Henrik Lundqvist recognizes the landscape as well as anyone. The 35-year-old franchise goaltender understands the implications of the dramatic reboot/rebuild that looms with the Feb. 26 trade deadline approaching and the Rangers drifting on the fringes of the playoff picture. And yet, in his first comments regarding a potential sell-off that might imperil the club’s […]
Read MoreThe reason is unclear why, in 1999, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s board of directors voted to abolish the selection committee’s ability to waive the three-year post-retirement waiting period for induction while contemporaneously awarding the honor to Wayne Gretzky. But then this is a body — the HHOF, not No. 99 — that operates as […]
Read MoreNASHVILLE, Tenn. — What’s better, making a ton of small mistakes or just a few big ones? The Rangers have been making those big mistakes, and it started to not just hurt their playoff position, but also to sway general manager Jeff Gorton toward selling in the lead up to the Feb. 26 trade deadline. […]
Read MoreFor 82 seconds in the second period Saturday night, the Islanders held a lead. They had fought back from an early slumber to go up by a goal on the Blue Jackets, only to have it vanish and become a deficit again minutes later. It made their second comeback to take a second lead — […]
Read MoreNASHVILLE, Tenn. — They are the last-place Rangers, and any remaining optimism for this season is dwindling. The Blueshirts got bloodied and bullied in a 5-2 loss to the Predators on Saturday night here at Bridgestone Arena. In the process, they could have lost both Marc Staal and Jimmy Vesey, each unable to return to […]
Read MoreDoug Weight was non-committal about how long they will last, but the Islanders coach rolled out a new top two lines Saturday. It was a simple tweak — flipping Anthony Beauvillier to the first line for Anders Lee — but Weight said he liked the early results. “I think it was Leesy’s best game in […]
Read MoreNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Alain Vigneault didn’t use the word concussion, but he didn’t need to. The Rangers coach made it pretty clear what was likely wrong with Marc Staal and Jimmy Vesey, his two players who were both forced from the team’s 5-2 loss to the Predators on Saturday night with separate unpenalized hits to […]
Read MoreDALLAS — 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 More