Dec 13: Canucks at Rangers

[Iced Tea]

Canucks-Rangers Preview

GAME: Vancouver Canucks (18-9-2) at New York Rangers (20-8-4).

TIME: Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST.

Jaromir Jagr is on pace for his best offensive season in a decade. He tries to keep it up against an opponent he's dominated when the New York Rangers host the Vancouver Canucks.

Jagr had a goal and three assists in Saturday's 5-4 overtime victory at St. Louis, his first four-point performance since Feb. 4, 2003. His 50 points lead the NHL and he's on pace for 128, which would be his most since a career-high 149 for Pittsburgh in 1995-96.

Jagr, who has 12 goals and 19 assists in 20 games against Vancouver, assisted on Martin Rucinsky's winning goal Saturday. Rucinsky's shot from just inside the blue line hit the end glass and bounced in off the back of St. Louis goalie Patrick Lalime, who was released on Monday.

"That was ugly," Jagr said. "That was the worst goal I've ever seen."

Rucinsky, who had two goals and an assist, said the Rangers were lucky to come out on top.

"We didn't play well," he said. "We've been playing a lot better than this. Fortunately we came out with the two points. We'll take that."

With victories in nine of their last 11 games, the Rangers have opened up a six-point lead over Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division. New York hasn't made the playoffs since 1996-97.

Vancouver won for the third time in four games Friday, beating Northeast Division-leading Ottawa 3-2 in a shootout. Daniel Sedin scored the winner, beating Senators goalie Dominik Hasek with a low shot to the stick side in the shootout's fourth round.

"It was a playoff atmosphere right to the bitter end," said Vancouver captain Markus Naslund, who scored in the first period for the Canucks' only power-play goal in 13 opportunities.

Vancouver is looking to end a three-game losing streak on the road in which it's been outscored 13-6. New York, meanwhile, has won five in a row at Madison Square Garden.

STANDINGS (through Dec. 12): Canucks - 38 points, 2nd place, 2 PB, Northwest Division. Rangers - 44 points, 1st place, Atlantic Division.

TEAM LEADERS: Canucks - Naslund, 16 goals, 18 assists and 34 points; Wade Brookbank, 63 PIM. Rangers - Jagr, 23 goals, 27 assists and 50 points; Michal Rozsival, 42 PIM.

SPECIAL TEAMS (through Dec. 12): Canucks - Power play: 17 percent (34 for 200), 18th in NHL. Penalty killing: 83.4 percent (146 for 175), tied for 9th. Rangers - Power play: 16 percent (31 for 193), 19th. Penalty killing: 87 percent (182 for 209), 2nd.

GOALTENDERS: Canucks - Alex Auld (10-6-1, 2.61 GAA); Dan Cloutier (8-3-1, 3.17). Rangers - Henrik Lundqvist (12-4-3, 1 SO, 2.07); Kevin Weekes (8-4-1, 2.88 ).

2003-04 SEASON SERIES: Rangers, 1-0.

LAST MEETING: Feb. 2, 2004; Rangers, 4-3. At New York, Jagr had a goal and an assist as the Rangers snapped a five-game losing streak to Vancouver.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Canucks - 5-8-2 on the road; Rangers - 10-2-2 at home.Link (http://www.nhl.com/scores/previews/445_2_preview.html)

Yaa, road trip to New York and Pennsylvania. I call shotgun. :laughing:

The Canucks' keys to winning:
1. Shut down Jagr.
2. Learn how to win on the road.
3. Improve special teams, good at home, terrible on the road.
4. Block out the constant Bertuzzi trade rumours.
5. Bertuzzi needs to play a hard game, which will help out Naslund and Morrison.
6. Auld needs to channel the skills of Patrick Roy and play even better than he played against the Sens.
7. Iced Tea needs to watch the game.
8. No stupid penalties.
9. High tempo, meaning high speed because speed will kill the Rangers.
10. Crawford has a good hair day.
11. Jovo makes few mistakes.
12. Linden and friends keep playing well.
13. A list of the Rangers names spelled out phonetically. I have a hard time with Kondratiev, Tyutin and Betts.
14. Don't allow the game to go to a shootout or Malik will show his skill while scoring another highlight reel goal.
15. Scouting on Lundqvist. I know nothing of this guy except for his pretty good stats.

Canucks over the Rangers 4 - 3.

[TimmyTabasco]

This should be a good early game

Get to them early, and cruise to victory

[slapshot™]

2 noteables:

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Canucks - 5-8-2 on the road; Rangers - 10-2-2 at home.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canucks - 6-4-0 Rangers - 8-1-1

http://schools.sd68.bc.ca/ruth/Classes/mrtaylor/class20022003/idioms/idioms2003/idioms3/A%20Little%20Steep.jpg

[Iced Tea]

2 noteables:

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Canucks - 5-8-2 on the road; Rangers - 10-2-2 at home.

LAST 10 GAMES: Canucks - 6-4-0 Rangers - 8-1-1

http://schools.sd68.bc.ca/ruth/Classes/mrtaylor/class20022003/idioms/idioms2003/idioms3/A%20Little%20Steep.jpgYou trying to say something? :confused:

Frankly that is a poor drawing, Slappy. I expected better. Just compare it to the one you sent me last week.
http://www.chunkymonkey.com/kidart/kidart2b.gif

[Mel]

I'm at a loss for what those pictures mean... but anyway I just wanted to drop in and give props to the Nucks. They really impressed me with that first period. The Rangers looked overwhelmed at times, especially the first half of the period (I missed the first few minutes though).

Luckily (for me) there was no score in the first. I'm hoping the Rangers adjust like they usually do and get on track. One thing about this team is that they have shown they can make adjustments during the game, and they don't normally let a bad period affect one to the next.

I think the Nucks best chance to jump out to a lead already passed them by. But again, that depends on the Rangers ability to adjust and turn the tables.... or at this rate the Canucks will coast to an easy road win.

These points are important to the Rangers... the Flyers also play tonight and then they have 2 more games before the Rangers play again on Sunday, which means theoretically the Flyers could be tied for 1st come Sunday.

[Iced Tea]

I'm at a loss for what those pictures mean... but anyway I just wanted to drop in and give props to the Nucks. They really impressed me with that first period. The Rangers looked overwhelmed at times, especially the first half of the period (I missed the first few minutes though).

Luckily (for me) there was no score in the first. I'm hoping the Rangers adjust like they usually do and get on track. One thing about this team is that they have shown they can make adjustments during the game, and they don't normally let a bad period affect one to the next.

I think the Nucks best chance to jump out to a lead already passed them by. But again, that depends on the Rangers ability to adjust and turn the tables.... or at this rate the Canucks will coast to an easy road win.

These points are important to the Rangers... the Flyers also play tonight and then they have 2 more games before the Rangers play again on Sunday, which means theoretically the Flyers could be tied for 1st come Sunday.I believe Slappy's picture meant that the Canucks chance of winning was very slim, a steep hill to climb to victory. I was able to deflect your attention by insulting Slappy's poor artwork this week by showing everyone his much better picture from last week.

As for the Canucks, I missed parts of the game while perfecting my "supermodel visiting the bathroom after a big meal" act.

The Canucks had an excellent road game considering their past efforts. Good to see Cooke back and great to see him score. Bertuzzi got a sweet goal and was unjustly given the instigator penalty when replays clearly show Hollweg dropped his gloves first. Hopefully the NHL reviews it and talks to the refs. Nice effort by the Sedins and Carter, another good goal and excellent play against the Rangers top line.

The defense had a good game and shut down the Rangers top line but also suffered a few nasty mistakes/giveaways.

Auld was very good in his first game as the Canuck's new #1 goalie. A few crappy rebounds but luckily the defense and forwards were there to bat the puck away.

As for my early checklist:The Canucks' keys to winning:
1. Shut down Jagr. check
2. Learn how to win on the road. check
3. Improve special teams, good at home, terrible on the road. 1/3 of a check, no PP goals but only 1 goal allowed on the PK
4. Block out the constant Bertuzzi trade rumours. check
5. Bertuzzi needs to play a hard game, which will help out Naslund and Morrison. check except for the time he spent in the penalty box
6. Auld needs to channel the skills of Patrick Roy and play even better than he played against the Sens. he used his own skills but check
7. Iced Tea needs to watch the game. check except for the time spent praying that I'd stop throwing up
8. No stupid penalties. The refs gave Bertuzzi the instigator but that was a stupid ref
9. High tempo, meaning high speed because speed will kill the Rangers. The 1st period and bits of the 2nd and 3rd were high speed, check
10. Crawford has a good hair day. His hair looked pretty good tonight, check
11. Jovo makes few mistakes. Only a few nasty ones, check
12. Linden and friends keep playing well. check
13. A list of the Rangers names spelled out phonetically. I have a hard time with Kondratiev, Tyutin and Betts.
14. Don't allow the game to go to a shootout or Malik will show his skill while scoring another highlight reel goal. check
15. Scouting on Lundqvist. I know nothing of this guy except for his pretty good stats. Lundqvist was amazing
I must admit that the Rangers are a good team and Jagr and Lundqvist are amazing. I don't like that Prucha though, he scores too many goals. :D

Almost forgot. Wooooooooooooooo, the Canucks won and on the road too. :D :wave:

Also forgot. I can see why MSG is considered the worst ice and boards in the NHL. Weird bounces on the ice and on the boards, the puck was going every which way and sometimes the puck was shot at the boards, hit the boards and went dead, ending up 2 feet from the boards. I guess having a different event every day at MSG accounts for the lousy ice but why would the boards be so bad?

[KB in Kelowna]

I only saw part of the third due to work commitments :mad: Nice to see Cooke back:thumb: A good road win. They are now 6-8-2 on the road. Creeping back to respectability in that department. They beat another top team. On to Philadelphia!

[Iced Tea]

I only saw part of the third due to work commitments :mad: Nice to see Cooke back:thumb: A good road win. They are now 6-8-2 on the road. Creeping back to respectability in that department. They beat another top team. On to Philadelphia!Work commitments? You need to talk to your union and see if they will force UBC Okanagan to put a tv in your office. Claim some weird disability that you need to watch Canucks games to have a happy life. Or maybe humanitarian reasons, read up on the Geneva convention and see if it covers TVs for employed people who otherwise would miss early hockey games. :D :laughing:

[Mel]

I don't like that Prucha though, he scores too many goals.

Tied with Svatos for 2nd among NHL rookies with 15 goals, only 3 behind Ovchekin. Sidney who??? :pimp:

Nice win by the Nucks. They established themselves in the 1st and put the Rangers on their heels. The Rangers never recovered even when Bertuzzi got the heave-ho for that unsolicited attack on innocent rookie Ryan Hollweg :wicked: :D

Bert's breakaway goal was pretty sweet. Plays like that were exactly what the NHL had in mind when they changed the line rules. I was hoping the Rangers could get at least a point last night before a 5 day rest. But you can't win em all. Now they have 5 days to review the loss and re-group.

I can see why MSG is considered the worst ice and boards in the NHL. Weird bounces on the ice and on the boards, the puck was going every which way and sometimes the puck was shot at the boards, hit the boards and went dead, ending up 2 feet from the boards. I guess having a different event every day at MSG accounts for the lousy ice but why would the boards be so bad?

They actually double as walls for the elephant holding pen when the circus comes to MSG. They take a pretty good beating (and smell like elephant).