Goal Line Report
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,
Good for Gaborik
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/29/12 at 07:02 PM ET
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While two of the New York Rangers’ All-Stars were on the losing Team Alfredsson today (Henrik Lundqvist and Dan Girardi), one Blueshirt came through for Team Chara and won MVP of the game and that was Marian Gaborik.
Gaborik scored a hat trick in the game and scored two goals against teammate Henrik Lundqvist, including one where he pulled an “Anisimov” after scoring the goal. Of course, when seeing that, I am sure many Blueshirt fans thought back to this.
Overall, it was a pretty good game this afternoon. It is always fun to watch the best players in the league all on the same ice doing what they do best and giving fans in the crowd something to smile and have fun with.
At the same time, it will be great to see the regular season back in action on Tuesday. For the Rangers, it should be an interesting and exciting second half as the club looks to get into the playoffs and hopefully, have home ice advantage come April.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks.
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Tags: 2012+NHL+All+Star+Game, Artem+Anisimov, Dan+Girardi, Henrik+Lundqvist, Marian+Gaborik, Team+Alfredsson, Team+Chara,
He’s Earned It
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/29/12 at 10:59 AM ET
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From Jesse Spector at The Sporting News:
Coaching in the All-Star Game is a validation of the job that John Tortorella has done behind the New York Rangers’ bench this season, even if he chooses not to see it that way.
“It’s an honor, but it isn’t me,” the coach of the Eastern Conference’s top team said on Friday. “I’m standing in, along with (New York’s players on the All-Star teams) as part of an organization that has found their way through the first half of the year. It’s a half of the year break, and they’ve recognized how teams have played and individuals have played. I’m standing in, and it’s an honor, but it’s certainly not an individual honor. It’s to represent the New York Rangers.”
“He wears his emotions on his sleeve, and I think that’s a real valuable thing,” said San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan, who will share the reins of Team Alfredsson with Tortorella on Sunday, while Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins calls the line changes for Team Chara. “Teams often take the identity of their coach, and over time I believe that’s happened in New York. They’re a scrappy group, a competitive group. They pay the price, they block shots every night. They obviously have some talent. But I think those characteristics, that he’s promoted there, and that he carries on his sleeve, have rubbed off on his players and they’re in first place for a reason.”
Click here for more on Tortorella.
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Tags: John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers,
A Common Theme This Season: Goaltending Controversies
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/28/12 at 12:59 PM ET
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This is something that seems to come up every season in the National Hockey League.
This season, however, it is something that is running rampant among NHL clubs, particularly the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks.
Philadelphia Flyers
When is there ever not a goaltending controversy with the Philadelphia Flyers?
This has been the norm for the past decade or so and as such, is running its natural course this season. This year, it is between Ilya Brzygalov and Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Flyers signed Bryzgalov to a 9-year pact over the off-season and thus far, the team has yet to see any real reward. In 33 games, the 31-year-old goaltender is 18-10-4 with a 2.99 goals against average (GAA), a .895 save percentage and 1 shutout, which are numbers that are far below what Bryzgalov posted with the Phoenix Coyotes.
The team’s back-up, Bobrovsky, has performed slightly better and has been more consistent thus far. “Bob” is 11-4-1 with a 2.42 GAA and a .919 save percentage in 18 games.
It seems like Bobrovsky should be the main man instead of Brzygalov, right?
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Tags: Chicago+Blackhawks, Corey+Crawford, Ilya+Bryzgalov, James+Reimer, Jonas+Gustavsson, Philadelphia+Flyers, Ray+Emery, Sergei+Bobrovsky, Toronto+Maple+Leafs,
In a Good Place
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/26/12 at 08:34 AM ET
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This is exactly what the New York Rangers are in heading into the NHL All-Star Break this weekend.
The team currently sits in the top spot in the Atlantic Division while also being in first in the Eastern Conference with 66 points. While there is still a lot of hockey left to be played, there really is not much Rangers’ fans can complain about these days.
With that said, the trick for the Blueshirts when they come back from the All-Star break is to keep up their solid play. Too often has the league seen teams letup and while it creates for some intriguing hockey, this is not the position the Rangers should want to put themselves in.
All season long, team head coach John Tortorella has preached a one day or one game at a time motto. While it is easier said than done, especially considering the amount of success the Blueshirts have had this season, it is something that the team needs to live every single day.
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Tags: John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, NHL+ALL-Star+Break,
One more Before the Break
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/24/12 at 08:00 AM ET
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The New York Rangers are back in action tonight to take on the Winnipeg Jets at Madison Square Garden before taking a few days off for the NHL All-Star break.
The Blueshirts are coming off a big 3-2 overtime victory over the Boston Bruins thanks to a goal from Marian Gaborik. It was the Rangers’ 30th win of the season and as it stands right now, the team is tied for first in the Eastern Conference with the Boston Bruins with 64 points.
Tonight, the Blueshirts take on a team that they have beaten twice in the Jets. In both of those games, the team got excellent goaltending from Martin Biron. As such, one has to wonder if he will be in between the pipes tonight for the red, white, and blue Rangers.
For the Rangers, tonight’s tilt could be looked at as a “trap” game. As I mentioned earlier, the Blueshirts are tied for first in the East while the Jets are 10th in the East and three points out of the eighth and final spot.
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Tags: Boston+Bruins, Eastern+Conference, Marian+Gaborik, Martin+Biron, New+York+Rangers, Winnipeg+Jets,
Rangers’ PP Comes Through in the Clutch In Win Over the Bruins
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/21/12 at 05:47 PM ET
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For much of the season, the New York Rangers’ power play has been lackluster to say the least.
It looked like that was going to be the case again this afternoon against the Boston Bruins until overtime when the Rangers’ were awarded a five minute power play when Andrew Ference hit defenseman Ryan McDonagh from behind. It was then that Rangers’ sniper Marian Gaborik came through by beating Bruins’ netminder Tuukka Rask to give the Rangers a 3-2 victory.
It was Marian Gaborik’s second goal of the afternoon, giving “Gabby” 25 goals on the season. His first of the afternoon came of a blocked shot on Carl Hagelin and he sniped one past Rask to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
This was a game that lived up to everyone’s expectations. There was lots of hitting, lots of blocked shots, great goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist (32 saves) and Rask (30 saves), and had the feel of a playoff game.
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Tags: Andrew+Ference, Boston+Bruins, Eastern+Conference, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Tortorella, Madison+Square+Garden, Marian+Gaborik, New+York+Rangers, Ryan+McDonagh, Tuukka+Rask, 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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