|
|
By Bryan Berg  December 26, 2009, at 9:38 pm  When the Rangers scored with 47 seconds left in the third period to tie tonight’s game at 2, I assumed that was it for the Islanders. The Rangers would go on to win in overtime; if they didn’t do that, they’d win in the shootout. I had my mental consolation speech prepared. It went something like this: “It’s a damn shame they didn’t win tonight. Kyle Okposo was a beast. Even if he never scores again, he should make the U.S. Olympic team, because he still makes things happen. Oh, and I f*&@ing hate the Rangers.”
Then, almost out of nowhere, Kyle Okposo, he who was a beast tonight, fired off a wrist shot that deflected off Marc Staal’s skate, then the post, and then found the back of the net. Islanders win in overtime.
MSG Plus gave us a bunch of stats that I thought said a lot about these two teams. First, Brandon Dubinsky’s second goal gave the Rangers their first point in a game where they trailed after two periods. That’s plenty of fodder for the “The Rangers have no heart” chorus. Second, the Islanders earned their 37th point a full 13 games before they hit the 37-point mark last year. Third, the one we all know a little too well, this was Okposo’s first goal in nineteen games. Lastly, and perhaps most pathetically, the Islanders have consecutive wins for the first time in almost two months.
Yes, the Islanders gave up a crucial point to the Rangers, a team they may be battling for a playoff spot later this season. But this was a big win for the Islanders. They took it to their biggest rivals tonight and got two points. They got a bit of a raw deal with the schedule – their game against the Flyers tomorrow starts just 22 hours from the drop of the puck tonight – but the Flyers are terrible and the Islanders are riding a great wave of momentum. Truly, there’s no reason why they can’t beat Philadelphia tomorrow night; there’s even less reason why they can’t beat Columbus on Tuesday night. That’d be four in a row. It probably wouldn’t get the Isles into the top eight before the end of the year, but it certainly would send them into 2010 on a positive note.
Huge win tonight. And one last note on Okposo – now that he’s broken his goal drought, look for him to heat up in the very immediate future.
By Zach Schiff November 16, 2009, at 11:57 pm Coming Tomorrow on The Rivalry!
* * Alex Ovechkin’s return is imminent, and what better way to do it than against the Rangers! (See: Kovalchuk; Atlanta; 11/12/09)
* * Bryan thinks the Islanders might be “for real” this year. His prediction is 85 points, putting them exactly where I predicted in September: 10th place.
* * Matt Moulson is to 2009 fantasy hockey as Steve Slaton was to 2008 fantasy football: Best Waiver Wire Pickup of the Year.
* * Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky still not playing for the Rangers. Don’t worry, even if they were, they wouldn’t score.
* * Wade Redden returns to glory on the power play. (Webster’s Dictionary defines glory as: “non-scoring, non-shooting, can’t keep the puck in the zone, overpaid, and got Tom Renney fired.” Weird.)
* * John Tortorella says Redden is “playing decent.” Glen Sather agrees. Sather then states that “All decent players should received $6.5M for 6 years.”
* * Blair Betts makes $600,000. Does more than Drury. Sather preemptively refuses to offer him a deal next year, saying “I will make mistakes, but I will never admit them.” (See: Betts; Moore; Drury; Redden; Rozsival; Orr; Brashear)
* * The guy behind me at the Ranger games is constantly a dick to everyone. Will he yell at the large people I sold my tickets for tomorrow’s game to? Will he live to tell about it? Why does he put a belt around his sweatpants and still think he’s a tough guy?
Stay Tuned!
By Zach Schiff October 22, 2009, at 11:52 pm Not too much to say about tonight’s game that you won’t read elsewhere since I recorded the game since I was out and watched it quickly.
However, notice the difference in the two games between the Rangers and Devils this year, most notably in penalties and power plays.
Arguably, the two teams played basically the same in both games. Sure, maybe the Rangers weren’t as good tonight, but they both played the same style – fast-paced, slightly gritty, kind of dirty.
Yet, on Monday, October 5, 18 penalties were called in 3 periods. That does include some co-incidental minors that didn’t result in a power play (an Ales Kotalik hooking call with a Nicklas Bergfors diving penalty; Aaron Voros and David Clarkson both for roughing in the 3rd), but there were no fights. All 18 penalties were two-minute minors. Each team had 6 power play opportunities.
On Thursday, October 22, 6 penalties were called. Two were from the same fight, and there were only 4 two-minute minors called, and one of them was with 24 seconds left.
What was the difference, you ask? Was it John Tortorella showing the Rangers videos of their penalties so they don’t repeat the same mistake? Possibly, but how to account for the Devils only taking 3 minors as opposed to 9? I think there was another factor in play.
Dare I say it? The difference is the network that the games were played on. The first game (10/5) was on Versus, where they want to bring in new viewers. What do “fringe fans” want? By fringe fans, I mean, say, people who normally don’t watch hockey but turn it on from time to time; or people who have no rooting interest in one of the teams playing but are watching anyway; or people at a bar watching it because it’s on. Fringe fans want to see goals. More penalties = more power plays = more goals and exciting chances.
If Calgary is playing Columbus, I have no reason to watch a 1-0 game since I’m a Ranger fan and have no rooting interest in it. But if it’s 6-5, 4-3, or even 6-5, I’ll watch because it looks like an exciting game. Same for people who don’t ever really watch hockey – they won’t watch a 2-0 Devils shutout but they’ll watch a 3-2 Rangers win with back-and-forth action and breath-taking saves by both goalies.
Now, tonight’s game (or technically, last night’s game) was on MSG or MSG+. Odds are, if you’re tuning in to a Rangers/Devils game on MSG instead of the Yankee playoff game where they have a chance to win the pennant, you’re a big fan and will watch the game no matter what. If it’s 5-on-5 play the whole game, I’m still watching.
I constantly say how much I dislike the games on Versus, not only for their annoying broadcasts (although last year was much worse than this year) but for the facts that the referees constantly blow the whistle for phantom calls and bogus penalties.
If you don’t believe me, keep an eye out during the next Rangers game on Versus. That game is November 17 at MSG against Washington. Think the NHL doesn’t want Poster Boy Alex Ovechkin, Nik Backstrom, Mike Green, and Alex Semin to score 8 power play goals that night? That game might break the record for two-minute minors.
By Zach Schiff October 5, 2009, at 2:05 am I would’ve done “Notes from the Garden” last night, but I got home late and passed out nearly immediately. I drank what turned out to be way too much, so some of the night is a blur. I don’t normally do that at games, but hey, it was the home opener.
However, I would now like to reproduce the team introductions…
“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome your 2009-2010 New York Rangers!”
That’s it? Really? No individual introductions of Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal, Brian Boyle, Enver Lisin, or Ales Kotalik? You know newcomers Mike Del Zotto, Chris Higgins, and Matt Gilroy would’ve gotten huge ovations. And didn’t Ryan Callahan deserve a moment in the spotlight after being named sole Alternate Captain?
One might assume they didn’t do it to save time, but I think that’s garbage. They do it every other year – even if the home opener isn’t the 1st game of the season – and the crowd loves it.
Maybe it’s because they know Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, and Donald Brashear would get booed? Maybe John Tortorella chose to not do individual introductions based on his own reasoning.
I would have much rathered gotten to cheer Gaborik skating onto Garden ice for the 1st time in the regular season than to see some painted men bang drums for 2 minutes to advertise themselves. And where was George Bluth?
They really dropped the ball on that one. The Home Opener is normally a great night, but last night it seemed like just another game in October.
|
|
Tags: 
