Monthly Archives: November 2016
Quick Hits Recap: Rangers down the Hurricanes for a much needed win
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Despite a pretty rough first 40 minutes, the Rangers (16-7-1) managed to shake off their slow start and score three unanswered goals to defeat the Carolina Hurricanes for the 12th straight time at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers struggled to get much of anything going for the first two periods, managing just 12 shots on goal and giving up two goals to former Ranger Viktor Stalberg in the first period. But if there’s one thing this team has been able to do this season, and that’s capitalize on their chances and come back from early holes.
The first Stalberg goal came after Nick Holden made a weird play, kicking the puck right to the crease after blocking a shot, and it went right to Stalberg. Holden then missed his block and seemed to screen Lundqvist, which led to the goal. The second was a truly awful play by Kevin Klein, who lost the puck and essentially gave it to Jay McClement. He passed it to Stalberg as Rick Nash tripped and fell into Lundqvist. Easy finish for Stalberg. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers look to rebound against the Hurricanes; Grabner and Miller questionable
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a disappointing effort against the Senators in which the Rangers (15-7-1) could not get anything going offensively, Alain Vigneault and his squad will look to pick up a much needed rebound win over the Carolina Hurricanes (9-8-4) tonight at MSG.
The Rangers are coming off of a shutout loss, while the Hurricanes are coming off of a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers. It’s been a long rebuild process for the Canes, but every year it seems that they’re becoming more and more competitive. They scored three unanswered goals and got 31 saves from Michael Leighton for his first NHL win since 2010.
The Rangers are showing signs of regressing to their 2015-16 form, with defensive issues, little possession and scoring chances and too much reliance on the goaltender. They’ve won just two of their last six games and are dealing with injuries and some other issues. Given that it’s only 23 games into the season, there’s still time to get out of this funk and a win tonight would be big. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers get a lot of shots, but are shut out by Anderson and the Senators
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers (15-7-1) could not make it two wins in a row, as they were able to get more shots on goal but could not covert that into offense, falling 2-0 to Craig Anderson and the Ottawa Senators (14-7-1) despite a 33-20 edge in shots.
Recently, the Rangers have been the ones getting outshot and out possessed, but coming away with wins for the most part. Despite turning the tables tonight, they were shut out, mostly because their shots were not from high danger areas. The Rangers had some pretty good chances when they were able to break through the Senators’ defense, but Anderson answered the call.
There wasn’t a lot going on for the Blueshirts in terms of their usual breakaways, because the Senators did a really good job eliminating the Rangers’ speed game. Ottawa clogged up the neutral zone, pushed the Rangers skaters to the outside and mostly eliminated a lot of the good scoring chances. It was a pretty disappointing effort from the Rangers coming off of a game where they barely came away with a win over the Flyers, nearly blowing it in the third period. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers back on home ice as they battle the Senators; Brassard comes back to MSG
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers (15-6-1) were lucky to escape Philly with a win, but they’ll look to start another win streak tonight when they take on the Ottawa Senators (13-7-1) to kick off a brief two game home stand.
The Rangers were badly outshot, 42-23, in their win over the Flyers, and were able to secure a win thanks to an exceptional goaltending performance from Henrik Lundqvist. Goals from Derek Stepan, Matt Puempel and Kevin Hayes were enough for Hank to steal a victory.
The Senators also won their last game, giving them three straight wins to put them in second place in their division. Dion Phaneuf and Kyle Turris both found the back of the net and Craig Anderson made 30 saves to pick up a win over Carolina. Read the rest of this entry
Could Oscar Lindberg be part of a trade for a defenseman?
Bobby Bevilacqua
Yesterday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers saw Matt Puempel make his debut as a Ranger just three days after he was claimed off of waivers. He had no points and a minus-five rating in 13 games with the Senators, but Vigneault gave him an opportunity on the fourth line.
It wound up paying off, as the 23-year-old former first round pick played a pretty good game, skating for 12 minutes and scoring a goal. Puempel described himself as an offensive player (213 points in 195 OHL games) and that he was looking forward to a fresh start. Perhaps that’s just what he needed, as a change of scenery can do wonders for a player.
But Puempel’s insertion into the lineup meant that Oscar Lindberg was the healthy scratch. Lindberg has played mostly out of necessity because of injuries, and has only appeared in nine of the team’s 22 games, recording no goals and one assists. Read the rest of this entry
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