Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. WHAT A WIN!
And WE’RE ONLY ONE GAME AWAY FROM GOING TO THE FINAL!
Of course, I’m talking about Notre Dame football right now, as prior to Thursday night’s Original Six tilt at Morgue $quare Garden, then The Fighting Irish fended off the Georgia Bulldogs by a final score of 23-10 – and where as a result of this sweet Sugar Bowl win – they’ll now meet Penn State in this year’s Orange Bowl – which also doubles up as the penultimate game prior to this year’s NCAA championship match.
And yes, there are plenty of jokes to be made about the Catholics taking on a school that will forever be known for their association with pedophile coaches – but of course – I’m too classy to make them!
Oh yeah – the Rangers, and much like Notre Dame, also won on Thursday – but of course and as usual – it wasn’t exactly a team-wide victory.
In fact, the opposite, as this game was solely about what the soon-to-be 39-year-old goaltender did in net – and where if it wasn’t for the fact that not one of three different Rangers couldn’t put a stick on a sixty-foot Boston pass – then JQ32 would’ve finished the contest with his third shutout of the season.
While the no-no would’ve been nice; but at the end of the day, I’m sure that all Quick cares about is the win – the 399th in his epic career – and where with one more victory – he’ll become the first American goalie to record 400 wins.
And yep – for as much as both Quick and I loved Mike Richter – but when it’s all said and done – and it will be JQ32 who retires as the greatest American-born goalie of all-time.
A win like tonight is just proof of this fact.
Following some crazy off-days in Rangerstown, USA (and in case you missed it, then I covered all of the explosive news here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/1125/ ), then the Blueshirts, who are both looking to save their season and then go on a run akin to the 2018-19 Blues, hosted the team who St. Louis defeated in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, a long-time rival to boot, the Boston Bruins.
Entering the match as 1-13 in contests that I’ve coined as “litmus test games” this season, losers of fifteen of their past nineteen games and on a four-game slide – and leave it to Quick to put a “Blueshirts’ Band-Aid” on all such negative streaks and trends.
In a way, and this 2-1 victory over the black-and-gold felt very much like the first twelve wins of the season – and when the Rangers opened this 2024-25 campaign with a 12-4-1 record.
While I still believe that Quick’s 4-0 win in Detroit from earlier this season remains as his best showing yet; then arguably, Thursday’s win against Beantown was his second-best.
We’ve done all of the Quick tributes on this site already – while also issuing a public apology too (those ghosts of 2014 will never leave us) – but what’s most impressive about Quick, aside from his play on the ice, is how the once legendary starter, now a back-up backstop today, has become a beacon of light, a sphere of positive influence, in that high-pressure cooker of a locker room.
As previously discussed on this site earlier this season, then it was Quick who “adopted” Matt Rempe before the clown head coach punted his unicorn to Hartford. Then, and as this season has moseyed along, then other young players, including both Will Cuylle and Brett Berard, have also raved about JQ32 and how the goalie has strongly impacted their blossoming careers too.
And if it wasn’t for all of the non-stop losing during this campaign, then you’d hear more of these stories – but obviously – negative headlines draw the most attention – and where of course – it’s impossible to ignore the historic losing that the Blueshirts have endured too.
It’s also another game like this out of Quick, who has been nothing short of fantastic ever since his 2023-24 arrival, that just strengthens my argument, one that I first brought up some eleven-years ago, when I said that you don’t need to give your goalie 10% of your salary cap, nor make him one of the top-five paid puck-stoppers in the league.
(And isn’t it funny how many fans vilified me for making this case against Henrik Lundqvist over a decade ago – yet it are these same exact people doing this to CZAR IGOR today? Hmmm!)
The Rangers, now undefeated in 2025 (har-har-har), can solely thank Quick for that.
And after tonight, it would be nice to see the goalie’s teammates play up to his level, when JQ32 goes for win #400 on Saturday afternoon in Washington.
If only Quick could bottle the springs from that fountain of youth that he dove into before signing with his boyhood team!
I also wonder what the L.A. Kings are thinking these days – Quick’s former franchise, and one that he’ll enter the Hall of Fame with – as they were the ones who considered one of their all-time greats as “washed” and “old” – and as they did some two-years ago.
As noted, then Thursday night was much like the beginning of this campaign, as the goalie shouldered the load until the Rangers were able to find a way to score.
(And when they did, then the load only increased!)
But in a rarity, akin to pigs flying, a cold day in hell or Mika Zibanejad scoring a goal – and that’s exactly what happened – Missing Mika broke the ice with the game’s opening score.
For nearly the first ten-minutes of the match, and as Quick continued to rack up the saves, then the Rangers only had one shot on goal to their name – and funny enough – it was Zibanejad as the shooter on record.
Missing Mika’s second “shot,” the Rangers’ second SOG too, put the Blueshirts ahead, 1-0, at the 9:48 mark.
Why is “shot” in quotes?
Because in reality, Mika’s right winger du jour, Reilly Smith, had sent a puck half-way past Jeremy Swayman’s goal line – and where this rubber disc was only a nanosecond away from completely crossing it too.
However, and since this isn’t football (something that Peter Laviolette is not aware of these days – and as explained during my past two tomes on this site), then unlike a touchdown, where all you need is a piece of the pig skin to cross the goal line, then in hockey, the puck needs to completely cross the goal line in order for a score to be tallied.
As Smith was set to celebrate an opening goal; then there was Mental Mika to give the puck an extra push, in order to secure the score.
While I’d really like to tell you how Mika was selfish, a pig, greedy and stole a goal away from Smith; but in reality, you can’t fault a player for finishing a play.
After all, who knows – maybe a Bruin defender makes a last second swipe at it – and as we would later see in this game.
But yeah, rather than Smith getting a goal here; instead, he received an assist – and where the dry-haired dee-jay was celebrating as if he had scored an overtime winner in a Game 7 of a Stanley Cup Final.
Ugh.
Just 3:05 later, at the 12:53 mark to be specific, and we then saw our next Ranger goal – and one that couldn’t be disputed, nor criticized either.
On a 2 x 1 odd-man rush with his center, Filip Chytil, by his side, and Ranger rookie, Brett Berard, high-tailed it to the net and absolutely beat Swayman on a shot that never had a chance on.
2-0, the home team – and the Rangers’ first 2-0 lead since their sixth game of the season – which dates back all the way to October 22nd.
What we didn’t know then, but what we do know now, is that this Berard goal would become the game-winner – and the first GWG in the 22-year-old’s career.
I don’t want to question the Rangers’ effort tonight – because I don’t truly believe that there was ever a point where they didn’t play hard or treated this game as a cardio session.
I just think that Boston, now down by two goals, wanted it more, and in turn, played more desperate.
It’s tough to say when Quick had his finest moment – as he was simply astonishing all-game.
Following a collection of robbery saves at around the seven-minute mark of the second stanza, and a sixty-foot pass made by an in-the-corner David Pastrnak, to an awaiting in-the-circle Elias Lindholm, was the only blemish on Quick’s record.
And I use the word “blemish” loosely – extremely loosely at that – as this pass was left undefended – and as it was by Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren and Reilly Smith.
Akin to his one-time rival Henrik Lundqvist and Quick, from this point on, pretty much said, “give me two goals and I got this.”
While one could argue that his eight-of-eight performance in the first period was Quick’s strongest twenty-minutes, or if his twelve-of-thirteen shots stopped during the second period was stronger than that; but in my eyes, then I was most impressed with JQ32’s flawless twelve-of-twelve showing in the final frame.
The Bruins opened up the third period by stringing together a bevy of elongated shifts in the Rangers’ zone – and where during every single one of them – and it felt like Quick had to make a save or two, while the skaters in front of him needed two or three tries in order to successfully get the puck out of the zone.
Such scenarios played out during the first ten-minutes of this one-goal period.
However, Quick’s aura of awesomeness seemed to seep into the heads of the Bruins.
As Quick was stopping everything and anything – and Boston was forced to get too fancy when trying to find a potential equalizer.
Come the final ten-minutes of regulation and there were many opportunities for the Bruins to tie the game – but rather than taking open shots – they forced bad cross-ice passes instead – as they were hoping for the perfect goal into a wide-open net.
All of these bad passes, mainly backwards towards the blue line rather than towards Quick himself, rejuvenated the Rangers.
Playing off of the hard work emitted from their goaltender and the Rangers were able to jump many of these bad Boston passes, which as a result, then gave the Blueshirts some time in the Bruins’ zone.
Boston’s response to the Rangers now awake defense?
By repeatedly icing the puck – and where from the ten-minute mark to the FOXWOODS FINAL FIVE mark – and it felt like Boston had iced the puck no less than fifty times.
And when Swayman took his seat on the bench in order to give the Bruins a 6 x 5 attack?
Then there was Quick again to slam the door – and where he was stopping all of the brand-name Bruins too, including Pastrnak (0-7 against Quick), Marchand, McAvoy and everyone else under the Boston sun.
Again, and to be clear – I don’t question the Rangers’ effort tonight – but I also don’t think that anything changed following this victory either.
This was another win where the Rangers’ backstop “GOALIE’D” the competition – and if the Blueshirts’ netminder wasn’t the best player on the ice – then this very easily could’ve been a Boston Tea Party.
It’s also why I hated the celebratory post-game interviews too.
Not only should the Rangers act like they’ve done this before, but they gave off a vibe where they could relax a bit too.
Simply stated: This can’t be one win – and then right back to another three- or four-game losing streak.
If the word RETOOL, and not REBUILD, is their mission, then this first win of 2025 needs to eventually become known as the catalyst in what saved the Rangers’ season.
But I’m not holding my breath.
After all, I’ve had the Rangers’ rug pulled out from under me one too many times before – and about twenty-times this season too!
At this time, let’s get the disclaimer segment out of the way before talking about everything else from a rare Rangers’ win.
However, I do want to remind you that this disclaimer has always implied that the Rangers would reach the playoffs.
In other words, and for the first time in four seasons as well – it’s now high time to start judging these guys in the regular season too.
After all, there may be no post-season in New York this year.
Here is our 82-game mantra, which is also known as my 33-word daily disclaimer, that I post on this site after every game played:
“WHATEVER THE RANGERS DO FROM NOW UNTIL THE TRADE DEADLINE DOESN’T MATTER. THEY CAN ONLY BE JUDGED BY WHATEVER THEY DO FOLLOWING THE DEADLINE AND BY WHAT THEY DO IN THE 2025 PLAYOFFS!”
In other words, thirty-seven down, forty-five to go, and then the real hockey, the only games that matter, begin.
But at this rate – will the Rangers even be there for the real hockey?
I still wouldn’t bet on it.
In case you missed it, then here’s where I last left off – Zac “F-Bomb” Jones going off on Laviolette:
Zac Jones Fights Back with “F-Bombs”; Calls Out “Father Laviolette” For His Poor Treatment of Another Kid, Battle of The Billionaire Bozos Screws Blueshirt Backers, M$GN vs Optimum/Altice Blacks Out Ranger Games; How To Watch Everything For Free in the Interim, Rumors of Mika Zibanejad Agreeing To Waive NMC Receive Confirmation in Canada; But Who Would Take Him? Why CZAR IGOR’s Latest Injury Isn’t Worrisome; Domingue Recalled & More
As noted, then I already covered all of the off-day news yesterday.
As far as Thursday morning went, then the Rangers held an optional practice, and to his credit – and Zac Jones, the good soldier, was out there.
Lavy’s decision to keep #6 as a healthy scratch is also “out there.”
Here was Laviolette’s line-up for the thirty-seventh game of this 2024-25 season:
FIRST LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere
SECOND LINE: Kreider/Mika/Smith
THIRD LINE: Cuylle/Chytil/Berard
FOURTH LINE: Edstrom/Carrick/Vesey
FIRST PAIR: Lindgren/Fox
SECOND PAIR: Miller/Borgen
THIRD PAIR: Vaakanainen/Schneider
STARTING GOALIE: Jonathan Quick
BACK UP GOALIE: Louie Domingue
SCAPEGOATED: Matt Rempe
IR: CZAR IGOR
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Jonny Brodzinski and Zac Jones
BOX SCORE time.
The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:
SCORING:
PENALTIES:
TEAM STATS:
GOALIES:
|
NYR
|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 33 | 1 | 32 | .970 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 0 |
|
BOS
|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 27 | 2 | 25 | .926 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58:02 | 0 |
Since the M$GN pregame show (and most of the first period too) went head-to-head with the Notre Dame playoff game, then I wasn’t really paying that much attention to everything that was going on as I normally do.
Speaking of M$GN, and as talked about last night – it still remains blacked-out by the greedy pigs over at Optimum Altice – and where the battle of billionaire bozo companies are now warring on Twitter/X:
Since I’m unfortunately stuck with Optimum where I live, and where perhaps this weekend, I’ll cut the cord too; then I was forced to find a free and illegal stream of this game – and since this service worked perfectly (without lagging or buffering) – then why the hell am I paying for Optimum in the first place?
That said, I was forced to watch this game from my computer chair at my desk – and I’d much rather watch it on my big screen TV from my couch.
As far as the stuff from the pregame show that I caught, then it was nice to see Brian Boyle back.
However, and in some sad news, Sieve Vagistat, and all of his made-up charts and graphs that we haven’t seen during the past week too, returns on Tuesday night.
We had a good run.
Boyle and his side-kick, John Giannone, then told us how well Boston has been doing ever since they fired Jim Montgomery and replaced him with Joe Sacco.
Not a word was dared to be muttered about perhaps the Rangers doing the same with their bench boss.
In what I found most interesting, but also predictable (because he wasn’t wrong), was when Dave Maloney said that he never saw a Rangers’ team like this 2024-25 squad look so bad before in all of his lifetime.
Of course, Maloney, and like yours truly, wasn’t alive during World War II – and where one more time on this site – at least those teams had an excuse.
After all, they were fighting real-life Nazis – and not self-entitled feelings.
Once the clock struck 7PM and we were then greeted by Sam and Joe – and where neither one of them didn’t say one word about the M$GN being blacked-out by Optimum.
I thought that one of them would – and in their role of company spokesmen.
Micheletti wasted no time in trashing the Blueshirts’ defense in front of their goalies prior to puck drop – and in a way – he was once again proven correct in his opinions come the end of the night.
However, and as already noted – it wasn’t a lack of effort in this particular match – as instead -Boston just exceeded what the Rangers were doing.
GAME REVIEW time – and since I have to be up at 5AM tomorrow for the real j-ob – then I gotta make it “quick.”
However, if you want the full play-by-play from this game, then visit my Tweeter/X feed over at https://x.com/NYCTheMiC
FIRST PERIOD
After Filip Chytil wasn’t allowed to a close a game in the match before (Florida), he was then allowed to open this contest.
For a player that has been the worst center at the dots throughout the majority of his career, then the Czech won this draw – and then finished as 50% at the circles following his five-of-ten performance.
I should also note that 60% of these faceoff wins (3) were also of the offensive zone variety – so that was really encouraging to see.
The Rangers logged the first SOG of the game at the ninety-second mark – and as Swayman denied Mika’s first try.
The Blueshirts would have to wait another eight-minutes to get their second SOG – but they did make it count.
What really impressed me about this broadcast is the uncanny ability that Sam and Joe have for just completely ignoring what’s going on in front of them.
I’m not making this up, as this is what we heard in the first three-minutes:
— Sam Rosen talking about former Boston coach, two coaches ago at that, Bruce Cassidy, and where of course, the HOF caller messed up his name as he called him “Butch Cassidy.” I wonder if that makes Sacco “The Sundance Kid.”
— A lesson on Minnesota geography and some towns that you may have never heard of before.
— Following an icing, Rosen proudly belting out, “GOOD PACE JOE!”
Bless Sam’s heart.
Right after all of this, and former Islander (and no one loves telling you who once played for the Islanders and Devils more than Rosen), Oliver Wahlstrom, hit the post.
In hindsight, then if that puck went in, then I wonder if the Rangers would have collapsed as they usually do after giving up the first (and early) goal of the game?
Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that – at least for this one night.
As the game progressed, and with not much going on, then it was extremely noticeable how dead Morgue $quare Garden sounded.
According to the people who were in-attendance, then the building was about 75% full.
Should the Rangers revert to their normal losing ways after this game, then I’d expect less people at these games as the season continues.
While the season tickets are already sold, who is going to pay top-dollar for the remaining tickets available in order to see a last-place team?
Furthermore, for fans who don’t live in NYC (such as Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester, etc) – then who wants to schlep all the way to Manhattan and deal with the crazed homeless, the violent illegal immigrants, getting set on fire in the subway, getting pushed in front of a train and everything else that takes place daily in this lawless city?
And I’m sure that the never-ending stench of pot and piss that permeates throughout the streets where M$G sits is not exactly an incentive to travel to 33rd and 7th either.
The GAG LINE 2.0, Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere, have been struggling as of late.
We saw a lot of that tonight, as at the 8:30 mark, Lafreniere, who only has one goal in his last nineteen games played, made two back-to-back crazy passes to Panarin that immediately led to Boston turnovers.
Even “The Breadman” didn’t look too hot – and as was evident by his zero SOG showing.
As both teams thwarted each other’s attacks, then, and with 10:12 remaining, Mika stole Smith’s goal:
Mika makes it 1-0 #NYR pic.twitter.com/DwAUWMYJ8I
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) January 3, 2025
1-0, home team.
As noted above, I really can’t smack-talk Mika here – as he finished the job and didn’t allow a Bruin to make a last-second play.
But yeah, this was Smith’s goal.
This was also Mika’s first goal in about two months – which means that Alex Ovechkin, who just returned a week ago, now has thrice that amount in the same time.
In addition, this was the first time that the Rangers had opened a game with a lead since their match against the flu-ridden Dallas Stars.
As we got down to 7:30 remaining, K’Awful Minus Miller, who really wasn’t that bad tonight (but he did have his moments), was stopped by Swayman, which then led to a Bruins’ 3 x 1 odd-man rush in the Rangers’ end.
Quick prevented the equalizer, which in turn, then allowed his club to extend their lead – and as Berard did some twenty-seconds later:
Berard makes it 2-0 #NYR pic.twitter.com/PFnTrj116N
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) January 3, 2025
WHAT. A. SHOT.
Similar to Cuylle – and we are seeing Berard improve on a game-by-game basis.
As Rosen was going nuts about the Rangers having their first 2-0 lead since the sixth game of the season, Micheletti was wise and curt when reminding everyone that the previous thirty-six games had taken place.
I appreciated that – as I hate the King-Kong shit during moments like these – and akin to some NFL slug celebrating a sack when his team is losing 37-0.
As Quick continued to work his way to an eight-save period, then down to 1:25 remaining, and Smith, who had his teammate previously rob a goal from him, then saw Swayman rob one from him too – as the B’s goalie made a jaw-dropping stop on a Kreider-to-Smith one-timed feed – and from point-blank range too.
Down to 42-seconds remaining and Quick put out a Rat Trap on Marchand, thus preventing the Bruins from scoring a late momentum goal.
2-0, home team, after twenty-minutes.
Here’s what I said at the time:
2-0, Disappointments, after 20. 1P Thoughts:
— Mika is such a great teammate that he celebrated stealing a goal from Smith.
— Told you don’t worry about Igor’s yearly injury- Quick is strong.
— That Berard rip was very encouraging.
— #NYR aren’t exactly known for their…— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) January 3, 2025
SECOND PERIOD
This was the true beginning of “The Jonathan Quick Show” – as after the first period – and the Rangers were done scoring goals.
But if you took a shot for every time that Sam Rosen reminded you that Charlie McAvoy was from Long Island – then you missed the rest of this game from your bed at the emergency room – as Rosen, and no less than 7986786869687967967679 times at this point of the match, reminded us of this fact that nobody cares about.
I mean, if Rosen is going to say the same thing 67867869679867986796 times, then at least make it funny, such as, “OH JOE, CHARLIE MCAVOY IS FROM LONG ISLAND JOE, THAT’S WHERE OPTIMUM ALTICE HAS MOST OF THEIR CUSTOMER BASE JOE. MCAVOY AND HIS PARENTS CAN’T WATCH THE RANGERS JOE! THIS BLACK OUT HAS A GOOD PACE JOE!”
To open this frame and Miller made a good play to stunt a Rat attack.
Right after that, and following a Quick save on Carlo too, and Trocheck took a puck right to the face.
I’m not making this up:
Despite being smacked in the mouth with a flying puck – and Trocheck didn’t even flinch. You would’ve thought that he got hit by a Nerf-made feather.
HOCKEY PLAYERS.
Come 16:19 remaining and this is when Miller took the only Ranger penalty of the game, as he airmailed a puck over the glass.
No matter, as just 26-seconds later and Pastrnak high-sticked Lindgren.
These were our only penalties of the game – and for two teams that are known to take a bevy of them.
Once all of the foreplay and special teams were over – and once again – Quick made all of the highlight reel shows for this trio of rapid-fire saves:
Quick is on Fire #NYR https://t.co/WJfL45QWaR pic.twitter.com/GGvISBUEQp
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) January 3, 2025
I really don’t know what was the best save of the lot here – as Quick was just fantastic when stopping Kastelic, Brazeau and Beecher.
Seriously, any one of these shots could have produced a goal – but only against a goalie that wasn’t Jonathan Quick.
Sadly, and about thirty-seconds later – and this is when the Bruins got their lone goal of the game:
Much needed goal for Elias Lindholm and the Bruins#NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/2R2GGNq2t5 https://t.co/QrPkGBnbOz
— Joseph (@HockeyJoseph10) January 3, 2025
2-1, home team.
And let me make it clear – this goal allowed wasn’t on Quick at all.
We all know that Pastrnak is one of the best players in the game – but even so – then Fox, Lindgren and/or Smith should have been able to prevent this.
As mentioned, and as you know, this was the final goal of the game.
For the next thirty-minutes and change – GOALIE DUEL.
Right after the Boston goal and Swayman stopped Chytil from his doorstep and then prevented Cuylle on the ensuing rebound.
In the other end, Quick stopped Pastrnak with a thunderous save.
Down to 5:15 remaining and Quick added another video clip for his agent to work with:
Quick’s playing like he’s worth 11.5m #NYR pic.twitter.com/RU5yDWGnna
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) January 3, 2025
This save incited loud chants of “QUICK-IE!” – and who would have ever thought that such cheers would ever become routine at M$G back in June of 2014?
As Panarin continued to bumble pucks while Lafreniere couldn’t get any puck luck at all (several last second deflections of his were denied by Swayman); then Micheletti absolutely made a romantic explosion in his pants when singing Quick’s good name – and “Jumpin’ Joe” had every right in the world to gum up the works too!
It was also at this time, during a TV timeout, when M$GN cameras caught Swayman giving a respect tap to the pads of Quick.
GOALIE UNION.
Gotta love it!
Under 3:00 remaining and this is when Swayman robbed Miller – because after all – no bookie in the world could pay out a parlay where both Mika and Miller score in the same game.
An extremely questionable no call took place during the final minute, as Brazeau boarded/cross checked Schneider into the glass behind Quick – and with an official looking dead-on at it.
This no call was so bad that even Sam Rosen was calling out referee, Michael Markovic, by name.
And yep, we must say this too:
If this was Rempe in the role of Justin Brazeau here – then he would have received a life-time suspension.
But since Brazeau is not seven-foot on skates (but he is 6’5″), then this play was not only ignored by the zebras, but will also be ignored by the league too.
2-1, Quick, after forty-minutes.
Here’s what I said at the time:
2-1, Jonathan Quick. 2P Thoughts:
— Again, told ya that the CZAR IGOR injury wouldn’t make a difference for #NYR.
— Same Old Rangers – rely on the goalie – this very easily could be a 5-2 Bruins’ lead.
— I’m all about a lottery pick, but I hope JQ32 gets win #399 – he’s…— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) January 3, 2025
THIRD PERIOD
I gotta blow through this period – as I have to be up in three-hours for work.
(Again, for the full play-by-play, then check out https://x.com/NYCTheMiC )
However, the first ten-minutes of this frame are easy to recap – the Bruins just hemmed-and-hawed their way through the Ranger zone and where each time – Quick was there to dead them.
Sandwiched in-between was the best Blueshirts’ chance of the period – a Swayman breakaway save made on Trocheck.
It should also be noted that at the three-minute mark that Quick “only” totaled his 21st save.
It felt like he had 42 at the time.
He also finished with 32 saves – which tells you how much Boston was gunning at him – and where yes – it felt like he finished with 64 denials as well!
Down to 10:58 remaining, and the Rangers, who previously lost Chytil after a collision with Miller this season, and now CZAR IGOR after a collision that Lindgren just created during the last game of 2024, almost lost Lindgren too after another friendly-fire attack:
Mika runs into Lindgren… Lindgren was slow to get up. #NYR pic.twitter.com/udkxpqTXpW
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) January 3, 2025
That was Mika’s first recorded hit of the season.
Lindgren was shaken up here – but since he’s a HOCKEY PLAYER – he never missed a shift.
Let’s just hope that we don’t get that tweet on Friday where the Rangers announce that Lindgren has been placed on IR with an upper-body injury.
As we approached the final ten-minutes of the game, then all you were doing was clock-watching – as you just felt that Boston was due to tie it.
Quick had other plans.
As Quick continued to make save-after-save, then, and with 48-seconds remaining and the Bruins using their timeout in order to draw up one last play (an idea that never entered Lavy’s mind against Florida), and this is when Rosen tried to will the Bruins to overtime, as he said verbatim, “OH JOE, THE BRUINS ARE ONE OF FOUR TEAMS NOT TO HAVE SCORED A 6 X 5 GOAL THIS SEASON JOE! CAN THEY DO IT NOW JOE?”
Why Rosen felt the need to bring this up now – and not when the game was over – is beyond me.
I’d love to see him call a baseball game where a pitcher has a perfect game during the ninth inning and with two outs recorded.
2-1, Quick, your final.
Here’s what the dopey head coach had to say for himself after the game:
Here’s what Quick, and others, had to say – and where of course and as usual – and JQ32 wouldn’t take an ounce of credit:
Up Next: A weekend of matinee games, starting Saturday at 12PM in Washington, followed by a Sunday 3PM puck drop in Chicago.
Both games will air on ESPN/ABC.
Of note, I’m 50/50 about going to my local watering hole on Saturday afternoon – as that 12PM start time is rough. (I just wish that Saturday’s game started at 3PM too!)
If I go, then I probably won’t return until Sunday, but if I sleep in, then I’ll return Saturday afternoon with a Caps/Rangers GAME REVIEW.
Up Next For Me: A few seconds of shut eye, a ten-hour shift and then the weekend!
Up Next For You: Your favorite segment, which brings us to…
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!
“The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” is now available for sale!
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/
If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:
Don’t forget to order my 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
