Long after one of the more physical and draining games this year at the Garden, some thoughts:
Brendan Shanahan dodged a major injury in that freakish collision. Just saw a couple replays again after the Islanders loss on MSG.
Kept remembering how the Garden fell silent and my mouth went dry. Then the classy applause when Knuble got up. And seeing a pale and immobilized Shanahan from above when they wheeled him directly under us on press row and through the tunnel. Somber stuff.
Concussions are no treat, but the Rangers said after the game---as I wrote for newsday.com hours ago---that Shanahan was alert and moving all his extremities at St. Vincent’s Hospital. X-rays and CT scans were negative. Shanahan could be out a week, depending on his symptoms, I'm told. It's possible Prucha will take his spot on the No. 2 line today against the Hawks and Colton Orr comes off the sidelines onto the fourth line.
Jagr, who continued to skate hard after he was crumpled by Hatcher, and Lundqvist, who said he could've kept playing, were fortunate as well that their dings---which looked worse at the time---weren't more serious.
Lundqvist, who faced just 17 shots and allowed three goals, kept flexing his arms after Sanderson's blistering slapper drilled him. He stayed in and made 10 more saves.
"They told me they wanted to make a change," he said. Renney said removing him for Valiquette was to keep him fresh for today. Lundqvist, who was on the bench in the third, didn't even have ice on his bruised left shoulder 30 minutes after the game, although he was planning on it. He said firmly in the dressing room that he would play against Chicago.
If D Marek Malik, who was favoring his left shoulder leaving the ice in the second period, is out today; figure Thomas Pock to step in. His speed may be a factor. Malik missed three games with a shoulder sprain last month.
Mike Knuble could be out even longer if he indeed has a broken orbital bone and a fractured cheek, as Flyers personnel were whispering after the game. He will be re-examined in Philly today.
Aaron Ward's fight with Picard---a clear decision---with three minutes remaining left him with stitches and a sprained wrist.
The Blackhawks better bring it and keep their heads up.
I sense that they will face an achy, bloodied, bitter Rangers team that wants to win one for Shanahan and keep themselves in the playoff hunt.
"Hopefully we as a group can rally around the fact that he’s (Shanny's) not there," said Ward. "We have big shoes to fill.”
Comments (7)
Great news that Shanny isn't as hurt as it looked.
Speed may be a factor with Pock, as in he's too slow to be in the lineup or he's fast enough that he'll replace Marek?
I agree, awful, awful game all around, from the score to the injuries. Only positives were Aaron Ward remembering he can play and Jagr remembering how to forecheck. Jagr looked real solid the whole game, just never really had a scoring chance.
Did they sing happy birthday to him? I saw someone walking in as I was leaving with a real big birthday cake.
A good playoff team does not let a bunch of loser goons run around their arena in a playoff run. This is what happens when you let this happen. You git your ass kicked every which way possible.
The Rangers needs to take advantage of the power plays given them on a platter, but they didn't. This is not a playoff team. Avery has been a pleasant surprise though.
Tom Renney's decision to not play Colton Orr , was one of his worst coaching decisions(and he's had alot of them), because as usual ,he left his team unprotected against a losing team that has little to play for, and dresses a couple of goones for every game. He's had a track record of not protecting his more talented players, and just maybe, because of his failure to do so yesterday, could have ended their run to try and make the playoffs. Lets hope not. It wouldn't have mattered if the Rangers scored on the powerplay. If the Rangers had scored early and often, and put the game out of reach, the Flyers would have played the same brand of hockey, or even worse. The decision to play Orr was a no brainer, and Tom Renney shows us each and every time where his brains are. If I was the President and GM of this franchise, I would have fired Renney immediately after the game ended. Enough is enough already. And Shanny, hope your feeling better today. Get well soon, because we need you.
Good point, Watching the Flyers run around like that really got under the skin of the people in the seats so it had to do the same to the team.
That was one of the wierdest moments I have ever had in MSG. You could hear a pin drop! But, the classy response from the crowd and players for both men was good to hear.
As for Lundqvist if he was OK to go today against the BlackHawks he should have finished the game yesterday.
Yes Philly looked like a bunch of goons that didn't know what to do besides run people without Forsberg. But, that bottom line is that is does rest on the shoulders of the team and coaches.
after westside story the game took your fans its true.ggggggg-unot!
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