NYR/DAL 10/29 Review: Surviving What Could’ve Been a Debacle in Dallas, Super Trocheck Pounds Stars; Kravtsov Sees Stars (Again), Turk Presses Right Buttons, Power-Play Returns, “Old Friends,” New Signing, “Accrue,” M$GN & JULIEN GAUTHIER SCORED A GOAL!

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Whew.

By the time the second period reached its conclusion during the Rangers’ Saturday matinee in the “Big D;” it felt like the Rangers, and their fans, were being set-up for a “Big D” themselves, as in “Disappointment.”

Instead, the Rangers displayed another “d-word” (not Sieve Vagistat), as in “DYNAMITE.”

In what was one of the most craziest games in some time (just a shade below the Rangers’ 6-5 win in Montreal from a few years back – the craziest game I’ve ever seen live – although the Dan Cloutier pounding of Tommy Salo is up there); Gallant’s Gang found a new way to win, where unlikely heroes, Zac Jones and Julien Gauthier, were two of the catalysts.

The Rangers, who were on the wrong side of the scoreboard during their last five of six games, needed two points today.

And despite the final score of 6-3 – once the third period began – it looked like those two points were slipping away.

While we’ll cover everything tonight during the GAME REVIEW segment; entering the third period, the two teams found themselves knotted up at 3-3, in a contest where the Rangers had previously blown two separate leads in.

Very quickly, it looked like Dallas had scored the go-ahead goal off of the stick of Jason Robertson, but thankfully, video replay rendered the goal as no good, due to Joe Pavelski being offside.

Yes, we can only talk about the facts – but had this goal stood – I’m not so sure that the Rangers would’ve won today.

And of course, Part I – “coulda, woulda, shoulda.” Dallas went offside, no goal, and the Rangers, with Gerard Gallant tinkering around with his defensive pairs – soon doubled-up Dallas – and saved a lot of despair in the streets of Rangerstown, USA.

And of course, Part II – Vitali Kravtsov, in his first game since being injured on Sunday, got injured again. More on the mercurial Murphy’s Law Russian below.

Before motoring on here, as there’s a lot to cover – a quick plug for my new four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade.”

Finally, after teasing this project for over a year now – all four volumes are not only available through me, but on Amazon.com too!

As I’ve written so many times before, even to the point of exhaustion – I don’t run ads, Patreon links, video pop-up players, spyware or any of that other junk on this site.

If you want to support me – just buy my books. Heck, you’ll take a lot out of them too – and to quote the Men’s Wearhouse – “I guarantee it!”

For complete information on all four volumes of “Tricks of the Trade,” check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/

At this time, let’s blow through all of the off-day and pregame news, and then get into this big win.

In what could amount to something or nothing at all; on October 27th, the Rangers announced the signing of Ben Harpur.

The following comes courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-agree-to-terms-with-defenseman-ben-harpur/c-336858684?icmp=int_web_nyr_news_rightrail :

As a left-handed defenseman, there is a chance that Harpur could receive a call-up this season, in the event of injuries and/or poor performance between the rotating pair of Zac Jones and Libor Hajek.

Then again, Harpur may become exclusive to the Wolfpack.

If there’s one certainty here, it’s that the Rangers valued Harpur over Matt Bartkowski.

Previously, the Rangers had “The Bart Man” in camp on a PTO. However, and unlike Jimmy Vesey – Chris Drury never offered Bartkowski a contract.

Following the news of the Harpur signing from Thursday afternoon; come the evening, the Rangers held their annual Halloween party.

I know that I talk about these Halloween parties every year, but the point still remains the same – these parties are huge for team chemistry and bonding.

As last mentioned when I reviewed Mark Messier’s autobiography, “No One Wins Alone” (check the BOOK REVIEWS section) – these parties are a rare time where the whole entire team gets together on an off-day.

And as previously mentioned on this site – the Rangers, and as it’s been ever since 1926, when the team was founded, live all over the place.

While during the early days of the franchise, you had players mainly living in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan; over time, these players have also spread out to Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut. This is not so commonplace with the other 31 teams, where players live closer in proximity than the Rangers do.

In other words, the Halloween party is a significant event, a soiree that the team captain usually puts together.

(Of note: when Jacob Trouba was first named captain over the summer, several Rangers brought up how he organized the Halloween party last season. That tells you how important these parties are – if they weren’t – it would’ve never been mentioned.)

While yes, this is pretty much a whole bag of nothing for the fans; for the players – this is a big deal.

I’m sure you’ve already seen pictures from this party floating around on the internet, but in case you haven’t, here’s a picture that Barclay Goodrow shared on his social media pages:

Things looked pretty bright in Rangerstown, USA on Friday morning, as all 23-men on the roster, including Filip Chytil and Vitali Kravtsov, both recuperating from recent injuries, back on the ice.

Following today’s game – both were off of it.

While Kravtsov participated during Friday’s practice and was cleared to return; Chytil, who also participated and was cleared, left practice early.

It was the Rangers’ hope that #72 would return ahead of schedule (he had been previously ruled out from this road-trip last Sunday, when he first suffered his injury during the game against Columbus), but that wouldn’t be the case.

Following the practice, Gallant met with the media, where he provided an update on Chytil.

Here’s Friday’s edition of “TURK TALK”:

Obviously, Chytil’s status was the top story from Friday.

Here’s the head coach on his third line center:

“It was good news that he had a full practice, almost a full practice, but he didn’t feel good at the end. We’re gonna be safe and he won’t come on the trip.”

Of course, this begs the following question – did the Rangers rush Chytil back?

Without knowing if Chytil suffered a concussion or not (at least not with 100% certainty) – maybe he did rush his return.

In any event, the Rangers ruled on the side of safety and kept Chytil in New York for this trip – the right call.

And yep – since Chytil isn’t on the LITR – the Rangers are still carrying 23-men on their roster.

That “a-word” dream, as in “accrue,” has been a nightmare thus far, due to the rash of injuries during these first three weeks of this season.

With Kravtsov returning and Chytil still out; Gallant made some changes to his line-up.

For the first time this season, Ryan Reaves was a healthy scratch, where “The Grim Reaver” joined Libor Hajek in the press box.

And while you can understand why “The Turk” wanted to give Reaves a breather – you do wonder if things would’ve played out differently today with him in the line-up – especially since it looked like the Stars’ game-plan was to bowl over CZAR IGOR for sixty minutes.

Of note, and as we’ll get into during the GAME REVIEW; come the third period, and with both K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba sitting at -3 (they were on for every goal allowed) – the bench boss broke the pair up. The team then put a field goal on the board.

Here was Saturday’s line-up:

FIRST LINE: Kreider/Mika/Kakko

SECOND LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere

THIRD LINE: Vesey/Goodrow/Kravtsov

FOURTH LINE: Blais/Carpenter/Gauthier

FIRST PAIR: Miller/Trouba

SECOND PAIR: Lindgren/Fox

THIRD PAIR: Jones/Schneider

STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR

BACK-UP GOALIE: THE HALAKNESS MONSTER

BOX SCORE time.

The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:

SCORING:

PENALTIES:

TEAM STATS:

GOALIES:

At 1:30PM, I flipped to the M$GN, where right away, Sieve Vagistat was talking about “empty calorie” shots on goal. That was it for me, as I decided to watch an “Impractical Jokers” re-run until the game started at 2PM.

I talked about this a few blogs ago (Sunday night); but for whatever reason, Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti are sitting out this trip out west.

Since these guys don’t tell you anything – I don’t know why Sam and Joe called this game from the studio.

One theory is perhaps M$GN couldn’t fit their production equipment in Arizona (more on the Coyotes at the end of this manifesto). Another theory, and as brought up before on this site – M$GN, via the pandemic, realizes that they can save money by keeping their crew at home.

And while I understand why everyone had to call these games from the studio during COVID; the pandemic is over and there is just no excuse to keep Sam and Joe on 33rd & 7th during road contests.

This was never more apparent than today, as you had a ton of plays that took place away from the puck, plays that in turn – Sam and Joe both missed – and through no fault of their own.

Between Igor getting run over, the Kravtsov injury and about 78978678966 other things – the M$GN shit the bed with this decision.

These broadcasts, already brutal whenever Lundqvist isn’t around, are 78678668966 times worse whenever Sam and Joe aren’t in the arena.

Yes, Rosen is throwing a 25 MPH fastball these days; but say what you want about him – Micheletti does a great job.

Heck, even when calling this game off of a monitor – Micheletti immediately pointed out an offside goal reversal with no problems. However, “The Fabulous One” could only guess about what was going on off-camera.

If that wasn’t enough, this broadcast was also plagued with technical issues, where the sound didn’t match the picture, jump-cuts and an intermission interview with Braden Schneider that had to be scrapped, due to a poor signal/feed.

A franchise worth over two billion dollars and they give us this – a broadcast that a high school A/V club would’ve had more success with.

It will only get worse tomorrow, but we’ll talk about that after the GAME REVIEW.

Let’s roll.

FIRST PERIOD:

The Rangers, who are continuing their “OLD FRIEND” tour, as if they were a 1970s band reuniting for one last run, saw Nils Lundkvist today – where I’m happy to report that the ex-Blueshirt did nothing of significance in this game!

After recently seeing Ryan Strome, Frank Vatrano, David Quinn, Dryden Hunt, Alexandar Georgiev, and now after visiting the Swede; the Rangers will see another “OLD FRIEND,” a fellow Swede himself, Patrik Nemeth, on Sunday.

Then, once returned home, the Rangers will see a trio of “OLD FRIENDS” on Tuesday night against the Flyers at M$G – the lovable Tony DeAngelo, the cuddly John Tortorella and Kevin Hayes.

But we can talk all about that once we get there!

And after today – I hope Vitali Kravtsov soon becomes an “OLD FRIEND” too – but more on that once we reach the second period of this game review.

In a game featuring two stellar goalies, CZAR IGOR and Jake Oettinger, it was the Stars’ netminder who would leave this game early – despite Dallas trying to knock Shestyorkin out of the game.

As we saw a camera shot of the crowd, where I guess for Halloween, Stars fans dressed up in either blue jerseys or as empty seats; just 1:09 in, and following another turnover from Artemi Panarin – boom – 1-0, bad guys – following Mason Marchment capitalizing on the freshly baked Breadman turnover.

And yep – I think this is the shortest amount of time where my daily bet of “Rangers 4-0” was blown to smoke.

Just two minutes after Marchment’s opening tally, the Rangers’ second line turned over another puck, where thankfully – the Stars just missed of making this game 2-0, as a centering pass was broken up by Lafreniere.

In a game where production issues were on display; I found my retinas and cones going bat-shit crazy, between the Stars’ glow-in-the-dark jerseys and the never-ending advertisements on the boards.

Seriously – has anyone ever bought a product because they saw it advertised (now digitally) on the former white boards of these NHL rinks?

“OH SHIT – BUDWEISER – I JUST SAW THEIR AD – I WAS NEVER AWARE OF BEER BEFORE! LET ME GO BUY A CASE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”

And I’m waiting for the day when someone hacks into these digital ads which are displayed on the boards.

“OH JOE, PORNHUB JOE! NOW FEATURING WOMEN AND HORSES JOE!”

“Fabulous Sam, beastality is absolutely fabulous Sam!”

During the first six minutes of this game, it was all Dallas. However, that didn’t stop Rosen from belting out, “GOOD PACE JOE!”

If spending the entire game in your own d-zone is “good pace,” then the Rangers were Secretariat during these first six minutes.

However, down 1-0, and with seven minutes expired, the Rangers started to pick it up a bit.

Up first was Julien Gauthier, “who streaked to the net and you know the rest” – where I’m happy to report that my trademarked line is no longer applicable after today!

After Gauthier missed the net (where prior to his insurance goal scored during the third period, I thought he was going to fly a puck out of Dallas and into “The Alamo”), the Rangers kept firing the puck at Oettinger, but to the Stars’ credit – they were blocking everything.

Officially, the Stars were credited with seven blocked shots during the first period, but it felt like twenty.

At the 8:41 mark of the period, and as mentioned, with the Rangers buzzing, the former “CK52,” who is now “CK3,” tied the game:

THAT’S WHAT IM TALKIN ABOUT! pic.twitter.com/dFYq8kF2KJ

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) October 29, 2022

1-1!

Man, did Kreider need this.

I’ve written about Kreider’s early struggles this season, so you can check the archives of this site for more – but for a guy who hasn’t been getting the bounces yet that he was getting last season – hopefully this is the start of something big – again.

Due to the abundance of scoring that we’d later see; Kaapo Kakko’s name was kind of bogged down by the other headlines from this game.

However, don’t get it twisted – I thought he was the second-best Ranger today, second only to Vincent Trocheck.

On Kreider’s goal, Kakko grabbed a rebound off of the boards, a puck that Schneider unintentionally shot wide, and then fed his fellow winger the rubber for the easy tap-in goal.

And during a game that was very “sloppy poppy” at points – Kakko was one of the better defenders.

In a rare break for the Rangers this season; with 9:30 to go, Robertson heard the familiar sound of <ding>. Right after that, Lundkvist interfered with Lafreniere.

The Rangers’ power-play wasn’t successful here, as Mika shot wide and the Rangers’ best chance, a Trouba bomb, was blocked.

Now back to full-strength, Oettinger stopped Schneider from his paint. Gauthier also went to the net, for his final “and you know the rest.”

Down to 2:31 remaining, Ryan Carpenter, who I can’t say I have seen much from yet (Kevin Rooney is missed), took an offensive zone penalty when he hooked Lundkvist. Just 21 seconds later, Robertson tripped Zibanejad while the Stars were attacking.

It’s not very often that you see back-to-back o-zone penalties in just a time-span of twenty-one seconds, but that’s how wacky this game was.

Now down to 17 seconds remaining, Ty Dellandrea, starring in the role of “Asshole – The Movie,” did this:

Igor’s down. What a dirty play against last year Vezina winner. #NYR pic.twitter.com/aKDuiTLR6E

— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) October 29, 2022

I’m sure that Dellandrea is pleading his innocence to Dallas reporters, but to me – this was a dirty slewfoot play – and not accidental. It didn’t even look like that he made an attempt to get out of Igor’s way.

Once Igor went down (Jim Ramsey checked up on his goaltender but Igor was fine – praise the hockey gods); noted pugilist, the prizefighter known as “The Breadman,” took issue with Dellandrea. In turn, the two exchanged roughing penalties and where the end result of this was a Rangers’ powerplay.

Tied at one-all after twenty. Here’s what I said at the time:

1-1 after 1. 1P Thoughts:
— Slow start but #NYR woke up 6-7 minutes in.
— Glad to see Kreider back on the board – where he belongs.
— SOG 10-7 Stars (D credited with 7 blocked shots), Hits 6-5 R, Faceoffs – 12-3!, R.
— Rangers gotta get a PPG when 2P begings.
LGR.

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 29, 2022

SECOND PERIOD:

Prior to our “SECOND PERIOD, WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR HERE?” question from Mr. Rosen; we were shown that the Stars held one of their Hall of Fame ceremonies prior to the game.

Do I even have to say it? You know my feelings about how the Rangers piss on and ignore their history by now!

In what was pretty funny – Joe Micheletti really talked-up Mike Modano. If you don’t know – Modano married one of Micheletti’s daughters many years ago and is a FABULOUS son-in-law. Sam had fun with this too.

The Rangers, who presented a different PP1 unit here, due to “Bread in the Box,” finally scored a power-play goal, their second in their last seventeen tries:

Fox ➡️ Zibanejad ➡️ Trocheck pic.twitter.com/npMBCPv7Bs

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) October 29, 2022

2-1, GOOD GUYS, and in a role-reversal, as it was Mika who made the cross-ice pass to Trocheck for the one-timer from the dot at the red circle.

Twenty-nine seconds later, and at the 1:28 mark, Roope Hintz scored. 2-2.

To paraphrase Axl Rose, “nothing lasts forever, not even late October leads.”

This Dallas goal was the end-result of the soft Kravtsov getting muscled off of a puck that he should’ve taken out of the zone. Following a blocked shot, Hintz deposited the loose change behind CZAR IGOR.

Eleven seconds after this goal, the Rangers received a reprieve when Hanley interfered with Julien Gauthier.

Now back on the power-play, it were the Stars who had better scoring chances, including a three vs one odd-man rush – as Igor prevented Hintz from scoring two goals in a time-span of thirty seconds.

This Rangers’ power-play, not as good as their previous one, was killed.

The power-play was now 1-4*, where the asterisk is needed due to a 21 second power-play, and the fact that the Rangers scored a goal without their best scorer on the ice, Artemi Panarin.

As this period progressed, it felt like the Rangers were winning every faceoff imaginable.

I don’t know how Trocheck was credited with only nine wins on fourteen draws, as it felt like he only lost two of them; but if Netflix, the streamer who is absolutely obsessed with serial killers, wanted to make a new snuff series, they should do one on #16, as Trocheck was murdering the Stars at the dot all game.

And I know I’ve mentioned this during every game review this season, but yep, once again – anytime there was a scrum or post-whistle theatrics – there was #16, in Rangers’ white, right in the middle of it all. He has had no problems in defending his new teammates this season.

Come 13:37 remaining, Oettinger left the game. Stars’ back-up, Scott Wedgewood, then took over the net – and finished the contest for the Stars too.

It looked like Oettinger had cramped up, but I haven’t checked the Dallas post-game report to know for sure. Then again, that’s a problem for a Stars’ fan, and not for me. All I care about are Ranger wins!

The Rangers tried to test Wedgewood early, but to his credit, the former Devil made a few big stops, including a point-blank Kreider try. For good measure, Wedgewood then made a robbery save on Lafreniere too.

With 7:33 to go, the inevitable happened. Vitali Kravtsov got injured again:

🤦 #NYR pic.twitter.com/atY5ItHMtj

— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) October 29, 2022

I’m not going to play my “Greatest Hits” on Kravtsov here, because all of that is redundant.

However, the following points on Kravtsov’s latest injury, after the clean hit laid upon him by Jani Hakanpaa:

— Is Kravtsov the Rangers’ version of “Glass Joe” from the old Nintendo game, “PUNCH-OUT?” I really don’t know.

— I do think the word “soft” most certainly applies to Kravtsov – but I wouldn’t really use that word to describe his latest ailment, one that could be serious, as it looked like #74 may have been concussed.

— Kravtsov is starting to remind me of Kevin Shattenkirk during his Rangers’ tenure, as he’s been pure “Murphy’s Law” – as anything that could go wrong goes wrong for him. However, a lot of Kravtsov’s troubles are self-inflicted – Shattenkirk’s issues were not. (Check the archives of this site for more, but in short – Shattenkirk thought he’d be playing on a contender – instead – the Rangers decided to rebuild.)

— Kravtsov has played in four games this season. He’s only been able to complete one of them. At some point, while all of these injuries are unfortunate – maybe it’s just time to admit that he’s just not an NHLer.

We all know how Kravtsov decided to play the role of the “hare,” rather than the “tortoise,” by leaving the Rangers twice and scooting back home to Russia.

While he did receive a larger salary by playing for his hometown team, Traktor (rather than accepting his AHL assignments for lesser pay) – what he lost was valuable North American experience. This has been completely evident this season.

If there’s any major point I want to make right now, it’s this:

As everyone and their mother knows, the Rangers’ biggest goal between now and March (besides winning games) is that “a-word,” as in “accrue.”

At this point of the season, and with Drury being unable to accumulate the accrued salary cap space that he desires, due to all of these injuries – what’s more valuable for the WIN-NOW team – trying and trying and trying to get Kravtsov going – or just cutting bait by finally admitting that Kravtsov is a first-round bust and in turn, accrue cap space?

I see potential in both Kakko and Lafreniere. I just don’t see it in Kravtsov, who reminds me more and more of Lias Andersson with every game played.

Drury owes Kravtsov nothing. Kravtsov was a Gorton pick. And there’s a reason why Drury revamped the entire scouting system once taking over in the first place.

And should Drury waive Kravtsov right now – is there really that much interest in him as everyone thinks?

And even if Kravtsov were to be claimed – do you really see him taking over the league?

(And even if he did turn it on elsewhere – what’s best for the Rangers this season – trying to win the Cup or placating Kravtsov? It’s a 23-man roster – not a one-man roster.)

Of all of Kravtsov’s injuries, this was the toughest to watch.

While of course Gallant said that Kravtsov is now “day-to-day” (I’m shocked none of these 789567567565 t-shirt companies have released a Turk “day-to-day” shirt yet); this injury looked serious.

This is also an injury that could’ve been prevented – as Kravtsov is way over his head at the NHL level.

Every time he plays, he personifies the adage “men against boys.”

It’s time to move on.

And yep, and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot – good luck to Kravtsov as he tries to recover from his latest injury – perhaps the most severe of his career.

Down to 6:46 remaining, Hanley took another penalty, this time when he tripped noted net-presence, Ryan Carpenter.

Early into the power-play, you could feel a shart brewing, as the Stars’ PK once again had a chance to score a shorty. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, and once recovering the puck, this happened instead:

MIKA ZIBANEJAD! IT’S A POWER PLAY GOAL! pic.twitter.com/9weJCsyVZD

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) October 29, 2022

3-2, GOOD GUYS, as Panarin perfectly set-up Zibanejad.

Of course, and to paraphrase Axl Rose one more time, “nothing lasts forever, not even late October leads.”

Just four seconds after Mika’s goal, K’Andre Miller was boxed for interfering with Marchment.

The Rangers’ penalty kill survived this Dallas man-advantage attack; but with just 1:14 remaining, Robertson, following a haphazard “bad puck luck” draw in the Rangers d-zone; beat Igor.

3-3, in a period where I’m sure both coaches weren’t thrilled with.

And that’s the score we remained at after forty minutes of action.

Here’s what I said at the time:

3-3 after 40. 2P Thoughts:
— Neither coach will be happy about that period.
— Salary cap space > Kravtsov’s progression. Cut bait.
— Igor hasn’t been Igor yet.
— Nice to see the top #NYR stars score
— SOG 25-20 Stars; Hits 11-9, FOs 23-11 Rangers
— Can’t lose this.

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) October 29, 2022

THIRD PERIOD:

The Rangers scored three goals during this final frame – but they all came late.

In other words – this wasn’t a true blowout – but who cares – they won.

Prior to the barrage, most of this period was defensively sound, as you could see that both coaches stressed defense during their intermission speeches.

With 16:09 remaining, and in a rare Rangers’ gaffe from this period; Lindgren turned over the puck and Robertson soon scored. This was the goal that was waved off, due to the offside.

It was also around this time where we saw that Gallant had broken up his first and third pairs, as Trouba was with Jones while Miller skated with Schneider. This move soon made Gallant look like a genius.

As both teams tried to limit their opponents chances; we soon reached ten minutes remaining. Then, at the 11:18 mark, this happened:

1ST NHL GOAL FOR JONES! 4-3 #NYR pic.twitter.com/Q5KvQEaFd2

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) October 29, 2022

4-3, GOOD GUYS, following Jones’ first goal of his career, a rip from the high slot – and his first game winning goal too!

But wait K-Mart shoppers, there’s more!

Just nineteen seconds later, pigs flew, cats mated with dogs and Sam Rosen actually called a goal correctly:

OH MY GAUTHIER! 5-3 #NYR pic.twitter.com/6j25OgEtNy

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) October 29, 2022

5-3, GOOD GUYS, as JULIEN GAUTHIER PUT A PUCK IN AN EMPTY NET!

I don’t think I have to explain this, so I’ll just say it and leave it at that – NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE, NEEDED TO SCORE A GOAL MORE THAN GAUTHIER. Not even Kravtsov.

I’m happy for Gauthier – but now that I know he is able to put a puck into the net (I didn’t know this was possible before today) – I hope he keeps on doing it!

For good measure, the Stars took a penalty right after this. The Rangers had a loooooooooong delayed penalty attack, where after a minute of looking for their third goal of the period, there was Vincent Trocheck (two goals and one assist today), to put this game to bed.

6-3, GOOD GUYS, and with just 6:34 remaining.

I know I exaggerate a lot on this site (hence my never-ending 78967866967967696767676 gimmick), but this isn’t an exaggeration at all – you could feel the high-pressure escape the room – or at the very least – from the Rangers’ bench.

Had the Rangers lost this game – it would’ve been ugly. Thankfully, we don’t even have to explore that.

If there’s anything else worth mentioning, it was that with 3:04 to go, Sammy Blais was boxed for cross-checking – an unnecessary penalty. However, that’s not the part worth mentioning.

Down by three and now on a power-play – Dallas waved the white flag, as they didn’t even bother pulling Wedgewood from their net.

You’re down by three. What’s the difference if you lose by four? I rather try to make an attempt than give up – but that’s a problem for the Stars and not for me.

6-3, GOOD GUYS, your final, where as far as anything else – both Trouba and Goodrow went after Dellandrea for his crimes committed against CZAR IGOR from the first period – and with the game’s victor already decided.

I have to wrap up quickly here, as I want to get ready for this Jake Paul vs Anderson Silva fight.

Just a few quick hits before going home:

— This wasn’t a great win for the Rangers – but it was a resilient one – and a victory that was reminiscent from last season.

— CZAR IGOR hasn’t done a great job of defending his Vezina Trophy – yet. Since this game was played at 2PM and with an 8PM start scheduled in Arizona tomorrow – I’d go right back to him – even if that’s not what Gallant likes to do. Plus, since it’s more than 24 hours between games – why not?

— I just think that Igor needs more time to get going here, so who better than Arizona? As Ron Duguay said after this game – play him now and get the points – then worry about his rest/time off following the All-Star break.

— Yes, we all know about the issues in Arizona, and the state of the visitor’s locker room:

The visiting dressing room at the Arizona Coyotes’ Mullet Arena is ready to go: pic.twitter.com/HvSGU4eCHA

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 27, 2022

I know that some fans are making a mountain out of a molehill here about this, as the Rangers are one of the four NHL guests who will experience this junior high locker room before the new visitor’s locker room at “The Mullet” is ready; but to me – who cares?

For a team that constantly uses the word “grit,” and despite their lavish and state-of-the-art treatment – maybe these dungeon digs will give them some character.

It’s just one game – one that they should win. No more losses against these bad teams!

Finally, and my last point before going home – it’s a damn shame that Sam and Joe won’t be there.

A unique environment, on Halloween Eve no less, and instead of having Micheletti dressed as a vampire, and Rosen dressed in his prime; instead, we’ll be forced to watch these two call this game from the stuffy studio, rather than from a vibrant college campus.

This was a major opportunity blown.

FYI: prepare to go dizzy on Sunday night. I watched the Coyotes vs Jets game from Friday night (produced by the Epileptic Seizure Providing Network/ESPN) and it was tough.

With no upper-rotunda, the camera angles are unorthodox, which should work wonders for Rosen.

Big win today. Get the two points on Sunday.

PLUGS TIME!

On Thursday, our pals at “The Blueshirt Underground Show” returned with a new episode. To check it out, click the play button below:

My first 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.”

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

NYR/NYI 10/26 Review: “Find-A-Way” Rangers Find a New Way To Lose; Worst Loss Yet, Time to Hit the Panic Button, But How Hard?, The “DQ Effect,” Kravtsov Injured Again; Gauthier Recalled, NYR Problems/Trends, TNT, Fischler & More

NYR/COL 10/25 Review: The Bulgarian Beast Out-Duels CZAR IGOR; But Not a Loss To Be Upset About, Mixed-Bag Game, Chytil Injury Update, “Krazy 4 Kravtsov” Fans, Top Six Scoring Woes, “Tricks of the Trade” Soon Available, Meeting “The Maven;” Isles To Honor Fischler, Lousy Officials & More

NYR/CBJ 10/23 Review: Columbus Cannonballs Through Blueshirts; Rangers Look Slow, Tired and Pathetic, Media Gives Gallant a Hall Pass; CZAR IGOR Sits, Gambling Ads, Tough Upcoming Schedule, Chytil Injury, Kravtsov, M$GN, Negative “Firsts” & More

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

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

If you don’t pre-order through me, all four volumes will also be on sale over at Amazon.com

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

See ya tomorrow night from “The Mullet.”

Thanks for reading.

LET’S GO RANGERS!

Sean McCaffrey

BULLSMC@aol.com

@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine