Results tagged “markusnaslund”

It’s May and for New York sports fans that means our attention is fixed to baseball, baseball and more baseball. It wasn’t always this way as May was once a time to watch the Knicks and Rangers make deep runs into the playoffs. It was a time when MSG was the place to be in May, but those times are a distant memory.

The Rangers were lucky to even be in a position to tie the game because Atlanta had a shot to score on an empty net and missed. But, New York’s luck ran out in the shootout when Henrik Lundqvist looked very ordinary and let in two goals and the Rangers only scored one.

Markus Naslund got things going with a power play goal in the first and after Anaheim tied it, Freddy Sjostrum put them ahead again with a shorthanded goal. Anaheim tied it again at the end of the second, but Scott Gomez scored his first power play goal of the season to put them in front for good.

The NHL season starts a little earlier than usual for our local teams. The Rangers are opening their season in Prague this weekend with two sold-out games against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Islanders and Devils open up against each other next week. For all three teams, the expectations are very different.

Back in 1997, the Rangers lost their captain when Mark Messier headed to the Pacific Northwest to play for the Canucks. On Thursday, they brought Vancouver's captain, Markus Naslund to New York with a two-year, $8 million deal. Thanks to the salary cap and other roster considerations, this move means Jaromir Jagr's New York career is over. Rangers general manager Glen Sather sounded like he had gotten tired of waiting for Jagr to decide what he wanted to do and let Jagr know on Thursday that the team was moving in a different direction.