Captain Cally's OT Heroics Leads Rangers To Playoffs

The Rangers' race to the Stanley Cup playoffs finally culminated in a thrilling 4-3 overtime win last night against the Carolina Hurricanes, thanks to the overtime heroics of, who else, but captain Ryan Callahan. After watching Carolina dominate most of the play in the Rangers' zone in overtime, Captain Cally roofed a wrist shot just under the cross bar streaking down the left wing to beat Dan Ellis. The Captain delivered a clutch performance when his team needed him the most, and his overtime celebration was absolutely priceless.

With the Rangers winning last night and the Islanders losing, the Rangers moved into seventh place in the conference. Depending on what happens the rest of the way with other teams, the Rangers could finish the regular season as high as sixth in the standings or as low as eighth. Their first round opponent will either be the Penguins, Bruins, Capitals or Canadiens, and the Rangers will obviously be opening the playoffs on the road no matter who they play. The Winnipeg Jets have officially been eliminated from the playoffs, and as it turns out they would have been eliminated even if the Rangers lost because the Jets wound up losing to the Canadiens later on in the night.

The game, like the Rangers' entire season, was far from easy and felt like it would be an incredibly frustrating loss until Brad Richards' power play goal that bounced off the boards and went in the net after Hurricanes goalie Dan Ellis accidentally kicked it into his own net. I have to admit, after seeing the way the Rangers lost to the Panthers just two days earlier, this game had an eerily similar feeling and I was convinced that the Rangers were going to find themselves in a position where they had to beat the Devils on Saturday to be able to sneak into the playoffs as the eighth seed (the Jets' loss to the Canadiens wasn't final at the time the Rangers won). Thankfully, it didn't come to that. That doesn't change the fact, however, that for a majority of this game it seemed like this was going to be a frustrating loss where the Rangers outperformed their opponent in nearly every category in the boxscore, but still couldn't win. The team got off to a great start with two goals in the first period, but their play noticeably slipped in the second period and they let the Hurricanes back into the game with two goals in the second period and another quick one to start the third. I also thought the Rangers were out-chanced and outplayed for pretty much the entire overtime period until Ryan Callahan's goal.

But what does that matter? Nothing because the bottom line is the Rangers got the win and they're going to the playoffs. When they needed a big play and a big goal, their team leaders Brad Richards and Ryan Callahan stepped up and delivered in a big way.

Some notes and observations from the game:

- D-Step continued his torrid pace in April (seven goals, 10 assists for 17 points in 13 games) with a goal and an assist and overtook Rick Nash for the team lead in points (42 points in 47 games). To say that Derek Stepan has blossomed this season would be an understatement. The kid has become one of the most dynamic players on the Rangers and has left no debate that he is the team's No. 1 center. Something that I didn't realize when looking at Stepan's stats today is that he has a plus-minus rating of 23, which is sixth best in the entire league. That's a pretty telling stat when you consider that Stepan has been a top-six player all year long while getting top minutes on the team's power play and penalty killing units.

- Derick Brassard potted a goal last night and now has 11 points in 12 games with the Rangers since coming over in the Marian Gaborik trade. I wasn't originally sure of what to expect from the kid when the Rangers first got him, but he's been an awesome addition and I keep forgetting that he's only 25 years old, too.

- Brad Richards extended his point-streak to five games and has put up five goals and four assists for nine points in that span. Overall, in April he has posted 16 points in 13 games and has raised his points total on the season to a respectable 32 in 45 games. Richie's game has absolutely elevated since the trade deadline and the team made some major shakeups that included dealing Marian Gaborik to Columbus. Is it a coincidence? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. All I know is Richards has returned to form and looked like the player he was one year ago. I never wrote him off as being done the way others have at times this year, so it's nice to see my faith in him is finally paying off.

- Ryan Callahan extended his point-streak to six games with a goal and an assist last night, registering four goals and five assists during that span. Captain Cally led all forwards in the game with 26:17 TOI and led all skaters with 6 shots on goal.

- Taylor Pyatt extended his point-streak to five games (!!) with an assist last night and now has two goals and three assists for five points during that span. Pyatt has stepped up in a big way playing on the third line since Brian Boyle's knee injury, and if the Rangers can continue to get some secondary scoring out of him that would be just grand going into the playoffs.

- Matt Gilroy appeared in his first game since March 12th, and dressed as an emergency fourth forward because Arron Asham missed the game to be with his wife, who was going into labor. Gilroy took two awful tripping penalties in the game - the second of which led to a Hurricanes power play goal - and I don't think he saw the ice at all after his second penalty. He registered just 3:15 TOI, which was a game-low for anybody on either team. It's really a tough spot for Gilroy to be in, so I kind of feel for him a little bit. He was playing his first game in over a month and was it wasn't even at his natural position.

- Ryane Clowe left last night's game in the second period after taking an elbow to his head while battling for the puck along the boards on a Rangers power play and did not return to the game. He looked noticeably dazed after it happened and needed to be helped off the ice to the locker room during the next TV timeout following the hit. Clowe did not participate in practice today and the Rangers recalled forward Kris Newbury from the Connecticut Whale (AHL), which I don't take as a good sign at all. I hate to speculate, but at this point all signs point to it being a concussion, which would be a big blow to the team. Clowe isn't the flashiest player, but he's emerged as a locker room leader and brings an element of toughness and character that the Rangers previously lacked all year long until they acquired him. Either way, I don't expect John Tortorella to give any updates on his condition moving forward since the Rangers are even more tight-lipped than usual when it comes to their players' health during the playoffs.

- Despite Ryane Clowe exiting the game in the second period and not returning, Chris Kreider registered just 7:05 TOI with no power play time despite being moved up to the third line in the third period. I really don't understand what the point is of having Kreider in the lineup getting under 10 minutes a game, but I've said all I can about it at this point. All we can hope is that he takes this season as a learning experience and gives John Tortorella a reason to trust him with a bigger role next season.

- Speaking of John Tortorella, with the Rangers clinching a playoff birth I have to believe that eliminated any possibility of Torts getting fired after the season. I never thought there was much of a chance that Glen Sather would fire him anyway, but still. I'd say it's almost a 100-percent certainty Tortorella will return next season, and I'd be absolutely stunned if he doesn't considering how loyal Slats is to his coaches. Mike Sullivan, on the other hand, is another case that I hope the Rangers will review following the season.

- Rick Nash was pretty much a surprising non-factor last night, registering only two shots on goal and finishing with a minus-1 rating, and is in a small slump. In his last three games Nash has failed to record a point, registering a minus-2 rating with eight shots on goal. All I can say is get it all out of your system now, Nasher, so you can be at your best come Game 1 of the playoffs.

- The Rangers out-shot the Hurricanes 38-21. The Rangers out-shot them in the second and third periods by a combined total of 28-6.

- Despite the Rangers clinching the playoffs last night, Henrik Lundqvist said following the game that he would like to play in Saturday's regular season finale against the Devils. The game isn't completely meaningless since the Rangers could still move up in the standings, so I think there's a real shot that Lundqvist will start tomorrow at the Garden. Might as well give The King the start if he really wants it when you consider the fact that the Rangers won't be in action after tomorrow until Tuesday or Wednesday. He'll get a nice break either way.

That's it for today. The Rangers will be back at it tomorrow night against the Devils from the Garden. We should learn much more about the playoff seeding and all that by tomorrow night.

Reports: Rangers Re-Sign LW Mats Zuccarello

In the Rangers' latest move as they continue to retool their roster, the Rangers have reportedly agreed to a contract with LW Mats Zuccarello, according to The Bergen Record's Andrew Gross. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed yet, but Zuccarello had previously said it would have to be a one-way, two-year deal for him to return to the Rangers since he still had an additional year on his KHL contract following this season.

The Rangers have yet to officially announce the deal, but Zuke's agent, Erik Ryman, sent out a Tweet earlier today in Norwegian that loosely translates to "Zuccarello is looking forward to getting the chance again to show what he can do in the NHL."

Unlike other international free agents, Mats Zuccarello does not have to pass through waivers since he is still technically Rangers property and was placed on the restricted list lat the end of last season.

The re-signing of Zuccarello is the third roster move the Rangers have made within the last three days, after they waived C Jeff Halpern (claimed by the Montreal Canadiens) and D/RW Stu Bickel (cleared waivers; assigned to the Connecticut Whale). Gross, who has been all over the Rangers being interested in reuniting with Zuccarello since his KHL season ended, seems to believe that Zuke's signing could be a precursor to a bigger move prior to the April 3 trade deadline, noting that "San Jose Sharks scout John Ferguson Jr. has been at the majority of Rangers’ games this season and surely Tortorella would love a reunion with his former Lightning power-play quarterback Dan Boyle." We shall see.

Zuccarello has posted eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points in 52 career NHL games with the Rangers, with 10 of those assists coming on the power play. He immediately adds playmaking ability to the lineup and should provide some secondary scoring that the Rangers are in dire need of. If nothing else, he provides an upgrade on what they previously had and doesn't cost and picks or players to acquire. Zuccarello hasn't played in a few weeks since his KHL season ended, so I'm not quite sure when we might see him suit up. With J.T. Miller nursing a wrist injury, it would probably make sense for Zuccarello to replace Taylor Pyatt in the lineup, who has just one goal and zero assists in his last 23 games, including 13 straight without a point. That would allow Kris Newbury to remain in the lineup centering the fourth line after a strong showing yesterday against the Capitals until Miller is able to return. The Rangers, of course, could always opt to send Miller back down to the Whale, too, given that he hasn't scored a goal in 20 games, although John Tortorella has been impressed with the youngster's two-way play lately.

Pregame Notes: Rangers vs. Flyers Tonight at 7 p.m.

After last night's thrilling overtime win thanks to Marian Gaborik's hat trick, the Rangers are right back at it tonight in Philly against the Flyers. The Rangers, who have won eight straight against Philadelphia dating back to last season, will look to move to 2-3-0 on the season. Henrik Lundqvist will be back in goal tonight coming off of his best performance of the young season last night against Boston.

Some quick notes:

- Chris Kreider, who played just 7:21 in last night's overtime win against the Bruins and has only one shot through the first three games of the season, will be a healthy scratch tonight in Philly. John Tortorella has clearly been frustrated with Kreider's play through training camp and the early part of the season, and he said after last night's game that the Rangers brass will have to meet to discuss whether the best course of action is to have Kreider remain with the team or to send him down to the Connecticut Whale. I would think they're leaning towards sending him down, but time will tell. Kreider committed a penalty last night and never really saw the ice again after that.

- The Rangers recalled forward Kris Newbury from the Connecticut Whale after last night's game, and he will dress tonight in Kreider's spot in the lineup.

-  Arron Asham skated at practice today, but will miss his second consecutive game with a strained groin. That means Stu Bickel, who played just 3:00 last night, will once again dress as a forward on the fourth line while Steve Eminger will remain in the lineup and be paired on the third d-pairing with Anton Stralman.

- The third and fourth lines are up in the air, but we definitely know what the top two lines will look like tonight. Rick Nash-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik will be the first line, while Taylor Pyatt-Derek Stepan-Ryan Callahan will be the second. Beyond that, I would have to guess the third line will be Hagelin-Boyle-Newbury and the fourth line of Rupp-Halpern-Bickel will remain the same as last night.

- As mentioned above, Henrik Lundqvist will be in goal once again this evening. I originally thought we might see Marty Biron in goal tonight with four games in the first six games of the season, but that's not the case. Lundqvist still looked a little shaky in goal in last night's win, so I'm sure he wants to continue to work through his struggles until he finds his game and get his rhythm back.

- The Rangers made a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins today, swapping minor league right wing Chad Kolarik for center Ben Ferriero. Ferriero, 25, has skated in 92 career NHL games (all with the San Jose Sharks) and has posted 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points. Playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the AHL this year, he has racked up four goals and 14 assists for 18 points and 14 penalty minutes in 34 games. Kolarik, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, has 16 goals and 19 assists for 35 points in 41 games with the Connecticut Whale this season, and was named to the AHL All-Star team as the Whale's lone representative. Seems a little bit of a strange that the Rangers would trade Kolarik, who I always liked and felt could be a decent 13th forward option for the Rangers, for a guy who's essentially an AHL grinder, but who knows. I guess it's possible Kolarik asked for a trade. I did think it was odd that the Rangers didn't even invite him to camp this year before the season started considering the year he's having in the AHL, but either way - a minor trade like this is nothing to get up in arms about.

NHL Lockout Nearly Official; No CBA Talks Scheduled For Saturday

The NHL is headed to a lockout. Any optimism we got when both sides reopened negotiations last Friday is dead, and at midnight tonight players will be locked out by the owners. The NHL owners and NHLPA have no meetings scheduled for today, meaning there will be no further attempts to reach a deal before players are locked out by owners at midnight. This really shouldn't surprise anybody at this point, but that doesn't make any of this suck any less for hockey fans all over the world.

Teams have already started making contingency plans by assigning players who are still eligible to their AHL affiliates so that they can play until the NHL season begins. Jeff Skinner of the Carolina Hurricanes, for instance, was optioned to their AHL team specifically for that reason. The Rangers announced that they have assigned eight players to the Connecticut Whale, although all of them (Forwards Kris Newbury, Chad Kolarik, Michael Haley, Tommy Grant and Brandon Segal and defensemen Sean Collins, Logan Pyett, and Mike Vernace) are veteran AHL guys who had virtually no shot of landing a roster spot with the big club anyway. There have been whispers over the past week that the Rangers would send Chris Kreider down to the Whale, but nothing has been officially announced by the team yet.

As far as what the rest of the team has planned, Ryan Callahan and Brad Richards told Larry Brooks of The New York Post that the players have already begun looking to rent ice rinks in the New York area so that the team can still do conditioning drills and skate together as a team. John Tortorella has reportedly been in touch with Richards, Callahan and Henrik Lundqvist about keeping the team together and remaining conditioned. It's worth noting that as of right now no players on the Rangers have agreed to play overseas in Europe like other NHL players have. The Rangers obviously wouldn't admit to this, but it seems like the plan is for the team to stick together for now while they wait and hope that a new CBA is agreed upon fairly quickly. If weeks and months begin to go by with no progress towards a new deal I wouldn't be surprised if players begin to explore options playing in Europe. Lundqvist, for instance, has already indicated that he would likely go back to Sweden to play if the lockout drags on. Nevertheless, it's still great to see this team sticking together and shows the comradery of these guys for not wanting to immediately go their separate ways when the lockout begins.

Where things go from here is anybody's guess. The fact that both sides are still reportedly $1 billion apart in negotiations would seem to indicate that at the very least the lockout will drag on for a few weeks. I also think the fact that the NHL and NHLPA didn't even bother to meet today seems to indicate that both sides are still so far apart that there's no way they could settle everything in just one day. Gary Bettman's stubborn, two-faced approach has been the most aggravating part of all of this to me, personally. One day he gives the NHLPA a "take it or leave it" offer in an almost threateningly manner, and the next he's talking about how nobody wants to see hockey more than him. I'll have more on my disgust with Bettman and the owners in the next few days, though.

Oh, and just in case you wanted some more bad news on top of all this, there is virtually "no chance" restricted free agent Michael Del Zotto agrees to a new contract with the Rangers before the lockout begins at midnight tonight, according to both Bob McKenzie of TSN and Katie Strang of ESPN. All this really means is that whenever the season resumes and a new CBA is agreed to Glen Sather will immediately have to work on getting Del Zotto signed before the start of the season. Fantastic.

Recapping Free Agency For The Rangers So Far

Apologies for being away the past few weeks, but I was away on vacation and really didn't have time to sit down and post news on the blog. Anyway, I'm back now and will be on top of things going forward.

To recap, here are all the Rangers' moves so far in free agency:

- Re-signed goalie Marty Biron to a two-year deal.
- Re-signed defenseman Stu Bickel to a two-year deal.
- Re-signed forward Kris Newbury to a one-year deal.
- Retained the rights to forward Mats Zuccarello and defenseman Anton Stralman, meaning they will be Rangers property if either decides to play in the NHL this upcoming season.
- Signed forward Aaron Asham to a two-year deal.
- Signed forward Micheal Bailey to a one-year deal.
- Signed forward Taylor Pyatt to a two-year deal.
- Signed forward Kyle Jean, who participated in the Rangers' prospect camp last week after spending the last two seasons playing for Lake Superior State. The terms are undisclosed, but he's a kid just coming out of college who's just 22 years old, so it's a good depth move for Harford.
- Lost forwards John Mitchell to Colorado Avalanche, Brandon Prust to Montreal Canadiens, and Ruslan Fedotenko to Philadelphia Flyers.
- Lost defensemen Jeff Woywitka to St. Louis Blues and John Scott to Buffalo Sabres.
- Lost the following players, who were on the Connecticut Whale last season: goalie Chad Johnson to Phoenix Coyotes and forward Jonathan Audy-Marchessault to Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Return of Page Six Sean?

Larry Brooks of the New York Post is one of several people today who is reporting that The Grate One himself, Sean Avery, will be placed on re-entry waivers tomorrow with the intention of him rejoining the Rangers in time for Thursday's game against Anaheim at MSG. Avery was cut after the preseason in favor of the Rangers keeping Mats Zuccarello, Wojtek Wolski and Erik Christensen on the roster - all of whom have a grand total of 2 assists and no shootout goals combined this season - but it looks as if Rangers management has decided to reinsert the spark plug back into the heart of the team yet again.

And who gets credit for breaking this news in the first place? Well, longtime hockey journalist Boomer Esiason of course (huh?). Earlier in the day, the longtime Rangers fan/ex-NFL quarterback/WFAN talk show host/NFL on CBS analyst, Tweeted, "Little birdie telling me Sean Avery is back! Thank God! Finally some energy! For the NYR." I, like many others I talked with, pretty much dismissed this as wishful thinking on Boomer's part since he's always been a huge Rangers fan, but it appears he was onto something because several other reporters began confirming Boomer's Tweet within the next several hours today. Who would've thought?

Sean Avery will have to clear waivers if he is recalled, which means every other team in the league has a chance to claim him for half of his salary. Most don't seem to think another team will claim him, though, and expect him to clear waivers and be a Broadway Blueshirt once again.

Avery skated in two games for the Connecticut Whale, recording 1 goal and scoring in the shootout last night to propel the Whale to victory.

My feelings on Sean Avery have been well-documented already, so I won't really delve too much deeper into this. Just to recap: I have always been a fan of Sean Avery and feel like John Tortorella never gave him a fair chance. Even on the occasions when Avery did play well for the Rangers Torts would waste little time demoting him in the lineup the first time things went wrong. Furthermore, I think Avery is absolutely an improvement over the other forwards the Rangers have tried on the fourth line this year (Kris Newbury, Erik Christensen, Mats Zuccarello, etc.) and he gives the team an identity and personality that they need. The players clearly love him, as evidenced by Henrik Lundqvist's remarks in the New York Post earlier this week that seemed like a subtle shot at management's decision to cut Avery in the first place, and I'm assuming that the decision to bring Avery back is being led by Glen Sather. Slats has gone on record on more than one occasion about how much he likes Sean and what he brings to the table and he must feel like Avery's energy is what this team needs to get going. I just can't see John Tortorella going to Glen Sather and asking him to bring Avery back so quickly, but maybe I'm wrong.

Either way, this whole situation comes as a huge surprise. I never thought Avery would skate in the NHL this year after he was waived, and I definitely didn't think that if he did it would come with the Rangers. Nearly everybody reported that Sean's career with the Rangers was over and done with after he was waived, but maybe it isn't quite yet.

More on this situation as it develops. There should be more news come tomorrow.

Rangers vs. Canucks Pregame Notes, Marc Staal Update Coming Tomorrow?

Some pregame notes for the Rangers-Canucks game tonight from Vancouver (10 p.m. EST on MSG Network), courtesy of Steve Zipay of Newsday.


Rangers lines:

Stepan-Richards-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Rupp-Newbury-Christensen

Ryan McDonagh-Dan Girardi
Michael Del Zotto-Tim Erixon
Jeff Woywitka-Steve Eminger

Henrik Lundqvist

Scratches: Wolski (Groin), Sauer (Shoulder)


Canucks lines:

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Hodgson-Kesler-Higgins
Samuelsson-Malhotra-Hansen
Volpatti-Lapierre-Weise

Roberto Luongo

- The Canucks will honor Rick Rypien prior to tonight's game, who committed suicide this past August at the age of 27. Rypien played in 119 games with the Canucks over six seasons.

- Wojtek Wolski and Michael Sauer are both out as they continue to try and comeback from their injuries. It sounds like Sauer may miss most of the games on this Canada trip, if not all of them. Brendan Bell was obviously recalled because the Rangers aren't very confident in Sauer suiting up within the next few days.

- Dale Weise is in the lineup and will suit up against his former team for the first time. Weise, of course, was lost on waivers a few weeks ago to the Canucks.

- Joe Micheletti said on the Rangers pregame show on MSG that the Rangers will likely give an official update tomorrow on Marc Staal's recovery from his concussion. Hold your breath, Rangers fans. I'm assuming we're either going to get very good news or not so good news, unless Staal pulls a Sidney Crosby and has a press conference to announce that nothing has changed in his recovery.

Mats Zuccarello Sent To Connecticut Whale, Brendan Bell and Kris Newbury Recalled

The Rangers announced after their loss to the Islanders on Saturday that they have sent down Mats Zuccarello to the AHL and recalled center Kris Newbury to take his place on the roster. On Sunday, the team also announced that they have recalled defenseman Brendan Bell to join them on their road trip through Canada that begins with a game tomorrow night against the Vancouver Canucks.

Kris Newbury was leading the Connecticut Whale with 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points in four games this season, while Bell had recorded an assist in two games with the Whale since he was assigned there after the Rangers got back from Sweden.

Read more below for comments from Mats Zuccarello on being sent down to the Connecticut Whale.