Rangers beef up with Shelley

Before yesterday's 3 PM Olympic deadline, the Rangers beefed up by adding vet heavy Jody Shelley by acquiring him from San Jose in exchange for a conditional 2011 sixth round pick. If they opt to re-sign the proven scrapper who avenged a loss to ex-Ranger Colton Orr by KO-ing him with a right last week.

In his ninth season, the 34 year-old has made a living with his fists accumulating 1,310 penalty minutes in 517 career games with Columbus and San Jose, including over 200 PIM three consecutive seasons ('01-02 thru '03-04) with the Blue Jackets where his career started. The Manitoba native is a decent skater who actually can take a regular shift if needed unlike unreliable Donald Brashear, who's a shadow of the player he was several years ago. This despite his claims that he's better than Orr, who's doing just fine in Toronto. Huggy Bear cleared waivers and reported to Hartford where he'll likely debut tonight.

In 36 games this season, Shelley has three assists and 78 PIM. At least he should provide the Rangers with a legit heavyweight so newly acquired Brandon Prust doesn't have to move up in weight and take on Andrew Peters next time the Rangers meet the Devils on March 10. While it's a decent move, you have to wonder why the lack of trust in Dane Byers, who did nothing wrong in his brief stint even scoring a goal in a loss to the Wild. We'll leave that for the organization.

Jokinen OT winner gives gritty Rangers win over Pens

If there were one word to describe the Rangers' hard fought 3-2 overtime win over the Pens in their final regular season match at Mellon Arena- something John Tortorella didn't give a damn about- it would be gritty.

For a struggling team which had only won two of their last 10 coming in last night, this was a welcome change. Considering the garbage golden boy Sidney Crosby and Matt Cooke pulled, it was easily one of the best wins of the season. Especially with both Marian Gaborik and Mike Del Zotto departing early due to lacerations shortening the bench to 16. Gaborik (6 shifts-4:02) tried to go after missing a game but it was too much. Del Zotto was cut in the ribs by Evgeni Malkin's skate and played just two shifts (1:20). He needed 50 stitches and likely is out for tomorrow's final game before the break at MSG against Tampa Bay, who fell today 5-4 to the Islanders. They're two points up. So, it amounts to a large game for a team that can't win at home. The Rangers are one of four teams to have a losing record (13-15-4) on home ice. Will a character building win in which they stood up to the hated Pens, finally snapping an eight-game losing streak to their rivals, be enough to follow suit tomorrow?

“The playoffs have already started for us; we have to start winning,” Henrik Lundqvist pointedly declared after turning aside 25 of 27 shots for just his second win in nine. “A big part of the game is to be focused. Whatever happens during the game, you can’t let that affect us—if it’s a goal or a guy can’t play for us, all the guys have to step up even more. We did that tonight.”

“For a change, tonight we were able to put together a 60-minute—more than a 60-minute—hockey game,” goalscorer Vinny Prospal noted after scoring for the fourth time in four to put his club ahead 2-1 in an outstanding second period. “And I think that was maybe the difference between the last few games and tonight’s game.”

After a tenative first that saw them fall behind on Crosby's career best 40th of the season set up in the slot by Bill Guerin and Malkin, the Blueshirts controlled the second outscoring the mighty Pens 2-zip and outshooting them 13-6. It didn't take long to tie it with Chris Drury, who played like a captain all night, setting up Brandon Dubinsky in front with a no look backhand feed 88 seconds in. Olli Jokinen added a secondary helper on the great play by the oft-criticized Drury, who's played better lately. He was good the prior two contests playing much more active and getting chances. Maybe he finally has jump. Considering that he always plays hurt sacrificing by blocking shots for the team like he did last night, it's hard to say he doesn't care. The man's been snake bit not finishing plays like the one where he had a open side. But Brooks Orpik saved a goal.

With momentum, the Rangers continued to play well taking it to Pittsburgh who struggled in their end. If there's one area which could be an issue for the defending champs, it's defense. They can be forechecked and our team did a good job. Perhaps they do miss Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill more than first thought. Some superb work from Sean Avery, who played one of his spunkiest games, distracted the Pens and eventually led to Prospal putting the Blueshirts up. Winning puck battles in the corners and throwing his weight around, he also was near Brent Johnson's crease agitating Orpik who took a whack at the agitator. It should've been a penalty but the Avery Rules were in effect. After a glance at the refs, instead of letting it get to him, he kept playing during the shift. Pittsburgh came the other way and got a shot on Lundqvist, who repelled it to Matt Gilroy. He quickly worked the puck to Artem Anisimov, who on a two-on-one made a perfect feed to Prospal who went upstairs for his 13th at 9:44. A beauty that put them ahead.

That's when the game became more interesting. On the very next shift, a clean Drury takeout of Cooke who earlier this season blindsided Anisimov led to the instigator repeatedly challenging our captain who finally obliged landing a couple of rights before being taken down. Typically, Cooke made a bush league move continuing to hit a defenseless Drury.

"He kept saying it was a dirty play, and I was like, 'What, I'm not allowed to hit you?' " said Drury. "He asked me so many times to go, that I figured I might as well.

"The way we responded tells you about our preparation and focus. Considering who we were playing and who we didn't have playing for us, it was probably our grittiest game of the season."

 
Frequent target Michal Rozsival had seen enough coming to his aid, pushing Cooke away to earn a misconduct for being third man in. Exactly the kind of response that should've happened when Daniel Carcillo goaded Gaborik into dropping 'em while new Tinman Dan Girardi stood and watched. It earned the Rangers a power play which they did nothing with, looking lost minus Del Zotto and Gaborik. Girardi, who saw point duty on a second straight was dreadful, leading to a couple of Pens' shorthanded bids which Lundqvist denied. He's been a solid player here since the club brought him in as a free agent, pairing with Fedor Tyutin to success in our only decent run. While Girardi's had his moments, he's not consistent and hasn't developed. Last night, it was two glaring turnovers which led to both Crosby's goals, including the tying power play redirect of a Sergei Gonchar shot in the third. It's very hard to pick on a player when we still have Wade Redden and Rozsival, who's played better since Tort's December tirade following an awful Islander loss. However, Rozy's boosted his play and been more effective than Girardi, who's supposed to be one of our best. Granted. He's cheaper but that'll come to a halt this summer if they retain him. He's in line for about three million. Is he really worth it? That's why I'm a fan of moving him before the March 3 deadline. Now, they have to wait. If you could get a pick for him or package with Dubinsky, who's far from consistent for say a more talented player (i.e. Frolik, Versteeg, Benn), you do it. Many are split on Girardi but tend to overrate him. D is our one system strength. It's about time they found out what Bobby Sanguinetti, Mike Sauer and Heineken can do.

Back to the game and Crosby's antics. Not taking kindly to Dubinsky late in the second, the whiny Hart candidate gave a one-handed slash to our center's wrist. This after the a ref pushed Dubinsky away during the period's final shift. How can that be allowed?!?!?!?!?! Ridiculous. How overprotected can Cindy be? The chop to a place that's not protected could've resulted in a broken wrist. Of course, the league won't bother. Why would they? Double standards. Gotta love Dubi's response during an MSG interview with John Giannone:

Dubinsky calls Crosby baby

Though he'd tie it with No.41 thanks to a diagonal Girardi pass right to Gonchar (secondary assist, anyone?), Sid & Co. would come up short in OT thanks to a brilliant winning shot by Jokinen, who must step up with Gabby banged up. He beat Marc-Andre Fleury with a lethal wrister from the right circle through a Kris Letang screen 62 seconds in giving them their first extra session win of the season. The play wouldn't have been possible without a great defensive gem by Rozsival, who took a Pen off the puck behind the net and subtly fed Jokinen who did the rest for his 13th and second as a Ranger. Since the trade, he has five points in five games.

 "I used (Letang) as a screen and tried to go higher—tried to go high-glove,” the hero said after praising Rozsival. “Sometimes when the puck doesn’t go where you want it to go, it goes in.”

“I think he’s been playing OK for us but… OK isn’t good enough because we’re not winning,” Tortorella assessed. “So it’s a big play by him… Hopefully it will give him some confidence. You always want to be accepted when you come to a new group, and when you score an overtime game winner that’s a big avenue for him as far a joining in with the team.”

Now, they'll aim for two in a row and a chance to go into the break on a high. They know what's at stake and say the right things. We'll see if they're up to the challenge.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Olli Jokinen, NYR (OT winner 1:02 in, game high 7 SOG, 2 blocked shots, hit, +2 in 20:50)
2nd Star-Michal Rozsival, NYR (assist, 10 PIM, 5 SOG, 3 blocked shots, 2 hits in 21:31)
1st Star-Chris Drury, NYR (assist, fight, 2 SOG, 2 hits, blocked shot, +1 in 18:22)

A Kovy trick

After a rough month plus for the Devils finally they saw some light at the end of the tunnel last night in their final home game before the two-week Olympic break, with a 5-2 win over Nashville. New Jersey's win coupled with the Penguins' OT loss assured the Devils of remaining in first place at the Olympic break. All of the Devils' go-to forwards scored goals including Ilya Kovalchuk, who made his first goal as a Devil count big-time by breaking a 2-2 tie at 8:24 of the third period and setting off an unusual celebration by the crowd.

Normally throwing hats on the ice is reserved for when a player scores a hat trick, however upon Kovy's first as a Devil the ice was immediately littered with dozens of hats. Why? Well conveniently the Devils gave away baseball caps tonight and many of them were among the debris that had to be swept off the ice but more importantly it was an odd, if heartfelt showing of love from the Devils crowd towards their newest acquisition. Personally I went from 'what the **** is this crap?!' and being worried about a delay of game penalty to 'okay, that was kinda fun' in my reactions to that odd goal celebration. Technically it was a Devils hat trick I suppose, and in itself three goals has been a rarity for the team lately.

Even before the so-called Kovy trick, it was an interesting game. Jacques Lemaire made a couple of lineup changes from Wednesday night's loss, scratching Rob Davison in favor of Cory Murphy (yes, he's baaack!) and in what's perhaps been a first since the Robbie Ftorek administration Jay Pandolfo was a healthy scratch in favor of Matthew Corrente, also back with the big club after Pierre Luc-Letourneau Leblond came down with his mysterious upper-body ailment again and was put on IR. As much as I like Pando, no Pando = no checking line which is a good thing, although to be honest that's been pretty well phased out anyway since the acquisition of Kovalchuk. For his part Corrente played well in his 5:28, even getting a couple of shots on net. I was actually surprised his icetime was that low considering I noticed him a bit - well mainly early.

As has been a pattern throughout this recent malaise, the Devils again started off well and jumped out in front at 9:49 when Jamie Langenbrunner's pinpoint pass just eluded Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne and found Travis Zajac's stick. Zajac had an easy open-net goal as a result, for his nineteenth of the season. Fellow PZL linemate Zach Parise also assisted on the goal. However, the Devils blew a golden opportunity to get that dreaded two-goal lead when they received a 1:26 five-on-three power play seconds after Zajac's goal, and did absolutely nothing with it. Granted, I've seen worse power plays from the Devils but there was still too much passing and not enough shooting. And when we did shoot, invariably it missed the net.

Seemingly that missed opportunity changed the momentum, and the Predators showed us how it was done at 18:30, scoring on their own power play when Cal O'Reilly blasted one through a screen in front to tie the game. Then just forty-six seconds into the next period the Predators took the lead when Jordin Tootoo's shot seemingly deflected off a Devils defenseman (either Mike Mottau or Colin White). While being down 2-1 was all the more annoying given our recent woes, maybe it was better than having a lead. Patrik Elias did respond less than two minutes later when he blasted one from just inside the blueline past Rinne at 2:30, with Mottau getting the lone assist on Elias's eleventh goal of the season.

Going into the third period, Lemaire made two crucial adjustments to his lines, having Elias center Kovalchuk and putting Danius Zubrus back on the Parise-Zajac line, where he was so effective for two straight games before Lemaire split them up. It was Elias who fed Kovalchuk for the wrist shot at 8:24 that set off Kovy's Jeff Friesen-like goal celebration, hat-gate and gave Kovalchuk his 32nd goal of the year. Langenbrunner also had an assist on that goal, which seemed to loosen everyone up. Finally on their fifth power play of the night, the Devils' man advantage had a breakthrough, when Parise went to the net (thankfully) and scored off a rebound from a Kovalchuk shot. Zajac also had an assist on Parise's 27th at 13:08. At first I exhaled then realized 'oh ****, here's the dreaded two goal lead' and almost on cue, Nashville had a great scoring opportunity that Martin Brodeur snuffed out.

Tonight wouldn't go according to that script however, and Langenbrunner sealed the deal with an empty-netter at 19:18 for his 15th of the year, ironic because all night it seemed as if the captain wanted to play the role of Adam Oates and pass the puck all over the place (and to his credit he did get two assists). His only shot on goal came in a situation where he couldn't help but get one, all alone with the puck and an empty net right in front of him. Finally, came a sigh of relief and celebration from the crowd, who gave Kovalchuk a huge ovation for being the first star.

Typically I had a couple of misadventures before the game. Before the lockout, I wasn't much of a jersey person and usually stuck to wearing t-shirts but finally started getting and wearing a couple of jerseys during the 2005-06 season, and since then I've pretty much worn a jersey except for very early in the season or in the spring when I go back to t-shirts. Long story short, tonight was the first time ever that I literally forgot to put a jersey on before leaving to go to the train station. And attempting to leave a ticket for someone at will call, apparently my super-small writing was too small to read and the guy who was supposed to get the ticket couldn't.

Fortunately both issues had a happy ending (along with the game). I'd actually planned to buy one of the limited quantity of green jerseys now on sale at the Devils' Den anyway and get it customized but instead of doing that I just wound up wearing it during the game and held off on the customizing. Even if it isn't totally authentic, it's close enough for me and looks nice so that's pretty much what counts in my book. And my acquanitance managed to get another ticket anyway, so for a night all's well that ends well. Especially considering the Devils have somehow gone 15-1 in the home games I went to after October. By blind luck or freak snowstorms or flu-like symptoms I managed to avoid some of the most brutal losses of the season, or at least having to experience them live.

Of course now I have to wait a month to attend another Devils game, since they're at Carolina tonight and have three more road games before their return to the Rock March 10th against the Rangers, which will feel like Opening Night II. Oh well, at least we ended the home slate with a bang and will remain in first no matter the result of the weekend games. It's been a rare night lately when both me and Derek can write a happy recap!

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Ilya Kovalchuk (game-winning goal, assist, +3 and 7 SOG in 21:51)
2. Patrik Elias (goal, assist, +3)
3. Zach Parise (goal, assist)

Cullen to Sens, Olympic Roster Freeze at 3

There's less than three hours until the Olympic Roster freeze. In other words, there should be some activity between now and then. Too bad I'll be on my way to The Slope for some hoops. I'll be able to check for updates on my phone but won't be around to post till later.

Anyway, there was one deal made with the Canes sending Matt Cullen to Ottawa for Alexandre Picard and a second round pick. Wise move for both sides as Carolina continues to sell while remaining competitive (anyone catch their latest win over Buffalo last night???) and the Sens add a solid versatile pivot with Cup experience as they make their push for first in the Northeast. Saw this on Twitter from a great Sabre fan and can't say I blame her:

ShanV11

  

Can someone go wake up Darcy pleeeeaaase? #Sabres #NHLTrade

If Ryan Miller's tirade following the game can't, they're in trouble. As for what else is going on, Donald Brashear, who had the audacity to take a shot at Colton Orr, has cleared waivers. Huggy Bear. If this was 7-8 years ago when you could play, okay. Reality check. And what do you know? The guy he cheapshotted/replaced Blair Betts just re-upped with the Flyers. Irony much?!?!?!?!?!

The following players have been put on waivers:

Jonathan Cheechoo (Ott)
Jamie Lundmark (Cgy)
Brad May (Det)


Florida is still looking to pull something off before the deadline. Will they trade with the Rangers? Alright. I gotta run out. See ya later!

Sound Familiar?!?!?!?!?!

So, I was Tweeting lots over on the Twitter and came across this interesting take from Hendricks Hockey on one Calgary Flames, whose struggles even after the Phaneuf/Jokinen deals continue. Tonight, they properly had a goal reversed, falling at home to Dallas 2-1. Maybe the ref who ruled it a goal should take a course or two in non-bias because Curtis Glencoss' celebration duped him. Clearly, the puck never crossed the line even if Marty Turco had it dangerously close on the goal line behind his pads. The ref also could've had a better position but that's a whole other matter.

Anyway, to Randy Workman's accurate assessment of what's wrong in Alberta, we think our Devil contingent will have particular interest. Guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks. In this instance, Brent "Benedict" Sutter.

Canadiens acquire Moore

In a move to bolster their playoff push, the Montreal Canadiens have acquired center Dominic Moore from the Panthers in exchange for a 2011 second round pick. Remember when he was good here centering the HMO line in '05-06? Since then, he's changed teams seven times if you include the trade to Nashville for Adam Hall. The 29 year-old Harvard product has played for the Rangers, Penguins, Wild, Maple Leafs, Sabres and Panthers. Montreal will be stop eight for the former Blueshirt, who could wind up on No.9 this summer.

Happy Trails Dom!

Brashear on waivers

The news we've been waiting for is finally here. Earlier today, the Rangers put Donald Brashear on waivers. He of the one assist, minus-nine and 73 penalty minutes in 36 contests. Amazing to think Huggy Bear got two years averaging a ridiculous $1.4 million. Oh wait. The Savior did it!

Sadly, I used to be a fan of the big guy back in his heyday when he could actually hit the back of the net along with drop 'em. It was never going to work here. Especially after the Betts cheapshot. Aside from that, he's just worn down. Enforcers get old too. It's easy to rip on Brash because we hated him to begin with. But the real person we should push it on is the GM and even the coach, who didn't want Colton back and brought in Huggy Bear, who likely won't get picked up by anyone with a brain.

Even if this is it, let's say this. Brash was dressed like a pimp at Ranger Casino Night. Adieu Donald. We hardly knew ya.

Rangers can't reward loyal fans on Thundersnow Day

Even the Thundersnow that blanketed the metro area with over a foot of the white stuff couldn't prevent the Rangers from doing what they do best. Finding a way to annoy their loyal fans (13,128) who braved the crazy wintry weather to support this mismatched team. I wasn't there to see it with good buddy The Mouth taking our place in Sec.411 with the crazies. Just wonder how many made it?

While the snow painted a wonderful Hallmark card here, our gang that can't shoot straight fell to the overachieving Predators 2-1. Without Marian Gaborik who suffered a lacerated knee during a shootout drill at the expense of Henrik Lundqvist (ser---ious---ly), the Blueshirts turned Dan Ellis into a Vezina candidate. The veteran netminder who shares the job with Pekka Rinne made 37 saves, including all 18 in the third to give Barry Trotz what he was searching for following last night's 4-3 shootout loss to the Islanders. A costly penalty contributed to blowing a one-goal lead with Mark Streit tying it with under 12 seconds left and John Tavares netting the winner. Here was the same team 24 hours later on short rest dealing with the blizzard better than our rested team that had three days off.

Why should that matter? Our team never is ready unless it's the Devils, who they get up for. Naturally, we got lazy turnovers and little finish against a well coached team that plays defense. Even if Ellis faced 38 shots, he was never really tested thanks to air tight coverage that made life almost as difficult as Jazzy Jim's treatment of the fans, throwing them a bone with a 25 percent food discount. Pa---the---tic!!!!! This man is a crook who deserves to be hung from the gallows Dark Shadows style. Alright. A tad overboard but at least there would be justice. Can March 7 just get here already?!?!?!?!?!

With Chris Drury moved up to the top line, the Rangers got a couple of early chances with the captain getting a couple of tricky shots on Ellis, which he got a piece of. For all the deserved criticism of Dru, he played a whale of a game tonight registering five shots in 22-plus. It was one of his best games this season even if he misfired on a breakaway off a Michal Rozsival pass, missing a backhand deke wide. The Preds used their cycle to generate offense with a couple of deflections from Patric Hornqvist and Joel Ward which Lundqvist shutdown. Speaking of Hornqvist whose 23 goals pace Nashville, how did they wind up with such a gem? He was taken dead last (2005-7th Rd. 230th overall). In the same draft best known for Crosby saving the Pens, the only player who's made it for the Rangers is Marc Staal. Almost everyone else has tanked with even the final link to Brian Leetch Mike Sauer wasting away in Hartford. Unbelievable!

Late in the first, Nashville agitator Jordin Tootoo out of all people scored the game's first goal when Kevin Klein's point blast went off him past Lundqvist. David Legwand added a helper after winning a draw that set it up. The first part of the second was ugly with a capital 'U.' That used to be what you dreaded in grammar school. Sleepwalking on skates, the Rangers allowed not one, not two but three breakaways in the first six minutes. After getting a little help from the goalpost on Martin Erat's chance following a dreadful Wade Redden turnover, the Ranger goalie stoned J.P. Dumont to keep the score 1-0. How brutal was it? Even Mr. Positivity Joe Micheletti ripped the team hinting that John Tortorella might've wanted to take a timeout.

Instead of being dead and buried, they got the game tied thanks to a loss of discipline from the Preds, who handed the Rangers a five-on-three. Well, the first call was bogus with Erat in the box for a trip Erik Christensen did on his own teammate. The second was a legit slash on favorite Steve Sullivan, whose hustle to negate an icing during the stanza saw the gritty right wing limp to the bench before returning. The guy's been through so much but plays so determined. If only we had a vet like that. Anyway, the vaunted power play almost blew it with their overpassing. But finally, Vinny Prospal cashed in by freeing up a loose puck from Ellis into the net for his 12th after an Olli Jokinen wide shot caromed to the crease.

Just like that, the game was tied. The Rangers had a couple of opportunities to go ahead but Ellis turned away Artem Anisimov and Prospal, who had a game high nine shots along with his marker. Sadly, it got decided when rookie Mike Del Zotto lost his cool earning an extra unsportsmanlike following a hook he disagreed with. Earlier on, he was taken down on a similar play with no call made. Perhaps it was comprehendable why he was upset. Regardless, he put his team in trouble and it wound up proving costly. With the club close to killing the entire four minutes, a Rozsival mishap allowed rookie Colin Wilson to tally unassisted. Following a big save by Lundqvist on Shea Weber, Rozsival went to clear the puck but it went off Ryan Callahan right to Wilson, who whistled it upstairs. A little bad luck but only Rozsival could do that. What a klutz. As Del Zotto skated back with face down, a furious Tortorella let him have it sending the poor kid to the end of the bench for the rest of the period (3:50).

“I just didn’t agree with the agree with the call,” the disappointed 19 year-old defenseman said. “It’s my own fault. I’ve got to control my own emotions there. I let them team down.

“I don’t think I said anything too bad. Maybe I’ve got to learn how to keep my mouth shut. … It was a dumb penalty and it was one that could have been avoided, so he had every right giving it to me and putting me in my place.”

“He is one of our better players,” Tortorella said. “We are trying to win a hockey game. He is certainly going to go back out there.”

Del Zotto was back out a minute into a third which saw the Rangers try everything to get it tied. An early power play failed. They still came hard at Ellis, who wasn't cooperating denying Jokinen from in tight to preserve the lead. The final five minutes saw the hosts put together a few strong shifts but the Nashville backstop on this night wouldn't give in. Of course, a Rozsival shot with Ellis scrambling to get back in position went off a diving Pred just wide earning jeers from an unforgiving crowd that hates him. There's always a target. Even if he tries harder than Redden, who stunk, it doesn't matter. You could say the same for the popgun offense which fired brick after brick.

They pulled Lundqvist for an extra with almost 120 seconds left but that didn't mean much as our guys failed to come close with Nashville playing superb D. A late Ward slash on an on-rushing Brandon Dubinsky with 3.6 seconds left gave them one last prayer. But Legwand won the faceoff with a last ditch centering feed floating in the air way wide to groans while a flustered Lundqvist and 'mates at the bench had their heads down.

Notes: Emergency Hartford recall Corey Potter was used sparingly by Tortorella as a seventh defenseman logging 8:28 (11 shifts) with one good chance that Ellis thwarted while taking a penalty. ... Rangers (26-27-7, 59 Pts) slipped to 11th in the East due to Atlanta's 4-3 overtime loss at Colorado. Niclas Bergfors had a goal and helper. With 22 games left, the Blueshirts trail eighth Tampa Bay by four points. The two clubs meet Sunday afternoon at 1. With eight losses in their last 10, the Rangers have to visit the Pens Friday.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Vinny Prospal, NYR (PPG, game high 9 SOG in 21:23)
2nd Star-Colin Wilson, Nsh (PP GW, 4 SOG in 14:17)
1st Star-Dan Ellis, Nsh (37 saves incl. 18/18 in 3rd)

Winter wonderland (for the Flyers anyway)

Can I just not talk about this game and yet another blown two-goal lead tonight? Personally I'd rather break down the particulars of the biggest snowstorm in the history of Western Civilization. Or at least the biggest in the state of New Jersey this winter. I knew the minute I got up I wasn't going to this game tonight, the snow started in Morris County before I woke up and didn't abate until about game time, and it still hasn't ended in Newark. Even leaving out the weather, the uncertainty of when and if NJ Transit would be running postgame would have been enough to keep me away. Perhaps the bad weather is fitting for a team who's surrounded by storm clouds right now.

Okay I suppose I have to talk about another on-ice debacle but before I get to that, at least off-ice the Devils did more than what I thought they had to for the fans by allowing people who couldn't attend this game to trade in their tickets for half-price seats to one of three other games (3/15 or 3/30 against Boston as well as 3/23 against Columbus). For me it means I can get an extra pair for about what I pay for season tickets now, maybe upgrade my seat for a game. Maybe some sth's wouldn't consider that much since they already have tickets to those games but quite honestly I didn't expect anything from this game. It's not like the snowstorm was the Devils' fault, unlike the power failure a while back.

As far as the amazing number of people who were there (announced attendance: 5,580) the Devils let everyone come down not only to the lower level early in the second period but also the Fire and Ice lounges as well with access to the free food and soft drink there. Personally I did think those people deserved something for basically risking life and limb to attend a hockey game. Granted, I'm really not sure whether to think of these people as the biggest fans out there or just plain nuts. Maybe the truth's somewhere in between. As much as I wanted to go to this game, it wasn't worth a ten-minute ride to the train station up and down a hill on bad roads, as well as dealing with NJ Transit delays and cancellations.

Now that I've gotten all that out there, let's break down yet another meltdown by the Devils, who amazingly got out to a 2-0 lead with Zach Parise a sudden last-minute scratch and of course proceeded to blow that lead yet again, eventually losing in overtime. Unlike most of the other games since the New Year though I really can't complain about lack of effort. Certainly the undermanned defense did their job for the most part, allowing only fifteen shots to the Flyers - this in spite of already being without Paul Martin and Anssi Salmela and then losing Bryce Salvador midgame to the contagious upper-body injury virus. It would be nice if Andy Greene stopped doing a Mike Mottau impression (on-ice for all three goals including Arron Asham's opener that deflected off his stick) but the only Devils who need the Olympic Break more than Greene are currently on the IR. His offense has died on the vine for a while and now his defense is following suit, but what can you really expect when he plays an insane 32:37?!

There was some good news in relation to the D though, besides the low overall shot total they had twenty-four productive minutes from Mark Fraser, who even added an assist and was a +1. Makes you wonder why he couldn't play earlier in the season when we were running four and five D into the ground? Even the aforementioned Mottau managed to play nearly thirty minutes without incident, though he was a -1. All things considered, the performance from our top four D wasn't bad (recent call-up Rob Davison only played 3:59, if he was going to get those minutes we might as well have called up Tyler Eckford who would at least have added mobility to the D).

I can't say I was that encouraged by the offense's showing though, even the early two goals were more a result of good fortune than anything else. Travis Zajac scored one of the weakest goals I've ever seen from inside the blueline when his floater of a wrist shot squirted through Michael Leighton's five-hole and in for Zajac's eighteenth of the year just 45 seconds into the game. Fraser and Brian Rolston tacked on the assists to a goal that I would have been tempted to go Mike Keenan on and pull Leighton right then and there. Turns out Leighton wouldn't have much to worry about the rest of the night although Rob Niedermayer managed to bank in another goal off a Flyer defenseman's skate at 8:01 with Rod Pelley getting an assist on Niedermayer's seventh goal of the season, which gave the Devils a dreaded two-goal lead.

Before I could even think that the Flyers had us right where they wanted us, boom Asham scored right off of Greene's skate, which annoyed me twofold. Asham has what I call Brian Rolston syndrome, be a useful player for everyone else's team except ours. Even more annoyingly Jeff Carter owned us again on the second goal, after a mostly quiet end of the first and most of the second period. Carter's wrist shot at 13:47 of the second on a three-on-two was a masterpiece and proved once again that the Devils should have made him feel a bit more uncomfortable after his brutal takeout of Salmela Monday night. Repeatedly during the pregame and intermissions Ken Daneyko couldn't hide his dismay at that fact.

For the rest of the night, the Devils basically sacrificed offense for defense and despite outshooting the Flyers 7-1 in the third period really never threatened the Flyer goal all that much themselves. This despite an extended third-period power play which saw Braydon Coburn and Matt Carle take back-to-back penalties and predictably Jacques Lemaire called timeout before the twenty-five second 5-on-3 and just as predictably it failed, despite Ilya Kovalchuk hogging icetime once again (26:27 in the game, including 3:04 consecutively on both power plays). Color me slightly concerned now about Kovalchuk, who it seems the Devils are going out of their way to have him play his style instead of trying to fit him in the team game. It would be one thing if it was working but after the two assist game in his first game he's been pointless in his last three. If I didn't know better I'd swear the Devils are trying to grease the skids to re-sign him after this season by letting him have free reign up to this point.

Unlike Parise, who never sacrifices defense for offense, it's always been a problem for Kovalchuk. Particularly during the overtime when he again stayed on the ice too long during a shift and wound up sprawled on the ice trying in vein to keep Simon Gagne from getting off a wristshot that beat Brodeur at 3:27, giving the Flyers the sweep of a home-and-home and us a 1-4 record overall against one of our biggest rivals. Somewhat generously Lemaire said it wasn't Kovalchuk's best game and attributed it to him being tired (ya think?!).

To be honest we were fortunate to even get a point, for Scott Hartnell looked like he scored in the first period but the NHL ruled the replay was inconclusive, despite it looking obvious to me that the puck had fully crossed the line from FSNY's various camera angles. Currently that point is the only thing keeping us in first place for despite losing two in a row over the weekend themselves, the Penguins pulled to within a single point after their win over the Islanders tonight, with each team having two more games left before the Olympic hiatus. This season feels like a combination of the 2007 and 2009 Mets, '07 with the fact that despite playing poorly for a prolonged stretch we've somehow remained in the division lead (until the very end) and '09 with the injury bug.

Will two games be enough to finally turn the tide before the break? Somehow I doubt it, I wasn't even kidding when I said I hoped we'd forfeit the last four games to avoid more injuries and now it looks like that's exactly what's happening. We're still losing and getting more injuries. No word on how serious Salvador's upper body ailment is. Speculation is that Parise has a neck issue, either incurred late in Monday's game or after a collision with Mottau in practice before tonight's game. Hopefully it won't keep him out too long but at this point with first place slipping away and the team's malaise growing by the minute even two games seems like a lot.

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Simon Gagne (game-winning goal)
2. Jeff Carter (goal, +1)
3. Travis Zajac (goal, +1 with 22:52 TOI)

Attention Devil Fans

The New Jersey Devils are having a Snow Day Photo Contest. All you have to do is play in the snow and make a submission to be entered for a chance to win a free autographed puck signed by one of the team's five Olympians (Martin Brodeur, Patrik Elias, Ilya Kovalchuk, Jamie Langenbrunner, Zach Parise) who are headed to Vancouver next week. Here's your chance to win a great collectors' item for nothing. And the best part. You get to have fun doing it!

The contest runs until February 17. So, get out there and take advantage. Maybe you'll wind up a lucky winner.

Blizzard could make for interesting day

 

The snow has already been falling here for a few hours. Today's predicted blizzard could dump over a foot of the white stuff in the metro area. What that could mean for the Rangers and Devils, who each are scheduled to play at home later tonight may be a lot of empty seats with the games still going on. 

Considering that the Olympic Break is a few days away and a mad scramble that features a hectic remaining schedule when play resumes, the NHL has no alternative other than to play tonight. If they could force the Pens to fly into Newark and then bus to D.C. for what turned out to be the highest rated NBC game since this year's Winter Classic, then they may as well give the go-ahead. The decision should be easier with both the Flyers and Predators already in town. Philly meets the Devils in the back end of a home-and-home while the Preds meet the Rangers a night after falling to the Islanders in a shootout.

Besides, there won't be enough time to reschedule and in a crazy season where every point matters, these games must be played. What it means for fans is being inconvenienced. Unless you live closeby or have public transportation access, there's no chance of getting to either arena. Good thing we sold the Nashville game a while back. Not that we could predict the weather which has made for an upside down winter. The kind we used to get.

As for the pic above, it was taken from a Ranger HF thread already 14 pages which was started a couple of days early in full anticipation. Coming off the "big storm" that only really hit South Jersey and gave us about five inches along the coast, today's is expected to be much bigger. Having already been out with a few friends earlier, Staten Island has two inches. Well, at least the South Shore does. :-P

So, what is thundersnow exactly? This is the kind of storm that will start with light snow but eventually gain steam with whiteout conditions expected by noon. Basically it's lake effect snow caused by thunder that intensifies the snowfall. Here's a little more detailed explanation:

Thundersnow, while rare anywhere, is more common with lake effect snow in the Great Lakes area of the United States and Canada, the midwestern U.S., and the Great Salt Lake. Thundersnow also occurs in Halifax, Nova Scotia, sometimes several times per winter season. The British Isles and northwestern EuropeKanazawa and the Sea of Japan, and even around Mount Everest during expeditions. When such storms happen at ski areas, these mountains are often evacuated for safety. sometimes report thunder and lightning during sleet or ( usually wet) snow showers during winter and spring. It has also been reported around.

Over the years, we've had a few big storms with the most notable the Blizzard of '96 which dumped 28 and a half inches here. I'm fairly certain one had the conditions described above. There also was that huge one a few years ago that was roughly the same. I remember it cause the Knicks still had Allan Houston and played the Kobe Lakers and Houston went for 50. We actually drove to the diner to pick up food. Crazy. Speaking of '96, back then I delivered papers and the next day was the big Sunday morning and we had to put them together at my old public school before parking outside and carrying them in. Fun times.

With school already canceled for students, if you got nothing to do after shoveling, light the fire, have some hot cocoa and watch tonight's games. It'll be an interesting day.

S.S. Sabres Sinking

A few weeks ago, the view from the top of the Northeast Division was clear. It was similar to being on a cruise ship for the Buffalo Sabres, wining and dining with the best foods, drinks, and dancing. It was a 5 star event, and the Sabres were starting to garner attention around the NHL.

After all, the Sabres boasted a Veniza trophy candidate in Ryan Miller, a top rookie defenseman named Tyler Myers, and one of the best coaches in the NHL, Lindy Ruff. Plus, the Sabres have a lot of young forwards on the roster, and in the system. In addition, you just had to think Thomas Vanek would break out and return to his 40 goal form. The lead in the division was 10+ points. The feeling of 2005-2006 was starting to creep back into the Sabres fans' consciousness.

Could this be a magical year in the Queen City?

Fast forward to tonight, February 10th, 2010. The Sabres did not take well to California, perhaps the inclement weather disappointed them in losses to Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Jose. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow last week in Pennsylvania, perhaps the Sabres did as well. Miller is showing wear. Thomas has become 'Thomas Vanish'. Patrick Lalime is well....Lalime. Getting shutout at...the Blue Jackets?!! And couple that with the Ottawa Senators ripping off 12 wins in their last 13 games and just like magic, the Sabres and Senators are tied with 72 points to lead the 'NorthLeast' division.

What is a Sabres fan to make of this? Is the magic gone? Is this a slump? Is Ryan Miller worn out? Is the defense showing more holes then a pound of swiss cheese? Should the Sabres have stepped up to the plate for Ilya Kovalchuk? So many questions...so little answers...

As for now, the Olympic break cannot come here soon enough for the Sabres, and not just for the team, but for the fans as well. Will GM Darcy Regier 'go for it', or stick with the plan and let the young players like Tyler Ennis, Chris Butler, and Zach Kassian develop, just to name a few?

The right answer cannot be given, but a decision better be made soon, because the Sabres 2009-2010 ship has hit the iceberg.

Stars acquire Lehtonen, Turco Era about to close

Earlier tonight, the rumors that Kari Lehtonen would be coming to Big D finally came to fruition. The Stars acquired the oft-injured Finnish goalie from Atlanta for D prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 2010 fourth round pick. Full credit to Atlanta writer Chris Vivlamore on breaking the story over on Twitter.

As he also noted in a story for AJC, the 26 year-old Lehtonen who Atlanta tabbed with their '02 No.1 pick (2nd overall) was the franchise's all-time leader in wins (94), games played (204) and shutouts (14). In '06-07, he won a career best 34 games in 68 appearances, posting a 2.79 GAA, .912 save percentage and four shutouts helping the Thrashers to their only postseason. However, it was brief as they were swept by the Rangers. Since the breakout season, he's struggled with injuries including back surgery during preseason which sidelined him until a late January conditioning stint in the AHL. With Hotlanta having Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec, he became the odd man out.

“As the season went on, we had two guys that proved they were capable of carrying the load,” GM Don Waddell explained while also adding,. “ … One hundred percent (Hedberg and Pavelec) are doing a good job for us.”

Vivlamore also notes that combined with the blockbuster trade that sent Ilya Kovalchuk to the Devils, there are only four members left from that playoff team (Hedberg, Slava Kozlov, Jim Slater and Eric Boulton).
While the Thrashers revamp with Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier and Vishnevskiy, it looks like the end of the Marty Turco Era in Dallas.

For almost a decade, the unpredictable yet fun netminder has been with career Star Mike Modano the face of the franchise. The 34 year-old who Dallas selected in the fifth round back in 1994 out of the University of Michigan has had a stellar career establishing franchise marks for games (498), victories (257), shutouts (39), minutes played (28,456) and assists with all three coming this season, which speaks to his uncanny nature to keep play moving turning defense into offense.

Turco supplanted Cup-winning netminder Ed Belfour after sharing duties. In his rookie year of '00-01, Marty posted a 13-6 record, three shutouts with a miniscule 1.90 GAA and .925 save percentage. Two years later in his first full season as starter, his 1.72 GAA became a modern NHL record which Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff broke the following season ('03-04) by posting a 1.69 GAA. That same year, Turco followed it up by getting into a career best 73 games winning over half (37) while posting a 1.98 GAA, .913 save percentage and recording a career high nine shutouts. However, he lost out on the Vezina to Devil great Martin Brodeur. Despite an impressive resume that also included a 41-win season ('05-06), Turco has never won the award. It could be argued that he could have but the same might be said for San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov, who was edged by Brodeur two years ago.

If this is it for Turco who made 37 saves in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blackhawks, he's had a tremendous Dallas Star career guiding them to five postseasons including a Western Conference Final six-game defeat to Cup champ Detroit in '07-08. It was that Spring and a gut wrenching seven-game first round loss to Vancouver the year before in which his series record three shutouts weren't enough at least put a halt to the criticism that he couldn't perform when it counted. With Lehtonen coming and Alex Auld also still around to backup, his likely destination is Philadelphia where the Flyers could be pinning their hopes on him with Ray Emery probably requiring hip surgery.

How did his opponent Kris Versteeg, who netted the shootout winner- characterize him?

"Turco, he’s a heck of a goaltender. You don’t want to do too much in the shootout. Go down and keep it simple.”

Including tonight, Turco's appeared in 42 games posting a 17-15-10 mark with a 2.73 GAA, .911 save percentage and three shutouts. The Stars' next game is Thursday in Calgary while the Flyers are scheduled to visit the Devils in the back half of a home-and-home if it's not postponed due to the blizzard. Figure it to get played with not much chance of rescheduling due to the Olympic Break and the remaining hectic sched the rest of the way. If Marty does wind up in the City of Brotherly Love, Scott Hartnell has been mentioned as a possible return. We'll just have to wait and see.

Sabres fall again in shootout to B's

The Sabres' woes continued at the hands of bitter rival Boston, who edged them in a shootout prevailing 3-2 at HSBC Arena tonight. David Krejci snapped a 1-1 tie in Round Four to give the B's their second consecutive win, tying the idle Flyers in points (61). However, they remained in ninth due to one more game played. Not bad considering Claude Julien's club had just ended a 10-game losing streak the other day.

Boston got superb goaltending for a second game in a row from rookie Tuukka Rask, who finished with a career high 43 saves and turned aside three of four Sabre shooters. Perhaps he's finally supplanted last year's Vezina winner Tim Thomas, who's been up and down all season. The 22 year-old Finn who posted a shutout to get his first win since 12/30/09- bested Ryan Miller (32 saves), who did all he could to allow his team to rally from a two-goal deficit. He allowed a pair of first period goals to former Sabre Daniel Paille, who played a big role in beating his former 'mates. Paille scored on a wraparound 4:51 in from Marc Savard and another ex-Sabre Miro Satan. Just over seven minutes later, he burned Buffalo again by neatly deflecting home booing target Zdeno Chara's left point shot for his ninth. Derek Morris added a secondary helper.

Despite outshooting Boston 17-11 in the first, Buffalo trailed 2-zip. That didn't deter them from coming out with a strong second to get the game tied. The Sabres took eight of the first nine shots, forcing Rask to come up with some tough saves. They couldn't beat him until a two-man advantage, which Derek Roy cashed in for his 13th at 4:35 to cut it to 2-1. After some sloppy passing, a nice pass play was started by Tim Connolly, who dished across for Jason Pominville who quickly fed Roy in the slot for a blast that went top shelf. It came following a scrap between Craig Rivet and Milan Lucic with the Bruin antagonist getting an extra two for a hook. A Steve Begin hold less than a minute later allowed Buffalo the opportunity to get back in it which they did on Roy's sixth PPG.

With the Sabres upping the ante, it got heated when Paul Gaustad's challenge was turned down by Chara, earning the Goose an unsportsmanlike minor. The fact the towering Boston captain backed down was yet another example of why the instigator needs to go. He certainly can throw 'em but opted to say no, earning a power play which Buffalo killed off. Rookie Tyler Myers tied it with 75 seconds left bringing the crowd to their feet by taking a Gaustad feed and beating Rask with a wrister for his eighth. He'd later leave the game late in regulation following a blocked shot taken to the neck but skated off on his own.

Though they outshot the B's 12-8 in a very exciting third that saw both teams go for it, Boston had the better chances but couldn't beat Miller who wasn't allowing anymore at least during the hockey portion. However, Rask was every bit as good forcing it to overtime where both netminders made great stops. On the first shift, Miller slid across to his right to deny a two-on-one. But Rask cameback with two tough stops through traffic including a rebound he got with his goalstick. The Bruins couldn't cash in on a 4-on-3 power play drawn by Michael Ryder with Miller turning away Dennis Wideman twice and the Buffalo PK doing the rest. Before time expired, Wideman sent one more shot on Miller which he repelled taking it to the shootout.

In Round One, Pominville (five-hole) and Marco Sturm (forehand deke shortside) traded goals. Nobody scored in the next two frames sending it to extras where Rask stoned Drew Stafford setting the stage for Krejci to be the hero. He obliged by beating Miller with a quick snapper handing Buffalo a fifth straight defeat. With the point, the Sabres remained atop the Northeast due to two fewer games played than Ottawa, who cameback from two to post a 3-2 home win over Calgary. Both clubs have 72 points.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Daniel Paille, Bos (2 goals versus former team)
2nd Star-Ryan Miller, Buf (32 saves)
1st Star-Tuukka Rask, Bos (career high 43 saves, stopped 3 of 4 shooters for 2nd win in row)

Ranger prospect Chris Kreider Makes SC

In case you missed it last night, Ranger prospect Chris Kreider, who the club selected in the first round last year made Sports Center. His highlight reel goal was the No.1 play in BC's 4-3 win over BU in the Bean Pot final. A rarity for hockey. Well deserved for the kid who impressed scoring six goals in helping Team USA win the WJC alongside NYR prospects Derek Stepan and Ryan Bourque.

Only a freshman, Kreider has picked it up lately scoring five goals over the past five games. Indeed, the center/left wing with blazing speed, a great shot and good size is someone for Ranger fans to get excited about. He's carried over some of the fine play we saw with Team USA. Nice to see.

Carter Hit On Salmela

In the Devils' 3-2 loss to the Flyers, what will get plenty of attention is Jeff Carter's hit that injured defenseman Anssi Salmela after he scored shorthanded in the first period. In reviewing it, the first angle looked worse with him catching the reacquired D a little late after he'd released the puck. The debate is whether it was cheap. In Carter's defense, he was coming hard on the backcheck and seemed to be making a hockey play. However, it doesn't look good. Especially on a team synonymous for these types of hits. Mike Richards had one earlier on Dominic Moore who was concussed.

Fortunately, Salmela who was taken off on a stretcher only suffered a fractured broken nose and some missing teeth. Good news for the Devils, whose blueline was weakened in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal. Puck Daddy's Sean Leahy has more on the controversial play:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Devils-Salmela-taken-off-on-stretcher-after-hit?urn=nhl,218397

Carter hit on Salmela

In the Devils' 3-2 loss to the Flyers, what will get plenty of attention is Jeff Carter's hit that injured defenseman Anssi Salmela after he scored shorthanded 61 seconds into the second period. In reviewing it, the first angle looked worse with him catching the reacquired D a little late after he'd released the puck.

The debate is whether it was cheap. In Carter's defense, he was coming hard on the backcheck and seemed to be making a hockey play. However, it doesn't look good. Especially on a team synonymous for these types of hits. Mike Richards had one earlier on David Booth who was concussed and finally just returned. Fortunately, Salmela, who was taken off on a stretcher only suffered a fractured broken nose and some missing teeth. Good news for the Devils, whose blueline was weakened in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal. Puck Daddy's Sean Leahy has more on the controversial play.

Devils show no guts - again

During the second period with the Devils leading the Flyers 2-0 and seemingly in control Joe Beninati (announcing the game on VERSUS with ex-Flyer Keith Jones) stated how the Devils become like a boa constrictor with a lead and generally praised our defensive work as well as Jacques Lemaire's coaching. Joe, have you watched this team over the last month? In particular the last week where the Devils had blown two two-goal leads?!

Well, make it three now as the Devils piled up yet another embarrassing, ignominious defeat losing 3-2 to the Flyers in Philadelphia in yet another game that shows how this team has had no guts for three straight years now. It wasn't even just blowing the lead which entailed giving up two goals in the final two minutes of the second period and a third-period power play goal where our slow skaters were once again stuck on the ice while the speedy Flyers danced around them all night. It's really become tiresome to bag on the Devils' defense, which clearly isn't any good. And tonight Martin Brodeur couldn't be blamed on any of the goals at all.

Still, what irked me the most about this game was early in the second period. After Zach Parise's fluke power play goal off of Chris Pronger's skate gave the Devils a 1-0 lead in the first period - and more shockingly a power play goal! - the Devils were shorthanded to begin the second period. That proved to be no problem when Anssi Salmela channeled Bobby Orr with a great rush from center ice, deking out Mike Richards and beating Michael Leighton with a wrister at 1:01...just before he got blindsided by the Flyers' Jeff Carter, leaving Salmela prone on the ice for five minutes being taken off on a stretcher, the second Devils' player in the last month to leave a game that way.

Unlike Ryan Wilson's hit on Patrik Elias though, I didn't think this one was totally clean. Yes, I grant that Salmela had his head down but Carter also went out of his way to target it from behind, when Salmela was close to the goal in a situation where you really should be playing the puck or the pass unless your intent is to injure. Plus his elbow moved big-time after the hit though you couldn't actually tell from the replay whether his elbow or shoulder made the contact. I didn't even think it was a particularly late hit even though the puck was in the net by the time Carter clocked the Devils' defenseman (who's been a revelation in his three games back with the team). Still, I thought the Devils should have made Carter answer the bell the way they did Wilson after a totally clean hit when Mark Fraser challenged him. Nobody so much as touched Carter the remainder of the game, even though earlier on Bryce Salvador had no problem dropping them with Daniel Carcillo after hitting the Flyers' winger along the boards.

Makes you wonder about the logic of dressing two supposed fighters (as Lemaire did for a third straight game), when neither actually play hockey or fight. Andrew Peters had a grand total of forty-two seconds of icetime, this time without the excuse of shedding his uniform and getting ejected. Plus without Salmela in the lineup - early word is he fractured his nose and lost several teeth - Lemaire leaned even more on the slow and slower defensive tandem of Colin White and Mike Mottau. The scary part is that Andy Greene was the only mobile defenseman left in the lineup without Salmela, so it's not like he could play all sixty minutes.

Of course, our familiar woes came back to bite us once again. Our ineffective power play was just one for seven, even though the undisciplined Flyers gave us as many opportunities as we usually get in a week. Parise's 26th goal, at 7:00 of the first period was by his own admission pure luck, with Patrik Elias and Greene getting assists. Salmela's shorthanded goal sixty-one seconds into the middle period was assisted by Travis Zajac (who actually led the team in icetime with 25:21) and Jamie Langenbrunner, who again looked like he should have been in a sickbed despite the secondary assist. After that however, the offense fired blanks against the Flyers' second string goaltender and despite giving up their fair share of shots the defense still had control of the game with about two minutes left in the second period.

Then the roof caved in once again. A typically lazy shift by Brian Rolston and Rob Niedermayer (guess it runs in the family, eh?) led to the Flyers getting a chance, with James Van Riemsdyk somehow beating Martin Brodeur one-on-four by using Greene as a screen in front for a wrister that got the Flyers going at 18:24. Just seventy-two seconds later came the tying goal when Scott Hartnell and the aforementioned Carter got a two-on-one with Mottau as the one defenseman. Mismatch much? To add insult to injury, Mottau couldn't prevent Hartnell's pass to Carter and he completed a productive second period with a knockout at the beginning that completely changed our defense and a devastating goal at the end. I said game over at that point.

Indeed it was although it took the Flyers a while to actually get the winning goal in the third, and they had to kill off another power play first which was an easy task against us of course. Having Ilya Kovalchuk play entire power plays doesn't help, especially when he can't rush the puck up ice because he's conserving energy (and when he does carry the puck in he does it very well) although what happened to Lemaire's supposed special teams genius?! His Wild units always were among the top PP and PK units in the league even with mediocre offensive talent overall, but the Devils' PP has been an unmitigated disaster since the New Year, with or without Lou Lamoriello's latest acquisition - who's been pointless in two straight and has actually been outplayed by the less heralded import from the Thrashers...Salmela.

After another ineffective power play came another powerless penalty kill. Or more accurately slow, slower and slowest struck again as the White-Mottau defensive pairing of hell and the just as slow forward tandem of Jay Pandolfo and Niedermayer all looked like they were standing still as the Flyers expertly and quickly passed the puck around, finally resulting in a Richards goal at 12:02. Even after the Flyers finally took the lead, there were still more ignominies to come. Leighton robbed Elias late in the period and after a final boarding penalty by Kimmo Timonen with just 1:52 remaining, the Devils couldn't even get quality chances on that power play. Even after pulling Brodeur with about a minute remaining for an extra attacker, with Kovalchuk narrowly missing the net just before the horn sounded on another head-banging Devils defeat.

I'm getting really tired of these post-mortems. The good news is the Devils go back home Wednesday and I plan on being in attendance. Our home games with me in the stands have been about the only times we've won in the last few weeks (14-1 since early November to be exact). The bad news is we're supposed to get another storm of all storms on Wednesday so me and my friend might get snowed in. And worse, this team has shown almost no signs of life at all over the last month plus now, even after the trade to end all trades. What's next to spark the team? Lemaire's not getting fired, he and Lamoriello are too alike in the way they think although usually a coach firing is the next step for our GM.

Apparently all that's left is to hope the team comes back from the Olympics recharged, but with Brodeur, Parise, Langenbrunner, Elias and Kovalchuk all playing in Vancouver that's a mixed bag. There's no time for Lamoriello to see how the team will gel post-Olympics since the trade deadline is literally days after the players get back in March. If I was going to point to one bright spot? For years I've been complaining how the Devils go balls to the wall in situations where they really don't have to and aside from the usual overplaying of Brodeur, really they've taken off since the end of December for the most part. Even our few wins have been sloppy. Maybe this is our year to coast for a while, like the Pens did until February last year and then turn it on in the playoffs?

Of course I could just be reaching and we're really at Defcon One...
BoNY Three Stars:

1. Jeff Carter (goal)
2. Mike Richards (goal, -1)
3. Martin Brodeur (34/37 saves)

Did you say Super Bowl?!?!?!?!?!

Who needs the Super Bowl when you got the best two players in the sport and their respective teams going at it in what was a classic. Or as Doc Emrick justifiably noted along with NBC sidekicks Pierre McGuire and Mike Milbury, this was a playoff game played between the Penguins and Capitals who didn't give an inch. The amazing aspect of Alex Ovechkin's Caps' riveting come from behind 5-4 overtime win over Sidney Crosby's Pens is I only caught the tail end after missing the opening 40, signifying how special both were and how truly blessed we are to have these guys playing our game.

I'll readily admit that I thought it was a bit much with heavy snow making travel so hectic for the Pens that they had to alter plans just to get there so the NBC noon game could go on as scheduled. However, big props to the NHL for getting this one right because this was spectacular. On Super Bowl Sunday, I just wonder how well they did ratings-wise. It's the kind of game that can really attract new fans, scoring big for the league. If only hockey drew better than their beloved golf which they immediately cut to following the exciting conclusion that saw a nicked up Ovechkin rifle one off the post that Mike Knuble swept home for the winner that extended Washington's win streak to 14. Three shy of the league mark ironically held by the Pens (March 9-April 10, 1993).

How well are the Caps playing? Against the defending champs who ended their season last year, they climbed out of a 4-1 hole to keep the streak alive. The Pens built the lead thanks to a first period pair from Crosby, who with No.'s 38 & 39 matched his career high set back in his rookie year ('05-06). Sandwiched around Jordan Staal's deuce, Ovechkin scored the first of three. Despite missing nine games, the electrifying Russian leads the league with 42 goals, 86 points and a +41 rating. Entering his fifth season, he was only a career plus-19. As great as Sid The Kid is playing along with Henrik Sedin, it looks like Ovie could become the first player to win the Hart three straight years since The Great One, who won a record eight straight ('79-80 thru '86-87). Wayne Gretzky owns a record nine MVPs. Amazingly, Super Mario won just three.

Still trailing late in the second, one of the Caps' role players Eric Fehr put home his own rebound slicing it to two. Ovechkin took over from there scoring twice and setting up Knuble's power play decider. He started it by whistling a backhand rebound past Marc-Andre Fleury at 6:51 from Tom "Orr" Poti and best kept secret Nicklas Backstrom. With the crowd going nuts as furious action went end to end, Ovechkin took an innocent hit to the hip that bothered him. With Emrick and Co. noting that something was wrong after he limped off the bench for a shift, Alexander The Great silenced the trio by getting his hat trick off a faceoff, sending a plethora of hats onto the ice.

Following the delay which probably irked Crosby (flashback reference), an absolutely dreadful call by ref Tim Peel- who somehow confused a composite plastic stick break into a Jeff Schultz phantom slash- handed the Pens a power play. However, they couldn't take advantage of the break thanks to a couple of big saves from Jose Theodore and some strong penalty killing, especially Matt Bradley. Pittsburgh still got momentum off it generating a few chances with Evgeni Malkin dangerous. Theodore quietly made a few timely stops to force OT.

In it, nothing was decided until Brooks Orpik foolishly high-sticked Alexander Semin, handing the Caps the only chance they needed to end it. Off a faceoff win, Backstrom patiently passed to Mike Green who dished across for an Ovechkin sizzler which rang off the post and right to Knuble, who earlier took a Fleury whack but still steered home his 21st with 2:21 remaining. It sent the packed home crowd into a frenzy and touched off a celebration as Washington continued to roll. Their 41 wins and 88 points pace the league. Three better than West-leading San Jose. The only question is can they bring home the franchise's first Stanley Cup with Theodore (31 saves) sharing the load with rooks Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth. While Varlamov remains out, both Theodore and Neuvirth have held down the forte. What happens when he returns? Guess that's for Bruce Boudreau to decide. Regardless, they're going to be a handful to beat in a seven-game series.

The Super Bowl is a couple of hours away between the Saints and Colts. But at least in our book, the real one already took place. America. Please take note.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Mike Knuble, Wsh (PP OT winner, assist, 17 PIM)
2nd Star-Sidney Crosby, Pit (2 goals-38th and 39th tie career high)
1st Star-Alexander Ovechkin, Wsh (hat trick-league leading 40, 41, 42 plus assist)

Colton Orr KOs Matt Carkner in Round Three

Colton Orr with a KO of Matt Carkner in Round Three between the two tough guys last night during the Leafs' 5-0 whitewashing that put a screeching halt to the Sens' franchise record 11-game win streak. Orrsie improved to 2-1 leaving Carkner woozy. Hope he'll be alright.

Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski had more on it mentioning that the two bitter Canadian rivals meet twice more both in Ottawa on March 6 and 16. Hopefully, they'll dance again.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Fight-Video-Carkner-Orr-III-keeps-the-KO-s-comi?urn=nhl,218068

Henrik backstops Rangers past Hudson rival

For two weeks during what's been a poor stretch that saw his struggling team drop seven of eight entering tonight, Henrik Lundqvist had also been substandard, bringing a six-game losing streak into the latest installment of the Battle Of Hudson. However, with his favorite opponent staring across in the other goal, he transformed from Queen Henry to King Henrik in backstopping the Rangers past the Devils 3-1 at what was a chaotic MSG atmosphere.

If it's true I didn't have any confidence headed into this game due to the Devs' big addition Anssi Salmela Ilya Kovalchuk, perhaps I overlooked our goalie's history versus the great opposite No.30 Martin Brodeur. We all get how great MB30 is with almost every record plus the hardware (3 Cups, 4 Vezinas, Olympic gold which Henrik also has). We also fully grasp how intense this rivalry is bringing out the best in our flawed roster against one of the East's top contenders for Lord Stanley. Especially with Ranger killer Patrik Elias coincidentally returning. Whenever he faces the guys wearing white, black and Satanic red, Lundqvist elevates his game to where it should be for his hefty salary ($6.875 million). Saturday was no different with the 27 year-old Swede finishing with 41 saves, including 19 of 20 in a predictable late Devil onslaught.

“I just tried to battle the last two weeks,” explained the winning netminder who improved to 17-6-5 all-time versus the Devils. “I have been working hard. It was an intense game, fun to play in and big relief to get a win at home. It is a big one for us to get, in a lot of ways.”

“Their goalie was great,” Devil coach Jacques Lemaire said after having no qualms with his club's effort even if they were a little exposed in a dreadful second period. “He was there at the right moments. When there were great chances, he made the save.”

Unlike Thursday's ugly line (6 GA on 32 shots) in which he couldn't make the big save against a scary Caps' team, Lundqvist found his 'A' game turning Devil after Devil away while his team settled down from a shaky start. It wasn't shocking to see the Devils come out quickly. Especially off such a miraculous comeback Friday victimizing Toronto. With Elias finally back from a concussion after missing 10 games, Lemaire loaded up his top two lines, reforming ZZ Popp while sandwiching Dainius Zubrus between Elias and Kovalchuk. They had the Rangers on their heels getting seven of the game's first nine shots. However, they couldn't beat Lundqvist. Shots wound up 10-7 with the Blueshirts coming on late, missing a few chances on a jittery Brodeur who left rebounds.

In between, it certainly didn't lack entertainment from the all too predictable brutal officiating on both sides (missed hi-stick, phantom call, 3 missed bench minors) to a couple of fun scraps between Devil heavy Andrew Peters and newly acquired Brandon Prust. Facing a mountain of a man, Prust did alright even throwing down Peters in the rematch. The ex-Sabre has come under criticism (from Hasan and plenty of Devil worshippers) for being a slug. Basically, he's their Donald Brashear. At least, he fought twice but still took an undisciplined misconduct during the second fight.

If there was a pivotal moment, Lundqvist's glove save on two bit Devil scrub Rob Niedermayer shorthanded in the final minute could be classified as that. Even if he stinks, it was a quality chance with the game still scoreless. Henrik was just getting warmed up, later flat out robbing Peters of all people with a quick glove following a Sean Avery turnover. It's no secret that our goalie's biggest weakness is high glove and the Devils tried, tried and tried to expose it. It would be a theme all night.

The Rangers got into early penalty trouble in the second with Jokinen (hook) and Tinman (delay of game which douche stood and cheered) handing the Devs a great opportunity to go ahead. With only 16 seconds of a five-on-three, Lemaire predictably took his timeout. However, it backfired when frequent Hasan target Brian Rolston failed to keep the puck in. Instead, the Ranger PK killed the remaining minor and swung the momentum. Before Niedermayer hooked one of our players, they finally started attacking with in particular, the Brandon Dubinsky-Jokinen-Ryan Callahan line wreaking havoc. In just their second game together, they dominated shifts utilizing their size and speed to generate opportunities.

After failing miserably on two power plays in which the shorthanded Devs forced Lundqvist to make a couple of tough stops, the Blueshirts finally struck thanks to a brilliant Mike Del Zotto seam pass which led directly to Marian Gaborik's team high 35th. In front of his net, he threaded the needle to Callahan, who cruised down the right wing before dishing back to the 19 year-old freshman at the right point. Instead of shooting, he passed down low for Callahan, who then dished across for an easy Gaborik tap-in. Tic-tac-toe. Ranger goal. It was the fifth PPG over two games.

Carrying momentum, they made it two straight only 56 ticks later thanks to a great individual effort from true captain Callahan, who stripped Mike Mottau of the puck and then fired past Brodeur unassisted for his 15th. With a crowd that featured plenty of Devil jerseys mixed in suddenly getting on favorite target, "Marrrrrrtttty, Marrrrrrtttty, Marrrrrtttty," Lemaire made a strange decision sending his fourth line out versus the Ranger one that still featured Chris Drury. He may be a shell of the player, but is still better than anyone the Devils had out. Perhaps, the vet coach outsmarted himself thinking Peters could have Round Three with Prust which would've gotten both tossed. Wouldn't you know it? It blew up with Drury making him pay by scoring his ninth from an effective Matt Gilroy- who played one of his better games- and Prust, who earned his first point as a Ranger.

“Obviously, everybody in the room gets pretty jacked up playing against the Devils,” Callahan noted. “I think Hank was. When you know he is on his game, we’re going to have a great chance to win. It was uplifting to see Hank play like that.”

Suddenly, they led 3-zip striking for all three in 2:39. New Jersey had played the night before and looked a little lagged, losing battles. A little shell shocked, they then allowed a clean Dubinsky breakaway. With the place ready to explode, he couldn't beat Brodeur, who just got a piece of it. Look. They scored five the other night and already had three in un-Rangeresque fashion. You didn't expect to really run away from the Devils. These games are never over. So, when they couldn't reach four, I knew the third would be like a Chinese fire drill.

Sure enough, New Jersey controlled most of it outshooting the Rangers by a dozen (20-8). Yes. John Tortorella sat back a little too much. But when opportunities arose, they still forechecked with the aforementioned Dubi-Jokester-Cally line putting together a whale of a shift that lasted almost 90 seconds to cheers. When they weren't out, the ice was tilted with our Hostess Twinkie D finally remembering who they were. Well, it was a combo. The Devils kept firing on Lundqvist from every angle but he kept turning them away, making a few more large saves including a gem on Mottau, who had one labeled. Just amazing stuff. Of course, I didn't play him figuring Marty and the Devs would prevail. When he wasn't robbing unlikely targets, Henrik was plenty good enough to deny Kovalchuk (8 SOG), Elias, Langenbrunner and Zach Parise. The dangerous quartet combined for nearly half (20 of 41) their total.

In a game where he deserved his third shutout, it wasn't to be as Zubrus ended the bid when he took an Elias feed in the slot and beat Lundqvist at 11:11, cutting it to 3-1 with lots of hockey left. As normally happens, the pesky Devils swarmed his crease trying everything to pull off another miracle. But our goalie ain't Jonas Gustavsson. Oddly enough, with Jiggy getting a second consecutive shutout in a Leaf 5-0 pasting of the Sens, you wonder why Ron Wilson didn't start him Friday. The Leafs' win in fitting tribute to Brendan Burke has them and the Candy Canes only 10 out. Could that extra two prove costly? Speaking of Burke, why didn't the Rangers have a moment of silence? No class.

Still up two, the Rangers were pretty disciplined. While they continued to lead, the douche in our section wearing a second rate blank Devil jersey continued to talk smack, using the lame "3 Cups" and "9th/10th seed" crap. If we hadn't made the postseason the past four years, fine. We know our team sucks. I don't know about other fans but our section has some of the most knowledgable/passionate fans who get it. This is a very flawed roster which needs fixing. Aside from the penalties, Jokinen has looked good. In the four years this team's seen the Spring, they've advanced to the second round twice with the only shot blown by Tom Renney at the end of Game Five versus Buffalo. Anyone with a clue realizes that making the playoffs is counterproductive because it allows Dolan to believe it's a success. The East blows! Plus if they get in, it lets Slats off the hook for the upteenth time. So, talking redundant crap doesn't bother us because unlike Kool Aid drinkers like Joe Micheletti (fyi that 'Shuddup Micheletti chant in 409 was epic), we're thinking Big Picture. I only want to make it if we can seriously compete for the hardware. Hopefully, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Ryan McDonagh and Evgeny Grachev continue to develop. A word of advice for Spicoli who probably couldn't name half the '03 Devil roster. Next time, find better material. When you don't even know 'your team' has won the same amount of series post-lockout, you're a fraud.

Now, to the Avery/Kovalchuk shenanigans. It's already been discussed at length on Twitter and I had a friendly debate with @stevelepore over the matter. Apparently, @seanaverydotcom talked smack to the former Hotlanta star who lost his cool shoving his stick into him. A repeat offence also done during a first round sweep in 2007. Both received matching double minors (roughing) with 2:16 left, meaning Avery did his job. Look. We know he tries to goad opponents. Unlike Brodeur in the 1-0 epic last time out, Kovalchuk admittedly lost discipline then throwing punches. When your team's trailing late, you can't do that. His selfish play which was cheap and should merit a fine or suspension (oh it won't bc of double standard) hurt his team. They eventually got a late six-on-four thanks to waste of space Wade Redden's second minor but the Rangers did a great job blocking shots with usual suspects Callahan and Drury killing off the clock.

As for Lemaire's gripe that trash talk be penalized, ha. How much fun should be taken out? At the end of the day, they're just words. Actions speak louder. If Kovalchuk wants to win in the playoffs, he has to show better composure.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brandon Prust, NYR (assist for 1st Ranger Pt, 10 PIM in six shifts-4:18)
2nd Star-Ryan Callahan, NYR (PPG decider, assist, 5 SOG, 6 hits, 2 blocked shots in 22:22)
1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (41 saves incl.19/20 in 3rd to snap personal 6-gm losing streak)

And hell has frozen over!

Danius Zubrus has scored on the great Lundqvist with oh, 8:43 to go? Cue the bronx cheer as we cut it to 3-1.

I know, I know I'm setting myself up for major crow-eating if a miracle happens tonight but I really don't see it. Although at least the Devils came out more intense in the third period and are finally shooting at more than 2/9ths of the net.

Here we go again...

So much for momentum as the Devils again crap the bed early and in about as much time as they scored three goals last night, gave up three tonight in the second period (within 2:39 to be precise) to break a scoreless tie. Unlike last night there will be no miracle comeback though, not considering this franchise is totally psyched out by the pad wonder known as Henrik Lundqvist. What will be his career GAA against us now after he gets yet another shutout, 1.40? Disgusting. He could lose ten in a row, give up four goals every game and still pitch a shutout against us the next night. It's a wonder we even won two games against this team this year although one of them Lundqvist actually got a shutout in.

Obviously the book is to go glove side on Puffy Pads, everyone including Patrik Elias (who went there for the shootout winner a few weeks back) knows that. But like a pitcher in baseball, you just can't throw the same pitch over and over again without varying it up, or the batter will be able to cheat and lay off it or hit it. So far we must have gone glove-side like ten times and it's barely halfway through the game, including some opportunities where we shot wide glove side instead of going where there was room far side.

Of course our shooters aren't alone in stupidity tonight, our power play is just as clueless as ever. Against a team that gave up 900 power play goals the other night we couldn't even gain the zone. And when we got a miniscule five-on-three for like twenty seconds I said to myself, ****ing Lemaire's going to take a timeout, he can't help it. Sure enough he did, regular as clockwork, and the Devils failed to even get a shot on net despite winning the faceoff thanks to the spectacularly bad keep of the zone by (who else?) Brian Rolston. And that timeout would have proved handy later when the Rangers scored twice in rapid succession. Instead, the Rangers were able to build off that momentum and score a third goal when Chris Drury - who's now listed as a fourth liner?! - beat Martin Brodeur with a weak floater at 9:59 and the crowd loved every second of it.

Stupidity's ran amok tonight, from Andrew Peters risking an instigator by dropping the gloves too soon for his second fight of the first period with Brandon Prust, to Bryce Salvador leaving the front of the net before the Rangers' first goal on the power play where Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik worked a nice two-on-one in front of Andy Greene, with Gaborik getting the easiest tap-in goal of his career and finally Mike Mottau's predictable killer turnover before Callahan scored through a screen just 56 seconds after Gaborik's goal.

And not to leave out the refs, who did their best to ruin the game before the Devils managed that all by themselves. They were so bad in the first period they should have been fired on the spot! Not only did they miss a first-minute high stick on Zach Parise which drew blood (yes it was incidental contact but you must have control of your stick) but the two penalties they called on the Devils were among the worst I've ever seen. There was basically no contact on either play and on the second one Michael Roszival either dove or was tripped by the invisible man to draw a call behind him. Not that it was all one-way, as they missed an obvious too many men on the ice by us - even Chico Resch admitted that - but as I said earlier also could have thumbed Peters for an instigator instead of giving him a useless ten-minute misconduct.

Oy...the Olympic break can't come soon enough for this team who while they haven't been as terrible as they've been in a lot of games once again have come out totally flat mentally. And things don't get any easier this week with the Flyers coming up twice, an improving Predators team on Friday at the Rock and finally a trip to our tormentors Carolina on Saturday before finally everyone will break for the Olympics.