Blog Archives

Vigneault’s lineup decisions and constant changes will doom the Rangers

Bobby Bevilacqua

Alain Vigneault

The Rangers have gotten off to an awful start to the season, winning just one of their first 6 games, not scoring much at even strength and leaking chances and goals through their new and improved defense.

Some people might chalk this up to all of the new faces in the locker room trying to learn the system, figure out their roles and what this team’s identity. But the Rangers have a much bigger problem at hand, and it’s the man behind the bench.

Alain Vigneault has been criticized in the past for his lineup decisions, but his choices this year have been truly baffling, especially when it comes to the defensive pairings. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers set to open the season: Lines, outlook, predictions and more

Bobby Bevilacqua

Rangers celebrating a goal

 Following another season of a disappointing playoff exit, an offseason full of questions and speculation, the New York Rangers are back for the 2017-18 season with a re-tooled roster and Stanley Cup aspirations to boot.

To start, I want to address my long absence from blogging. I hit a wall last year, overwhelmed with balancing school work to end my senior year of college and writing lot of the articles myself, I unfortunately lost motivation to keep it going. In doing so, I didn’t deliver what my readers wanted and fail in that aspect to cover a really exciting and important offseason for the New York Rangers.

Because of my work schedule and the time’s that I work, which is largely late nights until 2 or 4 AM sometimes, I won’t be able to cover and recap each individual game like I have in the past. But I do want to continue to write about the Rangers and cover what I can, and I hope my readers will come back and support the site again. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers kick off homestand against the Calgary Flames; Kreider looks to tie career high in goals

Bobby Bevilacqua

rangers-vs-flames-2-24

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

  • New York Rangers (32-18-1, 65 PTS) vs Calgary Flames (27-24-3, 67 PTS)
  • The Rangers won their last game, a 2-1 overtime victory over the Buffalo Sabres. They snapped a power play drought in the win thanks to Mats Zuccarello’s deflection goal, and Chris Kreider scored in overtime for his 20th goal of the season. Henrik Lundqvist was spectacular, making 36 saves in the win.
  • The Flames have won three straight games after snapping out of a rough stretch that saw them lost six out of seven. Their last game was a 4-3 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils. Mikael Backlund scored the game winner, Sean Monahan found the back of the net and TJ Brodie tallied four assists.

Read the rest of this entry

Chris Kreider’s OT winner gives Rangers the win; Lundqvist makes 36 saves

Alexandra Russo

chris-kreider-goal-celebration-2-2

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.

The New York Rangers played a hard-fought game against the Buffalo Sabres on the road and skated off victoriously with a well-deserved 2-1 overtime win.

After giving up three of the first four shots on goal, the Rangers started to look alive. They had a great scoring chance when the net was left open on one side, but they weren’t able to put it home. Nash had a two on one and almost a breakaway on a shift that included some beautiful moves in the Sabres’ zone. Nash was arguably the best player of the first twenty minutes and one of the best throughout the rest of the game.

Halfway thought the first period of play, the Sabres pushed the pace and tried shots from all angles. Their best one was when Evader Kane made a move on the Rangers’ defense and came down on a brief two on one. The pass to Gionta made it through, but Lundqvist stuck out his pad for a blocker save. The puck then flew in the air and couldn’t be batted down into the net, trickling just wide. Read the rest of this entry

Why is Kevin Klein still playing, but more importantly, why isn’t Adam Clendening?

Bobby Bevilacqua

adam-clendening-full-body

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

To say that Kevin Klein’s season has been a disaster is an understatement.

Last night was another awful game for the veteran defender, continuing his shocking regression from the last two seasons. Sure he scored a goal, his first of the season, but Klein is not here for his slap shot. The defensive part of his game this season has been a mess, and that’s what’s really important.

Poor puck management on the blue line is a continued problem 50 games into the season, and there’s really been no effort to try and change things up to improve transitions, breakout, and puck management. The same problems pop up every game and they are the main reason for why the Rangers have come up short in their losses. Read the rest of this entry