Blog Archives
Injuries to key defensemen give Marc Staal a chance to save his Rangers legacy
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of Bridget Samuels/Flickr
Six days ago we were preparing the narrative in support of the Rangers’ chances at making a Stanley cup run: they were injury free. It was a potential advantage, especially with just about all of the playoff teams in the Eastern Conference playoff mix dealing with key injuries.
Pittsburgh recently learned Marc-Andre Fleury was going to be sidelined with a concussion. Fleury joins Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta as question marks for the high flying Pens with just one game remaining in their regular season. The Islanders’ Travis Hamonic is out with a lower body injury, and could miss the start of the playoffs and beyond. Their goaltending situation is an injury riddled mess, although Thomas Greiss nearly blanked the Rangers last night. The Lightning lost their leading goal scorer and captain Steven Stamkos to a freakish blood clot issue. The Rangers? Just bumps, bruises and fatigue. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers battle the Islanders in important matchup for playoff seeding
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
With two games remaining in the season, the Rangers (45-26-9) face an interesting conundrum in tonight’s matchup against the Islanders (44-26-9); Win and try to catch the Penguins? Or worry more about generating a consistent offensive game plan and be content for a wild card spot?
Obviously, no NHL team is going to intentionally lose, that’s foolish. But the Rangers are in a situation where they may be better off with a loss. Winning would pull them closer to the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are arguably the league’s hottest team, but they’re without Marc-Andre Fleury. A loss would drop them closer to the first Wild Card spot, where they might have an easier route against teams like the Penguins and Bruins/Red Wings.
Either way, tonight is a big matchup between two rivals and a big matchup when it comes to playoff seeding. The Rangers have not won a single game against the Islanders, who are currently without Jaroslav Halak. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers rally to beat the Lightning; Lundqvist makes 39 saves
Alexandra Russo
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a playoff clinching 4-2 victory over the Blue Jackets Monday night, the Rangers faced off for the first time at home against Tampa since Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Lightning have been playing without former Ranger, Anton Stralman, Victor Hedman, and top forward Steven Stamkos for a while, and the Rangers played without Ryan McDonagh. He is out indefinitely and will miss the rest of the regular season. In his absence, Brady Skjei and Dylan McIlrath saw ice time. Lindberg also replaced Hayes. They helped their team to an amazing come from behind 3-2 victory.
Tampa started out fast, as only 2:42 into the game, Namestnikov fed an open Andrej Sustr. He was wide in front of the net with absolutely no one on him. This is an example of the poor coverage the Rangers had to start out the game.
Shortly after, Tampa went on the power play. They had the worst power play in the League coming into this matchup, but they were able to convert on Brian Boyle’s deflection. Ondrej Palat took a shot that was saved by McIlrath’s skate. However, Palat got his own rebound, and Boyle’s stick deflected the shot past a misplaced Lundqvist for a two goal lead very early into the period. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Practice Report; Paille placed on waivers, McDonagh OUT for tomorrow night
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After a much needed day off following back-to-back games with travel, the Rangers were back on the ice this morning prior to Sunday night’s home game against the Detroit Red Wings.
In the last game against Toronto, Captain Ryan McDonagh was elbowed in the chin by Leo Komarov, who was suspended for three games. The injury to McDonagh came less than two weeks after he sustained a concussion against the Flyers.
Luckily, McDonagh did not get another concussion, passing the NHL’s protocol test in Toronto and last night as well. The Rangers announced that he had a jaw contusion and a neck spasm, and he will have a CT scan on his jaw later today. He will definitely miss tomorrow’s game against Detroit. Read the rest of this entry
Leo Komarov suspended 3 games for hit on McDonagh; Cracking down on dangerous hits
Bobby Bevilacqua
Ryan McDonagh being helped off of the ice after being hit in the head by Toronto forward Leo Komarov. Photo courtesy of Rick Madonik/Toronto Star.
Following his elbow to the head on New York Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh, the NHL Department of Player Safety has suspended Toronto forward Leo Komarov for three games, his first offense in the league. He will also forfeit $47,580.66 based on his average annual salary and the terms of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Komarov was clearly targeting McDonagh’s upper body region, and took quite a few strides before reaching and extending his elbow and making contact with McDonagh’s head.
Komarov hit, third angle. This is intent to injure. #NYR #Leafs pic.twitter.com/DB55pbheRz
— Dave Shapiro (@BlueSeatBlogs) February 19, 2016
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