Tag Archives: new york rangers

Toews and Bergeron key performers in NHL playoffs

Posted on May 17, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

CHICAGO — Pavel Datsyuk is one of the NHL’s most feared scorers, a wizard with the puck who is equally adept at setting up his teammates for easy plays. Jonathan Toews has at least 23 goals in each of his six seasons in the league, and Patrice Bergeron is one of the top offensive threats for one of the league’s best teams.

If you want to stop a Datsyuk, Toews or Bergeron, it sure helps to have a Datsyuk, Toews or Bergeron.

The three finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy for the NHL’s best defensive forward are still alive in the playoffs, and it’s no coincidence. The league’s top teams count on their forwards to come back and pressure the opponent’s top scorers, not only for defensive purposes but also to create chances on the other end.

“You need those kind of players to win, to be successful. Because you’re going to have times, usually half the time in your...

Bruins 3 Rangers 2 OT: Marchand tips in winner as Boston draws first blood

Posted on May 16, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

BOSTON — Good things happen for the Bruins in overtime. Even for Brad Marchand.

Boston’s leading goal-scorer during the regular season scored his first of the post-season with 4:20 left in the first overtime and the Bruins beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Thursday night in the first playoff game in 40 years between the Original Six teams.

"It’s always frustrating" not to score, Marchand said, "but there’s so many other areas of the game. It’s always nice to get the first one and you hope you just keep going."

The win was Boston’s third straight in overtime, and New York’s third straight loss in extra time.

Both teams advanced with Game 7 victories Monday night. The Bruins overcame a three-goal deficit with 11 minutes left in regulation and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 on Patrice Bergeron’s goal in overtime. The Rangers beat the Washington Capitals 5-0 behind Henrik Lundqvist’s second consecutive shutout.

Marchand scored on a pass from Bergeron....

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Rangers rebound to top Capitals 4-3, tie series 2-2

Posted on May 9, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

NEW YORK — Dan Girardi and Derek Stepan scored third-period goals for the New York Rangers, who squandered a two-goal lead and then held on to get even in the best-of-seven playoff series with a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Girardi ripped a shot from above the left circle, off a feed from Derick Brassard, to give the Rangers the lead again with a power-play goal 59 seconds into the third. The advantage was created by Jason Chimera‘s interference penalty at the end of the second.

Stepan made it 4-2 at 6:02, scoring into a wide-open net at the end of a give-and-go play in front with Carl Hagelin, who had a goal and two assists.

Game 5 will be back in Washington on Friday before the series returns to Madison Square Garden on Sunday. The home team has...

Time for the Canucks blame game: AV may be up first

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Time for the Canucks blame game. The coach may come up.

With the New York Rangers win, the Vancouver Canucks must now endure the indignity of being the sole team still winless in the 2013 NHL playoffs.

Given the way they’re going out, turning the spotlight on embellishing for old time’s sake, I doubt they care too much about dignity.

But they probably care about winning a game. We’ll see in Game 4.

Until the Canucks can win three, the obits will flow fast and furious.

With good reason. They look like a team that’s naked and pinned to a table covered in plastic wrap and duct tape, just waiting for Dexter to finish it.

Can they wiggle free? Well, there’s about 8 minutes left in the episode.

So, how did they get here? It wasn’t animal tranquilizer.

You can start with general manager Mike Gillis who had a rough year, even without the goalie fiasco which, in the...

Iain MacIntyre: Canucks coming up short in game of grinding giants

Posted on May 3, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — A month after the Vancouver Canucks tried to acquire Raffi Torres and Ryane Clowe at the National Hockey League trading deadline, we found out why.

Well, it was more a confirmation than a discovery Wednesday because there really was nothing new about the Canucks’ 3-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks in the teams’ opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Canucks didn’t do enough to force their way to the net and create havoc and second and third scoring chances. Vancouver scored one greasy goal, which is rarely enough in the playoffs.

Size matters. And the Canucks don’t have much of it among their top nine forwards — the guys whose minutes decide games.

With largely the same lineup, the Canucks are 1-7 in playoff games since getting within a victory of claiming the Stanley Cup two years ago. Alas, that lone win came during a first-round loss to the Los Angeles Kings last year, rather than in...

NHL Playoff Roundup: Wings top Ducks in OT; Blues, Sens and Caps also win

Posted on May 2, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

RED WINGS 5 DUCKS 4 OT

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Gustav Nyquist’s power-play goal at 1:21 of overtime after the Red Wings blew a three-goal lead in the third period to even their playoff series with Anaheim.

Johan Franzen scored two goals and Damien Brunner had his first Stanley Cup playoff goal and two assists for the Red Wings, who survived a third-period collapse with a timely goal from Nyquist.

Bobby Ryan scored the tying goal with 2:22 left in regulation for the Ducks, who also got goals from captain Ryan Getzlaf and Kyle Palmieri while erasing Detroit’s 4-1 lead with a phenomenal surge in the final minutes.

Game 3 is Saturday night at Joe Louis Arena.

CAPITALS 3 RANGERS 1

WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin’s franchise-record 31st career playoff goal got the Capitals started before less-heralded teammates Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera scored 46 seconds apart, and Washington beat the New York Rangers 3-1 Thursday night in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Ovechkin, a two-time...

Canucks coming up short in game of grinding giants

Posted on May 2, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — A month after the Vancouver Canucks tried to acquire Raffi Torres and Ryane Clowe at the National Hockey League trading deadline, we found out why.

The Canucks didn’t do enough to force their way to the net and create havoc and second and third scoring chances. Vancouver scored one greasy goal, which is rarely enough in the playoffs.

Size matters. And the Canucks don’t have much of it among their top nine forwards — the guys whose minutes decide games.

Is this the last stand? Sedin factor could be turning point for Canucks

Posted on April 29, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

It’s the final week of the regular season, and the Canucks have locked themselves into the Western Conference’s third seed. It’s their fifth straight division title.

The Sedins have been here before. So many times. But this time it feels different.

After this summer, they will turn 33 years old. They have one year left on their current six-year contracts. For the first time in their careers, the end is closer than the beginning.

They’re not the fresh-faced kids who got their first taste of the NHL playoffs a long 13 years ago. Henrik has been in 95 playoff games since. He can’t help but wonder, how many games does he have left?

The Canucks have nine players who are 30 years old or older. Another two, Chris Higgins and Derek Roy, will turn 30 this year. The last time a team with this many grizzled 30-somethings won the Stanley Cup it was 1994 and it was New York Rangers.

There’s a reality...

Penguins, Blackhawks heavy favourites as NHL playoffs set to begin

Posted on April 29, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

Pick: L.A. in five.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Pittsburgh Penguins (1) vs New York Islanders (8)

Season series: Pittsburgh 4-1-0. Jan. 29, Islanders 4-1 at Pittsburgh; Feb. 5, Penguins 4-2 at New York; Mar. 10, Penguins 6-1 at Pittsburgh; Mar. 22, Penguins 4-1 at New York; Mar. 30, Penguins 2-0 at Pittsburgh.

Sidney Crosby has done non-contact drills at practice and there is a chance he will join Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the team that dominated the Eastern Conference despite missing their scoring leader the last 12 games with a broken jaw. The Penguins will be that much more of favourite if he returns, having added character veterans Jarome Iginla and Brenden Morrow at the trade deadline. They led the league with 3.38 goals per game. The Islanders are in the playoffs for the first time since 2007 and many, including star John Tavares, will make a post-season debut.

Pick: Penguins in four.

Montreal Canadiens (2) vs Ottawa Senators (7)

Season series: Both went 2-1-1....

MacIntyre: Time will tell if the price was right for Canucks trade

Posted on April 3, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

As Vancouver Canuck general manager Mike Gillis admitted before making Tuesday’s trade for Derek Roy, there is a price for trying to win the Stanley Cup. The problem is teams often don’t know what that price is even as it is being paid.

The second-round draft pick previous Canuck manager Dave Nonis surrendered to Los Angeles in 2007 to re-acquire Brent Sopel at the trade deadline turned out to be power forward Wayne Simmonds.

Most second rounders don’t become impact players in the National Hockey League, but you never know what, or who, will become of the pick Gillis sent with second-tier prospect Kevin Connauton to rent Dallas Stars’ centre Derek Roy for whatever remains in the Canucks’ season.

Another former Vancouver GM, Brian Burke, threw away first-round draft pick R.J. Umberger in 2004 to get Martin Rucinsky from the New York Rangers. The Canucks had Rucinsky for five weeks, right up until Game 7 of the first round of the...

Time will tell if the price was right for Canucks trade

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

The second-round draft pick previous Canuck manager Dave Nonis surrendered to Los Angeles in 2007 to re-acquire Brent Sopel at the trade deadline turned out to be power forward Wayne Simmonds.

Canucks shake things up, land centre Derek Roy in trade with Dallas Stars, re-sign Chris Higgins to four-year deal

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

VANCOUVER — Centre Derek Roy is coming, left-winger Chris Higgins is staying and the Vancouver Canucks are still trying to make more moves to strengthen their roster for the NHL's stretch run and playoffs.

A trade for Roy led off Tuesday's events as he was obtained from the Dallas Stars for a second-round pick in the 2013 entry draft plus minor-league defenceman Kevin Connauton.

The team then signed Higgins, 29, to a four-year contract extension worth $10 million, the deal kicking in next season.

General manager Mike Gillis was also deeply involved in talks on hulking San Jose left-winger Ryane Clowe, who eventually went to the New York Rangers for a second-round pick, a third-round pick and a conditional second-round pick.

The NHL trade deadline is Wednesday at noon Pacific time.

With Ryan Kesler expected back soon from his broken foot, the Canucks seem reasonably solid at the centre-ice position and can look to bolster their depth at wing and right-side defence. Gillis,...

Busy Tuesday sets the table for what could be a busy trade-deadline day in Vancouver

Posted on April 2, 2013 by admin in Province Hockey | No comments

In desperate need of anything, the Canucks finally did something.

If trade deadline day ends up being as active as Tuesday, the Canucks may yet be a contender.

Getting a centre sure helps, and the Canucks finally got one. A good one, too, in Derek Roy. Hey, it only took ten months and weeks spent trolling the market for every centre available, and some who were not.Getting the bruising Ryane Clowe out of San Jose would have helped even more. But given a choice when between two contract extensions he picked the New York Rangers over the Canucks. So, it’s No. 2 again for the Canucks. At least Vancouver is used to it.

“I don’t think (the contract) was an influential decision,” Canucks GM Mike Gillis said. “The opportunity to go to the East coast was the most important thing, from what we were told.”

The Canucks created roster space by putting Cam Barker on waivers and reassigning Jordan Schroeder to the...

Canucks don’t have any official complaints about Columbus reffing

Posted on March 12, 2013 by admin in Sun Hockey | No comments

COLUMBUS, Ohio – When Vancouver Canuck captain Henrik Sedin stuck his stick through the mask of Columbus Blue Jackets’ netminder Sergei Bobrovsky, which was followed by a Bobrovsky swan dive, there was no call either way.

Funny how the officials missed both infractions. But the game was tied 1-1 at that point in the third period and maybe they were just exercising “game management.” Who knows? Henrik obviously didn’t mind.

“I didn’t mean to do it,” he said following the Canucks’ 2-1 shootout victory. “I didn’t know if I hit him in the throat or the mask. They missed a lot of other calls, too.”

That was confirmed by brother Daniel. The Sedins and linemate Alex Burrows were mugged at times and defenceman Cam Barker nearly had his head removed by a Jared Boll forearm but referees Wes McCauley and Gord Dwyer awarded just two power plays apiece.

“I thought the reffing was fine,” Daniel said. “I think they maybe missed a...