Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. Ilya who?
Or is it SIR CHOKIN’?
Off puck drop tonight, then I knew that I should’ve brought back my former daily prop bet of a Rangers’ 4-0 victory!
And had I brought back this once regular wager of mine during these past two-games – then I would’ve been a self-made hockey “thousandaire!”
(But such hypothetical monies won would have still left me a wheel barrel load shy of affording a ticket to see the Rangers play at Money $quare Garden!)
I mean really, back-to-back 4-0 shutout wins!
Go figure!
That said, then when I’m opening up a GAME REVIEW blog by complaining about missing out on some lucrative bets – then that’s a good thing!
Why is that the case?
Because there is nothing else to criticize the Rangers about on this evening of March 3rd, 2025 – a rarity – and a pigs-flying-in-cold-hell event that we should all revel in!
After all, and as we all know way too well – this team will sure give us a bunch of negative material to work with soon again – as it is “The Rangers’ Way!”
(Holy Jake Jarmel Batman! What’s with all of the exclamation marks?!?!?!)
If you’re looking for anything to criticize or nitpick about the Rangers tonight, then let me give it to you quick – and then rapidly move on.
After all, and when looking for things to critique – then the Blueshirts rectified all of their tiniest of errors immediately afterwards.
The first nitpick was in concern to CZAR IGOR allowing the first goal of the game on a shot sent his way by Anders Lee – and a shot that #31 in Rangers’ blue usually stops 999 out of 1,000 times.
This was the one in a thousand.
However, and upon video review presented to the officials by Blueshirts’ bench boss Peter Laviolette – and Matt FREAKIN’ Rempe had forced an Islander to go offside.
While granted, this was another example in the fashion of replay that I completely despise – as going offside by a c-hair had nothing to do with the goal allowed; but hey – those are the rules – and of course – it’s up to the Rangers to use (or “exploit”) the laws of the NHL land to their advantage whenever they can.
Heck, and as we know all too well – and the Blueshirts don’t get much help from the officials to begin with – so you gotta take the assistance when it’s there!
Furthermore?
If you don’t believe me, then just ask Will Cuylle – who I believe has had ten goals scored during his young career wiped from his ledger due to both video replay and on-edge NHL referees.
Aside from this bad goal allowed that was later erased from the scoreboard; then the only other thing that you could complain about was the fact that the Rangers took two too many men on the ice penalties in the first period – and where as a result – the Blueshirts now lead the league in most bench minors received this season (9 – but where it feels like 9,000,000).
The Rangers, already 1-1 on the penalty kill at the time after their first too many men on the ice infraction, were also up 1-0 on the scoreboard too, as Will Cuylle, perhaps in a fluky fashion (but hey – they all count) scored at the 15:03 mark – as a puck shot by Zac Jones deflected off an Islander, took a bounce off of the head of Cuylle Hand Luke and then plopped behind Sorokin’s goal line.
Down to just 1:51 remaining in the first frame and now back on the penalty kill following their second too many men on the ice penalty – then and with just 44-seconds remaining – and BIG BILLY BORGEN, following a feed from Sam I DAM AM Carrick, beat Sorokin shorthanded for the 2-0, GOOD GUYS, lead.
It’s tough to say when it was unofficially over for the Islanders – but if it wasn’t the Lee goal that was disallowed – then it was this shorthanded goal allowed by Sorokin.
In game where neither power-play could connect, as the Isles went 0-3 while the Rangers finished 0-2 – and there weren’t that many shots on goal to talk about either.
The Isles out-shot the Rangers 8-6 in the first period, while both teams finished with six shots on goal a piece after the second stanza.
And come the end of that second period?
Then we still remained with a 2-0 Rangers’ lead on the scoreboard.
The Blueshirts, so prone to falling apart during third periods this season – and as we just saw the night before when Jonathan Quick came up with a flawless 20 of 20 performance against Nashville – flipped the script some 24-hours later.
The Isles couldn’t muster up anything – and where once again – the Rangers’ goalie was perfect in net.
However, this time around and all that CZAR IGOR had to do was come up with seven saves – while his brother of the barrel saw thirteen shots.
Due to the “only” two-goal lead, then perhaps you thought at the time that the Isles were only two shots away from making this a game – and maybe a shot and another power-play too.
J.T. Miller, who just makes you wonder how the Rangers would’ve fared last year in the playoffs had Chris Drury acquired him instead of the bottom-feeding likes of Jack Roslovic and Alex Wennberg, soon put an end to such ill-fated thinking.
At just the 3:43 mark – and Miller cracked open another can, in the form of a goal, as he blew a puck by Sorokin for the 3-0, GOOD GUYS, lead.
The Rangers were relentless with the lead – as they never held back.
Better than that, and they showed up for their goalie too – and as their twenty-two blocked shots would suggest (the Isles finished with twelve blocked shots).
Isles’ bench boss Patrick Roy, the first head coach in league history to pull his goalie with a lot of time left whenever down by two or more goals, did so once again here, as with just under eight-minutes remaining – and Sorokin went to the bench.
But hey, and at this time, let’s give Ilya Sorokin a huge round of applause.
After all, no less than a week ago, which was back on 2/25 (full GAME REVIEW here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/22525/ ) – and Sorokin only lasted forty-minutes – and where during that time – he gave up five goals on eleven shots faced – “good” for a save percentage of .545.
This time around and Sorokin played nearly 53-minutes before heading to the bench.
(All I can think about now in regards to Sorokin is the “HERCULES, HERCULES, HERCULES!” chants during the dinner scene of Eddie Murphy’s “Nutty Professor.”)
And after being pulled for a third-string goalie last time (Jakub Skarek) – then it was Sorokin, and not AHL fodder, that returned to the net with just 5:09 remaining – but only after Artemi Panarin scored the 4-0, GOOD GUYS, empty net goal.
Even better for Sorokin after this game?
He boosted his save percentage to .880!
No wonder why Roy benched this mess last year – and as he did when he turned to Seymon Varlamov during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But that’s a problem for Islander fans – but I must admit – it’s a problem that I enjoy too!
This was as complete of a win as any for the Rangers this season – as it was truly a sixty-minute effort.
There’s not one player that you can cry about.
There’s not one play that you can throw your arms up-in-the-air over.
That all said?
Then I still remain firm in what I’ve been saying all-season:
I refuse to be let down by this team ever again – as I won’t have that “Rangers’ Rug” pulled out from underneath me.
I have enough bruises and scars from previous instances – and I refuse to fall flat on my back ever again!
After all – chiropractor are expensive!
If you recall, then last night (https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/3225/ ), after the 4-0 win over the third-worst team in the league, the Nashville Predators – then I discussed the tough stretch of the schedule which lies ahead.
Foolishly, I included the Islanders among the powerhouses that the Rangers will see this month, teams such as the Capitals, Senators, Blue Jackets (twice), Jets, Wild, Oilers, Flames, Maple Leafs, Canucks and Kings.
Then again, I also didn’t want to “jinx” myself by taking the Islanders lightly.
After all, I’m not Sam Rosen whose vexing powers are unmatched!
In reality and the Islanders are the third-worst team in the Eastern Conference.
But I will never take anything away from a win over that putrid bunch.
My point?
The Rangers, and as they are supposed to do, took care of business against two horrible teams during these first two games of March – and surprisingly by identical scores of 4-0.
So while the Blueshirts now own their post-season destiny once again, and for the first time in six-weeks too – then I will not be one of the folk to proclaim, “THE RANGERS ARE BACK!”
After all, I won’t be let down again – and I don’t want to jinx anything either!
Plus, it’s easier to be delighted and surprised when you maintain low expectations – and after last year, when I had the highest of expectations imaginable for this team – then I also learned my lesson the hard way when it comes to this.
Again, I don’t want to besmirch either of these Blueshirt victories against bad teams – but I can’t ignore the low-level of competition either.
My point?
The obvious: The Rangers must finish out the month of March on a high note.
The next eleven-games are against teams that all have their eyes on the prize – and where all of them will most likely be buyers at the trade deadline too.
(Winnipeg and Washington may stay put, as after all, why fix what’s not broken, as both teams are also contending for the Presidents’ Trophy too.)
At the very least, then none of these eleven squads will be sellers.
In a perfect world, then the Rangers improve this current 2-0 winning streak to 13-0.
But for a Blueshirts’ club that hasn’t won three games in a row since Veteran’s Day – then I think it’s safe to say that we won’t see such an unlikely event transpire.
Ideally and realistically?
Then the Blueshirts, and in homage to the almighty Slurpee, must win 7 of their next 11 – and where they must at least get a split in the pair of games against Columbus – and where winning both matches against the Blue Jackets would be even better (duh).
If the Rangers are for real, rather than the PAPER TIGERS as they’ve been for the majority of the season, then they’ll answer the challenge.
If not, then the summer will begin early in the Big Apple.
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, sixty-one down, twenty-one 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 see them teasing me.
In case you missed it, then here’s where I last left off – Jonathan Quick recording another shutout:
NYR/NSH 3/2 Review: Jonathan Quick Posts Third No-No of The Season; Saves Blueshirts’ Bacon Against Bottom-of-the-Barrel Predators, Two Cans of Miller Time Cracked; Panarin Ends Goal Drought Too, Farewell Ryan Lindgren & Jimmy Vesey; Hello Feckless Finn 2.0 & Former Isles’ Trash, Rempe & Berard Make Bozo The Bench Boss Look Foolish, M$GN Goes Overboard with Pride Night, Toughest Stretch of the Schedule Ahead & More
I covered all of the Rangers’ news last night, and if you missed it, then you can find my recap here: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/3225/
Since this game against the Islanders was the second game of a back-to-back – then we had nothing take place on Monday.
In other words, Chris Kreider is still trying to make his comeback, Reilly Smith hasn’t been traded yet, and with a dominating win the night before, then the line-up remained unmolested for this match.
Here was Laviolette’s line-up for the sixty-first game of this 2024-25 season:
FIRST LINE: Panarin/Trocheck/Lafreniere
SECOND LINE: Cuylle/Miller/Mika
THIRD LINE: Othmann/Parssinen/Brodzinski
FOURTH LINE: Berard/Carrick/Rempe
FIRST PAIR: Miller/Borgen
SECOND PAIR: Schneider/Vaakanainen
THIRD PAIR: de Haan/Jones
STARTING GOALIE: CZAR IGOR
BACK UP GOALIE: Jonathan Quick
LTIR: Adam Edstrom
IR: Adam Fox and Chris Kreider
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: Matt Robertson and Arthur Kaliyev
SCRATCHED FOR TRADE PURPOSES: Reilly Smith
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
|
| 21 | 0 | 21 | 1.000 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | 0 |
|
NYI
|
|
Ilya Sorokin#30
|
|
SA
|
GA
|
SV
|
SV%
|
ESSV
|
PPSV
|
SHSV
|
SOSA
|
SOS
|
TOI
|
PIM
|
| 25 | 3 | 22 | .880 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57:25 | 0 |
You know the drill, as I have written some iteration of the following sentence about forty-times this season:
Since I was at work (while also on my extended dinner break), then I didn’t watch the M$GN pregame show tonight.
And since the sickening Sieve Vagistat was left to his own devices – then I wouldn’t have watched it anyway had I been home.
So no M$GN pregame show recap tonight – and after writing nearly 15,000 words last night – praise the hockey gods for that.
Better than that?
At only the 2,500 word-mark, the following:
GAME REVIEW TIME!
(No one is more thankful for this than my good buddy Stan Fischler – and when bringing up his name – and I’ll make this tangent quick – then we have a gentleman’s wager on the Rangers – and where “The Young Maven” has the Blueshirts making the playoffs this season, while yours truly, “The Younger Maven,” does not. That said? I’m hoping that Fischler wins this bet!)
FIRST PERIOD
After Sam Rosen came up for air after praising every man who ever wore a fish stick on his chest, and after Micheletti was done pumping up Mika Zibanejad as if he was going to win the Hart Trophy this season – then Zibanejad lost the first draw of the game.
The start of this game, and really, until Cuylle scored, was kind of quiet.
Again, while you can’t complain about a win, but it was odd that this rivalry game was scheduled on a Monday night – the first day of the workweek for normal folk – including myself – hence this site’s Blue Collar title!
Had this game been played on a Friday or Saturday night (and where yes, more alcohol consumed in the crowd during these nights play into this too) – then I just think that you would’ve had more juice at puck drop.
No joke?
While this has nothing to do with anything on the ice – but this was the quietest Rangers vs. Islanders game in quite some time.
Not helping matters on ice?
The bevy of whistles and stoppages, which a a result, just killed any sort of flow being developed – and where such spurts of actions were far and few between.
But one last time – you can’t argue with the final result.
Our first instance of Morgue $quare Garden being deathly quiet was when we saw shots of the crowd – and where there were a lot of empty seats.
I’m sure the day of the week and the cost of tickets were the reasons for that.
Our second instance?
When Tony DeAngelo, who like it or not, always receives vociferous boos at M$G (and while I have nothing against him like others – I always support all of the jeering against him whenever he’s the opponent as he never responds to it well, which in turn, only helps the Rangers), wasn’t booed at all when he first touched the puck.
However, and once the Rangers started building a lead – and those boos returned – but never at the decibel levels that we all heard whenever DeAngelo was skating for the Hurricanes or Flyers.
Again, there wasn’t much going on early, so in order to fill air-time, Rosen went right back to reading Calvin de Haan’s Wikipedia entry, while Micheletti told us how respected “Mr. Lamoriello” was.
I’ve never heard Sam and Joe ever refer to the Rangers’ general manager/team president as “Mr. Drury,” nor have I ever heard them refer to the team’s owner as “Mr. Dolan” either.
Stuff like this is why Duguay told me that this was an Islanders’ broadcast!
And I 100% agreed with him!
At the five-minute mark, the Isles had a 2-1 SOG advantage – which just illustrates how not much was going on.
That said, this wasn’t bad hockey or anything like that, as instead, it was a defensive struggle – and one featuring a Ranger team that had just played a strenuous and grueling third period the night before.
I have to get this off my chest and move on:
I know there are some Islander fans who read this site. Heck, Stan The Man is one of them.
For these people, then can you explain to me why Brock Nelson is a coveted trade deadline target?
Me?
Then I’ve seen Nelson play six times during the past three-weeks (his Four Nations and NYR/NYI games) – and in my eyes – he STINKS!
Just as he was in the international tournament – and this guy can’t hit the net if his life depended on it.
He was just a mess all-game – and for a comparison – he looked like a 2024 Mika Zibanejad out there.
And this isn’t a Ranger fan hating on all things Islanders here – as I’m being serious.
How in the world can this guy help a contender?
What, do they need more rubber marks on their boards?
At the 7:17 mark, we had our first sign of life, as Adam Pelech was boxed for putting the puck over the glass.
Remember when I said that there wasn’t much that you could criticize the Rangers about tonight?
Then I guess their 0-2 power-play is one thing that you could also nit-pick – but on this first foray – they did force Sorokin into making four saves.
Mika and Nelson, two players who just blow this season?
Then after Mika missed the net for the 97678678969678th time this season on one of his one-timer attempts to nowhere – this errant shot to anywhere but the net then sent the Isles the other way – 2 x 1 – and where CZAR IGOR ultimately prevented Nelson from scoring a short-handed goal.
Say what you want about Mika – and we all know that I have – but more times than not – and Mika usually does set-up his teammates for goals during these situations.
Just ask Kreider – who has scored the most short-handed goals in the league during the past four-years.
Nelson?
He will always be the worst American during Four Nations in my eyes.
After Sam and Joe were through with verbally licking Sorokin’s testicles on-air; then once the Rangers’ power-play concluded – and there was Nelson once again failing to score during another Islanders’ odd-man rush.
However, and with 10:31 remaining – and the Rangers took a penalty for Sieve Vagistat’s favorite after-hours activity – “too many men.”
The Isles’ didn’t record one shot on goal during this power-play, and where in turn, and rather than praising the Rangers’ PK – and Sam & Joe then spent five-minutes talking about Adam Boqvist’s playing time instead.
I’d like to tell you that I’m making this up – but I’m not.
Come 8:14 remaining and the bad, but disallowed goal, that Lee had taken away:
Offside No Goal! #NYR pic.twitter.com/9cLC10HgKn
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) March 4, 2025
Again, being offside by a c-hair had nothing to do with the goal scored – but the rules are the rules.
And just watch REMPE, who again, was a beast tonight – as he was the one that forced the offside.
I believe that CZAR IGOR owes Rempe a few rubles for tonight’s shutout!
It was also this reversal that took the piss out of the Islanders too.
After John Giannone told us that Mika was crying to the officials about the way they dropped the puck during faceoffs (I’m not making this up), then Micheletti did a five-minute spiel in regards to all things pertaining to the state of Minnesota hockey (I’m not making this up either).
As both men were babbling about nothing; the puck, and the game too, were still in play.
After they were through with their inane chatter, then Rosen started rambling about Chuck Grillo – the grandfather of an NHL referee.
What this had to do with the game itself was beyond me – but that’s what it’s usually like with these two.
Dave Maloney and Kenny Albert can’t replace this duo soon enough.
As the fourth line was hitting everything and creating offense through extended forechecks (Rempe finished with a game-high four hits too), then with 5:40 remaining, and following a line change as well – and CUYLLE HAND LUKE scored a goal that he’ll never forget:
That’s the why to use your head Cuylle #NYR pic.twitter.com/AgSvWbYtq3
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) March 4, 2025
1-0, GOOD GUYS – and a million “heads-up” and “using your noodle” word-plays and puns too!
And for a guy who has had a bunch of goals taken away from him this season (and his career too) – then it was nice to see Cuylle get a puck-luck and break here.
Assisting on the score?
J.T. Miller, who continues to rack up the points since returning, and Zac Jones, who is making a fool out of Laviolette for making him sit with the hockey retards in the press box, morons such as Mollie & Wince, all-season.
Oh yeah:
This was your game-winning goal too!
Following the goal, and now down to about 3:00 remaining – and this is when the booing for DeAngelo really revved up – as the Rangers now had a lead, which as a result, gave their fans something to wake up for.
Down to 1:51 remaining and the Blueshirts took another Vagistat bedroom activity penalty – and they also scored their eleventh short-handed goal of the season too:
Brogen with the Short handed goal to make it 2-0 #NYR pic.twitter.com/Usa0nwzRGJ
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) March 4, 2025
2-0, GOOD GUYS, after BIG BILLY BORGEN bullied this short-handed puck against the third-best goalie in New York.
(This 11th SHG of the season is only bested by Florida, as the Panthers have a dozen of them.)
Picking up the secondary assist on this strike was Cuylle, where as a result, he now had a two-point game to his name.
But it was Carrick, who is just a natural fourth liner and penalty killer, who made the prettiest pass of them all.
And for your consideration:
Then just as it was last time, when the bottom-six absolutely destroyed the Islanders (and where J.T. Miller scored too) – and it was the likes of Cuylle and Borgen (and later J.T. Miller too) who did all of the scoring.
Oo-gatz from Mika and Panarin, your two highest-paid forwards, sans an ENG scored by “The Breadman” in garbage time.
You know what I’m going to say next – or least you should:
These two gotta show up during the next eleven-games – as you can’t rely on everyone else.
At some point, your alleged one-two scoring punch needs to just dominate games – and as J.T. Miller, who needs that “C” sewn on his sweater right now, has been doing.
Hell, I’d also force Panarin to give back Miller his #10 too!
2-0, GOOD GUYS, through twenty-minutes of play.
Here’s what I said at the time:
2-0 good guys, through 20. 1P Thoughts:
— Two too many men penalties – but when you have one of the best PKs in the league, then I guess it doesn’t matter.
— Igor got lucky. That stupid review had nothing to do with the goal allowed.
— I still don’t understand why anyone…— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) March 4, 2025
SECOND PERIOD
During a period devoid of scoring, and where we didn’t have many SOG either – and the Rangers just continued to have their way over the Belmont Bozos.
The Blueshirts opened the frame with a ninety-second attack – but while they didn’t score – they did gas out the Isles a bit too.
After that, and Rempe & Berard had a 2 x 1 odd-man rush (as set-up by CZAR IGOR) – and where following a deft and silky mitt pass from Rempe – Berard just missed the inside of the net – as he hit the outside of the net instead.
That sound you heard at the time?
Ranger fans swallowing back their “OOOOOOOHS” – and Sorokin sucking up the shit from his asshole.
At the 4:58 mark, the Isles, desperate in their own end, took another delay of game penalty – and this time when it was the ineffective Bo Horvat tossing the puck into the stands.
The less said about this Rangers’ no shots on goal power-play the better, but I do want to say this:
With the Blueshirts’ struggling and changing things up with their power-play units – then why not give Rempe a chance – and at the very least – on PP2?
How can it hurt?
Just plant him in front of the net and see what he can do with screens, deflections and tips.
You can’t finish worse than another 0-fer in the box score.
Down to 12:30 to go – and again – Nelson had a rush towards CZAR IGOR’s net.
This time, K’Andre Miller got back, and where on Nelson’s contested shot – he broke his stick.
HOLY MIKA BATMAN!
A minute later, and The Feckless Finn 2.0, Juuse Parssinen, had a chance to score – but he couldn’t hang onto a pass sent his way by Panarin.
When does this Parssinen experiment end?
And poor Arthur Kaliyev too.
However, I hope that both reclamation projects are banished to the press box once Kreider is able to return – which also means that I hope that Rempe and Berard remain.
(I’d like to include Othmann in this – but once again – he wasn’t really that noticeable against another bad team.)
At the half-way mark of the game/period, Brodzinski made a beautiful intercept while in the d-zone, which then set-up a Rangers’ attack in the other end.
Two-minutes later and Cuylle just missed out on scoring his second goal by an inch.
Down to five-minutes remaining and CZAR IGOR connected on his fourth (and successful) homerun pass of the game – and where his elite passing skills returned on this night – as we haven’t seen him do this in a while.
As we hit 4:21 to go, K. Miller was boxed for holding Nelson.
The Islanders didn’t even record a SOG during these two-minutes of man-up time.
After both teams exchanged <DINGS> off the iron, we remained at 2-0 through forty-minutes.
Here’s what I said at the time:
2-0, #NYR after 40, 2P thoughts:
— Man, the Isles are bad!
— PK is carrying them.
— Two kinda fluky goals but they all count
— Each team has 13 SOG – and an iron each too.
— Almost as good as the PK? Rangers have them doubled up on blocked shots, 18-9.
— FINISH!— BlueCollarBlueShirts (@NYCTheMiC) March 4, 2025
THIRD PERIOD
Simply put – and the Islanders had no answers for the Rangers.
It was J.T. Miller who put Sorokin and Co. out of their misery just 3:43 in:
JT Miller makes it 3-0 after a Tony D giveaway. #NYR pic.twitter.com/qzuurf7S6v
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) March 4, 2025
3-0, GOOD GUYS – and perhaps a “double insurance goal” too.
The Isles didn’t even record their first SOG of the period until the eight-minute mark – and then got their second SOG with only ten-minutes remaining – as the Rangers were just smothering them.
We can fast-forward to the end here – and with bullet-points too:
— J.T. Miller and Matt Rempe just flustered the Isles – as both were creating turnovers, forechecks and hitting anything that came near them.
— Roy pulled Sir Chokin’ with 7:44 to go.
— As usual whenever the opponent pulls their goalie – and the Rangers had a tough time when trying to put the final nail into the coffin.
— This is when CZAR IGOR was tested most – but he aced all exams – and as a result – preserved his shutout.
— Speaking of #31 – then you know that he was foaming at the mouth when looking at that Isles’ empty net – and especially after Sorokin was credited with an ENG himself in the Isles’ last game played (against the Predators).
— However, Igor never had a chance to play the puck – and where you knew that he wasn’t going to freeze any rubber that he could get his wood on either.
— Over two-minutes and change after Sorokin first sat his commie keister on the bench; and following initial misses from Panarin and Lafreniere – and this is when A-Rod, I mean A-Pan, scored the 4-0, GOOD GUYS, ENG – and as he did with only 5:09 remaining.
— 4-0 GOOD GUYS, your final – and a win that allowed the Rangers to regain control over their playoff fate – while perhaps ending all Islander postseason hopes and dreams too – the double-whammy!
Up Next For The Rangers: An off-day on Tuesday, perhaps a trade too (Smith), and then a prime-time home game, which will be aired on TNT, against the Capitals on Wednesday.
The Caps are the top team in the East – and have previously beaten the Rangers twice this season (5-3 on 10/29 and 7-4 on 1/4).
Win this game – and then some of my pessimistic feelings about the Blueshirts this season will evaporate – but not all of them!
Up Next For Me: My crazy work schedule continues – which means that I need to now go to bed – and where hopefully on my dinner break during my 16-hour shift on Tuesday – I can answer about 7678689969878 comments and emails that I have yet to get to.
Up Next For You: You know what’s next – 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
