Rangers Skip Final Two Periods, Drop Home Opener 4-2

The New York Rangers opened their home schedule with a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The New York Rangers came out flying in their first home period of the season, but they seemingly left that team in the new locker rooms for the other two periods on the night.  In the first period the Rangers were doing everything they had been criticized for not doing on the road to start the season.  They attacked the net, shot the puck, and established a forecheck.  Unfortunately the result was only a 1-0 lead when all was the period was over.  Even more unfortunate was that they went back to not doing any of those things for the rest of the night.

The Rangers were dominated in the second period, but only Mike Lombardi scored a soft goal short side on Lundqvist.  Lundqvist was not sharp overall tonight, but he stoned Phil Kessel twice on breakaways and covered for more defensive lapses by Michael Del Zotto.  Lundqvist had some help from Michael Sauer in that department.  Sauer saved a sure goal with just over 6 minutes left in the second period after Michael Del Zotto gave the puck away in the corner and the Leafs had Lundqvist out of the net before Sauer slid across the crease to rob Grabovski.

The Rangers did not appreciate how lucky they were to be tied heading into the final period, and played a similar period.   Joffrey Lupul won a battle in front and chipped one behind Lundqvist just 2:11 into the third period.  Mike Komisarek stole the puck from Artem Anisimov at the blue line sending Clark MacArthur the other way and he beat Lundqvist far post to make it 3-1 Leafs.  Mike Brown beat Lundqvist for a 4-1 lead with just over six minutes left on another one Lundqvist would say he should stop.

Michael Del Zotto scored a meaningless goal with just over four minutes to go to cap the scoring.

New York got on the board 6:23 into the game with Dan Girardi getting the goal, but Marian Gaborik deserving full credit.  Gaborik made a phenomenal drive to the net the forced Gustavsson down and out of position before Girardi ended up with the puck in the faceoff circle.  Gustavsson certainly should have stopped it.

Just before the mid-way point of the period the Rangers appeared to get their second of the game when Michael Del Zotto beat Gustavsson far post with a shot.  The goal was waved off when Ryan Callahan and Mike Komisarek’s battle took them into the goalie.  Komisarek definitely appeared to push Callahan into Gustavsson, but the goal was taken away and no penalty assessed. 

Unfortunately for Callahan it would not be the last time a goal was waved off because of him on the evening.  Just three minutes later an apparent Dubinsky goal was taken away when Callahan crashed into Gustavsson.  Tortorella and the Rangers were going crazy that they had two apparent goals waved off, but the call on the second was absolutely right.  In fact, Callahan was lucky not to be called for interference as appeared was going to be the case initially. 

• Lundqvist had an off night overall as he would argue at least three of the goals are ones he would say he should stop
• Brad Richards was awful with his chemistry with any and every other forward out there tonight
• Gaborik showed the jump again tonight, but with how little they are generating it is going to be like 2009-10 where they need him to convert every night.
• Dubinsky now has a reputation with penalties to the point where he is getting called for bogus ones.
• Sauer was excellent in his first game back.
• Del Zotto's defense might actually be regressing, if that is possible.  Offensively he showed flashes with one good goal and a disallowed one, but his liability on D is ridiculous at this point.

Photo: Avery Fans Make Voices Heard At MSG Opener With Banner/Chants

Sean Avery supporters have certainly voiced their displeasure with the decision of the New York Rangers, specifically coach John Tortorella, to send Avery down to the Connecticut Whale during training camp.  During the home opener at MSG they put that displeasure in the form of a banner reading "16 Avery...Send Torts to the Whale."

The banner was taken down during the first period, but with the Rangers trailing 3-1 during the third period the crowd began "We Want Avery" chants.

Photo via @DaveLozo

Rangers Prospect Christian Thomas Suspended 10 Games For High-Stick

According to Jess Rubenstein over at The Prospect Park, Rangers prospect Christian Thomas has been suspended 10 games for a high sticking incident in Sunday's game against the London Knights. 

Video of the incident

Cannot agree with the punishment here considering in the video showing the punishment the league says that there was no intent and no serious injury to the play struck with the stick.  Suspending Thomas for being irresponsible with his stick is certainly warranted, but the length of the suspension is excessive.

Video: NHL.com Inside Look At Transformed Madison Square Garden

The renovations that they did to MSG look really stunning in this video.

To Contend Rangers Must Make MSG Home Sweet Home Again

The New York Rangers finally get to hit home ice tonight after playing their first seven games on the road.  The team battled through both poor play and injuries on defense to come home with a successful 3-2-2 record.  Much of the discussion this week is about how nice it is for the Rangers to be with the opportunity to play in a partially renovated Madison Square Garden.  The benefit of starting with so many road games is that you get a six-game home-stand like the one the Rangers begin tonight against Toronto.  However, the question must be asked as to whether the Rangers can actually make MSG an actual home ice advantage this season for that to be helpful to them?

The past two years the Rangers have had their season’s come down to the final day simply because they have not been dominant enough on home ice.  Both season they were well above .500 on the road, and actually recorded more points on the road than at home in both seasons.  Their mediocre home record is one of the biggest things holding this team back.  In 2009-10 the Rangers were just 18-17-6 at home and ended up missing the playoffs by a single point.  Last season the team improved slightly to 20-17-4 at home, but still needed help from Tampa on the final day to make the playoffs by two points.

All the new features of the Garden are nice for the fans and the players to take in off the ice, but none of it matters if the Rangers don’t make it a place the opposition fears coming.  Coach John Tortorella spoke to that yesterday. 

"We love what we see," said Tortorella. "But we need to win here. That's what makes a building good. Winning in it."

If the Rangers have aspirations of winning a division or just moving up in the final standings from the past few years it will start with making their building a tougher place to play.  The Rangers have to get back to the level just after the lockout when they won 25, 21, 25, and 26 games on home ice.  The excuse the past few years has been that the players want it so bad at home that they press and whether that is true or not it has to end this season and tonight is a perfect time to set the tone for the home season.  The Rangers are opening a six game home-stand that can send a message throughout the league that they are back to being a good home team and not one who you can steal points off. 

Combining their play on the road with 25 wins at home makes the Rangers a legitimate threat to get home ice in the playoffs.  If they repeat their .500 or just over home mark they are going to once again be battling for the final spots down the stretch.  Tonight is the beginning of whether the Rangers will once again make MSG home sweet home.

Video: Rangers Opening Montage For Home Opener?

With the home opener for the New York Rangers now being just a day away everyone is fired up and here is a little more to add to it.  While unconfirmed this appears like it might be the opening montage for the Rangers tomorrow.

Video via Rangers official youtube channel:

h/t to NYRBlog for finding this.

Photo: Jonas Hiller Takes Movember To Another Level With New Mask

Facial hair in the National Hockey League is nothing new.  Each year in the playoffs the hockey beards come out, but long before that point there is Movember.  Movember is and effort throughout the month of November to raise money and awareness for different men’s health issues by growing mustaches.  On some the mustaches look good, while on others they provide a sense of comedy relief.  Today, the Goalie Guild released images of Anaheim Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller taking the comedy side of it to another level with his new mask depicting himself and his Ducks’ teammates with ridiculous mustaches.

Photo’s courtesy of the Goalie Guild:

Be sure to check out the Goalie Guild for more on Movember, and the inspiration of the artist who did the mask.

Rangers Blueline Gets Boost With Sauer Return, While Offense Searches For Answer With New Lines

The New York Rangers have battled through defensively without two of their top four defenders in the last five games, but that appears ready to change tomorrow night.  Michael Sauer told reporters today that he expects to be in the lineup tomorrow for the first time since October 8 against Anaheim.  This is a huge help to the defensive corps as Sauer was the steadiest defender on the club last season and while his presence does not show up in the boxscore often he does plenty of things on the ice to make himself known.  This should help ease the burden on Girardi and McDonagh while solidifying the second defensive pair for the Rangers.

What would Rangers game be without some new lines heading into it?  With the offense continuing to struggle to generate not only goals, but consistent pressure coach John Tortorella has mixed up the lines once again.  Lines via Steve Zipay:

Fedotenko - Richards – Gaborik

Stepan - Dubinsky - Callahan

Wolski - Boyle - Prust

Newbury - Anisimov - Rupp/Christensen

The top two lines are solid as Fedotenko’s grit should help the Richards, Gaborik line possess the puck more in the offensive zone and create chances.  Stepan brings his playmaking ability to Dubinsky and Callahan, while all three are trying to get their games going this season. 

The bottom six is less certain for me as Anisimov on the fourth line is not good for him at this stage of his development.  It was fine two years ago to protect him and let him come along slowly, but playing with Newbury and Rupp is not going to help him now, especially if Torts uses his fourth line as little as normal. 

Wolski needs to bring the Rangers offense or he is not worth the price they are paying him, and it is unclear if he will do that with a more grinding type pair in Boyle and Prust.  Putting Anisimov between Boyle and Prust is something I would like to see them try as Anisimov has excelled in the past with physical players, Boyle gets more freedom on the wing to play in the corners and all three guys can score.  However, if Fedotenko sticks on the top line it would mean wasting Wolski on the fourth line.  Rangers once again are still searching for combinations that work.

Rupp didnt practice today, as was the case before Winnipeg, but is expected to go tomorrow.

Gaborik Not Benched Monday; Why Tortorella Made Right Call On Ice-Time In Third Period

Marian Gaborik has been the New York Rangers best forward thus far this season.  Gaborik has returned to the form of his first season in New York with four goals already and showing the burst he never really had last season.  With as well as Gaborik has been playing the fact he was not playing for much of the third period against Winnipeg caused concern for possible injury and/or anger at coach John Tortorella for possibly benching the star winger.  Luckily it appears that neither of those was the case. 

According to Larry Brooks at The New York Post the reason that Gaborik only got four shifts and 3:03 of ice time in the third period was because of the amount of time the team spent pinned in their own end.

 “It was not a benching,” Tortorella said. “Gabby has probably been our most consistent forward.”

There are those who still want to see Gaborik get his ice time because of how good he has been and it is hard to blame them for that.  It was a missed Gaborik shift that saw Prust, Richards and Fedotenko get pinned in the defensive zone for nearly two minutes, but eventually led to the power play that Callahan scored on.  Once the Rangers took the lead there was no reason to double shift Gaborik to make up for the lost ice time, especially since there are forwards much better equipped to preserve the lead.  Sure Gaborik could go out and make it a two goal game with another snipe and make the rest of the game a little easier to take, but his line also could have been responsible for giving up the tying goal and then Tortorella would have been hammered for having him out there.   

Gaborik will get used and abused when the team is in need of a goal while down one or tied in the third, so there is no reason to worry about running him out there when you have the lead.  That is the luxury of having Callahan, Dubinsky, Boyle, Prust to sustain those third period leads.  Tortorella makes questionable decisions with the lineup and the lines, but his use of Gaborik in the third period Monday night was not one of them.

Report: Zuccarello Suffered Concussion Saturday Night

According to Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang, the reason that Mats Zuccarello did not play on Sunday was because of a concussion sustained on the vicious hit from Adam Mair Saturday night.  Mair was suspended four games for the hit that knocked Zuccarello out of action.  Concussions are going to happen and Zuccarello said he expects to be at practice today, but as we have seen with Marc Staal they can be very unpredictable and hopefully they will be cautious with Zuccarello in not letting him rush back to action.

h/t to Kevin DeLury of NYRangers Blog for finding this one