Rangers Prospects Win 5-4 in OT

The New York Rangers prospects got a little revenge for the Albany loss Wednesday night with a 5-4 overtime win when Jonathan Audy-Marchessault scored 16 seconds in.  The players Rangers' fans want to see stand out did so on the scoresheet with Ryan Bourque netting two, while J.T. Miller and Christian Thomas got one each.  Let us all hope that the game tonight is as entertaining as this one seemed to have been.

Be sure to head over to Mike Ashmore's twitter to check out the videos he has been posting from the game.

Rangers Lines vs Devils

<p>Wolski-Richards-Gaborik <br>
Hagelin-Stepan-Callahan<br>
Feds-Boyle-Zuke <br>
Rupp-Newbury-Weise</p>
<p>McDonagh-Sauer<br>
Del Zotto-Eminger<br>
Valentenko-Erixon</p>
<p>Biron-Johnson <br>
</p>

<p>Playing with Callahan and Stepan is a huge opportunity for Hagelin in his quest to make the roster. Interesting to see Zuccarello in Prust's spot instead of someone like Rupp, but there isn't enough skill with Newbury and Weise for Zuccarello. <br>
</p>

Zuccarello Leading In Race For Final Forward Spot?

The New York Rangers have a series of battles going on to make the 2011-12 opening night roster and amongst those competing for a spot is Mats Zuccarello.  With Gaborik, Richards, Dubinsky, Callahan, Anisimov, Prust, Boyle, Stepan, Fedotenko, Rupp, and Wolski seemingly locked on the roster there are only 1 or 2 spots to be had up front.  Zuccarello got some good news yesterday when he was selected to practice with all of those expected to make the Rangers forward core when they open Oct. 7 against the Kings.  Even with that reinforcement, Larry Brooks, of the New York Post, is reporting this morning that Zuccarello is taking nothing for granted.

"Sure, it shows confidence from the coaches to be in this group now, but there is a long way before the first game and we have a lot of players fighting for spots on the roster, so I know I have to earn a position and keep showing that I want it and am willing to work hard for it, which I am.

"Nothing is handed to you. I completely understand that."

That attitude is exactly what coach John Tortorella expects from everyone on the team and if Zuccarello does make the team it will because he took that approach and that he continues to play at the level he has thus far in camp.

"Zuke is in competition like a number of guys," the coach said. "He's played very well, he makes [subtle] plays that can go unnoticed, small plays in small areas of the ice, but he's still in a competition.

"He's in there now, but it could change."

Those are certainly encouraging words from Tortorella, but still show a similar lack of commitment to the Norweigan's future that Tortorella had when asked about how long Zuccarello would be on the team last season.

Zuccarello’s 42 games with the Rangers, in which he recorded 23 points should help him in the competition, but his $1.75 mil cap hit does have some negative impact on his standing.  The Rangers do have the space for him if either Erik Christensen or Sean Avery get cut before the start of the season.  The other key in terms of Zuccarello’s standing on the team might be what the team ultimately decides to do with Derek Stepan.  There are still questions as to whether Stepan will play center or left wing this season and a move to the wing for Stepan, especially with Gaborik and Richards, would change the dynamic of the Rangers lower lines and possibly cost Zuccarello.

Did J.T. Miller Play His Way Onto Europe Roster Last Night

Originally when the New York Rangers left for Europe follow Monday’s preseason game with the Flyers there were going to be 31 players (18F, 10D, 3G) making the trip.   Those plans have changed.  Jesse Spector tweeted that coach John Tortorella has decided to add an extra forward along with one more defender to the trip.  The addition of more players to the trip is not huge news, but what created the buzz was Tortorella saying that the additional forward earned their way on the plane with last night’s game.

The best forwards for the Rangers last night that were not already on the NHL roster were Dale Weise, John Mitchell and J.T. Miller.  My gut reaction to the additional forward was that it was Weise now going, but as others have pointed out Weise and Mitchell were likely already making the trip so Miller could be the guy.  If Miller does make the trip it will be a nice cap to an impressive couple weeks for the 2011 first round pick.  Miller struggled at the beginning of Traverse City, but has been getting better with each passing game and the more the games are against pro level talent, the better he has played.  His strength and playmaking instincts have been on display and the glimpses of what Miller can become in a few seasons are exciting for Rangers fans.

The defender being added to the list is as cover for Marc Staal as he continues his recovery from concussion issues.  Speaking of Staal, there was concern earlier today when he was not at practice, but it was a scheduled absence to see a concussion specialist.

Rangers Roster For Preseason Game 2 vs Devils

After sending a mainly non-NHL roster to face the Devils in Wednesday night's preseason opener in Albany, the New York Rangers are sending more NHL players to Newark on Friday.  The combination of the AHL game in the afternoon and wanting to get the rest of the NHL guys some action was bound to see a more veteran group see some action.

Via Andrew Gross

#NYR forwards tomorrow: Boyle, Callahan, Fedotenko, Gaborik, Hagelin, Newbury, Richards, Rupp, Stepan, Weise, Wolski, Zuccarello

#NYR D tomorrow: Brendan Bell, Del Zotto, Tim Erixon, Ryan McDonagh, Mike Sauer, Pavel Valentenko.

#NYR goalies tomorrow: Marty Biron, Chad Johnson

Of the forwards, only Carl Hagelin has not played with the Rangers during the regular season and at least 8 of the guys playing will be in the opening night roster.

On defense the group is younger as Girardi is getting this one off and Staal is out recovering from his concussion.  McDonagh, Sauer and Del Zotto are the only one's who saw significant time with the Rangers last season.  Del Zotto, Erixon and Bell get another chance to make an impression for the final spot battles on defense while Pavel Valentenko makes his preseason debut.  Slightly surprised to see McIlrath not in the lineup after his strong performance last night.

2012 Winter Classic Logo Leaked?

The 2012 Winter Classic has been the subject to lots of rumors and supposed leaks, but nothing has been real to this point and the NHL still has yet to officially announce the game.  With the game announcement supposedly coming this Monday, September 26th, when the Rangers and Flyers meet for a preseason game there is a new leak surrounding the game.  This one is about the logo and it comes from Kyle Scott over at Crossing Broad.

This might be another fake or not the final version of what comes out, as Kyle points out there are a lot of things about this logo that make it seem like the real deal...

But this one is different... It very closely matches the styling of the 2009, 2010, and 2011 logos. What's more, unlike the obviously fake logo released earlier this summer, this one very prominently features the game's title sponsor, Bridgestone. It's also complete with all appropriate ™ and registraton markings. The design elements, which include a swinging puck (used the three previous years) in the bell and hues from both teams' color sets worked seamlessly into the logo, also give this one a little more credibility.

If this is the real thing, then what do you think about it?

Rangers Previewing Opening Night Roster?

There are still two weeks left until the New York Rangers 2011-12 season opens against the Los Angeles Kings, but it is hard not to read into the lines that coach John Tortorella put out today.  According to Andrew Gross over at Ranger Rants today’s lineup looked as follows…

Wojtek Wolski-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Ruslan Fedotenko-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
Mike Rupp-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello

Marc Staal-Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto-Steve Eminger
Ryan McDonagh-Mike Sauer

Henrik Lundqvist, Marty Biron

In terms of the forwards this is the lineup that makes the most sense unless Hagelin, Bourque, Avery or Christensen go out and do something to lock up a job, which none has done yet.  Zuccarello’s chemistry with Stepan last season certainly helps him in this equation, though when it comes to final decisions his cap hit might not.  Personally I would rather play Rupp with Boyle and Fedotenko with Stepan, but certainly understandable that Tortorella would go back to a line that worked so well first. 

Defensively it is somewhat surprising to see Del Zotto in the “projected” lineup, but Erixon did not do anything to steal a spot last night and this is also a way to boost Del Zotto’s confidence.   

Overall you have to be excited for what a lineup with this kind of depth and the competition to change this lineup over the next few weeks is going to be intense.

Breaking Down Which Rangers Stood Out Good/Bad, Roster Battles Following 2-1 Loss to Devils

The New York Rangers opened their preseason schedule against the rival New Jersey Devils in Albany with only a few regulars in the lineup.  The performance was underwhelming overall, but with the few regulars that were in the lineup to fall 2-1 in OT against many of the Devils regulars is not a bad result.  The cliché is that in preseason the results don’t matter and it is true in terms of the scoreboard, but the play of individuals is very important to their chances of making the roster.  A few Rangers stood out tonight while some were invisible and others were just awful.

Standouts:

Artem Anisimov: Arguably the Rangers best forward tonight.  Excellent skating and showed some more strength than last season.  Strength has been the biggest knock on Anisimov so if he can improve that expect even more from him this year.

Dylan McIlrath: After a rough first period McIlrath had an excellent game in all areas of the game.  During the second period was where McIlrath really stood out blocking shots, taking the body, having good defensive positioning and reading the play well in terms of pinching down offensively.

Dale Weise: Weise was very active tonight in taking the body and creating things with his strength in the offensive end.  Scored the Rangers lone goal on a play where his hit in the corner won the puck, then it was played to Anisimov who made a nice pass out front that Weise finished.  Fight against Brad Mills was ugly as Weise got handled and he looked bad on the Devils’ winner when he couldn’t handle Steve Eminger’s bad pass in his own end.

Goaltending:  Henrik Lundqvist and Cam Talbot were both excellent tonight.  Lundqvist was very solid in his positioning and was the only Ranger to show up for much of the first period.  Talbot made multiple excellent glove saves before getting beat for the winner.

Brandon Dubinsky:  Dubinsky didn’t do a whole lot in terms of generating chances, but he was clearly stronger than last season and that bodes well for the Rangers.

Awful:

Erik Christensen: If that was Christensen’s case to keep his spot on the team, then he should be cut and quickly.  He was awful tonight in all aspects of the game and in all situations.  Time to end the experiment with him and move on.

Michael Del Zotto: Del Zotto did little tonight to show that last season's struggles were behind him.  The turnovers and wide shots that plagued him last season were still there, though he was physical at times in his own end.

Roster Battles:

Sean Avery had a solid first period with work taking the body and drawing a penalty, but he saw little ice the in the second and had a couple glimpses in the third.

Tim Erixon was not overly impressive tonight in his bid to make the team, but the good news for him is Michael Del Zotto was worse.

Brendan Bell was solid, especially in the first period when he showed little to no hesitation in firing shots at the net.

Carl Hagelin showed off his speed, but little else tonight, while Ryan Bourque had a few nice moments though defending an oncoming Ilya Kovalchuk was not one of them.

Video: Jody Shelley's Dirty Hit on Darryl Boyce

Brendan Shanahan is taking over as the man in charge of NHL discipline and tonight he got the prime type of hit that needs to get out of the game when Philadelphia Flyers forward Jody Shelley ran Maple Leafs forward Darryl Boyce from behind with a dirty hit into the glass.

Jody Shelley received 5 minutes for the hit from behind, 5 minutes for fighting and a game misconduct, but the talk is not about if he will be suspended, rather for how long he will be unavailable to start the season.
Following the hit Jay Rosehill stepped in for Boyce and fought Shelley in what was a good fight. 

Rangers Lines Tonight vs Devils with First Impressions on Battles

According to Andrew Gross via twitter the New York Rangers will start tonight’s preseason opener in Albany with the following combinations:

NYR lines: Hagelin-Christensen-Thomas, Dubinsky-Anisimov-Weise, Bourque-McColgan-Deveaux, Avery-Mitchell-Miller.

#NYR D-pairs: Del Zotto-Eminger, Erixon-McIlrath, Girardi-Bell. Lundqvist figures to start.

Interesting to see how Tortorella has put Hagelin and Thomas, players looking to steal roster spots from veterans with Erik Christensen, who is trying to save his job, as a way to see who stands out.  Avery still being with John Mitchell and J.T. Miller does not bode well for his future with the team, but Mitchell has played well in camp so maybe it can help Avery.

The defense pairings are even more interesting.  Tortorella putting Bell with Girardi is giving him an excellent opportunity to get into the battle for the final defense pairing, while Del Zotto gets a chance to play with Eminger who has played with before and could be a final pair preview for Tortorella.  Somewhat surprising to see Erixon not get a shot with an NHL player, but he is comfortable with McIlrath, so that could be beneficial to him in a different way.  Battles going on all over the roster are the most fun thing about preseason.