New York Rangers

[littleranger]

Hey Ranger, what's your opinion of what's going on right now with Gaborik? He get's benched and comes back the next night with guns blazing. Is it all just mental?

The answer to his 'guns blazing' game is Jonas Gustavsson...it was a typical Gaborik game except Gustavsson was horrendous. They won't admit it but he must be injured...doesn't have that explosiveness Rangers fans are used to seeing. He should pick it up with Vinny as he still has his shot and vision...but not having that burst is hurting him.

[Instant Karma]

Ah, I'm hating to hear that.

Appreciate it, ranger.

[dyzfunctioned]

Prospal and Gaborik reunited! Woot.

[littleranger]

February 3rd: Devils(17-30-3) @ Rangers (29-20-4)
7:00PM est
MSG/MSG+

Headline: Devils are movin' on up and the Rangers are all healthy.

HEAD TO HEAD

The Rangers are up 3-0-0 in the season series outscoring the Devils 9-2.

By the Numbers:
http://www.dobberhockey.com/frozenpo...02-03&team=N.J

Looking at those numbers you see A LOT of checkmarks beside the Rangers. That may not be the case as the Devils are 7-2-1 in there last 10. They have found there groove with Lemaire.

The Players History:
-Elias has 60 pts in 66 games career against the Rangers
-Kovalchuk has 32 pts in 36 career games against the Blueshirts
-Gaborik has 13 pts in 15 games against the Devils
-The return of Vinny means 31 pts in 47 games career against the Devils
-In the last 3 years not one player is close to point per game in this series.

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

Tonights starters:

Lundqvist
-Suffered a heartbreaking defeat last game to the Pens while stopping 23 of 26 and stopping 6 of 7 in the shootout.
-Has a save % of 931% and 2.10 GAA since Jan 1st. Somehow he sports a 5-4-2 record in that span
-21-7-5 career with a 1.81 and 938 save% career against the Devils
-Lundqvist and Bieber? WTF? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Dyc2ypOsQ

Brodeur
-Coming off a 15 for 16 win against the dismal Senators.
-Has not allowed more than 3 goals in 11 starts. He is 6-1-1 in his last 8 only losing to the Red Wings
-Fatso's career #s against the Rangers: 42-25-15-5 with a 2.09 and .919%

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[B]Rangers notes[B]
-Vinny Prospal WILL return tonight. He will be playing with Gaborik and Stepan. 58 of Gaboriks 86 points last season were with Prospal on the ice.
-Steve Zipay's educated guess has Drury with Avery and Wolski tonight.
-Kris Newbury was returned to the Whale with Prospals return. Expect a spike in Prust's PIMS
-Going to be a little easier to see where MZA,Wolski,Anisimov,Boyle line up and what impact Prospals return has on them.
-(5f+3d)8 players showed up to todays optional practice for the Rangers.
-Fedotenko will be out for 3-4 weeks following his appendectomy
-No word on Eminger or Del Zotto being the scratch

Devils notes
-Lemaire hasn't ruled out on Brodeur playing B2B and he missed yesterdays practice due to 'soreness'
-Lemaire said he will decide this afternoon whether defenseman Mark Fayne or rookie right wing Mattias Tedenby will get back in the lineup tonight.
-Optional practice today saw 7F and 7D
-Last games lines saw: Kovalchuk-Zajac-Palmieri/Elias-Rolston-Zubrus/Zharkov-Arnott-Mair/Sestito-Pelley-Clarkson

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Proline has Rangers at 1.45 and Devils at 2.20 for the 1 goal win. If I were a betting man I'd say Devils have a good shot to meet that.

Will have more notes as they come! LETS GO RANGERS!

[littleranger]

Prospal and Gaborik reunited! Woot.

Damn right! Hopefully Prospal is actually 100%.

[BC Oiler]

What does the return of Prospal mean for Anisimov?

[littleranger]

What does the return of Prospal mean for Anisimov?

If Stepan faulters this evening then you'd have to think second in line is Anisimov due to his recent success with Gaborik. It'll definently cut into Anisimovs time and more importantly his powerplay time. Anisimov had all year to prove he was ready for top line minutes and failed to due so which means Prospal will be one-up on his for the rest of the year.

That being said, I wouldnt expect over 18 pts in the remaining 29 games this season.

[BC Oiler]

Great insight. Thank you.

[littleranger]

Prospal-Step-Gaborik; Dubi-Anisimov-Cally; Zuke-Boyle-Prust; Avery-Dru-Wolski
Staal-Girardi, McDonagh-Sauer, Del Zotto-Gilroy.

Torts says to Eminger 'it isn't forever'. Also said Del Zotto looks nervous out there but will be utilized on the powerplay.

Hopefully that 2nd line which had so much success earlier in the season can take off again. Hard working and all 3 willing to take the hit to make the play. Also hoping Zuccarello can still produce with the grinders...they play tonnes of PK time so hopefully the Rangers don't take too many penalties as it would cut largely into MZA's ice time.

[littleranger]

An update on the toughest player in the NHL...

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/slapsh...5Wz7ac7wJq9QtO

Hope he can recovery soon...gotta feel bad for that guy.

[littleranger]

Feb 3: Devils 3 @ Rangers 2

Few post-game notes and thoughts from the Rangers/Devils game:

Devils Notes:

-I have seen probably 20 Devils games this year and the improvement of Brodeurs #s can be attributed to both the steady responsible defensive unit Lemaire has put in place and the fact Brodeurs just seeing the puck a lot better. Earlier this year it looked like he was fighting the puck off a lot but tonight he's seeing everything. Prospal goal was a deflection.
-Kovalchuk has looked every bit as good as advertised last season. Hes taken a bunch of shots and timely as well (not just shooting from the corners). He has a cannon and hes finally getting the space to use it. He was quoted saying 'I'm thinking shooting more'...as opposed to 'I'm thinking of being a minus player.'
-Rolston hasn't looked out of place at all this game. A great shot as always and a well deserved goal...he plays the entire powerplay with Kovalchuk on the point. Great work by Lemaire finding a way to turn him around
-The Devils powerplay has been simple but effective. As I said, Kovalchuk has the lanes to shoot now which is a lot different than earlier this year when he was forcing tonnes of shots and the team was forcing passes to him.
-Devils also relying on there old method of boring hockey. They have all 5 guys back not one even close to pinching when theyre in the defensive zone. Should tell lots of teams this - it hurts more often than it helps when you cheat.
-Tendenby has been very effective offensively almost every shift. He's not playing much time but hes making the most of it...I'd have to think he'll be in the lineup next game as well. Seems like Lemaire doesn't like him that much though...I remember seeing before he didn't know much about him so he didnt want to play him...
-Not much of an offensive effort from Zajac tonight. Played over 20 minutes but most of them on the backcheck and deep in his own zone.

Rangers Notes:

-Prospal had a really good overall game. Scored an iffy goal from the side. Smart defensively and playing with his nose to the net offensively. Him and Gaborik look really good together...I don't see Torts splitting them up but they have to keep putting the puck in the net. Could just be an adrenaline rush but he was the Rangers best player.
-Zuccarello played the point on the powerplay showing his creativity...only problem is they had a huge problem getting it into the offensive zone.
-Lundqvist had a very weak game. Let in a very questionable goal to Zubrus and a far shot from Rolston (it was a boomer tho).
-Faceoffs a huge issue yet again going 23 to 39.
-Del Zotto was nervous almost all game. Still doesn't look like an NHL player. Booted off the top pp unit in the 3rd.
-Avery had played a great game...just unfortunate they have so many forwards now.
-Wolski's ice time saw a HUGE dip from the return of Vinny. Played less than 13 minutes.
-Rangers hit the post with less than 2 seconds left... ****

Ranger PP:
Wolski-Prospal-Gaborik
Zuccarello-Del Zotto/Staal

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Zuccarello-Del Zotto/Staal

[littleranger]

An update from Torts and today's practice:

-Torts says that Erik Christensen is back in lineup tomorrow and that Chris Drury likely won't make road trip due to sore knee

Zuccarello skated with Christensen and Avery in practice so I expect that to stick. If Stepan can't get any 5 on 5 production going with his linemates Gaborik/Prospal, Christensen will be inbetween the 2 by the third period.

[donions]

Who gets more points down the stretch; Callahan, Wolski or Prospal??

[littleranger]

Who gets more points down the stretch; Callahan, Wolski or Prospal??

1. Prospal*
2. Callahan
3. Wolski

If Prospal can stay healthy he'll get more than Callahan. But only barely more. Has all the opportunity and soon Gaborik will shape up.

[littleranger]

Reports from Montreal saying it'll be Price up against Biron tomorrow.

Tomorrow prior to gametime ill post some updates, blurbs, and tidbits on the game.