Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. What a wild win for LAVY’S LOT!
Similar to last night, when I had 985675675685685585 thoughts rattling around my Blueshirts’ brain – I have the same amount of thoughts going through it tonight.
But fortunately, and unlike last night (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/12923/ ) – these thoughts are all positive – that is – except for how I feel about the state of NHL officiating – and the god-awful M$GN too!
My first thought following the Rangers’ 4-1 beheading of the Kings?
What the hell was that performance from Saturday night?
Following the Blueshirts’ worst loss of the season in Washington, D.C. just 24-hours prior; on Sunday night, and in a true litmus test for both teams on either end of the country, it was the East Coast that prevailed over the West Coast.
And prevailed – and triumphed too – they did.
And in a way, I think it all began with the return of Barclay Goodrow – a lede story that you probably won’t find anywhere else.
(My second-grade teacher, should she still be alive and reading this – then she must be horrified with my usage of the word “and” when opening two consecutive paragraphs – and I’m sure she isn’t impressed with my excessive usage of dashes either!)
There are so many different, and positive, things to talk about tonight, but I wanted to begin with the player affectionately known to his teammates as “BARKS.”
When it was confirmed that the Rangers would be getting back their alternate captain tonight (and this wasn’t confirmed until puck drop – as it was Goody’s fourth-line that took the first draw of the contest), I was feeling pretty, pretty, pretty good about the Blueshirts’ chances.
(Of note: Riley Nash, the Rangers’ insurance policy tonight in the event that Goodrow couldn’t go, was sent back to Hartford following this game.)
I know that much is said about Goodrow’s contract, but as you all know by now – I don’t buy into any of that junk, nor do I support it.
In my eyes, Goodrow is worth every cent of his contract and once again, he proved it on Sunday night in the Rangers’ much-needed 4-1 victory.
No offense to the other R. Nash, Riley – but he isn’t Goodrow – and as we saw on Saturday night.
While Goodrow plays a physical game, there’s a sense of calmness, reliability if you will, in what he does out there.
Reunited with Jimmy Vesey and Tyler Pitlick in his first game back after his unexpected “tooth extraction,” Goodrow, who was wearing a cage to protect his grill (kind of like how another former #21 of this team, a fellow alternate captain and center to boot, once did when recovering from a broken jaw, Derek Stepan), went straight to work.
His first shift back?
Goodrow & Co. spent a minute in the Kings’ zone – and then pretty much stayed there during the majority of their shifts that followed.
With arguably the second-best (or at least the most consistent) line on this team back together, the familiarity ultimately led Jimmy Vesey into scoring tonight’s game-winning goal.
Kaapo Kakko? Filip Chytil?
Ha.
As we saw, the Rangers missed “BARKS” more than anyone else this season.
Every Stanley Cup champion needs reliable and complementary role-players, and as we’ve seen ever since Goodrow has arrived – he’s exactly that – and he has the two rings on his fingers to prove it.
But of course, it’s another Stanley Cup champion on this 2023-24 Rangers’ team that deserves the lion’s share of the headlines tonight, you know, Jonathan “Goalie Controversy” Quick.
Let me be clear.
I REPEAT, LET ME BE CLEAR:
I’m only joking with the “goalie controversy” stuff – or am I?
Serious or not, either way, this is true:
Jonathan Quick, and where this isn’t even up for debate, has been much better than CZAR IGOR this season.
Put it this way, and perhaps this notion may strengthen such a “goalie controversy” argument:
If the playoffs started tomorrow, then who would you want in the Rangers’ net right now?
Currently, no one seems to have an answer for CZAR IGOR’s recent regression – but thankfully – the playoffs don’t start tomorrow.
In other words, he has plenty of time to get back on track and regain his Vezina form.
But what if he doesn’t? What if this is just a down season for my favorite player in the NHL today?
And I shudder to think should that become such a reality.
Granted, while you can “explain away” Quick’s most recent magnificent showing due to the “revenge factor” – but even so, Quick, who was supposed to play the mentor/back-up role, has been better than the starter this season.
To fast-forward a bit, following tonight’s game, and should all things be equal – then YES – you ride the hot hand and let Quick start on Tuesday against Toronto.
However, I don’t think that all things are equal.
Furthermore, I just can’t see a veteran head coach like Peter Laviolette ever considering an idea, as he knows that such a move could fracture CZAR IGOR’s confidence – and where trust between the two could be lost too.
In the past, when I have advocated (and while many didn’t want to hear it at the time – over time, I was proven 100% correct about this) for Cam Talbot, Antti Raanta, Alexandar Georgiev and even CZAR IGOR himself, to get more starts than the bedrock icon of the franchise, Henrik Lundqvist – the “predicament” of today isn’t exactly the same as it once was.
In fact, it’s the complete opposite.
When I was championing for young blood in the Rangers’ net, Lundqvist was at the end of his career – and his contract did the team no favors either.
Today, it’s a role-reversal, as it’s an aging future Hall of Famer that’s outplaying the young starter – and a starter who not only has a Vezina Trophy to his mantle – but a goaltender who was the team’s best player during last year’s playoffs too.
If both Quick and CZAR IGOR were the same age (and lucky for #31 – this isn’t Dylan Garand doing what Quick is doing right now), then yeah, it’s a no-brainer – you ride Quick until the wheels fall off.
But of course, that’s not the case.
Since CZAR IGOR rarely speaks to the media (and even if he did, it’s not like he’d talk about this subject in a blunt manner anyway), you do have to wonder if he’s feeling any pressure right now.
For a comparison, when Alexandar Georgiev (same age as CZAR IGOR) was playing well, “THE BULGARIAN BEAST” was openly championing for more playing time. CZAR IGOR’s response? He just outplayed Georgiev, thus rendering a hypothetical goalie debate useless.
I don’t think that CZAR IGOR is worried about losing his playing time right now, but then again – I never thought that I’d hear Jonathan Quick get cheered at M$G as if he were a 1980s Hulk Hogan dropping the big leg on The Iron Sheik either.
In a way, in-house competition is a good thing, but while Quick may be the best option in net right now – you can’t abandon CZAR IGOR either.
Usually, I’d say that it’s a good problem when your back-up is playing lights out, but it’s the mental aspect of whatever CZAR IGOR is contending with that concerns me right now.
I also wonder, should Lavy be brave enough to start Quick on Tuesday night, would this be a tactic to rile-up CZAR IGOR?
Perhaps a pissed-off CZAR IGOR is the best way to end the first true slump of his career.
It’s a win like tonight where I wish that I didn’t have to be up early on Monday morning.
In other words, and even if I do write more words about the Rangers than anyone else – I have to get a move on here!
However, and before getting into the pregame news and notes, and of course, the GAME REVIEW too – just one general thought that applies to the entirety of Sunday’s win:
This game started off sleepy and slow, and as if the Rangers were on the TRANQ, but come the half-way mark of the match – this game turned into a CRYSTAL METH infused all-out war.
No joke, and again, knowing that I have to be up in a short while – I thought I’d be able to breeze through tonight’s blog at the half-way mark of the game.
The second half of this contest surely changed all of that – but I’ll take it – as I’ll always sacrifice sleep after a big Blueshirts’ win!
Let’s roll.
Since the Rangers didn’t practice on Sunday morning due to playing the night before; come 5PM, the head coach conducted his mandatory pregame “LAVY’S LOUNGE.”
Here it is:
Lavy didn’t really say too much, outside of mentioning that Goodrow would be a game-time decision.
And of course, Lavy confirmed the obvious too – Quick would be in net for this revenge game.
When asked about his lines, Lavy said that he didn’t want to touch his first line – but he didn’t say that he’d be altering his second and third lines.
As you can see below, the lone line-up switch for tonight was Wheeler being “re-promoted” to the BFF duo, while Brodzinski was returned to the third trio of Ranger forwards.
Here was Laviolette’s line-up for the twenty-sixth game of this 2023-24 season:
FIRST LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere
SECOND LINE: Kreider/Zibanejad/Wheeler
THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Bonino/Brodzinski
FOURTH LINE: Vesey/Goodrow/Pitlick
FIRST PAIR: Lindgren/Fox
SECOND PAIR: Miller/Trouba
THIRD PAIR: Gustafsson/Schneider
STARTER: Quick
BACK-UP: CZAR IGOR
HEALTHY SCRATCH: Jones and Nash
LONG TERM INJURED RESERVE: Chytil and Kakko
BOX SCORE time.
The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:
SCORING:
PENALTIES:
TEAM STATS:
GOALIES:
|
LAK
|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 27 | 4 | 23 | .852 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 0 |
|
NYR
|
|
J. Quick G
|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 26 | 1 | 25 | .962 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59:36 | 2 |
Come 6:30PM, I tuned into the M$GN and was sadly disappointed when it was revealed that Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t there.
Apparently, those scars from 2014 run deep – and with the game that Quick just had, combined with Sam & Joe bringing up 2014 all night – then I can’t really blame the self-proclaimed “King” either.
Worse than that?
Sieve Vagistat was there – and where I was told that following tonight’s win – he had nothing to say about Quick starting against his former team. (At the end of Saturday night’s broadcast, the seven-foot jackass buried the decision.)
At around 6:30:07PM, I flipped my remote back to the NFL Redzone channel, as there was no way I was going to listen to Vagistat promote all of his bullshit.
When I returned to M$GN at around 6:58PM, Bill “KILL YOUR GRANDPARENTS AND GET THAT INHERITANCE MONEY” Pidto and Alex “Meth” Monaco were demanding impressionable kids and teenagers to gamble every cent that they could get their hands on.
A minute later, and after listening to sell-out Pidto and his junkie co-host, I tweeted out the following:
What will we hear first tonight?
1) “OH JOE, ALEXIS LAFRENIERE AND QUINTON BYFIELD JOE, THE 2020 DRAFT JOE!”
or
2) “OH JOE, DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE 2014 STANLEY CUP FINAL JOE? OH JOE!” #NYR
— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) December 10, 2023
No joke, come 7PM, and following Rosen giving us the weather report (“OH JOE, IT’S RAINING OUT JOE, WE CAN FEEL EVERY DROP ON OUR GINORMOUS BARE FOREHEADS JOE!”) – Sam said both of these things – and within a time-span of only ninety-seconds.
Do I know these clowns or what?
And of course, Rosen had to tell us how “ICONIC” these new third jerseys were too – but I’ve done this rant about ten times during the past month – so check the archives if you want that rant!
But for tonight, I’ll repeat what I always say about the topic of attire – I don’t care if the Rangers have new jerseys, wear pink tutus or skate around buck-naked – JUST WIN!
And win they did.
Finally, and to close their quick face-time with us prior to puck drop; Sam and Joe took turns ejaculating when talking about Anze Kopitar and every other L.A. King known to man.
Not mentioned once?
Who the Kings’ goaltender would be (it was Pheonix Copley).
And go figure – and this will really hit home if you know me or regularly read this site:
Here in 2023, a goalie that I’ve hated ever since 2014 (although I’m warming up to him now!), Jonathan Quick, and one of my favorite goalies of all time, Cam Talbot, are presently contenders for the 2024 Vezina Trophy.
Crazier than that?
Both players were unrestricted free agents over the summer – and were also on the other side of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final too.
Isn’t that amazing Suzyn?
GAME REVIEW time.
FIRST PERIOD
While it’s not fair to assess these first twenty-minutes as “boring,” as both teams did work hard and played a strong defensive game – this first frame wasn’t exactly exciting either.
Put it this way: The SOG stat at the end of this period read as Kings 9, Rangers 4 – and where the saves made weren’t exactly robberies either.
But of course Part I: All of this would change come the half-way mark of the match.
I can’t lie: Between being tired from drinking the night before, being up early to watch all of the football, and the way this first period went – I had to drink a Red Bull to keep my eyes open.
But of course Part II: I didn’t need such a caffeine concoction following the game!
As Sam and Joe fought over who could give the Kings the best blowjob; this is when Goodrow’s line opened the game by spending a minute in the L.A. zone.
Following a whistle, Rosen had mentioned the Rangers’ third jersey for the 78575675858th time in a time-span of five-minutes. I wonder if he was paid-per-plug? (Not his hair plugs, plugs for the team store.)
At the ninety-second mark, Wheeler went wide with a backhanded shot. Rosen then told us that Lavy wasn’t happy after Saturday night’s game. A regular Jimmy Olsen.
A minute after that, Pierre-Luc Dubois set-up Alex Laferriere, who was then stopped by Quick. Sam called this a save, but to his credit, “Jumpin’ Joe” “quickly” corrected his senile partner.
All that was missing here was Rosen saying, “OH JOE, ALEXIS LAFRENIERE AND ALEX LAFERRIERE, NO RELATIONS JOE!”
But no joke – Rosen did bring up the Lindgren brothers again tonight – and I have no clue why.
Following Rosen bringing up the 2020 NHL Entry Draft for the fifth time (“OH JOE, YOU GOTTA WATCH THAT QUINTON BYFIELD JOE!”), it became obvious that Lavy was matching up his fourth line against the Kings’ top line.
Again – give Goodrow (and his line) his flowers.
While this was going on, Rosen then read us Kings’ head coach, Todd McLellan, Wikipedia page.
(And when I’m ragging on the broadcast this early – then it tells you how this devoid-of-action period went.)
As the two teams just continued to shut each other down – and where no odd-man rushes were afforded either – Quick stopped Doughty with 13:15 remaining. As a result, Rosen then read us his “ODE TO DREW.”
Now down to 12:40 remaining, the first real tough save of the game, as Copley stopped Pitlick.
Twenty-seconds later, Panarin was boxed for high-sticking Vladislav Gavrikov.
Many (Ranger fans) felt this shouldn’t have been a penalty, as Panarin caught Gavrikov on his follow-through – which is legal.
However, and to me, I thought this was a good call – especially since I’d want the same call if it happened to a Blueshirt.
The Rangers’ penalty kill, and as led by Goodrow (he even went 1 x 3 during these two-minutes), was absolutely tremendous.
The Blueshirts cleared the puck about 4-5 times, and only a long-distance and innocent shot got through – “quick” work for JQ32.
I should mention, that prior to this penalty kill commencing – the Rangers only had three shots on goal.
Following the kill, the Rangers almost got their fourth credited SOG – but not because of anything that they did – but because an errant puck took a weird carom off the back boards while the goalie was playing it – where as a result – the puck just missed going into Copley’s vacated net.
Had this puck went in, then a Ranger would’ve received a SOG – and the goal too.
But that’s not what happened, so this is all moot!
In a period that felt like a “Tribute to Kakko,” as most of the play was limited to the perimeter, Quick made two saves on Roy with 6:06 remaining.
As Sam promoted the new jerseys again (Mollie said they were “cool!”), to the credit of Garden patrons – they tried to get loud – but their voices were met with deaf ears.
And again – you can’t knock the effort – but there was just no offense taking place.
(But it should be stated, while offense packs them in, defense is what wins championships.)
Down to about 3:30 remaining, Zibanejad shot a puck right into Danault’s face. While this wasn’t as bad as what happened to Goodrow (as Danault would later return to the game – and wearing a similar face cage as Goodrow) – M$GN “censored” the aftermath of this play too.
According to the folks in-attendance, there was a huge pool of blood following this particular meeting of rubber-and-face.
We never saw that on television.
Thank you M$GN for censoring us from blood – but while allowing all of your putrid 78656755568568 gambling commercials to air.
Down to 22.1 seconds remaining, Trocheck got a shot off – the Rangers’ fourth.
While this was happening, Fox was viciously high-sticked by Trevor Moore – but since he wasn’t bleeding – this penalty only earned the King two-minutes.
Again, and I know this is my own personal pet peeve – but I hate how these high-sticking penalties are assessed.
You can accidentally catch someone on the lip and draw the tiniest amount of blood, and that will get you a four-minute timeout. Conversely, you can Babe Ruth someone in the head, and as long as they aren’t bleeding, then your sin-bin stay is only two-minutes.
Nil-nil after twenty minutes – but with the Rangers to open the second stanza on a 1:38 power-play.
Here’s what I said at the time:
Scoreless after 20. 1P Thoughts:
— SOG 9-4, LA.
— This is one of those classic and typical games, where you just gave up a shitload of goals the night before, so now you sacrifice offense for nothing but defense.
— If the Panarin line doesn’t score, then the Mika line can’t…— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) December 11, 2023
SECOND PERIOD
As noted earlier, the start of this period was pretty much a carbon copy of what had preceded it.
But it wouldn’t end that way!
No joke – to open this middle period, Sam and Joe talked all about the 2014 Stanley Cup again, and where as a result – we missed the opening puck drop.
Kudos M$GN!
Following the Kings’ successful penalty kill, it was mentioned that both Danault and Gavrikov were missing from the L.A. bench, which in turn, meant that the visitors were down to an 11F/5D line-up.
(But as noted earlier, Danault would later return.)
Down to 14:10 remaining, Quick made his first save of the period – and his first save in nearly twelve-minutes of game time.
As Sam and Joe continued to rant-and-rave about the Kings (their KIA CARD player was Anze Kopitar), I had to wonder – if Alec Martinez had been in the Kings’ line-up tonight, then would’ve Rosen and Micheletti pulled their pants down and ask this “RANGER KILLER” to enter them?
Seriously, the love affair that these two dolts have with the opposing teams is sickening – and to this day – I haven’t heard one Ranger fan tell me how much they enjoy this.
And yes – I get that Sam and Joe want to give us information about the other team – but they don’t have to do it with cartoon hearts popping out of their eyes either.
After nothing but stagnant action, finally, and with 12:45 remaining – our turning point of the game.
At the 37:15 mark of the match, the TROO TROO TRAIN arrived at M$G:
Trouba Train!!! #NYR pic.twitter.com/moCGDLMe6R
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) December 11, 2023
This huge hit created a positive chain reaction of events for the Rangers.
Following Trouba mowing over Moore, Miller was then stopped by Copley in the other end.
However, due to all of the chaos that Trouba had caused, and with Moore still trying to figure out what had just hit him – Doughty was forced to slash Panarin.
And when speaking of this Trouba hit, do you know he hits harder than these days?
This guy:
No less than thirty-seconds into their second power-play of the game, and their first uninterrupted man-advantage to boot, this happened:
Mika Zibanejad was teed up in the Rockstar zone @heatdaddy69420 pic.twitter.com/QrztKuqXSB
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 11, 2023
1-0, GOOD GUYS, a pigs flying, hell frozen over, cats and dogs mating one-timed power-play goal for D.J. Mika!
This goal was all set up by the top line, as Panarin found Trocheck and in some center-to-center action, #16 then found #93 for a puck that actually hit its intended target!
This goal jazzed up M$G – and it doesn’t happen without Trouba’s monstrous hit.
While fatigue was never an issue for the Blueshirts tonight, this goal did wake them up a bit.
Also alive was the Garden Faithful, now having something big to cheer for.
But for whatever reason, and I’m not making this up – Sam and Joe decided to lube themselves up and then talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs.
As the Rangers continued to attack, and now past the half-way mark of the period/game; Fiala intercepted a Goodrow pass intended for Vesey.
Rather than allowing an odd-man rush – three Rangers swarmed the King and that was the end of that.
Following Copley and Quick exchanging saves on Kreider and Roy respectively; now down to 5:45 remaining, Trouba recorded another one of his game-high three blocked shots.
And while the number three may sound low to you – this was a lot – only because the Rangers weren’t giving up much.
Down to 5:36 remaining, and following this big blocked shot; the fourth-line Rangers went into the Kings’ zone again, where this time, Kempe slashed Pitlick.
It was during this L.A. PK where Danault made his return.
The Rangers PP1 unit spent these entire two-minutes in the Kings’ zone – but despite many chances – they did everything but score.
But even so, this was a great power-play, especially when you consider that L.A. has one of the best PK’s in the league.
Once returned to full-strength, and with under 3:30 remaining – the Rangers were out-shooting their opponents this period to a tune of 11-2.
The Blueshirts’ twelfth shot of the period, which took place with 2:33 remaining, not only went for a goal – but also wound up becoming the game-winner too:
Nick Bonino looking like Endy Chavez on this beautiful assist to Jimmy Vesey.
Pretty finish from Vesey in tight. pic.twitter.com/5YLIhGduiT
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 11, 2023
2-0, GOOD GUYS!
On this goal, Bonino prevented a Kings’ zone exit, found Vesey with limited room streaking towards Copley – and BLAMMO – the Hobey Baker winner backhanded the puck right past the goaltender.
What. A. Goal.
And for Vesey, and following tonight, of all the goals scored in his career, 28% of them have held up as game-winners.
WOW!
It just goes to tell you that Vesey doesn’t score “A-Rod Goals.” Instead, he’s right in the thick of things.
What a (re) signing by Mr. Drury!
Now down to 1:11 remaining, Mikey Anderson, who was kind of a bit “ratty” tonight, as he was trying to instigate CUYLLE HAND LUKE all game, was boxed for “holding” Panarin. In reality, Anderson had tackled “The Breadman.”
There was a scary play here, as Zibanejad shot-passed a puck to Kreider – and then wiped out his BFF, as CK20’s legs were taken out from under him.
Fortunately, no injury here.
To close the period, Copley stopped Panarin, but much like the end of the first period – the Rangers had power-play time remaining at the end of this period too.
2-0, GOOD GUYS, through forty-minutes.
All that was left to do was close out.
And go figure:
We’re in the Christmas season, but this upcoming third period was nothing but a Fourth of July fireworks show – and where I wish that these officials took a bottle rocket to their gonads too.
Here’s what I said after this period:
2-0, GOOD GUYS, through 40. 2P Thoughts:
— Get Quick his big win.
— Blog will be delayed tonight – going to buy a powerball ticket following a rare Mika one-timer PPG.
— For everyone who bitches about Goodrow, his worth has never been more apparent.
— Vesey sure has a…— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) December 11, 2023
THIRD PERIOD
Arguably, this was the craziest period that the Rangers have played ever since the 5/5/21 return game with the Capitals.
To open the period, and with the Rangers still on the power-play mind you; rather than telling us about Blueshirt power-play stats, instead, Rosen told us how the Kings were the best third period team in the league.
Who wanted to hear that?
And while I know that Rosen bleeds true blue and that his devotion to this franchise can not be questioned – I wonder if he realizes that he sounds like a jinxing asshole whenever he does this?
Following the Kings killing off the Rangers’ power-play?
Up next: A heavyweight title fight full of huge haymakers – and just like a boxing prizefight – questionable officiating too.
Let’s just cover the bombs that connected – but if you want the jabs too – then go to my Tweeter account (https://twitter.com/NYCTheMiC ) for the full play-by-play.
With 18:16 remaining and with Quick still in FU mode to the team that gave him the “Et Tu” treatment (yes, a Julius Caesar – and not a Caesars’ Sportsbook reference), Mr. Goalie Controversy made a “CHILD PLEASE” casual glove save on a hell of a shot from Spence.
The man was in the zone and the only way to take him out of it was through nefarious means – ergo, the terrible travesty of justice – and as perpetrated by tonight’s officials.
As Micheletti was trying to manifest a Kopitar goal, Quick then made two rapid saves with 17:13 remaining. However, Fox was also boxed for tripping Carl Grundstrom.
With the Kings’ power-play winding down, it looked like Arthur Kaliyev had scored.
However, and prior to the puck going into the net, P.L.D. had interfered with Lindgren.
In turn, not only did the Kings negate their power-play with six-seconds remaining on it, but bigger than that – the goal didn’t stand either.
But that’s not all of it.
For the first time seemingly ever since the 2014-15 season – LINDGREN, BATTERED-AND-BRUISED LIKE AN A 1880s IRISH HOUSE WIFE – WAS ALSO PENALIZED – FOR EMBELLISHMENT!
Seriously, when was the last time that you saw a player get called for embellishment? (And I’ve brought this topic up before on this site – check the archives.)
No less than forty-seconds later – AND WITH JONATHAN QUICK STILL HOLDING ONTO HIS SHUTOUT – Trocheck was falsely accused of tripping Doughty – DESPITE DOUGHTY SKATING INTO HIM!
But we weren’t done yet!
AS TROCHECK WAS GOING TO THE BOX, THE OFFICIALS BAGGED ZIBANEJAD FOR A TEN-MINUTE MISCONDUCT!
The M$GN cameras never caught what Zibanejad did, and since it’s late, I’m not going to look it up right now either. (However, feel free to do so on your own!)
That said, I’m just to assume that Mika bitched to the officials about the bad calls and the referees got all butt-hurt about it, as I can’t think of any other reason for this MIKA MISCONDUCT.
So with 14:34 remaining, the Rangers, still on the PK, were without their top two centers – and where Zibanejad wouldn’t be able to return until the other side of the FOXWOODS FINAL FIVE mark.
The madness continued.
Just sixteen-seconds later, and now returned to play – Quinton Byfield, very dirty tonight, got cute:
Well, this game just got interesting. pic.twitter.com/Ck2QiQl54T
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 11, 2023
DESPITE BYFIELD REPEATEDLY SLASHING QUICK – A PENALTY – QUICK WAS PENALIZED TOO – FOR DEFENDING HIMSELF!
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
The end result?
The Rangers’ penalty boxed looked just as it did in that 5/5/21 game against the Caps:
And somehow, and where you have to wonder if the gambling sponsors were a part of it – the Kings remained on the power-play.
Of course, this is when Danault scored the lone Kings’ goal, a power-play goal, following a backdoor pass from Kempe – and when speaking of backdoors – not only did the officials stick it up the Rangers’ five-hole – but I also wonder what backdoor gambling they did tonight too!
2-1, good guys – and Quick’s shutout ruined by these c-suckers in zebra stripes.
And yeah – it’s no coincidence that the officials and Kings were wearing matching white-and-black colors either.
Do you know how bad this was?
(HOW BAD WAS IT?)
Everyone in the arena was so shocked and appalled, that they couldn’t even muster up “THESE REFS SUCK” chants!
And I’m surprised that Brodzinski wasn’t given a ten-minute misconduct when he lifted his left leg on the bench – where I’m to assume that he ripped ass.
After all, I wouldn’t put it past these crack officials to box a Ranger for farting!
We were nowhere close to done yet.
Now approaching ten-minutes remaining, Quick robbed Byfield, which then set-off another round of scrums:
Jonathan Quick makes another great stop on Quinton Byfield.
Then some more rough stuff ensues. pic.twitter.com/FeL2NE802o
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 11, 2023
What I liked the most about this, aside from every Ranger getting involved?
How both captain Jacob Trouba and Vincent Trocheck, who looked as violent and menacing as Jack Nicholson in “The Shining,” immediately rushed to Lafreniere’s defense – and a #13 who needs no defending either – as he was more than willing to slap Kempe to the East River.
And for a game that started off as slow and lethargic as an early Sunday X-Mas Mass – the fireworks were going off like it was New Years’ Eve.
Following this latest round of penalties, the Rangers actually received a power-play here.
However, with both Zibanejad and Lafreniere in the box, Lavy had to find someone to put on his PP1 unit.
Not all heroes wear capes – but maybe JONNY HOCKEY does:
And wouldn’t you know it.
Jonny Brodzinski scores on the #NYR power play. pic.twitter.com/Ebj0Gvu145
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 11, 2023
No joke – I had Bobby Orr “THE GOAL” vibes when watching this.
(Note to Mollie: Bobby Orr was a defenseman for the Boston Bruins and is considered to be one of the top three players in NHL history. The goal I’m referencing here is his overtime game/series winner from the 1970 Stanley Cup Final.)
Brodzinski, playing with the PP1 for the first time in his career, now has more goals (1) than Filip Chytil this season (0).
$4.4M for a center who can’t win a faceoff and regularly goes months on end without scoring – one of Drury’s rare misses.
But in either event – 3-1, GOOD GUYS!
What. A. Goal!
Down to 6:22 to go, Quick put on his ski-mask and made another robbery save. This also led to our first TV timeout too, as prior to this save, there were no TV timeouts due to all of the explosiveness and special teams.
We weren’t done yet.
The Rangers never gave their opponents a chance to pull their goalie.
With 4:36 remaining, enter CUYLLE HAND LUKE:
Will Cuylle with a huge dagger.
Another point for Brodzinski and now 3 assists for Trocheck. pic.twitter.com/MwPjDVDiQm
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) December 11, 2023
4-1, GOOD GUYS!
Man oh man, did Cuylle deserve this, his fifth goal of the season.
As the team leader in hits, once again, #50 led all Blueshirts in this department tonight (6) – as he has somewhat put his scoring skills to the side for the overall betterment of the team.
Also as a result of this goal that sealed the deal?
Trocheck picked up another three-pointer this season, while Brodzinski picked up his fifth assist too.
In other words, with six-points on the season in his limited action, JONNY HOCKEY has already doubled Kakko’s production in his 19-games of work.
Not too shabby for a “4A” player!
Right after the goal, Panarin went on a breakaway and was molested by a King who must’ve thought he was a Blackhawk.
No call – despite an obvious penalty shot that should’ve been awarded.
The Rangers didn’t really make a stink about this, since it was late and because they were up by three – but even so – are the officials “game managers” or are they unbiased observers?
Put it this way: Had this been a tied game or the Rangers trailing by one – then you would’ve heard all of Rangerstown, USA scream about this no call.
4-1, GOOD GUYS, your final – and a much-needed (and deserved) two-points in the standings.
As far as anything else from the broadcast, following the THREE STARS of the game, Brodzinski (3), Trocheck (2) and Quick (1) – I wanted to stick around to hear what Quick and Laviolette had to say.
Here’s Quick:
No joke – after Quick spoke (admirably at that – and I really liked how he complimented the entire team) – we then went back to that feckless freak, Sieve Vagistat.
The egomaniac, and as he always does, then compared his career to Quick’s.
Worse than that, he also tries to downplay what a player accomplished, as he always spins this stuff by making up tales from his legendary 46-game NHL career.
Earth to the Clear-Sighted Asshole: You’re supposed to be a broadcaster. You’re supposed to talk about what the players have done and said – and not ignore all of it in order to talk about your own crappy career.
What is wrong with this guy?
Seriously, John Giannone could be talking about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and this moron Vagistat would then chime in and say:
“WELL JOHNNY, I CAN RELATE TO BEING A GREAT U.S. PRESIDENT TOO BECAUSE WHEN I WAS SITTING ON THE BENCH WITH MY BLOODY GROIN FOR MOST OF MY CAREER, MANY OF MY TEAMMATES SAID MY PLAY WAS AS WOODEN AS WASHINGTON’S TEETH AND HOW I DESERVED A HOLE IN MY HEAD LIKE HONEST ABE!”
I’m not even exaggerating, as seriously, Vagistat is basically that asshole who you run into at a company party or at a bar, and when you tell this person a story from your life, this person then cuts you off and then tries to “one-up” you, you know, like this:
“Oh you were the top earner for the quarter? Well I was the top earner for all of my companies for the past twenty-years!”
Since I couldn’t stomach Vagistat any longer, I turned off M$GN prior to Laviolette’s post-game presser.
However, here it is for you below – as I waited for the YouTube version of it:
What I really enjoyed – and took away the most – from this interview is how Laviolette praised everyone possible – and wouldn’t take one ounce of credit for himself.
It’s late, so I’m not going to recap it – but just listen to it for yourself.
Everyone that Lavy could praise received such praise, including every player and his coaching staff too (he credited Michael Peca for putting Brodzinski on the power-play).
And if Vagistat could ever shut up for two-seconds and just listen – then perhaps he could learn from the example that Laviolette set here.
Up Next: Rangers vs Leafs at M$G on Tuesday night.
I also believe that the Rangers are off on Monday, per the NHL’s CBA (can’t practice after back-to-back games).
And yep – I believe that CZAR IGOR will be in net come Tuesday night too!
And oh, I almost forgot my season-long daily disclaimer!
Despite this great victory, the mission statement on this 2023-24 campaign remains the same, you know, these following words:
“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!”
See ya Tuesday night.
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 $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:
Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today
My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.
My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.
To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/
To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”
The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.
All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.
To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com
To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:
NYR/WSH 12/9 Review: BULLIED! Another Candidate For “Worst Loss of the Season;” Blueshirts (Sans Lafreniere & Vesey) Show No Effort in Lavy’s “Revenge Game,” Excuses vs Explanations; Gustafsson vs Kakko, Struggling Shestyorkin, Rangers Shutout For the First Time; When They Lose Then They Lose Bad, Negative Trends, Infuriating M$GN & Birdbrain Mollie Add to the Frustration & More
The Rangers & Peter Laviolette Prepare for a Revenge Game in Washington; Follow-Up Questions That The Beat Reporters Refuse to Ask, Injury Updates, Projected Line-Ups and “33 NOTIONS” – A (Friedman Inspired) Complete Team-By-Team Look Around the League!
NYR/OTT 12/5 Review: Don’t Fret – Despite the FIRST-PLACE Rangers Losing Their Worst Game Yet, M$GN Broadcast A Complete Horror; Senator Sammy, Muzzle Micheletti and Sieve “I DID THIS HANK” Vagistat Worse Than the Loss; Rangers’ PP Issues, Lavy, Panarin Continues to Burn Toast; Mika The Ghost, Tarasenk-Show Reaudition, CZAR IGOR Flailing-and-Floundering & 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
