DALLAS — Just how, exactly, were the Rangers supposed to react Saturday night in Nashville when two of their players were taken out with egregious headshots, neither resulting in a penalty? The emotional response would have been to retaliate, and that might have been easier to swallow the next day rather than just a tepid […]
Read MoreDALLAS — Out of necessity, Vinni Lettieri is getting another chance. The Rangers called up the winger from AHL Hartford on Sunday to replace injured Jimmy Vesey, who was hurt on an unpenalized hit to the head from Filip Forsberg during the Blueshirts’ 5-2 loss to the Predators in Nashville on Saturday night. There was […]
Read MoreDALLAS — Rick Nash was expecting it, but that didn’t make it any easier when it finally became a reality. Nash was asked by general manager Jeff Gorton to submit his list of 18 teams he would not accept a trade to, meaning there are 12 remaining that Gorton can deal with in the lead-up […]
Read MoreThe full-face shield that he’s had to wear in recent weeks has been a bit cumbersome, but the rest of Ryan Pulock’s game has been growing more and more comfortable. The Islanders defenseman isn’t alone. Pulock and fellow rookie Sebastian Aho have taken advantage of increased opportunity, partly created by injuries on the blue line, […]
Read MoreAs if like clockwork for the Islanders, the shots against piled higher and higher Monday night, reaching 37 through the first two periods at Barclays Center. They did lead where it mattered through those 40 minutes, though, thanks again in part to battered goalie Jaroslav Halak, and carried a one-goal lead to the final period. […]
Read MoreDALLAS — It’s getting gloomy around the Rangers, and they know it. The Blueshirts dropped their sixth game in the past seven with a 2-1 loss to the Stars on Monday night at American Airlines Center. They have now lost nine of their past 12 and are 6-11-2 over their past 19, having won just […]
Read MoreDALLAS — A full prognosis won’t be available until Marc Staal sees the Rangers doctors in New York sometime in the next few days, but it has to be at least somewhat encouraging that the veteran defenseman did not suffer another concussion. Staal was diagnosed with a “cervical strain” after being plowed into the corner […]
Read MoreThe Rangers are operating in past present tense, even if they are just three points out of a wild-card berth according to the standings that surely are an optical illusion. For in losing six of their last seven and going 3-9 in their last 12 for the Blueshirts’ least productive dozen-game stretch of hockey since […]
Read MoreNobody is delusional enough to think the Rangers are playing well, not as they have brought themselves to the cusp of a selloff leading to the Feb. 26 trade deadline. But that does not mean coach Alain Vigneault is wrong in saying his team playing better than the recent record indicates — which is tied […]
Read MoreIn the history of the NHL modern era that starts with the 1943-44 introduction of the red line, one coach and one coach only has won the Stanley Cup for the first time in later than his fifth full season behind his team’s bench. That would be Al Arbour, who in 1980 won the first […]
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