The Rangers faced off with another hot team at the Garden on Tuesday. In a contest that saw few good goals and choppy play, the Devils prevailed 3-2 on a late goal by Danius Zubrus. The beat writers (Steve Zipay, Pat Leonard, Rick Carpinello, Larry Brooks etc) did a great job of highlighting the key points from the game, which I have noted below and added some comments on my own in italics.
Game Lowlights:
Zipay and Carp: "Two of the three goals we gave up went off us, and one was a goal that Hank [Henrik Lundqvist] would want to have back," said coach Alain Vigneault, who also lamented the 0-for-5 power play. "We were praising the power play before," Vigneault said. "We didn't execute as well as we did in the past. They were pressing very aggressively." But when asked about Carl Hagelin not busting it back on that play, and then putting it on Lundqvist again, saying it should have been “a routine save,… well, that sure sounded like a call-out to me and to many in attendance. It just did. Not sure if it was intended, or if Vigneault was just telling it as it is. (watching the game from my iPad, I actually did say to myself that I was surprised Hagelin got outhustled to the puck by Carter, but it did come at the end of a long-ish shift, though that is no real excuse. Lundqvist should have made the save, and as pointed out by several of the writers, it was interesting that AV chose to criticize Hank, who in the past was treated with kid gloves by Tortorella).
The three goals each had a story to them, and from our side of the house, we all believe they could have been prevented, but from the Devils side of the house, they will feel that they were the result of hard work, beating the Rangers to [pivotal loose pucks and races; each view is correct. On the first, a failed clear by MDZ and Ryan Carter (who continues to kill the Rangers) scores off scrum in front. The second, I discussed above, with Carter outhustling Hagelin and Lundqvist allowing one through the 5-hole late in the second. On the third, Zubrus scored the game-winner with 3:55 remaining on a scramble in front, after a great show of patience by Jaromir Jagr, who made a great feed to start the play, and then a weave with Mattias Tedenby ended with Dan Girardi blocking a shot and the puck bouncing off Ryan McDonagh, who first skated by Zubrus in the slot, in front of Lundqvist’s crease right to Zubrus. A fluky goal but like the other two by NJ, ones that came about because of hard work, dirty goals. A resurgent Martin Brodeur got the Devils the win, making 33 saves and outplaying Lundqvist. It definitely looks as if Marty is the Devils' top netminder, taking over that role from Cory Schneider. Brodeur was huge in the second period, stonewalling several Rangers' chances when they made a big push.
Have to love the grit shown by Mats Zuccarello. He is going into the dirty areas, seen in his confrontation with Broduer, ridiculous no call on him by the way, and his skill with the pouck is evident nightly. He has been one of the few the past two games with solid pick possession, as New York was scrambling a bit in those contests with both Florida and New Jersey controlling the play and puck too often.
Zipay, Leonard, Brooks, Carp - First of all, the Rangers are effectively playing with 10 forwards. Brandon Mashinter, the most likely to come out of the lineup when Dominic Moore returns Saturday in Montreal, got one shift in the second and none in the third and was on the ice for just 2:48. J. T. Miller (on ice with Mashinter for Ryan Carter's first goal) for just 5:04, and less than a minute of that in the third period. Benoit Pouliot, who could be the odd man out instead of Mashinter, took another preventable penalty in the offensive zone early in the third and played less than two minutes in the period. Moore, who been averaging 12 minutes per game, is expected to be back Sunday in Montreal, and he'll also be a plus on faceoffs (51.4 percent) with the Rangers winning just 46 percent against New Jersey, as Travis Zajac was once again very good there. (getting Moore back helps, but it still leaves the Rangers shorthanded with Taylor Pyatt and Rick Nash back. Assuming Nash progresses well, he could be back by the beginning of December, but that may be a bit aggressive. The Rangers need another forward, but getting Moore and then Nash back should help a lot).
As noted above, the PP was 0-for-5 and Devils have now killed off 11 straight the past two games. The Rangers had scored PPG in back-to-back games, so loathe to criticize too much. New Jersey was aggressive on the PK, forcing the Rangers out of their comfort zone and preventing them from gaining the zone, and when they did, from setting up.
Zipay: In many ways this was a typical Rangers-Devils encounter. The teams have now been separated by two goals or fewer in 16 of the last 23 games. The Rangers totaled 19 goals in their previous five games, but Brodeur had posted two straight shutouts. And each team had climbed out of a season-opening hole: the Rangers started 2-6 and won seven of nine. The Devils, now 6-7-5, and had started 0-4-3. (back to .500 off a loss that seemed preventable. Now following three days off to stew on this defeat, off to the House of Horrors, the Bell Center, where Cam Talbot should start given Lundqvist's poor mark there and a game at MSG against LA on Sunday)
One more thing, a public service announcement. If you want to come to the blog and talk hockey, rather than troll or gloat, you are more than welcome. As fans from other teams will likely point out, we welcome the differing views as it makes the conversation much better. If you are coming to stir up trouble or just troll, please stay out. In addition, do not use the argument that Rangers' fans go to other blogs to troll, so why can't I do the same? I can't police everyone, nor do I want to, and I have told my readers not to troll as well, so please have the same courtesy in my blogs. Thanks.