Blog Archives

Rangers rally for a wild comeback win; Miller stays red-hot

Bobby Bevilacqua

Derick Brassard goal celebration 2-4

Derick Brassard celebrates after scoring the eventual game winning goal. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

After eight minutes, things did not look good for the Rangers (28-18-5). The Minnesota Wild (23-19-9) had scored twice and looked to be taking control of the game. But after the first intermission, the Rangers played some of their most dominant hockey of the entire season, culminating in a 4-2 Rangers win.

In the Tuesday loss against the Devils, the Rangers played well at even strength, but were poor on special teams. Today, they were dominant at even strength, and improved on the penalty kill. They gave up one power play goal, but fended off the next two.

The Rangers have now won four of their last six games, and are starting to play a better overall game. If they can string together these performances consistently, and solve their penalty kill issues, the Rangers could be trending upwards. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers need to avoid a bridge deal and extend JT Miller now

Bobby Bevilacqua

JT Miller profile 1-5

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

On Tuesday, the Florida Panthers made a big decision to extend Aleksander Barkov, the 20 year old, second overall draft pick from 2013. Barkov has been a key part of Florida’s success this season, centering Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau and scoring 31 points (13-18-31) in 39 games this season.

So in his third season, instead of signing him to a bridge deal, the Panthers went all in, inking him to a six year, $34.5 million extension, an average of $5.75 million per year. This isn’t the first time the team has signed a young forward to a big extension right off of their ELC. Florida did the same with Nick Bjugstad last year after he scored 24 goals, giving him a six year extension with a cap hit of $4.1 million.

The thought process here is to immediately lock up the most talented young forwards, and get them under contract before they get better and can command more money. If Bjugstad pans out and becomes a consistent 20 goal, 50+ point scoring center, $4.1 million will seem like a very reasonable price. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers look to make it three straight against the Senators; McDonagh steadily improving

Bobby Bevilacqua

rangers vs senators 12-6

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

After winning consecutive game for the first time since November 21-23, the Rangers (26-16-5) will look to continue their win streak in the last game of their road trip against the Ottawa Senators (22-20-6).

This is the last of the three game season series and New York is looking to close out the sweep in today’s matinee. Back on November 14th, the Rangers skated away with a 2-1 shootout win as Dan Boyle scored the deciding goal in the shootout. Chris Kreider scored the only goal for New York. On December 6th, Lundqvist’s 23 saves helped guide the Rangers to a 4-1 victory at Madison Square Garden. Derick Brassard scored twice, and Ryan McDonagh had a goal and two assists. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers weather the storm with a win against the Hurricanes

Alexandra Russo

JT Miller goal celebration 1-22

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

Ending the horrible road streak the Rangers (26-16-5) had was their primary focus headed into Friday’s matchup against the Hurricanes. They said to get going on the road they would need to bring their confidence with them. Those words rang true to the Rangers, as they defeated the Hurricanes 4-1.

Carolina came out with a jump to start the game. Despite trailing in shots on goal, they found ways to sustain some pressure.

Though they’re the least penalized team in the NHL, the Hurricanes drew the first penalty. The Rangers didn’t score on the opportunity, despite a few good looks. This is an area that has struggled for this team as of late.  Read the rest of this entry

Rangers win overtime thriller against Vancouver; Stepan and Zuccarello break goal droughts

Bobby Bevilacqua

Rangers celebrate a goal 1-19

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

What started out as a very frustrating night turned into elation for the Rangers (25-16-5) when JT Miller gave the Rangers a 3-2 overtime victory over the Vancouver Canucks (19-17-11).

It was truly amazing that the Rangers didn’t score a lot more goals. They finished with 49 shots on goal, hit the goal post or crossbar six times, and faced Ryan Miller, who brought his A-game. But despite the frustrating sequence of events for the first 50 minutes or so, the Rangers battled back and earned the two points.

This was easily the team’s best offensive performance of the season, and you could argue that it was one of their better defensive performances too. The Rangers had 49 shots on goal, even more scoring chances that were blocked or went wide, and they only allowed 20 shots on goal for Lundqvist. They truly deserved the win and got it. Read the rest of this entry