Game 12; Who’s gonna get tricked at the Garden tonight?
Buffalo Sabres (2-11-1) @ New York Rangers (4-7-0)
The Rangers are back in action tonight when they host the Buffalo Sabres at MSG in their second home game of the season. The Sabres are currently the worst team in the league with record of 2-11-1 but they sure wanna get back to winning tonight in front of the big city lights. The Rangers are coming off from big 3-2 win over the Islanders on Tuesday night. Carl Hagelin made a comeback to the line-up and suddenly the Rangers offense seemed much more better. Tonight they’re trying to repeat that and start the first winning streak of the season! After tonight’s game, the Rangers will host the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday at Garden.
BUF:
The Sabres have played most games in the league but they have the least points – 5 points in 14 games. They missed the playoffs last year and it looked that the team was going to fall apart. There were rumors about trading Ryan Miller and/or Thomas Vanek during the offseason. Howerer both stayed with the Sabres and the team was ready to start the season. But it didn’t take long to realize that this wasn’t the Buffalo’s year and they decided to trade Vanek to the Islanders in exchange to F Matt Moulson. 29-year-old Moulson already scored twice in his Sabres debut and he’s ready to score more tonight at the Garden.
NYR:
The Rangers probably played their best game of the year against the Islanders on Tuesday night – and this time they were awarded with two points in the standings. Chris Kreider finally scored a goal, Ryan McDonagh got his first PP goal of his career and Benoiut Pouliot scored his 2nd goal in three games. Cam Talbot was solid in the net and he got second consecutive win. It is interesting to see who’s the starting goaltender tonight. If there’s even a slight issue/injury with Lundqvist, Talbot will be ready to start again tonight.
EDITED 14:49PM: Lundqvist will start.
Carl Hagelin returned to the line-up against the Isles and he really sparked the team with his speed. He was excellent behind the goal and got a few really good scoring chances. Like said, Chris Kreider was all over the ice and finally he was awarded with his first goal of the season.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 11; The Battle of New York, Part 1!
New York Rangers (3-7-0) @ New York Islanders (4-4-3)
The Rangers are right back in action tonight when they visit one of their biggest rival the New York Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. To make it even more interesting, the Islanders are currently the number one team in Tri-State area and on the other hand the Rangers and the Devils have had big problems with their game early in the season. The Islanders will introduce their newest addition Thomas Vanek, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier this week, to their home crowd. The Rangers need to find their scoring and they gotta do it fast. Last night’s game was already third game where the Rangers couldn’t score a goal. Following tonight’s game, the Rangers will host the Buffalo Sabres at MSG on Thursday night.
NYI:
The Islanders have started the season with pretty good 4-4-3 record but their GM Garth Snow thought that a change was needed so he traded F Matt Moulson , 1st round pick at 2014 at the Draft and 2nd round selection in 2015 to Buffalo Sabres for Thomas Vanek. Although Moulson and Vanek have put up almost exactly same amount of points during the last few years, Snow and the Islanders hopes that with John Tavares, Vanek could score +40 goals per year.
The Islanders have lost 3 out of their last 4 games and they’re coming off from 5-2 loss against the Philadelphia Flyers. Aside from John Tavares, Frans Nielsen is having a terrific year so far. He has already 7 goals and 8 assists in 11 games. Evgeni Nabokov is their starting goaltender and he’s been solid this year and plays always well agains the Rangers.
NYR:
For the Rangers fans, the last night’s game was like the same old story. They had scoring chances, power play chances and most of all they had a chance to get the W but they just couldn’t do it. The Canadiens used their few chances well and once again they were able to keep the Rangers out of the scoreboard.. (which was huge!) Peter Budaj played very well and there were a couple of easy calls but the bottom line is that the Rangers need to start scoring some goals.
Henrik Lundqvist was back in the line-up after missing two games and he looked solid in the net. Hank will presumably get the start tonight against the Isles but like Sam said there’s a good chance that Alain Vigneault gives Cam Talbot another chance to show his skills. Vigneault didn’t provide any information about Carl Hagelin’s return to the line-up but after Jesper Fasth was sent to Hartford, it’s pretty obvious that Hagelin will make his season debut tonight.
EDITED 2:46PM: Cam Talbot will start tonight against the NYI.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 10; Next stop, the Madison Square Garden!
Photo via #NYR Instagram
Montreal Canadiens (6-5-0) @ New York Rangers (3-6-0)
Finally after nine games on the road, the Rangers are back home at the world’s most famous arena. The transformation of the Madison Square Garden is now completed and the Rangers and the Knicks are now ready to make it even more famous! The Rangers will take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight in their home-opener. Henrik Lundqvist is back between the pipes after missing two games due to minor issue. Sold out MSG with Original Six match-up in the home opener – sounds good to me! The Rangers are right back in action tomorrow night when they visit the Islanders at Long Island. They will be back at the MSG on Thursday night when they will face the Buffalo Sabres.
MTL:
The Canadiens have always been a tough opponent for the Rangers. The “curse of the Bell Center” has caused trouble for the Rangers and especially for Henrik Lundqvist but they also have been a very good road team at the Garden. This year the Canadiens are 6-5-0 but they have won just one of their last four games. In the last round they got beaten by the San Jose Sharks 2-0. This Canadiens team is highly skilled with good young core. Brendan Gallagher, Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk have been their top-line but D PK Subban has most points in the team with 2 goals and 9 assists. Carey Price is their starting goaltender and he has started all but one game this season.
NYR:
It wasn’t quite the start what we all expected but the Rangers got through the longest road trip to the start of the season in their franchise history with record of 3-6-0. Without Nash, Callahan, Hagelin and (Lundqvist), the team showed that they can still win the games. They got ran over by the Ducks, Sharks and the Devils but got wins against the Kings, Capitals and Red Wings. Brad Richards showed right from the beginning of the season that he’s ready to play hockey. He has skated very well, he’s shooting more and most of he’s getting awarded. He has 5 goals and 3 assists in the first 9 games.
Getting back to home is a relief to the team but even bigger thing is getting Henrik Lundqvist back in the line-up – healthy. Cam Talbot played very well against the Flyers and Red Wings but Lundqvist is the backbone of this team. If they wanna win games, get in to the playoffs, they need old Hank back. Carl Hagelin will come off from LTIR tomorrow and he’s eligible to play tomorrow against the Islanders.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 9; Road trip finale tonight in Motown!
New York Rangers (2-6-0) @ Detroit Red Wings (6-4-1)
The Rangers are back in the action tonight when they finally close their 9-game roadtrip against the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Both teams are coming off from losses. The Rangers were beaten by the Flyers 2-1 while the Red Wings got beaten by the Ottawa Senators 6-1. In bigger picture, the Red Wings are off to a good start in the Atlantic Division while the Rangers are struggling to get their game together with a couple of key injuries. After tonight’s game, the Rangers will have just one day off before they face the Montreal Canadiens in their 2013-14 home opener at the transformed Madison Square Garden.
DET:
The Red Wings moved to the Eastern Conference this year and it seems that they have adapted to the change well. Although they’re currently in 3-game losing streak, 6-4-1 record is good enough for the fourth spot in the Conference. The Red Wings offense is carried by two players; Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk. They have a total of 11 goals together and total of 23 points. Jimmy Howard is their starting goaltender although the back-up Jonas Gustavsson still hasn’t lost a game this year.
The Red Wings started the season pretty well but now they’re facing the +2-game losing streak for the first time this year. After tonight’s contest the Red Wings will head to Western Canada for the four game road trip.
NYR:
Again the Rangers played a reasonably good game on Thursday night against the Flyers but they left the city without any points. This time they also had some bad luck. Benouit Pouliot was given a game misconduct penalty after he pushed Maxime Talbot who went heavily to the boards. The Rangers killed of that one and just when they thought they had tied the game – referees disagreed. A goal by JT Miller was waiwed off and the Flyers beat the Rangers by score of 2-1.
Cam Talbot made his NHL debut against the Flyers and he looked pretty comfortable in the net. Henrik Lundqvist skated on Thursday but it’s still uncertain if he will be in the line-up tonight. Chris Kreider played his first game with the Rangers this season and he was awarded with assist on Brad Richards’ goal.
Transformed MSG is waiting for the Rangers and they will finally be in front of the Garden crowd on Monday night when they host the Canadiens. If sold out Garden won’t spark the boys – nothing will!
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 8; It’s a #TalbotTime in Philly!
New York Rangers (2-5-0) @ Philadelphia Flyers (1-7-0)
After four days off, the Rangers are back in the action tonight when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. The Rangers-Flyers match-up is well known for everyone but tonight’s game is a statement game for the both teams. The Flyers already fired their head coach Peter LaViolette after three games and long time Flyer Craig Berube took over his job. For the Rangers, after a solid win in DC they got knocked out by the Devils 4-0 on Saturday night. G Cam Talbot will make his NHL debut tonight while Jason Missiaen will be the back-up goalie for the Rangers. After tonight’s game, the Rangers will head to Detroit to conclude the 9-game roadtrip against the Red Wings.
PHI:
The Flyers haven’t scored more than two goals per the game this season, let that sink in. With players like Claude Qiroux, Wayne Simmonds, Vincent Lecavalier and Brayden Schenn – that sounds unbelievable. In addition to the fact that the Flyers don’t have quality goaltenders, this team has some serious problems to solve. They played their last game over week ago so they have had time to fix their problems and getting Lecavalier back in the line-up is a positive thing for them.
While the Flyers start to the season has been a disaster, they certainly want to beat the Rangers tonight and then start to win some games. Apart from the Penguins the Metropolitan Division is pretty weak so the Flyers (and the Rangers) have a good chance to get right back to Top-3 if they can get their game together in the near future.
NYR:
Week ago the Rangers had goaltender duo of Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron. Tonight in Philly, Cam Talbot will be between the pipes and Jason Missiaen will be the back-up. Lundqvist missed three consecutive training days and the team informed that he’s “day-to-day” due minor issue. With Nash, Callahan and Hagelin already out of the line-up, the team looks thin on the paper. Chris Kreider and Brandon Mashinter were called up from Hartford and Kreider will try to establish some offense in the 1st line tonight.
Tonight’s game is the teams first meeting of the season and the Rangers have a lot of great memories from the games against the Flyers lately. Going 6-0 against them in 11-12 and the Winter Classic on top for sure. With both teams struggling to score goals, the importance of the first goal is huge tonight.
The Rangers have only two more road games ahead of them before they return to the brand new Madison Square Garden. If they can get through these two games without any more injuries and one win – I think the things are getting brighter after that. Getting Hagelin back on 10/29 against the Islanders will be a huge thing and Callahan could be back already against the Blue Jackets on November 7th.
For Cam Talbot, have fun out there and go get ’em!
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 7; Hudson River Rivalry continues tonight!
New York Rangers (2-4-0) @ New Jersey Devils (0-4-3)
The Rangers are back in action tonight and although their home opener is still two weeks away – they are pretty close to the home tonight when they face the Devils at Prudential Center. The Devils are still looking for their first win in regulation time and they would love to get it against the Rangers. Cory Schneider will go against Henrik Lundqvist for the first time and the question is, do we see Lundqvist vs. Brodeur match-up ever again? Following tonight’s game the Rangers will have four days off before the game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
NJD:
The Devils are in the middle of a change. Cory Schneider is taking over Martin Brodeur’s spot as a starting goaltender, Ilya Kovalchuk is only a memory in Jersey and after a couple of good years – the Devils now find themselves without a win after 7 games into the season. Although they are still looking for their first win, this Devils team is a skilled hockey team. Offseason addition Damien Brunner will bring much needed skill to offense while Jaromir Jagr is always a dangerous when he’s on the ice. Peter DeBoer’s primary task is to get his defense play well every night for 60 minutes. The Devils have lost their leads in multiple games and eventually lost those games in OT/SO. Forget what this team has done so far – they wanna beat the Rangers more than ever tonight.
NYR:
Just when it seemed that the Rangers were getting back on the track, they got some bad news after the great win in DC. Ryan Callahan, who already missed the season opener, suffered a broken thumb and will be out for next 3-4 weeks. With Nash and Hagelin (who should be back in the line-up in Oct. 29 against the Isles) out of the line-up, the Rangers offense looks thin on the paper.
The Rangers defense played their best game of the year against the Caps and Alain Vigneault told the media that he’s unsure if Michael Del Zotto will return to the line-up after missing a one game due to flu. With Callahan out, he also made a few changes to the forward lines. Taylor Pyatt now plays on the first line with Richards and Brassard while the second line will be Mats Zuccarello with Derek Stepan and JT Miller.
The Rangers still have three more road games ahead of them before returning to transformed Madison Square Garden on October 28th. Two wins out of the next three games would be nice and as always the games against your division rivals are worth of four points.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 6; Time for some Wednesday night rivalry against the Caps!
New York Rangers (1-4-0) @ Washington Capitals (2-4-0)
The Rangers are back in action tonight when they will visit the DC and the Washington Capitals. Tonight’s game is teams first meeting since the Game 7 of the last years playoffs. At that time the Rangers rallied to 5-0 win and advanced to the 2nd round of the playoffs. But that’s enough with the past – tonight is the only night that matters now. Henrik Lundqvist will have a chance to make it three consecutives shutouts (including Game 6 and 7 of the 2013 playoffs) against the Caps tonight. One thing the Rangers should avoid tonight is the penalties – as they’re facing the best power play of the league. Stay out of the box, use your chances well and hopefully the King will take care of the rest.
WSH:
The years roll and the times they are changing but truth is that if you’re playing against the Caps and you keep Alex Ovetchkin out of the scoreboards – you’ll be fine. They added Mikhail Grabovski during the offseason but lost Mathieu Perreault just a week before the start of the season to the Anaheim Ducks. Braden Holtby is still their number one goaltender even though Michal Neuvirth had a few chances to push him to the back up spot. The Caps defense is still carried by three players; Mike Green, John Carlson and Karl Alzner.
The Caps have started the season a little bit better than the Rangers but they don’t have much to smile about either. They dropped their season opener to the Blackhawks 6-4 but beat the Flames in their second game. After that they lost three in-a-row but returned to winning on Monday night when they beat the Oilers 4-2.
NYR:
The Rangers returned to the East Coast and hopefully they left losing also behind them. After the game against the Blues, the Rangers put G Martin Biron and F Arron Asham to waiwers and called-up F JT Miller and G Cam Talbot from the Hartford. Both, Biron and Asham, cleared the waiwers but Biron told that he will take a few days to think about the situation (retirement?). Rick Nash was put in IR and Michael Del Zotto has a flu (didn’t travel to the DC with the team), so Justin Falk will presumably be in the tonight’s line-up.
Henrik Lundqvist almost single-handedly beat the Caps last year and he will be between the pipes tonight. The Rangers defense has been bad but Hank knows he needs to be better and if you know him – he will be. The team now has a chance to show what they got in these following three games. Caps, Devils and Flyers, all winnable games and what matters the most, all of them are rivalries. If Saturday night with Rangers – Devils doesn’t spark the boys, I guess nothing will. Rivalry matches are exactly what this team needs at the moment. A few scraps, big hits and wins over the biggest rivals, bring it on!
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter; @VilleLampinen
Game 5: The Rangers trying to Rock’n Roll in St. Louis against the Blues!
New York Rangers (1-3-0) @ St. Louis Blues (3-0-0)
The Rangers have left the West Coast behind them and tonight they will take on the St. Louis Blues at Scottrade Center. The Blues have started season perfectly while the Rangers are still trying to adapt the playing style. The Rangers have had big problems in their own end and they haven’t been able to score more than 6 goals in four games. After tonight’s game (8pm start!!), the Rangers will spend a couple of days in New York before heading to Washington, where they will play against the Caps on Wednesday night.
STL:
The Blues have a chance to make a franchise history tonight if they can beat the Rangers and go 4-0-0. They have started 3-0-0 in 1969 and 1993 but win tonight would erase those records from the books. The Blues have surrended only 4 goals in first three games but they have scored a total of 14 goals. Team made the playoffs last year but lost to the Kings in the opening round 4-2. This year they have another chance to win the Cup with almost the same group.
This Blues team won’t allow many goals, guys like Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo will take care of that. G Jaroslav Halak has been excellent in the first three games and Brian Elliot is a great back up goaltender. The Blues offense is less known but they have quality players for every single spot. Patrik Berglund, Derek Roy, young Vladimir Tarasenko and Ty Rattie are just a few to name.
In the last round, the Blues beat the Blackhawks 3-2 and that match-up could very well be the Western Conference Final this year. This team is so well built that they can beat any team – almost every night.
NYR:
The Rangers gave up 15 goals in the back-to-back games against the Sharks and Ducks – something that hasn’t happened to them since December, 2006. If the game against the Sharks was horrible, it didn’t get any better in Anaheim. Again the Rangers defensive coverage was poor, they made too many mistakes on their own zone and last but not least Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t at his own level. Before the most of us even noticed that the game already started – the Ducks already led the game by three goals.
For the record, six out of the Rangers nine opponents on this roadtrip were in the playoffs last year. 8 games in the West Coast and a couple of road games in the East Coast isn’t the greatest way to start the season but there are no excuses. They have a new coach, new playing style and a couple of new players but still there are no excuses. In 2011-2012, the Rangers played some of their best hockey when some of their top-players were injured. Why? Because the players left everything on the ice and they played with the passion. This team needs to find their passion and fast.
Martin Biron will get his first start of the season tonight and the Rangers are still without Rick Nash.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter: @VilleLampinen
Game 4: After fiasco in San Jose, Rangers trying to regroup in Anaheim against the Ducks
New York Rangers (1-2-0) @ Anaheim Ducks (2-1-0)
The Rangers will close out their “Western roadtrip” tonight when they visit the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Teams didn’t meet last season due to lockout so the last meeting is from Stockholm October 8th, 2011. The Ducks won that game after the shootout 2-1. Brad Richards scored a lonely goal for the Rangers which also was his first goal as a New York Ranger. Now he has 49 goals with the Blueshirts. After tonight’s contest, the team will head to St. Louis where they will play against the Blues on Saturday evening.
ANA:
There is one player in the Ducks roster who will (or at least he claims so) end his 21-year NHL career after this season. Teemu Selänne still owns the league record for the most goals (85) in the rookie season and currently has 675 goals (11th all-time). The Finnish Flash will have one more chance to win the Stanley Cup again and lead Team Finland one more time in the Winter Olympics, in Sochi.
The Ducks started their season with 6-1 loss against the Colorado Avalanche but after that they have got full points against the Wild and the Jets. Mathieu Perreault was traded to Anaheim just a week before the start of the season but he has already proved his skills to his teammates and for the fans. Young Swede, Jakob SIlfverberg who was part of the big “Bobby Ryan – trade” last summer, has also played very well and he has two goals in the season. Cam Fowler is a promising young defenseman and Francois Beauchemin will bring much needed experience to their defense. Viktor Fasth has started two games but expecting to see Jonas Hiller in the net tonight.
NYR:
For the right reason, the Rangers fans were justified to be ashamed of their team on Tuesday night. Brad Richards opened the scoring early in the first period with his 3rd of the season but after that it was all about the Sharks. Despite a few lucky bounces and bad luck, the Rangers got destroyed by the Sharks. San Jose out-shout the Rangers 47-to-20 and nine of those shots beat the New York goaltenders. It’s still early, just three games into the season, and it takes time to adapt the new system, but 9-2 loss is way too much. The team need to get their game together and they have to do it fast. The bottom line is that the Rangers aren’t tough enough. In the game against the Sharks, they didn’t skate well and you were able to guess the final score already after the first period.
In addition to horrifying final score, Rick Nash was hurt after getting hit by Sharks defender Brad Stuart in the first period. Nash played 5:53 in the first period but didn’t return for the second period. After the game, Nash talked briefly to the media and told that soon after the hit he got headache. For now, the Rangers have told that Nash is sent back to New York and he will miss the next two games. NHL gave three game suspension to Brad Stuart.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter: @VilleLampinen
Game 3; The Rangers visit the Sharktank!
Victor Decolongon/Getty Images North America)
New York Rangers (1-1-0) @ San Jose Sharks (2-0-0)
Right after their first win of the season, the Rangers are back in the action tonight when they will meet the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center. The Rangers need to play another solid game tonight if they wanna leave the city with any points. Tonight’s game will feature many great match-ups, Stepan-Richards-Nash going against the Sharks top-line Marleau-Couture-Havlat and Lundqvist vs. Antti Niemi. Following the tonight’s game, the Rangers will head to Anaheim where they play the Ducks on Thursday night.
SJS:
The Sharks have missed the playoffs only once since 1997 but they haven’t won the Stanley Cup either. This year could be the last chance for them to fulfill the dream before the old core breaks down and the new era begins in town. Logan Couture is the new face of the franchise and young guys like Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney will also be the big part of the Sharks future. Question is who’s leaving the town? 35-year-old Joe Thornton or 34-year-old Patrick Marleau?
But before those decisions, they have this season to play and they have started it very well. They beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 in the season opener and defeated the Coyotes with the same numbers in their second game. Their coach Todd McLellan is very appreciated among the other NHL players and that’s one of the reasons the Sharks are usually big name in the offseason market. They have world class goaltender Antti Niemi and their offense is one the best in the league.
NYR:
Was it Callahan’s comeback or lousy game against the Coyotes but we saw a completely different team on the ice against the Kings. Now they forechecked, caused turnovers and most of all with a little luck – they scored goals. Brad Richards scored two goals and Ryan McDonagh was credited with the SHG when Jonathan Quick somehow lost his stick and eventually puck went into the net. Henrik Lundqvist played a solid game and was beaten only once, with high rising wrist shot by Jake Muzzin.
Tonight they face another very quick and solid team from the West and it’s interesting to see how well the team can play back-to-backs this early in the season. Ryan Callahan played all of his shifts in the 3rd line but we could see him moved up to the TOP-6 tonight. To highlight, the entire roster played very well yesterday. Mats Zuccarello had a very good night, Benoit Pouliot had a marvelous chance on the breakaway and overall the Rangers defense played a big role in the win.
Let’s Go Rangers!
Follow me on Twitter: @VilleLampinen
True Blue I Am a Ranger 