N.Y. Islanders: Look Who's Number One

From the desk: LONG ISLAND NOMADS

Speed, Strength, and a Slick Stick

SATURDAY

Sabres    2

Islanders 5

FINAL

With the Isles victory over the dull-edged Sabres on Saturday combined with Washington's loss against the Bruins at Boston on Friday, Long Island takes over first place of the East Division by a full two points.

As we know, Buffalo, with an NHL low 17 points, has more problems than a math book.  This game should have been and indeed turned into easy pickings.  

Literally the center of much trade speculation, Jack Eichel assisted on Jacob Bryson's abrupt goal just 0:33 seconds into the game.  But the Islanders put a quick damper on any further Buffalo aspirations they may have harbored.  The Islanders kept them off the board throughout the rest of the period and all of the second period as well.

In the meantime, Long Island erupted with four goals in the second period.  Mathew Barzal kicked things off with one of the more ridiculously amazing goals you'll see this season.  Brock Nelson and Cal Clutterbuck then put the Islanders ahead by two.  At the 15:29 mark of the second, Scott Mayfield made it a three-goal lead.

Buffalo once again scored inside the opening minute of the third period, when Sam Reinhart found net just 0:52 seconds in.  But Anders Lee would quickly cancel that out at 2:15 with his team-leading eleventh goal of the season.  

The Isles are now winners of four in a row and six of their last seven.  They've allowed the second least goal within the division, just one more than the Boston Bruins, and lead the East Division with a plus-14 point differential.

N.Y. Islanders Forge First Play Tie With Capitals

From the desk: LONG ISLAND NOMADS  &  SPICY BUFFALO HOCKEY PUCKS

Isles lead Sabres; 4-0

I - NYI 3; BUF 1

II - NYI 3; BUF 0

III - NYI 3; BUF 2

IV - NYI 5; BUF 2

SATURDAY

Sabres

vs

Islanders

FROM

The Barn

Long Island Back On Top Of Local Hockey Scene

With another convincing victory over the Sabres, the Islanders win their third in a row and five of their last six.

Buffalo has their issues, we know.  The Isles committed no penalties and therefore afforded their opponents no power play opportunities.  Long Island outshot the Sabres by a whopping 45-18 margin.  Matt Martin led the charge with two goals in the first and third periods, respectively.  The first came off a wrister at an incredible angle from the left goal line.  He came rushing from the right side on the second goal, bull-rushed the net, and tucked in his own rebound.

Noah Dobson opened the scoring in the first period with his second of the season.  Anthony Beauvillier made it a 3-1 game in the second also with his second goal of the season, and Jordan Eberle added his ninth of the season at 3:14 of the third.

After starting the season losing six of nine games, including a five-game skid, the Islanders have since posted ten wins in their last 14 games.  Now with 30 points, the Islanders are presently tied for first place with the Washington Capitals for the Ridiculous Division; the Boston Bruins are next in 29 points.

Hockey Night in Metropolis: Rangers and Islanders Up; Sabres and Devils Down

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHER WITH THE GREATS

TUESDAY

Buffalo   2

Manhattan 3

FINAL

Eight Avenue - Like I've been saying, face-offs mean possession; possession means shots on goal.  The Blueshirts lost the face-off battle 26-18 and were behind in shots on goal 24-29 to Buffalo.  Just so happens that Kevin Rooney was 0/6 on face-offs.  However, the Rangers get away with it because they're playing the beleaguered Sabres.  Otherwise, the Rangers have two players getting into a groove at the same time.  Chris Kreider scores his fifth goal in the last four games bringing him to ten goals in 20 games, and Alexis Lafreniere scores his third goal of the season for his third point in his last three games.  Perhaps still motivated (pissed off) when he got bumped off the first line, Pavel Buchnevich led the team with four shots and notched his sixth goal with an assist for two points, giving him seven points in his last seven games.

Out of 20 regular-season games, Igor Shesterkin has starter twelve and appeared in 13 games.  So we're beginning to get a clearer picture in which direction Coach Quinn (or management, or both) is leaning.  He stopped 22/24 shots against Buffalo and now owns a .932 Sv% and a 2.52 GAA.

You might say Buffalo lost this game right out of the gate and simply failed to make up ground.  Buchnevich scored just 0:28 seconds into the game, assisted by Adam Fox and point-starved Mika Zibanejad.  But the Rangers were guilty of the "two-minute sin" as well when Sam Reinhart scored a mere 27-seconds later.  Alexis Lafreniere then set Buffalo back at the 2:36 mark of the first period.  Chris Kreider put the Rangers ahead 3-1 at the 9:32 mark of the second.  Tobias Rieder cut the deficit to one at the 16:21 mark, but the Sabres would creep no closer.  The teams skated through a scoreless third period en route to a 3-2 final.

Filip Chytil is back!  Thank goodness.

For the Rangers, their fourth win in their last six, and for the Sabres, their fourth loss in a row and fifth in the last six.

🏒

From the desks: THE BRICK CITY STYX & LONG ISLAND NOMADS

TUESDAY

Uniondale 2

Newark    1

FINAL

Across the Hudson - A close game considering the Devils - much like the Rangers - are young and upcoming, rebuilding, with a head coach starting to rub people the wrong way.  Whereas the Islanders are a band of tough established veterans in winnow mode.  What do both teams have in common?  They have vastly superior centermen than the New York Rangers.

I digress ...

The Islanders did what they do, grind, confound, and outlast you.  After two scoreless periods, the Isles finally began wearing on the Devils.  Have stick will find - team assists leader Nick Leddy fed Oliver Wahlstrom at the 1:10 mark of the third period to open the scoring; Jean Gabriel-Pageau had the secondary assist.  Then at 7:51, the Isles strike again.  Anders Lee converts on feeds from Andy Greene and Mathew Barzal.

Miles Woods ruined the shutout with 0:14 left in regulation.  Wood had a team-high five shots on goal.  The Buffalo, New York, native now has seven goals and eleven points through 18 games.  Making just his second start for Newark, goalie Aaron Dell faced just 20 shots, stopping all but two.  Meanwhile, the Devils mounted 29 shots on goal against Semyon Varlamov, who stopped all but one.  He made seven saves on the penalty kill.  Thus the Devils wound up 0/4 on the power play.  But you can't kill Jersey for lack of ... anything, really.  The effort and opportunities were there.

🏒

And now, for the Centermen of Attention:

• BUF: ten SOG; two goals; one assist; three points.
• NYR: five SOG; no goals; one assist; one point.
• NJD: five SOG; no goals; one assist; one point.
• NYI: eight SOG; one goal; two assists; three points.

Hockey Night in New York State: Long Island Up; Buffalo Down

From the desk: HOCKEY NIGHT IN NEW YORK STATE

NYR Centermen vs. Flyers

ten shots on goal; four assists

🏒

THURSDAY

Devils    4

Sabres   3

FINAL

BUFFALO - Devils center Nico Hischier scores his first goal since returning to action one week ago.  After falling behind in the first period, Jesper Bratt ties the game at one at the 5:27 mark.  But Dmitry Kulikov gets called for slashing and Casey Mittelstadt puts the Sabres back in front.  The lead doesn't last long.  Miles Wood opens the third period with a power-play goal at 4:25, and just over two minutes later Hischier finds the net giving Newark a 3-2 lead.  However, Sam Reinhart's power-play goal at 15:30 sends the game into overtime.  Buffalo then commits a cardinal sin of hockey: allowing a goal in the first or last two minutes of a period.  At 1:17 of overtime, Pavel Zacha finds the back of the net ending the game.

The Devils level out at 3-3 since returning from COVID lockdown.

Miles Wood with his sixth goal earned his 9th point in 15 games.

Now for my stick it to the New York Rangers segment.  Newark centermen accounted for 18 of the Devils 40 shots on goal.  They come away with two goals and two assists for four points. 

THURSDAY

Bruins       2

Islanders  7

FINAL

LONG ISLAND - Look what the Isles did to the Bruins, again!  As I always say, once is an event, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a trend.  With a third victory over the division-leading Bruins, the Islanders appear to finally be taking major steps forward towards the heights of the division.  Long Island has now outscored Boston by a whopping 12-4 margin through three contests.  

In my effort to keep sticking it to the Rangers, Long Island centerman joined for 14 shots on goal, with two goals and three assists for five points.   

Hockey Night in New York State: Rangers Centermen Do Not Stack Up Against Next Door Neighbors

From the desk: HOCKEY NIGHT IN NEW YORK STATE

TUESDAY

Devils      5

Rangers   3

FINAL

Look what the Devils did to the Rangers ... again!  

On Jan.19, the Devils went into MSG and defeated the Rangers, 4 to 3.  After five games and upwards of seventeen players getting scrubbed due to COVID, Newark returns to the ice at MSG on Tuesday, where they again defeated the Rangers, this time by a 5-3 final margin of victory.  It's like they never left the ice.

Nico Hischier is still out, and Jack Hughes was rather unproductive with no shots on goal through 21 shifts and 18:59 minutes of ice time.  The rest is just bad news for Rangers fans.  Four other Devils centermen accounted for ten of Newark's 36 shots on net, with three assists and two goals.  Novice center Janne Kuokkanen assisted on three goals.  Playing in his tenth game, center Pavel Zacha scored his third goal and notched his fifth point.  

By comparison, Mika Zibanejad has now played 14 games and is stuck at three points despite skating the team's most shifts and minutes.  Kevin Rooney played the least minutes (13:24) of the five Rangers centermen.  The point being, together, the futile five accounted for eleven shots on goal, one goal by Colin Blackwell, and one assist from Brett Howden.

• NET RESULT: Five points by Devils centermen; two points by Rangers centermen.

TUESDAY

Islanders   3

Sabres        0

FINAL

Don't look now, but it appears the Islanders are straightening themselves out.  On back-to-back nights, the Long Islanders take two straight from the Sabres at Buffalo.  After losing five straight, they are now winners of five of their last six games.

But this is still more about the Rangers than the Islanders - although I invite Isles fans to revel in our misery.  That said, Long Island centermen accounted for ten shots on net, with three goals and three assists.  Josh Bailey had two assists, Anders Lee scored two goals, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau had one goal and one assist.

If you go back, Tuesday was a near mirror image of Monday's game.  Islanders centermen accounted for 13 shots on net, with three goals and three assists.  That means in two games at Buffalo, Isles centermen accounted for 23 shots, six goals, and six assists.

• All Rangers Centers: 12 goals; 10 assists; 22 points.
• Mathew Barzal & Jean-Gabriel Pageau: 12 goals; 13 assists; 25 points.

N.Y. Rangers ~ Blueshirts Tie For NHL Lead the Hard Way

From the desk of:   RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS






NEW YORK RANGERS:   Blueshirts Earn Three Points in Two Days for Three Point Eastern Conference Lead.  Now Tied With Detroit for Number One in NHL.

Marian Gaborik and Ryan Callahan Score in Shoot-Out for 1-0 Win
Over Buffalo Sabres

That's two shoot-out games on consecutive nights coming off the break and three points to show for it.  I'll take it.  Tuesday night's loss to the Devils was a somewhat bitter pill to swallow.  The Rangers kept building one goal leads, and the Devils kept tying the game.  Victory was less than a minute away when they got duped on a bad bounce off the boards.  Then Martin Brodeur decided to turn on the greatness again, and well, New Jersey earned the second point of the night.  But as I mentioned in my last post, the Rangers three goals Tuesday came from Stralman; Boyle; and Del Zotto.  The three have combined for twelve goals all season.



There's your seg-way into Wednesday night's game against Buffalo.  The game itself was actually a very high-paced; high-intensity affair.  Dare I say it was a great game?  These games against Buffalo always are.  It was a game that got me thinking which ever team makes the big mistake down the stretch, loses.  Playoff games are like that where neither team is willing to take overt risks with the puck.  And no fights.  There was too much good hockey going on and things were moving too fast for harboring ill will away from the puck.  Both teams however, committed their fair share of dumb penalties at the worst times, but escaped.



Why?  Both goalies, Ryan Miller and Henrik Lundqvist, were brilliant in net.  Henrik turned away all twenty-nine shots he faced over the first sixty-five minutes, while Miller stopped all thirty-four he faced as well.  And there-in lies the rub.  No goals from the Rangers' relied upon scorers again.  No not Gaborik.  There's others the team needs more scoring from like Dubinsky, Anisimov, and  Fedotenko.  And to a lesser degree, it's not wrong to expect a little more from Brad Richards.  We also knew last year Brian Boyle was having am unusually good season scoring goals.  But we can certainly use a few more from him the rest of the way.  Guys like Hagelin and Mitchell have been very nice sparks though.



Sure we'd all like for the PP to be better.  Well, we only had a man-advantage twice against Buffalo.  And OK, we were 0-3 against the Devils as well.  But the truth is this team's strength has long been at even strength.  And every goal is worth it's weight in gold as defenses around the League get better from now through the end of the season.



The Rangers should know something about that as they are now the stingiest defense in the NHL; giving up a League low 100 goals this season.  They've achieved that through a supreme defensive effort by all players.  But here's a matter keeping that stat in check - The Bruins own a +70 for/against goal differential.  The Rangers stand at +36 for the season.  This all means we're playing with a vastly smaller margin of error than our closest competition is.  Yet, for all our apparent problems putting the puck in net, the Rangers now own a three point lead over Boston for the Eastern Conference lead.  What's more, their two points Wednesday night gives them sixty-nine on the season which ties them for the League lead with the Detroit Red Wings.



The Philadelphia Flyers are next.  And if you remember last time we met in the Winter Classic, it was Mike Rupp who rose-up to become the unlikely hero with two goals that game.  To his credit, Brad Richards figured mightily in that game as well.  But will we be in need of another hero against the Flyers again?  Or will one or several expected players step up like a trio of Devils did against the Rangers on Tuesday, when Parise; Kovalchuk, and Clarkson all scored for New Jersey?



Indeed, what I described (or complained about) is all emblematic of overall good team play.  But some individuals need to start cranking things up a bit.  If not, the Rangers' margin between successfully sustaining this season long momentum, and starting to fall short and slip in the standings will keep tightening.  This is by no means doubt on my part.  It's simply what needs to be done.






Mike.BTB

N.Y. Rangers ~ Child's Play

From the desk of:  RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS

NEW YORK RANGERS:  "Great Shot Kid!  But This Is No Time To Get Cocky!" - quote, Han Solo.




Note to Artem Anisimov - Don't do that again!



Mimicking the firing of a rifle with your stick is "bush", and I don't blame Tampa Bay for getting ticked off.   Mark Messier once threatened to beat up Tie Domi himself for riding his stick like a witch's broom after scoring a rare goal.   So I'm not apt for one of our young players getting cocky now.   And I'm sure that's not the way Coach Torts is teaching his guys.   Even though Coach had Artem's back after the game, I'm sure behind closed doors Artem received a different form of support from Torts.



The second period melee that ensued threw everything off for a while.   That's not why we lost to the Tampa Bolts Thursday.   But Artem's actions jump out a little more to me than defensive lapses and losing in a shoot-out does.   As a coach, those things are correctable.   But lapses in judgement and comportment are something I'm in favor of pouncing on...Johnny-on-the-spot.   I believe in keeping a player's frame of mind correct.   So it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if Artem finds himself lacking his usual amount of ice-time tonight.   Mind you, I'm speaking from a hockey state of mind, because what jives in other sports doesn't jive on the ice.   This is what makes hockey such a great sport.   To a large degree, it polices itself.



If Coach takes it easier on the Kid than I suspect, let it show for the record Coach Torts has a heart. Maybe not for Larry Brooks or Sean Avery.   But it should prove to some of Coach's detractors that there are some soft spots in his tough love approach and that he recognizes the fine lines when developing young players but at the same time, teaching them and demanding accountability.



The game itself was our second loss in a row.   That concerns me not.   Should we lose to Buffalo on the heals of Toronto and Tampa Bay losses however, then I'll be looking for reasons why.  For I am expecting a much smarter game tonight in Buffalo against the Sabres, who always gives us fits.  The only clear advantage the Rangers are considered to have over Buffalo is on defense.  Otherwise the Rangers and Sabres are two pretty evenly matched teams in very similar situations within their respective divisions.  The Rangers are in third place of the soon to be extinct Patrick Atlantic Division with thirty four points; good for fifth best in the conference.  Buffalo has played three more games than the Rangers and are third in their Adams division with thirty-two points; seventh in the conference.



We lost to; surprising at least to me; the South's first place Panthers team in a dismally flat performance on our part in Florida.   So playing them at home Sunday evening, I'm also expecting similarly different results.  If we are going to let consecutive wins over Washington, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh speak to us, then it's justified to start having firm expectations from this team at this point of their development.



"You can act like a Man!" - quote, Vito Corleone.

SATURDAY NIGHT

"The Battle For New York State"

NEW YORK RANGERS

vs.

Buffalo Sabres

FROM

The Queen City off Lake Erie

Western New York State

Mike.BTB

N.Y. RANGERS ~ The BATTLE OF NEW YORK

EASTERN CONFERENCE SHOWDOWN

THE EMPIRE STATE FACE-OFF

EASTERN N.Y. vs.  WESTERN N.Y.

NEW YORK RANGERS

7th Place  41-30-5   87 Points

vs.

BUFFALO SABRES

8th Place  38-29-9   85 Points

Buffalo Sabres: (6 games remaining) 

The Buffalo Sabres are on the cusp of completing a most impressive turn-around. They got off to a terribly sloppy start to begin the season, and to their credit have worked furiously to be in the position they find themselves in today.  The Buffalo Sabres have the benefit of playing the Devils, Maple Leafs, Rangers and Hurricanes down the stretch.  Their fortuitous schedule affords them the luxury of keeping a grip on their own destiny and eighth place (for the moment) in the Eastern Conference.  

The Devils?  Check.  Buffalo pretty much ended New Jersey's season last Saturday with a 2-0 blanking of the Devils in Buffalo.  The win earned them points two crucial points that came on the heals of the N.Y. Rangers shut-out over Boston earlier that day.

Tuesday night against Toronto, the Sabres had an opportunity to tie the idle Rangers with 87 points.  A Montreal loss Tuesday night, coupled with a Sabres win against Toronto, would have caused a three-way tie for the bottom three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference between Montreal, New York, and Buffalo (with Carolina knocking on the door).

How did it play out?

Buffalo @ Toronto

FINAL ~  Toronto 4;  Buffalo 3

Two goals in the first period and two more goals in the second period were too much for Buffalo to over-come against Toronto.  In the first period, Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead with an early goal by Dion Phaneuf and a late goal by Darryl Boyce.  But just before the first period horn sounded, Buffalo's Thomas Vanek got one back at the 19:48 mark of a very cleanly played first period.

In the second period, Toronto struck first again with a goal from Clarke MacArthur to make the score 3-1 in favor of Toronto.  About a minute and a half later, Buffalo decided to tie this contest at three.  At 6:25, Jason Pominville scored and thirty seconds later Rod Niedermayer scored again for Buffalo to knot things up at three apiece.

But Toronto has been resilient and decided they were going matter down the stretch.  After that burst by the Sabres, Toronto put Buffalo right back down when Mikhail Grabovski scored at the 13:35 mark of the second period.  And that was that.  The third period remained scoreless and the Sabres did not capitalize on two points that would have tied them with the Rangers heading into their showdown Wednesday evening. 

Ryan Miller who has been playing as well as ever got credited with a tough loss.  It was because of him, the score against the Maple Leafs stayed respectable.  The shots-on-goal were pretty even but Miller made spectacular saves for Buffalo.

Tonight's Buffalo loss allowed Carolina to get two points closer to the eighth spot.  Buffalo still stands at 85 points while Carolina up-ticked to 82 points.  Toronto has now also joined the 80 point club.

Buffalo will be playing back-to-back games while the Rangers have been off since Saturday afternoon.

Buffalo Fans ~ Follow @PatMalacaroWGR on Twitter.





Atlanta @ Montreal

FINAL ~  Montreal 3;  Atlanta 1

Montreal straightened out after slipping.  Instead of potentially being in a three-way tie, with their win Tuesday, they up-ticked over the N.Y. Rangers by two points.  With 89 points, it's now up to the Rangers to keep pace with Montreal.

The Atlanta Thrashers?  Atlanta, meet the Devils.  Devils, meet Atlanta.  Both of you guys are done.  Go find something to do.

Carolina @ Washington

FINAL ~ Carolina 3;  Washington 2 - Shoot-Out

It took a lot of hard work and a shoot-out, but the Carolina Hurricanes kept their hopes alive with a big win over number two seeded Washington.  Carolina is still square in Buffalo's and New York's rear-view mirror and don't seem willing to go away.  They now have 82 points leaving them only three behind Buffalo.

The New Look Eastern Conference:

#1 ~ Philadelphia

#2 ~ Washington

#3 ~ Boston

#4 ~ Pittsburgh

#5 ~ Tampa Bay

#6 ~ Montreal ~ 89 points

#7 ~ NEW YORK ~ 87 points

#8 ~ Buffalo ~ 85 points

-----------------------------------

#9 ~ Carolina ~ 82 points

#10 ~ Toronto ~ 80 Points

NEW YORK RANGERS: (6 games remaining).

My last post, King Lundqvist XI still covers most everything I want to say for the moment.  You can check that out if you like.

Three days off?  They needed the rest; especially Henrik Lundqvist and maybe to a lesser degree, Marc Staal.

But, boy do I hate these long lay-offs.  I think they're momentum killers.  And right now, the Rangers have a ton of momentum on their side.

As well as we've been feeling about the Rangers' late season surge, Buffalo is still right there breathing down our necks.  With a loss Wednesday night, our back-side will be exposed and sitting tied in eighth place.

The big question going into this game is ~ Who is going to be the next healthy scratch?  Is it within Coach Torts to give Sean Avery a second consecutive start fresh off Avery getting into a fight on his first shift, in his first game back, after being a repeated healthy scratch?

Postscript:

I started writing this post yesterday. So, I just learned Ryan Miller will not start in goal tonight for Buffalo due to the ol' "Upper Body Injury".  The Blueshirts should consider themselves fortunate for this development.  He's been in classic form lately  It's a good break for us; bad for Buffalo.  It will be bad for us too if we do not capitalize.  Now with Ryan Miller out, the Ranger MUST seize the moment.  This is their biggest game of the season to date.

The Big Bash In Buffalo

Let's Do This!

LET'S GO RANGERS!

Mike.BTB