Blog Archives
Rangers back home to take on the Sharks; McIlrath in for Girardi
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Following a fantastic offensive effort in a game against the St. Louis Blues, the Rangers (1-1-0) are back at Madison Square Garden for four of the next five games, starting tonight against last year’s Western Conference Champs, the San Jose Sharks (2-0-0).
The teams split the two meetings last season, with the home team winning each game. The Rangers shut out the Sharks 4-0 on October 19 and San Jose won 4-1 at the SAP Center. Marc Staal, Jesper Fast, Mats Zuccarello and Viktor Stalberg scored in the shutout win with Antti Raanta in net, while Dan Boyle was the only Ranger to score in the road loss. Joel Ward had two goals while Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski both scored once.
The Sharks have gotten off to a good start following their magical run to their first ever Stanley Cup Final appearance. Martin Jones has allowed three goals in 120 minutes, the defense looks good and Brent Burns and Joe Logan Couture have already started scoring. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers at Blues Recap; Dan Girardi potentially out long term
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
The Rangers (1-1-0) traveled to St. Louis to face the Blues (3-0-0) for their first road game last night, and they came out on the wrong end of some puck luck in a 3-2 loss.
Despite completely dominating the game for almost the entire 60 minutes, The Rangers could not score more than two against Carter Hutton, making his debut as a Blue and making some absolutely amazing saves. The Rangers outshot the Blues 35-18, including an incredible 15-0 edge in the third as St. Louis went into full defense mode.
Here are my thoughts and observations from the game; Read the rest of this entry
Rangers head to St. Louis for first road game; Klein still out with back strain
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
After an exciting season opening win over the Islanders at home, the New York Rangers (1-0-0) are on the road in St. Louis to take on the Blues (2-0-0) for the team’s first road game of the season.
This is one of just three road games this month for the Rangers, who will return to Madison Square Garden to play five of their next seven games.
The Rangers are looking to win their third straight game against the Blues after sweeping the season series last year. St. Louis has beaten Chicago and Minnesota so far, and are aiming to win their first three games of the season for just the fourth time in franchise history. Over the past six years the Blues have dominated Eastern Conference foes, posting a Western Conference best 84-33-15 record. Read the rest of this entry
AV spreading ice time and opportunities will be key to Rangers success
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers opened their season with a 5-3 win over the Islanders, showing signs of improvement in many aspects of their game that was expected of them following their offseason moves. The power play looked great, the defense and penalty kill looked structured, and all four forward lines were effective.
With the addition of players like Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey, Brandon Pirri and Michael Grabner, the Rangers added a lot of speed and talent to their forward groups, which seemed to make Alain Vigneault structure his lines differently.
Rather than opting for a traditional structure, with a physical, checking fourth line and placing all of the talent on the top two lines, Vigneault had a balance of scoring, defense and skill across the four lines. Having four lines was something that many blogs, including my own, wrote about as a possibility. And last night, it worked extremely well. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Practice Report: Klein OUT for opener, Vesey and Buchnevich in top six
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After being held out of practice for the last few days, Kevin Klein will miss the season opener tomorrow against the Islanders at Madison Square Garden after an MRI revealed a back strain.
Klein had been experiencing back spasms but fortunately this injury is not too serious. Alain VIgneaut said it’s “day-to-day” and that “he’ll be back soon.”
Klein has scored nine goals and 17 assists in each of the last two seasons while providing a steady defensive presence and surprisingly improving his possession and passing each year. Read the rest of this entry
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