Lundqvist an MVP candidate In Addition to Vezina Front Runner

Right now Henrik Lundqvist may be the most important player to any team in the entire NHL. Only Evgeni Malkin and perhaps Pavel Datsyuk come in to the same discussion. However unlike the Rangers, neither Pittsburgh nor Detroit has the same team wide goal scoring woes as the Rangers. The Wings have scored 27 goals more than the Rangers while the Pens (decimated by injury) have scored over 20 more at time of writing.

No one does more with so little than Lundqvist. It’s this lack of support and margin for error why the Swede should be a front runner for both the Vezina and the Hart Trophy. Everyone knows the Rangers goalie has been spectacular but it’s the reliability and consistency that set him apart from his peers.

Lundqvist leads the lead in shutouts. He is fifth in wins but has played at least 6 games less than everyone ahead of him in that statistic. Of goalies who have started more only one in the league has a better GAA than Lundqvist’s 1.82 and that is Brian Elliot who has played in 14 games less. Of goalies who have played 20+ games no one has a better save percentage than Lundqvist’s .939.

All of the above are incredible numbers, especially when you consider the injuries the Rangers blue line have sustained and the difficult pre-season and start to the year the Rangers had to endure. With only one player (Malkin) on course for a 100 point season it seems reasonable to suggest a goaltender could win the Hart and that has to make Lundqvist the front runner.

Like so much else, a lot could hinge on Marc Staal finding his old form in the next few weeks. With Staal back to full match sharpness the Rangers defense promises to be stingier, not to mention if they get Sauer back this year at some stage. It all bodes well for the King.

Lundqvist has been more aggressive this season. Whether it is a greater level of confidence or a change in approach Lundqvist has challenged shooters more than he ever has and the results have been brilliant. Could it be the extra rest that has seen Lundqvist (somehow) go up a level in his play? Ironically, the season Lundqvist plays his least games in several years could be the season when he bags a host of hardware. No Ranger deserves the recognition more.

ESPN’s Top 100 Players: Five Rangers In 20-100

John Buccigross at ESPN listed the top 100 players in the NHL. The highest ranked Rangers were Brad Richards (20), Marian Gaborik (26) and Henrik Lundqvist (27). Ryan Callahan came in at #61 and Dan Girardi came in at #91.

Marc Staal was the only Ranger that I think should have cracked this list.  Staal is one of the best defensive defensemen in the league and has made a career shutting down the league’s best. Obviously Buccigross kept prior seasons in mind when composing this list with some of these rankings.

NHL Skills Competition Participants

The NHL has announced the participants of the NHL Skills Competition, to take place tonight. The four Rangers participating will be in six events:

Marian Gaborik

• Skills Challenge Relay
• Elimination Shootout

Dan Girardi

• Shooting Accuracy (passer)

Carl Hagelin

• Fastest Skater (side note: he only loses if he blows a tire)
• Elimination Shootout

Henrik Lundqvist

• Elimination Shootout

The remaining contest listings can be found here.

The Prospect Quagmire

As the trade deadline approaches, no time is more fun to play armchair GM.  Its easy to swap underperforming players and picks like trading cards and instantly transform the team into a playoff power house.  This enjoyable little exercise usually leads to us giving a deeper examination to the value of prospects and roster players we could see being moved for a deadline upgrade.

Prospects were once traded with relative anonymity and by the time they blossomed into stars, we had probably forgotten what organization originally drafted them (I know I had long forgotten that Adam Graves was originally a Red Wings draft pick).  Today, we can follow the career of a young player from the junior hockey/college ranks, even some in prep school.  This type of access allows us, as fans, to form bonds with these players and the potential impact that they may have some day.  Just like children, everyone loves their own kids more than anyone else’s and this is an especially important concept come prime trading times.

Let me preface this by saying that I am tremendously excited for the future of the Rangers organization.  They have drafted and traded well over the past 5+ years and the system is starting to bear the fruit of that work.  There is serious prospect depth in the minors/juniors and we have seen homegrown stars in Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Ryan Callahan come into their own right before our eyes.  Players like Brandon Dubinsky and Michael Del Zotto have found success at the NHL level and Carl Hagelin has made an immediate impact since his call up.  Also, we can’t leave out everyone’s favorite 7^th round draft pick, Henrik Lundqvist.

We all like to envision every member of the farm system representing another piece in an all homegrown Rangers Stanley Cup champion.  After all, young, cost-controlled players with upside are the best way to manage the cap and avoid the potential albatross deals that have been something of a blight on Glen Sather’s record.  From a practical standpoint however, one of the biggest benefits of a strong farm system is the ability to trade from an area of strength to shore up weaknesses on the big club.  As Dave has astutely pointed out in his Scouting the Deadline series, it is important to be able to accurately value these assets and make a business decision about whether to proceed with a given move.

What we all need to remember is that prospects are essentially lottery tickets.  We have all lived through our fair share of first round busts, and unfortunately the vast amount of players simply don’t live up to their ceiling.  Take Chris Krieder, for example.  Every scouting report I have ever read about him says his physical gifts are truly elite.  On the other hand, there are serious concerns about his hockey IQ and awareness/anticipation on the ice.  Now, this obviously isn’t to say he cannot succeed or be every bit as effective as his skills will allow him to be.  It’s just to say that he is not a known quantity at this point.  Depending on the other pieces, I wouldn’t be opposed to including him in a trade for someone like Bobby Ryan for instance.

As the deadline draws near, the Rangers’ are in somewhat of a precarious position.  Their window of contention is opening a little earlier than most expected, and it takes careful management not to overplay your hand and set your organizational development back.  Stripping down the farm system for an elite player could potentially be that final piece that brings Lord Stanley back to Broadway, or it could mean losing several key pieces that could help achieve the same result in 2-3 years.  This is the $64,000 question.

The ability to follow our teams prospects from the amateur ranks to The Show has added a new layer to hockey fandom.  It helps give up a more three-dimensional look at the management of the organization and it’s a lot of fun to see where the next crop of great Rangers is going to come from.  When it comes to evaluating moves or non-moves made this deadline season, it’s important not to hug prospects too tightly and look rather at the whether the move is good asset management and will help the team deliver its goal of raising the Stanley Cup in the very near future.

Rangers/Bruins Recap

Took all the way to game 46 for the Rangers and Bruins to finally collide, but what a game it was.  The Rangers bested the defending champs 3-2 in overtime on a goal by Marian Gaborik with 3.6 seconds remaining.  To the bullets…

• This one now makes 15 of the past 18 games these teams have played each other that has been decided by one goal.
• This game was an incredibly physical one, as expected.  It seemed like Boyle was a Lucic-seeking missile every time he was on the ice, and pretty much everyone had that extra edge this afternoon.
• Once the second period started, the offense began to come through.  4 of the 5 goals came in the second, and had McQuaid’s shot not deflected off of Brian Boyle’s stick, it could have easily been all the scoring.
• Brandon Dubinsky was the one Ranger I felt really struggled in this one.  It seemed like he tried to do too much physically and got thrown off his game.  He missed his coverage on the Ference (more on him later) goal and seemed more or less lost in both ends of the ice.
• I’m going to get all the critiques of the Rangers overall play out in this one bullet.  The power play looked god-awful again today.  If the last one was not a 4-on-3 for 5 minutes, it would have been another wasted opportunity.  I thought the Rangers turned the puck over far too many times at the top of the their defensive zone.  The Bruins point men did a nice job keeping clearing plays in, but too much through the middle and miscommunications on the breakout could have cost the Blueshirts a lot more than it did.  Lastly, they seemed a little soft in the slot area.  Boston does a great job of creating time and space in the offensive zone, but you have to clamp down.  But overall, they played a very solid game in both ends.
• The heart and will that this team has blocking shots is really something isn’t it?
• I fully believe that this game can be played perfectly.  It rarely happens, but you have to strive for it every single time you step on the ice.  I love that Torts has engrained that message in this team.
• I thought Brad Richards played a much better game today.  He had an assist and 6 SOG.  Much more effective than he has been recently.
• Marian Gaborik was obviously the star of the show today.  He had a tough assignment in Chara and managed to put 2 in the back of the net.  He stuck with the goal in overtime, putting the third rebound past Tuuka Rask for the game winner.
• Good call on the musical chair line combos Suit…
• Hank played his usual Vezina caliber game for the Rangers with 32 saves.  He is making all of the saves he needs to and a ton he has no business making.  He very much embodies the success of this team.  I thought Tuuka Rask played an exceptional game as well.  I believe that he is the better goalie in the Boston tandem and kept the Rangers from putting some distance between the teams in the middle of the second.
• There was so much in this game that was worth discussing, but for the sake of keeping the length of the recap reasonable, I’ll close with this.  Ference’s hit on McDonagh was absolutely gutless.  I hope Shanny takes a good long look at this play.  Exactly the type of hit that needs to be removed from the game.

The Rangers need to keep up the intensity from this tilt and prevent a let down game when they return home to host Winnipeg on Tuesday at 7pm.

Lundqvist, Gaborik, Girardi Join Tortorella In All Star Game

The NHL announced the rest of the rosters for the 2012 All Star Game, and joining John Tortorella for the festivities over the January 28-29 weekend will be Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, and Dan Girardi. Lundqvist and Gaborik were the shoe-ins, with Gaborik among the league leaders in scoring (23-11-34 in 40 GP) and Lundqvist leading the Vezina race (1.85 GAA, .940 SV%, 3 SO).

That  brings us to Girardi, who garnered a lot of attention when Tortorella ripped the fan ballot, as Girardi’s name was not on the ballot initially. The fan write-in campaign fell short, but never fear, the selection process was fair and Girardi was elected to the All Star Game, and deservedly so. Girardi does not have the flashy numbers, nor does he have the big game physical presence that others bring.

No, instead Girardi led the young Rangers blue line that was without Marc Staal and Mike Sauer for extended periods. Girardi became the rock on the blue line that the Rangers needed during that time period, and helped lead them to an NHL best 27-9-4 record through the first half of the season.

Girardi’s selection means that Michael Del Zotto, having an All Star caliber season himself, was left off the roster. It’s tough to call Del Zotto’s omission a snub, considering the rest of the All Star’s selected.

Overall, the selection process was pretty fair when looking at the rosters, but there will always be people that have issues with it.

Halfway There Report Card: The Goalies

The Rangers have been the beneficiary of incredibly solid goaltending from both of their tendys this year.  There has been rampant debate on the interwebs about the league’s best tandem between the Blueshirts, Bruins, Canucks and Blues (Jaro Halak’s early season struggles notwithstanding).  The biggest difference between the Rangers and the rest of the field is that they employ a traditional starter/backup arrangement, while the rest of the field has a starter/emerging starter set up.  This makes the debate a little murky, but regardless, Rangers’ fans can feel very good about the men guarding the pipes this season.  To the grades….

Martin Biron- I’m normally a very tough grader when it comes to goalie performance but the Rangers tandem is really tying my hands for the midterm grades.  Marty has been a revelation in relief so far this season.  His 2.06 GAA and .922 save % are high quality for a starter, much less a backup.  His 8-2-0 record also bears out how well he has played behind Hank thus far.  He plays an incredibly calm style, with very little excess movement, which helps keep his defense calm in front of him.  He may not be the flashiest or the most athletic goalie in the league, but he is a rock back there.  At only 10 games started through almost the first half, it would benefit Torts to get Marty a little more time down the stretch run if only to make sure Hank is fresh for the playoffs.  Grade: A

Henrik Lundqvist- What more is there really to say about Henrik Lundqvist?  At 29 years old he is coming into his physical prime.  Goalies tend to mature late (not that Hank has been anything less than stellar his first six years, but those questioning his step forward this year seem to feel he is likely to regress to his career averages), which would explain the serious increase in almost all statistical categories.  It appears Hank is really putting it all together right as this team heads into it’s window to contend.  He currently sports a 1.89 GAA and a staggering .939 save percentage.  I generally tend not to put a ton of stock in either of these stats as they are very context specific, but wow.  Hank is the backbone of this team and with the way he has played in the first half, the sky is the limit for the King.  Grade: A+

I just wanted to make one final point about the pace that the Rangers’ keepers are on this year.  I have been reading quite a bit of conjecture about how they are likely to experience some regression between the pipes, and while it is certainly possible, I find it more likely the pace continues. Marty, even at 34, is not cut from the true backup cloth.  He still could start on a non-contending team, and bringing that ability and experience to a backup role has been tremendous for his production.  I don’t see an outlier here.  His stats at the end of the year may not be as shiny as they stand today, but I don’t foresee a substantial decline in the quality of his play.

As for Hank, his consistency is what has made him a top 5 NHL goalie the past few years.  It seems now he is ready to take a big step forward and couple that consistency with elite production.  While there are several goalies having fantastic years so far, it would not surprise me in the slightest if this year the King takes home some serious hardware.

*Here is Dave’s mid-season report for the defense & Suit’s report for our bottom six forwards. Stay tuned for reports on the top 6 forwards and our coaches.

Rangers Steal One: Recap

The Rangers are really trying their best to eliminate the word lose from their vocabulary. The Rangers played an at best mediocre game. They lacked energy for the most part, lack cohesion and didn’t manage to sustain an offensive game. That said, this team has the best goalie in the league and has depth. The team got key performances from individuals and worked hard to earn a lucky 3-1 victory. To the hits:

Overall Game Comments

The Rangers got dominated for three quarters of the first but had Lundqvist to thank again. On the back of Lundqvist the Rangers gained a foot hold toward the end of the period. Following strong play along the boards and a simple cross-ice toss by McDonagh – ably assisted by Dubinsky making a nuisance of himself in front -Richards banked home a rebound with Fleury out of position. Call the first period daylight robbery on the part of the Rangers and their Vezina goaltender.

The Rangers were caught out of position for the Pens goal. Following Boyle being taken down deep in the Pens zone a three on three became four Pens as Ben Lovejoy was trailing the play and was completely free right in front and gave Lundqvist no chance. Fedotenko was trying to get back in to the play but was well behind Lovejoy when it mattered. A breakdown by the Rangers cost them dearly

Credit Tortorella for calling an early timeout. It may not have initially had an obvious impact but the Rangers All Star coach takes action when he deems necessary and doesn’t just watch idly like some coaches.

Biggest issue in the first period was the Rangers inability to stop the Pens putting pucks on net, getting bodies to the net and creating havoc around Lundqvist. In short, they seemed to do whatever they wanted around the net other than score more than once.

The Rangers routinely failed to track the free man in their own zone and were caught chasing the puck several times. Given how dangerous James Neal is, it was worrying to see him alone near Lundqvist as the teams battled for the puck near the corner early on.

Early on, it seemed the gap between the Rangers forwards and their defense was too big. The first period in general was the Rangers worst in a very long time. However the score after one showed why this team is where they are: they simply don’t give up and keep themselves in games. The very definition of ‘difficult to beat’.

The Rangers scored a great shorthanded goal following a breakout from their own zone. Callahan showed excellent patience with the puck, making a nice drag-back and slid a simple pass to Dubinsky who tapped in. It was an eerily similar goal to one the Rangers scored in the same game by the same two players last season.

Much like in the Winter Classic, following initial dominance by the opposition, the Rangers raised their compete level, found their legs and looked faster beginning to win more battles along the boards which led to a few chances on Fleury.

Rangers had a two on one about eight minutes into the second. Once again it was Dubinsky and Callahan breaking in and this time Dubinsky, the puck carrier, elected to shoot. This is the type of play that drives people nuts about Dubinsky. He simply has to get that shot on net.

It was noteworthy to see Lundqvist hold on to so many shots and freeze the puck. Why? The Rangers were better on face-offs in the game. As obvious as it sounds, being remotely competent in the faceoff circle reduces the time the team is forced to spend in their own zone.

The third goal. It all started from the way McDonagh patiently tracked Kunitz round the Rangers goal and forced him to play the puck backwards. Gaborik chased the puck down, Fleury mishandled and Stepan followed up a Gaborik post shot to bank the puck in an empty net. Poor play from Fleury but great pressure from the Rangers.

The back tracking from the Rangers forwards vastly improved following the first period. Their neutral zone play – and the aforementioned gap between forwards and defense – was much better as the game progressed.

Noteable Rangers

• It’s almost pointless singling out Lundqvist for his play because he’s spectacular most nights and excellent every night. He made big stops, his positioning was excellent and his rebound control was solid. As noted on the MSG commentary his glove hand was especially brilliant tonight. James Neal (active throughout) found his master in the King.
• Ryan McDonagh had a slight mid-season dip in form but it’s behind him. He was a beast in this game. Involved offensively, solid as a rock defensively and equal to anything the Pens had. When he plays like this (which is often) you almost feel sorry for Montreal fans. Almost.
• Brandon Dubinsky played his best game of the season. He was physical (which he needs to be to be effective) and he was excellent offensively while he constantly went to the net. However there’s that shocking miss on the two on one.
• Marian Gaborik ended the night pointless but he was busy, dangerous and defensively responsible too. His work rate and defensive conscious are under-appreciated but he wouldn’t get so many offensive opportunities if he wasn’t working so hard.
• A final tip of the Broadway Hat goes to Dan Girardi. Like Lundqvist it’s almost boring to praise the Rangers rock on the blueline but he went +3, and played great defense. Whether it is a block, cleverly negating an icing or his great positional play Girardi almost never makes a bad play. Immensely consistent.

Final Thought

What else is there to say? This team keeps winning. It gets contributions from all over the roster and with Marc Staal getting better with each passing game this team has another top tier player on his way back to form. In recent years a win in Pittsburgh would require a great overall performance from the Rangers but this season they can beat elite teams without playing their best. Scary thought. I cannot wait to see how the Rangers measure up against Boston’s finest.  

A Classic Winter Classic. The Recap

From the disrespectful attitude towards the Canadian national anthem, to the putrid Orange Flyers Winter Classic Jersey’s, to the terrible NBC coverage – there was a lot not to like today for Rangers fans. Luckily for Rangers fans there was a lot to like about the final score, the determination they showed in coming back to win and yeah, the moral victory in the jersey stakes.

The Rangers were the second best team over the first two periods. They couldn’t impose their game, got little-to-no sustained pressure on the Flyers and seemed to be a step behind the play. They didn’t give up however, had the world’s best goalie in net and once again, found a way to win a tight game. The Flyers couldn’t match the Rangers intensity in the third and their desire to win the one on one battles, so it’s not surprising the Rangers won an oh-so-tight 3-2 affair. What a game, what an ending, what a (Rangers) goaltender.

Let’s start the quick hits backwards, with the ending:

You want the definition of clutch play? 19.6 seconds left on the clock when Lundqvist out waits Danny Briere on the incorrectly called penalty shot to preserve the Rangers one goal lead. Lundqvist was spectacular throughout and that was a fitting climax for the league’s best goaltender on the league’s biggest stage.

The Rangers actually started the game well with Callahan having a great chance to begin the first. They were hard in to the corners and had some good early pressure but they couldn’t keep it up and as stated, struggled to do so until the third period.

You want more examples of the brilliance of Henrik Lundqvist? His early saves on Jagr and Giroux. The one (on Jagr) was patience, standing up to the Czech legend and taking the space away from Jagr. On the Giroux chance he was surprisingly aggressive and made a great poke check which likely caught Giroux off guard. There were other, multiple spectacular stops throughout the game by Lundqvist. Great goaltending. Again.

They weren’t at their best in this game but Anisimov and Gaborik did create some chances. However Stepan had a relatively poor game, his worst in some time. Defensively he was off while he was less visible offensively than his line mates. Anisimov was good on the puck while Gaborik showed off some nice awareness and his usual speed.

Throughout the first two periods the Rangers defensive coverage wasn’t great. One occasion early on, Voracek was wide open on the right hand side but luckily fanned on his shot – no one was near him.

The Rangers also caused several turnovers giving the Flyers some good offensive zone opportunities. There were simply too many neutral zone breakdowns by the Blueshirts (not Blueshits, Mike Milbury).

Before the Mike Rupp show began I had made a note on how Bobrovsky was pretty solid. Then the clock struck twelve and he turned into a pumpkin. Not just because of Rupp’s second goal either. He gave up several juicy rebounds and made a few routine saves look harder than they should have been.

It’s worth noting how carefully the Rangers were managing Marc Staal’s comeback as he had just  3:40 of ice time after one (compared to Girardi’s 10:46) and 9:35 after two. Very un-Staal like minutes but it was the right way to handle him.

• Thought on Brian Boyle: he had a great hit by Boyle to open the second period –why doesn’t he do that more often? That aside, good in the face-off circle which was much needed.
• Another defensive concern: despite nothing materializing from it I didn’t like one instance when the puck broke for the Flyers in the Rangers zone and the trailing Ranger (Mitchell) left his man in the middle and migrated toward the puck to help out his beaten team-mate. Had a Flyer got control of the puck he’d have had a team-mate standing in front of Lundqvist completely alone.

The first two periods the Rangers lost a ton of puck battles all over the ice. Credit to the way the team rebounded in the third. The Rangers won much more battles in the last period. A coincidence that they won the period? I think not.

More physicality: Brandon Dubinsky had a nice hit on Bourdon – he’s more effective when he plays a physical game. He was involved in the game winner though and generally played an intelligent game, especially how he handled the puck at times.

• Schenn’s goal 7:34 left in the second? After Matt Carle threw it on net, there was a big bounce right in front of Lundqvist that created a juicy rebound which a streaking Schenn chipped into the net. It’s hard to criticise Lundqvist given the bounce but Schenn did the right thing by going toward the net. More concern should be how Schenn was left unattended going to the net.
• My issue on the second Flyers goal? While Del Zotto was caught up the ice pinching (leaving an odd man rush) the winger needed to recognise the pinch by Del Zotto and cover him: it was another breakdown in the Rangers play.

Mike Rupp; by far his best game as a Ranger and not just because of the two goals – but obviously they were huge. Loved the Jagr salute by the way. Following a great pass from Prust, Rupp used Meszaros as a screen to beat Bobrovsky with a neat wrister for his first. That was a terrible defensive play from Meszaros by the way and Bobrovsky was helpless on the goal.

One point the Rangers had a 2-on-0 and Stepan should never have passed and instead taken the shot. One too many passes ruined a great chance which was created from a nice turnover by Gaborik. The botched play was symptomatic of Stepan’s day.

Kudos to Prust for two nice assist’s today by the way. Clearly he can play the game, it’s just been to rare this season from the gritty forward.

Despite having an average game, Brad Richards scored the eventual GWG off a rebound following great work from Callahan and Dubinsky. Richards roofed a rolling puck into the net. Nice finish.

After the Richards goal the Rangers began to finally establish their cycling game down low. For the first time in the game they were able to play their own game. Exhibit A: they had great pressure with about five minutes left of the third controlling the puck, getting lots of shots off and creating  traffic, eating up a ton of clock.

The closing minutes of this game were simply spectacular. The incredibly inconsistent referees attempted to hand the Flyers a tying goal but they couldn’t get it. How? First of all the power play was questionable. Then, as Callahan goes down the ice and gets pulled down, how the referees see a penalty on both the Flyer and Callahan is beyond. Finally, with little evidence to prove McDonagh closed his hand on the puck in a goal mouth scramble they award a penalty shot. Incredible decision making.

Side note: If you hear in the coming days or weeks that Henrik Lundqvist has a new love in his life it’s me. Today’s game hooked me in. I love you Henrik. God knows how I’d react if that was a Cup Final game seven. Henrik; Call me…..

So hey, the biggest stage so far and the Rangers find a way to win again. Tell me you don’t feel good right now, I dare you. This team is for real, far from perfect, but they don’t give in. Let’s enjoy this ride shall we? Oh and big up to the man with a cigar for walking into Philadelphia and guaranteeing a victory. I’m smoking my Cuban right now for you Glenny boy. 

Rangers/Panthers Recap

In a game that could have been easily overlooked in the wake of the Winter Classic on Monday, the Rangers took it to the Panthers 4-1 in their final tune-up before heading to Philly.  After a rocky outing against the Caps, the Rangers bounced back and played a very smart game and grabbed a little momentum to take to Citizens Bank Park.  Onto the bullets…

• The name of the game tonight for New York was the executing the little things.  For the most part, they got the puck deep, threw pucks at the net and created havoc in the offensive zone.  Defensively, they used the boards well, blocked shots and didn’t give allow the forecheck to lure the play into the middle of the ice.
• Scott Clemmensen had a rough game tonight, but the Rangers’ goals weren’t of the soft variety.  They made quite a few great first passes out of the defensive zone that lead to quality offensive chances.  Jose Theodore played much better in relief, but at that point the game was pretty well in hand.
• Another solid defensive showing for this overachieving blue line.   The defense did a great job keeping pucks to the outside and although Hank was somewhat busy, most of the shots came from bad angles. Stralman in particular had a strong game, and although Stu Bickel has been a bit of a punching bag since his call up, he has played incredibly smart, simple defense.  McDonagh does look a bit tired to me, but continues to play well.  If Staal can come back at some point in the near future, McD can get his minutes back to a reasonable level and should be better rested for the stretch run this season.
• For all the (deserved) praise the GAS line has gotten so far this season, the newly formed Hagelin-Richards-Callahan trio has been just as impressive.  They were the best line on the ice tonight and have been getting better with each game.  Hagelin has a tremendous hockey IQ and his speed has been a weapon since day 1.  Each one of these guys has a completely different skill set, but they play off each other incredibly well.
• Continuing the theme, Michael Del Zotto is probably playing the best stretch of hockey I’ve ever seen out of him.  He is making the simple plays and not overextending himself.  He is playing physical and jumping into the offense at the correct times/places.   His continued development will be huge going forward and he is clearly playing with a lot of confidence and Torts is rewarding him with ice time in a variety of situations.
• Brandon Dubinsky quietly has 5 points in his past 5 games.  I’m not sure I’m completely sold that he has fully turned his season around, but it’s a huge step in the right direction.  His goal tonight was a fantastic individual effort.
• Nice to see Richards play a solid game after a couple of rough outings.
• Henrik Lundqvist.  Best goalie on the planet.
• I’m not sure what was more entertaining to me tonight; the Panthers growl or Tort’s tie (it looked like an early 80’s couch).

After months of anticipation, HBO cameras and uniform drama, the Winter Classic is finally here.  Hopefully the Rangers can stay focused and play their game.  Wouldn’t we all love to see Glen Sather’s press-conference declaration become a reality?