The 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 MoreTony DeAngelo is not shying away from reality in his second stint with the Rangers. “I gotta pitch in offensively, that’s my main game,” the 22-year-old defenseman said Wednesday following the team’s morning skate. “Obviously I want to play defense first and break up plays and all that kind of stuff. But I gotta get […]
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 […]
Read MoreGoodbye, Brendan Smith; hello, Neal Pionk. The Rangers put Smith on waivers Thursday afternoon, sending away the veteran defenseman on his 29th birthday while trying to get out from under his four-year, $17.4 million contract signed this summer. The league’s 30 other teams have until noon Friday to put in a claim on Smith, and […]
Read MoreIt can always get worse. The Rangers found that out the hard way Wednesday night at the Garden. The hottest team in the NHL met one of the coldest and the result followed the script, with the Bruins laying a 6-1 beatdown on the Rangers. “It was probably one of the worst games of my […]
Read MoreSometimes when big-money contracts blow up, it is not on the team but on the player. In the case of the Rangers and Brendan Smith, it is the latter. There is no joy in piling on Smith, placed on waivers Thursday on his 29th birthday just 54 games into the first season of the four-year, […]
Read MoreThere is no more ambiguity in the Rangers intentions. For the first time in a long time, they are tearing it down. “Listen, we have not played well for a while,” general manager Jeff Gorton said in a press conference Thursday alongside president Glen Sather in Westchester, an appearance that came shortly after a signed […]
Read MoreBUFFALO — Sam Reinhart poked in a rebound with 4:14 left, and the Sabres edged the Islanders 4-3 on Thursday night after squandering a three-goal lead. Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo, and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Robin Lehner stopped 26 shots to help the Sabres salvage […]
Read MoreMaybe the point is that the Islanders don’t want their fans to think things have changed. Maybe the point is to get people to think that they are close to the culmination of long-term plan — well, a very-long-term plan — and that patience remains the most important virtue. But goodness, how can the recent […]
Read MorePYEONGCHANG, South Korea — US skater Nathan Chen, a gold medal favorite in the men’s program, struggled Friday, but his team picked him up and are in second place after the opening day of figure skating competition. The US trails gold medal favorite Team Canada as Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford made up for teammate […]
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