Goal Line Report
Blueshirts Looking for Offense
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/09/12 at 08:27 AM ET
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While the New York Rangers may have gotten screwed out of picking up at least a point against the New Jersey Devils in their 1-0 loss on Tuesday night, it still does not change the fact that this team is currently having trouble scoring goals.
Yes, the team put four in on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers but before that and right now, the offense has been kept quiet. As of right now, Rangers’ forwards Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan seem like the only two players that are consistently generating scoring chances.
However, guys like Derek Stepan, Brad Richards, Brian Boyle and others are struggling to score goals. Prior to these last few weeks, the Rangers had scoring depth and right now, it appears to be missing.
When this happens, it puts a ton of pressure on the team’s goaltenders Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron. It is like the goaltenders have to be as close to perfect as possible in order to win a hockey game.
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Tags: Brad+Richards, Brian+Boyle, Derek+Stepan, Dwayne+Roloson, Henrik+Lundqvist, Marian+Gaborik, Martin+Biron, Mathieu+Garon, New+York+rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Ryan+Callahan, Tampa+Bay+Lightning,
Battle of The Hudson
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/07/12 at 09:09 AM ET
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While it always seems like the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils play a playoff brand of hockey when the two clubs meet, that will really be the case tonight when they will go at it at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers, who are on top of both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, are coming off of two straight wins over the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers. In those games, the club got excellent goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, played a physical style of hockey and won all the little battles within the game.
On the other side, the Devils might just be playing their best hockey of the season. The team from across the Hudson River has won five straight games and is putting the puck in the net with regularity, getting solid performances out of of both Ilya Kovalchuk and Martin Brodeur and playing with a swagger that has been missing from their game the last few seasons.
These two teams met last Wednesday night at the Prudential Center, where the Blueshirts lost a hard fought game 4-3 in a shootout. As I had mentioned last week, this was a game that the Rangers should have won so they will definitely be looking to get the two points tonight on home ice.
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Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Henrik+Lundqvist, Ilya+Kovalchuk, John+Tortorella, Martin+Brodeur, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Steve+Eminger,
Rangers Do It Again Over the Flyers
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/06/12 at 09:09 AM ET
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There is no doubt that the National Hockey League would probably love to have both the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers meet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
If you are asking yourself why, just look at the four games that have been played between the two clubs this season. The games have had it all from timely goal scoring, big hits, fights, and great goaltending.
Unfortunately for the Flyers, they have lost all four tilts at the hands of the Blueshirts. Yesterday afternoon at the Garden, the Rangers were physical, blocked a ton of shots, got timely goal scoring and clutch goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist.
Playing in their Winter Classic uniforms, the Rangers put on a great show for their fans. The team got solid performances out of guys like Lundqvist, Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan, Marian Gaborik, Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky.
It was a complete team effort, one that gave them another two points in the standings. With the victory, the Blueshirts remain in first place in the Eastern Conference with 71 points, which is three points more than the second place Boston Bruins and five points more than the fourth place Flyers.
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Tags: Artem+Anisimov, Boston+Bruins, Brandon+Dubinsku, Dan+Girardi, Derek+Stepan, Henrik+Lundqvist, Marian+Gaborik, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Ryan+Callahan,
Jamie Shalley of NHL Home Ice Stops By To Talk Puck
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/06/12 at 08:00 AM ET
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As everyone already knows, I am a big and proud supporter of Sirius/XM NHL Home Ice. In my opinion, it is the best hockey outlet out there with terrific hosts, producers, content and much, much more.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to do an e-mail interview with NHL Home Ice Jamie Shalley. Shalley is a man of all trades at NHL Home Ice and is the host of ‘Breakaway’.
Shalley was kind enough to take time out of his very busy schedule to give us his thoughts on the current season, which teams and players have surprised/disappointed him and much more.
PH: We are well into the 2011-12 NHL Campaign. What are some of your general thoughts on the season?
JS: Certainly it’s been a rollercoaster season. We’ve had many positives, including the amazing run by the Bruins to finish 2011, the incredible push by the Blues under Ken Hitchcock, the Winter Classic between the Flyers and Rangers, and an outstanding hosting of the All-Star Game by the city of Ottawa. However, we’ve had the unfortunate side too. The Lokomotiv tragedy and the death of several former NHL enforcers cast a tragic cloud on the start of the season. Concussions continue to be a threat to many careers. The early rash of suspensions and continued supplemental discipline handed out by Brendan Shanahan and the department of player safety has been one of the major stories of the season. We’ve also replaced nearly half the coaches in the NHL in less than a calendar year.
PH: Which teams/players have surprised you this season? Why?
JS: I’ve been surprised by the Panthers. They gelled quickly, despite bringing in a ton of new faces. Plus, they’ve managed to survive despite getting most of their scoring from their top forward line. The Senators, while they’ve been slumping lately, have been a surprise. Paul MacLean seems to have changed the culture quickly, and with their key players healthy, they’ve been able to outscore their mistakes on a lot of nights. I’ve been impressed by the Devils. They haven’t had Travis Zajac for most of the season, and their blue line corps wasn’t regarded as one of the best in the conference, but they’re still right in the middle of things in the East. Surprise players for me include Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Brian Elliott, and Ryan McDonagh. While Nugent-Hopkins has all the skill in the world, I didn’t think he’d be able to take the physical pounding in his first season playing against men. Elliott looked to be on his way out of the NHL, but hard work in the off-season and a defensive system in St. Louis has resulted in a resurgence. I’ve been impressed with McDonagh’s ability to log top-pair minutes and responsibility as a young player on one of the top clubs in the NHL.
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Tags: Breakaway, Jamie+Shalley, NHL+Home+Ice,
Heave Ho Four in a Row
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/05/12 at 08:00 AM ET
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That is what the New York Rangers will be looking to do this afternoon at Madison Square Garden when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.
The teams have met three times already with the Blueshirts coming away with three wins, including winning the Winter Classic by a score of 3-2. The Blueshirts have also beaten the Flyers twice on home ice this season.
There is no doubt that the Flyers are going to come out as a hungry hockey club. In yesterday’s 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils at home, the Flyers gave the Devils a 6-0 lead before coming back to score four goals in the third period to make it an exciting hockey game.
This is a Flyers team that has a lot of offense. Guys like Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Wayne Simmonds, Jaromir Jagr and Matt Read can all put the puck in the net. Hartnell leads the club with 25 goals and Giroux is right behind with 20.
With that in mind, the Blueshirts are going to need to be ready to battle. The club is coming off a hard fought 1-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday night in Buffalo and the team more than likely knows that if they play the way they did against Buffalo, they could be in trouble against the Broadstreet Bullies.
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Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Claude+Giroux, Henrik+Lundqvist, Jaromir+Jagr, Matt+Read, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Scott+Hartnell, Wayne+Simmonds, Winnipeg+Jets,
Rangers Need to Set The Pace Against the Flyers
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/04/12 at 03:28 PM ET
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From Brian Monzo at CBSNewYork.com/WFAN.com:
-Start the game by taking the body. This really goes for any game, but the Rangers need to expect the Flyers to come out angry since they’ve been handled by New York so far this season. Whether it be Brandon Prust or Ryan Callahan, someone needs to set the tone early. If it’s the Flyers doing it, the Rangers could be in for a long afternoon.
-Get the defense involved in the offense. Since the Rangers’ offense is pretty spread around, success has come in games when their defensemen have scored goals. Michael Del Zotto and Anton Stralman both can get involved when need be, but Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal should both be joining the rush as much as possible. Fortunately for the Rangers, their goaltending has been extraordinary enough that if this backfires, Henrik Lundqvist should be able to handle any odd man rushes.
Click here for more great stuff from Monzo.
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Tags: Brian+Monzo, CBSNewYork.com, New+York+Rangers, WFAN.com,
Not the Right Fit
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/03/12 at 11:42 AM ET
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This is exactly what could be said of former New York Rangers’ forward Erik Christensen.
There is no doubt that Christensen had a lot of offensive potential. He is a great passer, solid in the shootout and has good vision.
With that said, Christensen never used the above-mentioned talents on a consistent basis. When he was not hurt, Christensen often found himself in head coach John Tortorella’s dog house and rightly so, since his play never fit into the team’s identity.
May be Christensen will be given a fair chance with the Minnesota Wild or may be he will continue to not do the things that made him an NHLer in the first place. The choice is really his.
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Tags: Erik+Christensen, Minnesota+Wild, New+York+Rangers,
Lundqvist Does it Again
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/01/12 at 10:35 PM ET
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Coming into tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, you just knew that it was going to be a tough game for the New York Rangers.
The game lived up to that billing as the Rangers’ were able to come away with a 1-0 shootout win thanks to the shootout winner by team captain Ryan Callahan. However, the main reason the Rangers won tonight’s game was because of the goaltending of Henrik Lundqvist.
Lundqvist made 34 saves in regulation and stopped all but one of the shootout attempts taken by the Sabres in his second straight shutout (6th of the season…tied for first in the league). Simply put, Lundqvist played the way he always has this season for his hockey club.
Had it not been for Lundqvist’s terrific play, this could have just as easily been a shutout for Sabres’ goaltender Ryan Miller. Miller, who won last night over the Montreal Canadiens, was stellar in this game in making 29 saves and giving his team every chance to win a hockey game.
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Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Detroit+Red+Wings, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Ryan+Callahan, Ryan+Miller,
The One That Got Away
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/01/12 at 09:02 AM ET
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Looking back at last night’s tilt between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, it was a game that the Rangers should have come away with two points.
The Blueshirts had three 1-goal leads that they let slip away in a 4-3 shootout loss at the Prudential Center. While these things happen in hockey, they are things that could have been prevented with better defensive coverage in the Rangers’ zone.
On both the Devils’ second goal and tying goal in the game, the Rangers appeared to be lost in their own zone. It should also be noted that Devils’ sniper Ilya Kovalchuk should never be given that much room in the offensive zone.
With that said, it was not a terrible game for the Blueshirts. They showed some offense and with better defensive coverage in their own zone in the third period, could have easily come away with their third straight victory.
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Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Ilya+Kovalchuk, Martin+Biron, Martin+Brodeur, Montreal+Canadiens, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Prudential+Center,
UPDATE/Back to the Grind
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/31/12 at 10:32 AM ET
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UPDATE: Per Rangers’ beat writer Andrew Gross’s Twitter, Martin Biron will be starting between the pipes tonight for the Blueshirts:
Biron in net tonight vs. Devils. Otherwise same lineup for Rangers.
That is what the New York Rangers will be doing tonight at the Prudential Center when they take on the New Jersey Devils.
Coming into tonight’s tilt, the Blueshirts are on a two game winning streak. Two Saturday’s ago, the Rangers beat the Bruins in overtime by a 3-2 score and then three nights later at Madison Square Garden, the club shutout the Winnipeg Jets by a score of 3-0.
The Rangers also currently find themselves in the top spot in the Eastern Conference with 66 points and are one point behind the league-leading Detroit Red Wings. For the Rangers to keep up this kind of pace, they are going to have to get things started on the right foot tonight in New Jersey.
Luckily for the Blueshirts, they have several players who have performed well over the last few games. Lundqvist was terrific in Boston and was good when he had to be against the Jets.
Marian Gaborik, the NHL All-Star MVP, scored two goals against the Bruins and picked-up a hat trick and an assist in the All-Star Game. His confidence should be at a high level right now.
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Tags: Boston+Bruins, Detroit+Red+Wings, Henrik+Lundqvist, Marian+Gaborik, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, NHL+All-Star+Game, Winnipeg+Jets,
About Goal Line Report
Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla’s Korner, you can also find Patrick’s work over at RLD Hockey, Rangers Tribune, and TheGoodPoint.com.
Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick’s musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, The Fourth Period, Spector’s Hockey, Hokeja Vestnesis, Blueshirt Bulletin, SNYRangersBlog.com and many more.
For questions, comments and hip checks, feel free to e-mail Patrick at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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