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.

Rangers Rally To Take Winter Classic 3-2

The New York Rangers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in the 2012 Winter Classic.  Henrik Lundqvist was again the key for the Rangers as he stopped 33 shots during regular play and a Daniel Briere penalty shot with 19.6 seconds left to preserve the win.  The penalty shot was called when Ryan McDonagh dove into the crease to prevent a loose puck from going in, but was called for covering the puck in the crease.  Replays showed that McDonagh definitely had his near the puck, but there was no clear evidence that he covered it with his hand as opposed to sliding it under the down Lundqvist.

Lundqvist main help on the day came from 2011 free agent signings Mike Rupp and Brad Richards.  Rupp scored two goals to give the Rangers both life and then tie the game before Richards scored the eventual game-winner.  Rupp’s first goal came late in the second period when he beat Sergei Bobrovsky from the slot.  Rupp followed the goal with some serious gamesmanship by imitating Jaromir Jagr’s goal salute (video). 

Early in the third Rupp beat Bobrovsky again, this time shortside from a weak angle.  The Rangers kept the pressure up and following the work of Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, Richards gave the Rangers the lead at 5:21.  Richards was alone at the side of the net when Claude Giroux assumed Callahan was going to cycle the puck behind the net, but instead Callahan went to Dubinsky in front for the initial shot.

The two Philadelphia goals came just 1:55 apart in the second period.  The first was Brayden Schenn’s first NHL goal when he was wide-open to convert on a rebound after Henrik Lundqvist appeared to never see the initial shot from Matt Carle. 

The second goal was Claude Giroux breaking in on a 2-on-1 with Talbot and going backhand top shelf right under the bar.  The Giroux goal was on a similar play to one that Lundqvist stopped early in the first by poke-checking the Flyers’ best player.  Giroux appeared to learn from that experience by making his move earlier and roofing the shot from further out.

• Marc Staal was a mixed bag in his 12:41 of ice time.  Staal was beaten a few times in the second period where the rust was most evident, but he was good during a late third period penalty kill while Ryan McDonagh was in the box.
• Rupp showed today that he loves the big stage and has plenty to bring the Rangers even in a limited role.  Many Rangers fans have written him off after his slow start, but today will likely buy him a lot of credit.
• Callahan and Dubinsky were hitting anything and everything today with 21 combined hits

Video: Mike Rupp Does Jagr Saltue After Winter Classic Goal

During the second period of 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic Rangers' forward Mike Rupp added a little more heat to the storied rivalry between the two franchises when he imitated Jaromir Jagr's salute goal celebration.  Entering Monday's Winter Classic Rupp had 50 career goals in 511 NHL games while Jagr had 658 career goals and 972 career assists over the course of his prestigious career. 

Rangers Marc Staal To Play In Winter Classic

After missing the first 36 games of the 2011-12 season dealing with concussion issues, Rangers defenseman Marc Staal will make his debut in today's Winter Classic game.  Dan Rosen at NHL.com reports that Staal will be paired with Bickel which means that Jeff Woywitka will be scratched.

Interesting to see Staal being put in the lineup today to say he is healthy enough to play, but Tortorella easing him back in on the third pairing with Bickel.  A healthy Staal is a huge boost to the first place Rangers so hopefully he is fully ready and has no further issues with his head.