Bleacher Report - Articles by Scott Snyder

Rangers-Islanders: First Game with New Faces

Scott Snyder — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:36:40 -0500

What a stretch it has been for these New York Rangers. First, the easy-going, does not make players accountable for their actions Tom Renney, is fired. He gets replaced by the fiery, no-nonsense, never say die attitude of John Tortorella.

Three games into the Tortorella era and I think it's obvious this is a much different team than under Renney.

Then, Tuesday, as expected, Sean Avery is plucked from re-entry waivers. For $1.9 million for the next three years I can handle it. It just depends on how bad Avery wants to be in a Ranger versus how badly he wants the big lights of New York City.

The teams record last year and the year before with and without Avery is astounding. Hopefully he can bring that passion and grit that he did when he last wore a blue shirt.

Yesterday, Glen Sather, after a forgettable 2008 offseason, acquires 6'6", 235-pound Nik Antopov from the Maple Leafs for a second-round pick and a conditional pick. I like this move. Antropov can play center or wing, has a good shot, and plays a decent amount in the tough area around the net.

Then, with one minute to go before the 3 PM deadline, Sather brings in Derek Morris for Dmitri Kalinin, Petr Prucha, and Nigel Dawes. It may seem like a lot to give up, but having brought back Avery and trading for Antropov, there was not much sense in having these two forwards around as spare parts.

Not to mention Kalinin was never long for New York, rather a stop gap measure for one season. Morris, I say will play with Paul Mara. The two were paired when Mara played in Phoenix and had his 48-point season. Perhaps the two will also man the point on the second power play unit.

My bet would be yes.

Here's to wishing Dawes and Prucha well in Phoenix and beyond. Both have raw talent, but were a little undersized, and their spots in the lineup were never solid under coach Renney.

I'm sure they will thrive in the no-pressure Coyotes organization under Wayne Gretzky and playing with a bunch of youngsters.

So, tonight against the Islanders is a big game. It's the last game against the Isles this year, and the first game for our three new players. They need to come out hard, forecheck hard, and drive to the net with regularity. We need to score early and score often, because if the Islanders score first, it will put our players in a bad state of mind.

This Islander team has lost some players since we played them last and have a lot of rookies and second year players in the lineup. The Rangers need to use their inexperience against them.

More later...

NHL Trade Deadline 2009 Review

Scott Snyder — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:41:40 -0500

Well, the 2009 NHL Trade Deadline has come on gone. In my last blog I questioned if we'd get up to the 25 trades and 40-plus players moved like we have in years past.

The 2009 deadline has seen 22 trades take place, 45 players moving cities, and 14 draft picks go to new organizations.

Now, I'm going to quickly assess each of the 18 trades, except the first trade between Columbus and Ottawa this morning. For that assessment, see my previous entry.

Calgary Gets: D Jordan Leopold

Colorado Gets: D Lawrence Nycholat, D Ryan Wilson, 2nd Round Pick

Winner: Calgary Flames. Easy. Flames GM Darryl Sutter went into this deadline looking for two things; a defenseman and a center. Not only did they get a good steady d-man, they got a d-man who they're familiar with. Leopold was drafted by Calgary and was with them for their run to game seven of the Cup Finals 2003. Expect him to log some decent minutes in every situation.

Loser: Colorado Avalanche. This is a team that had high expectations coming into the season, but injuries and horrible goaltending have dropped them to last in the West. Nycholat has bounced around the league and the minors, but I expect him to slide into the lineup for the Avs' remaining games. Wilson, 22, was an undrafted free agent, and spent this season with the Quad City Flames of the AHL scoring four goals and 20 points in 60 games.

Pittsburgh Gets: D Andy Wozniewski

St. Louis Gets: D Danny Richmond

Winner: Pittsburgh Penguins. In a trade for two minor-leaguers, I would have to name the Penguins winner simply because they get a guy in Wozniewski who has almost a full seasons worth of NHL experience.

Loser: St. Louis Blues. Richmond has bounced around in his short career and has only had a cup of coffee in the NHL. The bulk of his playing time has, and most likely will, for the rest of this season, come in the AHL.

Interesting Fact: Both players come from Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

Buffalo Gets: G Mikael Tellqvist

Phoenix Gets: 2010 4th Round Pick

Winner: Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres get the help in goal that they desperately need in the absence of Ryan Miller. Patrick Lalime simply has not been good enough this season, and Mikael Tellqvist has had some experience starting games down in Phoenix. He may not be great, but is a serviceable goaltender who can split time with Lalime until Miller is ready to come back from a high ankle sprain.

Loser: Phoenix Coyotes, but not by much. They have their number one in Ilya Bryzgalov between the pipes. Tellqvist had been with the Coyotes for some time but became expendable, especially with Al Montoya in the system. This Phoenix team showed early in the season that they're close, but not quite there. They have good young players in Tikhonov, Mueller, Turris, etc...So GM Don Maloney did a good thing for this franchise by stockpiling a pick.

Boston Gets: G Steve Montador

Anaheim Gets: F Petteri Nokelainen

Winner: Boston Bruins. Montador has played in all 65 games for Anaheim this season, and is going to come close to his career high 23 points. He plays a physical, standup defensive game but can also move the puck up to Boston's quick forwards. Who comes out of the lineup in his stead I don't know. If I had to guess, I say we'll see much less of Shane Hnidy or Matt Hunwick.

Loser: Anaheim Ducks. Petteri Nokelainen joins his third franchise of his career. He has zero goals and three assists in 33 games this season. He doesn't seem to play a major role in the rest of the Ducks' season. He may play, but don't expect him to be the reason they do or do not make the playoffs in 2009.

Calgary Gets: F Olli Jokinen, 3rd Round Pick

Phoenix Gets: F Matt Lombardi, F Brandon Prust, 1st Round Pick

Winner: Calgary Flames. This was the biggest trade of Deadline Day 2009. It has long been rumored, since his days in Florida, that Calgary wanted them some Olli Jokinen. Jerome Iginla is a legitimate first line winger, but has never had a legitimate number one center.

Daymond Langkow is an above average number two, and Jokinen should put up big numbers in the last quarter of the season. Jokinen, I believe, has one year left on his contract after this year, and he makes Calgary a legitimate contended in the Western Conference. And who can go wrong with a pick?

Loser: Phoenix Coyotes, but again, not by much. A nice young player in Matt Lombardi helps the re-tooling of the 'Yotes in the desert. He only has a lone goal and lone assist in his first year playing in the NHL, but he does have 79 penalty minutes and is not afraid to drop the gloves when necessary, helping to protect those young Coyotes players I mentioned earlier. The first round pick, while it will be late in the first round, should bring in a decent prospect in the draft.

Boston Gets: F Mark Recchi, 2nd Round Pick

Tampa Bay Gets: D Matt Lashoff, F Martins Karsums

Winner: Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa is a team that has dressed nearly 20 defenseman so far this season. Beyond Andrej Meszaros and Paul Ranger, that defense is nothing. Rather than rotating young guys in and out of the lineup, they bring in Lashoff, who has at least played 16 games this year, 46 in his career on a good Bruins team.

He's played in big games that mean something. I know it's not much, but something is better than nothing in Tampa, where everything is a mess. Martins Karsums is a young player, drafter 64th overall in 2004, who has had success at the junior level and at the minor league level with Providence.

In the next season or two, he may prove to be an affordable yet reliable player who spent the 2008 offseason signing older forwards past their prime.

Loser: Boston Bruins. Sure, this deal is good for the rest of this season. They add a to-time Stanley Cup Champion in Mark Recchi. Heck, Recchi was having himself a decent season down in Tampa Bay.

He will surely provide a leadership role on a Bruins team that does not have many former Cup winners. Besides Aaron Ward, none come to mind. The Bruins need to hope that Recchi doesn't break down, and might want to consider sitting him out of a few games before the playoffs in hopes that he can make a big run deep into the spring.

The kicker in this deal though is the second round pick which should come between the 30th and 40th picks.

Pittsburgh Gets: F Bill Guerin

New York Islanders Get: Conditional Draft Pick

Winner: Pittsburgh Penguins. In Guerin, the Pens get an older veteran who can provide some leadership on a younger team. The Penguins did go to the Cup Finals a year ago, but this s a much different team.

They've had trouble with consistency all season long and are currently fighting for their playoff rights. Don't expect tons of points from this guy, but expect steady, hard working shifts game in and game out.

Loser: New York Islanders. A trade that had been days in the making finally goes through. You have to think that Pittsburgh was not the team that Guerin was going to go to initially when he was pulled from the lineup Saturday on Long Island.

This had to be a case of the Isles taking what they could get at this point, because there's no guarantee of this conditional pick. If the Penguins go far in the playoffs, this draft can be as high as a third rounder.

But what if the Pens, who have been nothing but inconsistent, fall in the first round or not even make the playoffs? I don't know if a 5th or 6th round pick is exactly what the Isles are hoping for. I bet Garth Snow will be rooting for Pittsburgh in the coming weeks and possibly months.

Philadelphia Gets: F Daniel Carcillo

Phoenix Gets: F Scottie Upshall, 2nd Round Pick

Winner: Phoenix Coyotes. This one wasn't even close in my mind. Scottie Upshall is a young player who bases his game on speed. A smaller guy, Upshall is certainly not afraid to throw his body around.

He is a restricted free agent this summer, but Upshall could easily fit into Wayne Gretzky's system. Not even considering Upshall, Philly got hosed. I would be enraged if my team gave up a 2nd round draft pick for Daniel Carcillo. Do we see a trend today for Don Maloney and the Coyotes? Picks, picks, picks...

Loser: Philadelphia Flyers. I don't even know where to begin. Daniel Carcillo is a fighter with some, offensive upside. I stress some. He had double digit goals a year ago, but likely won't get to ten this season.

When you think of Flyers teams, you think about a guy like Carcillo. But in the past, it hasn't worked well for a young, quick, talented Flyers team. Denis Gauthier, Steve Downie, Ben Eager, Todd Fedoruk (ironically in Phoenix), and the list goes on. With Aaron Asham already on the team, I'm not sure why Paul Holmgren went after Carcillo.

New York Rangers Get: F Nik Antropov

Toronto Gets: 2nd Round Pick, Conditional Pick

Winner: New York Rangers. This New York Rangers team needed some size and grit either at center or at the wing. Antropov can certainly play both positions, but I expect him to play the right side on Broadway.

He instantly becomes the Rangers leading goal scorer with 21 and near the top in points with 26. Under new head coach John Tortorella, Antropov is a player who will do well in an offensive system. If it doesn't work, he'll go elsewhere as a free agent on July 1st.

Loser: Toronto Maple Leafs. The leafs themselves might see themselves as the winner in this trade, and the fans definitely do as well, but Nik Antropov is a better player than they think. Toronto, much like New York, always needs a scapegoat.

Antropov played that role in Toronto and can relax in New York. The Rangers have a handful of players who may be ready to jump to the big club next season as they've stockpiled some nice prospects from their years of futility, so a 2nd round pick is not something I think they'll miss too much.

New York Rangers Get: D Derek Morris

Phoenix Gets: D Dmitri Kalinin, F Nigel Dawes, F Petr Prucha

Winner: Phoenix Coyotes. An aging defenseman that will be unrestricted on July 1st, and two young wingers. Kalinin was not long for the big stage in New York, but had rebounded nicely after a poor start. He can play in all situations, but is soft along the boards and a turnover machine.

Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha are both small wingers who are quick on the puck, close the gap quickly on the D and have the ability to produce. Dawes and Prucha were both misused by Tom Renney the past two seasons. Lets not forget Prucha scored 30 goals in his rookie season and 22 the year after.

Dawes should get a shot on the top two lines in Phoenix and has shown the ability to make plays when paired with a goal scorer.

Loser: New York Rangers. Derek Morris is a nice pickup by the Rangers. He'll bring a physical presence to the blue line and will likely be paired with another physical D-man in Paul Mara. But I wonder if the Rangers gave up to much.

Maybe Dawes and Prucha could have flourished in new roles under Coach Tortorella's uptempo style. They are both RFA's at seasons end, Kalinin and Morris UFA's. So next season all four players could be with their 3rd team in 2 seasons.

Buffalo Gets: F Dominic Moore

Toronto Gets: 2nd Round Pick

Winner: Toronto Maple Leafs. Moore wanted way too much money over too many years for Brian Burke to re-sign him. They'll get a mid-round 2nd rounder. Nice move.

Loser: Buffalo Sabres. C'mon Darcy Regier. A 2nd rounder for Dominic Moore. Anyone who has done their homework knows Moore is not likely to continue this type of production down the road.

He's a very good penalty killing third line center at best. He was good on a bad Toronto team. That may seem impressive. But on a good team, he'd never be considered to play on the top line and top power play unit.

Anaheim Gets: F Erik Christensen

Atlanta Gets: F Eric O'Dell

Winner: Atlanta Thrashers. Not much to this deal, but Christensen appeared to be on his way out. In his three years in the league, injuries seem to be a problem. All I know about O'Dell is that he is a former 2nd round draft pick of the Ducks.

Beyond Ilya Kovalchuk and Bryan Little, I'm not sure there's much depth at the forward position, so a nice little pickup by Don Wadell.

Loser: Anaheim Ducks. What do they expect to get out of Christensen? Hopefully a fresh start out West will give him a kick in the pants under coach Randy Carlyle.

Florida Gets: D Steve Eminger

Tampa Bay Gets: D Noah Welch, 3rd Round Pick

Winner: Florida Panthers. A nice depth defenseman in Steve Eminger who has played well this year. He'll likely see time at the point on the power play when he's in the lineup.

Loser: Tampa Bay Lightning. What is GM Brian Lawton thinking? This guy is lost. it all started going wrong when he traded Boyle to San Jose for Matt Carle. Carle was then traded to Philadelphia for Steve Eminger, who is now a Florida Panther. Essentially they traded away a top pair defenseman for Noah Welch and a third. Welch was highly regarded in Pittsburgh and was part of the trade that sent Gary Roberts from Florida to the Pens. He's had trouble cracking the lineup in Florida. He'll have no problem getting ice time in Tampa, so what does that say about Tampa Bay?

Columbus Gets: G Kevin Lalande

Calgary Gets: 4th Round Pick

Winner: Calgary Flames. Why? Why not? Picks are always nice. Never even heard of the goalie.

Loser: Columbus Blue Jackets. They need a backup after dealing Pascal Leclaire. What ever happened to Fredrik Norrena?

Philadelphia Gets: D Kyle McLaren San Jose Gets: 6th Round Pick

Winner: Philadelphia Flyers. McLaren is a good depth guy who should fit in nicely on the Flyers back end. He plays a physical game and can also get some time at the point on the power play. My only concern with McLaren is that he can rub some people the wrong way, holding out for a trade in Boston and then falling out of favor with coaching and management in San Jose.

Loser: San Jose Sharks. They are most definitely happy to be rid of McLaren and his salary, but I'm surprised they didn't as for a little higher draft pick or position player, such as Andrew Alberts, in return.

Chicago Gets: F Samuel Pahlsson

Anaheim Gets: D James Wizniewski, Undisclosed Draft Pick

Winner: Chicago Blackhawks. A move that I am not at all surprised by. Many people were calling for the 'Hawks to go after Pahlsson. A proven two way forward who is known more for his play defensively, Pahlsson has had some injuries this year, and now has mononucleosis. He has tremendous upside though, and was a major part of the Ducks Stanley Cup Run in 2007.

Loser: Anaheim Ducks. Wizniewski is a nice D-man who is a power play guy. I'm not sure he'll get those extra minutes in Anaheim, but the Ducks have a plethora of young guys who have not played horrible in a year where the Ducks may very well find themselves playing golf a little bit earlier than they're used to.

San Jose Gets: F Travis Moen, D Kent Huskins

Anaheim Gets: F Nick Bonino, G Timo Pielmeier, Conditional Draft Pick

Winner: San Jose Sharks. This one isn't even close. A depth defenseman in Kent Huskins who most likely won't see much playing time behind the Sharks' top six. But Travis Moen on the other hand should slip right into the lineup for Todd McLellan. Moen was part of the line with Sami Pahlsson in Anaheim in their run for the cup. There is no player Moen will back down from and brings grit to his new team. And for a franchise known as playoff chokes, Moen's ring cold provide some extra leadership in the locker room.

Loser: Anaheim Ducks. All I know about these two is that Bonino is the captain at Boston University. That means he must have some skill and some leadership capabilities. The goalie on the other hand, puzzles me. They have J.S. Giguere signed for the next few years, but beyond that am unaware of prospects in goal. I say this because I assume Jonas Hiller will be gone the first chance he can, because he's good enough to start in the NHL.

Carolina Gets: F Erik Cole

Los Angeles Gets: F Justin Williams

Edmonton Gets: Patrick O'Sullivan, 2nd Round Pick

Winners: Everyone. This is a good move by all three teams. Justin Williams never had the chemistry with Eric Staal like Erik Cole did. So they bring Cole back, who hopefully will play much better than he did for the Oilers. His tenure in Edmonton was simply a mess.

Williams should fit into the system perfectly in Los Angeles. Williams is a young guy with lots of experience as he broke into the league at an early age. His being young will make him a hit in the young Los Angeles locker room, and his experience is much needed for the forwards, much like Sean O'Donnell has done for the defense. Not to mention the ring he won with Carolina straight out of the lockout.

Edmonton gets O'Sullivan, another young guy who has shown an ability to score goals both even strength and on the power play. This was just a case for LA needing to give something up to get something back.

Edmonton Gets: F Ales Kotalik

Buffalo Gets: 2nd Round Pick

Winner: Buffalo Sabres. They got that 2nd rounder back that they wasted on Dominic Moore. It won't be difficult to replace Kotalik's production in Buffalo's lineup.

Loser: Edmonton Oilers. Kotalik is good in two areas. The first is 5-on-3 situations as he has a rocket of a slap shot. The second is the shootout, where he releases a quick shot just as good as anybody in the league. The problem with Ales Kotalik, though, is his attention to detail. He tends to get lazy, and glides back to the defensive zone. For a big guy, he should be playing a much more physical game.

Toronto Gets: G Olaf Kolzig, D Jamie Heward, D Andy Rogers, 4th Round Pick Tampa Gets: D Richard Petiot

Winner: Toronto Maple Leafs. Kolzig, out for the year and likely to retire. Heward, out for the year, future unknown. Andy Rogers, a prospect. 4th round pick, exactly what Toronto needs.

Picks, picks, picks, much like Phoenix on this day. Basically, Toronto takes on $500,000 in salary for the rest of this season so they can get that pick because NHL rules prohibits teams from paying for something in return.

Loser: Tampa Bay Lightning. Kolzig was an unnecessary signing over the summer. I think Tampa management would admit that. Petiot was drafted in 2001 by the Los Angeles Kings, played his college hockey at Colorado, and has since played in the AHL. He has no offensive upside and doesn't play an overly physical game.

How that can help a team that needs a strong defense puzzles me. But with Tampa's injury problems on D, I say give the kid a shot in the final weeks of the season. It can't get worse, can it?

Well, that wraps up my trade deadline evaluations. Overall winners today? I'd go with Calgary, Phoenix, and Toronto. Losers? Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Philadelphia. You heard what I have to say, let me hear what you think. Post a comment, send me a message, write on my wall, and I'll get back to me.

Agree with me, disagree with me, but I hope to hear some other opinions.

Leclaire, Vermette Involved In First Deadline Day Trade

Scott Snyder — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:11:17 -0500

The first trade of Deadline Day 2009 has occured.

Just before 10 a.m. this morning, the Ottawa Senators got their man for the net and Columbus picked up that forward they were looking for.

The Senators have picked up goaltender Pascal Leclaire from the Blue Jackets, and in return, sent forward Antoine Vermette to Columbus.

I'm not sure whether we'll see Leclaire actually suit up for Ottawa this year as he has some injury problems. His injuries had left the door wide open for rookie goalie Steve Mason to take the reigns as the No. 1 goaltender in Columbus, where the Jackets sit in sixth place in the West.

In Columbus, expect Vermette to be a top-six forward, especially with the injury to Michael Peca. I don't think Columbus is done for the day, though, as GM Scott Howson might seek another forward or depth defenseman.

The winner here? I would have to go with Ottawa. Since the Lalime days—yes, Sabres fans, he used to be good—Ottawa has struggled to put a true No. 1 goaltender in net. The closest they got was Ray Emery and look where he is now. Plus, the scale has really shifted in Ottawa's favor because they also suckered Columbus into sending them a second round draft pick.

Ottawa needed a goalie more than Columbus needed a forward, especially a guy like Vermette, who was a 50-plus point guy in the past, but now only has 28 points in 61 games in 2008-2009.

Check in later for more.

NHL Trade Deadline Less Than 24 Hours Away

Scott Snyder — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:07:29 -0500

Unfortunately, not many people are like me. They don't consider the NHL Trading Deadline a holiday. Not even in Canada? What's up with that?

Anyways, what will tomorrow bring? Will the 2009 deadline day see more than 40 players switch teams (as was the case last season)? To be honest, it's hard to say.

There are so many teams in both conferences that need to bolster their lineups, and several teams, such as the Maple Leafs, Senators, and Avalanche, which need a turnover of players to move forward in the years to come.

Of course, you have your Atlanta's of the league. Sure, there's no chance of them making the playoffs this season, but with so much cap room, maybe they can afford to bolster their lineup and hope for a change of fate next season.

Ilya Kovalchuk has one year left on his current contract, as does Phoenix's Olli Jokinen. If I remember correctly, Atlanta has had major problems finding a center to play with No. 17. With Jokinen's name in the rumor mill, why not bring him in, hope that there's some chemistry between the two, and move forward from there?

How does this sound for a No. 1 line—Brian Little-Jokinen-Kovalchuk?

If I had to guess, I'd say the Columbus Blue Jackets will make a splash tomorrow, looking for a No. one center as well. It could be Buffalo's Tim Connolly, as Columbus attempts to get into the postseason for the first time in franchise history.

Expect the Maple Leafs to rid themselves of 6'6" Nik Antropov, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Dominic Moore. With Tomas Kaberle not returning for the third period of tonight's game against the Devils, might the defenseman have played his last game in a Toronto uniform?

Check in tomorrow throughout the day, as I'll be up early awaiting the trades to come in. I'll be here with analysis of each trade, the winners and losers, and what each team should expect from their newly-acquired player(s).

Enjoy! I know I will...

New York Rangers: If It Really Is Broken, Don't Fix It? Sort Of.

Scott Snyder — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:19:31 -0500

Well, now I'm just confused. The Rangers roll four solid lines, night after night, on their way to a four game winning streak in which several players started to heat up. Fine.

Tom Renney, as I noted yesterday, goes ahead and switches up the lines and loses a game that should have been won. In fact it was won! Until a collapse in the final seven and a half minutes of the game. Not fine.

The Rangers had an off day Sunday, which is rare after disappointing losses. My guess would have been that when they resumed skating at the MSG training center today in Westchester, the lines would have reverted to the following:

Naslund-Drury-Zherdev
Voros-Dubinsky-Prucha/Fritsche
Dawes-Gomez-Callahan
Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Again, fine.

But today at practice, as the Rangers were getting ready for tomorrow nights tilt against the Islanders, the lines were different. Again!

Thanks to Sam Weinman, over at Rangers Report, we know that the Dubinsky and Betts lines will remain in tact. But Scott Gomez will now center a line of Ryan Callahan and Markus Naslund, while Chris Drury will center Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

Prucha played well last week against the Islanders, skating hard, forechecking, even drawing a crucial third period penalty. Here's to hoping he gets more than another one-game look from the coaching staff.

But one thing is for certain. The line of Naslund-Drury-Zherdev that had been working so well for several games is now spread across three lines. Again, not fine.

Make up your mind coach. If you want success, stay with your lines that brought you success. But if you want to try out new lines, don't give up on them after one game.

Until next time...

New York Rangers: If It Ain't Broke, Fix It?

Scott Snyder — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:05:55 -0500

By now everyone is aware that the Rangers fell apart last night in Toronto, losing 5-2 after being up 2-0 with under ten minutes to go. For more on that, check out my game notes from last night.

But after having a night to cool off after such a frustrating loss, maybe this loss should be put on the coaching staff. After four impressive wins over the Blue Jackets, Penguins, Islanders, and Thrashers, why decide to change up two out of four line combinations?

Why experiment with Dan Fritsche on a line with Markus Naslund and Chris Drury when Nik Zherdev had been playing well with the veteran duo? I'm pretty sure it was that line that scored the tying goal with under ten seconds to go against the Penguins.

Or how about getting Chris Drury out of his scoring slump with two on the Island? What about Markus Naslund, who was finally starting to play like he should, with seven points in the previous five games?

If it were me, I'd let Fritsche and Petr Prucha continue to battle it out for the third line wing spot alongside Dubinsky and Voros. I'd at least wait until the Rangers lost a game or looked completely out of sync before messing with what was working.

We all know Pru never gets the chance to play on the top line the way Fritsche did last night. At least give him the same opportunity to succeed, Tom.

Now, does Renney and the rest of his coaching staff keep the same lines for the Islander game at home on Tuesday? Or does he, yet again, change up the line combos? My guess is either he keeps the line combos intact, or Fritsche comes out, Zherdev goes back to the top line, and Prucha gets a spot alongside Voros and Dubi. But hey, what do I know?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? The Blueshirts did the exact opposite last night, and watched a victory slip out of the palm of their hands.

What do you all think?

More tomorrow...

Rangers-Maple Leafs: It Takes 60 Minutes to Win, But Just One Minute to Lose

Scott Snyder — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 14:47:49 -0400

Wow! Talk about an old adage coming true. It really did only take one, er, seven and a half minutes for the Rangers to see their two-goal lead evaporate and turn into a three-goal deficit.

Does anyone else feel like every single NHL rookie scores their first goal against the Blueshirts? Cause I sure as hell do. Not only did John Mitchell score his first goal Saturday night against the Rangers; he scored his first two.

I said after the second that the Rangers looked sloppy. Unfortunately, they proved me right. I feel like this loss tonight is almost as bad as the loss against Montreal last season when the Rangers were up 5-0.

I said Toronto should not be overlooked. I do not think they were, but I do think they were not given the respect any NHL team should receive.

The Rangers' ineptitude on the power play again hurt them. Had they scored on their final power play, they would have taken a 3-0 lead and possibly put the game out of reach for Toronto.

Valiquette probably wants the go-ahead goal back. A shot by Pavel Kubina from the point...a puck on edge...straight through everyone. But I don't think Valiquette is to blame for tonight's loss. He played much better than the five goals against the score sheet would suggest.

The Maple Leafs got a solid game from Vesa Toskala in net, and an inability to clear the puck by the Rangers equaled a 5-2 win for the Leafs.

The Rangers will be back at it again Tuesday night at home against the Islanders, who blew a 4-1 lead of their own Saturday night at home against Montreal, who might just be the beasts of the East.

But like I have said before, you cannot and will not win all of them. How they respond Tuesday against an Islanders team who will come out strong against the Rangers as they always do will tell us all a lot about the resolve of the New York Rangers.

More tomorrow. Thanks for reading...