Friday, October 15, 2010

Injury News Galore: Gaborik, Drury, Prospal

As if losing the game tonight, though getting a point, was not enough bad news for Ranger fans the injury news is going to make it a lot worse. Full details inside.

NY Rangers vs Toronto Maple Leafs Recap: Henrik and Boyle Save Ranger Bacon

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="284" caption="(Photo by Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images)"][/caption]

The Rangers play tonight was very similar to the opening ceremonies where they built momentum early and then had it all crash in a very ugly fashion.  The first eight to ten minutes of the game the Rangers were excellent specifically the second line of Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan as the Leafs could seem to get the puck off of them, but that line could not get a goal for all the possession that they were able to maintain.  The Rangers would get a goal from Michal Rozsival at 7:58 of the 1st period on a point shot and the good play continued for a few more minutes before the wheels came off defensively.  They gave up odd man rushes, wide open guys in front of the net and Henrik bailed them out making 16 saves in the 1st and letting them end the period 1-0.

The second period was even worse than how the first ended.  Toronto started the period on a PP because Drury took a needless penalty to end the first.  The Rangers managed to kill the penalty, but four seconds after it ended they gave up the tying goal to Clarke MacArthur untouched on the post.  Thirty seconds after that goal was a play whose significance we wont know the significance of until later when Colby Armstrong checked Marian Gaborik into the boards and injured his shoulder.  Gaborik stayed on the ice for the ensuing power play, but once he went to the bench for the end of his shift, he proceeded to the locker room and would not return.

The Leafs killed off the Armstrong Penalty and shortly after it ended Mike Komisarek scored to make it 2-1 on a point shot not dissimilar to Rozsival’s goal.  For the rest of the period it was odd man chance and wide open man one after another and I would swear that no Ranger ever touched Phil Kessel in the period.  Kessel after being stoned multiple times by Henrik Lundqvist finally scored one at 7:50 of the 2nd to put the Leafs up 3-1.  The fact that the period ended with it still 3-1 was about Henrik Lundqvist and no one else as shots at the end of 2 were 30-12 and Ranger fans spent the 2nd intermission contemplating the end of the season between the performance on the ice and injuries to Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury.

Join me after the jump to see how it would end.

NY Rangers Home Opener Polls

Seeing as how this is the Rangers home opener and the first game since I started this blog figured we might as well try out some polls while we pass the time until they FINALLY drop the puck.  Feel free to leave your answers in the comments as well.

Previewing The Home Opener vs Toronto

As Ranger fans we take just about every game as a life and death type experience, we pack the Garden even for preseason games, but the pageantry of the home opener still makes it a special game to experience.  Even though we are two games into the year, with the spacing in the schedule it feels like the season is starting again with the opener tonight against Toronto.  For the fans the opening ceremonies will bring back the good memories of what a new season can mean, and Ranger fans ever the optimists always believe this is the year.  As I said, every game for Ranger fans every game is like a life and death experience and it is never more telling than listening after a game to their views on the team.   When the team wins it means the Stanley Cup is getting hoisted and when they lose it means everyone in power should get hoisted on a sword, there just is no middle ground.

Analysis of teams and situations after the jump