Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. On a snowy Thursday night in New York City, which created havoc for the inept MTA, the Rangers saw havoc come their way as well, as they lost to their cross-town rivals, in the NY Islanders, by a score of 7-5.
If you look at this regular season contest as this game being independent of any other game during the season, this loss isn’t the end of the world. It’s one game out of 82 games. However, as we’ll get into, the Rangers & Henrik Lundqvist, ever since the Islanders moved to Brooklyn, have just been fish-stick bitches. It pains me to write that, but I can’t deny the truth.
When it comes to the Rangers failures with the Islanders, it begins and ends with the overrated and overpaid goaltender, in Henrik Lundqvist. It’s undeniable – “The King” (how laughable, considering he’s been abused more by the Islanders than the children abused by the Catholic Church) is just a sieve in these games, here with the other NY team.
In fact, before Lundqvist’s latest choke job that took place in tonight’s game with the Islanders, here’s Lundqvist in his last 12 games with the Islanders:
When you include the five goals that Lundqvist gave up in 17 shots faced tonight (good for a regal .706 save percentage), in his last 13 games with the Islanders, which coincidentally coincides with the Islanders move to Brooklyn, Lundqvist has given up 42 combined goals to the dreaded New York Islanders.
What’s even sadder, is since the Isles move to that wretched Barclay’s Center, the Rangers with Henrik Lundqvist, are now 1-10-2 against their fiercest rivals. Also of note, in those 13 games, Lundqvist went running to the bench in 4 of those games, which means for nearly one out of every three games, his royal highness has taken his throne on the bench before the final horn. Ironically, MSG Networks didn’t show Lundqvist at all in the third period. I guess with this being “Food Week”, as I’ll get into below, the MSG Networks gave Hank a little home cookin’.
So before the Lundqvist cult comes at me with pitchforks and Swedish meatballs from MSG’s “Food Week”, save me your tears and excuses. Save me from the deflection talks. Save me from the defense stuff. Save me from every single excuse in your excuse rolodex. The fact of the matter is this – Henrik Lundqvist can not win a game at the Barclay’s Center. As the Bell Center in Montreal was once a “House of Horror” for the Swedish diva, the Barclay’s has gone full blown Amityville on the Cupless King.
Yes, I should be clear here – Lundqvist has been playing well all season. I’ve said that all season long. This is only one game and really, his first true horrendous GAA game of the season. In fact, this was the first game he was pulled from this season. However, when you lose to the Islanders in nearly every fucking game, it becomes infuriating. This is my blog to vent, so if you don’t like it, you don’t have to read this!
I will also say to the Lundqvist disciples (and my Cult of Lundqvist Ten Commandments will be included in this blog) that this loss isn’t 100% his fault. I’m not saying that he should take the full blame for this shit-show tonight. I’m just pointing out that Lundqvist has been an utter failure against the Islanders and losing to the Islanders makes me sick.
Aside from Lundqvist shitting the bed as usual in Brooklyn, there were two huge reasons why the Rangers lost this game – terrible officiating and Islanders goaltender, Thomas Greiss.
I got a lot to say tonight. However, as usual, here are my most recent blogs, in case you missed them:
“The 60’s: Goaltending’s Greatest Generation” In-Depth Book Review. Plus: All The Latest News From Rangerstown
NYR/VAN 11/12 Review: Rangers Keep Rolling & Find Themselves in the Playoff Mix, Why This Was Quinn’s Finest Game Yet, Buchnevich Injury, MDZ/Lisa Ann, Veteran’s Day, FOOD WEEK, See Ya Tank, McLeod Fight/Vally, The YOUTS & More from M$G
NYR/CBJ 11/10 Review: Rangers Pick Up Another Shoot-Out Win In a Thriller, The BSU Radio Party, Ron Duguay, King George, The Playoff Bound NYR & Jack Who?
NYR/DET 11/9 Review: “Vintage” Stick-Smash 2017-2018 Lundqvist Chokes Another Two Goal Lead; Rangers Lose in OT, A Fourth Line To Be Hyped About, The Offside Call, M$G Networks Responds, Pionk Continues To Shine, Fan Reaction, HHOF & More From Mo-Town
NYR/MTL 11/6 Review: The Rangers Ride a Blueshirt Four Game Wave & Beat the Habs By Making An Epic Comeback, The Debut of Andersson, Pionk Goes Into Leetch-Mode, NYR Takes Down The Highest Paid Goalie, See Ya Tank, Coach Q. Firing, Senators Controversy & More From Another Thriller at M$G
NYR/BUF 11/4 Review: The Rangers Make It Three Straight & Put The “Tank” Talk on Hold, Lundqvist & Quinn Roll, Good Ol’ Joe Micheletti, AV & More From This Epic “Winter Classic” Rematch at M$G
Usually, before getting to the “Scratch List” of Quinn, I give you all the latest Ranger news. I covered all the latest Ranger news in the “GGG” book review, so if you missed it, check out the link above.
With Mats Zuccarello now healthy, David Quinn had to scratch a forward in tonight’s game. After a poor audition on the first line on Monday night, Ryan Spooner was down-shifted to the fourth line. In tonight’s game with the Islanders, Ryan Spooner joined returning champion, Brendan Smith, in the press box. For Brendan Smith, this was his third straight game as a healthy scratch, as Frederik Claesson has now replaced him.
When it comes to Claesson vs Smith, for the time being, I think Claesson has been better.
Sidebar: I don’t want to get too much into this, as I rather wait until the end of the season, but I was having a conversation with one of my readers/needlers, in a one Al Demauro. He was trying to push me to say that GM Jeff Gorton is doing a bad job. My position is that it is too early to judge Gorton and I think it’s unfair that Senile Sather still remains as a dark overlord, watching every thing Gorton does. However, when you look at guys like Brendan Smith, like Kevin Shattenkirk and at the huge deal Brady Skjei got, maybe Gorton has something in common with his predecessor – the ability to hand out bad long-term contracts.
On Smith and Spooner, I can’t say the Rangers missed them tonight. As I talked about in a previous blog, I think Quinn’s system does a good job of not relying on one particular player. If everyone buys in, the team can be successful.
I know I posted it yesterday, but in case you missed it, here were the lines for tonight’s game:
FIRST LINE: Chytil/Zibanejad/Zuccarello
SECOND LINE: Kreider/Hayes/Namestnikov
THIRD LINE: Vesey/Howden/Fast
FOURTH LINE: Andersson/Lettieri/McLeod
1st D-Pair: Skjei/DeAngelo
2nd D-Pair: Staal/Pionk
3rd D-Pair: Claesson/Shattenkirk
As mentioned, the Cupless King, who isn’t even a King in his own city, was in net.
I gotta get this out of my system before we get into the game review.
As talked about in my Ranger/Canuck review blog, MSG Networks is pushing “FOOD WEEK”. In turn, as viewers, we’ve been treated to some terrible segments, where the smiles & rhetoric from the MSG staff is cheesier than Lundswiss or a piece of limburger cheese itself.
Up front, I will tell you that I was in a bad mood going into this game, had a bad mood during this game and have a bad mood as I write this blog after the game.
For starters, I was supposed to go to this game. However, snow that wasn’t supposed to start until 7PM wound up starting at 1PM. This of course led to these tweets from the LIRR:
The LIRR is a horrible experience on a normal day. There is a reason why there are hundreds of Twitter and Facebook pages that exist for the sole purpose of criticizing the LIRR. When there is any type of weather going on, you have a better chance of finding a full course steak dinner in Somalia than you do of finding a train on schedule.
It’s pathetic, that whenever it snows for the first time of a season, NYC acts like they’ve never seen snow before. There were 465 accidents reported in Nassau County alone. The George Washington Bridge was shut down. There were problems with the Bayonne Bridge. Even Steve Valiquette, who lives in Connecticut, had a five hour commute from Connecticut to NYC. In fact, the snow delayed him from appearing in-studio tonight, as he missed the entire pregame show, because people turn into worried twats at the first sight of snow.
With the LIRR tweeting non stop about trains being canceled and trains being delayed, I wasn’t going to take my chances going to the game. I didn’t want to risk being late to the game. Even worse, I didn’t want to get stuck in Brooklyn, in the event that trains were stuck or delayed going back home. I could always take an Uber home, but paying a $100 surge charge for a 10 mile ride isn’t exactly in my wheelhouse.
That said, because of the terrible LIRR, I skipped on going to this game. When it comes down to it, maybe it’s better than I did. However, by staying home, I was subjected to the terrible MSG networks presentation of this game.
I don’t know about you guys, but when I think Rangers vs Islanders, I think of a blood feud. Sure the days of Dan Cloutier beating the crap out of Tommy Salo are over and those heartbreaking losses of the 1980’s are now 30+ years old, but while Rangers vs Islanders has lost its lust & drawing power a bit, it’s still one of the better rivalries in hockey.
For the first time in a while, I was jacked up for this Rangers vs Islanders game, because for the first time in a while, these two teams are both competitive. Sure, in recent years, the Rangers & Islanders both made the playoffs (2016 playoffs was the most recent season) but for some reason, that feels so long ago. Plus, in those playoffs, the Rangers were embarrassed by Pittsburgh, while the Islanders lost on the last day of the season on purpose, just so they would draw Florida in the first round, instead of drawing Pittsburgh.
Instead of a pregame show that really hyped the history and the rivalry, we got the emotionless Anson Carter. Nothing like hearing how he enjoys eating oxtail to really sell a Ranger/Islander rivalry.
Yes, I cheerlead for Ron Duguay on these blogs like I’m Joe Micheletti talking Lundqvist, but if there is any MSG studio analyst that really understands Rangers vs Islanders, it’s Ron Duguay. After all, he lived & played through some of the most painful times in the rivalry.
While I thought this pregame show would be talking about the rivalry and hyping up what looked to be a fierce game on paper, instead, we were subjected to ten minutes of Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti eating minestrone soup in an Italian restaurant. Are you fucking kidding me? Let’s not bring up how Sam & Joe were hyping up the great Italian food near the Barclays. Last time I checked, it was predominately all soy boy and Russian food around that area.
Instead of talking about great Ranger/Islander memories or talking about how these two teams were playing for first place, we had Sam & Joe talking about meatballs and chicken parms. Listening to Sam slurp his soup like he was a senior citizen enjoying his last tapioca pudding of the day was just not good TV.
In a game that should be marketed around hatred, Sam and Joe were giggling and cackling like two old red hatted hens during a spirited game of bridge.
Even during the broadcast itself, these two were palling & yukking it up, while the Rangers were blowing a two goal lead in the first period and later trying to make a three goal comeback in the third period. Talking hockey was secondary. Promoting this Filippi food week was the only thing that mattered to Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass. (And yes, Joe is the dumbass.)
Yes, I’ve been very critical about Joe Micheletti on these blogs, sometimes deserved and sometimes just to be funny. When it comes to Sam Rosen, I always have that nostalgic feeling for him, just because Sam & JD were my favorite commentating duo ever. However, because of the corporate environment, Sam has lost a step in my opinion. It’s age. It’s the game. He knows that one of the greatest commentators ever, in Marv Albert, was fired. If Marv Albert can be fired (and with Ron Duguay not being re-signed this season) he knows that no one is safe.
To me, as someone who watches the majority of these broadcasts (the only ones I miss is when I go to the game) this was the worst broadcast these two ever had. And really, quite frankly, this was the worst presentation of a game that the MSG Networks ever had.
This was embarrassing at every level.
The Rangers score a PPG? “HEY JOE, DO YOU KNOW THAT JIMMY VESEY IS GOING TO TRY SUSHI AFTER THE GAME, HOW ABOUT THAT JOE?” Lundqvist gives up his fifth goal of the game, “PARDON ME SAM, BUT DO YOU KNOW THAT KEVIN HAYES LIKES DIRTY WATER HOT DOGS?”
Yes, I understand cross promotion, but the commentary tonight was at an infomercial level. Then again, you’re not going to get much out of Clueless Joe, because any puck that beats Lundqvist he automatically blames on a screen and a deflection. And right after that deflection, you get, “PARDON ME SAM, BUT MIKA ZIBANEJAD BELIEVES AMERICANS LOVE TURKEY BECAUSE OF THANKSGIVING! HOW ABOUT THAT ONE? HAR HAR HAR!”
I also find it ironic how Joe will bury the skaters on this team, but will always ostrich his head in the sand when it comes to his Swedish lover boy. Seriously, just two games ago, Micheletti was saying that the skaters have to get out of the way and let Lundqvist see the puck. Tonight, because of deflections, Micheletti was saying the Rangers have to get in front of the puck with their sticks and block some shots. What is it? Let Lundqvist see the puck with clear shots or make a play on the puck? I truly feel that Micheletti’s terrible work has influenced a new generation of Ranger fans, who think because Joe says something on TV, he must be right.
When I think back at it, Hank was terrible, the referees were even more terrible, but the worst thing about this game was listening to that braying jackass Joe Micheletti all night. I was better off chancing it and being stuck in Brooklyn.
It’s Rangers vs Islanders and all these fucking idiots could talk about was sushi, meatballs and turkey. How about talking about that Swedish fish wearing the number 30 on his back, who flopped around aimlessly all night, until Quinn gave him a mercy pull?
Oh and for fuck’s sake, we get it Sam & Joe. Filip Chytil is 19 years old. I will throw Chytil a 20th birthday bash myself, just so I won’t have to hear from Sam & Joe about how Chytil is 19 years old, ever again!
It’s very hard to find a silver lining in losing to the Islanders. In fact, I don’t think one such lining exists. What made this loss suck even more, was the fact that the Isles were missing key pieces from their line-up. From Isles fan & reporter, Andy Graziano:
#isles injury news – Cizikas (out 2-3 weeks) and Ladd (indef) placed on IR. Martin on IR retroactive to 11/1 (day to day). Gionta and Dal Colle recalled from BPT.
— Andy Graziano (@AndyGraz_WFAN) November 15, 2018
Oh, and let’s not forget that the player who used to wear #91 for the Islanders, in John Tavares, now plays in Toronto.
In other words, with all the injuries, the Rangers having two days off, no more Ranger killer in Jaroslav Halak in the Isles sweater, etc, this should’ve been a game that the Rangers extended their points streak in. Instead, it’s back to the drawing board.
As I write these words, this game is 75 minutes old. I do want to stress as you continue along here, I know it’s only one game. I just hate seeing the Rangers lose to the Islanders. I just feel everything is magnified a bit when the Rangers lose to these sons of bitches.
If you refer to my past blogs, I was talking about how some fans that I usually interact with during the season were MIA. Blog traffic was lighter than usual. However, everything seems back to normal. Blog hits are back up. I see returning faces to social media. In my real life, people who gave me the “Eh, I’ll wait til next season” attitude, are texting or telling me in the bar how excited they are with the Rangers.
What that tells me is people care. I’m on record already – I understand the “Lose for Hughes” mentality, but these players and this coach don’t give a fuck about that.
Yes the Rangers are prone to making mistakes and will have growing pains. I can accept that. I also believe that this team could make a playoff run, and fuck it, with how bad my Giants are, I’m not rooting for two of my teams to lose. I want the Rangers to win every game. I told you about my time at the BSU Radio party. Watching 50+ Ranger fans go nuts for Vesey’s shootout winner told me that everyone was back to believing again.
So while I’m mad about the loss (and let me be clear, this loss doesn’t affect my personal life, as a fan I’m upset, but this isn’t going to affect my daily life in any way. In other words, I’m not going to get a DWI like that crazy Jets fan!) I also understand that losses like these are going to happen. It just sucks this type of game happened against the Islanders. I would’ve much rather lose to Vancouver on Monday night in this fashion, for a win over these fish stick pricks tonight.
That said, this loss doesn’t define a season or isn’t any indicator of how the Rangers will do in their next game. Just for the now, it blows.
I rather watch this on loop for five minutes #nyr pic.twitter.com/2CARAJH4WJ
— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) November 16, 2018
Man, every time I watch Cloutier pound on Salo, some of my rage melts away!
As usual, here’s the official box score from ESPN.com:
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Despite Lundqvist’s terrible record and recent failures against the Islanders, as I said in my last two blogs, I had no problem with Lundqvist starting this game. This was a big game for the Rangers and I have no problem with Quinn riding the hot hand. Furthermore, these Rangers and these Islanders are two completely different teams from just a year ago. You got two new head coaches. Both teams lost their captains from last season. Both teams are trying to get younger. Both teams feature a lot of new faces. So for Lundqvist and the Rangers, I thought this game would’ve been a fresh start.
And again, the reason why I’m so pissed off about this loss is because I’m jacked up about this rivalry again and I truly felt the Rangers should’ve and could’ve won this game.
This game started off in front of a half empty arena, which is usually the norm for Islander home games. However, the crowd started filing in as the game went on, due to all the delayed LIRR trains.
The Rangers got an early power-play opportunity when Jordan Eberle hooked Namestnikov. As I’ve been saying all week, the Rangers really needed to start capitalizing on these early power-plays, rather than waiting for the law of averages to balance them out. What happened tonight? Chris Kreider scored a PPG:
Chris Kreider with the power-play goal in his 400th career game!#NYR pic.twitter.com/FBGyKHp0FK
— Hockey Daily (@HockeyDaily365) November 16, 2018
1-0, good guys and finally, an early PPG. In fact, Micheletti would bring this up later in the broadcast, when he wasn’t talking about veal and tortellini with pesto. You’re a week late Joe.
On the goal, there’s Neal Pionk blasting the puck. For the 73463637638th time this season, every time Neal Pionk plays, Kevin Shattenkirk gets more and more expendable.
Quick sidebar – I thought Neal Pionk, Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes all stood heads and shoulders among everyone else for the Rangers tonight.
35 seconds after CK20’s PPG, Frederik “Brendan Smith Who?” Claesson got his first goal of the season:
Claesson fires it top shelf for a 2-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/X6lxGh7CkC
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) November 16, 2018
While I still think it’s sacrilege for Claesson to wear the number 33, this was a great snipe for a goal. 2-0 good guys. One can also not overlook the great play by Brett Howden to help make this goal happen.
When Claesson made it 2-0, I predicted that Henrik Lundqvist would blow it. I was hoping to reverse jinx myself by saying that, but knowing Lundqvist better than the fools who choose to remain blind about his game, I was proven right. I don’t care if there is an alien invasion, if Tonya Harding clipped him or if his family was deported by Donald Trump, you just can’t keep blowing two goal leads on a daily basis. IT HAPPENS NEARLY EVERY FUCKING GAME and the man can not hold a two goal lead in any big game. It’s why he doesn’t have any Stanley Cups.
And I know people will say “It’s a team game, blah blah blah.” Those are also the same people who will do back-flips for Lundqvist climbing the individual goalie all-time win leaderboard as well as say he’s a first ballot Hall of Famer. Remember, to these people, every Ranger win is because of Hank, every Rangers loss is because of someone else.
In fact, before showing you Lundqvist blowing the lead and giving up another 5 spot to the Islanders, let me present to you the “Ten Commandments” of the Cult of Lundqvist!
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE CULT OF LUNDQVIST
1- Thou shall always credit Henrik Lundqvist with every win, but ye shall blame every loss on the Rangers
2- Thou shall reject the dark prince of coaching, Alain Vigneault and ignore that Lord Lundqvist’s greatest team success came under the helm of the beelzebub gum chewer.
3- Thou shall besmirch the name of King Michael Richter The XXXVth when trying to defend the Cupless demigod.
4 – Thou shall not take Lundqvist’s name in vain and shall always ignore his mediocre work over the last five years. Thou shall refer to anyone that challenges the perfection of Lundqvist as a “FAYKE FAN” and must reply to non-believers with “YOO DON’T NO HOKEY!” True believers, even if they never played a game in the NHL in their lives, will quote the following scripture to non-believers: “YOO NEVAH PLAID DA GAYME SO YOO DON’T NO WAT YOO ARE TALKING ABOOT!”
5. Thou shall reject any notion of Cameron Talbot or Antti Raanta outplaying Henrik Lundqvist during their duration in the heavenly New York City, despite the facts & stats. Thou shall ignore how Lundqvist’s best team season was when Lundqvist missed 30% of the season. Thou must reject Antti Raanta for posting better statistics than Lundqvist since 2016-2017.
6. As the prophet Joseph Moses Micheletti told us through his conversations with our Lord & Savior, every goal allowed is because of a screen and deflection, which are two acts of Satan himself, that no other goaltender in the league endures.
7. Thou must worship the arts of spread sheets, charts, foo-foo stats and anything else that Lazarus Stephen Valiquette presents to believers.
8. Thou shall reject Judas types who suggest that Yahweh Lundqvist is overpaid or overrated.
9. Thou shall ignore the false gods and remain monotheistic. Thou shall only consider Lundqvist the greatest goalie alive and ignore the work & teachings of Sawchuk, Plante, Bower, Brodeur, Roy, Hasek, Dryden, Hall, and any other false Messiahs.
10. Thou shall always ignore the salary cap and the trade gospels of Brother Leetch, Brother Gretzky, Brother Orr and Brother Messier.
Okay, I’m just breaking balls here. Let’s hope this Ten Commandments segmented landed with you!
And yes, writing stuff like above helps me vent and allows me to move on to the next game. Welcome to blog therapy, starring yours truly!
Anyway, where were we? Ah, that’s right. The Rangers had a two goal lead and the Cupless King quickly gave up two goals:
Anthony Beauvillier deflects one home to bring the Islanders within 1!#Isles pic.twitter.com/RzeJK2svyS
— Hockey Daily (@HockeyDaily365) November 16, 2018
There is Anthony Beauvillier deflecting a puck past Lundqvist. With all the deflection goals that Lundqvist allows (oh wait, I forgot, he’s the only goalie that has to face deflected pucks, so it’s not his fault) you would think that they would practice deflected shots with Lundqvist. I mean, just put a 2×4 piece of wood in front of Lundqvist in practice and let him practice stopping pucks that bounce off of that piece of wood.
Of note, Beauvillier would have a hat trick in this game by the second period. Disgusting.
A minute after Beauvillier scored, Brock Nelson would tie it:
BROCK NELSON TIES IT!!! #Isles pic.twitter.com/SbTRFUPtxg
— Eyes on Isles (@eyesonislesFS) November 16, 2018
Within four minutes, the two goal lead was erased, and it was now 2-2.
On the goals, the word is out. Just shoot from deep and Lundqvist doesn’t have a chance. It’s tough for the defenders too, because sometimes they are told to give Lundqvist a clear path, and now you got Micheletti saying they should challenge the shooters. Which is it?
I also found it funny that Valiquette, as Lundqvist’s knight in shining armor, got to the studio just in time to absolve Lundqvist of any fault.
While I’m going a little overboard on Lundqvist, the fact of the matter is that the officiating was downright horrible. This was the worst officiated game of the season. As this game progressed, at the 15:29 mark, Mika Zibanejad was called for a high sticking on Leo Komarov. The replay showed it was friendly fire and that Zibanejad didn’t even touch him. Despite the referees knowing this, they called the penalty and Zibanejad had to serve a four minute penalty. Fortunately, this bullshit call didn’t bite the Rangers in the ass via an Islander goal, but it did put the PK out there for four minutes, four minutes that could’ve been spent better by the Rangers.
On the phantom bullshit penalty, here’s Newsday reporter Colin Stephenson:
David Quinn, on what the referee said to him in reference to the double-minor high sticking penalty to Mika Zibanejad that was a bad call: “Yeah, he came over and apologized. Whoop de do.”
— Colin Stephenson (@ColinASteph) November 16, 2018
At the end of one period, Rangers 2, Islanders 2.
The second period didn’t start off any better for the Rangers. Beauvillier would score a screenless and deflectionless goal. Seriously, if you took a shot every time Micheletti made an excuse for Lundqvist tonight, you would be parked next to Amy Winehouse. Here’s AB:
Anthony Beauvillier on the breakaway! SECOND OF THE NIGHT!#Isles pic.twitter.com/NxwuRRhGiS
— Hockey Daily (@HockeyDaily365) November 16, 2018
3-2, bad guys.
The refs, who called this game one sided, would call a penalty on Vinni Lettieri. While short-handed, Kevin Hayes, who is really heating up, scored a shorty, to make the score 3-3.
Immediately after killing the Lettieri penalty, the refs called Brady Skjei for a phantom penalty. Here’s Quinn’s take:
“I had a huge problem with it. First, the ref doesn’t see it, and reacts to someone falling down, which – he fell down. There was no penalty… but you’ve got to deal with it. … You’ve got to kill the penalty and we didn’t.”
This penalty would lead to the first PPG of the night for the Isles, as Beauvillier finished his hat trick. 4-3, bad guys.
Oh and how about this:
Super Stats:#Isles now 12-1-0 in their last 13 vs NYR
7-0-0 vs NYR at Barclays Center
Won 8-straight vs NYR
Mat Barzal now with 11 points in career vs NYR
Anthony Beauvillier with 8 points in career vs NYR
Pure dominance.
— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) November 16, 2018
Fucking embarrassing.
These referees, who must love the smell of their own asshole, and I say that because that’s where their heads were all night, would ignore blatant Islander penalties, none bigger than Jimmy Vesey being tripped, mid-way in the second period. So much for a make-up call. Immediately after Vesey was tripped, Kreider was called for tripping a loser Islander. I would love to see the NHL review this game and see some sort of fines doled out to these terrible referees. Go figure that dickhead Dan O’Halloran was involved with this bullshit.
On the Kreider penalty, Anders “Who are you again?” Lee scored on the PP. Five past Lundqvist, making the score 5-3.
As the period wound down, the Rangers were actually out-shooting the Isles by a tally of 28-17. However, after the Hayes goal, Greiss really buckled down, especially in the third period.
While Greiss would get beat for two goals in the third period, his saves is what kept the Islanders ahead of the Rangers. He just absolutely robbed the Rangers, especially on their powerplays. Greiss made game-saving saves on Shattenkirk, Hayes and Lettieri.
And in what felt like a daily occurrence last season, for the first time this season, David Quinn yanked Hank and put “THE KING OF KINGS” Alexandar Georgiev in net. As I’ve said before, I like to joke with the nicknames with AG40, but he’s not at the level that Talbot and Raanta were when they were here. He needs work and you can see how jumpy he gets at times. He had a little puck luck in this one and the one goal he gave up, he was just completely out of position for.
The Rangers came at the Islanders for most of the third period, and would actually double up the Isles in shots, by a tally of 36-18. However, Komarov was left all alone in front of the net and with Georgiev overplaying his hand, Komarov scored to push the score to 6-3. Game over? Not quite yet.
With Micheletti writing the Rangers off, I was hoping that “Murderin'” McLeod would do some damage. That didn’t happen, as the refs wouldn’t let it happen, as they got between McLeod and whatever Islander he was challenging throughout the game. These refs were in a world of their own.
The Rangers would get a powerplay at the 12:52 mark. Seconds into the powerplay, Kreider got his 10th goal of the season, thus meaning he’s on track to get 40 this season:
CHRIS KREIDER WITH A FANTASTIC WRISTER!#NYR pic.twitter.com/RGuYJQg1hu
— Hockey Daily (@HockeyDaily365) November 16, 2018
6-4 bad guys. Of note, what a pass from Pionk and on the goal, Georgiev got an assist, giving him his first ever NHL point.
With time winding down and with a two goal deficit, Quinn pulled Georgiev with under three minutes to go. Chytil then scored, and all of a sudden, at 6-5, we had a game again.
Despite the Rangers scoring on their first 6 vs 5 attempt, the Rangers were just horrible in their second try. With under two minutes to go, the Rangers had three possessions with the puck, but each time, instead of skating into the Islanders zone, they opted to dump and chase. I don’t get it. Each time this a was a free turnover for the Islanders and the third time was a charm, as Cal Clutterbuck put the game away with 20 seconds left in regulation, giving the Islanders the 7-5 victory.
Seriously, I don’t get it. I know dump and chase is the preferred method of offense in the NHL, but when you’re down by one goal and with your goalie pulled, why aren’t you skating the puck into the zone when the lane is given to you? Watching Shattenkirk lazily dump the puck drove me insane.
7-5 Islanders, from the shithole in Brooklyn. Ugh.
Truthfully, is this a game where you can just finger point Lundqvist as the goat? No. The refs were bad. Deflections are a 50-50 thing. However, Lundqvist and his track record with the Isles is brutal. It’s even worse than his 2014-2015 record with the Tampa Bay Lightning. To me, and to other fans, because it’s the Islanders, these games are just more intense and you’re more mad after a loss. Truth be told, Lundqvist is having a better season than he’s had in recent years, at least up to this point in the season. It’s just the never-ending excuses and Joe Micheletti that drives me nuts more than anything else.
This is one game. You can’t overreact to every win and every loss. Yes, I went a little crazy tonight, but that helps me get over these losses to these scumbag nomads.
The Rangers play at home in their next three games, travel to Philly for the annual day after T-Day game, then come home for two more games. Even with the loss tonight, the Rangers are still the three seed in the Metro, as we approach the quarter mark of the season.
If you look at the schedule, this upcoming home stand features winnable games. Look what’s up next:
- The Panthers, who are last place in the Atlantic
- The Stars, who are third to last place in the Central
- The Islanders, who the Rangers need to beat one of these days
- The Flyers, who the Rangers have gotten the better of in recent years
- The Capitals, who the Rangers beat on their own ice
- A home and away with the Senators, one of the worst teams in the league and mired by issues
I truly believe this team gets better with every game and I’m buying into Quinn. #QuinnItToWinIt !
In closing, I just fucking hate the Islanders. With the Red Sox and Eagles as World Champions, this Islander domination sickens me more than a Taco Bell burrito filled with White Castle meat.
Okay, I think I got it all out of me tonight!
The Rangers return Saturday night as they to neuter the Cats again. If I was Quinn, I’m giving Georgiev the game, since the Panthers suck and because Georgiev beat them before. As it is, Lundqvist is on track to play 70 games, so if Quinn & Hank are really thinking playoffs, you gotta give Georgiev some work before you burn Lundqvist out.
As far as a blog review on Saturday night, I’m 50/50, as my goddaughter/niece is having her one year birthday party. If she passes out before 7PM and I can watch the game in full, I’ll get something up. If not, maybe something late Sunday or I’ll just come back Monday night.
Until then, as always, thanks for reading and…
“LET’S GO RANGERS”
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on the tweeter
