Rangers 4, Islanders 3, OT
The New York Rangers (43-18-7) defeated the New York Islanders (28-31-10) by the score of 4-3 in overtime, tonight. For a boxscore and recap go to Yahoo! Sports.
...with the season on the brink of spiraling out of control, the Rangers find away to get two huge points in what could be the defining win of the season.
...i expected Zuccarello to have a positive effect on the power play, but THREE power play goals? Wow.
...nice to see Tortorella finally take my advice and put Boyle in front of the net on the power play.
...i guess Gaborik IS clutch.
...Hagelin did everything tonight but score. Might have been the best player on the ice.
...Lundqvist hasn't been at his best lately, but it doesn't get better than the save on Nielsen in overtime.
...hate to compliment an Islander, but I never thought Tavares would be this good, this soon. Can't wait till the Islanders ultimately trade him away.
...i know it was against the lowly Islanders, but when you can win with your most complete player and best offensive defenseman in the press box it can only give the team confidence going forward.
...not sure I agree with fans mocking their own team with a "Shoot the Puck" chant in overtime of the biggest game of the year.
...i thought Dubinsky was supposed to return to the line-up tonight?
...off tomorrow then Hurricanes blow into town on Tuesday night.
For post game video highlights & interviews, click the "Read More" tab below.
Post game video highlights & analysis...
John Tortorella post game...
Players post game...
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Im glad to have the rivalry back. All the games this year against the fishsticks have been pretty good. I missed that the last couple of years. Nothing better than sticking it to the Isles with 5.8 left. That Isle's first line is scary,eh?
Good hard fought win missing 2 of the team's top players! The PP looks decent the past few games. I think it has a helluva lot to do with whomever got in Richards' ear and told him to stop passing the effin puck so much and just shoot. He looks like he may be heating up at just the right time.
I don't have a problem with the fan's chant, I was yelling the same thing at my TV. You have a 4 on 3 you need to generate shots. If a lane isn't there to shoot, pass it around until one opens up and then shoot. They looked like they were looking for the perfect pass all the time, which is one of the big rasons their PP has sucked. Look at the winner, quick pass from Stepan, Richards goes from corner to center, pass to Gabby, quick shot.
BTW, I hate the fact that Tavares is freakin' good. But I do have faith that the fishsticks will sign him to a 12 year deal and ruin him.
@KevinDeLury i still blame you. (dubi returned tot he lineup and the rangers won... just sayin)
Some observations from the game: 1- Totally agree on Hagelin. He is all over the ice. I would like to see him more on the power play. 2 - Is it me or does Lundqvist not look as sharp in the past 3-4 games as he has before? He seems to be giving up more rebounds in bad places and seems to be whiffing in most one on one situations. I guess he has spolied us. 3 - It seems like in every game Stepan makes a pass that is unique and special. It doesn't always result in a goal but he puts others in a position to do something. 4 - I thought Prust and Dubinsky did a nice job forechecking and keeping the play in the Islanders' zone. No goals to show for it but sustained action.
@TheNYRBlog i definitely am! the one from the bruins game, my uncle was one of those miserable bruins fans sitting down in the picture!
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I really hope they keep MZA on the roster. He proved that he has much to offer to the Rangers. He brought so much movement to the powerplay. I was convinced he was going to score a goal on the PP! He was very noticeable. He's probably not going to be in the organization next year and I will miss his hockey talents.
-As they are, the Rangers NEED him for the powerplay.
Torts had a real entertaining presser(again). After 4:20 into it I started dieing. " Do you wanna pay my fine?"
no blood on the PA high stick but 4 minutes of PP. looked like rupp got clipped up high with blood and it was a 2 minute PP. puck is clearly off sides on dubi's stick, no offsides. these refs are garbage.
i liked seeing the hobbit chip in. good for him. a limited role might be a help.
anyone else see that (lol) 2 on 5 in the islanders defensive zone with hags and richie just cycling for 30-45 seconds? that was awesome.
richards came up big and i agree that hags had a pretty good game. gabby was cruising as well and damn, what a bullet to end the game.
i loved seeing how everybody came together and celebrated. you could tell that they needed this.
Nice to see Hank putting up them Vezina numbers -- 84 in save percentage -- just like he has been since turning 30.
@TheNYRBlog on a night when NYR break their losing streak Erik Christensen scores 2 goals in a game. Where was that when he was in NY?
l love the Norwegian reporter that follows MZA, and way to call her out Torts, haha. MZA's youtube videos get a decent amount of clicks FWIW.
@TheNYRBlog The "shoot" chant was horrible. I actually thought the PP was efficient for the first time in a while...
@TheNYRBlog The Rangers aren't the only team that blocks shots... Can't shoot the puck if someone is standing in front of you.
@TheNYRBlog @mavanco Memories of Bill Chadwick, '70s #NYRangers announcer who used to implore Barry Beck: Shoot the puck, Barry!!!
Sam's old man voice is also becoming more and more apparent. I love the guy but he is losing it a bit...THIS ONE WILL LAST A COUGH COUGH LIFETIME!!! Still love sammy
@DBrizz He's probably sick lol. His voice was clearly shaky tonight. He sounded awesome when Gaborik scored though.
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@DBrizz I can't wait for the day MSG put him out to pasture...and he's got NFL money and a Maserati. Time to retire page boy haircut guy.
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@KevinDeLury @DBrizz So psyched. I say if he only gets PP minutes and a couple of shifts that's fine — he's worth more in the lineup than Scott.
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Thought dubi played pretty well. Richie had a great game as did hags and gabbi with that INSANE OT winner. Thought MZA looked real good, great, hard, crisp passes though I thought he passed up on some good shot opportunities.
thought the islanders were really lucky tonight. first goal off the skate, second goal off weird bounce on the boards on the end of a 4 minute PP that shouldnt have been a 4 min penalty. third goal beneficiary of a bad turnover that just so happened to be at the end of the PP to hit McDonald for the breakaway. Rangers i thought deserved to win this game and the islanders were lucky to get a point. shots 36-19 rangers also...
I was at the game and also disagree with the Dubinsky criticism. I was telling my friend at the game how Dubi was all over the ice tonight, and even a stranger sitting next to me asked "Who is number 17 again? He is everywhere!"
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@Ranger1968 Really? Well I was a little drunk tonight, maybe I just some how blacked out every time he was on the ice. lol
Your comments are usually pretty good, tonight you are wayyyyy off. Earlier in the day you were criticizing zucc's , while after the game you take credit for expecting good play from him. Dubi was very good grinding and controlling play on the forecheck, and half boards. Scoring goals is not the only way to measure a players productivity.
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@vatsupper8 Dubinsky isn't getting paid $4 million a year to just grind & forecheck he needs to start scoring.
As far as Zucc goes, agreed that I have hated on him from day one, but the reason I expected him to have a positive affect on the power play was because, honestly, it couldn't get any worse.
Plus if you look back on all my posts from 2007 till now you will find 1,000s of contradictions, so why should I stop now. lol
Funny that you beeing so negative to zuc. He had 23 points in 42 games in his first season! Playing in 3 and 4 line. Is that bad? + 5 goals in shootout. This year Mitchell has 14 points in 49 game, Prust has 17 points in 68 games, Girardi has 23 iin 68 games, Duby has 26 in 63 games. Zuc did also have +3 last year. And last year was not a great season for the Rangers. So if you take a look at the statistics and they are important, he clearly produced quite allot despite few minuts of ice time each game in the 2010-2011 season. I dont know why u dont like a player that produces......
Lets go Rangers and Richards is aaaaawsome.
@_Jack @KevinDeLury @vatsupper8
were is those stats? I know he did not score a single PP goal last season.
@_Jack @sportsjourn @vatsupper8 I think if utilized correctly he can have a positive impact on the team. Still not convinced he's a legit 1st or 2nd liner in the NHL.
@sportsjourn @KevinDeLury @vatsupper8 IIRC most of his points were on the power play last year. I'm a Zucc champion, but I'm not saying he's the second coming of Christ (that's Kreider, haha). It's just nice seeing the Rangers utilize a talent-guy rather than another grinder.
@KevinDeLury They won the game with Dubi in the lineup tonight. If they keep winning with Dubi in, and he is'nt scoring- that's worth the money. I do agree with you Zucc's is way undersized, only other player I can remember being so small is Brian Gionta.
Great win. Disagree re: Dubinsky. I thought he skated really well tonight. Thought he and Hagelin both had very good games despite not showing up on the box score.
@TheNYRBlog good post...I don't agree w/ the crowd chanting "shoot the puck"...btw, you happen to know magic # for clinching a playoff spot?
"The power play won us the game tonight" - Marian Gaborik ......wish we hear that a little more often...hopefully Zucc is just what the PP needs...he played only 10 mins and 6 were on the PP im ok with tortsbasically using him as PP specialist....great skill but very small
@Van_Ness_WVU I may have underestimated his skill level because you can tell just by the way he handles the puck that the kid can play.
