Dubinsky’s biggest problem

No, it isn’t Carl Hagelin, although that’s a pretty big issue for Dubinsky right now. Dubinsky is clearly the forgotten man in the Rangers offense right now and his biggest problem this season is consistency.

Anyone who watched the Islanders game will have seen Dubinsky was strong on the puck and his line generated plenty of chances all round. Dubinsky then followed it up with a game against Carolina where he was a complete non-factor and ended up with the third least ice time among forwards bettering only fourth line stalwarts Mike Rupp and John Mitchell (who still managed to make some good plays in his ice time).

These two games – against cellar dwellers no less – sum up Dubinsky’s year. Yes you can point to the emergence of Carl Hagelin, who has provided effort, production, speed and a cheap solution to the left wing spot.  And yes, you can say Dubinsky hasn’t finished enough of the chances that have come his way – you’ll not find disagreement on any of this.

However, trust is earned with Tortorella and the coach simply cannot rely on the well paid Dubinsky to back up one good game with another. Dubinsky has twelve regular season games and the playoffs to save his Rangers career. He certainly won’t be a hurdle for Chris Kreider to jump given the organisation’s lust for the BC winger to be in NY as soon as possible. He’s well behind the eight ball if it’s a Hagelin vs. Dubinsky debate. And don’t even get started on a Nash/insert free agent name vs. Dubinsky debate.

Dubi doesn’t need to score at a crazy rate to finish the season to have a chance to remain a Ranger, but he does need to show something that has often eluded him his entire Ranger career – consistency. Note: there’s a big difference between consistency and streaky. If Dubinsky can show he can be counted on to be a factor for the remainder of the season, then both he and the franchise will benefit from it. It may be Dubinsky’s last chance to remain a Ranger.

Recap: Rangers v. Penguins

The return of Sidney Crosby promptly ended the Rangers mini-winning streak as the Pens dropped the Rangers tonight 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.  The Blue shirt’s Jekyll and Hyde play in this game ultimately was their undoing.  There was a lot of positives to take away from this game as well as quite a few negatives.  To the bullets…

• 1st Period
• The Rangers started off the game trying to establish a physical presence.  Boyle and Prust were targeting Malkin relentlessly.  Unfortunately, that physical edge would not last long.
• It seemed like the Rangers were getting their bearings for the first half of the period.  They almost needed to prove to themselves that they could skate with Pittsburgh.
• Tough bounce on the Pen’s first goal.  Biron made a nice pad save and the rebound went off the crossbar, off Bickel and into the net.  1-0 Penguins.
• The PK unit looked great in the first.  They were all over Crosby at the point and not allowing the wingers to gain possession along the sidewalls.
• Carl Hagelin was able to pot a rebound chance off a scramble in front to tie the score at the 13:36 mark.  That line was at it again. 1-1.
• Marty Biron had a rock solid first period, with great saves on several Penguins chances.
• 2nd Period
• Carl Hagelin was the best player on the ice (non-Malkin addition) in the first period and continued his strong play into the second.  He was a forechecking machine and created several turnovers in the offensive zone.
• James Neal had a tremendous individual effort on Malkin’s goal.  He stripped the puck from Ryan McDonagh and made a fantastic pass to Malkin on the doorstep to give the Pens the lead.  2-1 Pittsburgh.
• 1:12 later, Matt Cooke put the Pens up by a pair.  Broken defensive coverage allowed Cooke to sneak in the far side for basically an empty net goal.  Gabby got caught in no man’s land on the back check. 3-1 Pens.
• The Rangers got some chances in the latter half of the second.  Marc-Andre Fleury had an unbelievable glove save on Marian Gaborik, and Brandon Prust followed that up by banging one off the crossbar.
• The Rangers would pull within one with about five and a half minutes to go in the second.  Gaborik made a terrific back pass on a give and go to Brad Richards and eventually found himself in the slot and buried the shot under Fleury’s right arm.  3-2 Penguins.
• Late in the second period, the Ranger’s lost Artem Anisimov with an upper body injury sustained on a body check.  He would not return for the remainder of the game.
• 3rd Period
• Play was a little timid to start the third.  The teams started out 4-on-4 before the Penguins would eventually see the last minute or so of the double minor to Stu Bickel assessed at the end of the second.  The Rangers did a nice job killing the penalty, but as it was expiring, Brian Boyle blocked a shot that left him limping.  It was essentially a 5-on-3 as Bickel raced from the box and Chris Kunitz was able to beat Marty Biron over his right shoulder off a feed from Crosby.  4-2 Penguins.
• The Penguins would put the final nail in the coffin several minutes later after Pascal Dupuis banged home a rebound that Biron probably should have controlled or deflected.  5-2 Penguins.
• The Rangers had several good chances in the final 6 minutes or so but Marc Andre Fleury had a couple ridiculous saves.

Goaltending analysis

• Marc Andre Fleury was terrific tonight, making 29 saves.  He quashed several good scoring chances the Rangers (mostly the Hagelin-Richards-Gaborik line) created.  His glove was a major weapon tonight.
• Marty Biron obviously faired a little worse than Fleury in this one.  Overall, I thought he played pretty well though.  The first goal was a brutal bounce and there was very little he could have done on the Malkin and Cooke goals.  The rebound on Dupuis’ goal and his positioning on Kunitz was a little sketchy, but he battled and made some nice saves for the team.

Random thoughts

• Although the result is not what we were all looking for, it wasn’t as bad as the score would indicate.  Considering the absences of Lundqvist, Callahan and Del Zotto, the Rangers could have played much, much worse.
• That said, the Rangers lost this game when they stopped forechecking and maintaining their physical edge.  The only line that was really doing much of anything offensively was the new top unit.
• Too many wide shots tonight.  When your opportunities are limited, you need to at least force the goalie to make a save.
• Kris Letang was +5 tonight.
• McDonagh had a rough game.  He saw Staal take his spot on the top pair after the Malkin goal and made a few questionable decisions as the game went along.  Hopefully he can put it behind him and come out strong against Colorado.
• The secondary scoring has to start to come with some consistency.  The Stepan-Dubi-Anisimov line has to be better than they were tonight.  They showed flashes of promise, but they need to put it together consistently.
• Even though Crosby’s line did some damage, I actually thought they defended him personally pretty well.
• Health is so unbelievably important down the stretch into the playoffs.  This team needs Cally/Hank/DZ back asap.

Off tomorrow then the red hot Avalanche come to town Saturday night.

Musings: The Playoff and Penguin Edition

Good morning Thursday people. Apparently this is the morning where you’ve woken up to the biggest game of the season. Some media darling is skating into the garden today, he’s quite good apparently. Whatever.

Here’s a statistic for you: (I bragged about it earlier this year when I was in New York with Dave, the Suit and co.) Sidney Crosby is winless in Penguins games that I have attended. I say, long may that continue. I was there in November for the 4-3 victory over Sidney and his boys and I saw him twice in his rookie year in Canada. 0 and 3 Sidney, and don’t you forget it.

I’m going to stop lavishing praise on Carl Hagelin soon. It’s becoming boring and predictable.

The Gaborik – Richards – Hagelin line; the performance (as a line) against the Canes was both impressive and promising. I’ve a pretty good memory and for me, that was the most dominant one game performance by a Rangers line since the Jagr days during his 54 goal season. Any other alternatives you want to suggest?

Reasons we love Ryan Callahan: He had no qualms about going on the radio the other day and insisting the Rangers would go straight at Crosby. You know he’ll back his words up too. If he plays.

Back to the November Pens victory at the Garden: The Rangers dominated that game in the faceoff circle and was surely a key to the success. Richards was 13-3, Boyle 11-4, Dubinsky 11-5 and even Stepan was 5-3. The Blueshirts will likely need to win the faceoff battle again tonight.

Something I asked on Twitter the other day; is the current edition of Gaborik the best ever (so far)??

I am hard on him but I would love to see a quality performance from Anisimov tonight. He’s surely due. For the record; I am only hard on him because he’s so talented but we don’t see it enough. Just like his shot.

Kudos Time: Brian Boyle has been very impressive recently. Starting to find a rhythm offensively, playing the body more (even if it could be even more), defensively he’s been his usual excellent self and his penalty killing has been a joy to watch. If Boyle is on form heading in to the playoffs that gives the Rangers another dimension.

If the Rangers win tonight and conclude the home stand with at least 5 of 7 as victories, I’m resting Dan Girardi for a game or two.

Same goes for Prust and I’m also careful with Callahan.  It would also give an opportunity to give Zuccarello more ice time. Audition time Hobbit.

If the Rangers do the unthinkable and lose tonight, does that make the Avalanche game a crucial-win? The Devils, Red Wings and a suddenly surging (and still desperate) Sabres team follow tonight. That’s quite the threesome up next.

If you’re a Rangers fan you’re cheering for Buffalo and Washington right now, by the way. You’d much rather them in the first round than Ottawa or the Devils who are far more awkward opponents.

Question Time:

• If you had to choose: Boston or Ottawa as 1^st round opponent?
• More points this season: McDonagh or Dubinsky?
• If you could only retain one: Fedotenko or Mitchell?
• If you could only retain one part 2: Bickel or Eminger?

Game day, folks. Get your game faces on, avoid happiness in work. Don’t be fazed by happy people, Knicks fans or anyone from Pennsylvania. If you see a Penguins fan hip check them in to the side walk. (Dave, can I promote violence on the blog? No?) OK, scratch that last one folks….

My prediction: Rangers win 3-2 in OT. Sidney’s futile run against his arch nemesis (me) continues.

LETS GO RANGERS!

Not just numbers

You always have to overpay for talent in free agency regardless of the talent bought, but especially for elite talent. With that simple hockey assumption out the way let us discuss Brad Richards and his arrival on the Rangers. His numbers are important (obviously), but he’s not just about the stat line and should not be judged as such.

With a little luck and some extended form (and anyone who has watched the Rangers recently shouldn’t discount such a run of form) Richards could still flirt with a 70 point season. NO, it isn’t the heady 90 point years he’d recently put up with the Stars, but look back at how many players hit the 70 plateau the last few years – not many. Twenty four players broke 70 points last year, 30 the season before and roughly the same amount in 08-09. It’s not a mark that many reach. I’ll wager Richards puts up a few 70+ seasons as a Ranger.

That said, Brad Richards is beginning to do what he’s, in part, been paid to do – peak at the right time. His best play as a Ranger is coming now, as the Rangers look to win the conference. It’s coming at the tail end of the regular season as we head in to the playoffs, it’s coming as the pressure from behind has never been more intense this season.

Richards is playing exactly as the free agent packaging avertised. He’s carrying the puck with confidence, distributing it intelligently, displaying his wicked wrist shot and using it with frequency. Oh, and anyone doubting his big moment ability may have overlooked his 8 game winning goals which, just happens to be tied for second in the league. Again, statistics can be twisted to cater for a writer’s argument just as I have done to an extent here.

Richards is not all about the numbers. When the Rangers acquired the veteran they also bought a winning attitude. They bought experience and an ability to play under immense pressure – such as the big lights of Broadway (almost a point/game at home). They bought a player to show the other Rangers how to win when it mattered. Carl Hagelin’s interview during the Canes game was telling, as was Richards’ comments reference Hagelin afterwards.

Apparently Hagelin is making plays he’d never thought of making recently – since forming a line with Richards coincidentally. While Hagelin is a quick learner Richards is a quality and willing teacher – crucial on this team and shown also in the huge development Del Zotto has undergone this year.

Richards has made this team more skilled, deeper down the middle, given the team an additional veteran leader and has naturally added to the team’s offensive production – crucial against the likes of Thursday’s opponents. Also, think about this: you think it’s a coincidence that the first year of Richards being in NY is the first time since dinosaurs roamed the earth that the Rangers are challenging for the President’s trophy?

It’s fair to argue, as some will, that the Richards deal will only be a true success with either a Cup (several would be nice) or extended playoff runs littered throughout the almost decade long deal. Hey, free agency is an overpayment. That said, Richards is having a good first year on Broadway, he’s making a positive impact – so let’s not nitpick that he’s just a one-time All Star hey? Richards’ is here to stay and that’s a good thing. So far Richie can only be judged as a success whether you’re judging numbers or not.

Recap: Rangers v. Carolina

The Rangers got the better of the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 4-2 at The Garden tonight.  The Blueshirts were led by an unbelievable performance from the newly formed Hagelin-Richards-Gaborik line, resulting in all four Rangers goals and extended puck possession and pressure for the entire game.  Let’s get to those bullets…

• 1st period
• The Rangers got off to a strong start, creating chances from multiple areas of the offensive zone.
• The forecheck was another positive facet of the Rangers’ game early.  All four lines were able to create pressure in the offensive zone.
• Marian Gaborik started the scoring off early in the first.  Dan Girardi sent a point shot wide, and Gabby popped in a beautiful little shot off Cam Ward’s pad.  1-0 Rangers.
• The penalty kill was working in the first period.  Marty Biron made several key saves despite a somewhat boneheaded move to try and clear the zone up the middle.  Ruslan Fedetenko made a great save to bail him out of that one.
• Oh that Jeff Skinner, you can’t take your eye off him for a second.
• It was very clear early on that the aforementioned Hagelin-Richards-Gaborik line was the best unit on the ice.  Hagelin was absolutely flying in the first.
• 2nd period
• The second started off a little slow, but that wouldn’t last long.  During the lull I remember thinking that John Mitchell is a pretty strong puck handler, but he always seems to try to make that one extra move or hold the puck one second too long.
• Martin Biron made an enormous save on Brandon Sutter to keep the game 1-0.
• The Rangers would extend the lead to 2-0 on a Brad Richards top shelf snipe.  The Rangers had a strong forecheck and forced the Carolina defender to deflect the puck on goal.  Cam Ward was clearly surprised by the play and lost his stick in the scramble.  He tried to reset himself as Richards took a sneaky little shot through the defender and up where grandma hides the cookies. 2-0 Rangers.
• The (this line really needs a nickname) Richard’s line struck again with an unbelievable play by Carl Hagelin leading to another Brad Richard’s goal.  He shielded the puck with his body before sliding a beautiful reverse pass to find Richards all alone in the slot.  He carried the puck to the center for a better angle and fired another beauty into the top shelf.  Ridiculously patient play by Richards. 3-0 Rangers.
• The Rangers would be stung by a couple of unfortunate deflections later in the period.  The first Carolina goal was scored on the powerplay on a call I wasn’t a huge fan of.  Mats Zuccarello was called for tripping when the reply showed he didn’t make nearly enough contact to justify a penalty, but whatever, it is what it is.  3-1 Rangers.
• Carolina would strike again :32 seconds later on a broken odd-man rush.  The attempted shot slid right onto the stick of Drayson (I don’t think that’s a real first name) Bowman, who fired the puck past Biron.  3-2 Rangers.
• Cam Ward made several key saves at the end of the 2nd period to keep this one 3-2 going into the second intermission.
• 3rd period
• The third period started off with a symphony of iron.  First, Eric Staal hit the post on a shorthanded chance.  Then Mats Zuccarello hit iron on a Rangers’ powerplay, and Marian Gaborik hit the post on a laser shortly after the powerplay expired.
• The games really started to open up in the third period.  Odd man rushes were common place and both teams exchanged chances.  I would imagine this did not sit too well with Torts.
• Carl Hagelin would finally get the goal he deserved with seven minutes left to play.  He made a nice little pass to Gaborik for a quality chance before getting the puck back behind the net.  Tim Gleason cheated for the pass and Hagelin was able to walk right around Cam Ward for a much needed insurance goal.  4-2 Rangers.
• The ‘Canes pulled Ward with about 2 minutes left, but to no avail.  The Blueshirts would hold on the win despite being without Lundqvist, Callahan and Del Zotto.

Goaltending Analysis

• I thought Cam Ward played well despite his statistical line.  He had some trouble with rebounds, but was incredibly frustrating as Carolina clawed their way back.  I think he’s going to get serious consideration for the Canadian Olympic team in 2014 (assuming NHL players play that is).
• Marty Biron rebounded nicely from some subpar outings recently and gave the Rangers exactly the kind of performance they needed.  He made some big saves early and I wouldn’t put much if any blame on him for the two Carolina goals.  Bad bounces.

Random thoughts

• Just how good was the top line tonight? Gaborik: 1g, 2a, +4, 6 SOG. Richards: 2g, 1a, +3, 4 SOG.  Hagelin: 1g, 2a, +4, 5 SOG.  Dominant.
• The defense was very good overall tonight.  There were times where it looked like Carolina would be able to create a chance and the whole zone would close in on them.  Staal played big against his brother.
• If Tort’s decides to keep this line together, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the lines begin to take shape.  Would you like to see a Dubinsky-Stepan-Callahan line?  Anisimov-Stepan-Cally?
• Magic number is now just 4 pts for a playoff spot.  The difference a year makes.

Off tomorrow, then the big showdown with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins on Thursday.  Even if the Pens win, they will still be down 4 points with just 12 games to go, but wouldn’t an 8 point lead look nice?

Game Day Musings

It’s another edition of Musings on a game day. How convenient. It’s also the first since the deadline came and went and the deadline day inactivity was a blessing or curse; depending on your point of view of course.

The biggest winner of the deadline day for me: Buffalo. I think Cody Hodgson should be a quality center for a long time to come and any team that can get a 1^st AND a 4^th for a guy that has never scored more than 12 goals in a season has done well. Paul Gaustad; good foot soldier, nothing more.

I wonder when Rangers fans will get to watch John Scott in red, white and blue for the first time, against Boston?

The Rangers had a little pre-deadline day wobble but anyone that saw the Devils game has to be impressed. The whole shenanigans didn’t make them deviate from their game and they stuck with what got them this far. This team is in sync, it’s hungry and maybe some people are right, they deserved a chance to go deep as the unit that they already are. Hey, they’re well ahead of their development curve anyway, right?

Ryan Callahan is having a monster year. That is all.

It isn’t Rick Nash or another marquee player that’s put Dubinsky’s Rangers career on shaky ground. It’s himself, but also Carl Hagelin. The young Swede is as dynamic a rookie as there’s been in a long time and he’s out hustling, out skating and out producing Dubinsky at the wing spot. Consider the kid a future star: 43 games, 27 points, 40 point season approaching. Nice.

Is there any way Mats Zuccarello even contemplates re-signing with the Rangers? And, is there any way the club even contemplate offering him a new deal? Answer: no. He’ll want an NHL opportunity that is not coming any time soon in New York.

Anyone else really, truly thought of the absurdity of Henrik Lundqvist’s save percentage this season?

Playoff potential: right now the Rangers are looking at a showdown with the Capitals which is as tough as a 1^st round could be. 1 point behind is the Jets which would be a great match up.  It seems, at this stage, to be one of Jersey, the Caps, Jets or least likely the Leafs. It could be a lot easier folks.

Five, FIVE (!) teams have losing records this season. Gary Bettman, thank you for your diluted product, where parity is the beige of sports. To make matters worse two of those teams are a two game winning streak from a .500 record which would leave a mere 10% of the league with losing records.

Following a little fit of production, Artem Anisimov has gone back to being a passenger. At what point do you believe he’s hit his ceiling? At what point do you believe he’ll never fulfil his potential? If Chris Kreider does make the roster sooner rather than later Anisimov has no chance of establishing himself as a top six player on this club.

Chances Ruslan Fedotenko gets another year with the Rangers next year? If Dubinsky or A.N. Other leaves and prospects aren’t considered ready; don’t rule out one of Tortorella’s favourite troopers coming back.

Question Time:

• John Tortorella; does he win the Jack Adams this season?
• Does Ryan Callahan break the top five in Selke vote getters?
• John Scott – fights as a Ranger: over or under 5?
• First to 20 points; Prust or Boyle?
• Rangers have 21 games remaining; Does Lundqvist reach 40 wins?

The Latest on Rick Nash

12:47pm: Via Mark Spector, talks between the Rangers and Blue Jackets regarding Rick Nash have “advanced.” The reported package includes one of Ryan McDonagh or Michael Del Zotto, a prospect (apparently Tim Erixon), and a first round pick. The Rangers believe this offer gives them the edge over the Maple Leafs, and I would sure hope it would. That’s a serious haul.

As Dave said on Twitter, any deal bringing Nash to New York would have to involve Brandon Dubinsky going elsewhere for salary purposes. Columbus apparently doesn’t want him, which complicated things. It’s worth noting that Wojtek Wolski was not placed on waivers today according to Bob McKenzie, so his rather pricey salary will still count against the cap on Monday, trade deadline day.

I’m of the belief that the Rangers should look for an upgrade over the Stu Bickel/Steve Eminger/Jeff Woywitka trio, not subtract potentially two defensemen. We’ve seen the d-men get beat with speed quite a bit lately, and I don’t think that’s an accident. Dan Girardi, McDonagh, and MDZ have logged a ton of ice time this season, so adding another guy to soak up some minutes down the stretch makes sense. Anyway, I’ll update this post with any Nash-related rumors throughout the day.

Update (2:24pm): Per David Pagnotta, the Blue Jackets badly want Derek Stepan but will settle for Carl Hagelin. He mentions a package of Dubinsky, Stepan/Hagelin, Chris Kreider, plus a pick (not necessarily a first rounder), though it’s unclear if that’s on the table or if he’s speculating. Meanwhile, Larry Brooks hears that there’s nothing to the MDZ talk, but Erixon is in play. After the Wolski trade, the Rangers can add close to $11 million in cap hits at the deadline according to CapGeek. The money’s there if they want to do something big, or even two something bigs.

Rangers/Lightning Recap

The Rangers clipped the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 in overtime tonight at the Garden on the strength of a Brad Richards goal on a beautiful feed from Artem Anisimov.  After a tough offensive night against Jersey, the Blueshirts got back to their game and were able to outlast a pesky Lightning team.  On to the bullets…

• The first half or so of this game lacked any flow whatsoever.   It seemed as the two teams were trying to get a read on the other’s forechecking scheme.  Tampa didn’t appear to be running a full 1-3-1 but there was a hybrid trap thing going on that gave the Rangers trouble in the neutral zone.
• The Rangers only allowed 17 shots tonight (season low) and managed 31 of their own.  Defensively, the Rangers were very solid with the exception of a couple costly breakdowns.
• Artem Anisimov played a much better game tonight than we have seen in recent weeks.  He was contributing on each shift and going to work in the dirty areas.  Hopefully this will be a sign of things to come.
• The powerplay actually looked a little better tonight.  The new emphasis on getting pucks to the net from the perimeter can only bring better results.  While they didn’t live up to Dave’s lofty goal of two PP goals (actually, Dave just said two PP goals…didn’t specify it could only be the Rangers) but I invite everyone to check out the comments of the Game Thread to Chris C’s crazy prediction about that PP goal.
• Prust’s line looked great all game.
• Outside of the one penalty he took, I barely noticed Steve Eminger out there.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  For a 5/6 type defenseman to go unnoticed, it means he’s chewing up minutes without giving up too much.
• Carl Hagelin with another strong game.
• While I am psyched Brad Richards scored the clutch game winner in OT, I was more impressed with the shoulder fake Anisimov pulled off drawing two defensemen and a goalie right to him.
• Steven Stamkos is a force out there.
• Marty Biron played a quality game tonight.  Exactly what a good backup should do.  I’m curious to see if Torts plays Hank back to back this weekend or if Marty will see another start.
• Mathieu Garon played great in net for Tampa.  He made a number of tough saves on Rangers’ chances and kept this game from getting out of hand.
• Good to see the Giants supporting New York solidarity at the game tonight.
• The Rangers have done a remarkable job this year coming back after losses and tonight followed the trend.  The next few days will be another big test of this team’s resolve.  With Philly, Washington, Boston and Chicago coming up, the Rangers can really start to position themselves to make a deep run into the post season by beating some of the NHL’s best teams.

Off tomorrow and then into enemy territory at the Wells Fargo Center in Philly for a Saturday matinee.

One last shameless plug, remember to be here on 2/10 at noon where I’ll be hosting a BSB Live Chat.

Boston College Dominate Without Kreider Contribution

Surely no need to panic for Rangers fans but could there be something to read into how Boston College dominated Northeastern (in the Beanpot semi-final last night) while Chris Kreider was pointless and deployed on the third line?

Chris Kreider was deployed on the BC third line with Kevin Hayes, while regular line mate (and fellow BC offensive leader) Bill Arnold lead the Eagles with 1+1 as their top line scored 4 of the team’s 7 goals. This game, and recent weeks, is perhaps why Kreider is still in college – at least from a sporting perspective.

While Kreider has been having a consistent season, likely posting career high numbers across the board, he has somewhat gone off the boil in recent weeks and isn’t dominating any longer – at least on the scoreboard. Kreider came out of the blocks this season exceptionally fast; scoring almost at will, while averaging well over a point per game.

Recently, while Kreider has been contributing, his numbers have come back to earth slightly. The big winger still has an impressive 30 points in 28 games (including 16 goals) but he is no longer the dominant threat he was earlier in the year. It’s known that the BC coaching staff like to use him in a variety of ways and ice time on such a strong club is spread out quite evenly which may be the reason the team has seven players with at least 20 points but it’s hard not to read in to the offensive  ‘decline’ – to an extent.

Many Rangers fans clamoured for Kreider to turn pro this year and it seemed there was a chance it could happen as the club tried to openly sign him in the summer.  However, with the way the Rangers have progressed this year, with the way Carl Hagelin (who played out his full eligibility in the NCAA) has grabbed a roster spot on the wing, the Rangers have no need for Kreider this season. The right place for Kreider has been college where he can progress in relative discretion.

Hopefully, Kreider and Boston College will continue to have a strong year, will contend and go to the Frozen Four. More on-ice success for Kreider will stand him in good stead should he turn pro in the summer. Kreider appears to have made the right decision to stay in Boston this season. It will be interesting what decision he makes this summer.

Musings Day; Devils, Sabres and Stags

It’s a musings day once again, and it’s the day after a game day. A Trip to Buffalo. Without further delay, let’s get into it. After all, I have a stag weekend to attend.

The Rangers loss to the Devils; there was still a lot to like. The way they conceded the tying goal hurts, but ask the Phoenix fans about Brad Richards’ game winner a few weeks back and it just shows that luck comes and goes.

The thing that most stood out for me in the Devils game was the amount of high quality chances the Rangers created/had. Credit Brodeur for making several top quality saves but it’s been a while since the Rangers had this many quality chances in one game. Again though it comes down to one thing: conversion.

It’s time to start worrying about Brad Richards. He had a few peaks and valleys through the season but he’s probably playing his worst hockey of the year at the moment. Some people suggest an injury but I’m not sure what to think. One thing is sure though, there’s not a single aspect of his game that’s firing right now. He needs to be better and quickly.

That stag weekend I’m attending? Anarchy is planned. Sunday night will be the peak; Cuban’s, whisky and Superbowl all in abundance. I’m the only Giants fan amongst Miami, Packers, Bears, Buccs and Chiefs fans. Luckily there is no Pats fan although I’m pretty confident my friends will be rooting for the Pats to spite me. And yes, there really is a Chiefs fan here in the UK.

Carl Hagelin has played 15 games less than Brandon Dubinsky this season and is only 3 points behind his considerably richer teammate.

You want an example of how Del Zotto is improving defensively this year? In the first period against the Sabres, his positional play on Kassian was excellent. He kept Kassian out of Lundqvist’s line of sight and allowed Lundqvist to see the shot all the way, making it an easy stop for the goalie. Subtle but solid play from Del Zotto.

How can the Rangers survive subpar seasons from the likes of Anisimov, Richards and Dubinsky? 13 different players have game winners for the Rangers this season. Clutch contributions all over the roster.

Someone had a great statistic on twitter during the All Star game: Marian Gaborik has scored on 8 of his last 17 shots on Henrik Lundqvist. Wow.

Derek Stepan is going through a period recently where he simply cannot get on the score sheet, much like Anisimov. The difference? Stepan is still making plays as evidenced by his great chance in the overtime period against the Devils. How often have you noticed Anisimov make such a notable offensive contribution (regardless of end result). You don’t. I’ve always worried about the influence Anisimov’s fragile confidence has on his game. When he’s on he looks like a potential star but when he’s off, well he’s almost a waste of a roster spot. If this poor stretch goes on much longer his Rangers career may be in threat.

Sometimes it’s the little things that tell you about a player. During the Devils game Ryan McDonagh got to the puck before a Devil to get the icing call. His body positioning was exceptional and there was no way the Devil was getting to the puck first despite coming in quick. McDonagh rarely makes mistakes, is a very heady player and simply put, is a revelation, although you already knew that.

It’s amazing the Rangers haven’t missed Mike Sauer more. Huge credit has to go to the team’s overall commitment to defense– the team wide mindset, as well as the blueline corps. One of the THN writers questioned this week whether this ‘inexperienced blueline’ can keep it going. I have no concerns especially when you factor in Marc Staal getting back to his best.

Mats Zuccarello had a 3 point game in the AHL All Star game. Just saying…..