3 Stars
1st Star - The House of Horrors (Lived up to its name tonight)
2nd Star - My liquor cabinet
3rd Star - My local bar after I finished with the 2nd Star.
Post Game Cocktail Recommendation
Gif of the Game
Somehow the NHL is doing everything it can to phase fighting out of the game, but a hit like this is tolerated. Unbelievable.
Anyone Seen the Defense?
It's been a slog for the Rangers defensively the last two and a half months, but tonight was especially brutal:
Seriously, were they playing short-handed after the first period? Other than having Lundqvist in goal, of course. :)
Worst Case Scenario
Not sure you could have scripted a worse case scenario for Lundqvist tonight. First he's healthy scratched for the 200th time this season. Then he watches from the bench as Raanta puts on a goaltending clinic in the first period. Finally, when called upon to fill-in he promptly allows the first shot to get past him and from there it only got worse. Although, as shown above, it's hard to completely blame Lundqvist with all the defensive breakdowns.
It seems ridiculous to say this after Lundqvist was bombed yet again, but I feel that AV made a huge mistake going with Raanta tonight. The Rangers need to get Hank on a roll and the only way to do that is by letting him play. Would like to see AV lean on "The King" until the All Star break and then evaluate.
Depending on the extent of Raanta's injury, we might get this anyway.
60 Seconds in Hell
Remember playing the kissing game "60 Seconds in Heaven" when you were in middle school?
Well what happened between the 10:53 and 11:55 mark of the third period was "60 Seconds in Hell." Sadly, this isn't the first time seeing something like this in Montreal for the Rangers:
The DeLury Reverse Mush Parts IV & V
In the fourth and fifth installments of the DeLury Reverse Mush (Part I, Part II, Part III), here were my thoughts on Rick Nash and Brandon Pirri after Friday night's loss to Toronto.
The NHL War Room in Toronto Loves the Rangers
Since I've returned to blogging, I swear the Rangers are 5-for-5 on goal or offsides replays. I think they were 0-for-500 before that.
While the first and third reviews were correctly reversed and confirmed respectively, it looks like the Rangers caught a break on the Nash goal. I mean, Hayes basically dragged Price out of the crease by his skate. I guess it's considered incidental contact but if I'm Montreal I'm expecting to get that call after first goal was reversed. I'm not looking it up but this has to be first time in NHL history a team has three goal reviews in their favor and still loses. Only the Rangers in Montreal.
Sadly, the Rangers should have won another review this weekend as AV absolutely should have challenged the James van Riemsdyk goal Friday night as Kadri runs into Lundqvist impeding him from making the save.
Leading By Example
I know he caused the breakaway with his own turnover, but damn that's what you call a recovery.
Some captains lead by emotion. Others by intimidation. With McDonagh, it's by example as proved on this outstanding effort.
Mini Recap
- If you expected any other result in Montreal tonight, you deserve to be devastated. There's no more perfect name for the Bell Centre than the Rangers "House of Horrors."
- It really is too bad injury forced the Rangers to turn to their backup goaltender tonight.
- It really is too bad injury forced the Rangers to turn to their backup goaltender tonight.
- This game was literally the antithesis of Friday night. It had everything: goals, comebacks, controversy, fights, speed and emotion. The Toronto game? Not so much.
- After an 0-for-6 on the power play Friday night vs. the Maple Leafs effectively sealed the Rangers fate, the extra man did them in again as they couldn't extend the lead on Shaw's five minute major which obviously came back to bite them.
- The biggest disappointment of tonight's meltdown was the wasted offensive performances of Nash, Miller and Hayes. After taking a step back last season, Hayes is developing into one of the top young centers in the NHL. Plus, his look off pass on the Miller short handed breakaway goal was sweet.
- Speaking of Miller, who was an assist away from the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick," kudos on sticking up for Fast. Looks like the team did learn something from the Eakin/Lundqvist situation.
- It's still only January, so Rangers fans need not panic. Not yet anyway. But with how well Washington, Pittsburgh and Columbus are playing the Rangers can't afford to let too many more of these games slip through their fingers.
Remember to follow me on Twitter & Facebook or e-mail me at nyrfan94@yahoo.com.
- It's still only January, so Rangers fans need not panic. Not yet anyway. But with how well Washington, Pittsburgh and Columbus are playing the Rangers can't afford to let too many more of these games slip through their fingers.
Remember to follow me on Twitter & Facebook or e-mail me at nyrfan94@yahoo.com.
