off in the only true fight.  


When all the penalties were sorted out the Canucks ended up with a 5-on-3 which Ryan Kesler scored on.  Milan Lucic was also given a game misconduct for engaging in a secondary altercation while there was already one going.

Lundqvist Dominates With 37 Saves In 3-1 Rangers Win Over Penguins

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The New York Rangers continued their outstanding play with their fourth consecutive victory by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 Friday night.  The Rangers extended their league leading point total to 56 and expanded their domination within the Atlantic division to an impressive 8-1 this season.   

Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding all night stopping 37 of 38 shots fired his way.  The Penguins spent much of the night firing for Lundqvist glove hand, but the Rangers goaltender proved once again that the glove is no longer a weakness for him.  The win improved Lundqvist to 18-7-4 on the season, including six straight wins.  With the team success this season Lundqvist is in position to finally be recognized as the best goaltender in the league this year.

Once again the Rangers were not great for 60 minutes, but they have found the formula to continuing winning games.  The collective effort and willingness of everyone to give their body up was on display as the game went on and frustrated the Penguins.  The Rangers and Bruins certainly seem to be separating themselves as the class of the Eastern Conference right now.

Ben Lovejoy gave the Penguins the early advantage when he jumped into the rush and beat Lundqvist five-hole from the slot.  The goal was all about Penguins transition after Matt Niskanen and Brian Boyle went down along the wall in the Rangers offensive zone and Lovejoy beat Ruslan Fedotenko the other way for the open shot.

The Rangers were dominated for almost the entire first period, managing only one shot in the first 18:08 of the period, but thanks to the work of Henrik Lundqvist were only down 1-0.  Brad Richards would erase the deficit with 1:43 remaining in the first when he scored a very similar goal to his tally in the Winter Classic.  Richards won the draw, McDonagh pinched down the boards and fired the puck across from the goal line, and after hitting Dubinsky in front, the puck came to Richards for basically an empty-netter.

The Rangers were able to play their game much more effectively in the second period and it showed on the scoreboard very early.  With Marc Staal in the box for a high sticking penalty, Callahan and Dubinsky worked their magic in Pittsburgh again with Dubinsky scoring the shorthanded goal.  Callahan creates the opportunity by breaking up the right side, doing a curl and drag around the Penguin defender and feeding Dubinsky for an easy finish.  The goal was almost a carbon copy of the overtime game winner Callahan got in Pittsburgh last season, just reversed.  Dubinsky’s two point night gives him 200 career NHL points.

Opening the third the speed of Marian Gaborik created the Rangers two goal advantage when he forced Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury to come out and play the puck.  Fleury fanned on his attempt leading to Gaborik firing the puck off the post and eventually ending up on the stick of Derek Stepan for his ninth goal of the season.

Towards the middle of the third it appeared momentarily that James Neal had cut the Rangers lead in half, but the goal was quickly waved off when it was ruled that Chris Kunitz interfered with Lundqvist in the crease.

• Dubinsky had another excellent game and is continuing to show he has found his game.  Hopefully the improvements in Dubinsky’s game can quell some of the calls for the Rangers to go out and trade for another top-6 forward.
• Enjoying the trust that Tortorella has in his fourth line to stick them out the shift after goals.  They do not play a large number of minutes, but the situations in which Tortorella is using Prust-Mitchell-Rupp is showing he believes in them.
• Marc Staal certainly isn’t playing as if he is concerned about taking hits to the head as he dished out a few and is getting involved in a number of scrums after the whistle.

NHL Fines Rangers Tortorella 30K

The National Hockey League sent a large message in response to the post game  comments of New York Rangers coach John Tortorella levying a $30K fine. Tortorella has since apologized for his statements claiming he was being sarcastic, but the league certainly didn't see the humor in it.

That Tortorella was fined for questioning the integrity of the officials and even the league is not surprising, but the amount is higher than many expected. The league was definitely looking to send a message here to anyone thinking of making similar comments and the level will definitely make that message known.

Tortorella Apologizes For Winter Classic Conspiracy Comments

Following Monday's Winter Classic Rangers coach John Tortorella's comments suggested that the league and officials were conspiring to get the game to overtime.  On Wednesday, in his first public comments since the, Tortorella was singing a completely different tune via Blueshirts United.

"They were sarcastic comments by me at the wrong time, and it was frustration on my part, as far as the referees...and what was done at the end of the game," explained Tortorella. "Not for a second in no way, time, shape, or form did I think anything like that (fixing the game so that it goes to overtime) goes on with our league, or ever will."

"For me to question the integrity of the league, the integrity of NBC, the integrity of (referees) Denny (LaRue) and Ian (Walsh), the Flyers, the Rangers, go right on through all the people here---there's not a chance I am thinking that way," Tortorella continued. "It was wrong with my sarcasm and my frustration and I apologize to everyone involved." 

"I tainted the Classic with my mouth," Tortorella said.

Glad to see that Tortorella was willing to admit his error in publicly stating that there was an attempt to fix the game for a certain outcome.  Criticizing bad calls is something that many do, but this went to a different level and apologizing for it was the right move.  Tortorella will still get fined for his original comments.

Biron To Start Against Panthers?; Practice Line Combinations

The New York Rangers will face the Florida Panthers tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden before heading to Pittsburgh to play the Penguins on Friday.  The back-to-back games and the Rangers looking to get Henrik Lundqvist as much rest as possible makes this a prime spot for Martin Biron to get a start.  According to Andrew Gross Biron was the first one off the ice at practice today which typically is a sign that he will in fact play tomorrow against the Panthers.

Playing Biron against the Panthers and giving Lundqvist three days off before facing the Penguins on the road is a smart move for the coaching staff. All points are extremely important, but there is always an added significance to divisional games because of the direct swing in the standings making each game a virtual four-point matchup.  Getting Biron right back in there after he struggled against the Capitals last Wednesday is also a good move to keep his confidence up.  The Rangers need Biron because no matter how good Lundqvist has been the Rangers are not in first place without the 7-2 contributions of their back-up. 

Other practice news revolved around the line combinations:

Anisimov-Stepan-Gaborik

Dubinsky-Richards-Callahan

Hagelin-Boyle-Fedotenko (Wolski)

Rupp-Mitchell-Prust (Christensen)

Dubinsky has earned his promotion back to the top six with his recent play.  Hagelin and Boyle have worked very well together and pairing them with Fedotenko will not hurt anything.  The fourth line certainly worked during the Winter Classic as they combined for two goals and four assists.  

Interesting to see Wolski working with the Boyle line, which could mean he will slot in there when he is fully ready to go or it could just mean that with Christensen here as well they needed someone for Wolski to work.

Tortorella Accuses Refs of Trying To Fix Game For Flyers

New York Rangers coach John Tortorella enjoyed that his team rallied to win the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic 3-2, but that did not stop Tortorella from commenting on the questionable officiating down the stretch of the game. Via Puck Daddy:

"I'm not sure if NBC got together with the refs," said Tortorella, after the Rangers' 3-2 victory on Monday, regarding Ian Walsh and Dennis LaRue.

"It started with the non-call [when] Gabby was pitch-forked in the stomach, and then everything starts going against us. They're two good referees; I thought the game was referred horribly. So I'm not sure what happened there. Maybe they wanted to get it to an overtime. I'm not sure if they have meetings about that or what. But we stood in there. They're good guys. But in that third period, it was disgusting."

Tortorella will likely get fined for his comments, but the series of calls within the last five minutes of the game were disgraceful. Starting with the delay of game penalty that was called against Ryan McDonagh at 14:48 when he was clearly pushed into Rangers’ net by van Riemsdyk the Rangers seemed to be played an uphill battle.

At 18:54, Ryan Callahan was taken down by Kimmo Timonen in the neutral zone while the Flyers net was empty, but instead of the Rangers being on the power play coincidental minors were called. Finally, at 19:40, there was the call on McDonagh for apparently covering his hand on the puck in the crease which gave Briere the penalty shot opportunity.