Results tagged “hockey”

• Devils 5 Washington 2: New Jersey didn’t come to play, surrendering two goals in the first five minutes, but they stormed back to clinch their eight-straight win. Five different players scored while Martin Brodeur stopped the final 27 shots he faced.

• Thrashers 5, Rangers 3: Henrik Lunqvist returned, but it wasn't enough for the Rangers, who lost without Chris Drury and Brandon Dubinsky. The former has a concussion and the latter has a broken hand. Not good. Artem Anisimov and Marian Gaborik helped erase two one-goal deficits, but the Rangers wilted after that. This was their first game back after a long road trip to Canada, and they've lost eight of 11 (with one shootout loss.)
• Devils 4, Penguins 1: That's nine straight road wins for the Devils, and that's one shy of the record to start the season. Niclas Bergfors had a goal and two assists. The Devils have now tied for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals also have 26 points. Zach Parise had a goal and Travis Zajac had three assists.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Rangers in Pain"

• Bucks 102, Knicks 87: Where to begin on this one? The Bucks shot 74 percent from the floor. They went on a 23-2 early to ice the game .They outscored the Knicks, 40-22, in the first quarter. Brandon Jennings, whom the Knicks passed over for Jordan Hill, had 22 points and eight rebounds. David Lee's 18 points led the Knicks, now 1-6 and losers of three straight.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: So How Bad Are the Knicks?"

• Cavaliers 100, Knicks 91: Is finishing within nine points of the Cavaliers a moral victory. What about holding LeBron James to 33 after he scored 53 in his final trip in the building last year. To answer the first question, not when the team trailed by 23 at the half. As for the second, James shot 12-for-17, had eight rebounds and nine assists, so he was hardly in check. Larry Hughes had 18 (Larry Hughes!) and David Lee led the Knicks with 21. The Knicks, now 1-5, have Milwaukee on the road on Saturday.

The Rangers don't travel out to Edmonton every year, so when they do, they like to take advantage. They did just that in a 4-2 win over the Oilers on Wednesday. Ales Kotalik had a goal and two assists as the Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak away from Madison Square Garden. Marian Gaborik, Christopher Higgins and Ryan Callahan also scored for the Blueshirts, who faced Tom Renney, an Edmonton assistant, for the first time since they fired him last season. Both of Higgins' goals this season have come in the last two games.

     

Yankees 7, Phillies 3: For the first time since 2000 and the 27th time in franchise history, the New York Yankees are the World Champions of baseball. The Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies four games to two behind the bat of Hideki Matsui and the solid pitching of Andy Pettitte. Matsui was 3-4 in the game, including two two-RBI hits off Phillies starter Pedro Martinez and two more RBI against Phillies reliever Chad Durbin.

Vancouver 4 Rangers 1: New York’s trip our west started off badly. Against a depleted Vancouver club, the Rangers were outshot and out worked as they gave up three goals in the third period. The game featured two major altercations in the third period, which the league will almost certainly have something to say about. The lone bright spot for New York was Christopher Higgins scoring his first goal of the season. A lot was expected from Higgins this year, so maybe this will get him back on track.

• Bobcats 102, Knicks 100 (2 OT): A rally from a 21-point deficit and a 14-point margin at the start of the fourth quarter didn't give the Knicks anything more than a moral victory. They didn't lead until the second overtime, but some shaky defense gave the game to the Bobcats. Chris Duhon played 55 minutes. Danilo Gallinari had 16 off the bench, and Nate Robinson had 17 before fouling out. David Lee had the line of the game with 17 points and 18 rebounds. This game won't score any style points, but it did provide late drama. The Knicks open their home campaign Saturday against Philadelphia.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Knicks Drop A Heartbreaker"

• Philadelphia 6 Yankees 1: The Yankees looked like a team totally overwhelmed by circumstances while Cliff Lee looked like Orel Hershiser in 1988. CC Sabathia was good, allowing only two runs, both solo shots to Chase Utley, but Lee was much better. He dominated the Yankees, going the distance and he probably would have had a shutout if Jimmy Rollins hadn’t airmailed a throw in the ninth. The Yankees bullpen imploded in the 8th and 9th with Phil Hughes and Brian Bruney the chief culprits. New York will have to hope for a better result against Pedro Martinez in Game 2.

Rangers 5 Phoenix 2: New York got back on track, thanks to two goals from Marian Gaborik, but Gaborik also had to leave the game in the third period with an obvious limp. Gaborik stressed after the game that the injury he suffered had nothing to do with previous injuries that limited him in the past few years. But, he wasn’t sure when he would return to the ice. Vinny Prospal added a goal and two assists while Enver Lisin had two points.
Montreal 3 Islanders 2 (OT): Jeff Tambellini’s second goal of the night tied the game late in the third, but the Canadiens scored in OT to send New York home with a loss, but a point.

• New Jersey 4 Pittsburgh 1: The Devils did what only one other team has accomplished this year- they beat the Penguins. Mark Frasier got things going with a goal in the first and Martin Brodeur stopped 32-of-33 shots to make Pittsburgh 9-and-2.
• Montreal 5 Rangers 4 (OT): New York blew 3-1 and 4-2 leads as the Canadiens stormed back and earned the win in extra time. Scott Gomez had two assists in his first game as a Canadien against the Rangers and New York now has a three-game losing streak.
• Washington 3 Islanders 2 (OT): Maybe it’s a New York thing? The Islanders also blew a two-goal lead as the Capitals scored twice in the third period and then again in OT to earn the two points.

• Angels 7 Yankees 6: The Yankees overcame a miserable start by A.J. Burnett only to have their bullpen give the game away. New York put the first two runners on in the first, but failed to score while the Angels jumped all over A.J. Burnett for four runs in their half of the inning. And that’s exactly where things remained until the seventh. With two outs, Mark Teixeira delivered a bases-loaded double to clear the bases and put the Yankees on the board. A-Rod was intentionally walked and Hideki Matsui followed with a single to tie the game. Robinson Cano followed with a triple to put New York up 6-4.

• Angels 5 Yankees 4 (11 innings): Joe Girardi made some strange moves in this game, but his last move, removing David Robertson and putting Alfredo Aceves in is what ultimately lost the Yankees the game as they fell to the Angels. Aceves came in with two outs in the 11th and gave up two-straight hits, the second the game-winner, as the Angels clawed back into this series.

The Rangers have jumped out to a 7-1 start which is evoking comparisons to last year’s squad which won it’s first five games, but then faltered through the rest of the season before blowing a 3-1 lead in the playoffs. And while it is too early to predict that the 2009-10 Rangers will avoid walking the path that the 2008-09 Rangers did, some important differences have emerged.

This game took over five hours, but it leaves the Yankees in the catbird seat in the best-of-seven ALCS. Alex Rodriguez hit a game-tying homer in the bottom of the 11th. Is it safe to retire the "he's not clutch" storyline? In the 13th, the Yankees took advantage of Maicer Izturis' throwing error, as Jerry Hairston, who led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice, scored. Starters A.J. Burnett and Joe Saunders dueled to a draw, each allowing two runs. Alfredo Aceves served up the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th, but Rodriguez saved his and his teammates' bacon. Derek Jeter had a solo homer and an error that proved meaningless. Robinson Cano had an RBI triple and two errors that proved meaningless. Was this a classic, or just long?

   

Yankees 4, Angels 1: If the Angels have to face the CC Sabathia they faced tonight three times in this series, they might as well give the Yankees three wins right now. Sabathia dominated the Angels in Game 1 of the ALCS, pitching eight strong innings, allowing only four hits and one walk while striking out seven.

According to the LI Press, Islanders owner Charles Wang has "abandoned" his billion-dollar plans for a new hockey arena in Hempstead called the Lighthouse. Last week, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said the hockey team would be welcome in Brooklyn, but the Atlantic Yards' Barclays Center isn't big enough to house a hockey rink... Now, word—via ESPN Radio— has it that the Isles have reached out to Queens to see if something can happen in Flushing!

Passengers and LIRR employees are painting a much different picture of Sunday night's arrest of an off-duty NYPD officer who pointed his gun at rowdy Rangers fans. You'll recall that Officer David Hendrick, a 16-year veteran, gave a television interview Monday night insisting that he pulled his weapon in self-defense after the hockey fans reacted violently to his attempts to shush them. But court papers obtained by Newsday tell a different story.

• Rangers 4 Los Angeles 2: The biggest difference between this year’s hot start and last year’s is scoring. In 2008, the Rangers got out to a 6-1 start, but only scored 17 goals. This year they have 28 and Marian Gaborik is a big part of that. Gaborik scored his sixth goal of the season on a beautiful play in the third period and Vinny Propsal added two goals of his own. Henrik Lundqvist did the rest, making 34 saves.

The NYPD cop facing up to 15 years in prison for allegedly flashing his gun at rowdy Rangers fans on the LIRR is no longer talking to the press, after saying way too much to a local news crew. But the Nassau district attorney's office is talking, and tells Newsday, "The allegation is that he was not acting in any legal law enforcement capacity, and he allegedly used his weapon to menace the passengers, so it doesn't matter that he's licensed or a trained professional." But surely the jury will take into account that Officer David Hendrick's alleged targets were Rangers fans from Long Island?

     

• Yankees 4 Minnesota 1: Carl Pavano tried his best to make Yankees’ fans miserable, but the Yankees got revenge in the end. A-Rod and Posada homered in the seventh to put the Yankees up 2-1 and the bullpen took it from there. Mariano got the final four outs for the save meaning the Yankees won a playoff series for the first time in five years. The ALCS with the Angels begins Friday in the Bronx.

• Devils 3 Florida 2: Tomas Vokun had a good game, but when you face 41 shots, letting in three of them is to be expected. Unfortunately for Vokun, the Devils clamped down on his team, allowing them only 21 shots, and Martin Brodeur stopped enough of those for the win. Travis Zajac and Brian Rolston both had 2 points to lead New Jersey.

• Rangers 4, Capitals 3: Twice the Rangers rallied from one-goal deficits to win their third straight game and their second straight on the road. Marian Gaborik had the game-tying and go-head goals one minute, 42 seconds apart in the middle of the third period. He has at least one point in every game this season and his making good on the Rangers investment. The Rangers are now 3-1 after losing the opener to Pittsburgh last week. Ryan Callahan and Ales Kotalik also lit the lamp. Capitals star Alex Ovechkin didn't get much done and finished without a point.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Rangers Make It Three Straight"

In the first of 301 eight games against the Devils, the Rangers recovered from a slow start and took care of the the Devils, 3-2, in Newark. John Tortorella called a timeout 1:24 into the game -- the Devils struck first on a Rob Niedermayer goal 1:10 in -- and the Rangers apparently got the message.

• Rangers 5 Ottawa 2: Hockey has blue lines. The Rangers have blue shirts and blue seats and apparently Blue Man Group as fans. They performed before the game and maybe it inspired New York. The top line had a huge night with four goals and two assists while Michael Del Zotto made his case to stay in the NHL and not return to juniors with his first goal and a solid game.

Penguins 3, Rangers 2: The privilege of opening against the defending Stanley Cup champions did not inspire the Rangers, who fell behind 3-1 before making a comeback attempt that came up short. Chris Drury scored the first goal of the year to tie the game at 1, and Marian Gaborik added one in the third period. The Rangers were outshot, 31-27, and get Ottawa at home on Saturday.

The 2009-2010 NHL season started last night, but our three local squads begin play tonight and tomorrow. How will the teams fare this season? Each team — the Devils, Rangers and Islanders — have very different expectations heading into the season.