Live Blog: Rangers-Penguins Game 3
Welcome to Game 3. Mike Casey here to take you through the highs and lows of tonight's must-win game for the Rangers.
You can follow along with by-the-minute updates by clicking on the link below.
9:42
That's it, 5-3 final, 3-0 Pens series lead. Back with you Thursday.
9:41
Avery and Orpik tussling in the corner with 20.1 to go. Shots are 39-17. There was even a derisive cheer for Lundqvist when he made a rare save earlier. Tough crowd.
9:37
Rangers time out with 1:51 left. Stands are emptying.
9:35
The Garden is spent, and so are the Rangers, with under 3:00 to play. Penguins have clamped down, barely allowing the Rangers into their zone.
9:27 p.m. The Rangers don't have anywhere near the jump they had in the second. It took so much out of them to get back into the game, it looks like they've just about used up their energy reserves. 7:51 to go, and we're entering miracle territory. Is there a Mark Messier or David Tyree in the house?
9:24 p.m. The Rangers' inability to get anything done on the power play won't be the lead story of this game. But it will definitely be a sidebar.
9:20 p.m. You get the feeling the Rangers will need some kind of break or lucky bounce to get back into this one. Well, here's a start: Adam Hall goes off for interference. It's getting pretty close to must-score territory. 10:37 to go.
9:18 p.m. INJURY UPDATE: Rangers forward Blair Betts, who took a puck to the face during the second period, will not return to the game.
9:17 p.m. Only the Jagr unit was able to put pressure on during the power play. The second unit of Gomez, Drury and Shanahan looked lost. 12 minutes to go.
9:13 p.m. Someone has to say it: Brendan Shanahan has been absolutely awful in this series. He's been a step slow all year, and against the Penguins, his lack of speed is glaring. Rangers power play with under 15 minutes to go. Let's see if they can get anything going.
9:11 p.m. The feeling in the building isn't panic. It's bordering on despair. Some people are dealing with that by screaming bloody murder every time a Ranger makes a mistake. Some are trying to get the fans behind the team for one last push. But most aren't doing anything. They're just trying to comprehend how their team has come so close to the brink. Suffice it to say this is not the atmosphere the Rangers were hoping for in the third period.
9:09 p.m. The odds on a comeback just got a lot longer. Kris Letang takes a shot from the point and Ryan Malone tips it in. 5-3 Penguins with 17 minutes left now.
9:05 p.m. Good news for the Rangers... Drury is back on the ice. Let's see how effective he can be. Whatever his injury was, it didn't look good the way he skated off the ice. 18:34 to go.
9:02 p.m. Here we go... Penguins 4, Rangers 3. 20 minutes to go.
8:59 p.m. Just had a chat with Newsday colleague Arthur Staple. We agreed that trying to mount a comeback with two of your centers out is going to be very tough. To win, the Rangers will have to do what they did in the second period -- pin the Penguins deep, overwhelm them with offensive pressure and hope for the best. I just wonder whether they can maintain the same energy level in the third. They'll have to, because if Pittsburgh gets its end-to-end game back in order, this one's over. The Rangers don't have the speed or the energy to play that kind of hockey now.
8:45 p.m. I should apologize for not mentioning that Blair Betts left the ice about 10 minutes ago and his not returned. Nor has Chris Drury. So not only will the Rangers have to make up a one-goal deficit in the third period -- they'll have to do it with only two of their normal centermen.
8:42 p.m. Another shot to the gut by Pittsburgh. With the Rangers penalty killers trapped in their own zone and exhausted, Malkin wires in a slapper from above the right circle with three seconds left on the power play. 4-3 Penguins with just over two minutes to play. That was big.
8:37 p.m. After a long shift in which they controlled the puck for upwards of 60 seconds, the Rangers take a bad penalty with Ryan Hollweg going off for boarding. "The Hollweg specialty," remarked my colleague Mark Herrmann.
8:31 p.m. We are tied. Remember that trademark Jagr play? Well this time it worked. The Rangers had a great shift with Gomez and Straka control the puck down low. Jagr gathered the puck behind the net to Fleury's left, zipped around to the other side whipped a wrist shot. Rangers 3, Penguins 3. Just under seven minutes to go. Pittsburgh fell asleep and paid for it.
8:29 p.m. On the positive side, the Rangers have managed to pin Pittsburgh in their own end most of the period. They are outshooting the Pens 9-3. And they just got rewarded with a goal. Gomez steals the puck behind from LI native Rob Scuderi behind the net and finds Callahan in front for a tap-in. The Garden has life!
8:25 p.m Jagr looks exhausted. He swept around the net and went for his trademark turnaround wrister, but the shot had no oomph behind it. The Rangers' best chance at this point may to be hope for a lucky bounce, a two-on-one, or maybe the young Penguins will fall asleep with a two-goal lead.
8:23 p.m. Huge, huge penalty kill for Pittsburgh. They made a couple of key shot blocks to thwart the Rangers' best shooting opportunities. The shots are 24-10 Rangers, but it's still 3-1 where it counts.
8:20 p.m. The Rangers come up empty again, and Drury skates off holding his arm.
8:17 p.m. 5-on-3 over, no goal. The Rangers' best chance came when Jagr swooped in and flipped a backhand that Fleury deflected away. But here comes another 5-on-3 after Orpik roughs Callahan. 33 seconds this time.
8:14 p.m. An iffy call on Pascal Dupuis gives the Rangers a 42-second 2-man advantage. I don't think anything needs to be said about the importance of this one.
8:12 p.m. Rangers get their first power play with 17 minutes to go in the second. They need a goal to get the fans back into it. They've been noticeably quiet during the first few minutes.
8:10 p.m. This series is beginning to remind me of the Rangers' 1996 series against Pittsburgh, when the Rangers had more depth and arguably better defense, but Pittsburgh just had far too much talent. The Rangers can roll out three lines of hard-working, talented players. But so far the individual playmaking abilities of Crosby, Malkin and Hossa are winning out over the Rangers' team play and depth.
8:07 p.m. Sorry, fans, I didn't abandon you, I was just trying to get some internet problems straightened out. Here are some thoughts on the first period:
The Rangers can't expect to contain the Penguins by backing up and letting Pittsburgh take the game to them. Obviously, the Laraque goal and Callahan penalty at the end of the period were killers, but more than that, the Rangers let down a bit defensively on the shift when Laraque scored. They allowed Pittsburgh to dictate the play behind Lundqvist's net, and paid for it as they have during most of the series when allowing Pittsbugh to go on the attack.
The Rangers need to play desperate hockey, but at a level that may be difficult to maintain for the next 40 minutes. I don't think a comeback is very likely if the pace of the first period keeps up through the next to.
The gameplan for the Blueshirts should be to get it to 3-2 or 3-3, not 4-2 or 4-3. They need to end the track meet by playing hard physical hockey in Pittsbugh's end, not their own. Crosby and Malkin have been too tough for the Rangers to contain.
7:51 p.m. If the second Penguins goal was a slap to the face, the third was a crushing body blow.
7:49 p.m. Malkin fires a slapper from just above the right circle and it's 3-1 Penguins, and they still have the second half of the Callahan double-minor to go.
7:47 p.m. 2-1 Penguins and Ryan Callahan gets caught for a four-minute high sticking penalty. The momentum has been sucked right out of the building.
7:45 p.m. The Rangers have picked up their level of desperation, pinning the Penguins deep in their zone for the last few shifts. But just as I say that, the Penguins work it low and tough guy Georges Laraque snaps a wrister by Lundqvist from right in front of the net. Bad defensive zone coverage by the Rangers' fourth line.
7:40 p.m. Some quick bookkeeping... Malone, Letang, Whitney, Jagr, Dubinsky and Mara all got two-minute roughing penalties for the rough stuff that followed the disputed goal. No loss of manpower on the ice, as Sam Rosen would say.
7:38 p.m. If you just heard a loud, piercing scream eminating from lower Manhattan, you know the result of the video replay. A good job by the video replay guys in Toronto. Rangers 1, Penguins 1.
7:37 p.m. A wild scramble in front of the crease, Jagr is shoved into and dislodges the net, just as Straka puts it in... but we're going to have a long review here. It looks like the puck goes in before Jagr knocks the net off.... This one should be a goal, but it's very close.
7:33 p.m. If you hear a low, dull sound eminating from lower Manhattan -- those are the boos for Sidney Crosby.
7:28 p.m. Petr Sykora and Evgeni Malkin break down on a 2-on-1. Sykora makes a beautiful feed to Malkin, but he shoots wide with Henrik Lundqvist out of position.
7:25 p.m. First big save by Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, flashing some leather to rob Jagr at the side of the net on a backhand rebound try.
7:23 p.m. Pittsburgh is the hungrier, more composed team right now. The Rangers are having all kinds of trouble skating the puck out of their own end, and the Penguins are winning most of the loose puck battles along the boards.
7:21 p.m. The NHL needs to get rid of the silly rule that allows referees to call both a dive and a penalty on the same play. Jagr to the box for hooking, Hossa for diving. Doesn't it have to be one or the other? And no, I'm not going to give this one up... 4-on-4, which should benefit Pittsburgh.
7:18 p.m. Jagr swoops around the net and sets up Straka, but it looked like the puck bounced on him and he shanked it over the net.
7:16 p.m. A good shift by the Jagr-Straka-Dubinsky line gets the crowd into it. You get the feeling this may be the kind of game Jagr will have to dominate in order for the Rangers to win. From my seat just above the 300 level at center ice, you can see clearly that the Rangers are having trouble with Pittsburgh's speed.
7:14 p.m. The Penguins zip into the Rangers zone and Marian Hossa converts a rebound to make it 1-0. How will the Rangers respond? They need to recognize it's still early and stick with their gameplan.
7:12 p.m. The Rangers won the opening face-off but a good forecheck by the speedy Tyler Kennedy made it tough for them to get out of their zone.
7:09 p.m. If you're watching on TV, you probably know this already, but the Rangers have moved Brendan Shanahan off the Gomez-Avery line. It was a move they had to make. Shanahan has looked every bit of 39 years so far in the playoffs. Here comes the opening face-off...
7:03 p.m.: This game means everything for the Rangers and their fans. A loss tonight would put the Blueshirts in a deep 3-0 hole from which the prospects for recovery would be bleak.
I expect a very energetic start from the Rangers, followed by a period of tense, tight play. I don't expect the score to be much more than 1-0 after the first period.
Scoring the first goal is critical for the Rangers, whose confidence has to be at its lowest point in months. On the other hand, the Penguins have won six straight playoff games and have trailed for less than a total of 40 minutes in those six games. Dealing them an early blow would get the Rangers and put the Penguins back on their heels. If the Rangers want to win tonight, they have to make the Penguins play defense far more than they did in Games 1 and 2. Letting Pittsburgh control the puck and the tempo is a recipe for disaster.
The atmosphere here is considerably more tense than it was for Games 3 and 4 of the Devils series. By the end of the game, we'll know what kind of team the Rangers are. Will they make a series out of it, or fall into the abyss?
Pregame introductions are about to begin...
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Comments (81)
LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
Crosby SSSccccoooooooorrrrrreesssssss!!!!!!
LMFAO
Jagr Cries.... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Give Mark credit for a great hit on Jordan!
SYDDDDDDDDDDDD THE KIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Clearly a goal.... before the net was moved of it's moorings.. congrats Ranger fans
Big Georges!!!!!
Yeah... MSG is quiet now!
KING GEORGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Is Avery playing in this game ?
What is Lundquist G.A.A ?
MALKINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
I thought this was a NY Ranger Blog.... where'd all the Big Mouth Ranger fans go?
Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Wahhhhhhhh
Playoff hockey
Wahhhhhhhhhhh Wahhhhhhhhhhhh Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Is Avery playing ?
Hey jerk off go back to your blog.
The truth hurts doesn't it Sather and Renney supporters. Sather blew it! Renney blew it! Still happy we "Made the playoffs"? Idiots!
Did I strike a nerve?
WWWaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Considering all the crap you Rangers fans gave out.. you sure have thin skin when it's pointed out to you that you're a bunch of losers!
I just hope the team can grab there man shorts and play with some of the excitement and effort they did in game one in the offensive zone and still play Renney's defensive style in there own zone. For gods sake tell Perry to make some changes on the PP unit. Yea I know that should have been done a long time ago but maybe this time he will do it,if he is any good. If not cut him loose and find someone who can. Go Rangers Kick ice chickens ass,and cindy!!!! Zip please ban these pitts puke who keep infesting this board.Black and gold did you think of that name all by yourself. brilliant.
Where's Jagr? Where's Shanahan? Where's Dude? Where's TJ? If you guys knew anything about hockey you would have seen this coming 6 months ago like Bob did. He may be crazy but he knows more than you idiots.
How many championships has your stinking steel city have, your the losers.
Vincea, don't bother with Black & Gold. He's only 12 years old.
Kocur, yea your right but now's not the time to say it. We are in it so lets root for the rangers. If and when we lose there will be plenty of time to go after TJ
Anon your right not worth the effort
I know. It hurts to watch this but I knew it was coming. I hope someone takes Cindy out with a cheap shot.
If you guys ever give up Callahan... Pens fans will be happy to take him!
Got to be the favorite Ranger for Pens fans!
Nice goal Rangers fans... Congrats!
You've tied it up!
Hollweg should never play another shift as a Ranger!
Hollweg is a waste... great move Renny
Geno!
Hollweg is a perfect example of how Renney mismanages this team. You can't tell me that the Rangers don't have a better forward to play in his place. Inexusable!
Did anybody see who was involved in a huge open ice hit with several minutes left in the 2nd?
Did anybody see what happened to Drury?
Watching this game tonight, I am reminded of one of Staple's gems from last week:
"Malkin is a force too, but when Crosby isn't taking the heat off him, Malkin has wilted at times."
Hey Art, if Malkin nets his 3rd tonight, instead of throwing your hat on the ice, I think it would be classy of you to throw your laptop out there.
I hope we can win tonight. However, the "hope" is the wrong feeling at the playoff game. We MUST win. It will be a disgrace if we loose. In the offseason, get a PP coach, and the good D, who can blast one timers ! To be a 1 goal down going into the 3rd is not a big deal, unless we take a penalty again.
Watching this game tonight, I am reminded of one of Staple's gems from last week:
"Malkin is a force too, but when Crosby isn't taking the heat off him, Malkin has wilted at times."
Hey Art, if Malkin nets his 3rd tonight, instead of throwing your hat on the ice, I think it would be classy of you to throw your laptop out there.
Hollweg always took stupid penalities, and he did it again...never would have put him in the line up...as for Black& Gold-you are nothing but a stupid, arrogant and immature child who probably lives under your mammas roof rent free, and 'ya need to grow up bud! One more thing, and this is a fact of hockey life: The NY Rangers have always, and will always (read it and weep), own NY Metro Hockey-period!..deal w/that little child!
Nice call on sitting Prucha/Orr and playing the very effective Hollweg. Send his a$$ out of NY, he attributes nothing to the team offensively or defensively. Hes a complete liability and his cheap penalty caused the power play which Pens took the lead on. Still got 20 minutes to play boys, dont give up yet. LETS GO RANGERS!
Don't blame Hollweg. He's suppose to hit ok it was from behind but they should have killed the penalty. But when your defense is so soft and don't move anyone what do you expect. So It's not Hollweg it's freaking rosi and girardi. Yea and he wants 4mil to resighn,thats funny. Let him go please let him go along with a few other defenseman.Trade or just let them go.Toots ,mara,BTO and rosi and of course malick.
Perry are you watching you @#$%$#@&^%$#@*&^%$#@ hole. Two shots two goals. Did you see that Perry you @#$%$#@#$^&^$$%^^&%%^&^^%
You wrote: " Just had a chat with Newsday colleague Arthur Staple. We agreed that trying to mount a comeback with two of your centers out is going to be very tough. To win, the Rangers will have to do what they did in the second period -- pin the Penguins deep, overwhelm them with offensive pressure and hope for the best. I just wonder whether they can maintain the same energy level in the third. They'll have to, because if Pittsburgh gets its end-to-end game back in order, this one's over. The Rangers don't have the speed or the energy to play that kind of hockey now"
Wow unbiased reporting.. I'm going to to have to re-evaluate my opinion of you guys
Bto site seeing what a f#cking a$$hole. Nice pick up sather
The Penguins 5th goal likely excited the folks at UPMC (who has a dasher board ad in front of the Penguin bench, right at center ice).
UPMC - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
It's not the first time in these playoffs that a team has sold an ad to an organization from the opponent's city. A Montreal pizzeria advertised in Boston during the first round.
Islander505 writes: "
Watching this game tonight, I am reminded of one of Staple's gems from last week:
"Malkin is a force too, but when Crosby isn't taking the heat off him, Malkin has wilted at times."
Hey Art, if Malkin nets his 3rd tonight, instead of throwing your hat on the ice, I think it would be classy of you to throw your laptop out there."
You're so right man... come on Arty, be a mna and admit you're wrong!
Nuh Nah nah nah, nuh Nah NAH NAH
Hey HEY Hey,___________
PENS IN 4!
Can anyone believe Hollweg is seeing more shifts in this game. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets some PP time. Unf#@kingbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!!
Renney's coaching is exposed.
MSG fans stink, they aren't even all wearing blue. Where is the intimidation from home crowd?
The crowd knows it's over. It was over when Sather did nothing at the deadline.
so who still thinks Renney is the coach to get us the Cup?
Dude and tj that's who. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha Idiots!!!!!!
Nah na nah na
Nah na nah na
Hey hey .. GOOD BYE!
MWAAAA-HHHAHAHAHAHAA
Classless Rags need to fight now, typical...
I'm heading to Home Depot for some brooms, baby!
DONE...
PENS IN 4 !!!!!!!
Lets hope it's goodbye Sather and Renney or it's another year of this crap. The Pens still SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your mom should love that broom. She loved it when I gave it to her in her A$$!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Pens still suck and yet they've OWNED the blue skirts all series.
You guys had an elevated sense that you had a shot in the second round because you beat up on the scrap ass Devils, which makes this impending sweep all the more sweet!
Am I right, Black N Gold?
as a die hard NYR fan, and for some 40 years, I gotta give the pens credit-they are playing the kind of D you need to play during the playoffs....never thought they had it in them, so I'm a bit surprised....as for our PP, Sather needs to earn a paycheck and get Campbell from SJ when season's over and get a bruising D.....amazing that the Pens have won 7 games in a row in the playoffs-last team to do that was OUR 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers!!!!
as a die hard NYR fan, and for some 40 years, I gotta give the pens credit-they are playing the kind of D you need to play during the playoffs....never thought they had it in them, so I'm a bit surprised....as for our PP, Sather needs to earn a paycheck and get Campbell from SJ when season's over and get a bruising D.....amazing that the Pens have won 7 games in a row in the playoffs-last team to do that was OUR 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers!!!!
HAHAHAHAH BAHAHAHHAHAHA WHERE'D ALL THE LOUD MOUTH rag fans go? You all run your mouths and then are nowhere to be found when your team loses!!!
Real class act that Avery is, jumping on the Pen player's back and then grinding his stick into his face.
The rangers and their fans are just a bunch of pathetic classless losers. Oh yeah, and potvin sucks! bwahahahahahah!! Tee time this friday girls!
NOTHING LIKE PLAYOFF HOCKEY!!
Owning the Rangers aint nothing to be proud of. They suck and so do you and your Pens.
All over but the tears in the Urine stained dump you call msg.
Did Avery paly tonight? I see he went tanning before the game again
What is Queen Lundquist GAA ?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
Shanny going to retire. No more Jagre....Buhhhhhhhhh Byeeeeeee
***For the moron asking about Pitt championships...Ummmm how many cups have you seen compared to us ?
actually she loves it bristles first....
and um, oh yeah, SWEEEP!
PENS IN 4
Rangers are not blueshirts, they are redpants and are playing like the homos in red pants.
Renney gets swept twice in 3 seasons, nice.
No, your daddy loves it bristle first
wow seeing Ron Dugauy can only remind me of one thing:
oooooooo
la la
so SOOOON?
brahahahahaha!
Kocur I agree I hope sather and renney are gone also but with an idiot like Dolan I think we are in tfor at least one more year of these incompetent fools. Maybe Shoney will be able to talk him into getting some players with guts and some nastyness and not more over the hill guys or euro pansies. Lets hope we win at least one game and someone wipes out cindy. Even though the best player on the team is Malkin. Oh well until thurs.
Zip your site sucks with all these error messages when trying to get on!
I am ebarrassed by Rangers and the pathetic Rangers fans, of which 99% are in love with everything Renney does.
Time for some serious changes, including the hideous uniforms with red pants and old boring logo. Get a new stadium, new owners and management and new announcers.
I want Ron Dugauy as a coach or a GM
I am ashamed to be a Ranger fan.
Bob you are a moron
Vincea you are clueless
Avery needs to be off this team. He and his makeup and tanning make me sick.
Lundquist simply cannot win the big games for us!
I blame renney for that loss.
Hollwig has and will always be a moron that hits from behind. Simon did not swing hard enough when giving him a KOHO tatoo.
Lundquist blows !
hollweg should never play ever again. and i mean in siberia too he shouldnt play
HEY ZIP........
Remember your "cool stats" blog last week where you took yet another cheap shot at the Islander's with an inane stat from the '84 playoffs?
Well, in view of the Ranger's situation right now.....here's one back at you from your same friends at whowins.com.
Particurlarly appropriate in view of who the Ranger's are playing right now.
http://www.whowins.com/features/comeback.html
Questionable coaching by Renney (who I like, btw). Hollweg out when they needed a goal. Callahan killing penalties when he was already tired. Written about (and more) here...
http://www.nyhockeyrivalry.blogspot.com
bob are you really this stupid ???
Horrible game. The Rangers shot themselves in the foot. Tonight the Penguins didn't beat the Rangers, the Rangers beat the Rangers. Too many missed chances, with the failed power play and the 5 on 3's, the open nets that Straka missed, the stupid penalty Hollweg took, and the super weak goal that Henrik let in off of Malkin that turned out to be the game winner. Lundqvist REALLY should have stopped the Malkin PP goal. Sad that after such a solid game 2, that Henrik was off his game tonight. As bad as the D was at times, Henrik looked really bad to me. Lundqvist did not have his stuff tonight and I would have pulled him (Mike Keenan would have too) after that Malkin PP goal, or maybe even earlier when he let in the previous one that may or may not have gone off of Drury's foot.
On the other hand, Jagr, Avery, Gomez and Callahan all looked great tonight, especially Jagr. After hearing Jagr's comments after the game and seeing how hard he was trying, I am starting to think that he might be calling it quits after this season and he wants to win BAD and go out with a bang.
Tonight showed why the Rangers desperately need a great defenseman that can quarterback the powerplay and skate the puck out of their own end. After seeing what Zubov did tonight against SJ, it made me realize how much the Rangers miss him and/or a player like him.
Regardless, the Rangers find themselves in a 3-0 hole and have a long road ahead if they can comeback; I believe it has only been done 3 time in all of pro-sports. Hopefully they can pull together and win 4 straight.
Does anyone have any idea what exactly happened to Drury? The replays really didn't show anything...
Oh and all of you trolling Pen
continued...
Oh and all of you trolling Pens fans whining about class, well you sure are showing it now!! Stay classy PITTSburgh!
Hollweg needs to watch this about 40 times.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygEdOTcuLds
C'mon Ranger fans.....it ain't over yet.
TJ, Dude, Effigy, Up in the Blues.....
No quitting now.
This reminds me of Renney's coaching, LOL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz3KpY5lrRc&NR=1
just a lot of BS nonsense, followed by "let's go play some hockey"
The Rangers can do it!!!
Different sport, but if those bitches in Boston were able to do it to our Yanks, then we can certainly do it to Pittsburgh!!
GO RANGERS!!!
on a side note, today was another horrible day for NY sports...
Next season if we get a good coach and get rid of junk players that do not give 110% 100% of the time--Jagr, Backman, Betts, Shanahan, Straka, Hollweg, Strudwick, Malik, Mara, etc. and give proper icetime to Dawes, Prucha, Callahan, and new rookies like Byers, Sanguinetti, Korpikoski, Anisimov, Sauer, Baranka, Moore we will have much better chances.
Also would be nice to package playe and prospect for a big powerforward that can score, we are really missing size up front and that is what you need to have success in the playoffs. Byers, Korpikoski, Moore and Anisimov add some size to the bottom 2 lines, but we could use a bit more.
Shanhan and Straka don't give 100% all the time? Have you watched the team play this year? Straka is the true essence of a hockey player. He's getting up there in years now but he does every little thing that is needed of him, he plays smart, that guy could play for me any day.
If you need an example look at the Boston game early in the year, he dropped down to block a Chara slapper, broke his hand, Chara got the puck back and he dropped down to try and block another one. That's tough.
C'mon Zip and Staple......
There's an angle out there which can revive the despondent hopes of all your fellow Ranger fans.....
The Pittsburgh Penguins HAVE BLOWN A 3-0 series lead before.
Write about it!!!!
Run with it!!!
I guessing that won't happen.
Cuz in doing so you would most likely HAVE to mention the team that came back on them and defeated them.
And that would be directly or indirectly WRITING SOMETHING FAVORABLE about that team.
Which just might bust your keyboard and crack your monitor.
why do the strangers have a guy on their team who looks like geraldo rivera, circa 1975?
Gene, Shanny was invisible throughout the playoffs. I like Straka, but how many vets are really going to return ? Out of everyone, the only vet I'd want back is Jagr.
Just Jagr for me too.
Why isn't Avery on the first line with Jagr anymore?
Why is Prucha, a goal scorer, scratched in favor or Sjostrom on the second and Hollweg on the 4th?
Why waste the season playing Orr if your going to scratch him for Hollweg in a 2 game hole in the semis.
Why hasn't Malik played a game yet in this series?
Has Dawes been playing? I haven't seen much from our young up and coming goal scorer in the last 8 games. Where is Prucha again?
Goodbye Rozsival, Mailk, Straka, Mara and Shanahan. Thanks for a good season and poor playoff performance.
Maybe this off-season Sather will go after that puck moving defensemen we've been looking for over the last 4 seasons.
Maybe we'll be able to jump up in the draft a few places by dangling Prucha, Hollweg and Dawes.
Maybe we'll be able to pick up a reliable backup to play in situations like last night. Or the next game.
It's going to be a long time before the Rangers are this deep again. A very long time. Back to plan "A" Mr Sather.
It was a good season.
While I cant say its over cause thats my personality. I do not want straka or shanny back and I do want Jagr back.