SHUTDOWN IN WASHINGTON! Game #6 - New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals

The Rangers and the Capitals have met in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including last year when the last visit for New York to the Verizon Center yielded a 7-0 victory that propelled them past the Capitals.  On Wednesday night, pleasantries were renewed as the 1-4-0 Rangers faced the 2-4-0 Capitals and for the third straight appearance against Washington, Henrik Lundqvist registered a shutout as the Rangers won 2-0.

The first period saw the Rangers play perhaps their best period of the year at even strength.  They did give up a few chances shorthanded, but that's to be expected when you're facing the league's top power play and you end up down 5 on 3.  Anton Stralman and Taylor Pyatt took successive hooking penalties, but the iron three of Dan Girardi, Brian Boyle, and Marc Staal stood firm and the Caps, thanks to Joel Ward missing and whiffing on a goal mouth chance, came up with nothing.  

The Rangers had a few opportunities, none better than a 3 on 1 that Derek Dorsett fired a shot into Caps goaltender Braden Holtby.  However, the period ended in a scoreless tie.

The second period finally saw the score change, and for the first time since their only win of the year in Los Angeles, the Blueshirts took the initial lead of the game.  John Moore, who looks and plays more and more like a Second Ryan McDonagh, fired a laser of a wrist shot that somehow evaded the glove of Braden Holtby and ripped iron, then net.  A sneaky pass from Brad Richards set up the goal for the young defenseman, his second goal in a New York Rangers uniform.

It took the Rangers a whopping 1:46 to double their lead as the Captain, Ryan Callahan worked a gorgeous cycle down low with Derick Brassard and once again, Brad Richards, with Richards throwing the puck in front, Callahan tipped it into the air, and smacked it home out of mid-air.  The goal was incredibly talented, but the celebration was fantastic as Callahan threw himself into the boards and glass in front of a bunch of Capitals fans who slammed the glass and yelled back at him, as if he had just rubbed an open cut with a giant alcohol swab.

The third period saw no offense, but a scary moment in the first minute of the third period had all Rangers fans holding their breath,  Derek Stepan, as he was backing out of the zone, was blindsided by the Capitals' Troy Brouwer and took a shoulder right to the head.  As I discussed earlier today with fellow Ranger fan and future Blue Reviewer Jamie Robinson, this hit was completely avoidable, but chances are will go unpunished.  In fact, as Jamie told me today, the NHL ruled it "an accident" and a "hockey play".  IF that's a hockey play, then someone did not learn how to properly play hockey.  Brouwer heads to his bench for a change, Stepan is backskating and never sees him coming.  Instead of speeding up or slowing down to adjust to Stepan, Brouwer raises his arms to appear as if he is defending himself and nails #21 in the brain bucket.  Stepan was on the ice for a good long while, then went for what I can only assume are the standard battery of concussion tests.  Luckily for Rangers supporters, after about eight minutes, Stepan was back, took four more shifys, and was on the ice as the game ended.  I'm sure he'll be re-evaluated, but with Rick Nash already suffering from a concussion, the Blueshirts can ill afford to have #21 out of the lineup.

That being said, I just got a notification from ESPN that somehow Ryan Callahan has a broken thumb and will now be out 3-4 weeks.  This is a huge blow, but maybe another young player gets a chance to shine.  I was thinking again of Chris Kreider, but I see again through ESPN that the Rangers have sent down Cam Talbot - wait, what? - and recalled Jason Missiaen, who is a 6'8 goalie and to replace the captain.....welcome back to New York.......Darroll Powe.  Wait......WHAT???  You could have given me 10 guesses and I wouldn't have guessed Darroll Powe.

Oh well.......the Rangers take the ice again on Saturday against the Devils.  Look for the first fully acknowledged non-friendly preview before then, because if my kid had a choice of being caught with a Hustler magazine or a Devils hat.....I'd buy a subscription.  In case you can't tell, I.....BLEED BLUE.

Blue Preview - Game #6 New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals

The slightly new-look Rangers head back to the ice tonight as part of the NBC Sports Network's "Rivalry Night" as they take on the Washington Capitals.  The puck drops at 8:00 PM EST.

"Rivalry Night" is appropriate as the Rangers and Capitals have met each other in the playoffs four of the last five years.  These two teams are certainly no strangers to each other, and usually play a spirited, entertaining brand of hockey against each other.

The Capitals come in to tonight with a record of 2-4-0, two points ahead of the Rangers who are 1-4-0.  The Caps recipe for success hasn't changed much over the years, and here are the reasons why:


WHO TO WATCH

ALEX OVECHKIN - FORWARD.  The Great 8 is at it again, leading the Capitals with 6 goals and 9 points.  He has never met a shot he didn't like, so look to him to have at least 10 shots on goal.  He also seems to really like to play physical against the Rangers, and will look to do so at home to get the crowd into it.

NICKLAS BACKSTROM - FORWARD.  Ovechkin can't pass the puck to himself, so look for Backstrom to feed the beast.  The Swede leads the team with 7 assists, but can also score if left alone in scoring areas.

MIKE GREEN - DEFENSE.  Green is the quarterback for a very scary Power Play and has torched the Rangers many times in the past.  He isn't very good defensively, so look for the Rangers to exploit him in his own end of the ice.

BRADEN HOLTBY - GOALTENDER.  The Rangers have beaten Holtby in the playoffs each of the last two years, but it hasn't been easy.  He always seems to play well against New York, and though his numbers are very pedestrian right now (3.56 Goals Against Average and a Save Percentage of .886), look for him to be ready to stone the offensively-challenged Rangers again.  If somehow he doesn't get the nod, the backup is Michal Neuvirth.

Also tonight, the Rangers welcome back J.T. Miller, recalled along with newly minted backup goalie Cam Talbot when Arron Asham and Martin Biron were waived and subsequently sent to Hartford.  Miller had an injury that delayed his camp, but once he was there, he was very impressive.  He'll start on the 4th line tonight but look for him to log plenty of power play time if the Rangers get a call or two.

Until tonight at 8:00 PM EST....BLEED BLUE.

Off-day opinions and Roster News.

So, as we wait for Wednesday night, we have some roster moves to talk about - which will lead to more moves down the line.

Today, the Rangers waived Arron Asham and Martin Biron.  I can't say I'm surprised about the Biron move, as he started camp late, never looked overly comfortable in either of his two appearances, and basically completely got posterized by Tomas "Teenage Mutant Ninja" Hertl on the between the legs goal of the year in the NHL.  Then, when the team needed a jolt, he handed St. Louis three goals.  The Rangers are also very high on Cam Talbot, and are looking for him to grab the reins and learn from Henrik Lundqvist.  Combine those factors, and this is an easy decision.

The Arron Asham move puzzles me slightly only because he was waived in the offseason, earned a job in camp, and had played well in his chances, sticking up for teammates and basically fighting for his NHL livelihood.

The waiver rules are that players are on waivers for 24 hours and can be claimed by any team.  If so, the Rangers are completely off the hook for their salaries against the cap.  If they are NOT claimed, they can be sent to Hartford of the AHL and have a much smaller percentage of their salary counted against the cap.  This also leads to roster adjustments.  My hunch is that along with Talbot, the Rangers will more than likely recall Chris Kreider.  my only problem with that is that recalling Kreider and playing him 4th line minutes does nothing for the kid.  Perhaps he takes the place of Rick Nash during his injury and another recall comes up to the 4th line.  If it were me, I'd send down Jesper Fast and let him learn the defensive side of the puck, and recall two players.  Brandon Mashinter can effectively be a younger version of Asham, and to replace Fast, there are a few options.  Danny Kristo may be the most NHL ready, but the other options that may present themselves are Marek Hrivik and Oscar Lindberg.

For my money, there should be one more roster adjustment.  The first resident of the New Blue Review Chateau Bow Wow is Derek Dorsett.  When he was acquired last year, we were told "Ranger fans are going to love him - he'll be a replacement for Brandon Prust."  He's replaced Prust at the top of the NHL penalty minute list...and nowhere else.  The difference is Prust take fighting majors and not many minors, and as such is noted as a valuable penalty killer.  Dorsett takes undisciplined minor after undisciplined minor, and when your team defense is suspect and your offense has been fairly anemic, you can't afford those mistakes, because the stupid penalties always seem to end up in the back of the net.

We'll know more in a few hours.  Until then....BLEED BLUE.

Weekend Recap - 2 More "L"'s and more questions.

Hello all - after a long weekend of weddings and refereeing the Review is up and running again.  Unfortunately, the pattern is still the same as we have two more losses to talk about.

First is the follow up from the Sharks debacle - which was just as much of a debacle in Anaheim.  The Rangers basically slept though an ugly, listless 6-0 defeat at the hands of the Ducks.  As has become a pattern in every loss this year, someone on the oppostion had a multi-goal game.  On this night, it was Jakob Silfverberg.  Also, as has become the norm, Henrik Lundqvist tried to play the puck, and ended up somewhere in Sweden, and gave up the entire net for a cheapie.  At that point, the game was out of reach because the Rangers were offensively inept again.

PLUS/MINUS

There were no pluses from this game at all for the Rangers.  Coming into this game from a shellacking 48 hours before, they were unprepared, uninspired, and completely outclassed.

The Minuses have to start with the coaching staff.  How does a team not come in ready to play?  Everyone in uniform gets a minus for this one.

On Saturday, the Rangers actually played much better than in Anaheim.  To be honest, the Pee Wee game I refereed yesterday featured two teams that played better than the Rangers did in Anaheim.  As a change of pace move to get their team out of their funk, Henrik Lundqvist started the game on the bench, and Martin Biron got his first start of the season.  Unfortunately, he about 5 minutes in, he gave up a big juicy rebound that Alex Steen pounded home for a 1-0 lead.  It stayed that way until the fading moments of the period, when the Captain, Ryan Callahan scored his first of the season on the Power Play with 6 seconds left.  He took a slick feed from Derick Brassard, who had taken a slick feed from Derek Stepan.

So with that momentum, you'd expect the Rangers to continue in the 2nd period.  However, there's a reason that backup goalies are backup goalies, and in the span of 20 minutes, Martin Biron proved that he is indeed a backup.  St. Louis Captain David Backes, who plays like our Captain, ripped a wrist shot off the rush to give the Blues a 2-1 lead and give the Rangers the blues.  That goal was bad enough, but the next one was unexcusable.  Derek Roy came in on a 1 on 4 rush as the Blues were changing power play lines, and ripped a slapshot past Biron that as the announcers diplomatically put it, "he would like to have back".  The 3-1 lead was cut to a 3-2 lead as Brad Richards notched his 4th of the year on a rebound of another Brassard shot.  Again as the Rangers looked to build, Biron was caught too deep in his net and couldn't stop a deflected shot from Backes again that made it 4-2, and for the 4th time in 5 games, the Rangers give up a multi-goal game to a player on the other side.

The 3rd period was a wash - but Henrik Lundqvist was in the pipes for an early return from Club Pine.  Less than three minutes in, Ryan Callahan popped in his second power play goal if the game, literally.  He swung his stick and popped the puck about 15 feet in the air, and it bounced down behind Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak and into the net.  Unfortunately, the final goal of the game was not a tying goal, but a St. Louis insurance goal as Vladimir Tarasenko rifled a wrist shot on the power play past the artist formerly known as the King, and that was all she wrote.

PLUS/MINUS

PLUS - RYAN CALLAHAN.  The Captain is rounding into form, scoring two power play goals that combined didn't travel more than 5 feet combined.  He's in the crease, scoring Adam Graves-ian goals.

PLUS - DEREK STEPAN.  #21 is starting to round back into form as well, and with his two assists, leads the team with 5 helpers and is tied for the team scoring lead with 5 points.

PLUS - BRAD RICHARDS.  Another goal for #19.  He now has 4 on the season.  The rest of the team has 5 combined.

MINUS - MARTIN BIRON.  His team and his coaches counted on the veteran for a spark, but there was no spark.  More like a fizzle.  Biron gave up two bad goals, and one slightly less shade of bad one.  The difference between a 5-3 loss and a 3-2 victory.

MINUS - DEREK DORSETT.  In 11 minutes of Ice Time, Dorsett took three penalties.  He now leads the league with 32 PIM's - and all three of his penalties on this night were bad, and two ended up in PPG's against.

So now the Rangers must wait until they head back to the East Coast and face the equally disappointing Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.  Until then....BLEED BLUE

Blue Preview - Game #4 New York Rangers @ Anaheim Ducks

The Rangers, fresh off of the Shark Attack in San Jose Tuesday night, face off in Anaheim against the Ducks tonight.  They do so without the services of Rick Nash, who was sent back to New York after suffering a head injury from the Marc Stuart "check" in the first period that earned him a three game vacation (unpaid) from the NHL.

The Rangers are a panic-inducing (to the fan-base) 1-2-0 coming into tonight.  The Ducks are 2-1-0.

WHO TO WATCH

COREY PERRY/RYAN GETZLAF - FORWARDS.  Both players were very young in the league when Anaheim won the Stanley Cup back in 2007.  Each got huge contract extensions in the off-season and are being counted on to deliver.

JONAS HILLER/VIKTOR FASTH - GOALTENDERS.  Anaheim uses a two-headed monster in goal.  Fasth manned the net in their last game so look for Hiller to get the nod tonight.  Hiller also is a goalie who catches with his right hand - see if the Rangers pick up on that.

Puck drop is 10:30 PM EST.  See you tomorrow after the game.  BLEED BLUE.

Feeding Frenzy - Game #3 New York Rangers @ San Jose Sharks

If you've ever wondered what happens when you throw tired swimmers in the water around a bunch of bloodthirsty Sharks, you got your answer at the SAP Pavilion on Tuesday night as a group of men dressed in Rangers uniforms took the ice for the second time in two nights.  I am not sure they were even the same guys from Los Angeles, but either way, the Rangers got curb-stomped by the Sharks to a tune of 9-2.

Believe it or not, the Rangers actually led this game 1-0 as the Brad Richards Reclamation Project continues.  #19 scored his 3rd of the season on a 5 on 3 power play to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.  That's it for your Rangers highlights of this game.

Rick Nash took an elbow to the head from San Jose's Marc Stuart in the first period, and that ended his night.  Let's just hope there's no concussion involved, because although it was never stated last year, you, me and the lamp post all know he had one.

Henrik Lundqvist was bombarded.  Entering the 2nd period down 2-1, the Rangers gave up 2 quick ones to fall behind 4-1.  As coaches do to shake up their team, AV pulled Lundqvist in favor of Martin Biron, who gave up a goal on the first shot he faced, and ended up giving up 5 in all.  An unconfirmed report states that the Rangers team bus nearly hit both Lundqvist and Biron after the game, but that got by them like everything else did last night.

The story of the game for the Sharks was young Tomas Hertl.  The rookie, who I correctly predicted would be "one to watch" in the preview, lit the lamp four times.  The 19 year old from the Czech Republic looked like a young Jaromir Jagr as he ripped the goal nets.  However, and 19 or not, I can not give him a pass on this, in a 7-2 game, the kid pulled a video game move and shot the puck between his legs to beat Biron.  As far as I could tell, he didn't see the ice after that, which is good because he probably would have ended up swallowing teeth.  I understand young players make flashy plays, but you have to expect retribution if you embarrass a professional like Biron.

PLUS/MINUS

PLUS - Brad Richards.  Goal #3 in 2 games.  #19 is definitely playing his way back into good graces.

PLUS - Derek Dorsett.  #15 got his first goal in a Ranger uniform to make it 7-2.  Which is kind of like re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

PLUS - Justin Falk and Jesper Fast.  They were scratched, so they had nothing to do with this shellacking.

MINUS - Everyone wearing white.  The entire team.  You're professionals.  I understand it was back to back games, but you got outshot 17-4 in the second period alone.  The goalies couldn't stop a beach ball.  Nobody flattened the little hot dog Hertl after his showboat goal.

Next game is Thursday night.  The Rangers have 48 hours to lick their wounds and take on the Anaheim (Don't Call Us Mighty) Ducks.

Even after last night's thrashing, I still......BLEED BLUE.

Blue Preview - Game #3 New York Rangers @ San Jose Sharks

The Rangers are right back at it tonight as they move to the Shark Tank to take on the San Jose Sharks.  Puck drop is 10:30 PM EST on the MSG Network.

The Sharks come into this tilt at 2-0-0 with identical 4-1 decisions over Vancoucer and Phoenix.  The Rangers are 1-1-0 after last night's complete 3-1 victory over Los Angeles.

WHO TO WATCH FOR - SAN JOSE SHARKS

Antti Niemi - Goaltender.  For the second night in a row, the Rangers face a goalie who has won a Stanley Cup.  Niemi guided the Blackhawks to the Cup three seasons ago and is a proven commodity in net.  He comes into the game with a 1.00 GAA and a .956 Save Percentage.

Logan Couture - Forward.  The future of the Sharks is coming into his own as a player.  Excellent player with a decent scorer's touch.

Tomas Hertl - Forward.  The rookie has 2 goals in his first 2 games.

If you can't catch the game, check in tomorrow for the recap.  Until then, BLEED BLUE.

A Royal Flush! Game #2 - New York Rangers @ Los Angeles Kings

Well, even though it seems like I just went to bed, here we are on Tuesday morning, and as the Mets' great announcer Bob Murphy used to call it, we have a "Happy Re-cap" as the Rangers went out to Los Angeles and worked their way to an impressive 3-1 victory.  Alain Vigneault has his first win as Rangers coach, and he had a lot to like about this one.

The Rangers came out flying, forechecking and hitting.  Oh by the way, Ryan Callahan was back, and if you think those two things are a coincidence, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'll sell you.  Callahan was taking the body every chance he could, and it led to him taking a stick to the mouth from Anze Kopitar that was completely accidental, but looked pretty nasty.  The Rangers rolled all their forwards and got great efforts from every single one.  The top line is starting to find their groove, as Derek Stepan forced a turnover just inside the offensive zone that led to a Rick Nash shot.  Jonathan Quick made the initial save for the Kings, but Brad Richards kicked the rebound to his stick and banked a sharp angle rebound in off a sliding defenseman into the net to give the Rangers a hard-fought 1-0 lead which held until the end of the first period.

In the second period, the law firm of Nash and Richards cashes in again as Nash caused a turnover at the Kings blue line, feeds a pass that tipped off of Derrick Brassard to Richards.  Richards streaked down the slot, looking to feed Brassard.  His pass deflected off of defenseman Slava Voynov right between the legs of Quick and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Lost in all this was the fact the Henrik Lundqvist was solid, but didn't have to be spectacular.  He got help from the crossbar on a Dustin Brown rocket and also the goalpost on a Jordan Nolan breakaway, but otherwise made the saves he had to make, controlled his rebounds, and didn't try to do much.

Third period action saw another turnover lead to a goal, but this time, it bit the Blueshirts in their Blue behinds.  Dan Girardi lost the puck to Ranger nemesis Mike Richards who fed a wide open Jake Muzzin in the slot, and he went top shelf on Lundqvist to make it 2-1.

Now, you can watch hockey for a long time and never see anything like the Rangers third goal.  Deep in their own zone after a penalty call, Brian Boyle wins a faceoff to Ryan McDonagh who fires it down the ice off the center boards.  As it caroms towards the goal, Quick had a "GAAAAACK" moment, losing his stick, having the puck bounce off his blocker pad and rolling into the net.  That was all she wrote.

PLUS/MINUS

PLUS - Brad Richards.  The reclamation project continues as #19 tallies his first 2 goals of the season.  The Rangers need every bit of offense they can get from him.

PLUS - Mats Zuccarello.  He was a waterbug all over the ice creating plays, taking on players much bigger than him (which is basically everybody).  Sometimes you can't judge things on the scoresheet, and Zuccarello was one of the best players on the ice.

PLUS - Alain Vigneault.  Congrats on the win, coach.  We all hope it's the first of many.

MINUS - The Power Play.  Too fancy,  The Rangers had 3 power plays and managed one shot on goal combined on all three.  I'd like to see John Moore on the PP just throwing it toward the net.  I'm not a coach though.

Come back later for the Blue Preview of tonight's game against San Jose.  Until then.....BLEED BLUE!

Blue Preview - Game #2 - NY Rangers @ LA Kings

Here we go - another first for the New Blue Review - my first Blue Preview where I'll give you a little information about the Rangers and their opponent prior to that night's game, including who to watch for.

Tonight, the Blueshirts travel to Hollywood...OK, Los Angeles and take on a team that many people are considering as Stanley Cup Contenders.  The Kings come into tonight with a 1-1-0 record, defeating Minnesota on opening night in a shootout and losing to the Winnipeg Jets 5-3 last Friday.  The Kings are one of the biggest teams in the league, so the Men In Blue have made some lineup adjustments.  In comes Arron Asham, who earned his way back onto the roster with a strong training camp, and out goes Jesper Fast for tonight.

Also in tonight is the Captain, Ryan Callahan.  He makes his debut after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.  The Rangers will certainly welcome back his overall Callahan-esque play on the PK, the PP and even strength.

This caught me by surprise, but the Rangers have sent down forward JT Miller after the Phoenix loss.  AV wants him to get steady minutes, and apparently he is, as he scored 2 goals in the Hartford WolfPack (which is a much better name than the Connecticut Whale ever was) victory the other night, a 4-1 win that also saw Chris Kreider and Danny Kristo score.  Granted, Miller didn't distinguish himself the other night in Phoenix, but the whole line struggled.  Either way, the 20 year old should get a little seasoning and be ready for when he's inevitably called back up.

WHO TO WATCH - LOS ANGELES KINGS

Jonathan Quick - Goaltender.  There are many who thought Quick should have won the Vezina 2 years ago when a certain King (not in LA, but in NY) won it.  Quick is one of the best in the business, and will more than likely lead the USA contingent in the Olympics.  The Rangers will have to work to get their offense on one of the premier goalies in the game.

Anze Kopitar - Forward.  All around, the Kings best skill player is the Slovenian Kopitar.  Silky smooth, plenty of size, Kopitar is the real deal.

Drew Doughty - Defense.  It's a matter of when, not if, Doughty will win the Norris trophy.  Ridiculous offensive skills, can hold his own defensively.  The Rangers have their work cut out for them.

Mike Richards - Forward.  No matter who he plays for, he is a pesky player with a high skill level.  May even drop the gloves - he used to fight Brandon Dubinsky all the time when Dubi was a Ranger and Richards was a Flyer.

WHO TO WATCH - NEW YORK RANGERS

Henrik Lundqvist - Goaltender.  The King wants to rebound from a very pedestrian effort in Phoenix and who better to do it against than Quick?

Ryan Callahan - Forward.  Welcome back Captain Cally.  The leadership of the Captain should be front and center.

Arron Asham - Forward.  You know the aggressive Asham wants to make a statement in his first game of the season.  Expect Asham to throw the body, and the hands if need be.

There you have it - drink your Red Bull or coffee because the game starts at 10:30 PM EST.

Until next time....BLEED BLUE.

Welcome to the Review - Game #1 at Phoenix

Hello all fans of the Broadway Blueshirts!  This is a new labor of love (and sometimes hate) that I will be undertaking this year.

I have been a Rangers fan since the late 70's.  I have experienced the joys of winning the Stanley Cup in 1994 with a team that was absolutely stacked, and witnessed horrible seasons that ended with basically the AHL team on the ice.  I have witnessed playoff heartbreak, and just out and out bad hockey.  Am I an expert?  Nope.  If I was, you wouldn't be reading this through a Facebook link or Twitter link.  I'm just a guy who loves the sport, and loves the Rangers.  That said, here is your first review of the season:


GAME #1 - NY RANGERS @ PHOENIX COYOTES 10/3/13.

The Rangers opened their first season of the Alain Vigneault regime with a very disjointed 4-1 loss to the Desert Dogs out in the jobing.com arena, where for an opening night hockey game, there were a lot of fans disguised as empty seats.  That's pitiful.

As the Rangers often do, they fell behind after taking a marginal penalty early in the game.  On his first Blueshirt shift, Benoit Pouliot took a very unnecessary holding penalty as he tried to leapfrog a Coyote forward to get to the puck carrier.  The Rangers killed the penalty, but Phoenix gained momentum from the PP and got on the board as the Rangers often let the other team do.....by a 4th liner,  Kyle Chipchura chipchura'd one from the slot past Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers are down 1-0.

In the second period, the Rangers would get even on their third power play of the night as Marc Staal took a smart feed from Rick Nash, cruised down the left wing and using his new visor that makes him look like he just filmed TRON in the 1980's, rifled a short-side top-shelf BB past an otherwise impenetrable Mike Smith to tie the game at 1.  More on Staal and Nash later....

It was at this time that Phoenix welcomed us to the Radim Vrbata show.  Vrbata is a gifted player that nobody really knows because he plays in the desert in fromt of more food vendors than fans, but the guy is flat filthy.  He scored the next three Phoenix goals as the Rangers dropped a 4-1 final in the heat of Glendale, AZ.

Now for my take on the game - I call it my PLUS/MINUS.

PLUS - Marc Staal.  Not only did he score the only goal of the game, but he played a solid defensive game, at one point delivering an instructional video type shoulder check to David Moss of the Coyotes that blew him up like an M-80.  Plus, I like the new visor.

PLUS - Michael DelZotto.  I thought MDZ had a pretty good game - joined the offense quite a bit and wasn't a liability in his own end.  AV seems to be high on him so before everybody puts MDZ on their "Defenseman we love to hate" platform previously occupied by Michal Roszival and Marek Malik, let's see where he goes from here.  He's still a kid.

PLUS - Brad Richards.  Yes, THAT Brad Richards.  #19 looked more relaxed and comfortable last night than he did all of last season.  Made good decisions with the puck and would have had a goal if Mike Smith wasn't 9 feet tall and 14 feet wide last night.

PLUS - Dominic Moore.  Just because he's back after losing his wife to cancer.  Welcome back.

MINUS - Ryan McDonagh.  Rough night for #27 - and not at all his fault.  Took a puck to the face on his first shift of the season and missed most of the first period, then had to kill an entire 2:00 penalty with Girardi that led to the second Coyotes goal.

MINUS - Henrik Lundqvist.  Gave up 4 goals - only one of which I can't blame him on as I thought he was interfered with on the second one.  Also proved once again that he should NEVER handle the puck outside the crease.  You don't get paid to stickhandle, King.  Stop doing it.

MINUS - Brian Boyle.  Simply for the fact that he broke 2 sticks in the defensive zone and indirectly led to two goals.  Get a new stick manufacturer Boyler.

PLUS/MINUS - Rick Nash.  Never really got on track during the game - and had a bad turnover that led to the fourth Coyote goal.  Did make a nifty pass to Staal for the only Blueshirt tally, and oddly enough, dropped the mitts and fought Martin Hanzal after Hanzal railed Derek Stepan near the Coyote player bench.

The Rangers have a few days off to think about this and prepare for the Los Angeles Kings, who many people are predicting to win the Stanley Cup again, Monday night.  Until then......BLEED BLUE.