Now I know what it is like to watch paint dry. We are scoreless at the Gawden – or whatever they call it now – heading into the third period. The Bruins will be on the powerplay to start the final frame.
Both teams have had plenty of chances on the powerplay but they are 0for Saturday. The Blueshirts are 0 for four with the man advantage and the Big Bad Bruins are 0 for six. Shots are even at 14 apiece.
The Blueshirts and Bruins are scoreless heading into the second period. And the Blueshirts should be grateful for that. With Jaromir Jagr sitting in the box for a highsticking double-minor the Bruins applied the forecheck to no avail as Henrik Lundqvist stoned them cold. Lundqvist’s best stop of the frame was a nice glove hand save that left Marc Savard lying on the ice muttering to himself.
Kudos to Martin Straka for blocking not one, but two shots on the penalty kill. The first blocked shot saw Straka favoring his wrist. He left for the dressing room following the shift. Why Straka was on the ice killing penalties is anybody’s guess.
The Rangers killed off six minutes in penalties while being outshot 9-4. Jagr is back in the box to start the middle stanza.
I told myself that I was taking a break today owing to last night’s debacle in Atlanta against the Thrashers. I was tuning out all things pertaining to the Blueshirts. Then I get the news that the BoSox have forced the Rangers-Bruins tilt to be played as a matineé. We are easy prey, now we are getting pushed around by a bunch of guys who go to work in their pajamas.
So if anyone is driving up to Beantown to catch the game leave three hours earlier ‘cause the game isn’t starting at 7PM it’s starting at 4PM. The game is being carried locally by the usual suspects.
Where do we start?
The one saving grace in the Rangers 5-3 loss to the previously winless Thrashers is that nobody was watching.
Locals were growling that the Bosox had a healthy lead in the late innings.
More in the morning…or we can just put this behind us and see how Boston looks at us as easy prey.
Atlanta took to the ice knowing that they had more on the line tonight than our boys in blue. But knowing you have more on the line and executing are two different things. And the Thrashers took the early lead as Pascal Dupuis’ shot from the slot put Atlanta up 1-0 at 4:21 from Brad Larsen and Bobby Holik.
Rangers got into early penalty trouble giving the home side a 40 second 5-3 advantage at 6:12 of the first that Atlanta quickly capitalized on. Viktor Kozlov left alone at the side of the crease neatly tucked in the cross-ice feed from Marian Hossa at 6:23.
Following a nice series of saves against the swarming Blueshirts, Atlanta starter Jere Lehtonen left the game with eight minutes to go in the first frame. Lehtonen was replaced by Johan Hedberg. The Manitoba Moose is 0-2 for the year in three appearances with the Thrashers sporting a 4.29 GAA.
Tomas Pock is on the Blueshirts defence subbing for Marek Malik. Hossa and Jason Strudwick are tonight’s other scratches.
Nigel Dawes, the leading scorer down on the farm is in the lineup tonight for the Blueshirts playing with Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez.
Atlanta, losers of 10 in a row dating back to last year’s playoff sweep by the Blueshirts is playing their first game with GM Don Waddell behind the bench.
Lundqvist gets his sixth straight start going against Jere Lehtonen and his 4.72 GAA.
Its seven straight on the road for Atlanta after tonight, which makes the three game road trip by the Blueshirts pale in comparison. Injuries have also taken a toll on the Thrashers this year. Marcel Hossa’s brother has also been on the limp. Marian has been limited to one goal with a wonky groin missing three of the first six games this season. He is expected to play tonight.
Despite their current woes it should be noted that Atlanta won the season series last year 3-1.
A special shoutout tonight to St. Ranger fan Viviane.
Maybe this three game roadtrip is just what the doctor ordered for the misfit Blueshirts. Maybe a week on the road will lead to team bonding and help get this team the chemistry that they desperately lack if they expect to contend for the Cup this year.
On the surface, things aren’t too bad – one game below the Mendoza line five games into the season is not the end of the world. But this whole chemistry experiment – which has been ongoing since all the pieces fell into place in 1994 – should have been settled in the preseason.
Hell, that’s why they have a preseason. The veterans get in game shape, the rookies fight for a job, and the high-priced help handed millions in the off-season to take us to the next level get to acclimatize themselves with their teammates and the city. Speaking of the high-priced help, Gomez just had to cross the river, Drury never left the State. How hard can it be to live up to the expectations of your contracts?
Why has the powerplay been anemic? That Washington game is starting to look like an aberration. The powerplay is operating at 10% efficiency for the season. Throw out that Capitals game and it is operating at ZERO percent. Atlanta affords the Rangers plenty of opportunity to get the powerplay back on track. Here’s hoping…always hoping.
Speaking of Drury, Coach Renney’s line juggling act during practices this week has seen the centre skating on the third line with Peter Prucha and Ryan Callahan. We’re not paying Drury to play on the third line – even if it is just in practice, You do not solve your chemistry issues by sending the seven million dollar man to the bottom of the depth chart.
The Atlanta Thrashers have fired head coach Bob Hartley after going winless and pointless six games into the new season. General Manager Don Waddell will fill in behind the bench on an ‘interim’ basis.
Hartley was picked by most pundits to be the first fired coach this season. Many thought he should have been canned after the Blueshirts swept Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Gearing up for a Cup run last year GM Waddell loaded all his eggs into one basket and traded for the since departed Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik. There are those who think the wrong man was fired in Atlanta but in all fairness to Waddell, he had to fire Hartley to save his own skin.
Atlanta plays host to the Blueshirts Thursday night and the boys in blue better be up for this game because we know the Thrasher players will be fighting for their hockey lives and trying to impress the GM/Coach.
Did anyone happen to catch the interview with Sean Avery in The New York Times Magazine? If so, I’m really interested in hearing your thoughts.
Personally, it made me cringe. Listening to a hockey player who makes millions of dollars say he doesn’t “find New York too expensive” and talking about his Yves St. Laurent high-tops and the Dior collection he plans to buy makes me sick. He came across as a pretentious little brat who needs the world to know how rich he is in order to feel good about himself. He’s the kind of guy that you’d meet in a bar and he’d just go on and on about himself and all of the things that he owns. You would yawn and maybe feign interest. But you would never call if he slipped you his number. He’s way too into himself.
Why does this matter?, you may ask. Why do I care what he’s like in person as long as he performs his duties (and performs them well) on the ice? I suppose that’s all that should matter when you’re rooting for a sports team. But I’m always interested in the players’ stories and what they do to make the world a better place. Adam Graves, for example, was always one of my favorites. He was very involved in the community and just seemed like an all-around Nice Guy. It made me feel like the time, energy and emotion I put into the team was worthwhile. A guy like Graves should make millions, as he gives back to the community. The Sean Averys of the league? I can do without.
The Jekyll and Hyde Blueshirts played the role of Hyde tonight in an ugly 3-1 loss at MSG. After scoring on three powerplays last night the Broadway Misfits went 0-6 with the man advantage including a lengthy five on three chance midway through the third.
The boobirds come out as the Rangers failed to capitalize on any of their opportunities.
Things were so bad that Brandon Dubinsky’s attempt to light a fire under his teammates saw him get knocked out by the 106-year-old Luke Richardson late in the game. Maybe it did some good as Jaromir Jagr picked up a garbage goal at 18:51. On the ensuing face-off the Rangers pulled Lundqvist put forgot to add the extra attacker.
St. Ranger player of the game as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Colton Orr who acquitted himself well in a second period slugfest against one of the best heavyweights in the game in Brian McGrattan.
Here’s hoping Dubinsky remembers his name before the boys head down to Atlanta for a match against the Thrashers on the 18th.
Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!