On the cusp of the season-opening puck drop, which is to say before things broke very bad for the Rangers, Alain Vigneault was touting Brendan Smith as one of the guys the coach expected to assume a vocal leadership role in the wake of the summer departures of Bluebloods Dan Girardi and Derek Stepan. “Smitty […]
Read MoreIn search of a spark for his last-place team, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault shook up the lines ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Golden Knights. Some players reverted to lines they were part of earlier in the season, but the changes affected nearly everybody — only the top defensive pairing of Ryan McDonagh and Brandon […]
Read MoreListen, when a team has all of four victories nearly four weeks and 13 games into the season, it is impossible to discount any single one of them, and why would you ever want to try? The Rangers deserve credit for their 6-4 victory over Vegas on Tuesday night at the Garden just a few […]
Read MoreThe Rangers arrived at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to play a hockey game they desperately needed to win. But what happened earlier in the afternoon in the city they call home gave their meeting with the Golden Knights a different kind of importance. There was a pregame moment of silence held for the victims […]
Read MoreBrian Boyle will make his season debut Wednesday night for the Devils, six weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. He’ll play for the first time with the Devils when they face the Canucks in Vancouver. Boyle, who signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract in the offseason, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a type of bone marrow […]
Read MoreThis morning-after was a better one for the Rangers, who for only the fourth time reported to the practice rink off of a victory and therefore unencumbered by the effects of defeat. “When you’re losing, nothing in your life is as good,” Mats Zuccarello said. “You go home after the game and you second-guess yourself. […]
Read MoreThe front of the net on the power play. That, almost without fail, is where you will see Chris Kreider. “It took a little bit of time to become comfortable with it, but I know that it’s a very important role” Kreider said Tuesday, before the Rangers departed for their two-game swing through Florida that […]
Read MoreVANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Canucks are probably glad they traded Cory Schneider to an Eastern Conference team. Schneider made 37 saves for his first shutout this season and the 24th of his career as the Devils defeated Vancouver 2-0 on Wednesday night. Dealt to the Devils for the ninth pick in the 2013 NHL […]
Read MoreNHL star and Russian native Alex Ovechkin announced a new social media campaign on Thursday to help re-elect Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Washington Capitals player said on Instagram that he was creating “Putin’s Team” to show solidarity with the Russian strongman. “Personal awards and prizes are all great, but in hockey, as in any […]
Read MoreTAMPA — It was such a strange thing Dan Girardi had to comprehend that he couldn’t even tell his wife right away. It was about 2:45 in the afternoon and the longtime Rangers defenseman was walking to school to pick up his son. On the way, he got a phone call saying that the team […]
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