Blog Archives
Rangers rebound with 5-2 win over Toronto; Buchnevich keeps point streak going
Chris Vallely
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
New York Rangers defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2. Strong effort from the Blueshirts tonight. Here’s the recap:
The Rangers opened up the scoring: Brady Skjei. Mats Zuccarello won a battle in the corner and set up Skjei in the slot for the goal. Derek Stepan drove the net on the backdoor, which forced Brady’s man, William Nylander, to cover him. Stepan didn’t get on the scoresheet, but his ability to crash the net, created the goal.
Skjei goal pic.twitter.com/15sPgXK184
— GIF Grand Maester (@myregularface) January 20, 2017
Lundqvist and Co. look to get on track and snap losing streak tonight against Toronto
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
The Rangers (28-16-1) hit a low point during their loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, not showing up for the first 40 minutes, playing horrible defense and not getting great goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist. They’ll need to turn it around quickly when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs (21-13-8) on the road tonight.
The Rangers’ last game was the epitome of what the team is this season – a high-octane offensive powerhouse with a porous defense, a struggling star goalie and a coach unwilling to make changes and adjustments. The offense essentially tries to outscore the defense every game and it doesn’t work. Vigneault continues to give big minutes to Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein despite their consistent inability to handle that work, and adjustments to the pairings, personnel or defensive schemes remain the same. And therein lies the problem.
On the other hand, the Maple Leafs are enjoying a successful second season under Mike Babcock, integrating all of their young talent and sitting in third place in the Atlantic Division, tied with the Ottawa Senators in points and one point ahead of the Florida Panthers despite playing five fewer games than them. Read the rest of this entry
My Thoughts and the Rangers’ outlook after a catastrophic loss to the Dallas Stars
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
1. There is nothing positive that should be taken from this game. This cannot be viewed as a look at the Rangers’ resiliency or battling through adversity and nearly completing a comeback. There should be no positive light shed on this game, and it needs to be treated as it was – a disaster.
The Rangers were manhandled by the Stars for 40 minutes, and they looked absolutely lost on the ice. They were outshot 27-15 and surrendered seven goals. Henrik Lundqvist was not at his best but there were consistent defensive issues from the defensemen and the forwards, which did not help at all. The Rangers woke up for the third period and the Stars went into a defensive shell, which explains the 25-4 shot advantage from New York in those 20 minutes. Winning one period but looking pathetic for the other two does not warrant any praise. Treating this game as anything other than a failure would be to ignore the many, many problems that this team has.
2. To emphasize, this team has many, many problems. There needs to be a change, or many changes, but not at forward. It’s not a coincidence that the scoring has gone up with the return of Rick Nash, Mika Zibanejad and Pavel Buchnevich. This is the best, most complete forward group that the Rangers have had in quite some time and it’s a group of forwards that could win a Stanley Cup. Read the rest of this entry
Mika Zibanejad back in the lineup as the Rangers host the Stars; Hellberg to serve as backup
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
The Rangers lost both games of their back-to-back over the weekend, coming out flat against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday and succumbing to a meltdown against the Canadiens on Saturday. After Antti Raanta left the game with an injury, Henrik Lundqvist came in and surrendered five goals on 22 shots, as well as three in a span of just over a minute.
The Stars have also lost two straight, including three out of the last four and five losses in their last seven games. It’s been a tough season for them, dealing with a lot of injuries and poor goaltending that has put them near the bottom of the Western Conference. Read the rest of this entry
Is it time to be worried about Henrik Lundqvist’s performances?
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
For the last 12 seasons, no matter what the rest of the Rangers team looked like, you always knew that you could rely on one thing; great goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist on a very consistent basis. But for a lot of games this season, that unfortunately hasn’t been the case for the King.
Against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Lundqvist entered the game in the second period for Antti Raant, who left with an unspecified injury. Raanta stopped all 10 shots he faced. Lundqvist allowed five goals on 22 shots, including three goals in a span of 63 seconds. This happened with the Rangers holding a 3-2 lead, and effectively ended the game and killed whatever momentum the Rangers had.
The meltdown last night meant that Henrik Lundqvist now has an 18-11-1 record with a 2.72 GAA and a .907 save percentage. He’s finished with a GAA over 2.40 just twice in his career and has posted a save percentage below .920 just three times, all early on in his career. The numbers he has now are shocking considering his consistently good numbers throughout his career. Read the rest of this entry
therangerzone.com 