9:56
That's it, 2-1 Rangers, they barely hang on. Langenbrunner gets the goat horns, because the Devils looked solid there at the end. 2-0 Rangers in the series headed back to the city.
9:53
Madden wins another, but this one is aided -- Langenbrunner hooks Drury and gets called. Blair Betts appears to obstruct Martin with no call, and Sutter is going bonkers, banging a stick on the boards.
9:52
Another faceoff win by Madden over Drury, and Martin's wrist shot nearly beats Lundqvist glove side. Tom Renney calls a time out with 56.3 left. Assistant Mike Pelino is drawing up a play to get the puck out of the zone, but they need to win a faceoff first to do that.
9:50
Hold the phone, folks. Couple of faceoff wins by Madden and the Devils are back in it, with Madden redirecting an Elias shot. 2-1, 1:23 left. Rangers were doing a lot of standing around with the Devils on the extra attacker set there.
9:46
Rangers holding the fort -- excellent backcheck by Dawes earlier to prevent a Devil from pouncing on a rebound. Just about two minutes left, Rangers have 17 third-period shots. Brodeur to the bench.
9:41
Just 5:59 left and the Rangers haven't had much to concern them since taking the two-goal lead... Scoring or stupid stuff. Still time for both, I suppose. It's now 12-1 Rangers in third-period goals against the Devils this season, by the by.
9:37
Big pileup in front of Lundqvist is under review... Gionta got a pretty good swipe from his knees and the puck disappears under the crossbar, but the overhead slo-mo doesn't seem conclusive. And it's no goal. The schneid continues for the Devils.
9:34
Devils aren't even winning the physical battles. Dubinsky lays out White not once, but twice. White will come back looking for a scalp before this one's over. Devils are playing like a beaten team.
9:30
Good 3 on 2 rush by the Jagr line, and that's going to be the story of the last 9:57 if the Devils have any shot. They're not used to pressing for goals, so this could get ugly on the scoreboard and then even uglier with the spirited, after-whistle bouts of skanko-roman wrestling.
9:25
Brodeur makes a couple nice saves to keep it 2-0, but the Devils are shell-shocked. Twenty-three seconds apart. Really unforgivable was White's bumping Brodeur coming around the net. No Ranger near him, and all you need is one little mistake for someone like Jagr, who is the Minnesota Fats of the NHL -- he banks his shots in from anywhere.
As for Avery... The guy has goals in both games, likely the clinchers, too. He may be in the Devils' heads as much as Lundqvist.
9:21
Hoo boy, the Devils are in trouble. Point shot by Girardi is blocked, and Avery absolutely rips one through a screen. 2-0 within a minute, and the "home" crowd is chanting, "Mar-ty!" Ouch.
9:20
And there's the break. Jagr comes around the net without much pressure from White or Madden, and White makes the biggest play by bumping Brodeur off the post, which lets Jagr bank the shot off Brodeur's back. 1-0 Rangers.
9:19
And there's a good chance. Backman goes high and Brodeur grabs the shot with his glove. Excellent grit work by the Rangers' fourth line.
9:12
Third period starts with Devs on 1:32 of PP time... As I said, the nastiness may tone down in favor of some actual attempts to score. Been a while since the Rangers tested Brodeur.
But the messages will be sent for the rest of the series. In the words of the noted philosopher Plaxico Burress: "This ain't badminton."
8:58
Only 10 total shots (six for the Devils), but about that many after-the-whistle wrestling matches. Devils are clearly trying to vent some frustration and goad some Rangers into taking bad penalties -- it worked with Avery there late, but the guys parading to the box for Jersey are important guys. Zubrus is the strong presence in front of Lundqvist on the PP, and he's out for the start of the third.
Still very tight game. First goal might just be the last, too, so the chippiness may cease as the third goes on.
8:56
Avery gets whistled for goaltender interference for falling into Brodeur with no one really nearby... Borderline call, but it's made, and the Devils get another late PP.
8:52
More good humor as Zubrus gives Lundqvist an ice bath on a frozen puck. Dubinsky and Zubrus wrestle and give each other a taste of sweaty hockey glove, Shanahan and Clarkson jaw -- Shanahan has been a presence tonight, playing an efficient game and getting in the middle of every scrum.
Four matching minors, still five on five with 1:29 left in the second.
8:50
Devs finding room -- hard to believe no hooking call on Jagr there when Rupp broke free for a shot. Brent Sutter is irate.
8:44
Rangers PP seems to have energized the Devils. John Madden is playing a terrific PK game, starting a 2-on-1 and then with another takeaway on Dubinsky... Patrik Elias with a high stick on Dan Girardi well away from everything too. Aside from the lack of scoring chances, it's getting exciting.
8:41
Rangers PP produces a couple good point shots that go wide and get blocked, but they get to try it again. Dumb penalty by Zubrus, hooking Rozsival out of the zone until the ref's arm goes up.
8:38
A little nastiness between Shanahan and Colin White, with a sideshow of Langenbrunner and Chris Drury... Then Gomez steps in and has words with Langenbrunner, and they dance. All four go off for minors. Big show by Gomez to defend his teammate.
8:35
First Rangers PP with 8:22 left in the second... Look who draws it? Avery gets his stick chopped in half by Zubrus. A Rangers goal here might send the Devs through the cellar door.
8:31
Devs point men aren't even shooting at the net now -- shooting wide, looking for redirections. Oduya's shot was meant for a Gionta tip, but it hit the big net behind the glass. PP over.
8:29
Good stop by Lundqvist on a point shot that hits Tyutin. Devils jam away, but nothing.
8:25
Christian Backman gets a double-minor for high sticking -- Parise went to hit him and Backman got his stick into Parise's grill. Obvious call, with Parise's front teeth in tatters. Big kills.
8:23
Another good Rangers chance involving Gomez, but he comes off the half boards with two passing options (including Jagr trailing) and throws to... Fedor Tyutin? Shot doesn't even get through.
Avery also passes up two chances to thump Brodeur when the Devs goaltender ranges way out of the crease. Restraint.
8:17
Lundqvist with a good save on a long-range shot during the Devs' carryover PP, and the Rangers have the better of the possession until this recent faceoff win by Sergei Brylin and a shot from the slot by Travis Zajac that Lundqvist swallows up with the pads.
8:11
And now we're delayed because the goal light at the Rangers' end won't shut down... This is a new building, right?
7:55
And Lundqvist finishes with another point-blank robbery, this one on Jamie Langenbrunner. Elias followed with a soft shot that Lundqvist pushed to the corner, past Zach Parise. Still 1:21 of PP time to start the second for the Devils, but there is definitely some muttering in their locker room now. 0-0, end of 1.
7:53
Too much Gomez dipsy-doodling results in Marc Staal throwing a puck over the glass, late Devils PP.
7:50
Jagr's back. Maybe he just wanted the kids to get an extra turn.
7:48
Jagr on the bench when Straka and Dubinsky skated with Callahan, but he didn't sub in for Callahan. Interesting.
7:44
Rangers are winning offensive-zone faceoffs and shooting from everywhere. Rozsival again, with a quick release and better decision-making from the point. Shots say 9-6 Rangers, but the Devils should get credit for more than two shots on their flurry in front of Brodeur a few minutes ago.
Devils need this first goal to believe they can score more than one a game.
7:40
Nice little "accidental" stick swipe by Avery across Brodeur's face on the way out of the zone. Michael Rozsival is skating very well, jumping into two rushes already.
7:36
That was some action... the Devils cannot jam the puck home behind Lundqvist with four whacks from four different players within five feet. Paul Martin's chance appeared to be the best, since Lundqvist couldn't find the puck, but he stopped it.
At the other end, another great rush-starter by Shanahan to give Gomez a 2-on-1 chance, but his pass sailed over Avery's stick. Good zone control by Dawes-Drury-Callahan just now, but only Paul Mara's shot from the right circle and a good stop by Brodeur.
7:31
First Rangers shot from Gomez, who seems to be skating at a different RPM than everyone else.
7:28
The grounds crew has repaired the penalty-box door in a mere nine minutes. During that time, Donald Brashear has scored for the Caps, with a secondary assist to our old pal Tom Poti. Great balls of fire, the Caps may be destiny's team.
Just to recap, no score here, 4:39 elapsed. Or less time than it took to fix the penalty-box door which hasn't needed to be opened yet.
7:19
Even Jagr getting into the physical stuff, hitting Salvador. Johnny Oduya with a nice breakup of a 3-on-1, blocking Shanahan's pass -- the old guy should've done more with a neat takeaway in the neutral zone. Rangers are taking it to the Devils, who are not giving ground, but don't have that same spark they did on Wednesday, when they were doing the hitting.
Shots are 3-0 Devs, but nothing troubling for Lundqvist as yet. About the only thing slowing the Rangers down right now is a delay to fix the door to the Devils' penalty box, which is off its moorings. It's OK. They're playing Loverboy over the PA system. That should keep everybody fired up.
7:15
Rangers still have the momentum after a weak PP by the Devs. One soft shot right at the end of the two minutes, not much pressure otherwise.
7:12
Good, physical start by the Dawes-Drury-Callahan line, but that's negated by Marty Straka's stick getting caught under Mike Mottau's skate. Devs PP 1:09 in.
6:56
Gionta's in for the Devs, so no changes anywhere. Probably on the scoreboard, but you never know.
6:36
Staple back at the Prudential Center for Game 2. No lineup changes for the Rangers, and none as of yet for the Devs. Brian Gionta said he would play and he's out there for warmups, but so is Rod Pelley, who would play if Gionta can't go.
More on the puck drop in about 30 minutes.
Comments (34)
I got nervous when we got that penalty. Good kill!
Wow, 6'4" Backman was scared of a small open ice hit from 5'9" Parise so he takes a double minor because he is a big dumb poossy.
Steve, great job on the updates. Thanks. You are helping those of us who can't see this game.
like the plaxico quip and minnesota fats reference... keep up the good work, ye flatiron felon.
nice faceoff loss by Drury, he sure is a winner, didn't even want to get up on his feet, was just lying around and reaching with his stick fo nobody knows what. And nice icing by Shanahan.
ill take the win but the refs did screw the devils, but im not complaining.
Going home with a 2 game lead!!!!!
I don't care one bit about the Devils getting screwed, I am a lifelong Rangers fan and I have watched my team be screwed for years!!!
You can't touch our penalty killing baby.
Best goalie in the world, he is a New York Ranger baby!!
Avery's goal
Ovechkin couldn't have shot the puck better than that, that was sooooooooooo sweet.
Does anyone else love when jags speaks. The first period was like a tennis match, federer rodick bing bang bong.
lol
Jagr off Brodeur's back!
Those last few minutes was a nail biter. Drury was terrible in faceoffs tonight. Madden beat him about 5 straight times at the end, otherwise Drury played a good defensive game. Shanny zone clear was too hard and unfortunately not at the empty net which led to the icing that led to Madden's faceoff wins, that led to a goal. Then the ref helped. Don't remember the last time I said a referee helped the Rangers.
Devils will come out hard in game 3 and after that finish, if the Rangers had any thoughts about being complacent, the Devil's finish may be a blessing in disguise.
Hope Drury gets back to his usual faceoff ability in game 3. Did him and Dubinsky change uniforms tonight??
Lenny,
considering how much you blasted Henrik on this blog this season, you should never ever begin a post without saying that Henrik is the best goalie in the world and you are so thankful he is on our team.
So, please do that, and then you have permission to talk about anything else.
thanks
ooooooooh baby!...still miss JD :(
what a difference from game 1, they didnt have any forecheck at all really..good job by renney adjusting to their plan.
jagr was possessed yet again... hey bob, did you notice him even HITTING guys..you know your favorite stat? and oh yea he scored too
i love avery, call it a man crush i dont care...but i literally love him. ill be damned if aint proved his worth, sign the guy please!
drury was PHENOMINAL ..altho the faceoffs at the end he needs to win, but no harm no foul.
king henrik is better then marty "soft goal" broduer hands down. that glove save after the devs made it 2-1 is gonna go unnoticed but that was the an awesome save.
for the record, the penalty on langenbrunner was just awful..the betts non-call was more awful..and the icing call was the awfulest of them all. but as a ranger fan, i seen my share of bad calls...so all i can say is SORRY DEVIL FANS! :) ...and if i was a devil fan i mighta kilt someone after that..maybe gionta, cuz that guy sux big time.
omg, im goin sunday and i cant wait!! i have no voice already after watching gms 1 and 2 on TV. in the immortal words of JD circa 1994...CALL YOUR CARDIOLOGIST! or GET YOUR CARDIOLOGIST!..cant remember his exact words, lol
grr lenny,
a win like that and all you can do is complain about drury's faceoffs?..typical debbie downer.
try complimenting a players effort for once
it wasnt complacency (sp?)..the devils just realized the season was on the brink if they lost. can you downers ever give the other team a lil credit for anyhing?
Hey lennnyr whats with the rubinstein reference my last name is rubinstein
matt i think all of jagr's interviews are awesome and hilarious.
TJ...the call on Langenbrunner wasn't awful, it was payback. He interfered with Shanny on the previous faceoff before the goal and it was uncalled. Shanny had a talk with the official after the goal, and on this play it was caught. He was trying to get to the D and was held up...Cheesy, yes, but for the last couple of years, if you hold up with the stick, then it is a penalty.
The non call on Betts and the icing call while the Devs were shorthanded were most definitely garbage, but like Dude said, we have been on the short end of those calls more often than not. Think back to last year when Drury tied the game up with 7.7 left...Nylander was tripped in the corner, freeing Drury to come out from behind the net and score...Kind of taints the win a little but I'll take it!
Go Blueshirts!
great white,
cmon man..any hockey fan knows thats a bad call..its late, its in the playoffs, there down a goal...its simply never called.
the officiating just gives the devs a built in excuse, which kinda sux.
tj,
im sorry but its not a bad call. watch both plays again (the goal and the penalty), langinbrunner does the same exact thing in both plays. its interferrence, plain and simple. should it have been called all game, yes. was it only called because they missed it on the devils goal, probably. the fact of the matter is its a penalty both times, but like so many times in hockey, the first one isnt called but the second one is. i honestly didnt believe it till i watched the replays, its like they were replays of eachother.
as for the betts non-call... yeah that was missed. it happens. it is not the reason the devils lost the game. the reason they lost is because they had a 4 minute powerply and didnt get a single shot on net. period. end of sentence. that was the game right there.
oh and the garden will be rockin (with me in it) on sunday. just keep it up boys.
hey remember last season how we swept the weakest team in the playoffs in the 1st round and then exited next round? I think exactly the same is happening this time. Some of you acting as if we are knocking out Canadiens or Capitals or Penguins. Devils suck, it is a miracle they keep making the playoffs, they sucked last season, and this season they are without Rafalski and Gomez.
Brodeur got away with whacking Avery on his interference call, Colin White got away with taking Dubinsky down because he got laid out by him a few seconds earlier, (like White is the only one allowed to throw checks, of which 75% of them aren't clean anyway), White also started the scrum in front of the net in the 2nd so he should have got a double minor but didn't, and Parise hit Staal from behind at the end of the game. Devils gets away with more than any other team in the league so it's about time they get a taste of some calls not going there way.
just because langenbrunner got away with w/e he did the previous play (i did not see it), dosent make the penalty call ok he barely touched shanny... i know what i saw and what i saw wasnt a penalty, im just being objective. i gladly took it, but you people gotta say it was a BS call due to the circumstances of the game..when its late, in the playoffs and a team is down a goal..you just cant make that call. just imagine if the call happen to us with the same circumstances...ida blew my lid i know that.
TJ...I should explain myself. I agree with you that the whole obstruction hooking thing is a BS call these days, don't get me wrong, but unfortunately due to the afforementioned Mr. Bettman, it's a fact of life, and if you are going to call it all season, you have to call it now. It's too bad, but gone are the days when the refs put their whistle in their pocket during the playoffs. I would also suggest that if it was Dawes that was held up, or God forbid, Avery, we never would have gotten the second call, but it's Shanny, and he's earned that call, unlike our friend Sid the bobblehead.
You are absolutely right about the built in excuse. Thats what kind of sucks about it, but blueshirtziggy is right...they had their chances to convert, and I would think that's what they are talking about in the Dev locker room as opposed to the non calls.
The interference on the faceoffs, give the Rangers no chance to get out to the point and protect the lane. This wasn't called the first 5 times, yet I beleive that when the game was 2-1 the officials were going to make sure that the opportunity to tie the game with a man advantage was not going to be with interference. Ifthat was 5 on 5 the official probably doesn't call it. That is the very reason that they were getting away with it earlier. Now you can expect that the holding, hooking and interference are going to be called more closely in games 3 and 4. Simply put the Devils were stoned by Henrik and they could not muster up any attack until they pulled the Brodeur. The most tellng aspect is that the Devils lost their so called professional composure and this is a highly frustrated team, which is usually the type of team that self implodes itself. Sutter lost his composure and now with little Lou bitch and moaning the Devils are well tenderized to be put away. The magic is not there as this is simply not a talented team. The minutes having to be played by Madden will wear him down and maybe the Devs will find a win in this series, but there is no way they find 4 out of 5. Just not possible. When you lose 9 out 10 there is a reason for it, and that is the other team is more talented, the Devs are just talented enough to lose by one goal. I expect a game where Marty is going to need to be pulled, happens every playoff the last 3 years, got a feeling that game is coming in gm 3 or 4.
Nice win! Dude and tj are still the big A holes of the blog. Lets go Rangers!
Now for the game. It was great to watch as the rangers hit and bashed the devils.Even guys you don't expect to hit were hitting. To jagr score off martina's back and watch him cry to white was prieless. Now with avery's blast who is he going to blame? We got some calls finally so stop crying devils you've gotten them for years.Can't wait until sun.One other thing Hank Is the KING!!!! Hey martina still think he's weird? LOL
Isles 505 - saw a few threads back someone telling you not to post. the heck with that - you're cool even if misguided on who you root for. and reasonably balanced in yoiur comments. In fact I would venture to say not typical of an Isles fan - you wouldn't be the type to throw stuff on the ice like many of your bretheren.
Bob - you used we referencing the Rangers. you are not now and never have been a Ranger fan. you pretty much admitted it on Sam's blog as one of your many handles yenner mot. so who are you trying to fool - yourself or readers of these comments.
The last minute is an example of what this moron Gary Bettman has done to the game and broken every one of the traditions of the sport; then again what do you expect from a clown like that who thought the Ace Bailey killed in the 9/11 attack was the same Ace Bailey nearly killed by Eddie Shore sixty eight years earlier...the man doesn't have a clue and his idiotic ideas such as shootouts, 3 point game sometimes and 2 point games other times, 2 referees (where were they when Parise was clearly cross checked behind the net but heaven forbid some defenseman with a bouncing puck clears the puck out of the rink)..and an idiotic trapezoid behind the net.
Any hockey fan knows, and forget who you're rooting for, that the call against Lagenbrunner at the end of the game is something that simply was never called for 3/4 of a century...the game is supposed to be decided by the players not the officials...and if you're going to call that, then you have to call the hook on Betts and the cross check on Parise or am I missing something'; it is for that reason that you let them play the freakin game.
But for an NHL linesman to call icing the puck when a team is shorthanded, how is anhybody going to excuse that. Where is the apology from the NHL to the Devils (I am not a Devils fan) for this total incompetence...and the two referees as well as the other linesman had to be told by the Devils they were shorthanded...they were all set to conduct the face off deep in the Devils end....all four of these jerks should be suspended for the rest of the playoffs...but this garbage is what Bettman, who knows nothing about hockey and its traditions, wants.
big jeff,
after that, you honestly think we're gonna believe your not a devil fan?..sounds like sour grapes to me and dont look on a RANGER BLOG for sympathy.
whats the cross-check on parise?..if its the backman one, he did get 4 minutes for it..and dont give me BS about it being a major because: A) backman was protecting himself from getting hit by raiseing his stick and parise happened to skate into it, and B) whats another minute gonna do?..you got 1 shot in the first 4 minutes of that PP i doubt that 5th minute means much.
admit to yourslef jeff, my team sux and will not break the forcefield henrik has built in front of him...maybe you should bytch about how bad gionta plays nowadays or how does marty lets in so many soft goals...then how bettman has messed up the leauge. just a thought.
he could be an isle fan just rooting for the devs
No, I'm not a Dev fan..I'm not a Rags fan..I'm not an Icelander fan...I'm a hockey fan....
You guys think the game was well officiated, simple question...
You think the call on Langenbrunner was the kind of call that should be made in the last minute of a close game/
The cross check on Parise occurred behind the net in the last minute...you didn't see that?
What about the icing call....when was the last time you saw a team shorthanded get called for icing...
The officiating ever since the work stoppage ended has taken the life out of the game...that was the only point I was making...
Would NJ have scored in the last minute without these calls? Who knows but they weren't the kind of calls keeping with the traditions of the game, something this moron Bettman has destroyed...that was the only point being made.
No problem Dude, I'm specifically referring to the Blueshirt Bulletin message board. Both guys are paranoic and think everybody is trying to ruin their business. I know Dubi is a multi-millionaire. The Ny Times did a piece on him a couple of weeks ago so why he is so paranoic is beyond me.
Jess Rubenstein is a fair weather friend who lets down those who think they have a good friend unless he can use you like he is using Dubi to make some $$$ as a hockey writer for BB. Without his hockey job at Blueshirt Bulletin, he would have nothing.
As you can gather, I dfislike both of them immensely but if you wish to post at BB, you better follow the company line or else you will be banned. Kind of like a Reverend Moon cult. Either think like them or you are out!!
okie dokie jeff...move along. "rag" fans only here. every game has bad calls, threw the years the rangers have had there share god knows
i mentioned those calls as being bad last night, so since im the only one recognizing your even here, your point has been heard..now skedaddle yo azz to a non ranger blog.... i mean do you honestly think were upset with the way last night was called?..the answer is no, which begs the question why your even here
besides, myself and only about 6 others posting here have a brain to make a point to...vince is included in that 6
All good lennnynyr i was mad cause it just so happens that my last name is Rubinstein, spelled differently.
Lets go rangers so excited to go tomorrow!