Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes Beat New York Rangers: Saturday's Pregame Notes

Last night, the New York Rangers faced off against a young Carolina Hurricanes team.

The Hurricanes, who have only played one home game this season, defeated the Rangers 4-3, continuing the Rangers' struggles on home ice (they now hold a weak record of 1-3-1 in Madison Square Garden this season).

The Rangers got off to a hot start, as they found a consistent forecheck and offensive pressure (though they did not score). The offense was controlling the puck, and they were piling shot upon shot on Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward.

The first goal came late in the first period. Steve Eminger took an interference penalty to put the Rangers on the penalty kill. The Rangers killed a previous penalty in the period which was taken by Ryan Callahan, but this time, they could not hold off the Hurricanes forwards.

After two wonderful saves by Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu found an open rebound and flipped the puck over Lundqvist's pads for a late-period power play goal. The goal gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead to take into the next period.

In the opening minute of the second period, the puck took a bad bounce off Rangers defenseman Michael Rozsival, and landed right on the stick of Hurricane rookie Jeff Skinner, who then fired the puck between the legs of Lundqvist. The Hurricanes led 2-0.

It was another goal scored as a result of an uncovered Hurricane forward.

Three minutes into the second period, the Rangers finally had a call go their way. The Rangers would have a chance to get back into the game on the power play, and they did.

The goal was scored off a hard shot from the point taken by Rangers sophomore forward Artem Anisimov, but the puck was redirected into the back of the net by Rangers forward Ryan Callahan, cutting the Hurricanes lead to 2-1.

Minutes after their first goal, the Rangers received another power play. Once again, the Rangers would take advantage of their man advantage, as Marc Staal received an excellent pass from Erik Christensen and scored the game-tying goal.

Staal snuck into the offensive zone from the right point, received a beautiful cross pass from Erik Christensen and fired a shot passed the Hurricanes goalie for the power play score.

The Rangers started to take control of the game, and it looked like the momentum was swinging their way. But of course, less than a minute after the Rangers tied the game up, the Hurricanes scored another goal to retake the lead.

A terrible giveaway in the Rangers' defensive zone by Rangers defenseman Michael Rozsival, and Jeff Skinner scored his second goal of the game to give the Hurricanes a 3-2 lead.

Skinner intercepted a weak pass, and used his speed to get a breakaway. He then made a forehand-backhand move on Henrik Lundqvist, and scored the leading goal.

But the back-and-forth game would continue as the Rangers tied the game up only three minutes after the Hurricanes retook the lead.

Young Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky ripped a snap shot past Ward and tied the game at three late in the second period. It was another beautiful goal for Dubinsky, who is off to a very hot start for the Rangers.

The third period was going well for the Rangers as they continued their offensive pressure and forecheck, and Lundqvist continued to make extremely impressive saves to keep the game tied.

But a horrific penalty call (the referees were terrible throughout the game) was given to Rangers center Brian Boyle, and the Rangers were forced to kill a late-game penalty (sound familiar?).

The Rangers could not successfully terminate the penalty, and the Hurricanes scored what turned out to be their game-winning goal.

Another open Hurricane forward (Erik Cole) in front of the net received an easy rebound, and shot the puck top-shelf for the winning goal.

The Rangers failed to score with an empty net late in the game, and they would lose their second straight game. Terrible penalty calls and a troubled penalty kill landed the Rangers another loss.

The offense was consistent and definitely not the problem in last night’s loss.

The defense was once again the major weak point for the Rangers, as they left Hurricane forwards wide open in front of their goaltender. Terrible giveaways also hurt the Rangers.

Lundqvist received another undeserved loss to his 2010-11 record. He made at least 10 incredible saves during the game, most of them coming in the third period. The defense was terrible, for the most part, and Hank will have to suffer.

Toronto Pregame Notes

Tonight, the Rangers will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the third time this month, both teams having won a game in this season’s series.

The Maple Leafs' win came in overtime in the Rangers' season home opener, and the Rangers defeated the Maple Leafs in Toronto 2-1 about a week ago.

The Rangers must continue their tough forechecking style of play against the Maple Leafs, but they have to work harder on the penalty kill and on defense.

The Maple Leafs have an excellent power play unit, and if the Rangers give them too many chances on the man-advantage, they will score. Discipline will play a major role in tonight’s game, and the remainder of the season.

The defense was once again a weak point in the Rangers in Friday's loss, as they left multiple Hurricane forwards wide open in the offensive zone. The defense needs to tighten up, and clear the crease of unwanted players and pucks.

Less passing and more puck-carrying may benefit the Rangers, as the passing has been terrible in recent games, in regards to the lengthy passes in the neutral zone.

Lundqvist is expected to start tonight in goal for the Rangers, but there is a small chance that Martin Biron gets another start against the Maple Leafs (he was the winning goalie in the Rangers' 2-1 win earlier this season). We will likely know by around 5 p.m. this evening.

According to Andrew Gross (The Record), the Rangers will have Evgeny Grachev accompany them to Toronto. He will likely get at least one more game played before he is sent back to Hartford.

Grachev looked very good in his seven minutes of ice time against the Hurricanes, and almost scored his first career goal on a deflection.

He used his big body to his advantage, and he showed a lot more speed and skill than he did during the preseason.  

I will try to update this article (or make a new one) when anything new occurs.