Not so ‘Swede’ Loss for Blueshirts

The New York Rangers (0-1-1) pushed their second regular season game of the year to a shootout, but fell the Anaheim Ducks (1-1-0) 2-1 in Saturday afternoon hockey action. This marks the Blueshirts second tough loss on European soil.

Brad Richards tallied his first goal for the Rangers with just more than two minutes remaining in regular time, to push the Blueshirts to their second overtime game. As New York headed into the shootout frame, they send out Richards, Erik Christensen, Mats Zuccarello and Artem Anisimov.

None of the Rangers were able to score, as the Ducks skated away with their first victory of the season. Henrik Lundqvist had another fine day in the cage for New York, making 27 saves.

Aside from Richards, only three Rangers found themselves with positive minutes on the ice, as Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Brandon Dubinsky all finished with a plus-one rating.

The Rangers will return home to the states, but things will not get easier, as the Blueshirts are now on a five game road stretch. It will be an interesting match-up for the Rangers when they return home…as they will have to face the New York Islanders in an Atlantic Division rivalry.

The two teams will square off next Saturday, so they will both have enough time to prepare for the other. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 p.m. with the game slated to air on the MSG network.

Stacy Podelski

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True Grit - Players Who Heat it Up !!!

There are a handful of players in the NHL who are known for a style of play focused on battling in the corners, open ice hits, and gritty work at both ends of the ice. Players like Milan Lucic, Matt Hendricks and Brandon Dubinsky are prime examples of current skaters who play with such a high level intensity. Guys like Lucic battle through every whistle, trying to create a chance out of nothing. With the 2011 playoffs under way, crowds all over North America are just waiting for exhilarating plays from these athletes to get them out of their seats.

Most teams in the NHL have at least one of these players on their rosters, and often look to them to provide a spark to the rest of squad. With teams putting their foot on the gas during the playoffs, they look to their grittiest players to get the crowd to their feets. However, there is a fine line between gritty and dirty. As we’ve seen in these playoffs, that line can be crossed. Hits like the one Steve Downie had on Pittsburgh defenseman Ben Lovejoy show the grey area that refs have to deal with both night in and night out. So when a player like Downie steps on the ice with the goal to energize his team with a thundering hit, he has to make sure he’s playing within the rules. From a fans point of view it can be summed up in one sentence; everyone loves the big hits, but no one loves the injuries.

Ian Laperierre was one of the pinnacle “sand paper” players in the history of the NHL. He killed penalties, fore-checked, back-checked, and most importantly, blocked shots. These are all common traits amongst the elite players in the NHL, but Laperierre became these traits. When asked about Lapiererre’s style of play Adrian Dater of the Denver Post responded by saying ; “He is Braveheart on skates, the guy who will throw his body in front of a screaming slap shot with no second thought or fight the guy who just hit a teammate a little too hard for his liking". Players like Laperierre bring teams together and motivate their teammates by their passion and exciting play. The NHL needs more Laperierre’s.

The only kryptonite to a gritty player is playing on a line without a skill player. No matter how much a line can cycle the puck, or press the defense to turn the puck over in their own end; without skilled players, goals wiould be few and far between. The excitement sand paper players bring to the ice is what makes the National Hockey League the dark horse of sports that it is. As long as players like Lucic and Hendricks jump into the heat of battle like their hair’s on fire, the NHLs fan base will continue to grow.

- Matt Gamelin

Ovechkin Fights Dubinsky, Maybe Should Have Waited to Drop 'Em with Semin

Despite all the talk of Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin dropping the gloves with New York Ranger Brandon Dubinsky on Sunday night during the Rangers' 7-0 win, not many are mentioning the fact that it was Ovechkin's teammate, Alexander Semin, that actually took him out of the game in the third period with a shot off the knee.

While he didn't return, it's safe to say that Ovechkin is doing alright, seeing as, as mentioned before, no one is talking about the supposed injury today, but how he instigated a fight with Dubinsky. With his team down 4-0 at the time, Ovechkin delivered an impressive hip check to defenseman Dan Girardi, before looking for more trouble, apparently to be found on Dubinsky's face with his fists.

It was a clear-cut attempt at trying to get his team going and of his frustrations boiling over, especially with the Caps hitting two posts immediately beforehand on a night when little to nothing was going their way. Further proof of that came during the fight, when Ovechkin got taken down by a player he clearly had the initial upper hand on.

The Caps have now lost six in a row, the first time they have struggled this badly under head-coach Bruce Boudreau. Sadly, the promise of President Barack Obama to show up to a Caps game eventually now cannot be interpreted so much as a sign of hockey's increasing popularity in the ciry, but a gesture of goodwill, to help bail out another group of millionaires in these times of uncertainty, deflect attention off them and their underachieving ways if only for one night. As for Ovechkin, he could most certainly borrow the secret service to protect him from Semin from here on out. He's a killer, you know.