NYR/NSH 3/19 Review: DEJA VU! Rangers Blow’em Out & Shut’em Out Again; Neuter The Preds, Blueshirts Make History; A No-No for “THE HALAKNESS MONSTER” & Four MILLER TIME Points, Chytil Ends Schneid; Scores GWG, First-Place Within Reach, Women Empowerment/M$GN & More

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Didn’t I just write this GAME REVIEW blog last night?

Following their 6-0 final over the Penguins from Saturday night, just less than 24-hours removed from that defining victory – the Rangers did it again – and for shits & kicks – booted the extra point too, en route to their 7-0 blow-out of the Predators.

Whether the Blueshirts play against cats or ice birds – it don’t matter – they are making roadkill of any animal that crosses their path.

And should they slay the bears from Boston – watch out!

As opposed to Saturday night, the Rangers entered tonight’s contest with a heavy advantage – but still – a win’s a win.

And you know it – all two points count the same.

Plus, after watching the Rangers struggle against a bunch of AHLers & ECHLers in Montreal just last week – isn’t this the type of victory that you would desire?

I know that I did!

After all, following the Rangers squeaking out a shootout win against the Canadiens just ten days ago; all I heard from the moronic “FLAT EARTH TURKERS” was how the head coach didn’t know what he was doing and all of their other blah blah blah bullshit – where yes – these same people are still crying about Kravtsov being punted 3,000 miles away – before the mercurial Russian returns home for good at the end of the season.

It’s not even worth my time debunking their junk – but wouldn’t you know it – following tonight’s 7-0 smashing of Smashville – these same people are now saying, with tears in their eyes: “THIS WIN WASN’T IMPRESSIVE. THE RANGERS DID WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO!”

For these incels, where the stale oxygen in their parents’ basements are ruining their brain cells too – and to quote Adrian Balboa – “You just can’t win – you just can’t win!”

However, who can win, and as Adrian’s husband, Rocky, once did – is Gerard Gallant – and our beloved Blueshirts too!

It would’ve been very easy for the Rangers to lay an egg on a non-Easter Sunday – where no joke – some readers told me that they expected tonight’s tilt to be a “trap game,” since the Blueshirts will play the first-place Carolina Hurricanes twice next week – and consecutively at that.

While it is true that the Rangers’ schedule is at its most busiest point of the season – where yet again – tonight marked another third game played in a time-span of four nights; the same also applied to their opponents, as the Predators were playing their third game in four nights – and with a flight to the Big Apple included.

However, while the Blueshirts’ “FAT CATS,” and everyone else, sans Ryan Lindgren (more on him in a bit), were 100% healthy; conversely, the big cats from Nashville were reduced to kittens, as they had a litany of injuries and players who missed the game.

To their credit, the Predators, who were sellers at this year’s trade deadline (you may have heard about that Tanner Jeannot to Tampa trade), have been playing well.

Despite a new regime coming in (Barry Trotz will be replacing g.m. David Poile at the end of the season); the Predators have made a go of it lately, as they currently flirt with the second wild card of the Western Conference.

Tonight? The Rangers neutered those hopes.

Already having lost some of their top players due to the trade deadline; the Predators entered M$G on Sunday night without their remaining top stars, including Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Ryan McDonagh and a slew of others from their litter.

In other words, the Preds were forced to dress a line-up primarily of minor-leaguers, and where honestly – I didn’t even know half of the players that their vampire head coach, John Hynes, had on the ice.

We’ve seen this script before – and as alluded to when talking about the Rangers’ recent shootout victory over the Habs at the Poutine Palace in Montreal.

Ten days later? The Rangers, whose chemistry is now at Walter White levels, made the Predators “break bad,” as behind six goals scored during the first period – Gallant’s Gang ended all nine lives of the Big Cats within the opening nine minutes of the game.

And just like the win over the Pens – all that was left to do was close out the game – and get Jaroslav Halak, “THE HALAKNESS MONSTER,” his first shutout of the season.

However, and as opposed to the night before – the Rangers had these two points in the bag early. This game was long done before the second period even began.

Rather than trying not to embarrass their opponent for just one period, and as they had done on Saturday night; instead, on this night, the Blueshirts tried not to bring humiliation, and downright shame, to their opponents for nearly fifty minutes.

We’ll talk more about this strategy during the GAME REVIEW, one that I think we all can understand – but against a team that the Rangers won’t see again for the remainder of this season – I wouldn’t have minded if the Blueshirts padded their stats, en route to making history.

Instead of going for glory, these 2022-23 Blueshirts limited the scoring to seven goals – and the 1971-72 Rangers 12-1 clubbing over the California Seals still remains as the biggest margin of victory in franchise history.

But Brad Park, the best defenseman of that team, never did what Miller did tonight – score four points in one single period.

And should the Rangers continue to roll?

Then Miller will do something else that Park never did too – win the Stanley Cup.

At this time, let’s get into the pregame news & notes, then jump right into the GAME REVIEW – because as you’d imagine – there are a lot of positive things to discuss tonight!

Since the Rangers played last night, and played well may I add – there was no morning skate on Sunday.

And since “THE GREAT GALLANTSBY” said everything that needed to be said following the win over the Penguins – his Sunday evening pregame “TURK TALK” ran less than a minute.

That said, there was one morsel, a major morsel if you will, that was hand-fed by the head coach to Rangerstown, USA.

The head coach expects Ryan Lindgren to finally make his grand return on Tuesday night, when the Rangers do battle with the Canes.

And what a better time than now for #55 return – because as we’ll explore at the end of tonight’s manifesto – the Rangers are not only looking to jump into second-place in the division – they now have a real shot of landing in first-place.

Gallant was so confident in Lindgren’s eventual return (HOW CONFIDENT WAS HE?), that he even said he’d bet money on it.

However, I don’t believe that NHL employees are allowed to bet on professional hockey – despite Henrik Lundqvist’s daily proclamations of, “WE’RE ALL CAESARS!”

Here was the Rangers’ line-up from Sunday night:

FIRST LINE: Panarin/Mika/Tarasenko

SECOND LINE: Kreider/Trocheck/Kane

THIRD LINE: Lafreniere/Chytil/Kakko

FOURTH LINE: Vesey/Goodrow/Motte

FIRST PAIR: Miller/Trouba

SECOND PAIR: Mikkola/Fox

THIRD PAIR: Harpur/Schneider

STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR

BACK-UP GOALIE: THE HALAKNESS MONSTER

DAY-TO-DAY: RYAN LINDGREN (11th consecutive game missed)

PRESS BOX: A cardboard cut-out of Nils Lundkvist, as the real one currently sits in the Dallas press box

BOX SCORE time.

The following graphics and information come from ESPN.com:

SCORING:

PENALTIES:

TEAM STATS:

GOALIES:

THREE STARS:

Tonight’s game was branded as “WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT NIGHT,” where as previously mentioned on this site whenever the Rangers have a theme night – I do not care about whatever cause, woke or otherwise, that they are promoting.

They can promote “OH JOE, MEXICAN ESKIMO NIGHT JOE, SUPPORT THE MEXIMOS JOE!” (Meximos work hard Sam) and I would not care.

After all, as someone who wants to see the salary cap go up, up and up – the more money that these teams can make by selling theme-branded merchandise only betters that cause.

“OH JOE, GET AN OFFICIALLY LICENSED RANGERS’ PONCHO FOR YOUR IGLOO TODAY JOE!”

However, and like most of these nights – I did find the theme to be forced and where not much was learnt.

Seriously, how many of you know about the following (and I’m only giving you the short-version of this story):

When Shirley Fischler, wife of Stan, began her writing career, she was forced to sit in the blue seats with an uncomfortable typewriter on her lap. In addition, she was barred from the locker room too.

It wasn’t until she pressed the issue and threatened legal action, when Emile Francis and company finally welcomed her as “one of the guys” – where once officially accredited and allowed into the locker room – there was still some hesitation.

Do you think Fischler, a true pioneer, was mentioned once during “WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT NIGHT?”

Of course not.

Sadly, people like Michelle Gingras, Mollie Walker, Emily Kaplan and the rest of the women folk that you routinely see around the hockey world, don’t even know who she is.

And unlike Mrs. Fischler – most of these women (not all) around the sport today don’t even know what they’re watching – as instead – some of these females are solely “demographic hires.”

Anyone remember Amanda Borges?

Ask Jim Cerny!

You’d think that these females would campaign for Shirley Fischler, who broke barriers, to be enshrined in Toronto.

Instead, most of these women are too caught up with their own self-serving nonsense to pay respect to the people who paved the way.

Susan B. AnthoWHO?

It’s just too bad that the current women reporters of today don’t advocate for Fischler in the same way that they go batty whenever a player decides not to wear a rainbow-colored jersey.

HOW DARE JAMES REIMER NOT RESPECT THE RIBBON AND HAVE OPINIONS DIFFERENT THAN ME! THE HUMANITY!

Without Mrs. Fischler – these people wouldn’t have jobs today – or at the very least – it would’ve taken some time to get there.

Fischler’s memory may be forgotten by the people she opened the doors for – but not on this site.

Quote the Young Maven, nevermore!

Fortunately, while “THE KING OF COMMENTARY” was back tonight; unfortunately, so was Sieve Vagistat – where once again, and for some unknown reason – it’s Lundqvist’s back-up who gets more face & speaking time than the guy who not only did something in the NHL – but will make it to the Hall of Fame too.

Seriously, come twenty years from now, when Adam Fox and John Gilmour are sitting in-studio – will Gilmour speak more than Fox?

Maybe at that time, Gilmour can make fun of Fox’s Norris too – as Vagistat often does whenever speaking about Lundqvist’s career, where a Vezina was won during it.

I’ll skip the rest of the Vagistat junk for tonight – at least until the second intermission of tonight’s GAME REVIEW – because it was the same old stuff.

However, Vagistat is so bad on these broadcasts (HOW BAD IS HE?) – that he makes you yearn for P.K. Slewban.

At least Slewban did something in the league.

Lundqvist began the broadcast by saying, “There are so many great things happening with this team. The special teams. The goaltending. The big names.”

By 9:22PM, following one of the quickest games that the Rangers have played all season – we saw all of that again.

During Gingras’ first spot, she told us that she would be interviewing some woman from some ball hockey league that no one has ever heard of before during the first intermission.

In other words – no matter what happened during the game – the game wouldn’t be discussed come intermission – as this forced-fed interview would take precedent.

Much like Lundqvist’s initial comments – this too would later play out.

Rather than discussing one of the most historic first periods in 97 years of Rangers’ hockey during the first intermission; instead, Gingras, and some woman, babbled on about nothing that had to do with the game that we were watching.

Riveting television.

On the emerging and obviously notable chemistry between Zibanejad and Tarasenko, Lundqvist remarked, “Watching them play, they aren’t set on one play. They both understand that the puck will wind up in the middle of the ice. One of them will read off each other. They are two humble guys who want to get the job done.”

Mika finished tonight’s game with one goal and one assist. His other winger, Artemi Panarin, finished with one goal and two assists.

And while Tarasenko had his scoring streak snapped tonight – I wouldn’t waste any time worrying about that at all – as the Rangers basically stopped trying to score after the first period.

On one of his biggest nemesis’, Jaroslav Halak himself, Lundqvist said, “It’s definitely a meaningful game, but he’s been in this situation before. He’s a veteran guy, he knows what to do. He works hard in practice. This is a good opportunity to get back in the win column.”

Halak then went on to post his first shutout of the season – where much like CZAR IGOR from Saturday night – it was the goalie who made a flurry of saves early – and then the offensive explosion took place.

Once wrapping up with Lundqvist and his seven-foot coffee boy; come 7PM, we went to Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti – two friends who reference each other by their first names more than anyone else I’ve ever met in life.

Sam & Joe immediately brought up “WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT NIGHT,” where I was surprised that we didn’t hear this exchange:

“OH JOE, WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT NIGHT JOE! ARE WE EVEN ALLOWED TO SAY THE WORD ‘WOMEN’ ANYMORE WITHOUT GETTING CANCELED JOE? VA JAY JAYS JOE!”

“Sam, I’ve known some fabulous son’s of bitches in my day.”

Instead, Sam mentioned that he knew a female or two in his life, Micheletti said that all women were “FABULOUS,” and this topic was never brought up by our favorite bumbling duo again.

That said, I would’ve paid money to hear these two have a pro-life vs pro-choice debate. Imagine that?

“OH JOE, ABORTIONS JOE, THERE’S ONE ON LONG ISLAND AND THEY CALL THEMSELVES THE ISLANDERS JOE!”

“Sam, abortions are absolutely fabulous, where Sieve Vagistat told me that east-west abortions happen 25.3552% of the time on the third week of an odd-numbered month.”

Following a ceremonial puck drop from FDNY commissioner Laura Kavanagh, who received a polite applause; some female Acapella group, who calls themselves “RUBY FRUIT,” sang the anthem.

This all-women’s chorus were kind of quiet, and where you could hear Ranger fans drown them out with all of their heckling.

I know it’s tradition, but I’m just not a fan of screaming and chanting during the anthem.

And that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Up next?

One of the greatest periods of hockey that you’ll ever see.

GAME REVIEW time!

FIRST PERIOD:

So much for fatigue on the second half of a back-to-back, and a third game in four nights too!

Perhaps because of the injuries in Nashville, or maybe Gallant wanting to reward them – the Rangers’ fourth line began this game.

Following their shift, “THE ATM LINE” came on and then spent their entire shift in the Preds’ d-zone.

For some reason, and Rosen went on to repeat this several times throughout the broadcast; the “affable” announcer stated that Fox hadn’t scored a goal in his last 22-games – as if the 2021 Norris Trophy winner’s biggest strength is as a sharpshooter.

Not mentioned? Chytil’s nineteen game goal drought – one that was soon snapped.

At just the 2:14 mark, Halak made a save on a Nashville 3 x 2 odd-man rush – and then made three rapid saves on the rebounds that followed.

These four saves opened the floodgates for the Blueshirts.

Just thirteen seconds later, and with the third line on the ice, this happened:

Filip Chytil breaks the goal drought all on his own, splits the defenders and buries one for the #NYR lead pic.twitter.com/MfeitgwwrL

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 19, 2023

1-0, GOOD GUYS, as Chytil finally ended his drought – and made it rain on Preds’ goalie, Kevin Lankinen.

This was a hell of a goal and for many reasons, including:

— Following Halak’s flurry of saves, Miller got the puck and found Chytil at the Rangers’ blue line.

— Chytil then skated the distance of the ice towards Lankinen, and with two Preds draped on him – beat the goalie.

— For Halak, he was awarded with a secondary assist. In other words, he now has as many points as Vitali Kravtsov has in Vancouver!

— For Miller, this was his first assist and point of the game.

— And obviously, for Chytil, who was stuck on nineteen goals for over fifty periods – he finally scored his 20th goal of the season – the first time he’s ever done so. (His previous career-high in goals was 14 during the pandemic-reduced 2019-20 campaign.)

— More impressive? This goal, scored at just the 2:37 mark, would hold up as the game-winner!

You could see the weight of the world vanish off of Chytil’s shoulders following this highlight reel goal – and his post-goal smile was evidence of that.

Following a “lull” from this period, where a Trocheck-to-Kreider try just missed; with 13:55 remaining, Halak protected the lead as he stopped Sissons from his doorstep.

This save, his fifth, and where all five of these saves were tough, was also his penultimate save of these first twenty minutes.

Up next?

B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

With 12:38 remaining; a Fox-to-Mika pass almost led to a goal. However, prior to seeing a replay of the missed connection, the Rangers regrouped and BOOM – a Panarin pass to Mika would present the second goal of the game:

You’re going to want to pick up Mika in coverage when he’s at the side of the net like that… pic.twitter.com/LESVw7ujjK

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 19, 2023

2-0, GOOD GUYS.

There was nothing that Lankinen could do here – as Mika could’ve scored this goal with his eyes closed.

This was also Mika’s 37th goal of the season. Later on, during the second period, Zibanejad’s BFF, Chris Kreider, scored his 32nd goal of the season.

With a dozen games remaining, it’s not that far-fetched to think that the two longest-tenured Rangers on the club could both hit 40+ goals this season.

And for DJ MIKA?

Following a recent five-game goal drought, he’s now scored five goals in his last four games played – all at M$G.

The goals would continue, as following Halak’s early heroics – the Rangers could not be stopped, nor could the Predators ever get them out of their zone.

Now up 2-0, just 52 seconds later, it was Tyler Motte’s turn to join the party:

And just like that Motte makes it 3-0 #NYR in the first half of the 1st period 👀 pic.twitter.com/s1An2FOHQt

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 19, 2023

3-0, GOOD GUYS, where yet again, there was CAPPY (say it in Ralph Cifaretto’s voice), Jacob Trouba, setting up the strike.

On this goal, a Trouba Bomb hit traffic, but as it always seems to be the case these days, the Rangers retained possession of the rubber.

Bobby Orr Trouba, once with the puck back on his blade, found the fourth-liner for the burial.

WOW.

This goal was scored at the 8:14 mark. Seventeen seconds later, Barrie hooked Trocheck, as NONNA’S BAMBINO was streaking to the net.

However, just 24-seconds into the power-play, Kane joined Barrie in the penalty box – after skating into Lankinen – a two-minute timeout for interference – and a legit penalty at that.

Just fourteen seconds later, and with both teams in 4×4 “foreplay mode;” it was MILLER TIME:

Vinny T With the perfect saucer pass and finds K’Andre Miller for #NYR 4th goal of the period pic.twitter.com/vmiBr0RmW9

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 19, 2023

4-0, GOOD GUYS!

This goal, scored at the 9:09 mark, ended Lankinen’s night.

He finished with 4 GA, 1 save and a save percentage of .200.

But really, what could he do? His minor-league team in front of him had no answers and I guess that the Rangers wanted their rest – by putting this game to bed early!

They weren’t done yet.

With Preds’ starter, Juuse Saros, now in net and with the Rangers’ scoring at an 80% success rate; at the 9:48 mark, the road team was bagged for too many men on the ice.

As a result, the Rangers had a short 42 seconds worth of  a 4 x 3 power-play.

They’d only need one-third of that time to score goal #5:

Panarin’s PPG makes it 5️⃣ goals in 10:01 of the first period 💪 pic.twitter.com/LhP21LeT8l

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 19, 2023

5-0, GOOD GUYS, as Panarin beat Saros on the first shot that the goalie saw.

For a game that had a lot of “DEJA VU VIBES;” this goal was similar to the one that Panarin scored on Saturday night, as once again, he found the little space afforded to him on the short-side.

And yep – for the first time since making my daily wagers of a 4-0 Rangers’ final score (two years now) – it was the Blueshirts’ offense that blew my bet to shit – but I’m not complaining about that, not one iota!

I just wish that I bet the Rangers’ puckline of -7!

Due to all of the goals, where we then had a face-off after each of them (as the rules state); at the 10:01 mark – we hadn’t even had a commercial break yet.

And no one needed the TV timeout more than the Predators.

Down to 8:08 remaining, and as the Garden Faithful finally had a chance to sit down – we returned to full-strength.

However, ass cheeks on seats didn’t last long, as with just 6:24 remaining, Miller opened up another can:

K’Andre Miller’s 2nd goal of the night (4th point of the PERIOD) makes it 6-0 #NYR

wow pic.twitter.com/yfxAkCKcq8

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 19, 2023

6-0, GOOD GUYS!

This was a historic goal – and not because Kakko set it all up by forcing a turnover just six seconds prior to Miller’s strike.

With the goal, his second, and now his fourth point registered too – Miller made history as the first Ranger d-man to ever score four points in a single period.

That covers a lot of legends over the past 97 years, including Ching Johnson, Doug Harvey, Brian Leetch, Brad Park, Ron Greschner, James Patrick, Harry Howell, and you get my point.

Not even Adam Fox has done this.

The only way this game could’ve ended any better is if Miller picked up the hat trick – but more on that in a bit.

Down to 5:58, finally, our first TV timeout of the game, as a puck had left play.

For the Preds – this TV timeout took place too late. Maybe 14:02 too late!

The game was over – and where you could’ve even said that the game was done following the APPLE SAUCE goal.

Not only did the Rangers protect the “dreaded three-goal lead,” they’d protect the “dreaded seven-goal lead” too!

During the commercial break, I said the following on the Tweeter machine:

This is going to be tough for Gallant – he’s old school and doesn’t want to embarrass anyone – but there are still over 2 periods to play. How do you tell these guys to slow down and let up? #NYR

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) March 19, 2023

And from this point on – that’s pretty much what we saw next.

The Rangers, while not really taking their foot off of the gas (meaning that Nashville didn’t go on to have a barrage of odd-man rushes and breakaways) – when it comes to the top-six forwards – they were very polite.

Rather than creating offense; instead, they’d pass around and try to set-up a defenseman for a goal.

This also allowed Gallant, who has been balancing his minutes already anyway, to really reduce the ice time of his top players, as it was the third line who then spent the majority of the game on the ice.

It also allowed Gallant to give Fox a breather too, where for the first time in a long time, Fox didn’t hit the 20-minute mark. (He played 18:13).

And even Trouba, who did play 21:20, it wasn’t a grueling time spent on the surface – as a lot of the time, he sat behind the Rangers’ net and allowed the clock to melt.

This was a tough balancing act for Gallant, as while he didn’t want to embarrass the Predators any further; at the same time, it’s not like you want to start playing like shit and give your opponent a chance – especially with two more periods, in full, to be played.

And this too – this is a good problem to have!

From this point on of this GAME REVIEW – outside of Halak – you can’t critique or assess anything else from this contest.

The Rangers had more than done their damage – and they, along with their opponents, were just waiting to get to the final horn.

We saw this with 1:35 remaining, following a funny comment from Rosen, when he said, “If you just tuned in, you missed a lot!” At the time, Saros had made two saves on Chytil – and where it didn’t look like the Czech was even trying to score at all.

And in the sake of not being repetitive – this continued throughout, including with eleven seconds remaining – as Zibanejad had a clear path to the net, but instead, dumped the puck.

But as mentioned, the defensemen were thirsty for goals tonight (somewhat by default), and with just .5 seconds remaining; Saros prevented Mikkola from scoring his first goal as a Ranger.

6-0, GOOD GUYS, after twenty.

Yes, the opposition was part of it, but isn’t this what you wanted the Rangers to do?

Furthermore, especially as we enter the homestretch of the season – you want to cut down the ice time of your top players, in order to keep them fresh as possible for the playoffs.

Battling all the way to the playoffs, thus tiring out your stars, isn’t beneficial.

You need some blowouts and the Rangers are finding a good time to send their opponents packing.

Here’s what I said after one of the most historic periods of Ranger hockey:

6-0, GOOD GUYS, after 20. 1P Thoughts:
— NSH needs a mercy rule
— How do you top your best game of the season? Have a first period like this
— SOG 12-6 #NYR, Hits 8-5, FOs 11-6 NSH
— Now isn’t the time for a Gingras interview that doesn’t have anything to do with the game

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) March 19, 2023

SECOND PERIOD:

Following Gingras’ worthless interview, and not enough time for Lundqvist & The Splooge Stooge to break down all of the goals; the second frame began.

Since the final result had already been decided, and because as mentioned, the Rangers were being polite (so you can’t make an opinion on anything – they just wanted this game to end); I’m just going to talk about the only parts from this point on that you need to know about, as we bullet-point our way to the end:

— As opposed to Saturday night, I thought the Rangers did a much better job when trying to protect Halak’s shutout. Of course and that said, the Predators don’t feature Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in their line-up either.

— Halak continued to make saves, ten in all, and where some of them were not easy.

— Sam and Joe, much like the Rangers themselves, were very polite and courteous when talking about the visitors. Joe even lied through his teeth and said that the Predators had a good start to this second period while ignoring the obvious.

— With 15:28 remaining, Trouba blocked a shot from Duchene. Up six-goals, I thought this was noticeable as Trouba DID NOT have to block shots – especially since he was hurt earlier this season. He could’ve let Halak make the save. However, the captain wanted to get his goalie a shutout. Commendable.

— Down to 14:25 remaining, Trocheck was boxed for tripping Tommy Novak. While this penalty wasn’t necessary, what’s worth mentioning, especially when compared to last night, was that this was the last Blueshirt infraction of the contest.

— Halak, the former Ranger Killer, was the team’s best penalty killer during these two minutes – and made five short-handed saves – where each save seemed tougher than the one that had preceded it. WOW!

— Once returned to full-strength and now with 11:30 remaining, the SOG stat read, NSH 8 – NYR 1. That tells you all that you need to know about the Rangers’ effort in not running up the score – even if that’s what we all wanted.

— However, just a few seconds later, with 10:58 remaining, the Rangers couldn’t help themselves, as despite not trying to score – Kreider scored on the Rangers’ second shot on goal of the period:

KREIDS makes it 7-0!! pic.twitter.com/TQeLB6NAhK

— Rangers on MSG (@RangersMSGN) March 20, 2023

— Mercifully for Saros, the Preds and their fans – this was the final goal of the game.

— Down to 10:41 remaining, Kane was hooked by Barrie.

— As we saw last night, the third line began this power-play. And as opposed to last night – the fourth line didn’t receive any power-play time tonight – and how could you blame Gallant, following Goodrow’s two consecutive o-zone penalties?

— As you already know, the only thing the Rangers had left to do was to preserve Halak’s shutout – so it made sense to keep the fourth-line stashed on the bench here (and as they’d later be on the next Rangers’ power-play) – while the third line tried and the two other man-up quintets, the usual suspects, were more than happy to pass-pass-pass.

— During this power-play, Miller did go for his hat-trick here, but Saros, despite the net flying off its pegs, made the stop.

— Once returned to full strength and with 8:08 remaining – Panarin was blatantly tripped at center ice – and with two officials watching. They didn’t call this penalty. To me, this was bullshit – it’s not up to the refs to have sympathy for either team. Call the game in front of you. Do your job. And while I doubt that the Rangers would’ve looked for the two-point conversion here, at the very least, it would’ve given Halak an easy two-minutes.

— With 5:55 remaining – Miller’s last true chance at the hat-trick, as Saros stopped #79’s thunderous slapper.

— Funny enough, it was also around this time where we had the #NYR #CadillacTrivia question: “Who was the last Rangers’ defenseman to record a hat trick?”

— I knew the answer was Tony DeAngelo, following his hatty and two apple game against the Devils. I’m just surprised that M$GN would feature DeAngelo as an answer – and I’m sure that provided a lot of waterworks too!

— It’s also being reported by notorious fiction writer, the Dr. Seuss of his generation, Adam Herman; that the M$GN allowed DeAngelo to steal Miller’s thunder by being the answer to tonight’s trivia!

— Following more saves from Halak, and the Rangers not even looking at the net either; with 20.2 seconds remaining, Cole Smith interfered/held Miller. The refs couldn’t ignore this one.

We remained at 7-0, GOOD GUYS, after two periods.

Here’s what I said at the time:

7-0, GOOD GUYS, after 40. 2P Thoughts:
— I get the respect for NSH, but respect Halak too and don’t let up.
— SOG 22-16 #NYR, Hits 14-9, FOs 18-11 NSH
— NYR PP 1-3 – but can’t count these stats
— We are witnessing something amazing
— Second place is reality, first too!

— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) March 20, 2023

THIRD PERIOD:

The only thing worth noting here, is that during the intermission, that jackass Sieve Vagistat said the word “shutout.”

Of all people, a goalie should know not to use that word – but since he’s a hater – especially of Ranger back-ups – that didn’t stop the fool here.

I can still hear Lundqvist rolling his eyes as the worst back-up of his career had the audacity to say that word.

Fortunately, Sam Rosen, the biggest jinx of them all, actually knew better.

Previously this season with a Blueshirt backstop having a no-no going, he’d routinely blurt out, “OH JOE, HE HAS A SHUTOUT GOING JOE!”

Thankfully, not tonight!

And better than that – Halak soon recorded his first shutout as a Ranger.

— To open the period, Micheletti and Maloney had a conversation about how this third period had to be all about defense – and playing for Halak – and where neither former player would dare to utter the “s-word.”

— As they were talking, just fifty seconds into the Rangers’ power-play; Sissons had a short-handed breakaway – but missed the net. Had this puck found twine – and as you’d expect – it would’ve been extremely disappointing. However, we can laugh about it now, and as the two former players did.

— In a period that felt like the third and fourth lines were double-shifted; Kane almost found Fox for a goal, where again, Sam reminded us that #23 hasn’t scored in 22-games – and as if that was the biggest takeaway of this game.

— Down to 13:25 remaining, another Fox try was stopped, where had the rebound not taken a bad hop – Chytil would’ve had his second goal of the game.

— Since the Rangers were all about moving the puck and clean hockey, we didn’t have a TV timeout until there was only 8:41 remaining. (I can’t recall a shorter “real-time” game from this season than this one.)

— With 5:01 remaining, Halak made another save and then froze the puck – just one second shy of the FOXWOODS FINAL FIVE mark!

— Come 4:20 left on the clock, a textbook defense play, as Trouba pinned a Pred to the boards and Miller calmly got the puck out of the zone – where this shouldn’t be lost – and yes, I know what the competition was – the Rangers played a hell of a defensive game.

— With 2:20 left to be ticked – a hairy play – and one that almost ended Halak’s shutout, as a bouncy/puck-luck shot almost trickled past #41. Fortunately, it was stopped in front of him, rather than going behind him.

— Under a minute, the Harpur/Schneider pair stayed out there, which ended Miller’s chance of getting the hat trick.

— Funny enough, during a whistle, M$GN featured Miller on the bench, and praised his amazing game. As Sam and Joe were doing so – Miller hocked a loogie on the ice – but not on an opponent!

7-0, GOOD GUYS, your final!

Let’s go to “THE TURK,” where it will never become tiresome whenever he has to explain his strategy of not wanting to embarrass an opponent:

This interview may as well have been last night’s interview!

Of note, since this has been a talking point/topic in the past: every Ranger was available to talk to the media tonight, including Halak.

Funny how that works after a big win!

The New York Rangers, now a dozen games shy from the finish line of the 2022-23 regular season, can fight for first-place if they choose.

And no – I don’t think they are kicking themselves or regretting all the pissed-away points from earlier this season – because what’s done is done.

However, as a fan, writer and observer – it’s true – all of those losses to bad teams is the reason why the Blueshirts aren’t in first-place right now.

But we move ahead – after all – these current Rangers, and the roster, aren’t the same from the early months of the season anyway.

Following that 2-0-1 concerning road-trip; the Rangers have now won four-straight on home ice – and where they’ve made huge statements in all four of these wins.

The biggest statement can be made on Tuesday night, when the Rangers wrap-up this current home-stand, their last true home-stand of the season, when they host the Carolina Hurricanes.

And should the Rangers make it five wins in a row, thus sweeping the home-stand – they’ll have to follow that big win just two days later, when the two teams rematch in Raleigh.

Should the Rangers then make it six-straight, and yes, the Canes do have two games in-hand; not only could they jump the Devils for second-place – they’ll be two-points shy from first – and with ten games remaining.

And should the Rangers somehow pull it off – and win the division – do you know who their first-round opponent would most likely be?

The Islanders.

The Rangers have a well-deserved off-day on Monday. They’ll return for a pregame skate on Tuesday, followed by the game against the Canes at night.

What a weekend – where with the 13 goals scored, combined with their final two goals scored against Pittsburgh from Tuesday night – they have now scored 15 straight unanswered goals – the most consecutive unanswered goals by an NHL team this season.

Yet, there are still some idiots who will defiantly shout, “GALLANT DOZNT NOSE WUT HE’Z DOIN!”

Let them continue to display their ignorance – after all, the Rangers just keep on winning!

See ya Tuesday night.

Until then, LGR and of course, you also know what time it is…

PLUGS TIME!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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/PIT 3/18 Review: SUPERMAN RETURNS! CZAR IGOR’s Shutout Propels Rangers’ 6-0 Blowout Over Ice Birds; The Blueshirts Best Win Yet, It’s All Coming Together, Multi-Point Games Galore But Chytil Still Can’t Score, “ATM LINE,” “TURK TALKS,” ESPN & More

NYR/PIT 3/16 Review: Rangers Play a Full Sixty; Get the Pittsburgh Menace Off Their Backs; Team-Wide Win; Fourth-Line Dominates Again, Tarasenko “The First Rental;” First-Line Heating Up, Chytil Slump Continues, “TURK TALKS,” M$GN/Lundqvist & More

NYR/WSH 3/14 Review: Rangers Rebound with Big Win Over Caps; FAT CATS Dine & Shine, Mika Snaps Goal Drought; Chytil Extends His, Captain Sniper, Kane Settling In, Miller Improves; Kakko No SOG Again, CZAR IGOR’s 30th W, ESPN & Disney Broadcasts A Hit & More

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

Don’t forget to order my new 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