Game 72; Rivalry night in Newark!
New York Rangers (38-29-4) @ New Jersey Devils (30-27-13)
The Rangers are back in the action tonight when they visit one of their biggest rivals, the New Jersey Devils. The last time these teams got together, the Rangers rallied to memorable 7-3 victory over Brodeur and the Devils in Yankee Stadium’s outdoor game. The Rangers are coming off from huge 3-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets last night while the Devils were able to beat Zach Parise and Minnesota Wild 4-3 in their last game. The Blueshirts are number three team in the East and they are looking to increase their deficit to Blue Jackets tonight. The Devils are virtually out of the playoffs but there’s nothing better than spoiling the Rangers dreams – and they will try do exactly that tonight. After tonight’s game the Rangers will have a day off tomorrow before they host the Phoenix Coyotes at the Garden on Monday night.
NJD:
Zach Parise visited the Prudential Center on Thursday for the first time since he was traded to Minnesota. There were applauds and boo’s for him but the Wild and Parise left Newark without any points. The Devils are in the middle of five game home stand. After the Rangers, they will host the Leafs and Coyotes. The Devils play only four games at road and the longest trip is to Ottawa. Jaromir Jagr and Patrik Elias are the leading scorers for the Devils and they usually bring out their best vs. the Rangers. Saturday night in Newark, Rangers and the Devils, it doesn’t get much better than this!
NYR:
For the first time this season, the Rangers were angry last night – and oh boy I loved that team. Benoit Pouliot stood up for Dominic Moore and Rick Nash fired up the team multiple times. Last night’s game wasn’t the best of the season, they made a few bad mistakes in their own end (including one BIG mistake by Pouliot that lead to CJB goal) and the offense had a tough time to generate scoring chances in 5-on-5. But for the first time this season, this team really showed up and worked for the team. Derek Stepan continues to put up points and Derick Brassard has finally found his game. You must give credit to Columbus, they play tough game, they hit hard and most of all they don’t give up – something that has changed in Ohio in the last few years.
With Nash going after Bobrovsky and all the wacking that went on the whole night proved that there is some rivalry between New York and Columbus. Tonight they will face a bigger rivalry which dates back to 1982. Martin Brodeur will once again lead his team to the ice tonight against the Rangers and he will face Henrik Lundqvist in the other end of the ice. You can expect hard hitting, a couple of fights maybe and good goaltending.
Let’s Go Rangers!
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Game 54; Rangers and Devils set to meet in the historical outdoor game at Yankee Stadium!
New York Rangers (27-23-3) @ New Jersey Devils (22-19-11)
The Rangers are back in the action tonight as they face the New Jersey Devils at Yankee Stadium in the part of the NHL Stadium Series. For players, coaches and for the fans – this game is something out of ordinary. 50 000 people in the stands will see the 1st ever hockey to be played on the Yankee Stadium tonight. The Rangers are coming off from 2-1 loss against the St. Louis Blues so they wanna get back to winning as soon as possible. The Hudson River Rivalry has been intense since the Devils entered the league in 1982. Mark Messier’s guarantee and Stephen Matteau’s OT goal in 1994 playoffs, Devils sweep in 2006 playoffs, John Tortorella vs. Pete DeBoer matches and 2012 ECF. These teams don’t like each other, the fans don’t like each other and that’s what makes this rivalry so great to watch. Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Brodeur will once again play against each others and if the history repeats itself – there won’t be a lot of goals. After today’s game, the Rangers will face the Islanders on Wednesday night.
NJD:
The Devils have won 86 games against the Rangers since the first meeting in 1982. If they can win today in Yankee Stadium, that would definitely be one of the greatest win in their franchise history. It’s hard to believe but Martin Brodeur, who already played in 1994 playoffs, will get a start tonight against Henrik Lundqvist. 41-year-old Brodeur will play his 1452nd NHL game today afternoon in Bronx. Another veteran who will play his 2nd outdoor game in two years is Jaromir Jagr. 41-year-old Czech played for the Flyers in Winter Classic but he was injured in the first period and left the game early. Now Jagr is healthy and he’s ready to help the Devils win their first outdoor game.
NYR:
What ever happens, the fans will remember these next two games for long time. In 2012, the Rangers visited the Flyers in the NHL’s Winter Classic. Mike Rupp scored two goals and Brad Richards scored the eventual game winner in the 3rd period. Henrik Lundqvist secured the Rangers win as he stopped Danny Briere’s penalty shot with under minute remaining in the game. The Rangers haven’t won a game against the Devils this year but if they can do it today – everyone will be happy. Carl Hagelin will play his 3rd outdoor game today and he’s one of the key players for the Rangers. Line featuring Zuccarello, Brassard and Pouliot has been good for the Rangers and with their speed they can cause problems for the Devils defense. This is just me but keep eye on Brad Richards. He knows how to win outdoor games.
Rangers fans in the stands, be safe, be warm and most importantly BE LOUD!
PS, Happy Birthday to #99!
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!
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Rangers eliminate Devils with 4-1 win
Henrik Lundqvist: 21-15-3, 2.11, .926 (11th straight start; 26th in last 28 games
Martin Brodeur: 12-8-7. 2.16, .903
A Rangers win on Sunday afternoon would eliminate the 2012 Eastern Conference champion NJ Devils from playoff contention this season. Entering the game, NYR had scored 14 goals in their last 2 games which have begun to eliminate a lot of the worry there once was about a lack of goal scoring.
The Rangers got off to a fast start when after immediately getting the puck down the NJ end, Ryan Callahan would bank one off the skate of Brodeur and in just 34 seconds into the game. A string of penalties by the Devils would give the Rangers ample chances to add to the lead, but they were all killed off.
Later on, forechecking down low led to Asham feeding the point, and a McDonagh shot deflected off the stick of Derek Stepan and by Brodeur to give the Rangers a 2 goal lead. The Rangers took it to the Devils physically in the first too, with huge hits by Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi among others. The 2-0 lead would hold after the first period, and over the last 7 periods the Rangers are outscoring opponents by a 16-5 margin.
Coming out in the second with their season on the line, the Devils took it to the Rangers. Most of the early play was around Lundqvist, and he had to turn away a few shots by Clarkson, Zajac, and Loktionov before Steve Bernier shanked one over an empty net. Not able to bury any of those to cut into the lead, the Rangers got the opportunity to extend the lead to three. They did just that when Brad Richards found Taylor Pyatt off a bad NJ turnover; Pyatt wristed one high glove side on Brodeur to put the Rangers up three. That’s how the second would end as New Jersey still couldn’t beat Lundqvist even though carrying an 18-17 shots advantage.
Something that I noticed a lot (as well as NBC clearly did) was that the Rangers were having their defensemen jump up into the play a lot. This isn’t something that is new for today however, it seemed that this is how the Rangers jumped out of that offensive slump of a few weeks ago. Numerous times today I’ve seen Del Zotto, McDonagh and Moore jumping up with the forwards to add an extra body to the offense, and it’s clearly helped. This is something that obviously has to keep up if the Rangers want to make a run in the postseason.
The Rangers quickly would bury the Devils in the 3rd, as off an early powerplay chance, Callahan would convert off a feed from Richards to stretch the lead to 4-0.
All that was left to wonder is if Lundqvist would finish off the shutout, but he would be beaten by Loktionov with just over 6 minutes remaining. That would be the only goal of the game for the Devils, who were eliminated with the 4-1 loss on Sunday.
3 Stars:
3rd: Derek Stepan
2nd: Brad Richards
1st: Ryan Callahan
Key Stats:
Henrik Lundqvist: 26 saves on 27 shots
Ryan Callahan: 2 goals
Derek Stepan: 1 goal & 1 assist
Brad Richards: 2 assists
Taylor Pyatt: 1 goal
Hagelin, McDonagh, Stralman & Del Zotto: 1 assist each
Loktionov (NJ): 1 goal
Brodeur (NJ): 18 saves on 22 shots
The Rangers remain in 8th after the win; tied in points with Ottawa, one back of the Islanders, and 3 points up on Winnipeg. They’re back on the ice on Tuesday night in sunny Florida to take on the Panthers as the last week of the season gets started. With only three games remaining, every point is absolutely crucial for playoff positioning.
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Let’s Go Rangers!!
Matt
True Blue I Am a Ranger 