People have said that the Rangers need to have scoring from their 3rd and 4th lines to supplement Jagr's line in order for the team to win consistently. Yesterday they got that scoring from the bottom lines, but without production from the top, the Rangers came up a bit short.
The top two lines, consisting of Straka, Jagr, Rucinsky, Prucha, Nylander, and Sykora registered only 10 of the team's 36 shots, including just THREE in the 3rd period. They combined for zero points on the night. Jason Ward and Dominic Moore had 9 shots combined, one less than the total for the six guys who generally get the most ice time.
That is an unacceptable statistic against a team with a 15-28-2 record going into the game. Granted, Kevin Weekes was not sharp and the defensive performance in front of him was putrid (particularly Malik, Rozsival, and Strudwick), but the bottom line is that offense is sometimes the best defense, and despite some nice work from Marcel Hossa and Moore (who had the primary assist on all three goals), the Rangers had virtually no attack last night.
Thomas Pöck made his 2005-06 debut, and was pretty much the best defenseman for the Blueshirts until his failed poke check that led to Rick Nash's game winning goal. I think if he were paired with a solid, stay-at-home defenseman (rather than Tom Poti, his partner last night), he can be a fantastic player. He handles the puck well, and makes great break-out passes. He is not afraid of offense. Only time will tell, but he certainly has to avoid mistakes like the one last night.
NY Post: Goaltender Kevin Weekes, who seems to be playing himself out of any kind of rotation the coach says is necessary for the Rangers to be successful, gave up three goals on the first five shots he faced last night in a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets. By Weekes' standards, that kind of start wasn't all that bad, considering he saved the first shot the enemy threw at him, something he had failed to do in his previous three starts.
NY Daily News: On the heels of Saturday's passive loss at Detroit, that made no standings points so far on a four-game road trip that resumes Thursday in Pittsburgh. And Columbus' recent surge notwithstanding, there were two utterly available points on the table last night against a team that wound up hanging on for dear life after being handed an early 3-1 lead.
The Journal News: "When we're playing that team, we have to play a patient, waiting game," Poti said. "We didn't give Weekes much help at all." And early in games is when Weekes needs the most help. He already has allowed a goal on the first shot three times this season, including his last start, Jan. 5.
NY Newsday: Marcel Hossa, who hadn't played since Dec. 31, scored his second goal to tie it at 3 for the Rangers 6:56 into the third. But Nikolai Zherdev zipped a long pass from the Rangers' blue line to Nash, who tipped the puck past rookie defenseman Thomas Pock, faked Weekes right, went left and put the puck past Weekes' extended right pad for the go-ahead goal.
NY Times: At the morning skate, Renney said he had spoken to his team about not taking the Blue Jackets lightly. The Rangers (25-14-7) had not seemed at their best in meetings with Washington, Pittsburgh and St. Louis this season; the Rangers are 4-4-1 against those teams and Columbus, the four teams with the fewest points in the league.
NYSportsDay has coverage from the game.
As the Rodent points out as a side note to his recap of last night's loss, EVERY game counts for four points in the standings from now on. They only play Eastern Conference teams for the rest of the season.
Larry Brooks of the Post touches on a rumor that Sather had offered Tom Poti to Boston fro Brian Leetch, but was turned away. This Brian Leetch thing isn't going to die, so I guess we'll just keep an eye on it.
We have a couple of new contributions from Hockeybird writers. First, Gabe gives us a new Fact or Fiction where he runs down the playoff picture and figures out the Rangers' magic number. Second, Caldercup penned a new Calder's Corner in which he goes over every player who has put on a uniform for the Wolf Pack this year.
The Blueshirts continue their road trip in Pittsburgh on Thursday. Time for some tough practices.
HDH
Posted by Jim at January 17, 2006 11:52 AMeMail this entry!
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