Goal Line Report
Tough to Take
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/25/12 at 11:36 PM ET
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If you are a New York Rangers’ fan, this is most likely what you are feeling regarding what happened to the team tonight.
The New Jersey Devils ended the team’s hope of getting to the Stanley Cup Final by beating the Blueshirts 3-2 in overtime on a goal by rookie Adam Henrique tonight at the Prudential Center. It is certainly disheartening considering the way the Rangers played in this game.
With the exception of the first period, it seemed like the Rangers dominated this game. They outshot the Devils 35-29, forechecked hard, had a lot more puck possession and were once again able to overcome 2-goal deficit to tie the hockey game and put a a major scare into their Hudson River rivals.
Unfortunately for the Blueshirts, it was only a scare they put into the Devils and not the victory. With their playoff lives on the line for the fourth time this postseason, the Rangers were not able to overcome a 3-2 series deficit for the right to play a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
With that said, one has to wonder what it would have been like had the Rangers turned in better first period performances in this series. Time and time again, it seemed like the Rangers got down early and were forced to play comeback hockey. While the team was not terrible tying up hockey games, it is a tough way to play in the postseason and unfortunately, the Blueshirts learned that the hard way.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Adam+Henrique, Carl+Hagelin, Chris+Kreider, Derek+Stepan, Martin+Brodeur, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Pete+Deboer, Ryan+Callahan, Ryan+McDonagh,
All on Lundqvist
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/25/12 at 02:42 PM ET
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From Sean Hartnett at WFAN.com:
Alone stands a masked man in white. He is the last line of defense. His duty is to guard his post from an army of onrushing soldiers dressed in red with the mark of the demon across their chest.
Henrik Lundqvist, the man that Rangers fans call ‘King Henrik,’ is faced with the task of not only keeping goals out of his net, but not allowing the tremendous pressure placed upon him to seep into his consciousness.
Click here for more great stuff from Sean.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Sean+Hartnett, WFAN.com,
Here We Go Again
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/25/12 at 08:00 AM ET
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That’s right folks. Tonight, the New York Rangers will take part in their third Game 6 and second in which they are down 3-2.
The team’s opponent, the New Jersey Devils, are playing for the right to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final. While they have not been perfect in this series, they have played good enough to beat the Blueshirts three times, including twice in a row in Games 4 and 5.
For the Rangers, none of this should come as nothing new. They have had their backs against the wall multiple times this postseason and each time, the team has come through with a win.
With that said, there is something that definitely feels different about this series. While Rangers’ fans are confident that their favorite team will come out victorious not only in Game 6, but in this series, there is a certain uneasiness that is present.
It could be the fact that the Devils have won two games in a row or it could be that the Rangers have yet to put a full 60 minutes together in this series. Whatever it is, it is something that the Rangers need to figure out before they get down to business tonight.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Brad+Richards, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers,
An E-mail Interview with Sean Hartnett of WFAN.com
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/24/12 at 03:02 PM ET
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With the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils battling it out to see who will represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final, I figured now would be a good time to conduct an e-mail interview with someone who is currently covering the series.
Sean Hartnett, hockey writer/blogger for WFAN.com, was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to tell us about how he got into hockey, how he became a hockey blogger as well as his thoughts on the Eastern Conference Finals.
PH: How did you get into hockey?
SH: As a boy, I was fascinated with Mario Lemieux. I enjoyed the artistry he displayed on the ice. He was the ultimate game-changer. The highlight of his spectacular goal in Game 2 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals never gets old. He absolutely undressed the Minnesota North Stars’ defense. No matter how many times I watch it, it will never get old.
The first hockey video game I owned was NHL ‘94, so that definitely played a part in building my hockey obsession. I would have NHL ‘94 tournaments with neighbors and close elementary school friends. Nearly, two decades later… I haven’t really changed that much. At the age of 27, I still have NHL 12 tournaments with friends and they get pretty heated!
PH: Growing up, who was your favorite team/player?
SH: As a kid, teams weren’t as important to me as individual players who made the game so enjoyable to watch. I mentioned Lemieux earlier and I loved watching Wayne Gretzky set up behind the net in ‘his office’ and work his magic.
Everyone enjoys players who are artists on the ice. Early 90’s Teemu Selanne and Pavel Bure could pull off ‘out this world moves’ like no one I’ve ever seen before or since. Mike Modano, Pat LaFontaine and Brett Hull were the ultimate examples of talented Americans who were great ambassadors for the game.
I had friends who were Rangers, Devils and Islanders fans but I never really got caught up in the rivalry at young age. My mother bought me the 1994 Rangers’ championship t-shirt but it seemed like every couple months I was getting a t-shirt, jacket or jersey of a different team from my mom who spoiled me or another family member.
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Tags: New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Sean+Hartnett, WFAN.com,
Devils’ Late Goal Sinks Rangers’ Comeback Efforts
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/23/12 at 10:49 PM ET
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At the end of the day, it does not matter how many goals you allow as long as you are the team that has more when the final buzzer sounds.
In tonight’s Game 5 between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden, it was Devils’ forward Ryan Carter’s goal with less than five minutes to go in the hockey game that lifted the Devils to a 5-3 victory. The Devils’ defense may not have been great but in the end, it was their offense that got the crucial goal to give their team a 3-2 series lead.
For the Rangers, it was the things that happened both early and late in the game that hurt them the most. In the first period, the Devils scored three goals on six shots (Stephen Gionta, Patrik Elias, Travis Zajac) to go up 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the hockey game. Then, in the third period, Carter scored the Devils to put them up 4-3 after the Blueshirts had gotten themselves back into the game and that was followed by a Zach Parise empty net goal with 1:32 to go in the hockey game.
Had it not been for those 15-minutes, this could have been a Rangers’ victory. Even when the club was down 3-0, they did not quit and battled hard to tie the game as they got goals from Brandon Prust, Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik.
The team was also able to take advantage of a somewhat shaky Martin Brodeur (25 saves) to get back into the hockey game. With that said, Brodeur battled to the end and made the big saves late in the third period when it mattered most and more importantly, he put his team one victory away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Brandon+Prust, Henrik+Lundqvist, Marian+Gaborik, Martin+Brodeur, Michael+Del+Zotto, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Patrik+Elias, Ryan+Callahan, Ryan+Carter, Stephen+Gionta, Travis+Zajac,
Some Nasty Moments in The Rangers/Devils’ Rivalry
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/23/12 at 08:43 PM ET
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From Patrick Hoffman at Sportsnet.ca:
One of the greatest things about pro sports is the rivalries.
The NHL, like all other leagues, is built on a plethora of great rivalries. One of these rivalries is continuing its epic history in this year’s Eastern Conference Finals.
Of course, this is between division rivals the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. This rivalry has produced a ton of great regular season and playoff games, goals, saves and memories.
In addition to the great parts of this rivalry, there has also been a fair share of the nasty. Dirty hits, wild fights, plenty of jawing and an overall hatred of each other makes the Rangers-Devils rivalry one of the fiercest in the NHL.
Click here for more.
Monday night’s game at the Prudential Center brought this rivalry to the forefront of the sports world. So it only seems logical to take a look at some of the nastiest moments this great rivalry has created.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers,
Looking for Answers Tonight in Game 5
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/23/12 at 08:00 AM ET
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Coming into tonight’s Game 5 between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden, it appears that there are more questions than answers regarding the state of the Blueshirts after their 4-1 loss in Game 4.
While the Rangers were not exactly dead in their loss in Game 4, the team certainly was nowhere near its best. The club spent too much time in the penalty box, was outworked, outhustled and outshot and offensively, were too quiet to generate quality scoring chances against future Hall of Fame netminder Martin Brodeur.
Obviously, the team said all the right things both after the game and after yesterday’s practice but one has to wonder what the team is really thinking. For example, what is Rangers’ defenseman Michael Del Zotto thinking after his terrible performance in Game 4 in which he was the main cause of the Devils’ second goal by Travis Zajac and was also benched by head coach John Tortorella?
Another question that needs to be answered tonight is regarding the team’s offense? Where have the likes of Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards gone? While it is not fair to put all of the pressure on Gaborik and Richards to perform, these are the only two guys on the Blueshirts, with the exception of team captain Ryan Callahan, that can produce and put the puck in the net on regular basis.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, John+Tortorella, Martin+Brodeur, Michael+Del+Zotto, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Travis+Zajac,
The Script Remains The Same
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/21/12 at 10:43 PM ET
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This appears to be the case for the New York Rangers as the team dropped Game 4 at the Prudential Center to the New Jersey Devils by a score of 4-1.
For the third straight series, the Blueshirts will go into Game 5 tied with their opponent. While this probably should not have happened against both the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, the Rangers certainly deserve this fate after the way they played tonight.
The Blueshirts came out extremely flat in the first period and paid for it. The Devils picked-up two goals (Bryce Salvador and Travis Zajac) and were outshot 12-9 in the process. Had it not been for the strong play of Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist (26 saves), the period could have been much worse for the Blueshirts.
The team also racked up 41 minutes in penalties. While it was good to see the Rangers play a physical brand of hockey, spending that much time in the penalty box does not help anyone and only takes your best players off the ice for an extended period of time, something the Rangers cannot afford to do on any given night.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Bryce+Salvador, Henrik+Lundqvist, Martin+Brodeur, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Travis+Zajac, Washington+Capitals, Zach+Parise,
Time to Go Off Script
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/21/12 at 08:00 AM ET
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For the New York Rangers, this postseason has been a story of deja vu.
There have been many similarities in each round from the number of games played, to the goal scorers in each game as well as the general outcome of each tilt. While this is certainly interesting, it is time for the Blueshirts to go off script.
In each series, the Rangers have taken a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 only to lose both times to the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, respectively. In fact, only once in this whole postseason have the Rangers been able to win two straight games and that was back in Games 6 and 7 of their first round series against the Senators.
The Blueshirts are coming off a game in which they were badly outplayed by the New Jersey Devils, except for a portion of the third period when they got two quick goals from Dan Girardi and Chris Kreider. Luckily, the team got a terrific 36-save performance from their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist as he made extremely timely saves against the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise, Travis Zajac, Adam Henrique and others.
The Rangers were also very lucky that the goal posts were on their side on Saturday afternoon. The Devils hit four of them and had at least one gone in, it could have been a much different hockey game.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Adam+Henrique, Brad+Richards, Chris+Kreider, Dan+Girardi, Henrik+Lundqvist, Ilya+Kovalchuk, Marian+Gaborik, Martin+Brodeur, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Travis+Zajac, Washington+Capitals, Zach+Parise,
Prust Suspended for Game 4
by Patrick Hoffman on 05/20/12 at 07:42 PM ET
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From NHL.com:
It appears as though the New York Rangers will be without Brandon Prust on Monday night.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that the rugged forward has been suspended for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils after his hit on Anton Volchenkov during the second period of Saturday’s 3-0 win at the Prudential Center.
Volchenkov was carrying the puck along the boards and chipped it out of the zone when Prust landed an elbow to the back of Volchenkov’s helmet. Volchenkov, was down on the ice for almost a minute afterward, but was able to continue playing.
Click here for more.
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Tags: 2012+Stanley+Cup+Playoffs, Anton+Volchenkov, Brandon+Prust, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers,
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 Sportsnet.ca, The Red Light District Hockey Blog, NHL Home Ice, and Liam Maguire’s Ultimate Hockey web site.
Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick’s musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, TheFourthPeriod.com, 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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