Blog Archives
Rangers head back home to battle the Lightning; Kreider doubtful
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a brief stop in Carolina that resulted in a 3-2 loss, the Rangers (5-3-0) look to get back to their winning ways when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightning (5-3-0) at Madison Square Garden.
In that loss to Carolina, Mats Zuccarello scored both Rangers goals, giving him four this season. Pavel Buchnevich recorded an assist in his first game back from back spasms, and Ryan McDonagh also tallied an assist, on a marvelous stretch pass, to extend his six game point streak. Mika Zibanajad’s assist kept him at a point-per-game pace through eight games (2-6-8).
The Lightning played last night in Newark, falling to the Devils by a score of 3-1. Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed three goals on 20 shots and the team’s lone goal came from Tyler Johnson. Tampa Bay has had trouble with starting slow, and that happened again when they gave up two goals in the first period to New Jersey. Read the rest of this entry
Brandon Pirri might end up being the steal of the summer
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
When the Rangers signed Brandon Pirri to a one year, $1.1 million contract this offseason, many fans and blogs covering the team were thrilled. The deal was a bargain and he’s a shifty, smart player with a knack for scoring. Despite bouncing around the league a bit, Pirri has shown flashes of being a really special player.
Initially drafted by Chicago, Pirri really made his mark with the Florida Panthers. In 21 games with them in 2014, he scored seven goals and 14 points. The following season he wound up scoring 22 goals in 49 games, showcasing his elite shooting ability. Prior to the start of this season, Pirri was scoring at a rate of 1.31 goals per 60 minutes, higher than Evgeni Malkin, John Tavares, James Neal, Brad Marchand and Zach Parise over the last three years.
After splitting time between the Panthers and the Ducks last year, Pirri was surprisingly not given a qualifying offer by the Ducks and the Rangers were able to snatch him up. And he’s been a fantastic signing so far. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers beat Boston with five straight goals; Pirri and Vesey remain red-hot
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The game started pretty awfully for Alain Vigneault and his club, but the Rangers (5-2-0) showed resiliency and the talent of their team in a 5-2 comeback victory over the Boston Bruins (3-4-0).
The Bruins opened the scoring just 10 seconds into the game and wound up leading 2-0, but a potent power play and a three goal second period helped fuel a comeback win for New York. Brandon Pirri led the way with two goals, including the game winner, while Rick Nash, Jimmy Vesey and Kevin Hayes also scored. Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves.
Here’s my recap with some thoughts and opinions; Read the rest of this entry
Rangers aim for third straight win against Bruins; Kreider maybe more than day-to-day
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
After a two day break following two weekend wins, the Rangers (4-2-0) will aim to extend their win streak to three games when they take on the Boston Bruins (3-3-0) tonight at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers are dealing with a few early injury bugs, forcing them to insert Oscar Lindberg into the lineup ahead of time and place Pavel Buchnevich on IR. Alain Vigneault said that leading scorer Chris Kreider was having “a tough time moving” and that his neck spasms might keep him out longer than day-to-day. Buchnevich is on IR for the time being but has been practicing in a non-contact jersey, so he may be ready for Friday.
The Bruins had a few of their own injuries, having to make two call-ups in net for their game last night against the Wild. Malcolm Subban and Zane McIntyre both played in Boston’s 5-0 loss. Tuukka Rask may have tweaked his hamstring and Anton Khudobin is out for about three weeks so it’ll probably be those two again tonight. Read the rest of this entry
No need to worry, the Rangers are much better than their .500 record
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Through four games this season, the Rangers are doing fine with a 2-2-0 record. Although there was a lot of hype built up around the forwards and the youth movement GM Jeff Gorton seems to be going for, given the state of the defense this is a pretty good start.
While it’s only been four games and things can change in a flash, there should be a sense of confidence throughout the locker room and among the fans. I wasn’t expecting to have this much fun watching the Rangers this year, but from what I’ve seen so far, they have me really excited for not only the future, but seeing how far this forward group can carry the team this season.
So far, the Rangers have scored 15 goals in four games this season, and that was with the team scoring just one two days ago against the Red Wings. The 12 goals allowed is a little higher than many would have hoped for, but that was somewhat expected when you have Nick Holden as your top pairing defenseman playing on his offside. Read the rest of this entry
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