Some key players took advantage of the optional skate and rested: Shanahan, Avery, Nylander (who reportedly has a touch of the flu), Rozsival, Tyutin, Cullen, Mara, Callahan...
Some quotes:
"I feel like I'm 70," Marty Straka joked after skating.
"The fresher team is going to win the series," said Jaromir Jagr, who held court for a while before leaving the dressing room. "Gotta be fresh....might be another six overtimes." Perhaps his funniest line came when he referred to Zdeno Chara's play against him in the past and someone asked if there was a defenseman who could contain him. He responded: "Wasn't born yet."
"It's important to get that first one," said Shanahan. "But it's one win, we've gotta win four. They're halfway there, we're not. It's a good confidence builder for us, but Buffalo won the President's Trophy, they're a good team, well coached and not going to lay down for us because we've won one game. They've lost games before and rebounded."
"We played a little smarter than we did in Buffalo," said Henrik Lundqvist. "The only thing I can focus on is playing my best, I don't focus and try to get into their heads. If we play like we did and I focus on my game we have a pretty good chance to win tomorrow."
"It's not going to get any easier," said Tom Renney, who expects the Sabres to unveil some different looks in Game 4 tomorrow, "something we haven't seen before."
Renney said that with the Wolf Pack's season over, some players would be called up from Hartford to practice on a taxi squad. But the Rangers have just two allowable moves left to expand their post-season roster.
More later and of course, in tomorrow's paper...
Comments (46)
weeeeeeee..way to be on the ball steve..how was lunch?
Two allowable moves to expand the post season roster.
I think both moves need to be on defense, do they wait for Marc Staal's junior season to be done, or do they bring up two Hartford defenseman, like Baranka and Liffiton?
Jim We're lucky we're getting to see CAlly and Girardi, You think Renney is going to put in these kids on D. While I would like it myself it is highly unlikely.
Have to say adding any kids and changing the chemistry of the team is recipe for disaster.
Well it wouldn't be a disaster because they wouldn't play unless there is an emergency. The Hartford season is over, getting a couple of kids some exposure to with the big club wouldn't hurt anything.
Rob,
I am not saying to put 2 kids on D, including Pock we have 7 defenseman.
But the Hartford season is over, I am saying we bring 8 and 9 up and give 2 kids some exposure to the big club.
Practicing with the team and being around the big club.
The only way they would play would be several major injuries on defense, emergency situation.
Gotcha Jim!
Only other thing would be to give Dawes another shot and bring him up along with a defenseman.
Dawes did not get a fair shot earlier in the season when he was up, and he had an absolutely insane season for Hartford and a great playoff.
SOrry Jim misunderstanding then, but I would put in Someone with a little scoring touch on the 4th line.
LETS GO RANGERS!!!!!!!!!!
I think the problem you get though is who you sit down.
You can't sit Ortmeyer anymore, that was a horrible decision by Renney the other night.
It's nice to have depth though, it's a good problem to have.
True and like it or not Isbister did play pretty well.
I'd actually like to see Bourret up practicing with The Bog Club.
Absolutely, agree 100% Rob.
I love the acquisition of Bourret and I think he is gonna be a really good one.
Down the road, the trade of Dupuis and a 3rd rounder for Bourret may end up being the best deal Glen ever made as a Rangers GM.
Bourret did good in the playoofs - 11 points in the 7 game series.
What's good is the Rangers wanted him in the draft, traded up to get Staal instead, and still had the chance to trade for him 2 years later.
wat happen to the referee talk?
can we deal montoya yet, b4 its too late..he didnt play well last nite in hartford..how bout montoya and prucha for crosby? lol (nice to dream)
Tired of it, time to talk Rangers!
Because even if we don't make it past the Sabres, our future is as bright as any team in the league baby.
I'll raise my beer to that one Jim!
Let the refs go, I expect a differently called game tomorrow with the all the attention to it got from both teams after the last two games. Maybe I'm crazy and that is a dream as well.
The truth is that this series is tied at 2 tomorrow night. Then I want to see what all the Nay Sayers will have on weds.
LETS GO RANGERS!
between gettin avery, gettin RID of aaron ward and turning adam "mr. useless" hall, into alex bourrett...i think slats deserves exec. of year.
I think there is a real chance of them using Montoya as a chip to get one of the top 4 picks of this coming draft.
It is a weak draft, but there are 4 potential franchise forwards at the top of the draft and it is what are really missing, a franchise forward to build around.
agreed.i was joking..we have all the ever important MO! and they know it. they also know how the rangers have outplayed them for 10 of 11 periods in this series.
Baranka is hurt -- he season ended with surgery on his hand about a month ago. So he's not an option.
Montoya pretty much lost the series for the WolfPack last night, and was fairly forthright in accepting the blame. Don't expect him to be traded -- he doesn't have much value at this point. He needs to start showing he can play well on a consistent basis at the AHL level before any team looks to him as an NHL goalie. Until he does that, he's not worth much. Moreover, the Rangers are already carrying three goalies, and are unlikely to bring in a third to take practice time away from the two backups they already have.
My guess is that the players who get called up to serve as a taxi squad will be those most deserving of a reward for a hard fought season. On defense, Liffiton and Lampman come to mind. Sanguinetti came up at the end of his junior season and played well -- better than Staal did in the games he played with the Pack last year, in my opinion. As a first rounder, they may bring him in to practice with the team to give him a taste of what he can expect.
At forward Dawes is the obvious first pick, with Immonen close behind. Bourret certainly came on strong when he got his legs under him, but he's still really, young. Dubinsky and Korpikoski would probably be next to get a look, but I doubt it.
As for Staal, if the Rangers were to advance and suffer injuries on the blueline, guys like Liffiton and Lampman would get the call long before a kid like Staal, who has no professional experience to speak of.
Laurie,
you sound like you see a lot of the Pack, I wasn't aware that happened to Baranka.
From everything I have heard, Montoya has been great this year and had a shutout the other night vs Providence.
Hockeysfuture has him as the 11th best prospect in hockey right now, I am a little suprised to hear you say that he has no value right now.
Laurie,
Montoya was the AHL goaltender of the month for February and had 6 shutouts during the year.
I think you are short changing him quite a bit.
Jim,
I don't see the Pack as often as I'd like, but I have seen them in person about a half dozen times since February (most recently on Saturday), and listen to a lot of games online or on the radio. I also follow them online via Bruce Berlet's articles in the Courant and various AHL/Wolf Pack boards and blogs.
I'm well aware of Montoya's goalie of the month honors, and his shutout stats, but the key word in what I wrote was "consistent." Montoya can be the lights-out, best player on the ice on a given night... then get pulled the next night after giving up 3 goals on 7 shots. For ever shutout he earned, he also played a game from which he was yanked -- quite possibly more, actually. The Pack's playoff series against Providence is the perfect example. Two nights after he posted the 1-0 shutout you mentioned, he was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 17 shots in the Pack's 5-2 loss in game 6.
That doesn't mean he's not a good prospect. If he can perform more consistently, he'll eventually be an NHL-caliber goalie. But with the glut of talented goalies out there at the moment, I stand by opinion that he wouldn't fetch much in return this summer.
I think Montoya is very expendable, We might be able to pick up decent talent for him , but the future is very bright. I heard some rumors before the deadline that the Rangers might send Montoya and Prucha to Columbus for Zherdev. I would do it, because if you seen Zherdev you'll know why, but Our future looks awesome. Glad we did not sacrifice any of it for a quick fix this year. Also there is Avery and Lundqvist who should be around a long long time. Which is great for all of us. And of course there is Brodie Dupont, Tom Pyatt, Sanguinetti, Hillier,Staal,and I even like Dane Byers in Hartford. HE does not get enough credit.
Being that Montoya is from Chicago and Chicago doesn't have much in terms of future goaltending prospects and you never know what to expect from Khabibulin, I was thinking that the Rangers could use Montoya as a main chip to acquire the 1st overall pick.
In my opinion, it would take somthing like Montoya, our first pick(#17), Dawes or Prucha and another prospect.
That is the kind of package it took to acquire the pick to take Brendl at the 1999 draft, if it happens, I just hope we have better results. LOL.
OMG, Pavel Brendl, I wanna choke on my sandwich now lol. Thanks Jim. I'd keep Dawes.
Tom Pyatt has a great year this year in juniors and is definitely someone to look forward too.
I would like the Rangers to take a run at his brother Taylor Pyatt this summer as a UFA.
Rob,
sorry about that Brendl thing, my apologies :)
I like Taylor too, WE could have our own version of the Sedins. I forgot Taylor is a former sabbie.
Taylor would fit nicely here.
Whats up with that ice yesterday? I guess the Rangers need the slushy surface to slow the game down a bit. C'mon Freeze that pond.
RFA, Islander Jim from Woodbury, and the rest of you freekin fishsticks!
Your season is over! I gotta hand it to you. Getting into the playoffs after a major collapse after the all-star break, not bad. But even when you got Ryan Smyth, Bill Clement and all other NHL analysts basically had you guys as a shoo-in to get in the playoffs. So although, at the beginning of the year, no-one had you guys to get to where you ended up, without the total collapse of Carolina, Toronto, and Montreal, you have to look at it as a big disapointment. So instead of blogging with some BS about hoping the NY Rangers lose, go to church and pray that maybe Ryan Smyth or Blake re-sign. Although I know Ryan Smyth knows one thing for sure. In Detroit, they throw Octopus on the ice. At the Nassau Maseleum they throw beer bottles. I'm sure that will weigh in his decision to stay here or not! He probably got on the quickest flight on Air Canada back home, after the Sabres loss!
Any of you touch my stuff... I'll ki ya
Any of you touch me...I'll ki ya
And don't call me Francis!!
It's too early to start thinking about Montoya & next year, because we're still playing this year. Be that as it may, Montoya is obviously going to be trade bait. There are teams that desperately need goaltending. One that immediately comes to mind are the Florida Panthers. They made a horrible move dumping Luongo and they might be paying for it in goal for a long time, especially if they don't bring back Belfour at 42 yrs old. See anything you like on that roster?
Thinking of the Panthers, first thing to come to mind is Jokinen.
He is signed to a multi year deal, already, I know that Florida has thought abiut dealing him do to financial constraints.
It would take a heck of a lot, but he is still pretty young and would be our franchise center iceman.
As long as they kept Staal and Callahan out of the deal, I think I'd be willing to give up just about anything else to get him.
The bad ice is an advantage for the Rangers right now, of course the bouncing puck creates some problems but the speed of Buffalo is certainly a non-factor. The 3rd period of gm 3 Buffalo looked very slow. Not sure if that was the ice or maybe some fatigue setting in. They surely appeared to be disinterested. The Rangers need to keep their feet moving and avoid the silly stick penalties tonight. Buffalo gets away with alot of hooking so I look for some calls tonight. If they want to call all the stick penalties they need to call them both ways. As to Rangers future, the future is now and the youth factor looks very favorable I still like what Dubinsky did while he was up the 2nd time, and I think he makes a serious run for the team next season. Certainly one of the top 3 UFA centers (Drury, Briere, Gomez) should land in Ranger Blue. I think Drury is an early favorite. Buffalo won't be able to keep both and Briere is probably the one they want to keep. The Devils have to make a serious bid to keep Gomez so I think Drury is the most likely candidate to be available. He brings the last piece of the Ranger puzzle to life offensively and certainly is great lockerroom addition to a team that has strong leadership.
Of course I would love to sign one of those guys, but I don't want to overspend for any one of them.
The Devils overspent to keep Elias last summer and the Bruins overspent to sign Chara.
No way am I willing to give any player in the NHL when there is a salary cap over 7 million a year.
Great to see all us Ranger fans in tune to our team during the playoff run. Maybe most of them realize it is a fruitless effort playing against a superior team in Buffalo.
From Neil Best:
NASCAR outraces Rangers
It usually is not news when hockey ratings fall flat, but sometimes the numbers hit you like a crosscheck to the face.
Sunday's Sabres-Rangers game, even with a boost from two overtimes, drew 1.8 percent of households in the New York area. That trailed NASCAR on Fox (2.1) and a Tiger-less Byron Nelson Classic on CBS (1.9). Yikes!
D***head
Thanks though for proving a point.
I don't want the Rangers on network TV!
Don't care if other people are watching, don't give a crap!
Don't care about attracting new fans.
All I want is to be able to watch the Rangers on MSG like I was able to in 1994 until they won the Cup.
Don't care who else sees it, I don't need to watch the games on NBC.
I already know what a blue line is, I already know what off sides is, I don't need to be told.
I want my announcers, I want to be able to see the three stars of the game and the center ice salute without having to leave to go to the news.
I want all the games on MSG dammit.
Just to let you guys know that all the talk is that buffalo will lean on keeping Drury no Briere.
I'll take Gomez to center the 2nd line and make our team deeper.
It is an absolute joy to read some of these comments (I guess its a pleasure to see a difference of opinion at times). However, some general blatherings.
First of all, just because one team gets 9 power plays and the other gets 5, doesnt mean the officials are out to get you (it could possibly be that the hooking and tripping penalties are merely indicative of a team not as quick as another team).
Second, winning in the playoffs is always difficult. Nearly all of the playoff games so far have been close, defensive-minded and not short on excitement. Rangers fans can be happy with a win in game 3 - but considering the magnitude of the game, its not altogether shocking they turned in their strongest effort yet (what is shocking is that it took 2 OT's to do it).
Lastly, it all comes down to this. Possibly 4 games left in this series. Rangers would need to win 3 out of 4. Two of the next 4 are in Buffalo. The Blue Shirts are going to be hard pressed to overcome those odds.
But it is good hockey for sure.
Jim, I agree. I'm tired of the NHL reaching out to the "casual" fan and ignoring the true fans of the sport. Laser beams for slapshots and exploding robots to draw people who "can't follow the puck" alienated the real fans of the sport.
To bring up another name for a possible deal involving Montoya. I'd rather try for Nathan Horton in Florida. I realize it will take more than Montoya to land him but if we can get him for just a little more I would do it.
Tonight, keep clogging up the neutral zone and counter on turnovers. Stay out of the box and get in Miller's face. Let's go boys!
Yep, the NHL does so much crap to try and attract new fans, it doesn't work, and it alienates us.
STOP IT ALREADY.
I hate to say this as a hockey fan but from a business point of view there is no way there should be 3 hockey teams in this area. The NYC area is by no means a hockey hotbed and if the Rangers were the only team in this area their ratings would be better. Bettman has over expanded this league and it is time for him to go and let's get some fresh blood in there to see if they can save this league because things don't look good right now. I read somewhere that Atlanta had 8800 households watching their home playoff games against the Rangers.
If Quebec City and Winnipeg still had teams like they should have, there wouldn't be only 8800 people watching the games in those cities I guarantee you that.
There is no way in hell there should be teams in Atlanta, Nashville and South Florida.
With the salary cap, I think some of those failed Canadian markets can sustain teams.
And another great move by the NHL, they like to tell people how great hockey is in HD yet for example I have cablevision and about 80% of the games that are on Versus like tonight's Ranger game I can't get in HD. Versus produces them in HD but cablevision doesn't carry them in HD.