The New York Rangers (4-6-1) struck lightning in the third period scoring two powerplay goals to defeat Tampa Bay 3-1. With Chris Gratton in the box for cross-checking and captain Jaromir Jagr missing a couple of chicklets the Blueshirts scored on the ensuing powerplay.

Jagr took a cross ice feed from Michal Rozsival and put the Blueshirts up 2-1 at 10:45 beating Johan Holmqvist with a low hard shot. The Tampa netminder was screened by Brendan Shanahan on the play who had parked himself at the lip of the crease.

The goal inspired the Blueshirts who shortly thereafter enjoyed another powerplay. Shanahan, again in front of Holmqvist took the feed from Chris Drury at 13:29 to give the Rangers the breathing room they needed to coast home.

Tampa’s streak of allowing first period goals continued Monday night as Nigel Dawes scored on a beautiful deflection of a Paul Mara shot at 7:40.  Mara’s shot was going well wide of the net before Dawes deflected it past the startled Johan Holmqvist for his team leading third goal of the season.

The hit of the game came about eight minutes later when Fedor Tyutin levelled Craig MacDonald with an open ice hit in the Rangers zone. The hit separated MacDonald from his helmet and left glove and he headed off to the Bolts dressing room on the ensuing whistle for repairs with a busted lip. MacDonald returned in the second period sporting six new stitches.

Vincent Lecavalier tied the game on a penalty shot at 6:28 of the second period. Lecavalier completely undressed Henrik Lundqvist as he slid a backhand through the legs of the sliding netminder. It was the 12^th goal that the Blueshirts have given up in the second period. They have only allowed 22 goals against on the year.

On a night celebrating local youth hockey the Remedial Rangers looked like they would have a hard time scoring against a bunch of 11-year-old kids for most of the game. Thank goodness for the powerplay.

ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Jaromir Jagr. Jagr’s powerplay marker tied him for the team lead in goals with Nigel Dawes. The captain also had an assist on Shanahan’s marker and showed some heart by playing through the pain of some broken teeth.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers are Al Ovechkin (6-7-13) and the Washington Capitals (4-6) on November 1. The Caps superstar winger looks good taking feeds from former Blueshirt Michael Nylander (4-4-8). There’s a winger here on Broadway who misses Nylander very much. The Capitals played the Leafs tonight in Toronto and were winning 7-1 in the third period. Ovechkin has added a couple of goals to his listed totals and Nylander has added a few more assists.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Dave Scatchard has been released following a tryout with Hartford…Lundqvist’s penalty shot save percentage falls to .600…Brandon Dubinsky led the way with five hits…Jagr had a team high six shots on goal.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

What happens when you have a team that can’t score (Rangers) and a team that can’t win on the road (Tampa) get together for a little Monday Night Hockey?

Well if you are a fan of the Blueshirts (3-6-1) you hope that the Lightning roadshow continues to sputter. The Bolts have given up first period goals in each of their three road losses this season. The Rangers can only hope that streak continues tonight as they are a woeful 0-5-1 when the opponent scores first.

But the caveat for the Rangers – the lowest scoring team in the league with 16 goals – is that they can’t put the puck behind the opposing goalie. The Blueshirts goal total for the year coming into tonight’s game is seven more than Vinnie Prospal of the Bolts who leads his side with nine goals and 12 points.

Tampa is 5-3-1 on the year with all their wins coming at home. Their five game home win streak ended Saturday night as Buffalo eked out a 4-3 OT win. After getting into fights in the Bolts two previous games Vincent Lecavalier (5-6-11) let tough guy Andre Roy drop the gloves in the Buffalo game. It may have been the wrong time for Lecavalier to end his mean streak as he ended the night with a powerplay marker and an assist. The only thing missing on his CV for the evening was a fight to collect the coveted Gordie Howe Hat Trick.

Dan Boyle is expected to make his first start of the season tonight for the Lightning. The Bolts have no other significant injuries and once again the Rangers are without the services of Sean Avery, Marty Straka and Ryan Callahan.

We’ll have a summary following the game.

Puck on!

Scoring continues to be a problem as the New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 at home at Madison Square Garden Saturday night. 

Fans were nervous going into the second period as the Rangers got off 11 shots in the first and none of them were scoring threats.  Then early in the second period Jaromir Jagr tried to alleviate everyone’s concerns as he scored to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead. 

Just over five minutes into the period Michal Rozsival intercepted a pass at center ice and made a nice pass off the boards to Jagr on the right side.  As Jagr skated into the zone he took a hard wrist shot from the right face-off circle.  The shot beat Maple Leaf goalie Vesa Toskala who could not see because he was being screened by defenseman Hal Gill.

Coming off of two shutouts in his past three games, Henrik Lundqvist looked strong again early.  Just after Jagr put his team ahead and with the Rangers on a power play Lundqvist made a terrific stop on a Boyd Devereaux breakaway.  Devereaux received a very long pass from deep in the defensive zone to center ice then muscled his way past a Ranger’s defenseman only to be turned away by Lundqvist.

The good feelings from Jagr putting the team up and Lundqvist making a highlight reel save didn’t last long, less than three minutes later Pavel Kubina scored his first of the season to tie the game 1-1.  The Rangers had their chances to keep the goal from happening but were not able to control rebounds or clear the puck from the zone and after moving the puck around from deep into the zone to Tomas Kaberle on the left point then to Kubina on the right point, Kubina just blasted a shot from the blue-line and the puck was deflected by a player in front of the net before going past Lundqvist.

The goal was the first even strength goal given up by Henrik Lundqvist in over a week dating back to the loss in Atlanta against the Trashers on October 18.

The Maple Leafs took a 2-1 lead with just under five minutes left to go in the second period when Lundqvist botched a play behind the net.  After the Leafs dumped the puck into the zone he went behind the net to pass the puck to a Ranger defenseman, but turned it over to Devereaux who was aggressively fore-checking.  Devereaux was then able to make a smooth pass in front of the net to Johnny Pohl who got off a textbook one-timer slap shot for the goal. 

Now the Rangers were down 2-1 and needed to keep the score right there.  Instead they allowed a third goal just 1:20 after the second.  This time it was Nik Antropov who was able to score when he received a centering pass from Kaberle right in front of the net and just pushed it past Lundqvist to put the Leafs up 3-1.

In the third period, with the fans booing loudly and often, the Rangers had a number of chances but were not able to get any shots past Toskala.  The scoring was not over though as the Leafs added one more goal with about 15 seconds left when Chad Kilger took advantage of an empty net to put his team up 4-1.

Despite Lundqvist giving up three goals in this game the offense was definitely to blame for this loss.  The Rangers out shot Toronto and had better chances, but were never able to capitalize.  This is only the third time in 10 games that Lundqvist allowed three goals or more and top offensive players, Jagr, Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, and Brendan Shanahan, have merely six goals combined over that span.  Through 10 games last season the quartet had 25 goals between them.

Rob Abruzzese’s articles can also be read @ Hot Stove NY and In The Dirt. 

With all the scoring they would need to win this game coming in the second period the Toronto Maple Leafs (5-4-3) sat back in the third and cruised to their fifth victory of the year.

The Remedial Rangers (3-6-1) squandered a powerplay at 1:34 of the third that would have moved them within striking distance of a tie. Shortly thereafter Jaromir Jagr missed a glorious opportunity when he failed to put the biscuit into the yawning cage.

Coach Tom Renney juggled his lines in the third hoping to ignite some offense. At one point Scott Gomez, Chris Drury and Jagr were all on the ice at the same time and the Rangers weren’t on the powerplay. On the night the Blueshirts were 0-3 with the man advantage. Gomez, Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes started on the first powerplay unit back in the first period.

Chad Kilger iced the game for the Leafs with an empty net goal at 19:44.

The Blueshirts outshot the Leafs 33-22 and have outshot their opponents in nine of 10 games this year.

ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Michal Rozsival. On a night when the brightest stars didn’t shine, the Rangers D-man had two blocked shots to go along with his assist on Jagr’s goal. Rozsival also led the Rangers D with more than 24 minutes of ice time.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers is Vinnie “Boom Boom” Lecavalier. (4-5-9) and the Tampa Bay Lightning (5-3). The Lightning have yet to win on the road this year. Lecavalier not known for his toughness has been involved in two scraps so far this year.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Fedor Tyutin lead the way with four hits…Scott Gomez had a team high six shots on goal…Jagr led all forwards with 23+ minutes of ice time

A special ST.RANGER shoutout to Eric of the Hockey Night in Canada crew. Let’s rip this town son.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

The Rangers second period woes continued on Saturday night as the Leafs scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead. Of the 19 goals the Rangers have allowed this year 11 of them have been scored in the second period.

Jaromir Jagr had scored early in the second period to give the New York Rangers a shortlived 1-0 lead. The Blueshirts captain used Leafs defenseman Hal Gill as a screen to snap a low shot inside the post at 5:44. Michal Rozsival picked up the only assist on Jagr’s second goal of the year.

Pavel Kubina tied the game at 8:35 with his first goal of the year. Kubina’s marker atoned for an earlier hooking call that had his mates play shorthanded after the Rangers had taken the lead.

The Leafs took the lead at 15:46 on John Pohl’s first goal and extended the lead on Nik Antropov’s eighth marker of the year at 17:06.

The Rangers, 3-0 when scoring first this year, will need a big third period to keep that streak alive.

The New York Rangers play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup tonight at MSG. After 20 minutes the game is scoreless. Playing an uptempo game the Blueshirts outshot the Leafs 11-5 in the frame. The Rangers penalty killing unit, ranked seventh in the league, successfully killed off the only powerplay in the period when Nigel Dawes was in the box for hooking.

Winners of five of the last seven meetings between the two clubs, the Blueshirts are the polar opposite to the Leafs. Whereas the Rangers can’t score goals (a league low 15) the Leafs lead the league with 42 goals scored. Leading the way for the Leafs is captain Mats Sundin (6-12-18). Sundin is second in the league in scoring and is currently riding a four game scoring streak with three goals and five helpers in that span.

The Rangers defense coming off a 2-0 shutout over Jersey Thursday night lead the league with a team 1.76GAA allowing only 17 goals on the year. The Leafs on the other hand have given up 44 goals. Vesa Toskala, touted as a goaltending savior when the Leafs traded for him this summer is 3-3-1 with a 3.67GAA and .890SV.

The Blueshirts are 3-1 at MSG this year while the Leafs have one road victory in three games away from the Air Canada Centre.

On the injury front, Darcy Tucker is out for the Leafs with a knee injury, Bryan McCabe and Kyle Wellwood are also sitting out tonight nursing tender groins. The Blueshirts are still without the services of Sean Avery, Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan

The New York Rangers after scoring in the first minute of the game on Nigel Dawes first goal of the season held on to defeat their Hudson River rivals the New Jersey Devils 2-0 in action at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.Thursday’s game against the Diablos is the first of six at home for the Broadway Blueshirts.

After going 0-2 with the man advantage in the first period the Rangers allowed the Devils three straight powerplay opportunities in the second. The Rangers who have self-destructed in the second period this season managed to survive without a goal scored against them. You have to wonder what Coach Renney says to the troops in between periods because the Rangers come out flat every time. They can thank the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for keeping the score 1-0 after 40 minutes.

Tonight was a good night for the Rangers own feeble powerplay to break out as the Devils penalty killing unit is ranked 29^th in the league. The Diablos had given up 11 odd man goals in the last seven games prior to tonight’s action. And the Blueshirts did just that. The Rangers put the game out of reach with a late powerplay goal by Dawes who scored with a nice wrist shot from the left dot at 16:07. Brandon Dubinsky picked up his first NHL point on the play and Petr Prucha picked up the other assist.

ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Henrik Lundqvist for picking up his first shutout of the year. With the way the Rangers score goals Lundqvist needs a shutout every night. Over the last three games Lundqvist has given up one regulation time goal but only has tonight’s win to show for his stellar efforts. We could have gone with Nigel Dawes but he was our ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME last time out against Pittsburgh.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers is Mats “Moonbeam” Sundin (6-11-17) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-4-3). The Laffs are coming off a road game in Pittsburgh Thursday night. Saturday’s game is being broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada north of the border.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Eddie Giacomin was the last Ranger goalie to start the first nine games of the season…Colton Orr muscled his way to seven hits to lead the home squad…Chris Drury and Dawes tied for a team high five shots on goal…Drury led all forwards with 20:07 of ice time…Dan Girardi led the D with 23:11 … After going 0-9 on the pp against Boston and Pittsburgh the Blueshirts went 1-4 against New Jersey…Outshot the Devils 31-22.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

For the first time since the last minute of the Ottawa game oh so long ago the Rangers have scored an even strength goal. And they didn’t waste any time as Nigel Dawes beat Martin Brodeur 57 seconds into the game. Brendan Shanahan picked up the puck at the Devils blue line and quickly fed Dawes who beat Brodeur through the five hole.The Rangers had gone more than 181 minutes in between even strength tallies. The goal for Dawes is his first of the year and second in his career. Dawes goal is also the first of any kind for the Blueshirts since an ugly 5-3 loss to Atlanta last week.

Early in the first the Rangers are up 1-0.

Tonight’s game against the Diablos is game one of the Blueshirts longest homestand of the year. Long homestands have been good to the Rangers in recent years as they have not finished below .500.

It’s safe to say that in facing his old Jersey mates Scott Gomez (2-1-3) has to come up big tonight. Eight games into the season and Gomez has done nothing to earn the admiration of the Blueshirts faithful while collecting his millions.

MIA for the Blueshirts tonight are agitator Sean Avery, Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan. The Devils are also battling the injury bug with Colin White, Jamie Langenbrunner and Cam Janssens out of tonight’s lineup. Langenbrunner owned the Blueshirts last year leading the Devils in scoring with three goals and nine points.

As expected, Tomas Pock cleared waivers and was assigned to the Wolf Pack earlier today. There was no room for Pock on the crowded Blueshirts blue line. Pock dressed in only one game this year against Atlanta and the time down in Hartford will help him hone his skills and make a contribution on the farm while gaining valuable ice time. Defense has not been the Rangers problem this year.

The Diablos (3-4-1) sit two points ahead of the Blueshirts and a victory tonight will give the home side some much needed confidence by picking up ground on a divisional foe. The Rangers sport a 5-2-1 record against their Hudson River rivals in the last eight meetings at MSG. Let’s hope the Diablos are looking ahead to their first home game of the season Saturday night against the Senators.

The Rangers can add yet another player to their injured list. An MRI today showed that Ryan Callahan has a grade two knee sprain, suffered in Tuesday’s loss to the Penguins. The winger will be out indefinitely, though the injury will not require surgery.

Callahan joins the ailing Straka (broken finger) and Avery (separated shoulder).