Live Blog: Rangers at Devils, 9/16

Game 2 of the preseason and the first game for goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who will play about 30 minutes according to him and coach John Tortorella.

Here are the lines:
Sean Avery-Vinny Prospal-Enver Lisin
Evgeny Grachev-Brian Boyle-Ales Kotalik
Patrick Rissmiller-Tyler Arnason-P.A. Parenteau
Aaron Voros-Matt Maccarone-Jordan Owens
Wade Redden-Matt Gilroy
Brent Henley-Corey Potter
Michael Del Zotto-Michal Rozsival
G: Henrik Lundqvist/Chad Johnson

Dan LaCouture was originally slated to play on Maccarone's right but Tortorella decided he wanted to see Owens in an "NHL" game. Instead, LaCouture skated this afternoon as Hartford beat Lowell, 4-3, in a shootout at the Rock.

Tortorella also said Bobby Sanguinetti, who did not dress for either of today's games, would get a game and just because Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy are playing tonight after dressing for last night's 2-1 loss to the Bruins, it doesn't "knock (Sanguinetti) out of the box."

Torts also liked Artem Anisimov in last night's game and made it sound like Ilkka Heikkinen, who played for Hartford this afternoon, was not guaranteed an NHL preseason game. Tortorella also had a long discussion with Sean Avery during the morning skate regarding neutral-zone defense and making sure Avery was communicating with the defensemen, particularly since so many are young players.

Check back during the game for live updates...
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Rangers Starters: Redden-Gilroy, Avery-Prospal-Lisin, Lundqvist

2:40 First period: Redden, Gilroy playing the points on power play. Devils have had better chances on the penalty kill than the Rangers with the man advantage. It's too early in the preseason to take out the red flag. For now, it'll remain in the pocket.

6:10 First period: Bad turnover by Del Zotto on the power play. Still no shots in the game.

7:15 First period: Rangers in midseason form on power play, 0-for-2 no shots.

8:49 First period: Shots have been taken in the game, scoreboard just not registering them.

12:09 First period: Gilroy, Redden,  Rissmiller, P.A. Parenteau on the penalty kill after Ales Kotalik is called for hooking.

13:31 First period: No help from Rozsival, Potter, Boyle, Grachev on David Clarkson's net as Clarkson is left wide open in front of Lundqvist, getting two whacks at the puck. Not quite the Blair Betts-Fredrik Sjostrom unit.

18:41 First period:  Sean Avery had his best you've-got-to-be-kidding-me face after his goal was wiped off and Matt Mottau jumped on his back in the crease. Avery was to Yann Danis' right and blocked the goalie as he tapped in Enver Lisin's shot before Mottau jumped on him, prompting a scrum. Avery gets two minutes for goalie interference and two for unsportsmanlike conduct.

First intermission: Much like yesterday's loss to the Bruins, the Rangers have started slowly. But Enver Lisin continues to display his superior skating skills. He's fast, very, very fast and he probably would have scored on his shot anyway had Avery not interfered with Danis. Lisin must continue to create scoring opportunities to convince Tortorella of his worth.

6:35 Second period: On Rangers power play, Del Zotto caught a little too far down in the Devils' zone as the Devils nearly transition the other way. But that's OK. Tortorella wants the defensemen to be aggressive. Kotalik, playing the left point, was able to get back on defense.

8:02 Second period: Aaron Voros goes skate to skate with Mark Fraser but the Devil gets Voros' helmet off and his quicker to the punch at the start. Voros, though, is always game.

9:51 Second period: Chad Johnson has replaced Henrik Lundqvist.

10:14 Second period: David Clarkson has beaten Chad Johnson from the left on the first shot Johnson faced.

14:18: Second period: Second fight: massive defenseman Brent Henley, who has used his big body to get noticed during scrimmages, scraps with P.L. Letourneau-Leblond. Hard to declare a winner but both looked very agile as they spun around and around and around and around.

15:12 Second period: This one is called. Bryce Salvador gets the blade of his stick in Sean Avery's face and gets a high-sticking call.

16:15 Second period: Gilroy and Del Zotto out on the power play together.

Second intermission: Really looking forward to tomorrow, when the 54-man roster is significantly reduced. It'll be easier for players to get into a flow and, likewise, it'll be easier to focus in on players' performances. Some players will be going back to juniors tomorrow but I'd be very surprised if Del Zotto is one of them. I think he's played well enough to warrant a much longer look through the preseason. Still on the fence as to what would be best for his development. On the one hand, he's guaranteed major minutes as a top two defenseman at London and if he sticks with the Rangers (past nine games) he's here for the season and Tortorella might have to sit him in spots and that might stunt his growth if those stretches are too long. On the other hand, Del Zotto might be very close to showing he can play in the NHL, meaning he might not get as much out of one last season in juniors. Waffle, waffle, I know. Looking forward to seeing him play at least a couple of more times, hopefully Saturday at Boston. Gilroy's been OK while showing his offensive potential but they're paying him to be a Ranger and I think he will be.

3:03 Third period: Matt Gilroy flashes his offensive potential, with a burst through the Devils' defense and a backhander over Yann Danis to make it 2-1. So it's what I said above.

11:46 Third period: So Torts must have known something, switching Owens to the NHL game instead of Dan LaCouture. Owens ties it on an unassisted goal, making a nice move to the net. He's a strong kid.

14:19 Third period: Maybe there is something to this conditioning stuff after all. For the second straight night, the Rangers have been the much stronger team in the second half of the game.

On Owens' goal: Add an assist for Del Zotto.

:57 Overtime: Boy, Del Zotto really does get deep into the zone, even in a 4-on-4 situation. Like Torts said yesterday, that's a "nice arrogance."

1:38 Overtime: And there goes Gilroy attacking the net. Both seeing plenty of ice time.

2:31 Overtime: Del Zotto called for dragging down Vladimir Zharkov.

3:42 Overtime: Nice job by Rangers not giving up a goal with Devils skating 4-on-3 and Brian Boyle having lost his stick.

Final: Devils 3, Rangers 2 (shootout): Six rounds in a shootout and Matt Gilroy is the only Ranger to score. Zach Parise beats Chad Johnson in the third round and Travis Zajac nets the game-winner. At least Johnson, who played very well in the third period after a shaky start, gets beaten by NHLers. Really thought Vinny Prospal was going to score in the sixth round but Yann Danis turned aside his backhander.

Somebody asked about the A's in the comments and Tortorella was asked about it after the game. He does not like rotating the alternate captains, did not do that in Tampa and will not here. "We'll figure out who'll be the leaders as we go through the next few weeks and get it settled by opening night," Tortorella said. "I don't believe in all that rotating stuff."

Tortorella also liked the play of young defensemen Del Zotto and Gilroy.

"They make subtle plays," Tortorella said. "It's not just always off the glass and giving it back to the other team. They're looking to make a play out of the end zone so we have control. They've done a good job in a lot of minutes that we've given them the past couple of games."

Tomorrow, the Rangers will make their first cuts. They're at 54 right now, Tortorella said he wants to be down to 29 or 30. One player guaranteed to still be here for the trip to Detroit Friday and on to Boston Saturday is Corey Potter. Tortorella said he'd be sticking around for now.

Tortorella also mentioned twice how much he hates losing. Even though these are just preseason games, losing on consecutive games is eating at him a little.

Comments

[Rob from MV]

Why is it the Devils' broadcast on MSG? Did I miss something?

I don't think I will be able to put up with these fools all game long...

[Andrew Gross]

Devils broadcast team doing game since it's in New Jersey. Joe Michelletti (sorry Joe if that's misspelled) in booth with them.

[Rob from MV]

Andrew, I don't know if you mentioned it before, but I noticed Rozy and Redden both have the "A" on their jersey...is it something to read into for the future or will the "A" be a revolving door in the preseason?

[anne]

ummm,maybe this is a stupid question but i live in syracuse and i have always gotten the rangers games on msg, i have recdntly gone to college near buffalo and msg is not showing the game nor did it last night., please tell me this will change durring the regular season

[graves9]

Rangers sure could use a player like Clarkson. He is gritty can fight and has a good set of hands. He reminds me a bit of Randy Mckay.

[Andrew Gross]

On tonight's "A's," don't read anything into it, these are split squads so they'll rotate until Torts names his alternates. But that's usually every preseason since guys don't dress for every game.
On MSG: I know tonight's game is on MSG Plus, which is where the Devils' games usually are. I'd check with your cable supplier to see if you can get MSG Plus as well. BTW, love the 'Cuse, class of '89, will miss my reunion to be in Pittsburgh for the season opener.

[CP (Chris)]

Agreed, GRAVES. There aren't too many players like Clarkson that can bring a similar style game in the league. Their last two attempts at finding a Clarkson have been Rissmiller and Voros.

[Godwin]

Roszival looks terrible so far. His fault for both Devils goals.

[bob]

Now nobody will take Rozsival off our hands.

I hope Tortorella has more tricks up his sleeves...

[bob]

Rozsival is out to prove Tortorella wrong regarding safe is death.

Prospal, Owens, Avery and Lisin look very good.

NHL needs to fire the idiot that Devils employ to record amount of hits! The retard recorded a total of 8 hits.

Kotalik is such a waste, totally invisible, lacks agility. Who cares about his big shot? Goalies are well padded, your big shot won't go through it.

What happened to Lacouture was he cut prematurely?

The rest look pretty good, even Redden.

So as far as I can tell Kotalik, Rozsival, and Drury are the players that I really want off the team.

[CP (Chris)]

Bob, heavy shot=rebounds, and it's only preseason. You can't expect any chemistry, even with the veterans, because only half the team has played together previously, not including the new FA signings.

[Andrew Gross]

Bob,

LaCouture, here on a tryout, played for Hartford in this afternoon's AHL game. Not sure he's going to survive tomorrow's cuts.

[bob]

very hard shots create a rebound that turns into a rush the other way.

I thought Lacouture was scheduled to play this game

[bob]

How did Owens only score 12 goals in AHL last season?

[Andrew Gross]

Bob,

Yeah, Tortorella switched Owens and LaCouture sometime this morning after LaCouture was originally going to play in the NHL game. Torts said before the game he wanted to see Owens in an NHL game. Nobody likes LaCouture more than me but the Rangers pretty much know what they have in him.

[Sergei]

Jordan Owens mother is behind me. What are the odds? Apparently it's his first NHL game.

[Andrew Gross]

Sergei,

I'm assuming you're commenting from the stands. Otherwise, that really is a coincidence.

[bob]

Joghnson is awesome. Way better than Valiquette.

Owens looks like is a physical winger that can score and a very good skater. Would look good on 3rd or 4th line.

Boyle and Gilroy keep getting better and better.

Arnason??? didn't even notice him. Macarone is too light for his hight.

[graves9]

Boyle showed me nothing. He looks like a less talented version of Betts(without the pk skills) Parentau , Gilroy, Grachev all looked really good. Did Arnason even play today? The pp looked good yesterday you put Redden on the point today and it looks like a jumbled mess. Coincidence? I think not. Voros is a worthless punching bag nuff said. Rissmiller has two yeasrs left at one million each for the next two years yet Sather is lowballing Dubi. Johnson looked really good nice pickup this offseason by Slats. Quiet game by Prospal I thought. Avery was good it would be nice if the a-hole refs gave him a fair shake(yeah not gonna happen. Parise is a great player thank God Sather drafted Jessiman over him. Rozsival and Redden both looked terrible imo. Boring first two periods but the third was a lot of fun to watch.

[bob]

Boyle is a huger more talented version of Betts. He was much more noticeable and took a few very good sneaky shots and is solid defensively.

I agree Redden and Rozsival should stay away from the PP. Redden looked stronger and had more bite in him.

Voros is the only player to get into a fight in 2 games, and he scored an assist and was solid, the guy he was fighting is a tough dude. I like Voros.

Rissmiller was not bad, but not good enough to make the team.

[bob]

BTW I never seen any goalie with a cowboy style that Johnson uses. Did you see him in the shootouts? Crazy, I hope he beats out Valiquette for the job.

[bob]

Am I the only one who was really impressed by Owens?

[graves9]

He looked pretty good. I wouldn't mind seeing him beat out Boyle for the 4th line spot. I doubt it happens though.

[Sergei]

Yes Bob I was in section 4 and she was sitting behind me. I will have amateur footage of his goal on youtube shortly. I am actually a devils fan but frequent this blog because I love having the inside scoop.

[Sergei]

here it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wolQaBUezU