Video: Duchene's Between Leg Toe Drag Slides Him Into Goal of Year Contention

Colorado Avalanche forward Matt Duchene set the bar pretty high tonight for this year's goal of the year race with an unbelievable bit of wizardry with the puck.  Duchene took a Paul Stastny pass toe dragged the puck between his legs and then dangled around Marc-Andre Fleury before finishing on his backhand. 



Evgeni Malkin had his own special goal when he dangled around the Avalanche defense to score the eventual game-winner, but could not match Duchene's magic

Video: Lundqvist Makes Header Save, Then Sprawls To Rob Parenteau

Henrik Lundqvist has been making saves with his head for years, but tonight he took it to another level combining the header with an unbelievable sprawling save.  After making the header on Mark Streit,  John Tavares found P.A. Parenteau with a seemingly open net to shoot at, but Henrik Lundqvist battled across without his stick and robbed him for a save of the year candidate.

Richards Winner Gives Rangers Seventh Straight Win

The New York Rangers signed Brad Richards this summer to help take the team to the next level.  Tonight he paid dividends in that regard scoring with 4:55 left in regulation to give the Rangers their seventh consecutive win.  The goal was a beautiful slap shot past Evgeni Nabokov, but do not lose sight of the play by Brandon Dubinsky to create Richards’ opportunity.  Dubinsky gloved down Josh Bailey’s horrendous clear and found Richards with a pass in rhythm for the ripper.

While Richards is the star for the game-winner, without the incredible work of Henrik Lundqvist the Rangers are not even in a position to get the two points.  Lundqvist made 31 saves on the night, including some incredible ones during the second period, most notably on P.A. Parenteau.  While praising Lundqvist we do have to wonder what he was thinking when he slid out mid-way through the first period, but thankfully Michael Sauer bailed him out with a skate save.

Sean Avery got the Rangers on the board late in the first after an excellent shift with Boyle and Fedotenko.  Boyle took the initial shot, Avery deflected it and while Nabokov made the save he kicked the rebound right to Avery who beat him far side.  The Rangers could not sustain that as Frans Nielsen tied it at 17:06 on a shot that Lundqvist got a piece of, but couldn’t keep out.

Steve Eminger became yet another defender to get in on the goal scoring this season when he pinched in from the point and finished a Ryan Callahan pass to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.  Matt Moulson finally made the Rangers pay for their penalties when he tied it up 6:58 into the third off a feed from John Tavares.

Richards gave the Rangers the lead and while the Islanders had chances, they could not beat Lundqvist before Ryan Callahan got the empty netter with less than one second remaining.

• Getting 10 goals from the defense already is a huge bonus for the Rangers offensively.
• Dubinsky was all over the ice in the third period and critical to the final outcome
• Avery-Boyle-Fedotenko line was just as good tonight as they were together during the playoffs last year
• Gaborik could not buy a goal tonight, but that line continues to generate chances at a ridiculous rate.

Rangers Roundtable III: Stepan, Gaborik, Biron, Giardi, Richards and Rangers As Contenders

Various Rangers blog sites have gotten together and agreed to review each five game segment of the New York Rangers schedule for different items going on with the team.  The sites participating 5-hole, SNY Rangers Blog, Blue Seat Blogs, The Rangers Tribune,and yours truly at Bleeding All Blue.  

This week discussion involved questions around Stepan's chemistry with Gaborik, whether the Rangers are true contenders, Biron's status as an elite backup, how Richards is stacking up thus far and Girardi being an All-Star ballot snub. To check out everyone's thoughts head over to Rangers Tribune for the summary.

Rangers Top TSN Power Rankings

When a team goes on a six-game winning streak like the New York Rangers are currently on you expect them to gain significant ground in the power rankings.  While that is to be expected, it is still shocking to see the Rangers hit the top spot on TSN’s rankings this week.  New York moved for 5th to the head of the class with Scott Cullen saying the following…

Winners of six in a row, the Blueshirts have allowed only nine goals against in those six games, while they've been led by the line of Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov and Derek Stepan.

The Rangers are certainly worthy of praise for their current run of results, but the winning streak does not mean they are the top team in the league right now.  San Jose is likely the only impressive victory in the bunch while the others were really about taking care of lesser teams when you should.  The bigger tests are coming with Washington, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh on the schedule in the next couple weeks.  Continue to get results against those teams and their spot at the head of the power rankings will have a more credible feel to it.

Voros Trying Out For Connecticut Whale

Per Larry Brooks Aaron Voros is taking a PTO (professional try-out) with the Connecticut Whale (AHL).  If Voros does get a contract it would put him back in the Rangers organizational pipeline, but he is highly unlikely to see the NHL.

Focus Is Rangers Biggest Obstacle To Maintaining Win Streak Against Islanders

The New York Rangers look to extend their winning streak to seven tonight as they head to Long Island tonight to take on the rival Islanders.  On paper it seems like an easy task as the Rangers are now 9-3-3 while the Islanders are 1-6-3 following their 3-1 start.  As Rangers fans know all too well, games in this rivalry don’t turn out how paper would suggest they should as the Islanders always give something extra against the Rangers.  The Rangers should know better than to take the Islanders lightly as John Tavares netted a hat-trick against them in a 4-2 loss a month ago.  That is why the biggest challenge to extending the winning streak is focus.

A team that is rolling brings tremendous confidence to the ice each game, but there is also something to be said for a team that is struggling horrifically and desperately needs a win.  The Rangers have to come out tonight with the mentality that they have lost six straight and play with that desperation of needing those two points or they will get none.  The combination of playing a very beatable team and having just had three days off can make both the energy level and sharpness of the team more difficult.  That is where the focus really comes in. 

The Rangers cannot afford to lose composure if the Islanders look to unnerve them with nonsense.  They also have to remain disciplined within the play and keep their penalty numbers down.  Staying out of the box has been an understated reason for the current winning streak.  That means no cheap stuff after whistles and moving your feet all night to avoid needless stick penalties.  

If the Rangers stay out of the penalty box and play their game down low against the Islanders, then the winning streak will be extended.  If they get into the Islanders style of up and down hockey and get caught up in the non-hockey stuff, then they will taste defeat for the first time this month.   This is one of those tests to see if a team has really turned the corner on their old ways as this is a prime example of a game where the Rangers would play down to the level of their opponent in the past. 

When Stralman Plays Should Rangers Sit Woywitka or Eminger?

Given the New York Rangers current six game winning streak it is hard to see coach John Tortorella changing anything in terms of the lineup, but shortly there will be a decision to make on defense.  Anton Stralman was signed to play and add to the offense from the blue line and while he is still being worked into the system his shot is coming soon.  The question is whether it will be Jeff Woywitka or Eminger will be the one to take a seat in the press box.

Eminger brings more to the team physically than Woywitka does and given his history with the club Tortorella trusts him more if the team needs a third pair player to move up into a top four role.  Eminger also has been given more of an opportunity to kill penalties, which is a role that they are unlikely to use Stralman in, so that is another advantage for him in the direct competition.

However Woywitka has outplayed Eminger in the totality of the season and should be given every opportunity to keep his job even when Stralman moves into the lineup.  Obviously the question of which third pair defender stays in the lineup should be rather inconsequential with the way the Rangers use their defenders in terms of ice time.

Are New York Rangers Equal To Current Record?

The New York Rangers are riding high on a current six game winning streak to push their record to 9-3-3 through 15 games.  The record has the team only two points behind Pittsburgh for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand.  The results through 15 games are impressive without question, but is the team really as good as the record would indicate?

The play of the team within games would say that they aren’t up to the level of their current record, but something is to be said for getting points when your team is not playing their best hockey.  The law of averages however would suggest that you will then get the flip side in losing games when you do outplay the opposition, so where does that settle out for the Rangers?  Are they legitimate threats for a division title this year?

The holes can be obvious at times with the lack of 60 minute efforts, missing a All-Star defender and streaky offensive output.  However, there is consistency and stability in the goaltending, top offensive players contributing and Dan Girardi spearheading a defensive group that is exceeding expectations.  It is a dichotomy because you don’t know whether the good can remain where it has been or if the bad will turn itself around as the season progresses.  The Rangers need both their stars to play to their ability level and their grinders to return to last season’s form.

Marian Gaborik is certainly doing his part with an unbelievable start having nine goals and six assists already to erase the doubts that arose during last season’s subpar performance.  Dan Girardi is proving once again why he is one of the most underrated defenders in the league as he has taken hold of the top spot in Marc Staal’s absence.  Along with Girardi, Ryan McDonagh has reached another level in his development playing huge minutes against the opposition’s top lines and adding offense to his shutdown defending of last season.  Richards, Callahan and Dubinsky will get the numbers they are supposed to when the season is over while Stepan and Anisimov, at least right now, appear poised to exceed the levels expected coming into the season.  The question offensively is will the Rangers get enough on a game in game out basis as opposed to the explosions in certain games followed by droughts of the past few seasons.

Defensively the questions come from the wear of a full season at the type of minutes Girardi and McDonagh are being asked to shoulder right now and if more time for the bottom pairing will expose them more than they have already been this year.

The power play is certainly still a work in progress, but it has shown signs of life and comfort with it will only grow as the season goes along.  Injuries are always a factor, but the Rangers have done as well as any team in surviving losses within the lineup and getting results.

The tools are there for the Rangers to contend given the record they have thus far, but the play will have to rise to that level in order for them to be legit as the season moves along.