OTTAWA — It was the emotion of this train-wreck season coming to a head in one look, one glaring stare down the bench from Henrik Lundqvist as he was on his way to the locker room, yanked once again well before the final horn sounded. The Rangers netminder and franchise bedrock was pulled for the […]
Read MoreYou would remember the Purge of 2004 a little bit differently if the Rangers had emerged with a haul featuring their first- or second-line center for the next dozen years. It not only could have been that way, but it should have been that way. The Blueshirts should have had Travis Zajac as part of […]
Read MoreOTTAWA — Kevin Hayes came here with the full intention of playing. Despite coach Alain Vigneault saying his second-line center was “less than 50 percent” for going against the Senators with a lower-body ailment, Hayes was able to play during his team’s difficult 6-3 loss Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Center. Hayes said he had […]
Read MoreFour spectators were removed from their seats at a National Hockey League game in Chicago on Saturday night after allegedly making racist comments toward a black player on the visiting team. During the third period of the game between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals, Washington player Devante Smith-Pelly was in the penalty box, “when […]
Read MoreAs he sat at his stall in the aftermath of another game that played out like too many have in recent weeks, Henrik Lundqvist was asked for his state of mind, given all that’s happened lately. After not having lost four straight games in regulation since 2011 before this season, the Rangers have now done […]
Read MoreSo yes, the Rangers are undermanned, demoralized and going down as metaphorically bloody as Butch and Sundance did in Bolivia. But before spending too much sympathy on the Blueshirts, we would all be wise to remember games like this weekend’s twin drubbings in Ottawa on Saturday by a score of 6-3 to the Senators and […]
Read MoreThere is no ideal setting for a five-minute lapse in a hockey game, and these are certainly not those times for the Islanders. All it took was four minutes and 12 seconds to flip a strong effort into a losing one for a team facing a small margin for error heading down the home stretch […]
Read MoreIn the midst of the toughest season of his career, Thomas Greiss had finally showed a glimpse of his old form with a 45-save shutout in Carolina on Friday. The Islanders goalie will have to wait to build on that performance. Greiss was placed on injured reserve Monday, retroactive to Friday, with a lower-body injury […]
Read MoreRegarding the Rangers, on the road to purgatory (and at Montreal on Thursday). 1. When Rick Nash goes, it will mark the exit of the last in a long line of Rangers brought in as a savior after having been some other team’s franchise player. With Henrik Lundqvist, a seventh-round selection in 2000, and Brian […]
Read MoreThis wasn’t the first time Devante Smith-Pelly has had racial taunts directed at him during a hockey game. And the Capitals forward knew immediately what the intent of the message was when a few fans began chanting “basketball, basketball, basketball,” while Smith-Pelly sat in the penalty box during a 7-1 loss at Chicago on Saturday […]
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