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Goal Line Report

Entries with the tag: Chris+Drury

A King and an Ace

When Mike Richter suffered a concussion early in the 2002-03 season, the New York Rangers knew they were in trouble. Sure, they had youngster Dan Blackburn as a capable backup but nothing close to an elite netminder who could handle everyday life in the National Hockey League.

It would be that way for the rest of the season as the Blueshirts became a revolving door for goaltenders such as Blackburn, Mike Dunham and Jussi Markannen. However, when the lockout ended and play resumed in 2005-06, there was a new masked man in town that would change the culture of the Rangers to this day forward.

His name is Henrik Lundqvist, a Swedish goaltender that was drafted 205th overall in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Lundqvist enjoyed much success in Sweden with Frolunda, especially in the season prior to coming to the NHL when he was 33-8-3 with six shutouts and a stellar 1.79 goals against average.

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 Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Chris+Drury, Dan+Blackburn, Henrik+Lundqvist, Jaromir+Jagr, Jussi+Markkanen, Mike+Dunham, Mike+Richter, New+Jersey+Devils, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Scott+Gomez,

Where’s the Spark?

Things certainly started right last night at Madison Square Garden when the New York Rangers raised Adam Graves’s No.9 to the rafters. It was a night filled with Ranger stars such as Mark Messier, Mike Richter, Brian Leetch, Rod Gilbert, Eddie Giacomin, Mike Gartner, as well as guys like Glenn Healy, Sergei Nemchinov, Tie Domi, Darren Langdon and Jeff Beukeboom, all there to give praise to one of their greatest mates, Adam Graves.

It was unfortunate that the current Ranger squad had to play afterwards because they put on a dismal performance against the lowly Atlanta Thrashers and lost 2-1 in a shootout. Yes, the team peppered Thrashers’ netminder Kari Lehtonen. Yes, Nikolai Zherdev played a tremendous game by generating many scoring chances. The team also got a good look at Artem Anisimov, who played well but needs more playing time to be effective. And yes, the team got a solid performance, with the exception of the shootout, from their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

However, it still wasn’t enough to be the second worst team in the NHL while also being a game in which they could have gained some ground on the New Jersey Devils as they lost to the Washington Capitals 5-2 last night.

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 Tags: Adam+Graves, Artem+Anisimov, Atlanta+Thrashers, Brian+Leetch, Chris+Drury, Darren+Langdon, Eddie+Giacomin, Glenn+Healy, Henrik+Lundqvist, Ilya+Kovalchuk, Jeff+Beukeboom, Mark+Messier, Markus+Naslund, Mike+Gartner, Mike+Richter, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Patrick+Roy, Rod+Gilbert, Scott+Gomez, Sergei+Nemchinov, Tie+Domi, Tom+Renney, Washington+Capitals,

Let the Games Begin

Tomorrow night, the New York Rangers will begin the second half of their season with a tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden.

For the Rangers, the second half of the season will determine whether or not they are good enough to win the Atlantic Division title. For the team to do so, they will need to do the following:

- Score goals. It’s that simple folks. Being able to put the puck in the net wins games whether’s it an even strength, power play, or shorthanded goal. For this to happen, guys like Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev, Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky will need to step up and get the job done. And yes, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if Lauri Korpikoski or Petr Prucha were put in the lineup more often and as of this writing at least, it looks like they will be in tomorrow night.

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 Tags: Atlantic+Division, Brandon+Dubinsky, Carolina+Hurricanes, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Lauri+Korpikoski, Markus+Naslund, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Petr+Prucha, Ryan+Callahan, Scott+Gomez, Stephen+Valiquette, Tom+Renney,

Look at the Bright Side

Yes, yesterday afternoon’s 3-0 loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins certainly stings but look on the bright side: the New York Rangers picked up points in four of their five road games, including wins against the Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders and the talented Chicago Blackhawks.

The trip saw Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist return to form, especially his statistics: 23 wins, a 2.54 goals against average, a .913 save percentage and two shutouts. These numbers certainly show why he is attending this year’s NHL All-Star game in Montreal.

The team’s recent road trip also saw Chris Drury come alive as well as the continued strong play of Ryan Callahan and Nigle Dawes. Hopefully, these three will continue to play well because they are the only ones that are performing consistently on an offensive level in the past couple of weeks.

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 Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Buffalo+Sabres, Chicago+Blackhawks, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Madison+square+Garden, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, NHL+All-Star+Game, Nigel+Dawes, Ottawa+Senators, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Ryan+Callahan,

The Captain Gets It Done In Chicago

Every New York Ranger fan knew that tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks was going to be a test for their Blueshirts and the team passed it with flying colors thanks to their captain, Chris Drury, who scored to give the Rangers a 3-2 overtime victory at the sold out United Center.

Many Ranger fans, myself included, were wondering what was wrong with Drury not too long ago. He wasn’t scoring, he wasn’t as sharp defensively and he looked lost. However, in the past two weeks or so, Drury has come alive and in his last six games, has five goals and an assist for six points.

Tonight, both of his goals came on the power play and he scored the way the team should be on their power play all season long: by not being afraid to shoot the puck and go to the net.

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 Tags: Atlantic+Division, Chicago+Blackhawks, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Rangers, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Tom+Renney,

We’ll Take It

It certainly wasn’t one of their best games of the season, especially against one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League, but the New York Rangers were able to come away with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders thanks to the play of Henrik Lundqvist and a rather successful power play.

Lundqvist appears to be returning to form as he posted his third solid performance in a week by making 33 saves en route to his 22nd victory of the season. He was especially good in the first two periods, stopping 24 of 25 shots and enabling his club to hold onto a 2-1 lead going into the third period, a lead that they would not relinquish.

“We knew we would create some chances against them, and it finally paid off in the second period, and then we locked it down the rest of the way,” Lundqvist told the team’s web site. “It was a great effort, and we are definitely on the right track here.”

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 Tags: Chicago+Blackhawks, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, National+Hockey+League, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Nigel+Dawes, Tom+Renney,

Another Shutout for The King

For the second time in three games, New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist picked up a shutout (his second of the season). This time, it came at the hands of the struggling Ottawa Senators in a 2-0 victory.

This was a game in which Lundqvist had excellent rebound control, was in position for both the first and second shots (if there was one) and more importantly, he gave his club a chance to win a hockey game, which they did thanks to goals by Brandon Dubinsky (finally) and a beauty from Lauri Korpikoski off a great feed from Nikolai Zherdev.

As a team, the Blueshirts were disciplined, tough in front of their own net and made the game easy for Lundqvist. When they do things like that, it’s easy to see why they would win.

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 Tags: Bobby+Sanguinetti, Brandon+Dubinsky, Brendan+Shanahan, Brian+Elliot, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Lauri+Korpikoski, Michal+Rozsival, Nassau+Veterans+Memorial+Coliseum, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ottawa+Senators, Petr+Prucha, Scott+Gomez,

The New Season

The New York Rangers will look to put up their second straight win tonight when they take on the Washington Capitals at the Verizon Center.

In the team’s last meeting, the Capitals overcame a four goal deficit to defeat the Rangers 5-4 in overtime thanks to the play of their fearless superstar, Alex Ovechkin. It was a real gut-check moment for the Blueshirts that showed them that they still have a lot of work to do before being considered one of the NHL’s elite teams, despite being tied for third place with the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference, who each have 49 points.

In order for the Blueshirts to get back to playing consistent hockey, a lot of things have to happen. 

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 Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Chris+Drury, Eastern+Conference, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Scott+Gomez, Washington+Capitals,

An Interview with a Rangers Blogger

Since I’m sure all you die hard New York Ranger fans know what happened last night and know what this team needs to do to be better on a consistent basis, I figured I’d forget about talking about last night’s debacle against the New Jersey Devils and instead post an interview I did with a Rangers Blogger: Scotty Hockey.

Scotty was kind of enough to take time during this holiday season to tell us how he fell in love with the game and the Rangers, how he got into writing/blogging about hockey, what the future of hockey blogging will bring and of course, his outlook on the Blueshirts.

Enjoy and remember to visit Scotty Hockey for thoughts and opinions on the Broadway Blueshirts.

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 Tags: Boston+Bruins, Chris+Drury, Colton+Orr, Dallas+Stars, Dmitri+Kalinin, Glen+Sather, James+Patrick, Jan+Erixon, Jaromir+Jagr, John+Vanbiesbrouck, Madison+Square+Garden, Markus+Naslund, Marty+Brodeur, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Sam+Weinman, Scott+Gomez, Scotty+Hockey, The+Hockey+News, Wade+Redden,

A Brand New Day

First off, I hope you all had a happy and safe holiday, especially you New York Ranger fans out there who were looking to shake off Tuesday night’s terrible loss to the Washington Capitals.

Tomorrow night’s game against the New Jersey Devils should be looked at as a fresh start for the Rangers. Again,  they’re coming off a terrible collapse against the Caps’ and have displayed rather inconsistent hockey over the past month or so.

So what better way to shake off the cob webs and play the best hockey they can play than by beating their Hudson River rivals?

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 Tags: Andrew+Gross, Blue+Notes, Blueshirt+Bulletin, Chris+Drury, Dubi+Silverstein, Eastern+Conference, Glen+Sather, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers, Ranger+Rants, Rangers+Report, Sam+Weinman, Scott+Gomez, SNY+Rangers+Blog, Steve+Zipay, Washington+Capitals,

This Is Your Captain Speaking

After blowing a four goal lead last night and losing in overtime to the Washington Capitals, New York Rangers team captain Chris Drury had the following to say:

- “That could be the point that gets us home-ice advantage. “I’m certainly not going to let it ruin my Christmas and I don’t think anyone here is going to let it ruin their break, either.”

- “There are 24 others teams in this league who would be dying to have our record, with all the points we’ve accumulated over a tough schedule. It’s certainly not a good way to get a point. But it’s over and done with. It’s already in the garbage can as far as I’m concerned.”

What do you folks think about this?

 

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 Tags: Chris+Drury, New+York+Rangers, Washington+Capitals,

All About Two Points

The New York Rangers hope to extend their win streak to three tonight when they take on the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.

The Blueshirts are coming off an impressive 3-1 win last night over the Anaheim Ducks, getting goals from Chris Drury, Nigel Dawes and Nikolai Zherdev. The team also got another strong performance from their goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who stopped 19 of 20 shots.

It doesn’t appear that the whole Mats Sundin situation is a distraction to the team as all they are focused on is winning.

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 Tags: Anaheim+Ducks, Atlanta+Thrashers, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Los+Angeles+Kings, Mats+Sundin, New+York+Rangers, Nigel+Dawes, Nikolai+Zherdev, San+Jose+Sharks, Steve+Valiquette, Steve+Zipay, Tom+Renney,

Records can be Deceiving

With a record of 17-8-2 and sitting first in the Eastern Conference, one would have to think that the team and its fans would be happy.

In the case of the New York Rangers, not so much. Looks can be deceiving folks and yesterday afternoon’s 4-0 clunker at the hands of the Florida Panthers proves that point.

Over at Sam Weinman’s (The Journal News) Rangers Report Blog, MSG’s John Giannone points out that of the club’s 17 wins, six have come in the shootout. If there were no shootouts, the team would have a substantially lower record and would be 11-7-8.

 

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 Tags: Calgary+Flames, Chris+Drury, Florida+Panthers, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Giannone, Markus+Naslund, Michal+Rozsival., Montreal+Canadiens, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ottawa+Senators, Phoenix+Coyotes, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Sam+Weinman, Scott+Gomez, Tampa+Bay+Lightning, Wade+Redden,

Underappreciated

In the Rangers’ 2-1 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators last night, players such as Chris Drury, Markus Naslund, Nikolai Zherdev (with the exception of the lone shootout goal), Brandon Dubinsky or even Dan Girardi were not the team’s best players. Far from it, in fact.

In my eyes, it was Blair Betts, Fredrik Sjostrom and Lauri Korpikoski that shined as they got the team back in the game by scoring a goal in the third period. Not only that, but they kept the game simple, something that the other lines have not learned how to do yet.

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 Tags: Alex+Auld, Blair+Betts, Brandon+Dubinsky, Chris+Drury, Dan+Girardi, Fredrik+Sjostrom, Lauri+Korpikoski, Markus+Naslund, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ottawa+Senators, Vancouver+Canucks,

Never Say Die

It was just four weekends ago that the New York Rangers were down 2-0 in third period and managed to come back and win the game 3-2 in a shootout over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was deja vu all over again tonight as the Rangers were down 2-0 in the third to the Boston Bruins, only to tie the game in the third period with 53 seconds to go and win it in a shootout thanks to a goal from captain Chris Drury.

Welcome to the new NHL folks.

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 Tags: Boston+Bruins, Chris+Drury, Fredrik+Sjostrom, Henrik+Lundqvist, Markus+Naslund, New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Nigel+Dawes, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ottawa+Senators, Pittsburgh+Penguins, Tom+Renney,

True Test for the Blueshirts

Just over a month into the season, the New York Rangers will have their toughest test of the young regular season campaign tonight at Madison Square Garden: the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins are just three points behind the Blueshirts and are coming off an impressive 6-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens. They’ve gotten strong play from guys like Phil Kessel (7 goals), former Ranger Marc Savard (17 points) and from their netminder Tim Thomas, who has a goals-against average of under two goals per game and a save percentage that is close to 95 percent.

It should also be noted that the B’s are tied for the fewest goals allowed, something that could impact the Rangers tonight who typically don’t score a lot of goals on Garden ice.

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 Tags: Boston+Bruins, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Lauri+Korpikoski, Michal+Rozsival, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Phil+Kessel, Tim+Thomas,

Rangers Burn The Devils

It took a period (the first period of the game) of undisciplined play, stupid penalties, being outshot 13-5 and outscored 1-0 to awaken the New York Rangers.

The second period began and it was as if a new team was on the ice and this team dominated the New Jersey Devils by scoring four goals on 20 shots, cashing in on the power play and getting back to playing defense the way they know how, all en route to a 5-2 victory.

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 Tags: Chris+Drury, Dan+Girardi, Henrik+Lundqvist, Kevin+Weekes, Lauri+Korpikoski, Michal+Rozsival, Nikolai+Zherdev, Scott+Clemmensen,

Drury Breaks Out

This may be his second season as a New York Ranger but in last night’s 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning, Chris Drury finally broke out.

He helped the team’s power play break out of its funk with two goals with the man advantage. Drury also scored the team’s first shorthanded goal of the season.

All in all, not too shabby for the Trumbull, CT native.

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 Tags: Boston+Bruins, Chris+Drury, Edmonton+Oilers, Henrik+Lundqvist, New+Jersey+Devils, New+York+Rangers, Ottawa+Senators, Steve+Valiquette, Tampa+Bay+Lightning, Tom+Renney,

What the Rangers need to Work on

In his Rangers Report Blog this afternoon, Sam Weinman gave a few reasons why the Rangers are 9-2-1.

He cited the play of netminders Henrik Lundqvist and Stephen Valiquette, reporting to training camp early and in shape, a favorable schedule and unexpected contributions from guys like Aaron Voros and Fredrik Sjostrom.

These are all obvious reasons but just because they’re 9-2-1 doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. 

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 Tags: Aaron+Voros, Chris+Drury, Fredrik+Sjostrom, Henrik+Lundqvist, Markus+Naslund, Nikolai+Zherdev, Scott+Gomez, Stephen+Valiquette, Wade+Redden,

Have You Seen These Men?

At 6-2-1, there shouldn’t be too many things to complain about if you are a New York Rangers fan.

Sure, there will be the usual “Why doesn’t Renney juggle the lines?” or “Why isn’t this team scoring?” or even “Why does this team continue to struggle on the power play given all the talent they have up front?”

However, one question that Ranger fans are probably surprised they are asking themselves is “Where is Chris Drury and Markus Naslund?”

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 Tags: Chris+Drury, Markus+Naslund, Tom+Renney,

Will the real Rangers please stand up?

Picking up three out of four points in back-to-back games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings certainly isn’t terrible. In fact, it’s actually pretty darn good if you ask me.

However, what is concerning is the lack of consistency that the Rangers displayed this week. There were times when they weren’t afraid to put pucks on the net, the power play was clicking, the team had good coverage in their defensive zone and more importantly, they put in a 60-minute effort. On the other hand, there were times when they couldn’t muster up anything, left Henrik Lundqvist out to dry or took untimely penalties.

Despite being 6-1-1, good for first place in the National Hockey League, the team has not played its best hockey. This could especially be said of Chris Drury, Markus Naslund, Michal Rozsival, and Petr Prucha.

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 Tags: Chris+Drury, Markus+Naslund, Michal+Rozsival, Petr+Prucha, Sean+Avery, Tom+Renney,

Aaron Voros: A Shining Star on Broadway

If one were to ask a knowledgeable New York Ranger fan who would be leading the team in scoring a week into the season, I am sure that he or she would have mentioned the likes of Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Markus Naslund given all of their talent and experience in the National Hockey League.

Would you believe me if I told you that five games into the young season, Aaron Voros would be leading the Blueshirts in points with seven points each? Well you better beacuse that’s the case.

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 Tags: Aaron+Voros, Alexei+Cherapanov, Brandon+Dubinsky, Chris+Drury, Markus+Naslund, Nikolai+Zherdev, Scott+Gomez, Tom+Renney,

Why is this still happening?

The New York Rangers dominated the Tampa Bay Lightning this afternoon in Prague and yet, only won by a score of 2-1, thanks to a late third period power play goal from second year man Brandon Dubinsky.

Is this a continuation from last season? Are the Rangers going to outshoot every team by a two-to-one margin and score just one or two goals? You would figure that after firing 40 shots against the defensively weak Tampa Bay Lightning, they would have more than just two goals. However, the Blueshirts made Lightning netminder Mike Smith look like Patrick Roy and also went 1-6 on the power play.

So I ask, again, why is this still happening?

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 Tags: Brandon+Dubinsky, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Markus+Naslund, Martin+St.+Louis, Mike+Smith, Nikolai+Zherdev, Scott+Gomez, Vincent+Lecavalier,

No Surprise Here

He may not be “The Captain” like Mark Messier was and he may not be as offensively prolific as Jaromir Jagr was but there is no doubt that Chris Drury is a valuable leader.

It came as no surprise that the New York Rangers named Chris Drury as the team’s 25th captain tonight while at a team dinner in Prague. According to Sam Weinman of The Journal News, Drury is honored and excited to be leading this team moving forward.

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 Tags: Chris+Drury,

Why Not Lundqvist or Brodeur?

As I’m sure all you hockey fans have heard, Vancover Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo was named the team captain today by head coach Alain Vigneault.

“We might be a little outside of the box here (naming Luongo captain), but there’s only two things that, as captain, Roberto can’t do and that’s wear the ‘C’ on his jersey or take faceoffs,’’ Vigneault told reporters this afternoon.

When I first heard about this, I wondered if there were any other goaltenders in the Eastern Conference that were the clear leaders on their team. Two stellar masked men happened to come to mind: New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur and New York Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist.

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 Tags: Alain+Vigneault, Chris+Drury, Henrik+Lundqvist, Jamie+Langenbrunner, Martin+Brodeur, Roberto+Luongo, Scott+Gomez,

Chris Drury: New Leader of the Red, White and Blue?

The Jaromir Jagr era is over on Broadway which leaves a very valuable and respected position open in the organization: the team captaincy.

For the past three seasons,  Jagr did everything he could to make the Blueshirts a better hockey team better. He scored a lot of points (290), played well in the Stanley Cup playoffs (27 points in 23 games), and he said all the right things about the team to reporters whether they won or lost. However, the time has come for a new player to step up and lead this team to hockey’s promised land and that guy should be Chris Drury.

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 Tags: Chris+Drury, Glen+Sather, Scott+Gomez, Tom+Renney,

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