Posts tagged ‘Live Blog’

Here we go with Round 2 of the live blog.  Today is an absolute must win for the Blueshirts.  They simply cannot afford to lose both games of a home and home to a Bruins team so depleted by the flu bug, that the Wolf Pack could probably beat them.

The key for the Rangers today?  Well, here’s a little quote from Sean Avery that should make it clear: “I don’t know why. But I’ve been saying this for a while. We need to look at ourselves personally in the mirror and hold ourselves accountable. ”

Accountability?  Hmmm…where have you heard that before??  The Rangers must be held accountable for what they do today and moving forward to have any chance at making a run.

Everybody will dress in warm-ups except for Marcel Hossa.  That means Jason Strudwick’s probably back in the line-up, while fan favorite Marek Malik will probably sit.  As much as it pains me that Strudwick is the only other option, you can’t argue with Renney’s decision to give Malik a seat after yesterday.

12:40 p.m.: Almost four minutes in and no penalties thus far for the Rangers.  Heck of a start!

12:49 p.m.: Another great job by the hard working third line drawing a penalty and almost scoring.  Let’s shoot the puck on the PP now!

12:52 p.m.: No goal on the man-up, but I was happy with the power play.  They put the puck at the net and had opportunities off rebounds.  You will score more time than not when you execute a power play like that.

12:57 p.m.: That’s the right call on Girardi. 

1:01 p.m.: Another PP opportunity.  They need another power play like the first one. 

1:06 p.m.: That’s a bad bad goal.  The Rangers have played a fine period so far and that just cancels it out.  Lundy’s gotta have that and Tyutin can’t allow that puck out of the zone.  Bad job all around.

1:10 p.m.: The Rangers outshot Boston 12-4 in that period and really had the better of the play.  The third line looks great again and Avery’s going well.  But the only thing that matters is again the Rangers are trailing and, again, they have to find a way to come from behind.  The only way to do that is to keep at it for the next forty minutes.  They can’t afford to take a period off as they have in so many games the past few weeks. 

1:35 p.m.: Another great shift by the third liners.  That hard work needs to be rewared by Renney.

1:37 p.m.: That is an awful awful call on Gomez.  It’s really unbelievable the amount of terrible calls that have gone agains the Rangers lately.  It’s unfortunate timing.  The Rangers have been pressing for the last 10 minutes or so, and this kills that momentum.  Gotta kill it off.

1:44 p.m.: This is getting ridiculous.  The Rangers are dominating the play, but just can’t score.  The next goal will be crucial.  If the Rangers get it they’re obviously tied and will have some positive reinforcement for their play so far.  If the B’s get it I think its game over.  The Rangers can’t afford to dominate two periods and be down two goals.

1:55 p.m.: The Rangers HAVE TO shoot the puck in that situation.  The third line kept the puck in the Boston zone for a good minute plus and have nothing to show for it.

1:56 p.m.: Ah yes…the classic “Jagr” penalty. 

2:01 p.m.: Frustrating, just frustrating.  The Rangers have DOMINATED this game and are still trailing at the 2nd period break.  It has to be disheartening for a team to play so well and still be down.  This third period is going to determine a lot for this team.  One of these big name guys on the team has to step up and earn his keep.  This can’t be a game won by the third line neophytes.  I want to see Jagr, Drury, Shanny, or Gomez step up and make it happen.  If the Rangers drop this one it may be time to seriously start considering if they should be sellers at the deadline.

2:22 p.m.: That’s it, game over.  The Rangers aren’t scoring two goals in this game, probably not even one.  They just flat out got outworked on that shift.  The only difference, when Boston outworks them they score.  When the Rangers outwork the opponent, nothing happens.

2:27 p.m.: Rangers PP.  This is their last chance to get something going.

2:33 p.m.: The boo-birds are out in full force right now, as well they should be.  That was an absolutely awful power play.  Something big has to happen with this team and soon. 

2:34 p.m.: HOW THE HECK IS THE FOURTH LINE ON THE ICE RIGHT NOW! SERIOUSLY MR. RENNEY, YOU ARE DOWN TWO GOALS IN PROBABLY THE BIGGEST GAME OF THE YEAR AND YOU PUT OUT A LINE THAT WILL NOT SCORE.  REAL SMART!

2:48 p.m.: Wow…just wow.  Mara shouldn’t play in the next game after that turnover.  That’s a turnover a squirt doesn’t make.  This team is a joke right now, an absolute joke.  The big guys are just non-existent.  At this point a fire sale may be necessary.  I’d much rather see 20 young guys playing their tails off and losing, then a bunch of under-motivated vets with big names get embarrassed.  Time to shake things up Glen.

2:51 p.m.: At least that line can get something.  They’re the only one’s that seem to care.  And did you guys see Thomas on that goal.  Geez, man relax.  I understand the shutout’s gone, but you’re getting the ‘W’.

3:04 p.m.: Renney needs to get mad and yell during this press conference…

Hey guys.  So tonight we’re going to try something new.  We will be live blogging throughout the course of the game.  Everything will be on this post so keep checking back for updates and use our comments section at the end of the blog to respond.  Let’s get a good conversation going!

 Another big one tonight.  Shanahan out again tonight, but hopefully him and Avery will be back on Wednesday against Buffalo.

Here we go!

7:07 p.m.: They just put up Ty Conklin’s numbers on Versus.  9-0-1 in his first ten starts for the Pens…whew.  Set up for a fall?  We’ll see…

7:12 p.m.: Well that was fast.  Love that to start the game.  Two heavyweights going at it and setting the right tone to the game…

7:17 p.m.: Mara holding penalty.  The Rangers need to avoid the penalty parade tonight if they want to be successful…

7:18 p.m.: …and that’s exactly why!  This team has too many weapons to give opportunities to…

7:25 p.m.: Wow.  Not much more you can really say about that one.  Sid the Kid just taking it to another gear and Malkin finishing.  The Rangers need to pick it up…

7:32 p.m.: Another penalty.  This is getting bad early.  An absolute must to kill this one off!

7:43 p.m.: This has got to stop.  If this game keeps up like this, the win against Montreal is completely moot…

7:45 p.m.: Horrible, undisciplined penalty and for the fourth time in three games the Rangers are down two men…

7:46 p.m.: It’s time now for Tom Renney to make a point! I want to see those who aren’t skating and are taking undisciplined penalties punished.  Take away ice time and give it to the people who are playing hard…

7:50 p.m.: Horrible, absolutely horrible period.  If the Rangers have any shot at all they MUST score on this power play to start the second.

8:18 p.m.: And that right there is the reason Conklin is 9-0-1 so far…

8:24 p.m.: I’m sorry, but the fourth line cannot get more than 4 more minutes total in this game.  It has nothing to do with them, but trailing 3-0 Renney needs his offensive players on the ice…

8:29 p.m.: MUST SCORE NOW!

8:42 p.m.: Frustrating, frustrating period.  An absolutely dominating session by the Rangers, but nothing on the scoreboard.  But this is what happens when you stumble out of the gate.  It will take an absolute miracle for the Rangers to claw back into this one…

9:02 p.m.: Woah! Close one there for Crosby and Malkin…

9:07 p.m.: Honestly how much do you think it would cost to buy a goal? I’d start the bidding at $10,000…

9:14 p.m.: GOAL!!! Looks like Sather wired the ten-grand to the Penguins.  Finally, they capitalized on the man advantage and now have a punchers chance.  Need to put another one in before the five minute mark…

9:16 p.m.: Unbelievable, but then again believable.  Did you really expect anything else?  The Rangers don’t know how to do anything else the last few weeks, but kill their own momentum with unnecessary penalties.  Game over…

9:31 p.m.: Malkin hat trick and that’s all she wrote.  The Rangers were the better team for the 2nd and 3rd periods, but the story of this game is the same as its been for the last few weeks.  It takes 60 minutes to win a hockey game in the NHL and at this point the Rangers just don’t seem committed to do that night in night out.

9:36 p.m.: Some rough stuff now to end the game.  It would be great to see Staal use his size a little more like that night in and night out.  Not necessarily fighting-wise, but he’s got the stature and the history to become that physical shut down defenseman that the Rangers sorely lack right now.

Thanks everyone for checking in tonight on the first live blog for NYRangerscast.  We’re going to try and do as many of these as we can.  Don’t forget to check out the newest podcast episode tomorrow as we recap the games against Montreal and Pittsburgh.

Also, remember that there a few days left to enter the “How to Fix the Rangers” contest.  Send in your ideas to us at hosts@nyrangerscast.com.  Again, the winner will recieve a $25 Gift Certificate to Shop.NHL.com.  The winning entry will be announced on Friday’s episode.