Blog Archives
Rangers lose 4-2 to Toronto; Kreider and Miller score
Chris Vallely
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
After the New York Rangers league mandated bye week, their first game back didn’t go as planned. Toronto defeated New York 4-2.
Toronto came out ready to play. Rookie William Nylander opened up the scoring less than five minutes into the game. The Rangers were unable to get the puck out of their zone, and were scrambling, which caused Nylander to slide the puck in between Henrik Lundqvist’s legs. Both teams went back and forth after that, traded scoring chances, but neither were able to capitalize. As usual, Lundqvist made some tough saves following some defensive breakdowns. Late in the first period, Brandon Pirri took a penalty on a Rangers PP, after he was forced to backcheck. In order to deny a 2 on 1 shorthanded chance for Toronto, Pirri hooked the opposing player. The Maple Leafs would then score on the PP to take a 2-0 lead. Mitch Marner made a great cross-crease pass, and James Van Riemsdyk was able to put it five hole on Lundqvist. The young, Toronto team went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers back in action against Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs; Nash and Buchnevich to play
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Following the league mandated bye-week, the Rangers (28-13-1) return to action when they take on rookie sensation Auston Matthews and the surprisingly solid Toronto Maple Leafs (18-13-8) at Madison Square Garden.
Tonight’s game will be a special one, as the Rangers have asked fans to wear blue for tonight’s game and get in their seats early for a ceremony honoring Det. Steven McDonald, the former NYPD detective who passed away on Jan. 10. The Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award is named after him and given to the player, voted for by the fans, who goes above and beyond the call of duty. He was a special part of the Rangers’ community and the ceremony tonight should be fantastic.
This is the first of three meetings between the Rangers and Maple Leafs, and the only one at MSG. The Rangers swept the season series last year, scoring three or more goals in all three games, and outscored Toronto 11-6. The Rangers have won each of the last four games in this series, and have earned at least a point in 11 of the last 14 games against the Maple Leafs dating back to Jan. 14, 2012 (10-3-1). Read the rest of this entry
Rangers Practice Report; Nash and Buchnevich to play tomorrow night, Zibanejad very close to return
Bobby Bevilacqua
The Rangers got some fantastic news today regarding their injured players, and the team will get both Rick Nash and Pavel Buchnevich back in their lineup for tomorrow night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Buchnevich was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack this afternoon after a brief stint for conditioning and to get him playing some games during the bye week. Buchnevich played in three games and recorded a goal and an assist as well as a plus-one rating. In 10 games with the Rangers this season, he’s scored four goals and four assists with a plus-four rating. He posted a four game goal streak stretching from Nov. 5-Nov. 12 before he was sidelined with back spasms.
Rick Nash has been out with a groin injury which came after re-aggravating a previous groin injury. Nash told reporters that there is no lingering pain in the groin like there was the first time he injured it. And while the rehab did not change from the first time, he did give the injury more time to heal. Read the rest of this entry
Report: Marc Staal dealing with post-concussion syndrome
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Here’s what Larry Brooks wrote in his article;
Marc Staal’s status is unclear for the short-term as he recovers from apparent post-concussion symptoms that sidelined him for the Rangers’ final two games prior to this bye week, The Post has learned.
Staal, who has been working out at the club’s practice facility this week, did not go through the NHL’s concussion protocol after he was held out of last week’s games in Philadelphia and Columbus with what was announced as an unidentified “upper body” injury. Read the rest of this entry
Trading Grabner before the expansion draft might be necessary
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Out of all of the new additions the Rangers added to their team this offseason, Michael Grabner has blown expectations out of the water. Along with defenseman Nick Holden, these two have helped provide offense and consistent two-way play on cheap, cap-friendly contracts.
When Grabner was signed to a two-year deal, it seemed like he would wind up being a fourth line player who is great at killing penalties and could chip in with some offense. The stories about how he scored 34 goals in his rookie season, 20 goals another year and then 16 goals in the 2012-13 lockout season popped up, as did the ones about how he was fast but couldn’t score on breakaways or finish his chances.
Fast forward to today, and Michael Grabner leads the team with 19 goals after being awarded a hat trick in the Jan. 7 win over the Blue Jackets. That was his second hat trick of the year, and he now has more goals than Evgeni Malkin, Joe Pavelski, Connor McDavid, James Neal, Phil Kessel and more. Read the rest of this entry
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