Rangers Recall Kris Newbury, Which Forward Is Ailing?

The New York Rangers have recalled Kris Newbury from the Connecticut Whale.  Newbury, 29, has 16 goals and 42 assists in 67 games in the AHL this year.  While with the Rangers he had one assist and 35 penalty minutes in 11 games.  Based on the rules the recall of Newbury likely means that one of the Rangers forwards is ailing and might not be able to play tonight since all recalls right now are only allowed due to injury concerns. 

The early assumption is that it is Ruslan Fedotenko who missed the end of the second period yesterday after taking a huge hit from Brayden Coburn.  Fedotenko did play 5:10 between the third period and overtime after taking the hit, but who knows if he has gotten worse the day after.

McCabe Delivers Slap (shot), Fire Rangers Needed to Wake Up In Critical Game (w/video)

Tom Mihalek/Associated Press

When the New York Rangers acquired Bryan McCabe just before the trade deadline they did so with the intent of using his experience and leadership to add another piece to a young defense core.  Even more important than that was the belief that his huge shot from the point could help to solidify their struggling power play.  It has been an up and down experience for McCabe since joining the Rangers as he played very well his first ten games with the club and the results were seen in the power play finding a rhythm.  After that though his level dropped on both ends of the ice and if not for being Bryan McCabe he would have been talked about more as possibly coming out of the lineup. 

His dip offensively coincided with the offensive drop of the whole team and the power play returned to the prior inept status it had before his arrival.  Yesterday during a huge game against the rival Flyers with the Rangers about to have a good road period turn into a 1-0 deficit McCabe made everyone remember why the team brought him in to begin with.  Yes, his bomb from the point that tied the game with just .7 seconds left in the period was critical to the Rangers in terms of the scoreboard, but more their psyche both for the game and the power play in general after going 0-7 against the Islanders.

Video of the shot:


What was more impressive to me, and maybe more important to the team, than the goal itself was the intensity of the reaction McCabe had after it.  For a team that had played pretty flat hockey for the prior two games to have that kind of intense reaction sends a charge through everyone on the bench and a different leadership than the Rangers normally have.  This team is built on a base of young leadership and all of those guys, sans Brandon Dubinsky, are lead by example types that don’t say much and don’t express the fiery side that this team will need some of these final few games and into the playoffs.  Maybe that goal will give McCabe another level of comfort in the room to step in and say something when something needs to be said.  He and Vinny Prospal are certainly two of the veterans that can aid the team and the young leadership in rounding out the group that pushes this team forward in terms of accountability and preparation as the stakes get higher.

The Rangers brought McCabe in for his experience, leadership and huge shot and yesterday in Philadelphia in arguably the most critical game of the season to this point he delivered all three when the team needed it most.

Rangers Rebound To Control Playoff Destiny With Shootout Win Against Flyers

Tom Mihalek/Associated Press

The New York Rangers took on the rival Philadelphia Flyers today in what had to be seen as a must win game given the ever tightening Eastern Conference playoff race.  You just had the feeling with how last year ended in Philadelphia that today’s game was going to come down to a shootout again and it did, but with a different result this time.  Coming off two subpar efforts in their last two the team responded with an excellent effort this afternoon and was rewarded for it with the 3-2 shootout win which moved them into seventh place in the East and gave them a three point cushion on ninth place Carolina.  The shootout saw Henrik Lundqvist erase the memories of last season’s finale in Philadelphia stoning Nikolai Zherdev and Claude Giroux while Erik Christensen and Wojtek Wolski both beat Bobrovsky with forehand shots. 

This win is the type of character performance that has come to be expected this season as they were able to put a bad game/games behind them, bounce back and put in an effort to get them the critical points they need.  This is a huge momentum type win heading down the final three games of the season and reduced their magic number to 6 with Carolina and Buffalo playing in an hour.  New York will certainly have to bring this level of effort and intensity out there tomorrow night and the rest of the season if they look to win.  When they play like this they are a legit threat to any and all teams in this league.

Overall the Rangers played a solid road first period, but it would be the Flyers got on the board first on a goal from James Van Riemsdyk when he converted the rebound Sean O’Donnell shot from the point at 12:25.  On the play Steve Eminger utterly failed to clear out JVR from in front of the net which allowed him to easily pick up the rebound and slide it under Henrik.

Late in the first the Rangers power play would get a chance to atone for the debacle that was their power play on Thursday when they went 0-7 against the Islanders.  The first penalty was to Matt Carle for hooking and then 1:06 later Brayden Coburn would go off for two minutes when he high sticked Marc Stall.  The Rangers looked like they were going to head into the first intermission down 1-0, but then Bryan McCabe fired a tremendous drive from the point that beat Bobrovsky with .7 seconds left in the period.  That drive is the reason that McCabe was brought in here to begin with and gives the Rangers momentum heading into the second.

The second period saw the Rangers play excellent hockey as they were able to play their game and dictate the tempo by exercising puck possession and establishing the forecheck. At 13:30 of the period the hard work would be rewarded as Ruslan Fedotenko took a feed from Vinny Prospal and roofed it from in front to give the Rangers the 2-1 lead.  The goal was Fedotenko’s first since January 19 and much of the credit has to be given to Marc Staal and his effort on the play.

New York headed into the third with the 2-1 lead looking to hold onto their perfect 27-0-0 record when leading after two and while they didn’t play a great third period they were able to hold on for the OT.  The Flyers got the tying goal during a 4-on-4 from Nikolai Zherdev who was left all alone in front.  Earlier in the play Ryan McDonagh blocked a shot off his leg and limped to the bench.  This created some confusion on the coverage and while a replacement defender was coming on, it was Brian Boyle who failed in the coverage on Zherdev that led to the goal.

• At this time of the year special teams is critical to wins and losses and that was certainly the case today.  The Rangers got the huge goal from McCabe late in the first and their penalty kill did a great job of neutralizing the Flyers on all four of their attempts. 
• Marian Gaborik did not score today but he was very noticeable on the ice in all zones, but especially in his defensive work early in the game
• You cannot say enough about how the minutes and effort from Staal and Girardi today.  Staal put in 34:01 of ice today while playing the last two periods with a broken nose.  Girardi had 32:36 and blocked seven shots in the game.

Video: Ovechkin Wins It For Caps, Does Victory Dance

Now Is Where Rangers Need Ryan Callahan To Rise As Their Leader

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

Since coming into the NHL Ryan Callahan has been a heart and soul player for the New York Rangers who works tirelessly, takes hits in order to make a play gives hits to prevent them, and sacrifices his body constantly in order to aid his team each night.  If Callahan never became more than what he was entering this season he would be a valuable player for any of the 30 NHL teams because of what he brought to an organization both on and off the ice.  But that is not all Callahan is this year.  He has raised his game to an entirely new level and has been leading the charge to the playoffs for the Blueshirts both with his leadership and overall play from before, but also with a dramatically increased scoring output.  Now the Rangers need him to see an even greater level in the final four games of the regular season.

Callahan has been the definition of the Rangers identity and his self-sacrifice and lead by example mentality is why he will be the next captain of this proud original six franchise.  Right now is the moment where that leadership will be tested the most as the Blueshirts have lost two straight and the fears about their standing in the playoffs is in question with just four games to go.  In those last two games the team has struggled to find the energy and desire necessary for this time of the year one of the most surprising things has been how much that has applied to Callahan himself.  I expect him to come out leading the charge on Sunday as he and the team look to regroup from this bump in the road on their way to securing a playoff birth over the final stretch of the season.

The now 26-year-old Ryan Callahan is having a career year in all offensive categories despite missing 19 games earlier in the year with a broken hand that he, not surprisingly, sustained blocking a shot.  On the year he has 23 goals and 24 assists in just 58 games, but in this last five game stretch where the team has scored only five goals he has only accounted for one point.  He has transformed from a guy where the offense he provided was seen more as a bonus and secondary thing to one that the team relies on if they are going to produce, so they need him to score.  As true as that is, the team needs him to give that energy and effort he was famous for even before the year began.  If Callahan gets back to playing his game, tough, physical, grinding style, then the goals will come again and when the Rangers start to score they have a tendency to loosen up and watch the floodgates open up.

In the Rangers last meeting with Philadelphia it was Callahan who set the tone early and often with four goals and an assist in the 7-0 rout on March 6.  The Rangers do not need him to have that kind of career game against Philly on Sunday, but they do need him to combine his skill and leadership to bring this team to where it needs to be both on and off the ice.

Rangers Change Lines For Offensive Spark, "Need To Be Who We Are"

With the rival Philadelphia Flyers looming tomorrow afternoon the New York Rangers are talking a very confident game today despite the current two game skid.  The level of confidence in who they are and the way they play is something that is necessary at this point of the year.  However the key is not whether they say the right things, but that they truly believe what they are saying.

One of the key quotes put out from coach John Tortorella via Rangers official twitter feed was the following…

"We're going to respond the right way...we know who we are...now we need to be who we are"

There is no better way to phrase what the Rangers need right now than that.  This team has spent an entire season attempting to form an identity and when they play to that identity they can have success.  When they lose track of who they are and how they are successful, then they predictably struggle.  A Rangers squad that does not forecheck, does not cycle the puck and does not maintain puck possession is one that does not generate offense.  A Rangers team that does not cover in the defensive zone, does not sacrifice the body to block shots and does not clear the puck when they have the chance is one that struggles defensively.  Most importantly a Rangers squad that does not outwork its opponent on a nightly basis and show how badly they want to win that night will not win because they do not have the talent to get through it will less than their top effort against a team like Philadelphia.

In an attempt to spark the struggling offense Tortorella has changed the lines and moved Brandon Prust up with Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov.  The corresponding move was to take Ryan Callahan off that line and put him with Brian Boyle and Ruslan Fedotenko.  I don’t really like the move as it was done, but in trying to keep the Gaborik line together I presume this was the easiest of the changes to make in the lineup since the fourth line was pretty locked in as it will be.  If there is a struggle offensively early I would expect changes to those lines anyway so no need to get overly excited or upset about them.

Lines:

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Prust

Prospal-Stepan-Gaborik

Fedotenko-Boyle-Callahan

Avery-Christensen-Wolski

Despite Recent Reactions Rangers Still Control Destiny So Have A Little Faith

Yesterday for many was a day to vent over the frustrations of the Rangers last two performances and it was well deserved, but now we need to take a step back from the ledge of talking about collapses and look at how the situation actually shakes out.  Part of the reason for heightened emotions is simply that they not only lost, but got drubbed by the Islanders.  Rivalry losses, especially to a team that many consider a step child currently, will always send the fanbase into an extra level of panic and dismay. 

The Rangers have some of the most passionate fans in all of sports and that is why each win for some is seen as a sign they are going to be having a parade when the year is over and each loss is a sign of the world coming to an end.  There is a middle ground and after venting yesterday let us see if we can find it.

Without question they have struggled in the last two games, but there are still four games left and here are some other facts they take into those.  The New York Rangers are still in a playoff spot.  The team is actually closer to sixth than they are to ninth.  The team is still in controls of their destiny having a three point lead while Carolina only has one game in hand.  The Rangers, even with two straight losses, are still 8-3-1 in their last 12 games so discussion of that as a collapse seems a little out there. 

If these two losses had been spread anywhere else along those 12 games the freak out would not have been nearly as large, but there was a sense of complacency amongst both the fans and apparently the team in terms of the inevitability of clinching a playoff birth.  Now that must be gone.  Now the team will get back to how it has played all season as a hardworking, grind it out team that plays to higher level than the sum of its parts.  If you do not still believe in those things as facts, then you obviously were not paying attention for the first 75 games of the season and don’t know the character of this team very well. 

For the next four games no matter what we see on the ice we owe it to this group of players and the level of things they have given us to cheer for this year to continue to support and believe in them.  If they come up short again it will be awful, but they deserve better than for the fans to quit on them now before the final horn goes on the regular season.

Now that I gave the pep talk let’s look at the remaining schedules:

Team	Current Points	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5
Montreal	89	at NJ(4/2)	Chi (4/5)	at OTT (4/7)	at TOR (4/9)
Buffalo	87	at WAS (4/2)	at Car (4/3)	TB (4/5)	Phi (4/8)	at CLB (4/9)
NYR	87	at PHI(4/3)	Bos (4/4)	ATL (4/7)	NJ (4/9)
Carolina	84	at NYI (4/2)	Buf (4/3)	Det (4/6)	at ATL (4/8)	TB (4/9)

The difficulty of all the schedules seems to be relatively even because while some look easier than others rivalries are also involved which makes any game more difficult.  At best you would assume that Carolina gets four wins in their last five which would mean the Rangers need three to lock it down.  More likely is Carolina goes 3-2 in those five and the Rangers must find a way to muster three points in their four games, which is inherently doable if they play their game.  The last thing the Rangers want to do however is leave the rivalry game against the Devils as the decider on the season so they must gain points in these next three games and make the season finale an afterthought.

Things are never as bright as they seem in Ranger land, but they aren't as dim as they appeared the last 36 hours either.