An adage I used many times in the blog is that speed kills. We saw it when Carl Hagelin was called up, as well as watching Gabby through the neutral zone when he gets that second gear, as it forces defenders on the heels, opening space, leading to odd-man rushes and confusion defensively. Toronto, for the second time this season, took advantage of their speed early to build a 3-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 victory Monday.
The Rangers once again fell behind, as poor starts seem to be their want lately. Sooner or later we know that it would come back to bite them, and Monday was that day as Franson, Connolly and Lupul scored to make it 3-0. Anisimov, who was the team's best player Monday and Gabby tallied to narrow the gap to 3-2 in the second but the Monster made big saves down the stretch and a Dave Steckel empty-netter sealed the deal.
The Rangers got back into it by being more physical and clogging up the neutral zone, to prevent Toronto from flying up the ice. A good shift by the Dubi line in the second helped set the tone, but as Larry Brooks wrote yesterday, for some reason, Torts buried that line in the third when the Rangers were only down by a goal. He wrote: "For the coach abandoned the Dubinsky unit in the third, giving the line just two shifts worth a total of 1:20, the last one ending before the 7:00 mark of the period. Tortorella instead heaped time on his top two lines in third, with lines centered by either Brad Richards (6:58) or Stepan (6:01) featuring wingers Anisimov, Callahan, Gaborik and Ruslan Fedotenko getting 12:59 of the 15:52 of even-strength play in the period." What had been the hallmark of the team's recent winning streaks was the rolling of four lines; though that concept went out the window Monday in the loss.
The last five minutes of the game had two scary incidents for the Rangers. 1) Michael Sauer was likely concussed on a thunderous Dion Phaneuf blow with 4:42 to go in the match. I understand how some Rangers' fans think that the hit might have been dirty as the elbow looked to be up, but it appeared to be a clean solid check that just caught Sauer in the wrong place. Comments on my blog and Carp's blog on the Rangers yesterday centered on how easy helmets come off, due to the gap in the chin strap and the actual chin. Carp wrote: "Why does the league not insist on players wearing better chinstraps, and wearing them tight to their, you know, chins? Helmets shouldn’t pop off like that." Comments on my blog included: "If the league mandates that you have to wear a helmet to protect your pumpkin, what's the point if guys wear a helmet 3 sizes too big, with a chin strap 6 inches too loose?...If you can give a guy 2 extra minutes for not fastening his tie-down strap, would it be so hard to give a guy 2 extra minutes for not wearing his helmet properly?" I couldn't agree more with both comments. Make the helmets actually fit properly, improve the helmets to include more cushioning, and both possibly could prevent or minimize the extent of the concussion, which is what looked like happened to Sauer as the bigger problem was his head hitting the ice after the Phaneuf hit.
Second was MDZ blasting shoulder first into the boards after getting beat by Steckel to prevent an icing. Fortunately, MDZ was able to return, but he clearly wasn't himself, partially seen by him missing the net by five feet on a clear point shot. It looked MDZ was a step slow and second late in reacting to the possible icing, giving Steckel the jump, leading to the injury. Hopefully, MDZ will be fine for Thursday.
Realignment - much of yesterday's blog comments, and hockey in general, centered on realignment.
Ty Anderson wrote an interesting blog yesterday that should be required rading on the topic. Brooks today wrote how difficult the path to the Stanley Cup is for the local teams, as a conference that includes those three plus, Pitt, Philly and Washington with only four teams expected to make it means that for all three locals to get in, two of Pitt, Philly and Washington (as well as Carolina) have to sit home. In addition, whichever four teams' make it will then have to face each other in the first two rounds of the playoffs for the right to make the overall semi-finals. In my view, as I have stated before, would love a 1-16 seeding based on overall points, but if making conference play important, which I understand, then make the 1-8 based on points, not just four per division. Or, make the top three in each conference earn a spot and then make 7 and 8 wild cards based on overall record, regardless of conference.
Brooks added: "Under the current system, the three local teams play seven or eight games a year out of the Eastern time zone. Beginning next season, they will play 14 annually upon the adoption of a home-and-home against every club in the league outside the conference. For the first time ever, the Bruins and Canadiens will visit only one time apiece. Instead, a steady stream of visits from the Predators, Blues, Blue Jackets and Wild will dot the home schedule, with out-of-conference matches comprising 23 of the 41 dates at the Garden, Coliseum and the Rock." What this will do is make the conditioning that Torts puts the team through even more valuable as the additional travel will take its toll on lots of squads. In addition, will be weird to somewhat lose the rivalries with the Bruins, Canadiens, Maple Leafs etc. but nice to see teams like LA, Edmonton etc. more than once every other year or three years.
Trolls: Bodiva88 put it best yesterday, "First, there does need to be thicker skin here. You guys do realize hits are good for your blogger, right? So if there is actually hockey talk coming from fans of any team, man up and talk hockey. Second, if you are from another team's fanbase, do not think you are being clever coming to stir up crap in threads of the opposing fanbase, especially during a game. That is the very definition of trolling and will get you a ban. And that, children, is the dynamic that was at work last night. If you were banned by any one of a number of refs/admins you had trouble with "First" or "Second" above." As I have said before, the more the merrier here. This is a Rangers blog but happy to have fans of other teams here. That said, make sure the comments are respectful and on hockey and not looking to stir things up, and you will be more than welcome as Wayne and others can attest to. In addition, my regular readers don't get upset with fans of other teams that come in to talk hockey, as several did, because their view may disagree with yours. As long as tone is respectful and not looking to incite, keep the conversation flowing as it did yesterday. Thanks.
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