NYR/EDM 10/26 Review: QUICKSAND PREVENTS OIL SPILL! Quick Shuts Out Oilers; Rangers Continue To Roll, Present Blueshirts on Brink of History, Rear Guards at Front Lines, Laffy Feeling It, Corny Line Names, Gary “Bet, Man!” Hypocritically Suspends Shane Pinto; The Two G’s of the NHL, Successful Road Trip, M$GN “Controversy” & More

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. I’m really going to dread my alarm clock, which is set to go off in about three hours – but staying up late was definitely worth it tonight!

And hell – today/tomorrow is Friday – so I can gut it out.

After all, I definitely have a big enough beer gut to do so!

The Rangers, who triumphed 3-0 against the Oilers late Thursday night (but it was really 4-0 – and had I still been betting that final outcome like I did during the past two seasons – then I’d be absolutely furious right now – although in a way – I kind of am pissed off about the boneheaded officiating that we saw in Edmonton), have now secured six of a possible six points on this current five-game road-trip – and the longest road-trip of the season to boot.

Going into this trip, which started at the “Pledge To Have No Power Arena” in Seattle, I said the two following things:

— One, I’d be happy about six points – and whether it was three wins or a combination of wins and regulation ties/overtime losses.

While of course, it would suck to now see the Blueshirts head home on a two-game losing streak after winning the first three games of this road-trip; but either way – this trip is a success – and they now have a chance to make history – and as we’ll soon get into.

— Two, this grueling road-trip, where the Rangers are currently covering more mileage than Carmen San Diego, could become a hockey godsend for taking place so early into the season.

For a team that failed in the playoffs pretty badly last season, and a club now featuring a new bench boss too – getting away from home (and the distractions there) was arguably a gift from the league’s schedule makers – as the team has a better chance to bond and create chemistry together on the road than as they do at home.

After all, and every NHLer says this – New York is a unique animal.

Unlike most NHL cities, where the players generally all live in the same area – the Rangers are spread out all over the place, such as Westchester, Manhattan, Connecticut, Brooklyn and sometimes (and as it once was in the past), both New Jersey and Long Island too.

With five consecutive games on the road, and with 80% of them taking place nearly 3,000 miles and multiple time-zones away from The Big Apple – the team is together all of the time – and that can only be a positive – and especially even more so when you’re winning.

Equally as impressive?

Should the Rangers handle business in Vancouver on Saturday night, then they will become the first Blueshirts’ team since Alain Vigneault’s 2014-15 Presidents’ Trophy winning squad to sweep all three of the NHL’s Western Canadian franchises.

Should they do that, and then go on to cool the Jets in Winnipeg on Monday?

Then they will become the first team in franchise history to go a perfect 5-0 on the road whenever playing the three Western Canadian teams – and Seattle too.

And yes, I know that stat is a little “fugazi;” but what’s not a fraud is sweeping the Canucks, Oilers and Flames.

That stated, what also shouldn’t be ignored is something else that I said at the start of this trip:

The Rangers are meeting all of these teams at the right time.

Between the Andersson suspension in Calgary, the McDavid injury in Edmonton and on Monday, a Jets’ team without a head coach, as sadly, Rick Bowness is away from the club as he tends to his sick wife – things are in the Blueshirts’ favor.

And while it’s easy to say that the Rangers haven’t really beat anyone good just yet, nor have faced a playoff team from last year at their full capacity either – at the same time – shouldn’t they be taking advantage of these fortunate circumstances?

That’s what good teams do.

After all, that’s why all of us were extremely pissed off following the home loss to the Nashville Predators.

However, and following that effortless drubbing – the Blueshirts have now won their last three games – their season-high of this young 2023-24 campaign – and where you just hope this is the start of something big – and not the climax.

(“OH JOE, CLIMAX JOE!”)

Finally, and as we close out this lengthy introduction; “LAVY’S LOT,” now 5-2 and first place in the Metropolitan Division – they could finish 80-2 in the regular season – and it won’t matter – at least not to me.

And yep, this brings us to my daily disclaimer for this 2023-24 campaign, this one:

“WHATEVER THE RANGERS DO IN THE REGULAR SEASON DOESN’T MATTER. THEY CAN ONLY BE JUDGED BY WHATEVER THEY DO IN THE 2024 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS!”

As far as tonight’s game, and outside of the amazing performance that Quick gave the team – this game felt a little bit like the win over Calgary.

While not as sloppy and disjointed as they were against the Flames; the first period of tonight’s tilt was a tad, and for a lack of a better word – a “snoozefest.”

But just like the victory in Calgary?

A “smelling-salt” inspired second period, as once again, the Rangers dominated the middle twenty minutes of the game – and that was all of the goal scoring required.

As was the case at the Saddledome, now four-hours up north at Rogers Place – it all started with a power-play goal.

On Tuesday night, it was Alexis Lafreniere. On Thursday night, it was Adam Fox who struck first blood – and wouldn’t you know it – his man-advantage goal, scored at the 3:32 mark of this second stanza, wound up becoming the game-winning goal too.

Braden Schneider, who added the insurance goal, his first goal of the season, at the 12:03 mark of this frame, then had his goal followed up by Lafreniere himself, as the pair of 2020 NHL Entry Draft first-round picks beat Oilers’ goalie, the Principal of Springfield Elementary, Seymour Skinner.

(Yes, I know that his first name is really Stuart – but just go with it for the joke, you cads!)

When playing the other side of the “BATTLE OF ALBERTA” on Tuesday, the Rangers got caught up in an NFL themed “PREVENT DEFENSE” – which meant that CZAR IGOR was called upon much too often during the final twenty-minutes.

Forty-eight hours later, and while Quick admittedly had to make a few highlight reel saves in order to secure his shutout; for the most part, the Rangers, and as if Jon Taffer, and not Peter Laviolette, was behind the bench – “SHUT IT DOWN!”

(And if you’re worried about the few chances that the Oilers received in the third period, then I’d remind you that the other team is paid to play too – and while their fans gave up on them tonight, and as was evident by all of their non-stop booing and jeering – the players play to the final horn.)

As triple-zeros finally hit, Rangers 3, Oilers 0.

And this is not a shot at my favorite Ranger, CZAR IGOR, as this is just a fact:

Quick, with the 59th shutout of his career, now leads all American-born goalies in this department.

For #31, he’ll have to erase the lone fluky goal allowed per-game, in order to boost his shutout totals – but this is a topic that I’ve previously addressed multiple times on this site during the past few weeks.

Plus, who wants to go down a negative road when riding a positive high anyway?

But you can’t ignore what Quick did tonight.

Let’s blow through all of the pregame news and notes & then rush through the GAME REVIEW.

Tick-tick-tick – and yep – I think my alarm clock has a date with my bedroom wall – and at 100 miles-per-hour!

Following the Rangers’ big two points earned at the Saddledome on Tuesday night; a day later, Wednesday, the team had an unscheduled day off, as the snow they saw in Calgary was only worse up north in the province, now in Edmonton, Alberta.

For those who don’t know, summers in Edmonton end in July – as that’s how cold and wintry it gets in Oiltown – which later looked like an oil spill on Thursday night.

As the Blueshirts and their travel coordinators battled the elements in Western Canada; on the other side of the country, Toronto, Ontario, long-time scribe, and one of my old buddies, Greg Oliver, reviewed my latest book release, “The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History.”

Previously, I’ve shared other reviews of my book, including reviews written by Stan Fischler and George Grimm – two of the best historians in the business today – and where in the case of “The Maven” – the absolute and no-doubt-about-it numero uno.

However, Oliver’s summary was perhaps the best of the lot, as he attacked his review from a different angle – and where he brought up some personal stories of yours truly too.

To read his review of my new book (and what are you waiting for if you haven’t purchased it yet?), check out: https://sihrhockey.org/2020/columns/article.cfm?aid=818&fbclid=IwAR0d5bE3GMHygaDSmVc7VgDjSCF3cxFB8EnbVMqE2SgcRKEtpYhJDxSNpaI

Imagine my shock and bewilderment on Thursday afternoon when <GASP> – I heard that the 22-year-old Shane Pinto was suspended by the league for 41-games – and wouldn’t you know it – for BETTING ON SPORTS.

PROMO CODE: SUSPENSION

OH THE HUMANITY!

(It’s thought that he placed wagers, via a proxy, on NFL games – and this is key – not on NHL contests. Had he bet on NHL games, then he would’ve been kicked out of the league.)

For the full story, Elliotte Friedman, also from Toronto, Ontario like Greg Oliver, and where despite his location, breaks more stories about the New York Rangers than their beat reporters do (another event that comes as no surprise), has you covered here: https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/senators-pinto-to-be-suspended-41-games-for-violating-nhl-gambling-rules/

Since it’s late, and where I also have that early alarm clock in my immediate future to combat, I don’t really have all day (or night) to go on about this.

After all, I’ve already pointed out the NHL’s hypocritical relationship with sports gambling (and their ugly spawn – advertising/commercials) on this website 78966785678557865 times before, including most recently, when Bill “Sell Your Grandma and Pawn Your Mother’s Jewelry” Pidto was callously and maliciously promoting gambling to children during the Rangers’ home opener, an article that you can read here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/101623/

(HOLY RUN-ON SENTENCE BATMAN!)

And go figure, the Rangers, who had Gerard Gallant (G.G.) behind their bench last season; this season, a different G.G., “GAYS AND GAMBLING,” has taken over the NHL.

Between the never-ending Pride/Rainbow tape debates, and sports gambling relentlessly being shoved down your throat whenever watching any hockey match – then it’s a wonder how anyone has the time to talk about you know – the games on the ice.

Rather than going on another long-winded diatribe about the hypocrisy about the whorish league, led by none other than “Gary BET, MAN!”; just a few shots that I posted on my Tweeter/X account:

Maybe the league should stop running gambling ads 24/7?

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 26, 2023

Promo Code: Suspension

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 26, 2023

What’s next? Suspending players for having fantasy football teams and Super Bowl boxes? That’s gambling too. @FriedgeHNIC https://t.co/Njm8tDtpsQ

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 26, 2023

This is a great idea but since it won’t make money, it won’t happen. https://t.co/236q0rvQE9

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 26, 2023

Pinto will not appeal his suspension, which means that he now has the rest of the NFL season all to himself!

I wonder if they run gambling ads on NFL broadcasts?

Hmmm!

PROMO CODE: ROBYOURLOCALBANKRIGHTEFFINNOW

Here’s what the head coach said during the Thursday morning edition of “LAVY’S LOUNGE”:

Outside of saying that he was going to use the same line-up for the fourth game in a row – not exactly music to the ears of both Tyler Pitlick and Zac “Libor Hajek” Jones – once again, there wasn’t much to take out of this episode of “LAVY’S LOUNGE.”

As far as why he wants Jimmy Vesey to remain in his line-up, Lavy praised the veteran and said that he has made it hard to scratch him. The Hobey Baker winner then rewarded his head coach by picking up an assist and playing stellar defense in the shutout win.

But of course, the birdbrain beat reporters, specifically the two absolute worst in the business, Wince and Mollie, were in Edmonton, thus severely bringing down the hockey IQ in the puck-happy city during their stay.

While Wince, like a junior high-schooler, was trying to come up with cute nicknames for the Rangers’ second line (and as a young girl comes up with names for her dolls), and where of course, the reporter who just found out who Doug Weight was tonight made a food reference (French Toast Line – dumb); Mollie, who also had no clue who the former Blueshirt was either, actually asked Lavy this:

“Is it good that Gustafsson has played for you in the past? Does that mean he knows your system better than the players who haven’t played under it before?”

Woodward and Bernstein, these two dopes are not.

Furthermore, trying to come up with catchy/gimmicky line names after just two wins in a row is silly and elementary – but I guess that is to be expected from Wince “Copy and Paste From NaturalStatTrick.com” M.

The best line names in all of hockey history?

All of them are ORGANIC (not like the food that you eat Wince, as I mean they naturally come to the surface) – and not forced – like gambling ads!

Plus, I think I’d wait a bit before coming up with monikers for lines – my former love of “THE FLY LINE” be damned! (Mollie, that was Fleury/Lindros/York, look them up.)

In addition, and maybe this is solely my perspective as a jaded fan, fully and keenly aware of the many years of losing – I’m also superstitious, meaning that once you get too overboard – then boom – everything is jinxed (Laviolette would later reference this in his post-game interview too.)

And should the “French Toast” nonsense catch on?

Then I’d expect the “French Toast was burnt” jokes to follow – and akin to the double-zero jokes about John Davidson from a bygone era that Wince and Mollie have no clue about.

Who is #77 Phil Esposito anyway?

Here was Laviolette’s line-up for the seventh game of this 2023-24 season:

FIRST LINE: Kreider/Zibanejad/Kakko

SECOND LINE: Panarin/Chytil/Lafreniere

THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Trocheck/Wheeler

FOURTH LINE: Goodrow/Bonino/Vesey

FIRST PAIR: Lindgren/Fox

SECOND PAIR: Miller/Trouba

THIRD PAIR: Gustafsson/Schneider

STARTER: QUICK

BACK-UP: CZAR IGOR

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Pitlick and Jones

BOX SCORE time.

The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:

SCORING:

PENALTIES:

TEAM STATS:

GOALIES:

Come 8:30PM, I tuned into the M$GN, where I saw that Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t there again. (He’ll be back on Monday night.)

I decided to give Steve Valiquette a chance – and boy was I impressed.

He was insightful, amazing, fantastic and a gift from God, during the thirty-minutes where he spoke about the tales from his epic career of 46-games. We are so lucky to have the worst goalie in franchise history on these broadcasts.

And if you can’t tell – I am joking.

In reality, and once I saw that seven-foot jackass on my TV, I immediately turned off the channel and flipped back to the NHL Network, where the following is NOT a joke:

As the NHLN ran a news crawler about the Shane Pinto story, on one side of the screen, the network was flashing all of the betting odds for the game, while during an in-game break/whistle during the Penguins/Avalanche match – we had a picture-in-picture deal, where some broad named Claudia gave us her best bets for the night.

You can’t make it up!

When I returned to M$GN about five-minutes before what I thought would be puck drop (the game was delayed by 25-minutes, as Doug Weight and Charlie Huddy were being honored by the Oil); John Giannone was begging fans to place their life savings on the puck-line – where in a rarity – such a bet would have hit tonight!

Finally, and before getting into the GAME REVIEW – there was a “controversy” about the broadcast tonight, as former M$GN panelist, Ron Duguay, criticized both Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti on his Tweeter/X account.

While I don’t think that he was wrong (he said that they don’t feel natural together, Joe is too politically correct and that Sam is all over the place – stuff that many others have said too); as I went to his Twitter account (@RONDUGUAY10) to share his remarks with you – all of them have since been deleted.

Since the first period of this game was boring, Duguay’s commentary did gain traction.

If I had more time, then I’d really dig into this, but really, and yes, in the effort of full disclosure, I do get along with him – I thought this was a non-issue.

After all, I criticize this horrible broadcast every game, but where the difference between Duguay and yours truly is that he won’t call out Sieve Vagistat, as they are buddies and do signings together.

But to question if Sam has lost his fastball or if former captain Dave Maloney should replace Joe Micheletti?

I really don’t see why anyone would be up-in-arms about that.

Like anything else of this nature, if you liked the person saying this stuff, you agreed, but if you didn’t like the person before these comments were made, then you didn’t agree.

I’m also reminded how some fans want all of these players to be more outspoken – but if they don’t agree with what’s said – then they throw a cancel culture hissy fit.

You can’t win.

GAME REVIEW time.

FIRST PERIOD

I apologize in advance, as I have to blow through this and can’t be as detailed as usual.

For my live-game notes, as I “live-tweet” these games and then look back at those tweets whenever writing a GAME REVIEW blog, then check out https://twitter.com/NYCTheMiC

Just the highlights tonight – and where aside from a boring, slow and sleep-inducing first period, which wasn’t negative at all – it just wasn’t entertaining – there were no Ranger “low-lights” to be had from this game.

Outside of Rosen and Micheletti reminding us no less than 78956756786785675785765 times that Connor McDavid was injured, another thing became apparent early – the Rangers were favoring the backhanded shot – the toughest shot for a goalie to get a read on.

All game long, the Blueshirts were doing the John McEnroe, and where more times than not – all of these attempts were strong. Also strong was Stuart Skinner, the Oilers’ goalie that in no way, shape or form could you pin this loss on.

While not as sloppy as they were against Calgary, the Blueshirts did give up a few odd-man rushes early, but after Quick shut the door on all of them – the Rangers settled down – and while we didn’t know it at the time – that was that.

Kind of scary coming from me, a jaded fan and who still can’t let go of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs loss?

I knew it in my bones, and said as much at the time – once the Rangers scored – that was going to be it – which in a way – also sums up my feelings about the Oilers right now too.

There was just no chance that the Rangers were losing this game – and keep in mind – I am burying Wince for coming up with silly line names, while also running my daily disclaimer every day too!

Seven games into this campaign and I feel like I have to avoid being sucked back in while shouting, “WE WANT THE CUP!”

And yep – this regular season can’t end soon enough for me!

With 13:00 remaining, Panarin, and where I guess shaving his head has worked out for him thus far (maybe Mika ZibaneDAD should do the same?); “The Breadman” made four wild-and-crazy cross-ice passes on the same shift – and where all of these passes met their intended target without obstruction.

“TURK TRUTHERS” will blame Gallant for Panarin’s helter-skelter style of passing from last season. To me, this isn’t a coaching issue, this is a player performance issue – and whatever Panarin is doing right now – keep it up – as the passes that he’s making now, the same passes that he made last year – are actually working out.

Aturnover Panarin who?

By the ten-minute mark of the game, this is when the Rangers tightened up a bit – and a few scoring chances too from the top-six – but Skinner, like a skin tag, was an annoying little pest as he made a few good saves at this time.

As this game kind of dragged on a bit, I was hoping that M$GN would go back to the David Quinn era – and show us that clip from several years back in Edmonton when an angry Mr. Swagger (currently win-less in San Jose – and man, oh, man, do I wonder what DQ would do with a team that WASN’T rebuilding) belted out “RABBIT EARS” about 867867896 times.

Quick, who received the surprise start tonight (everyone thought that CZAR IGOR would go, including the media, but following the game, Lavy said that he wanted to go with his back-up since of the remaining three teams left on this road-trip, Quick’s best career numbers were against the Oilers – and a decision that paid huge dividends too); made his first of three stops on Leon Draisaitl with 5:14 remaining – his first save of the game candidate at that.

Speaking of Draisaitl – there was no funny business between the German and Jacob Trouba tonight – and for the Rangers’ captain – there was no need to drop the gloves with this bozo either.

Had the Oilers shown some life (no joke – it got so quiet early in Edmonton that you could actually hear the players talking to each other on the ice), and had this been a chippy game – then yeah – Trouba should’ve tossed his mitts.

But that never happened – and there was no reason to give the Oilers any life via a power-play.

That said, with 4:47 remaining, K’Andre Miller had a miscue which then allowed the home team to go on a two-vs-one odd-man rush. As Warren Foegele was setting up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins for a tap-in goal, Blake Wheeler, who had his best game of his seven-game Rangers’ career tonight, took a hooking penalty in order to prevent such an event.

I don’t know, maybe Quick would have stopped this anyway.

But it didn’t matter.

Following some strong PKing from Trouba and Goodrow; with 3:39 remaining and only 52-seconds ticks left on the Oilers’ power-play, Evander “The Gambler” Kane actually pulled a Draisaitl – and smacked Miller’s stick out of his hands – an interference penalty.

Once the foreplay concluded and following a Panarin 1 x 4 attempt on the truncated power-play; we returned to full-strength, where in the final seconds of the frame – Lafreniere set-up Chytil for a gimmie goal (pretty much the same play that Foegele/RNH had) – but the Czech shot the puck directly at Skinner – and not into the vacated net that was afforded.

0-0 after twenty.

Here’s what I said at the time:

Scoreless after 20. 1P Thoughts:
— Maybe my lack of sleep is catching up to me, but this game is making me lethargic too.
— The thirty minute delay didn’t help either!
— Not sloppy or bad, just boring, but workmanlike.
— Quick keeps on rolling.
— Oilers have given up…

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 27, 2023

SECOND PERIOD

As mentioned earlier – you could feel it.

All that you needed was the one goal and that would do it – especially against a depressed and fragile Oiler squad.

As the period began, and as Rosen belted out his normal question of, “SECOND PERIOD, WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR HERE JOE?”- “Some life Sammy!” – I was wondering – what color of tape was on the Rangers’ sticks tonight?

Oh you didn’t notice either! Go figure!

Chytil, who didn’t exactly close the first period on a high note, went wide from one foot away while in the slot at just the two-minute mark of this period.

Maybe the “French Toast” needs more seasoning.

That said, just ten-seconds later, the French part of that silly nicknamed line, Lafreniere, drew a high-sticking penalty – a penalty that he sold as if he were shot by John Wilkes Booth.

Zibanejad, following all of his 98567567856767867856785 one-timers that go everywhere besides into the back of the net, soon celebrated, as with 16:28 remaining, this happened:

Panarin’s point streak extends to 7 games.

Foxy on the PP with the one-T #NYR pic.twitter.com/0pvKCBLBjI

— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) October 27, 2023

1-0, GOOD GUYS.

Your GWG too.

Panarin set the whole thing up, as his pass found Trocheck and a little marinara sauce from Nonna Trocheck’s Bambino led to the FOXY CUTE’EM PPG.

The Oilers would have some brief flurries of sustained offense, but whether it was Goodrow, Trouba, Bonino, Lindgren, Kreider or anyone else, and most certainly Quick too – none of these home team attacks ever panned out.

With 8:13 remaining, Quick once again made a big stop on Draisaitl and as we’ve seen so many times in the past – one big save can lead to a goal the other way – and as it did here:

Holy Schneiky.

*Schneider. pic.twitter.com/gM4yMa6OM2

— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) October 27, 2023

Fox, who scored the first goal, was now looking to aid and abet, as he assisted on this goal.

Following a pass to Jimmy “Tyler Pitlick Who?” Vesey; the two-time Ranger then found Schneider streaking into the zone – and BOOM – #4 just blew the puck past Skinner.

2-0, GOOD GUYS!

As the period continued to tick, so did Quick – as nothing was getting past him tonight.

While the Rangers did score three goals in this game, the same also applies to Skinner – but albeit – not as much.

No joke, the Blueshirts could’ve scored seven goals this period, but between <DINGS> (Wheeler and Mika) and just big-time saves – they “only” scored three.

The third?

Lafreniere, who now has goals in three consecutive games:

3 games in a row.

Lafreniere is officially on fire🔥

You’ve been warned @NHL pic.twitter.com/vyetseyKIo

— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) October 27, 2023

3-0, GOOD GUYS.

This was another PAY IT FORWARD goal.

What do I mean? The following:

Fox scored the first goal and then assisted on Schneider’s goal.

Schneider scored the second goal and then assisted on Lafreniere’s goal.

What does this all mean?

Lafreniere owes someone an assist on Saturday night!

Also worth noting?

Panarin picked up an assist on this goal, as he continues to rack up the multi-point games.

As the period came to an end, Oiler fans were booing their players out of the building.

3-0, GOOD GUYS, after two periods – and where it was elementary my Dear Watson – the third period would not change the victor of this game.

Here’s what I said at the time:

3-0, GOOD GUYS, after 40. 2P Thoughts:
— Told you they’d score – felt like the CGY game – knocking on the door.
— This is the Laf everyone wants – keep it going.
— Man was I DEAD WRONG about Quick – still early, but he has the best stats in the league!!!!
— My season-long…

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 27, 2023

THIRD PERIOD

Again, sorry to short change you (and the great work from the team tonight too), but one last time – that damn alarm clock that I’m currently giving the evil eye to!

This final frame was largely dominated by Quick – although he wasn’t as taxed as CZAR IGOR was against the Flames during that third period.

The Rangers received one last power-play with 10:12 remaining, when Mattias Ekholm cross-checked Miller (officially, it was called interference).

The PP1 unit did a good job, but JOKE ERASED.

(Sorry, after what happened in Maine, I just can’t make any shooting gun jokes tonight about Mika’s disastrous one-timer – and my thoughts to everyone out there. Just crazy and sickening.)

During this power-play, it looked like Panarin was hellbent to get Zibanejad a goal – but again – the new baby at home hasn’t exactly solved that one-timer.

After Quick broke Zach Hyman (I’m not adverse to making a disgusting joke like that); with 6:30 remaining, Will Cuylle was robbed – but not by Skinner – but by the inept dickheads posing as competent NHL officials:

Here’s a longer clip #NYR Edm 100% thought it should’ve counted. pic.twitter.com/ry97dNy868

— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) October 27, 2023

As you can see from the above clip, with 6:30 remaining, Wheeler led a rush, stalled, waited for Cuylle and BOOM – an intended pass for his fellow winger wound up hitting his skate – and where the end result was a puck-luck goal off of Cuylle’s skate.

And did I mention that as this was happening, that Cuylle was being tackled by an Oiler d-man?

4-0 GOOD GUYS – or so we thought.

The officials reviewed this, and actually had the audacity to overturn this goal.

I guess they didn’t make a prop bet on a Cuylle goal and where after seeing this horse shit – I wonder if they made a prop bet on Cuylle NOT to score a goal.

I’ve legit seen players wind up their legs, as if they were an NFL field goal kicker, and have their goals stand.

This particular meeting of puck and skate couldn’t have been anymore accidental.

Pregnant teenagers have had less of an accident than Cuylle and Wheeler had here.

Following the bullshit, we remained at 3-0, GOOD GUYS – and where Oilers’ bench boss, Jay Woodcroft, wouldn’t do anything with this gift.

With 2:53 remaining, Wheeler, who should’ve had his first point as a Ranger tonight, was boxed for hooking.

In other words, Woodcroft could pull Skinner and then employ a 6 x 4 empty net power-play attack.

I am to assume that Woodcroft bet on this game too – as down by three, and nothing more to lose – he left Skinner in net.

Oiler fans, like yours truly, were equally as perplexed – as this was the whitest of white flags being waved.

What’s the difference if you lose 3-0 or 4-0?

Who knows, maybe you get the PPG, make it 3-1 and then get an extra skater (6 x 5) goal to make things interesting? Who knows, maybe you draw a penalty while attacking under this strategy?

However, that’s a problem for Oiler fans and not for me, and as the game concluded, 3-0, GOOD GUYS – a shutout for Jonathan Quick who “quicksanded” a team that even without McDavid, still puts up a gaudy amount of goals.

Excellent job by the boys in Blue tonight.

Here’s a happy Lavy after the big W:

See ya Saturday night – and while I know that this recap is probably the best and most detailed out there – sorry for the rush job tonight.

Things return to normal on the weekend!

Like the Oilers – it’s bed time and lights out for me!

LGR!

PLUGS TIME! (Buy a book and support my Rangers’ induced therapy bills. After all, I don’t run ads on this site!)

My fourth title and tenth book is now available for preorder!

“The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” is now available for preorder.

For complete information, please visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/rangerkillers/

My second plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”

As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD

For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:

Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today

My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.

My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.

To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/

To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”

The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!

“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.

All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.

To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com

To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com

To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:

NYR/CGY 10/24 Review: CZAR IGOR Blows Out Flames’ Candle; Ranger Special Teams Have a Perfect Night Too, Textbook Road Win, Lafreniere Watch, Kreider Chasing History, Gustafsson = Best Off-Season Signing; Wheeler Not So Much, Never-Ending Pride Tape Debate Resurfaces (And What’s Next), Mollie Walker vs Oilers; Birdbrain Beat, ESPN, Hagelin Talks NYR Career & More

NYR/SEA 10/21 Review: Lights Out At The Krak Den – But The Bakery Remains Open For Biz! Stone Cold Artemi NoHairIn Leads Rangers’ Rebound in Seattle; Jonathan “Quicksands” Krakheads, Lotto Picks Cash In, Reverse Rosen Curses & Jack Hughes, Superb Team Defense, Trocheck Shuts Up Sean Avery, “Lavy’s Lounges,” Kraken Pays Tribute to Bill Chadwick & More

NYR/NSH 10/19 Review: Rangers Destroyed, Decimated and Left For Dead By Predators; Lavy’s Lot Has Their Worst Game Yet, CZAR IGOR Pulled; Quick Surprisingly Good, Let The Othmann & Kane Chatter Continue, Kakko & Lafreniere Not Producing; Ditto Mika & Panarin, Another Horrid Night for M$GN; Rosen’s Lost It, NYR Selling Fan Info, Road-Trip Bonding & More

If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:

Don’t forget to order my recently released four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”

If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com

For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

Thanks for reading.

LET’S GO RANGERS!

Sean McCaffrey

BULLSMC@aol.com

@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine