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Tag: Henrik Lundqvist

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Rangers

Jan 16, 2014

Rangers-Red Wings Isn’t So Rare Anymore

The Red Wings are at Madison Square Garden for the first time in almost two years and that calls for an email exchange with “J.J. from Kansas” of Winging It In Motown.

It feels like Rangers-Red Wings never happens. That’s partially because it rarely has until now. The two teams met this season on Oct. 26, but thanks to the lockout last year, they didn’t meet at all in 2012-13 and just once a season prior to that. So when the two Original Six teams meet on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, it will feel more important than a normal regular-season game and that’s because it kind of is. Thankfully with realignment, we will get more than just one Rangers-Red Wings game a year now.

With the Rangers and Red Wings playing for the second of three times this season, I did an email exchange with “J.J. from Kansas” of Winging It In Motown to talk about the Red Wings playing in the Eastern Conference, how they were portrayed in 24/7 leading up to the Winter Classic and what’s been going on with them over the last six weeks.

Keefe: After a long, long time as an Eastern Time Zone team playing in the Western Conference, the Red Wings are where they should be when it comes to alignment thanks to the realignment. The Red Wings might be out of place in the “Atlantic” division, but at least they are in the right place when it comes to traveling. (The Red Wings shouldn’t feel too awkward about playing in the “Atlantic” with Columbus and Carolina being considered “Metropolitan.”)

What were you feelings about the Red Wings’ move back to normality and playing in their own time zone when the plans were announced? And what do you think of the realignment now 46 games into the change?

J.J.: Being honest about the switch to the East, since I’m in the Central Time Zone, it wasn’t really a big deal to me, but I always liked the concept. I especially liked that the schedule-making would adjust to leave the Wings with only two trips out West where we’d have games starting at 10 p.m. EST or later. Ultimately I was happy that the travel schedule wouldn’t be as brutal for Detroit, but this never felt to me as the eventual correction of old wrongs like it has to much of the older generation of Wings fans who didn’t grow up with the Central Division.

This season has been a weird, bittersweet experience for me. I haven’t experienced the weird playoff quirks yet, but I do like the new realignment plan as far as it’s worked on the NHL regular season. The adjustment has come in how I watch games on off days for the Wings. I’ve always preferred to watch division rivals’ games and root for whichever outcome would most benefit the Wings. In doing that, I didn’t watch a ton of Eastern Conference hockey in the last few years and as a result, it’s almost been a culture shock for me readjusting to a bunch of uniforms, players, and styles I to which I haven’t grown accustomed (not to mention half a league’s worth of local announcers). In the West, I can still pick out which line is on the ice for teams based solely on how the forwards skate. I haven’t gotten used to that yet in the East save for a few of the very familiar or standout players (the Penguins, Rick Nash and Phil Kessel).

Keefe: There isn’t a bigger 24/7 fan than me and I hope that my dream of it being stretched into covering a team for a full season will one day be realized. (Kind of like what ESPN did with The Season and the Red Wings in 2002-03 and the Avalanche in 2003-04, only better.) Who wouldn’t want a full season of the show?

Two years ago when the Rangers and Flyers were the stars of 24/7 for their Winter Classic in Philadelphia, it made the show that much better having “my” team be covered in depth for a month. This year you had “your” team as one of the co-stars of the four-episode series. What did you think about how the Red Wings were portrayed?

J.J.: I’d LOVE to see a full season of 24/7 … centered around somebody else. I don’t know if I’m just looking for excuses or my dumb caveman brain is sliding a bit of causation into the correlation between the Red Wings being on 24/7 and the Red Wings playing like crap in the weeks where the HBO cameras were following them around, but it seemed that while the cameras were rolling, the Red Wings were just not comfortable.

Overall, I think HBO did the best they could with the Wings, but I’m caught between wanting to have seen much more and wanting to respect that they’re professional hockey players and stay away from their private lives. I would have loved to have seen more of Pavel Datsyuk, but he’s a private guy and if he doesn’t want to deal with the HBO cameras that much, then so be it.

Keefe: This season of the show gave me a better understanding of the Red Wings and there were three things I really took away from it (aside from disliking Dion Phaneuf more). The first was how strong of a presence Mike Babcock has with the team and the organization. I have long thought that Babcock is the best head coach in the league (and that’s likely why he is also the Team Canada coach), but my opinion was only reinforced with the show and the way he handles managing his team on and off the ice.

The second was how badly the Red Wings have been crushed by the injury bug over the first half of season. Sure, the Rangers lost their best two players in Rick Nash for 17 games in October and November and Henrik Lundqvist for a week in October, and you could throw Ryan Callahan in there too, who has also missed 17 games. But those injuries are nothing compared to what the Red Wings have endured. Seeing Babcock write and re-write and erase the names on his lines and depth chart whiteboard was remarkable and almost made me feel like he was managing the 2013 Yankees and their injury bug. I guess I know why the Red Wings are a point out of the playoff picture.

And the last thing would be the way Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg are perceived by the younger players on the team, almost as if the younger players haven’t grasped the idea that they are in the NHL and playing with Datsyuk and Zetterberg. The way the younger players glowingly talk about the duo and look up to them shows how the team has changed and turned over since the two entered the league 12 and 13 years ago.

J.J.: As the Wings have seemingly come farther away from Stanley Cup contention in the last few years, the fan base has grown a bit restless with Babcock. He’s never given the local writers much of a glimpse behind the scenes and has always done a great job dodging attempts to get the kind of glimpses that reporters could run with on a story. We’ve always had a bit of a sense as to when he was either taking blame or sending a message to the media about his players, but without the behind the scenes access from 24/7, all we really had was a picture of a cagey coach who favors veterans to youngsters without any real in-depth explanation. Seeing how he interacted with the team, especially the youngsters, has been a big positive for me this season.

As far as the injuries, I’m among the fans asking for an audit of the Red Wings’ procedures as far as training and conditioning goes. I know that the common joke is that the Red Wings are old, but the rate of injuries and the type that we’ve seen most common (groin) is just disconcerting.

I think personally that part of the younger players idolizing the core veterans was partially scripted to make up for the HBO cameras’ lack of access to Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Hank (our Hank), was featured in that segment where he’s skating on his pond, but that’s pretty much all you got from him. It is very clear that what earned Datsyuk and Zetterberg their way in the NHL was each of their work ethics (even the old guard guys like Steve Yzerman commented on it before they left) so if the youngsters look up to them that much, it’s just the personnel changing around them and not the attitude.

Keefe: It doesn’t seem like a team with Datsyuk and Zetterberg and Daniel Alfredsson (even a 40-year-old Alfredsson should struggle) and strong depth and secondary scoring options should struggle the way the Red Wings have for the first half of the season. Can the 20-16-10 start to the season and being on the playoff bubble be chalked up as a result of the incredible rash of injuries or is it something more than that?

J.J.: I hate to keep using injuries as an excuse, but the sheer amount of change that happens to the Wings as a result of them can’t be ignored. The Wings’ system is based on puck movement more than grinding and that’s the kind of players they have. when players switch in and out of the lineup or up and down lines, the timing of everything falls off just a little bit and puck possession can suffer. When you have so many injuries that you have to change the system to a more dump-and-chase style, then you’re facing the whammy that is the Red Wings aren’t a team that was specifically built for that system, so they have some guys playing in roles that they’re not as well-suited for.

Despite that, there are three issues which are not injury related which have also combined to hurt the Wings. The first is that the young defensive corps is still learning the ropes and do not deal with aggressive forechecking as well as more-veteran players do. This slows down transition and causes them to spend more time in their own end facing shots. Second, the play of Jimmy Howard has not been as dominant as it has and that has cost them some points. Finally, for whatever reason, the Red Wings are 1-7 in the shootout this year, which has also stripped them of points.

When everything adds up, the Red Wings are not as bad a bubble team as their record indicates. I don’t think that they’re a top contender, but a healthy Wings team that gets even a bit luckier is an upper mid-tier contender at least on par with a team like Montreal or Tampa.

Keefe: The last time the Rangers and Red Wings met (Oct. 26), the Rangers were finishing up their season-opening nine-game road trip and arrived in Detroit with a 2-6-0 record and were coming off back-to-back losses to the (at the time) lowly Devils and Flyers. After giving up a devastating late second-period goal to Daniel Alfredsson with 11 seconds left in the second to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead, Mats Zuccarello scored just 2:18 into the third to tie the game. Then in overtime, Derick Brassard scored with 13 seconds left to give the Rangers the win and their first win in Detroit since Jan. 30, 1999. Yes, 1999! Once again … that’s 1-9-9-9!

This time the Rangers and Red Wings meet with the Rangers playing their best hockey of the season, despite their 2-1 home loss to the Lightning on Tuesday night (it was the first time the Rangers failed to score more at least two goals since Dec. 10, which is actually unbelievable considering it used to happen every other game). The Rangers have won eight of their last 12, earning 17 of a possible 24 points and taking over the first wild-card spot in the standings. The Red Wings, on the other hand, have traded wins and losses for nearly a month and have won consecutive games only once since the start of the December.

What has been going on with the Red Wings over the last six weeks as they come to Madison Square Garden on Thursday night?

J.J.: The recent play of the Red Wings is a reflection of what we’ve talked about above. Whether it’s injuries, distractions, and flat-out unimpressive play, Detroit isn’t a very good hockey club right now and their recent record shows that. At some point, they’re going to start getting healthier and more consistent and will start stringing victories together more often, but there’s not an expectation that’s going to happen this week. None of the injured forwards are expected back for Thursday’s game and in fact, the Wings will be without one of the best players they’ve had the last few weeks, as Tomas Tatar went back to Slovakia this week to attend his father’s funeral after playing both Saturday and Sunday with a heavy heart caused by his dad’s passing last Friday.

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Blogs

Dec 24, 2013

My Christmas Wish List

I won’t be getting playoff football this year, so that means I will have to ask for some other things this Christmas.

When I put together my Christmas list for this year, I didn’t bother to ask for anything to do with the New York Football Giants. At 6-9, their season has been lost since their Week 12 loss to the Cowboys and this season marks the fourth time in five years the Giants won’t play in the postseason.

After reaching the playoffs in each of the first four years of Eli Manning’s career as the full-time starting quarterback (2005-08), the Giants’ lone playoff trip since their loss in the 2008 divisional round as the No. 1 seed was in 2011 when they won the Super Bowl. I’m very grateful for the two Super Bowls since 2007 and that Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin prevented Tom Brady and Bill Belichick from being 5-0 in the Super Bowl and football immortality as the best quarterback-coach combination in history. But at this time of the year with the Cowboys and Eagles playing for the NFC East title and the Bears, Packers, Panthers, Saints, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals, Patriots, Dolphins, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers, Colts, Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers all playing for something this Sunday, it’s not fun being on the outside looking in.

Yes, it’s another Week 17 of wondering what could have been, but I’m not going to let the Giants ruin Christmas since they already ruined October and November (the Yankees ruined September). And if I can’t have playoff football this year, which I can’t, then this is what I want.

Something That Resembles A Starting Rotation That Can Compete In the AL East
If it seems like I have asked for that before, it’s because I have. Back in 2010, I asked for the same exact thing after the Yankees lost out on Cliff Lee and I was staring at a potential rotation of CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova and at the time no one else. (That’s right, Phil Hughes, coming off an 18-win season, was going to be the Yankees’ No. 2 starter.) Thankfully Bartolo Colon decided to get some “help” and Freddy Garcia reinvented himself and the Yankees won 97 games and the AL East before the heart of the order went missing in a five-game series loss to the Tigers in the ALDS.

So far this offseason the Yankees have signed Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran and Brian Roberts and lost Robinson Cano to the Mariners. The November 2013 Yankees are better than the September 2013 Yankees were and are better in theory than the 2013 Yankees were ever going to be at their healthiest point. But the rotation is still a problem just like it was at this time last year and the year before that.

The best free-agent options for the rotation are Matt Garza, Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Bronson Arroyo, Paul Maholm and …. wait for it …. wait for it …. wait for it … A.J. Burnett! The only one of these six options I would be OK with would be Garza, but even then he’s going to command (and receive) a ridiculous contract in this market for someone who has a career .500 record (67-67), a 3.84 ERA and has started only 42 games over the last two years.

Brian Cashman said going into this winter that he was going to have to find 400 innings from somewhere and I don’t think the Yankees are going to sign one of the “top” free agents just because they are the best available right now like they would have in the past with Carl Pavano or Jaret Wright or Burnett. That means that “somewhere” will likely be from within the organization and some combination of the current favorites Michael Pineda, David Phelps and Adam Warren. Unless, the Yankees can give me the next thing on my list …

Cliff Lee
Yes, three years later I’m still asking for Cliff Lee. I don’t need to explain it. Just read this. But since Lee isn’t exactly realistic, I will ask for someone who is …

Masahiro Tanaka
I know nothing about Masahiro Tanaka other than from searching “Masahiro Tanaka” on YouTube and watching a video titled “Best of Mashahiro Tanaka” that is synced to what sounds like nearly four minutes of an instrumental version of a song by The Offspring. But I’m going to guess that the only knowledge most North American “experts” who talk about how good Tanaka is happens to be this same exact video. No one knows for sure how Tanaka’s Japanese success will translate to the majors and given the history of highly coveted Japanese pitchers coming to North America, there’s a better chance that Tanaka will be more like Daisuke Matsuzaka than Yu Darvish. But as long as he’s not Kei Igawa (I haven’t typed that name in so long), I’ll take him.

2013-14 Henrik Lundqvist To Be 2011-12 Henrik Lundqvist
Since signing his seven-year extension, Henrik Lundqvist is 2-4-2. I’m not sure if you want your franchise player, who you recently locked up through 2020-21 to be saying he “kind of expected” that a rookie backup would be starting in place of him for the second consecutive game and night. And after recording two wins and allowing just two goals combined in 48 hours, I’m not sure that Alain Vigneault is necessarily going to go back to Lundqvist over Cam Talbot on Friday night in Washington.

Lundqvist has admitted to over-anticipating plays and being jumpy and it has shown this season. While it’s hard to fault him for a five-goal loss to the Islanders on Friday night when you consider they were getting shorthanded breakaways and odd-man rushes left and right, he isn’t bailing out the team that way he used to. And because Lundqvist isn’t bailing out his team the way he used to, it brings me to the next thing I’m asking for …

A New Rangers Defense
I asked for this last because this is going to be the most unrealistic of them all. It would be like asking for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this year.

Since 2008-09, the Rangers’ problem has been scoring goals, but now with Lundvist struggling and having a down year so far, preventing goals is even more of a problem. And if Lundqvist is going to be more human-like than King-like this season, the Rangers aren’t going anywhere because they don’t have the defense (especially with Marc Staal injured) many thought they did. Through the first 46 percent of the season, Lundqvist hasn’t been bailing out the incompetence of the Rangers defense the way he has through his entire career. But rather than focus on his entire career, let’s focus on since 2011-12 when the current Rangers defensive core started to become the foundation of the defense.

We all know that I don’t think the 2011-12 Rangers were worthy of the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed or as close as “two wins away from the Stanley Cup Final” as they technically were. They earned the top seed and won two series in Game 7 before losing the Devils in six because of Henrik Lundqvist. Not because of their offense and certainly not because of their defense. Lundqvist made everyone believe Dan Girardi was an All-Star and that Michael Del Zotto could be trusted in his own zone the same way Sidney Crosby has made everyone believe Chris Kunitz is some kind of superstar despite his career season-high in goals being 26 and now as a linemate of Number 87, he has 20 goals in just 39 games.

Prior to Lundqvist signing an extension, there was a worrying sense that overpaying Lundqvist would cost the Rangers a chance at re-signing Girardi this offseason. But right now I’m not sure anyone would want to sign Girardi. When he’s not falling down or giving the puck away, he’s busy scoring goals against his team, a stat which he must lead the league in by at least 15.

As for Del Zotto, it’s pretty obvious his time with the Rangers is dwindling. When the Rangers beat the Maple Leafs on Monday night at the Garden, I watched Del Zotto intently as the Rangers saluted from center ice and wondered if Del Zotto was thinking it could be one of the last times he would salute the MSG crowd. If it is, the Rangers will be a better team.

Merry Christmas!

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Blogs • Rangers

Dec 16, 2013

Searching for Two Points

As of Sunday, it had been 10 days since the Rangers picked up two points and a win, so it felt like the right time to do a Retro Recap of the third period against the Flames.

It’s been 10 days since the Rangers earned two points. In that time they have played four games, earning just one point and allowing four goals in all four games. What makes it even worse is that in the four games, the Rangers scored just seven goals with three of them coming in one game (Dec. 7 vs. New Jersey) and to make it even worse than that, all four games were at home and to make it even worse that that, Henrik Lundqvist started all four games. The Rangers’ high-water mark of the season has been one game over .500. They have achieved that six times this season, but have managed to fall back to .500 following each win to bring them over .500 (with the exception of that Dec. 7 shootout loss to the Devils, which made them 15-14-1).

With 33 games gone (40 percent of the season), the Rangers found themselves in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference entering Sunday’s game against the Flames at Madison Square Garden. And then 15 minutes into the game against the Flames, they found themselves trailing 2-0, marking the third straight game they trailed by at least two goals before finding the back of the net. But Derek Stepan would score with 4:35 left in the first (his first goal in 10 games) and Carl Hagelin would tie it at 2 at 7:29 of the the second period, which is the way it would stay through the second. And that’s where we pick things up in this Retro Recap.

THIRD PERIOD

20:00: The Rangers fought back to tie the game at 2 and now they will try to successfully complete a comeback by winning the third period or winning in overtime or a shootout. It’s been 10 days since the Rangers’ last win, but it feels like it’s been a month. That win came over Buffalo on Dec. 5, which probably shouldn’t even count for two points this season, considering Buffalo has an NHL-worst 17 points.

As they always do, Swedish House Mafia takes us to the opening faceoff of the period with “Save The World,” which asks, “Who’s gonna save the world tonight?” It’s probably going to have to be Henrik Lundqvist and it should be since he hasn’t done anything worthy of a king since signing his extension on Dec. 4, going just 1-3-1 since then.

John Giannone is doing the play-by-play with Sam Rosen in Atlanta today calling the Falcons-Redskins game for FOX. When my girlfriend heard Sam’s voice earlier in the day and put two and two together that it was the same voice she hears during Rangers games, her face lit up as if a light went off in her head and she looked like a little kid seeing and hearing Tim Allen in The Santa Claus and realizing that guy who turns into Santa is also the voice of Buzz Lightyear.

17:32: It’s been a slow two and a half minutes to open the period with not much happening for either team. The puck just hit Derick Brassard in the middle of a line change near the Rangers bench, which drew a whistle, but not a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, which the ref then had to explain to both benches to delay the game. That’s all the action we have seen so far in the third.

16:42: The Rangers lead 19-14 in shots, which isn’t good for Lundqvist’s save percentage. AV has Carl Hagelin playing with Brian Boyle, which completely cancels out Hagelin’s speed. Why would you want Hagelin and Boyle on the same line? You wouldn’t.

15:16: The Flames score. Anton Stralman and Mats Zuccarello both get beat in the corner (with Zuccarello falling down) and then Derick Brassard gets beat to the net by Sean Monahan as Curtis Glencross finds Monahan and he gets one past Lundqvist. Another odd, bad goal scored against Lundqvist and the Rangers will have to come back again.

14:03: Usually these Retro Recaps work. Actually I think they pretty much always work. Whether it’s the Rangers needing a win, the New York Football Giants needing to win the 2011 NFC Championship Game or Phil Hughes needing to pitch a gem, whenever I do a Retro Recap for a game, it turns out to be for the best. Just thought I would throw this fact out there now, while there’s still 14 minutes for the Rangers to tie it.

13:36: Michael Del Zotto rips a shot from the point into some Calgary shin pads the way that only Michael Del Zotto can and the puck comes out of the zone. Just when it looked like Del Zotto was playing his way out of the lineup for good and possibly out of the organization, he had to go and score that goal against Vancouver in his first game back following two consecutive healthy scratches and five of eight healthy scratches.

12:37: Chris Kreider receives a long pass as he streaks down the left side and lets a slap shot go from just inside the blue as the crowd gets up and excited for the first time in the third period. It’s never a good sign when you’re trailing by one goal, not generating any offense and the crowd is creating artificial excitement off a low-percentage shot on a 1-on-1.

10:34: Since I already touched on putting Hagelin and Boyle on the same line, let’s talk about the idea of pairing Del Zotto with Dan Girardi. Is this real life? You’re going to put the worst defenseman on the team with the second-worst defenseman on the team? When I wrote that last sentence/question I meant for Del Zotto to be “the worst defenseman on the team” and for Girardi to be “the second-worst defenseman” on the team, but then I realized they interchangeable and could be classified as either.

We know that Del Zotto serves limited purpose since he isn’t a defensive defenseman and hasn’t evolved in the offensive defenseman we thought he might turn out to be. So he’s now just a defensive liability who doesn’t do enough in his own zone to be worthy of playing time and doesn’t score enough to be worthy of playing time, but he’s still getting playing time and plenty of it. Remember when the supposed strong, young defensive core was the future of the Rangers? (Crickets … crickets … crickets.)

As for Girardi, I hope I don’t hear anyone mention the need to extend him between now and the end of the season. He scored his second goal of the season for the Rangers on Thursday night, but he has a long ways to go to make up for the 15 goals he has scored against Henrik Lundqvist this season.

And the best part about this defensive pair is their inability to hit the net with any shot from the point. They are the opponent’s best breakout strategy.

10:12: Dylan McIlrath gets his stick up on Mike Cammalleri on the way to the corner after Cammalleri initiated contact with McIlrath to position himself in a way that would avoid him getting destroyed along the boards. McIlrath gets called for high-sticking and the Flames have a chance to put this game away.

9:45: A whistle on the power play and we’re reminded that coming up is the “Foxwoods Final Five,” which is when Foxwoods sponsors the final five minutes of the game. In December, the Rangers have played six games and have lost five of them and have been trailing by at least two goals for the final five minutes of the five losses. Is anyone even watching the final five minutes of Rangers games? Wouldn’t Foxwoods be better off sponsoring the first five minutes of the game?

8:12: The Rangers kill off McIlrath’s penalty as the Flames aren’t able to put together or set up anything in the Rangers’ zone. It looked like what I imagine the Rangers’ power play against the Rangers’ penalty kill looks like at practice.

8:02: With just three shots so far in the period, Joe Micheletti says, “The Rangers need shots.” Thank you, Joe. Here I was thinking there would be another way for them to tie this game.

7:53: The Rangers score! Derek Stepan makes a nice move near the bottom of the left circle and gets the puck to the front of the net where Kreider is to put it home. And how exactly did the Rangers score? With a shot on net, of course. Joe Micheletti, you genius you!

4:58: There was a TV timeout with 6:44 left and since then it’s been all Calgary as the Rangers are having a tough time clearing the zone and getting a chance. It feels like a Flames goal is coming any second now and probably will before I finish writing this.

4:33: And the puck is finally out of the zone.

3:56: Cammalleri gets called for roughing, which is some nice payback after he drew the penalty earlier against McIlrath.

3:16: Rick Nash makes a nice move along the goal line and with the puck in the air headed toward Karri Ramo, Ramo paddles it out of the air and it goes over the glass for a delay of game penalty. It’s going to be a 5-on-3 for the Rangers for 1:20. Flames head coach Bob Hartley looks like he just got back to his car in the parking lot of a grocery store only to find a note on it that says, “Sorry, I hit your car. I picked up your bumper and put it on top of your trunk. I was in a hurry and had to go and you weren’t around. Here’s my number.”

2:44: The power play unit is Nash, Stepan, Kreider, Brad Richards and Ryan McDonagh. In other words: only people that should be playing on the power play.

1:56: Kreider gets called for high-sticking in front of the net on the power play and it’s going to be a double minor. What a terrible turn of events. From a 5-on-4 to a 5-on-3 to now 4-4 to then being down 5-on-4 for the rest of the third and then 4-on-3 in overtime.

Guns N’ Roses’ “Nighttrain” is now playing at the Garden, so maybe everything will be fine.

0:00: That will do it for the third. We’re headed to overtime. One point for the Rangers, but getting one point once every four games isn’t going to cut it.

OVERTIME

5:00: The Flames start overtime with a 4-on-3 advantage and the Rangers have Boyle, Girardi and McDonagh on the ice. Over/under 45 seconds until this game is over? If you want to use Boyle to kill penalties during regulation, I get it. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. But when you’re using him in overtime to kill penalties and to kill a 4-on-3, well that’s just irresponsible. He is no way the best forward on the team suited for this role

4:23: A huge save by Lundqvist in front on Glencross, which momentarily saves the game for the Rangers. 30 big save on glen

3:26: Dominic Moore is now on the ice as the lone forward in the 4-on-3 and McDonagh is still on the ice, having played all of overtime so far.

2:56: Kreider’s penaty is killed off and I lost that under bet from earlier too.

2:16: Del Zotto sends a nice, long flip pass across the ice to lead Kreider, but it’s too hard to handle for Kreider to turn into a breakaway and he gets stopped. “Sandstorm” now blaring at MSG. With this soundtrack, how can the Rangers lose?

:40: Kreider and Del Zotto have a 2-on-1 chance, but with the puck bouncing on the ice, Kreider can’t handle it and the play is broken up.

0:00: That will do it for overtime. We’re headed for a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

Rangers: Mats Zuccarello starts things off by fooling everyone in the world. Instead of his patented move that has led him to a 50 perecent career success rate in shootouts, he comes down the right side and cuts into the middle moving slowly like usual, but then just snaps a shot off top tit on Ramo. 1-0 Rangers.

Flames: Former Bruin and lanky fourth-liner Joe Colborne comes down and somehow dekes Lundqvist to tie the shootout at 1.

Rangers: Nash makes a nice moves, but at the end when he tries to slide it in just inside the post on his forehand, Ramo’s right pad is there to stop it. If Nash had lifted the puck, it’s an easy goal.

Flames: Jiri Hudler gets stoned by Lundqvist

Rangers: Stepan can’t score.

Flames: Lundqvist stops Monahan.

Rangers: Richards comes flying down and wrists one medium tit or maybe three-quarters tit on Ramo. 2-1 Rangers and with a Lundqvist save, it’s over.

Flames: Lee Stempniak loses the puck and regains it in time to backhand one on the ice through Lundqvist’s legs as he moves right to left. We’re tied again.

Rangers: Brassard gets stopped.

Flames: I thought Cammalleri would end it, but he can’t.

Rangers: Dominic Moore rips one from the slot to the left side to give the Rangers a 3-2 shootout lead and a chance for Lundqvist to close it out again.

Flames: Lundqvist wants to see how long this Retro Recap can be as Paul Byron scores on him to tie it again.

Rangers: Benoit Pouliot goes to Nash’s one-hand move and gets the puck past Ramo with ease. Out of all the times I have seen the move done, never before has it pulled a goalie so far to one side, leaving basically an entire half of the net for Pouliot to slide it in. Come on, Lundqvist.

Flames: Lundqvist closes it out by stopping Mikael Backlund and looks tired and worn out doing so after raising his arms to the Garden rafters in triumph.

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t against a good team, but a win’s a win. After 65 minutes of play and seven shootout rounds, the Rangers have their two points. They earned them.

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Blogs • Rangers

Dec 4, 2013

The Henrik Lundqvist Extension

Glen Sather made the one move he’s absolutely had to make as Rangers general manager: extend Henrik Lundqvist.

Here were my reactions in order after hearing Alain Vigneault was going to bench Henrik Lundqvist in favor of Cam Talbot.

1. (Laughter)

2. What?

3. Is this real life?

4. Are you effing nuts, AV?

Henrik Lundqvist has been the sole reason for any Rangers success in the post-lockout era with maybe the exception of his rookie season in 2005-06. Then again, the Rangers’ success that season was going to be defined by just making the playoffs for the first time in forever (or nine years) and that’s why their five-game, first-round loss to the Devils wasn’t viewed as much of a disappointment. The face of the franchise, the backbone of the organization and the one man responsible for the Rangers’ postseason drought not running into its 17th year was going to be benched for a 26-year-old rookie with seven career starts? Oh …

Benching Lundqvist wasn’t going to go over well with Lundqvist (even if he pretended like he was fine with the decision) and it wasn’t going to go over well with a fan base wondering why a first-year Rangers head coach would decide to shake things up like Coach Orion taking over for Gordon Bombay. The only way for the controversy to end would be if the Rangers were to lose when Talbot started in place of Lundqvist. So in order for everything to be righted, the Rangers would need to give up two valuable points. And that’s what happened.

But let’s live in an “if” world for a minute. What if the Rangers had won against the Jets on Monday night? Talbot would have to start in Buffalo on Thursday after winning back-to-back games as the now No. 1 goalie, which would then turn a seemingly harmless one-game break for Lundqvist in an Olympic-condensed season into a full-blown controversy. A win over the Jets would have forced the Vigneault-created crisis to take on a life of its own. What would be made of AV’s inability to manage goalies after the Roberto Luongo-Cory Schneider disaster in Vancouver? What would become of Lundqvist if Talbot were to win again in Buffalo on Thursday and consistently win? What would happen with the relationship of the new head coach and the face of the franchise? What would this do for Lundqvist’s impending free agency? Most importantly, what would become of Lundqvist’s contract negotiations and extension?

Luckily, none of that matters now and not because the Rangers lost to the Jets in their quest to never separate themselves more than one game over the .500 mark. It doesn’t matter now because Glen Sather did the one general managerial he absolutely had to do since becoming Rangers general manager in 2000: extend Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist will be a Ranger next year. After signing a seven-year extension, he will be a Ranger for the next seven years. He will be a Ranger for his entire career (well, unless he is looking for some money when he’s 38 and the Rangers aren’t willing to give it to him, but that’s something we can worry about for the 2020-21 season).

A lot of people are unhappy with the years and dollars committed to the 31-year-old and the belief of paying him for what he has done over the last seven years and not what he will do over the next seven years. But it was going to take the Rangers giving Lundqvist a seventh year and it was going to take at least $8 million per season to keep him in New York with the free-agent market waiting and teams with better futures and more realistic Cup-winning chances ready to break the bank. So if you wanted Lundqvist to retire as a Ranger and one day watch him raise his Number 30 in MSG then that means you were fine with what it wound up costing. And if you wanted Lundqvist to stay, but at a lesser price, then you never really wanted him to stay or at least were fine with him leaving.

Sure, there’s a very good chance and pretty much a certainty that the 37- and 38-year-old Lundqvist won’t be posting the 1.97 GAA that the 29-year-old Lundqvist did or the 11 shutouts that the 28-year-old Lundqvist did. But right now this Rangers team (and by “this Rangers team” I mean the 2014-15, 2016-17, and so on teams because he is already on and under contract with the current Rangers team) needs Lundqvist. They can’t worry about what his level of play will be like in 2019-20 and 2020-21. This June it will be 20 years since the Rangers won the Stanley Cup and without Lundqvist the chances of that drought ending in the near future weren’t going to improve. In the spirit of Christmas, let’s borrow the Ghost of Rangers past to show how every post-Cup Rangers season has ended.

1994-95: Lost second round
1995-96: Lost second round
1996-97: Lost conference finals
1997-98: Missed playoffs
1998-99: Missed playoffs
1999-00: Missed playoffs
2000-01: Missed playoffs
2001-02: Missed playoffs
2002-03: Missed playoffs
2003-04: Missed playoffs
2005-06: Lost first round
2006-07: Lost second round
2007-08: Lost second round
2008-09: Lost first round
2009-10: Missed playoffs
2010-11: Lost first round
2011-12: Lost conference finals
2012-13: Lost second round

Still worried about and want to complain about having a 36-, 37- and 38-year-old Lundqvist? Does anyone really want to complain about having the best goalie in the world in 2014-15 because of what he might be in five-plus years?

The biggest knock on Lundqvist during his career has been his “inability” to lead the Rangers to the Cup or even the Stanley Cup Final, which is a comical knock since one person isn’t going to lead any team to the Cup by single-handedly winning four seven-game series against only the best teams in the league. Once the 83rd game of the season starts everyone seems to forget that Lundqvist is actually the one mostly responsible for getting the Rangers to that 83rd game and the “What have you done for me lately?” crowd takes over. The same crowd that booed Marian Gaborik because he didn’t want to use 40-goal scoring body as a shot-blocking pylon for John Tortorella and muck it up in the corners like a fourth-line grinder. The same crowd that jumps on their seat and causes chaos in the aisles over free T-shirts during TV timeouts. But here’s something that crowd probably doesn’t know or doesn’t care enough to know.

The Rangers have reached the postseason in four of the last five years. In that time, they are 19-25 in the playoffs, which means Lundqvist is 19-25 in the playoffs over that time. In those 25 playoff losses, the Rangers have scored 36 goals or 1.44 goals per game. Here is the breakdown by goals scored in the losses and how many times they scored each amount of goals:

0 goals: 5
1 goal: 9
2 goals: 8
3 goals: 3
4 or more goals: 0

That’s 14 playoff losses when the Rangers couldn’t score more than one goal and 22 when they couldn’t score more than two.

No, Lundqvist’s career will never be complete without winning it all. He knows that. That’s why the thought of going to the open market and a better place caused these negotiations to drag on through the first two-plus months of the season. He knows that when it comes time to raise his Number 30 that if it he must do so without his name on the Cup, it will as empty as buying a brand new house, but being unable to furnish it.

The Rangers and their fans need new memories. The 1993-94 season was two decades ago and the team, the Garden and the MSG Network have exhausted every possible perspective to recapture and remember the Cup run. The first step in trying to create those memories has always been locking up Henrik Lundqvist.

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Blogs • Email Exchanges • Rangers

Nov 20, 2013

Rangers-Bruins Brings Out War of Words

With the Rangers and Bruins meeting for the first time this season I had to email Mike Miccoli to get his thoughts on the game throughout the entire game.

Rangers games feel different and more important when facing the Bruins. Even though it’s just one of 82 games and the usual two points are on the line, it has the feel of a playoff game and there’s actually more than just two points on the line with the history between the two Original Six franchises and their fans.

Because of this extra importance and because it’s only one of three games between the two teams this season and because I wasn’t going to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night after having to watch Sunday night’s 1-0 letdown against the Kings in person, I decided to see what my freshman year of college roommate Mike Miccoli, who covers the Bruins for The Hockey Writers, was up to for the game. Luckily, he was also watching the game from his apartment in Boston and agreed to trade emails with me during it.

7:26 P.M.

Keefe: Two years ago when the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Final I asked you if the Bruins won the Cup, would you be willing to have the Red Sox suck for the next 10 years while the Yankees won five World Series during that time? You didn’t hesitate to say yes. Let’s recap what has happened since then.

After June 2011, the Yankees were bounced in five games that fall in the ALDS, losing Game 5 to the Tigers at Yankee Stadium, but the Red Sox completed the worst regular-season collapse in baseball history. Everything going according to plan so far.

In 2012, the Yankees lost in four games in the ALCS to the Tigers, while Derek Jeter destroyed his ankle, Robinson Cano made a makeshift lounge chair in the dugout and A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher were hopefully playing drunk during the series. But the Red Sox had the worst season imaginable under Bobby Valentine. So with two years down, I figured that meant the Yankees would win five of the next eight world Series.

But then in 2013, things changed and not just in baseball. The Bruins overcame a three-goal deficit in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, nearly blowing a 3-1 series lead before the most epic of comebacks. Then they embarrassed the Rangers in five games and the Penguins in four games and were just over a minute away from sending the Stanley Cup Final back to Chicago for Game 7. Also this year, the Yankees endured so many injuries to their starting lineup that I actually missed Francisco Cervelli and found myself hoping that Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells could carry the 2013 Yankees, which didn’t end well and the Yankees missed the postseason for the second time since 1993. Meanwhile, the Red Sox rebounded from their disastrous season to win their third World Series in 10 years and third since I met you freshman year of college.

In this calendar year, you have gone to Game 6 of the Cup Final, the AFC Championship Game and won the World Series. I have endured the Rangers losing to your Bruins, Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin era falling apart (though it might be turning now) and the second-worst Yankees season of the last 20 years. Before we can get into this game tonight, I want to know: How the eff did you reverse the curse you put on your fandom and Boston sports?

 

7:50 P.M.

Miccoli: Remember the first weekend in our 1105 dorm room? Probably not, but that’s cool because I don’t really either. I realized after the first week of classes that I didn’t own one piece of Red Sox gear. See, back in Rhode Island, you could get away with a Pawtucket Red Sox hat as your gear of choice, walking down the Providence Place Mall with a giant, red “P” on your dome. Of course, I’d probably have some type of Bruins gear instead, but that’s neither here or there, especially with the lockout looming after a disappointing Boston exit from the playoffs by the hands of the Canadiens.

ANYWAY. I decided to buy a Red Sox hat to fit in around the city and get girls to talk to me. That didn’t work at all but hey, six weeks later, the Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years and then did it again when we were seniors and could legally get into bars instead of watching in our dorm room. Guess which hat I was wearing last month when they did it again?

Although it’s probably stupid for me to credit it all on a hat, I really don’t have a better answer for you so we’ll go with that. As far as the Bruins go, I guess you can say it’s just better to go along for the ride.

When I was growing up a youth in Rhode Island, nobody knew much about hockey. I know that sounds like an exaggerated statement, but I’m dead serious. All throughout my time in elementary school, the Bruins were an afterthought to everyone–the amount of times I had to explain my hockey fandom was insane. So this is nice. It helps that the sport evolved and the team has gotten worlds better, but for a period of time, Boston was the Bruins’ city. That was both weird and really cool. Even though the Red Sox are the city’s reigning champions (it’s SO hard to keep up with that, these days), I’d say the Bruins are still pretty damn important.

I’m excited for tonight’s game though. The Bruins are still in that ‘we don’t know how good we are yet so we’ll just let teams hang in games and figure it out, cool?’ stage. You, of course, know that I think the Rangers are a perennial good team, and always a challenge for Boston. This time though, I’m curious to see if Torey Krug can still give Henrik Lundqvist nightmares.

 

7:57 P.M.

Keefe: You do always think the Rangers are a perennial good team, which is nice during the regular season, but in the Henrik Lundqvist era (post-lockout), here is how their eight seasons have ended (none of these are Lundqvist’s fault):

2005-06: Lost in first round
2006-07: Lost in second round
2007-08: Lost in second round
2008-09: Lost in first round
2009-10: Missed playoffs
2010-11: Lost in first round
2011-12: Lost in conference finals
2012-13: Lost in second round

So as you can see, I’m beginning to think your idea of them being a perennial good team is just your attempt at a sneaky reverse jinx. You’re sick!

I’m not sure if Torey Krug gives Henrik Lundqvist nightmares, but he definitely gives me them since I’m 100 percent sure that if Torey Krug doesn’t come out of nowhere (like actual nowhere) and suddenly turn into Ray Bourque 2.0 (little known fact: Ray Bourque is my favorite player of all time) in the conference semifinals last May, then the Rangers face the Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. That’s not my opinion or a hypothetical, that’s a fact.

As I type this, the Rangers just blew a power-play chance (no surprise there) and Chris Kreider just had one of the sloppiest penalty shot attempts you will ever see. I think it’s time I offer you another chance to set Boston sports back.

 

8:11 P.M.

Miccoli: It must have been awhile since you’ve been to Boston since the Torey Krug statue is already being erected next to Orr’s outside TD Garden. Although, he has looked brutal in own end so far this game. When Derek Dorsett is beating you for loose pucks in your own end, you probably should re-evaluate some things.

No disrespect to the Rangers power play, even though their unit did look pretty crappy, but the Bruins have now killed 33 straight penalties. That’s pretty insane, right? Right around Halloween, the Bruins were near the bottom of the NHL on the penalty kill. Now? Number two. If you can’t capitalize when one of the Bruins’ top PKers is in the box, when will you be able to?

Speaking of scoring, it’s not happening this game, is it? The Rangers aren’t exactly lighting it up at home and the Bruins are facing a netminder who has incredible numbers when playing in his own crease. Luckily, Boston hasn’t looked too out of sorts even though they’re playing in their second game in as many nights. I’m just thankful that Tuukka Rask got the start instead of the new number 30, Chad Johnson. And I say that as I watch the game in my Tim Thomas jersey, shaking on my couch. Just kidding, except not really.

 

8:28 P.M.

Keefe: I have seen Chad Johnson play for the Bruins this season and therefore I knew he was wearing number 30, but I didn’t really put two and two together and realize that they gave Thomas’ number away so quickly. Kind of weird. But I guess when you do the things that Tim Thomas did during the 2011-12 season and then quit on the team and quit the game while still under contract, it doesn’t matter if you won the Conn Smythe and led the team to their first Cup since 1972.

When my girlfriend asked me what I thought the score would be tonight, I said I had to wait until I found out if Tuukka Rask was going to play. Once I found out he was I said 1-0, if not then 2-1 because that’s the score whenever Lundqvist and Rask face each other (at least in the regular season).

It’s not a good feeling that after 20 minutes and the way the Rangers dominated the play and had a penalty shot, a semi breakaway for Rick Nash and a perfect deflection through Rask’s leg that the game is tied 0-0. This has a feeling of a 1-0 Bruins win with the Bruins’ fourth line scoring some garbage double or maybe triple deflection goal. Either that or Dan Girardi will score on Lundqvist himself since that’s what Dan Girardi thinks he’s supposed to do in a contract year.

 

8:40 P.M.

Miccoli: I think the Bruins are on their heels. Right after I typed that “Boston doesn’t look too out of sorts …” they began to revert into the type of team that does nothing but allow their opponents to walk in and take control of the game. The Rangers have 16 shots on net compared to the Bruins’ six. That’s not comforting especially when the Bruins just announced that their No. 2 defenseman, Dennis Seidenberg, was going to miss the rest of the game.

Maybe this is New York’s chance to explode offensively. Take away Chara and Johnny Boychuk and then the Rangers are left to beat Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Krug. While they’ll probably develop into fine blue-liners, it’s not the squad you want to have out there for 50-plus minutes of a hockey game when shorthanded.

There’s also a very good chance I’m giving the Rangers too much credit. My roommate, also a Rangers fan (I’m not sure how I keep finding myself in these situations) says that I am. But defense wins championships, which means that they win hockey games too. Want to tell New York how to win? Get Chara tired and outwork the other five.

 

8:45 P.M.

(Shawn Thornton scores.)

Keefe: After what I sent in my last email and what just happened, do I need to write anything?

 

8:47 P.M.

Miccoli: Shawn Thornton: bonafide sniper. Every single goal he has scored this season has been a beauty, which makes it a shame when people say he’s “just a fighter.” Sure! The fourth line enforcer just lit up one of the best goaltenders in the world.

 

8:52 P.M.

Keefe: Well, he does have 35 goals in 514 career games, so it only makes sense that he scores against Henrik Lundqvist tonight.

I went to the game on Sunday night against the Kings and was devastated at a 1-0 loss. Who wants to see a 1-0 regular-season game in which your team loses? At least if this score holds up, and the way Rask is playing it might, I will be happy that I decided to not go tonight and sit on the couch and exchange emails with you during the game instead. All we need now is a couple of twin beds, a box TV, a Playstation 2 with MVP 2005 and a couple of cluster roommates plugging in their amps to reenact an Ozzfest concert on the other side of the wall at 4 a.m. or playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with their homemade surround sound.

Here’s a real question: Are these the best two goalies in the world? I think so.

 

8:59 P.M.

Miccoli: As I write this, the Bruins have nine shots on net. The Rangers have 24 and Tuukka Rask has stopped every single one. Are these the best two goalies in the world? Right now, yes. I think that you could probably make a case for Jon Quick and Pekka Rinne, but for now it’s these two.

What’s exciting about Rask is that he’s just entering his prime. Coming off an eight-year extension, it’s possible that he could be one of the most elite goaltenders in Boston’s history. He’s the perfect fit for a team that doesn’t score a ton of goals and plays in a structured, defensive system. The Bruins need Rask to be on his best every night and with the exception of Friday’s loss against the Ottawa Senators, he has been.

Oh, a Bruins shorthanded goal from Diamond Daniel Paille. Jack Edwards just said that the only place in New York that’s quieter than the Garden is the New York Public Library. And now a Bronx cheer?! What is this?!

 

9:06 P.M.

Keefe: That Bronx cheer was unexpected, but that’s going to happen when the MSG crowd is full of suits, who couldn’t tell you what number Henrik Lundqvist wears and just know that when the team in white scores on the team in blue it’s bad. Bronx cheers need to be saved for when Brian Boyle is used on the power play. We can’t be wasting them on the best goalie in the world giving up a breakaway goal.

And there’s the first Rangers goal in 127:06 of hockey! Just when I was beginning to think they might get shutout for the second game … in a row … at home. It wasn’t that crazy of a thought since they had last scored 5:25 into the second period in Montreal on Saturday night.

Yes, the Derick Brassard goal just saved the game, but what saved it more than cutting the deficit to one was the timing of it, coming just after the Bruins scored. And as NBC Sports goes to break, the slow-motion replay shows the puck splitting a a pair of legs on the way to the net. No, the Rangers can’t score on penalty shots or breakaways or odd-man rushes or power plays, but they can score through an accidental screen and deflection off a shin pad.

The 1-0 prediction is done, but the 2-1 is still alive. How are the Bruins playing so well after playing Carolina just 24 hours ago? You should see how the Rangers play on the second night of a back-to-back.

And Derek Dorsett heads to the box…

 

9:08 P.M.

Keefe: Before you can even respond, the Rangers kill off Dorsett’s penalty and now he’s going back to the box!

 

9:16 P.M.

Miccoli: I hope you were able to find comfort in the Bruins last power play. The one aspect of the Bruins’ game that hasn’t sucked as per usual is the power play. Maybe it’s Krug on the point, or Chara in front, but it’s been better.

Now, 30 seconds into their second power play, it seems to be more of the same. Bad entry into the zone, not enough possession and that stupid dump and chase from the neutral zone. Want to know who still uses the dump and chase? Peewee hockey teams that can’t skate. The Bruins are a big, physical team that unfortunately lacks speed. When they start to skate it into the zone, they find better success. It’s not working tonight because the Rangers are a faster team and their few shorthanded attempts have proved that. They’re beating the Bruins to the puck and winning the races.

Now with the Bruins getting one shot in two back-to-back power plays, it might be time to be worried. Twenty minutes left in a one-goal game between the Rangers and the Bruins. What happens in the third? Do you think national hero Gregory Campbell puts one home and completes the trifecta of fourth liners who can score on Lundqvist?

 

9:25 P.M.

Keefe: I don’t think there’s any doubt that Gregory Campbell is going to score and go home with the game-winning goal tonight. Is there somewhere taking in-game prop bets where I can bet on this?

In the third, I do expect the Rangers to tie it. They have dominated the play and have had several high-quality scoring chances and those chances have come in flurries. Now that they have broken the Bruins’ Koji Uehara-like penalty killing streak, maybe they can get another power play (if Dorsett allows them to) to tie the game. It would only be fitting if Rick Nash were to score in his return after missing 16 games thanks to a Brad Stuart elbow.

Speaking of Brad Stuart, it’s disgusting that he’s back on the Sharks now playing with Joe Thornton in the trade that never should have happened. But I guess Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm were worth trading the only player in majors sports history to be traded DURING his MVP season.

 

9:43 P.M.

Miccoli: That’s still a bit frustrating to me, even if the trade did lead to Zdeno Chara and Marc Savard and a Cup, whatever. I remember being in my dorm room, this was the post-Neil era, thinking that Marco Sturm had the potential to be a 35-plus goal scorer and Brad Stuart was destined to be a number-one defenseman. LOL, right?

Speaking of frustrating, no Bruin is having more of a trying season than Brad MarchAND. Not only did he just realize that we’ve been saying his name wrong for the past four years, his on-ice performance has been less than stellar. He’s made a ton of stupid mistakes, hey look a dirty check on Mats Zuccarello, hasn’t been able to find the back of the net and has been a turnover machine. You hope (not you, but you get it) that it’s just a slump and that he’s getting used to his new linemate, Loui Eriksson replacing Tyler Seguin. Personally, I think MarchAND still has the ability to be a 30+ goal scorer this season and be an impact player for the team.

But how many times will Claude Julien ‘send a message’ by benching him or demoting him to the fourth line before he’s scratched? It worked, kind of, for Milan Lucic last year. After being a healthy scratch, he rebounded by ending the season strong and is now the top goal scorer on the Bruins. It’s similar to what the Rangers went through with Brad Richards, except, you know, almost $3 million cheaper.

Also, when did Chris Kreider become the most exciting New York Ranger to watch?

 

9:52 P.M.

Keefe: Hey, now. Brad Richards has been the Rangers’ best offensive player this season. All of that amnesty buyout talk from the offseason is long gone and so are the days of Richards being made a fourth-liner and then a healthy scratch because John Tortorella, his so-called friend, decided to start making examples of people with the Rangers’ one loss away from elimination. It’s good to see Richards get the last laugh as the Rangers’ current leading scorer while Tortorella was fired and now is abusing Canadian media members.

It’s kind of weird that Tortorella is in Vancouver and now Alain Vigneault is here with the two switching places. I was never the biggest AV (yes, that’s what he told Glen Sather to call him and said he wants to go by) fan when he was the coach of the Canucks, but I think that was more a product of the players he was coaching and not the type of coach he is. I have enjoyed watching him actually use guys with scoring ability and talent as actual scorers and not shot-blocking pylons or grinders or bruisers. It’s too bad Marian Gaborik had to be moved because of Tortorella because if Gaborik was able to score 40-plus goals twice under Tortorella, what would he have been able to do under AV?

I’m sure for you that you have a much different perspective and much different feelings toward AV since he was the coach of the hated 2010-11 Canucks team that went the distance with your Bruins.

And Chris Kreider became the most exciting Ranger to watch when I wrote at the end of October that the organization needed to stop Joba Chamberlain-ing him and sending him up and down and not letting him the freedom to become the first-round pick and top-six forward they envisioned. Since his call-up and utilization in a set role on a real line in an offensive system, he has been the player that Sather didn’t want to trade for Nash in February 2011 (though I wanted to and still wish they had).

But really he became the most exciting Ranger just tonight.

 

10:02 P.M.

Miccoli: Did I ever tell you how much I like John Tortorella? I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true. I remember covering the Eastern Conference Semifinals last season and going to his press conference, all excited to see him whip out some quick wit and dry humor. True story, I tried to avoid eye contact at all costs. It was like going to a bad stand-up comedy show and trying not to make any false moves in fear that you’d get picked on. I’ve never been more scared in my life.

Anyway, I like what AV has done with the team so far. Even after the skid to start the season, it’s evident that the Rangers are a different team. They’re motivated and he’s added another element to the roster.

With four minutes left in the game and the Bruins playing the way that they are, I can’t see a way that they pull this off unless Lundqvist is pulled and Milan Lucic scored an empty netter to win it. I don’t have the exact stats, but out of his nine goals, there’s a good chance that four have come with nobody in net.

 

10:05 P.M.

Keefe: Speaking of underachievers and stats like that, Derek Stepan has four goals this season and three of them were in one game. That is an exact stat. And he has been terrible tonight, fanning on several shots and failing to keep the puck in the offensive zone.

Meanwhile I just officially welcomed Dan Girardi to the A.J. Burnett/Boone Logan/Kevin Gilbride/Brian Boyle/Nick Swisher Etc. Club. I have wanted to for a while now, but I was waiting for the right moment and then two awful breakdowns on back-to-back shifts made me realize now was the time.

There is 2:20 left. The Rangers have one goal since the second period of Saturday’s game. They aren’t scoring here.

 

10:08 P.M.

Miccoli: The Bruins fourth line is out on the ice with a minute left in the game. Now, with 17 seconds, the refs decide to blow the play dead with Chris Kelly on his way to score on the empty net. That’s good. I was getting tired of listening to the blown call on the Patriots from last night. I’m glad we can forget about that call and focus on this one now.

 

10:13 P.M.

Keefe: It’s OK because the faceoff is at center ice and that will do it. The Rangers lose 2-1 and drop two home games in three days despite allowing just three goals combined. But it’s easy to lose like that when you only score one goal in 120 minutes.

I was thinking that this year would be different and that the Rangers wouldn’t just rely on Henrik Lundqvist to post a shutout every single game, which has been their game plan since the 2008-09 season. But so far it hasn’t been.

I guess I’m happy I didn’t waste the time and money to go the Garden tonight and watch that in person. Just 10 days until these two teams meet again for the second and second-to-last time this season. That means Greg Campbell will have to wait 10 more days to get his first goal of the season.

 

10:18 P.M.

Miccoli: There’s always the Giants. And the prospect of Robinson Cano wearing blue and orange.

Happy days in New York! I look forward to the Thanksgiving Day showdown and another one-goal game. Maybe a team will score three goals this time!

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