NYR 3 / Dallas Stars 2 (SO)

Mats Zuccarello scored in the second round of the shootout and Henrik Lundqvist was perfect in the tiebreaker to lift the New York Rangers over the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Friday night. Zuccarello, playing in his seventh NHL game, beat Kari Lehtonen with a nifty hesitation move to help the Rangers improve to 7-2-2 in their last 11    The Rangers are currently 24-15-3, sitting 6th in the Eastern Conference with 51 points. They remain a solid third in the Atlantic behind 1st place Pittsburgh (56 points) and 2nd place Philadelphia (55 points). Back to back (away) games continue tonight against the St. Louis Blues. 

Official recap here.

Even without sniper Gaborik putting pucks in net and Ryan Callahan & Prospal still on injured reserve, our Blueshirts continue to never give up and win games.  Apparently, Glen Sather has accompanied the team for this two-game road trip, most likely to meet with Brad Richards and his agents as the February trade deadline soon approaches.  I'd say it's 50/50 that Richards wears Blue going into the playoffs.

More thoughts to come...

tdr

One-Two-Three-Four Punch!

NYR 5,  Dallas Stars 2

One-two-three-four points, that is.  The team that made Mr. Avery a multi-millionaire were reminded last night of why they originally awarded him the $3+ million per year contract last season before trading him back to New York and willing to pay for half the contract, as our resident agitator decided to show-up and give The Garden a taste again of what we've come to expect from the 'Most Hated Player in the NHL'.  I can only affectionately describe the guy as the following:  A gnat (see Brendan Morrow).  A bully (12 penalty minutes last night).  A good hockey player (1 goal, 3 assists).  He is certainly worth the $1.9 million for the next couple of seasons.  Keep the heat up on the ice, Sean -- because we embrace it when you take off the Torts-shackles and show a little 'First Blood' (and for God's sakes --- tell your PR guy to stop with the Sean Avery bar updates -- we don't care).  Just play good hockey and we'll all be happy fans.

I thought I'd share some interesting quotes from last night:

"I would have loved to have seen that delinquent do that for us last year, I didn't think four points was possible. He has a good shot and he always has worked hard. His intelligence on the ice has always been an issue, and was with us when he was here."
 - Marty Turco (Dallas' crappy goalkeeper)

"It is a pretty good night when you have four points against a team that didn't want you a year ago,"

- Henrik Lundqvist (NYR Goalkeeper of The Gods)

"There has been no leash or handcuffs on Sean Avery. We have really tried to push him the past couple of months in trying to get his game back and to play this way. I want Sean Avery on edge ... when he crosses the line, it is my job to try to bring him back." TDR footnote: I wonder if he actually believes his own soundbite -- this is contrary to his actions as a coach all season, so this statement makes him look stupid if you ask me.

 - John Tortorella (Micro-Managing Coach of the Blueshirts)

Official recap here.

So beyond the hype of Sean Avery and the media's obsession with him and how he saved the Rangers last night and how the Blueshirts' world is now going to change, let us remind ourselves that our game is back probably due to the continued staying-power of our world-class goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist.  Yes - he dipped mid-way through the fall, but last night he made 25 saves, including one during Dallas' 5-on-3 power play in the second period.  He continues to defy gravity with numerous back-flips, hits to the head (thank you Brandon Dubinsky for not letting that one go) and a remarkable knack for saving games when our D-men go into their caves to contemplate the programmed "Torts-want-to-score-more-goals" philosophy.  But last night was an exception as our Blueliners pulled out some terrific defense -- special mention to Dan Girardi and Matt Gilroy.  We have an extremely young blueline that will put us closer to 'elite status' over the next couple of seasons, as long as we can hold onto their contracts and keep them on Broadway.  (hear that Slats....don't go horse-trading your family members for tired and used Redden parts, okay?)

Oh yeah, and that Marion Gaborik guy is pretty good too. Right...he currently leads the NHL in goals.  Nice to have you on board Oh-Great-Not-Hurt-One.

Here are the stats:

GOAL SCORERS

DAL:   B. Richards (02:17 - 1st) , J. Lehtinen (02:07 - 2nd)

NYR:   S. Avery (PPG, 05:39 - 1st) , M. Gaborik (15:47 - 1st) , A. Kotalik (08:23 - 2nd) , C. Drury (08:57 - 3rd) , R. Callahan (EN, 18:55 - 3rd) 

(Can you believe Chris Drury scored again? WTF?)

So our Blueshirts sit in the 7th slot in the Eastern Conference as of today with a record of 21-17-5.  It appears we're coming out of the slump, but the reviled and surprising Atlanta Thrashers are next on our card tonight --- they always seem to beat us since we thrashed them during the playoffs seasons ago, so perhaps a bit of this mojo will carry into the chilly deep south where hockey was historically never envisioned.  

Let's Go Rangers and keep the faith Blueshirt Brethren!


tdr

P.S.   if anyone watched the live broadcast, you might have caught Joe M. on MSG make the following statement while referring to Marty Turco's assist after the first goal, "You know, Sam....Turco is one of the finest passers in the game."  Too bad nobody told Joe that Turco was the Stars' goalie.  Oops.

Benedict Arnold Returns To The Garden, NYR 1, Dallas 2

Dark here...

So we lost another one. Ouch. The New York Rangers are now 6-2-1, a great position to be at the start of the season and after tonight's lackluster performance, we are beginning to look like a normal team that has it's ups & downs. It is made worse in that this was the first game against Sean Avery as a Dallas Star and the first game where "The King's" Dallas twin brother Lundqvist was responsible for setting up the game winning goal to defeat the Rangers.

For the official recap, go here.

Sean Avery pre-game was quoted on the Rangers Organization:
"I extremely enjoyed my time in New York playing for the Rangers. Jim Dolan runs a first-class organization. The fans are as passionate and as tough as they come, and they make MSG a very special place to play and call home. I wish the Rangers all the best.. I have no animosity towards anyone in this organization for not bringing me back."

"High road" words from some guy named Sean Avery who showed up during the pre-skate mouthing off to Henrik Lundqvist, Stephen Valiquette and anyone within ear range of his big mouth. It doesn't matter who this guy instigates. There is no rhyme or reason to his bullying. When he successfully played for the Rangers for a season and a half, he was OUR bully. Now he is someone else's bully. In The Dark Ranger's book, 'plain & simple' this just makes him a PUNK. Everyone has shtick and a hook if you want to succeed in life, I guess. It's no wonder Sean Avery has no friends. He certainly isn't a friend of The Garden anymore.

Yeah, I know Benedict Arnold was a traitor, someone who turned on his people, ratting out the good guys and some of you will say that it was MSG and the Dolans that didn't renew with Avery - it was widely reported that the difference between Dallas and NYR was just under a million a year. Avery as a Ranger on the ice vs when not on the ice demanded his re-signing. You cannot dispute the facts.

I am a supporter of Sean Avery. I like his honesty and what he always brings to the game. But a case could be made that Sean Avery is the ultimate traitor to the game of hockey in general. He follows the money. As long as he continues to find new teams in the NHL willing to pay for his 'on-ice' dirty mouth, 'in the locker room' and his outrageous 'off-the-ice' antics, he will never find long-term loyalty of his teammates, the protection from his team and, most importantly, the honor one gets when you play for a franchise long-term. A thug-for-hire. Ultimately, he will never have a loyal fan base as he is guilty of having too many jobs in the short term, and realistically, this guy will end up hurt badly as someone is soon to punish him for his career behavior.

When you declare your love for the team - you tell your agent where you want to be and do whatever is necessary to stay. Even NY Ranger Paul Mara re-signed with the Rangers for significantly less than he would have received in free agency because he believed in the franchise. Probably the best example of not following the money and believing in the game is the entire Detroit Red Wing 2008-2009 roster -- veteran All-Stars, including sought-after Marian Hossa, all believe in the game, rather than the money. The dumbest example might be Mats Sundin turning down a 2-year/$20 mill offer from Vancouver because he wanted the right team/retirement.

Dallas might have won the game tonight -- they played terrific defensive hockey in the last half of the third period and shutdown my Blueshirts -- but they proved that it can all be done without the infamous Sean Avery - who did nothing to contribute to his team's win. He is 'half-a-Star' in my big bright book and 'an official hockey whore' having taken a better deal in Dallas and deceiving our MSG fans.

Unrelated but just as exciting, The Dark Ranger is penning a new mystery short story entitled, "Where In The World Is Chris Drury?" - so I hope that all fans of the blog will channel positive thoughts toward our dear Captain! If good thoughts & cheer don't work for our Captain against Columbus on Friday, I expect all of you to pre-order an advanced copy and drink heavily.

tdr

The Dallas Stars 3, The Slowly Slumping Rangers 2

There isn't much to say about yesterday's game, except we lost and we shouldn't have. The New York Rangers probably registered one hundred shots to Dallas' five shots - kidding, but it seemed this way. Scotty Gomez is probably responsible for Dallas winning the game, with more than two turnovers - and no connection to the team he is playing on.

Here are the game notes (press here).

It was great to see Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan finally scoring and lighting up the game, but to no victory.

The dreaded NY Islanders are at MSG this Thursday, a franchise we are afraid of and haven't beaten this season. The Islanders are creeping up in the ranks and the Atlantic Division is turning out to be one of the more competitive divisions to date -- fun to watch because the teams are all over the place. Three days off for the Rangers to work on the worst power-play unit in the NHL - maybe it's time for Renney to start coaching.

It is frightening that in the New York Times this morning, Coach Tom Renney, having just lost to Dallas was referring to Scott Gomez and the Rangers as a team, quoted as saying, “I really have to be firm now and say, I want X number of shots." This pretty much says it all for now.

tdr