Prust Sets Tone As Rangers Shutout Flyers 2-0

When the New York Rangers play their best hockey it is a physical, grinding game that limits and frustrates their opponents throughout the game.  New York played that beautifully today in order to down the rival Philadelphia Flyers 2-0.  This was the type of 60 minute effort that the team has not be able to consistently put together thus far, and that is necessary against the better teams.  Playing like this gives the Rangers belief they can compete with any team in the league, if they play their game.  

Brandon Prust set the tone off the opening faceoff when he dropped the gloves with Zac Rinaldo just four seconds into the game.  Prust was not done as he fought Wayne Simmonds later in the period after Simmonds had attempted to start multiple scraps earlier in the period.  The rest of the period saw beautiful hitting, lots of extra-curricular after the whistles and everything you expect from a rivalry game with bad blood.

The excitement continued at the start of the second with the Rangers scoring twice, once legally, in the opening minute of the period.  Brad Richards appeared to score the opening goal 30 seconds into the period, but after review it was determined that Ryan Callahan used his glove to sweep the puck in the net.  Richards would get his power play goal in the end however when he shot from the left circle and beat Bobrovsky far post :54 seconds into the period.  Callahan got a large measure of redemption on the goal as his screen was beautiful and completed stopped Bobrovsky from seeing Richards’ shot.

The Rangers took the 2-0 lead when Carl Hagelin scored his first NHL goal 5:06 into the third period.  The Hagelin goal was the epitome of how the Rangers are when they play at their best.  Hagelin and Mitchell worked the cycle down low against the boards with Mitchell eventually finding McDonagh at the point and Hagelin crashed the net.  Hagelin got the initial rebound on McDonagh’s shot only to be turned aside by Bobrovsky before scoring on his second chance.

Lundqvist was brilliant when he had to be in stopping all 29 Flyers shots to record his second shutout of the season.  Typically the team owes Lundqvist for bailing them out, but this afternoon the defense was extremely stingy in giving up any prime chances and closed off the Flyers top line excellently.  Some of that credit goes to Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh, but don’t lose sight of the job done by Richards, Callahan and Ruslan Fedotenko as they were the matched up against Giroux, Hartnell and Voracek all game.

• Prust might not be playing to the level of last season, but he showed today that he can still lift this team with his fighting.
• Hagelin and Mitchell are both making cases to stay in the lineup beyond just a short stint and seem to have energized Brian Boyle to an extent.
• The win gave the Rangers their second consecutive win while improving their home record to 6-1-1, which is the best home start since 1992-93 when they were 7-1-1.
   
  

Rangers Get Back On Track As Offense Explodes In 6-3 Win

The New York Rangers left behind the offense that scored only once in two games and exploded for six goals to lead the Rangers to a 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals Friday afternoon.  Ruslan Fedotenko paced the attack with two goals while Brian Boyle, Artem Anisimov, Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik all added one.

The Rangers were scoreless in the first period, but a 4:18 span in the second saw them go from struggling to flying offensively.  Marian Gaborik got it started at 3:37 when he took a beautiful feed from Derek Stepan and sniped Michal Neuvirth under the bar.  Artem Anisimov extended the lead with a power play goal off the far post when he took a feed from Ryan McDonagh and blasted it from the left circle.  Ruslan Fedotenko capped the three goal outburst when he Ryan Callahan’s pressure cause a turnover to give Fedotenko his first of the game and second of the season.

The Capitals struck back with two of their own from Brouwer and Carlson before Brian Boyle scored a critical goal late in the period to give the Rangers the crucial 4-2 lead heading into the locker room.  The goal for Boyle was created by excellent work from Carl Hagelin in the corner letting Boyle work out front and his extra effort lead to him finally netting his second of the year.

Richards finished off a beautiful feed from Callahan to extend the lead back to three and following Alex Ovechkin’s goal, Ruslan Fedotenko capped the scoring.

• Hagelin and Mitchell both played very well in their debuts this season.  Hagelin showcased his speed and strength along the boards.
• Fedotenko played his most effective game of the year, not just because he scored two goals, but because he got back to being a factor on the forecheck.

Rangers Announce Winter Classic Alumni Game Roster

The New York Rangers announced via Blueshirts United the roster for the Alumni game December 31st at 1:00 PM.


Goalies: Dan Blackburn, John Vanbiesbrouck

Defensemen: Ron Greschner, Darius Kasparaitis, Tom Laidlaw, Brian Leetch, Dave Maloney, Dale Purinton, Mathieu Schneider

Forwards: Glenn Anderson, Paul Broten, Ron Duguay, Nick Fotiu, Mike Gartner, Adam Graves, Pat Hickey, Kris King, Nick Kypreos, Darren Langdon, Stephane Matteau, Brian Mullen, Darren Turcotte

Coaches: Mike Keenan, Emile Francis, Colin Campbell

Ambassadors: Rod Gilbert, Ed Giacomin, Harry Howell

Great to see Vanbiesbrouck back playing in a Rangers uniform, but would love for Mike Richter to get the clearance to play as well.  Mark Messier is hoping to play as well though he will not know until after shoulder surgery early in December.

Rangers Forward Andre Deveaux Suspended Three Games

According to the New York Rangers official twitter forward Andre Deveaux was suspended three games for his elbow to the head of Florida Panthers forward Stephen Weiss on Wednesday night.

Breaking: Rangers Recall Carl Hagelin and John Mitchell

According to Andrew Gross the New York Rangers have recalled both Carl Hagelin and John Mitchell from the Connecticut Whale (AHL).  Interesting that the Rangers made two moves up front, which means that someone will get scratched tomorrow. 

Video: Dan Girardi Responds To All-Star Campaign

Fans of the New York Rangers have been doing a phenomenal job in their campaign to get Dan Girardi into the All-Star game.  Girardi came in second thus far amongst all write-in candidates in the first round of voting and he was asked about the campaigns during the first intermission last night.

Will Zuccarello, Hagelin or Another Connecticut Whale Be The One To Replace Deveaux?

New York Rangers forward Andre Deveaux is likely to be suspended for his elbow to the head of Tomas Fleischmann leaving the team in need of another forward.  The problem with projecting either as the callup is the utter lack of knowledge as to what Tortorella is looking for from the player he would bring in from the Connecticut Whale.  The bottom six has been atrocious in each of the last two games to the point that you have no idea about which forwards the promoted forward would be playing with when he got here.    

The recent struggles to generate anything offensively lead to speculation surrounding the potential call-ups of either Mats Zuccarello or Carl Hagelin to provide some skill and spark to the team.  Those two should certainly be considered, but the list of considerations likely includes…

Mats Zuccarello:  Zuccarello is the type of creative and skilled player that the lineup could use right now.  He can create for himself and his teammates with his vision and passing ability that can make the game easier for those he plays with.  Zuccarello has performed in Hartford with three goals and nine assists in 11 games thus far this season.  Working against him is that he has not shown production with any consistency at the NHL level and his cap hit works is large for a team with little cap room.  Also, Zuccarello would need a guaranteed top-9 spot to make the call worth it as he is useless as a fourth line player.

Carl Hagelin: Hagelin is continually getting better as his first full professional season moves along.  He has seven goals and six assists 17 games overall this season.  Those numbers are more impressive this month with four goals and three assists in the last seven games, scoring in all but one of those contests.  Hagelin’s speed is his best attribute and is something that the Rangers have been severely lacking in all areas of the ice.  His two-way play would allow him to play the system, aid the forecheck and create offensively.  The biggest detractor from him being the call-up would be uncertainty of his role in the lineup.

John Mitchell: Mitchell is the leading scorer for the Whale with 14 points (7G, 7A) in 17 games this season.  Mitchell is someone that the team can bring up to play a fourth line role without worrying about his development, but can also potentially pitch in a little offensively.

Jonathan Audy-Marchessault:  JAM is an unlikely choice for the call, but he has the skill and grit to add to the team.  The biggest knock on him will be about his size.

If the cap will allow the move, then Zuccarello is the easy move for management to make as it gives Zuccarello another chance to prove himself as a regular in the top-9 at the NHL level.  In the case that the cap will not allow that to be the move, then Hagelin would be the move for me as long as he is going to get significant ice time.  Playing him 5-7 minutes a game in the NHL is not better for his development in comparison with logging major ice-time in the AHL.  Kris Newbury likely would be the move if all were equal, but he is currently serving a four game suspension that should rule him out of contention. 

In the end it will come down to the role that Tortorella is trying to fill with the move and what he makes of the play from Boyle, Fedotenko, Prust, Avery and Christensen when he makes that call.  Needing more offense should result in Zuccarello (cap permitting) or Hagelin being the guy.

Jaromir Jagr To Miss Return To MSG Saturday?

Philadelphia Flyers forward Jagr attempted to return to the lineup against the Islanders after missing the previous two games with a sore groin.  Turns out that he was not fully ready to be back as he left during the second period after re-tweaking the injury and did not return.

Following the game Tim Panaccio of CSN Philly reported that Jagr will miss the next two games due to the re-aggravation of the groin injury.  Missing the next two games will cause Jagr to be unavailable for the Flyers game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. 

Rangers Drop Second Straight With 2-1 Loss To Panthers

The New York Rangers didn’t find the sense of urgency they needed following their 4-0 loss Saturday and it cost them again as they fell 2-1 in Florida Wednesday night.  The lack of offense was obvious, but the Rangers are back to the utter lack of energy and effort that was plaguing them to start the season as well.  If that does not change quickly, then the positive of the seven game win streak will disappear in the standings very quickly as the competition level is only increasing and the schedule getting more compact.

Florida outskated the Rangers for the entire first period with Jason Garrison making them pay on the power play at 10:06.  Garrison was left all alone for a bomb from the point scoring his league leading eighth goal by a defenseman.  That didn’t wake New York up as they let Kris Versteeg put them in a 2-0 whole in the opening seconds of the second period.  Tomas Fleischmann completely undressed Artem Anisimov before finding a wide-open Versteeg in front of the net.

Derek Stepan gave the Rangers a sense of hope when he scored 4:18 into the second period to cut the deficit in half.  Marian Gaborik made the goal happen after taking a Ryan McDonagh pass, dancing into the offensive zone and cutting to the middle until finding Stepan for the goal.

The Rangers generated some chances late in the third period, but Jose Theodore made some huge saves to preserve the game.  It should not even have been that close if not for the work for Henrik Lundqvist who made 36 saves on the night.  Lundqvist’s brightest stretch of the night was while killing the 5-minute major to Andre Deveaux. During the kill the Rangers got trapped in their own zone for long stretches, but Lundqvist saved them making seven stops during the kill.

The 5-minute major to Deveaux was from a ridiculously foolish play elbowing Tomas Fleischman in the head.  Deveaux was assessed a 5-minute major and given a match penalty for the hit.  He should receive a significant suspension and likely sends him back to the minors for how stupid and selfish the play was. 

• Stralman made no difference on the power play
• Boyle, Prust, and Fedotenko all seem lost out there right now and are bringing little to the table

Anton Stralman To Make Rangers Debut Tonight While Scratch Unknown

Anton Stralman will make his Rangers debut tonight, but no official announcement of which player will be the scratch.

Pat Leonard tweeted that Jeff Woywitka is the likely candidate to be pulled from the lineup, which would be right if a defender is the scratch.  There is also a small chance that Deveaux would be scratched and the Rangers go with 11F and 7D.  That is unlikely because of coach John Tortorella's stated distaste for dressing seven defenders.