Blog Archives
Rangers Practice Report; Dan Girardi will not play tomorrow, Lundqvist returns to the ice
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers practiced today ahead of Game 2 against the Penguins tomorrow, and Henrik Lundqvist was back on the ice in full gear, practicing with the rest of the team. Dan Girardi was absent, and it was revealed by Alain Vigneault that he would not play tomorrow due to an injury.
The Rangers recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from Hartford yesterday just in case they got bad news about Lundqvist. But after seeing a specialist, there is no real damage to his eye, and the concern is about the swelling around his eye (per John Shannon). Lundqvist said his vision was blurry after the incident, but got better as the night went on. Andrew Gross of The Record said that Lundqvist looked sharp in practice.
Henrik Lundqvist will be a game time decision. Read the rest of this entry
Dan Girardi needs to sit
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Accountability is a term that Alain Vigneault has used often in his tenure as Rangers head coach.
And for reasons we may never understand, it’s one of the things he has perhaps lacked most in crucial spots. His blatant favoritism isn’t just costing his team points in the standings anymore, now it could cost them a playoff series. It seems to me like the coach needs to start holding some of his favorites accountable.
Dan Girardi—a warrior, life time Ranger, heart and soul guy, notoriously AWESOME human being—is not getting the job done anymore. It has been bad for some time but in the last little while it has come to a breaking point. The abilities of the player do not match up with what the coach wants him to be. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers lose Lundqvist to injury as Penguins take a Game 1 victory
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
It’s a good thing that it’s a seven game series.
Patric Hornqvist scored a hat trick as the Pittsburgh Penguins took down the New York Rangers in Game 1, 5-2, backstopped by a 35 save performance from Jeff Zatkoff, their third string journeyman goaltender.
What’s worse? Henrik Lundqvist took an errant stick to the eye and was removed from the game after the first period. Antti Raanta was forced into his first career playoff game, and although three goals on 19 shots doesn’t look great, he was fantastic in relief. Read the rest of this entry
BREAKING: Henrik Lundqvist leaves practice…twice
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
UPDATE (3:26): Alain Vigneault stated that Henrik Lundqvist was ill and was not able to complete practice. He didn’t seem concerned and said that he expects Hank to be healthy and ready to practice tomorrow. He also said that Ryan McDonagh definitely would miss the start of the playoffs, and that Girardi, Eric Staal, Zuccarello and Stalberg should be good to go
On Monday afternoon during the Rangers first practice before the playoffs, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist left the ice on two separate occasions and did not return after the second time.
The first time, Lundqvist skated off of the ice and to the locker room, forcing one of the equipment managers to scramble to get changed into goalie equipment. Lundqvist returned to the ice 14 minutes later and practiced for about five minutes. But he wound up going over to head coach Alain Vigneault, speaking to him briefly and leaving the ice for good, being replaced by an equipment manager. (All information from Pat Leonard on Twitter).
This may the worst possible news the Rangers could have received. Henrik Lundqvist has been the biggest reason for the Rangers’ success in recent years, and he’s been the cornerstone of this franchise since 2005. Lundqvist has been phenomenal in the playoffs, especially last season, where he allowed just 20 goals in the first 13 games of the playoffs.
If Henrik Lundqvist is out long term, and this is not confirmed in anyway, then the Rangers shot at winning the Cup this season is significantly impacted. Couple the loss of McDonagh with the potential loss of Lundqvist and the Rangers will have a hard time getting out of the first round.
Antti Raanta would fill in, and thankfully, he’s been stellar to end the season, winning seven of his last eight starts, allowing two goals or less in all seven of those wins. Raanta has shown to be a capable goaltender when called upon, but no Lundqvist would make the Rangers’ lives a lot more difficult.
As far as other news on the Rangers players, Eric Staal, Mats Zuccarello and Viktor Stalberg all skated today and fully participated in the drills. Dan Girardi skated in a contact jersey and Ryan McDonagh skated in a non-contact jersey, but McDonagh left the ice before practice started.
Stay tuned to The Ranger Zone for more updates on the situation.
The Return of the King; Lundqvist back in net as Rangers battle Red Wings
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After missing the last three games with neck spasms, Henrik Lundqvist is ready to take back his spot in the crease as the Rangers (39-22-6) take on the Detroit Red Wings (33-23-11) at the Joe Louis Arena in an Original Six matchup.
Likely joining Lundqvist will be Rick Nash, who has been out of the lineup since January 22nd with a bone bruise. He’s been skating and practicing this week and should be good to go for today’s game. In the likely event that Nash does play, he’ll skate with Eric Staal on the third line, marking the first time they’ll be playing together on the Rangers.
With the good news also comes some bad news. Center Derick Brassard is a question mark for today’s game due to the flu. He’s doubtful, and Kevin Hayes would slide to center if he doesn’t play.
The Rangers are coming off of a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, with goals from Brassard, Zuccarello and Jesper Fast. However, they played pretty poor down the stretch and to start the game. The Rangers were outshot 36-26 and Raanta bailed out the team. They’ve split the last four games (2-2-0) but have won seven of the last 10 games.
This is the second of three meetings between the Rangers and Red Wings this season, and the first in Detroit. Back on February 21st, Henrik Lundqvist and the Blueshirts outdueled Jimmy Howard and Detroit in a 1-0 overtime win at the Garden, with Kevin Klein scoring the only goal of the game. Hank had 22 saves and Howard made 29 saves, benefitting from a disallowed goal from Kevin Hayes. Three of the last four games have been decided in overtime, and eight of the last nine games have been decided by one goal.
The Red Wings won their last game on Thursday against the Jets, but they had lost their last three games before that, getting outscored 14-6. The Red Wings are in a fight for their playoff lives, holding just a two point lead over the Philadelphia Flyers for the last playoff spot. Every game is crucial and the Red Wings need all the points they could get.
The 19 year-old rookie Dylan Larkin started out his season producing and hasn’t stopped, sitting in second place on the team in scoring with 40 points. He scored a goal on Thursday, giving him 20 for the season. He’s the first Red Wings rookie to reach that mark since current Captain Henrik Zetterberg did so 13 seasons ago. He’s a great skater and an offensive catalyst, and the Rangers will need to keep an eye out for him.
Detroit has another talented young player on their team named Andreas Athanasiou, a rookie taken in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL draft. Athanasiou hasn’t been up in the NHL for that long but his presence has been felt. He’s an incredible skater with blistering speed that can catch you off guard and enough skill to put one past the netminder, scoring three goals in the last five games.
For the Rangers, Rick Nash’s return will be a huge boost to the lineup. Alain Vigneault had him skating on a line with Eric Staal and Viktor Stalberg, creating a big line with speed and skill. Doing so will create matchup problems for opposing teams, because they’d have to figure out how to stop the two 300 goal scorers in Nash and Staal while also stopping the lines centered by Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard/Kevin Hayes. It’s probably be a game or two before Nash is back to his usual self, but pairing him with Staal and Stalberg puts him in a position to succeed.
It looks like Derick Brassard will be unavailable, which gives Kevin Hayes a big opportunity. Hayes has been stuck on the fourth line for the past few games, but he would be centering Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast today. He’s shown some signs of a resurgence before being thrown onto the fourth line, and he’ll get another chance to produce in the top-six today.
The Rangers and the Red Wings will faceoff at the Joe Louis Arena at 2 PM. The game will be broadcasted on MSG Network.
EXPECTED LINES
JT Miller-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider-Kevin Hayes-Jesper Fast
Rick Nash-Eric Staal-Viktor Stalberg
Oscar Lindberg-Dominic Moore-Tanner Glass
Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Marc Staal-Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle-Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
therangerzone.com 