SB Nation - Wade Redden

Rangers GameDay: News and Notes, Scouting the Blackhawks

Jim Schmiedeberg — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:28:36 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

Some news and notes heading into tonight's game with Chicago:

The NY Daily News today talks about Sean Avery going back to the top line:

The initial reason was that a two-game audition on the first line for Artem Anisimov showed the rookie center, while improving, isn't ready to handle that sort of two-way responsibility.

After initiating "a couple of very pointed conversations" with Avery in recent weeks, Tortorella also believes the agitating winger has responded by rediscovering his aggressive and grating style to play his most effective hockey of the season over the last several games.

Granted, the first line has not played up to speed the last two games, but is two games a fair assessment of a rookie's ability to play as a first line center?

For better or worse, looks like Wade Redden will be ready to play tonight against Chicago:

USA Today MVP Poll now has Marian Gaborik at the top, moving up from number 4. Of course this always raises the old question of "can a last place (or close to it) team really have the MVP of the league?"

More after the jump........

Rangers and Blackhawks head-to-head

	STATS
29	GP	28
14	W	18
14	L	7
1	OT	3
29	P	39
0.500	P%	0.696
2.79	G/G	2.93
3.03	GA/G	2.18
20.2	PP%	21.4
83.9	PK%	84.5
29.1	S/G	32.0
29.9	SA/G	24.4
47.5	FO%	53.5

As you can see, the Rangers have their work cut out for them tonight.

Blackhawks Notes:(courtesy of NHL.com)

After fashioning an eight-game winning streak last month, the Hawks have struggled to regain their groove. Chicago has lost three of its last five games, and much like the Rangers, the Blackhawks' offense, too, is struggling. The Hawks have yet to win in regulation since that eight-game stretch, while scoring only seven goals in the process. An obvious source of concern might be Patrick Kane. While the winger has been setting up teammates, Kane is nearly three weeks removed from his last goal, a game-winner against the Oilers on Nov. 21.

With the exception of longterm injuries to Adam Burish and Dave Bolland, the Hawks will have a full lineup Wednesday.

Patrick Kane's seven-game goal-less streak is his third of five games or more this year. While they are not the longest stretches of Kane's career -- he endured a 12-game drought last December and January -- and Kane does have five assists over his current dryspell it is still a worrisome trend for the Hawks. Kane only had three goal-less streaks of five or more games all last season.

NFL Ruins historic ad campaign for Blackhawks and Bears (Puck Daddy, Yahoo Sports)

Marian Hossa "slowly getting there" (Chicago Trib)

Gaborik the focus of Blackhawks attention (Chicago Breaking News)

For more on the Blackhawks, check out Second City Hockey, the SBNation home of the Chicago Blackhawks

Something new I am going to throw into these previews, just for fun:

SweaterRating: A

Original Six teams always lead the pack when it comes to hockey sweaters, and the Hawks home reds have always been among the best in the league. They also get props for a great Winter Classic sweater.

Did Larry Brooks make up a story just to stick it to Glen Sather?

Jim Schmiedeberg — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:00:22 -0000

by Paul Sancya - AP

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Greg over at Metro Hockey has a fantastic story about some investigative reporting done by Adrian Szkolar, a Ranger fan and student at Stony Brook University.

Last week Larry Brooks ran this story about the Rangers failure to offer Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik a contract when he was a free agent. You can click the link for the full Brooks' article, here is an excerpt:

Snubbed apparently because the GM was too busy angling to sign the not-even one-and-done Dimitri Kalinin after previously investing $11.5M annually in free agent defensemen Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival, Orpik re-upped with Pittsburgh for six years at an annual $3.75M cap hit.

As usual, tough words from Brooks on Sather. Larry has been on Glen's case for a long time, that's no secret to anyone who follows the Rangers on a daily basis. But with the evidence presented, it looks like Larry may have made this one up.

When Orpik re-upped with Pittsburgh, it was reported that Orpik turned down more money from the Rangers to stay with PIttsburgh, this was reported by Rossi.

The offers Orpik, 27, could have accepted from two other teams -- one of which was the Atlantic Division rival New York Rangers - would have paid him a higher annual salary.

So, Adrian went digging, first going to Brooks to ask him to clarify the situation, then to Rossi, who had reported directly from Orpik that the Rangers had an offer on the table for him.

Brooks naturally did not like being questioned, and the email exchange between him and Adrian is pretty interesting, because even though Adrian is presenting Brooks with pretty overwhelming evidence, Larry refuses to budge on the story he wrote.

You can read the whole story here, including the various emails between Adrian, Brooks, and Rossi.

I think the main question that sticks out for me is: Hasn't Glen Sather made enough mistakes that the media doesn't need to make any up?

Full props to Greg and Adrian at Metro Hockey, they did a great job with this.

Rangers News: Christensen's first day, Heikkenen, Dubinsky skates

Jim Schmiedeberg — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:12:06 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

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Happy Friday Ranger fans. The weekend is upon us, we've got two Ranger games on the slate, and some big college and pro football on the slate. Send the family out Christmas shopping, and settle in for what will hopefully be a great sports weekend. Here are some of the headlines making news in the Rangers world:

Jim Cerny has reported on Twitter that Wade Redden will not play at all this weekend, Chad Johnson was not told how long he will be with the Rangers, and that Brandon Dubinsky skated before practice today with Mike Sullivan.

Jim Cerny at Rangers.com has a good story on one of the newest Rangers, Erik Christensen. While as fans we tend to look at new players as some kind of saviors, let's remember that Christensen is a guy who has never played a full NHL season, and has not showed the ability to score at the NHL level that he did in the minors.

But, he does give the Rangers another true center, and he looks to be a good face-off guy, something we know the Rangers desperately need right now.

Metro Hockey has a look at what lies ahead for the Rangers, funny stuff. My favorite:

March 2: Chris Higgins scores his third goal of the season.

Larry Brooks says the Rangers are hopeful the changes made this week will lead to some wins:

As far as Rangers shakeups go, this is not waiving Eddie Giacomin a week before trading Jean Ratelle and Brad Park in 1975.

Having said that, the personnel moves over the last two days, in which the Blueshirts acquired center Erik Christensen off waivers from Anaheim, exchanged goaltenders by waiving Steve Valiquette to the AHL while recalling Chad Johnson from the Wolf Pack, and promoted defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen from Hartford, are indications that management is not going to sit still while the club nosedives to the nether regions of the East.

More after the jump......

Andrew Gross has the updates from practice today:

Donald Brashear is also out for the time being, having re-aggravated his right hand/wrist injury.

Tortorella on Dubinsky:

"For a while, we didn’t see the healing," Tortorella said. "There’s healing in there now. I don’t think we’re at risk to do any damage if he hits it. Of course, we don’t want him falling. Also, we need to get him on the ice. He’s been off for a while. So when we started seeing the healing, we’re going to slowly get him on just to get his skating legs."

Rangers News: Can you play defense? Can you do it cheap? Call Glen.....

Jim Schmiedeberg — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:01:19 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

"Dammit Chris! We're out of cap space! Where am I going to find a defenseman?"....."Search me boss, hey, have you seen pictures of my Ferrari?"

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So according to Andrew Gross, Wade Redden skated today, but does not look comfortable in contact drills (insert joke here), meaning he probably won't be ready to go Saturday night.

This leaves the Rangers with a bit of a sticky wicket. With the addition of Chad Johnson and Erik Christensen's salaries to the payroll, even with the subtraction of Steve Valiquette, the Rangers do not have the cap space to call up anyone, like Bobby Sanguinetti.

From Andrew's story:

The quick story on the numbers, though. The Rangers, who reportedly had about $800,000 of wiggle room, did substract Valiquette’s $725,000 but Johnson is on the books for a reported $660,000 and Christensen is at $750,000 so the Rangers must figure out how to squeeze another defenseman onto their roster. The brass is working on that now.

Perhaps the Rangers will have to shed Aaron Voros and his $900,000 salary. Or Brian Boyle at $500,000.

Rangers may be looking for a defenseman on Craig's List by day's end.

Rangers Analysis: Grading the Blueshirts thus far (Update)

Joe Fortunato — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Frank Franklin II - AP

10 days ago: New York Rangers' Vaclav Prospal (20) and teammates celebrate after a goal by Marian Gaborik, of Slovakia, as Pittsburgh Penguins' Jay McKee (74) and Marc-Andre Fleury (29) skate away during the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 30, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

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Since we are literally one-third through this season it's about time to grade the Rangers. Here is a list of every player, coach, and general manager of the team; their grade and the reason why (in no particular order):

Marian Gaborik : There isn’t too much more the guy can do aside from pad up and step between the pipes. His 21 goals lead the league and his 37 points are tops among all NHL players (he has only played in 25 games mind you). He is doing everything the Rangers expected him to when they gave him the 7.5 million dollar contract in July. Grade: A+

Vaclav Prospal: When you think about offense on the Rangers two names come to mind and one of them is Prospal’s. His play with Gaborik has been outstanding and his effort on both sides of the puck is commendable. Prospal has also shown up as a leader on this team which is huge since the Rangers have very little leadershipOne of the few bright spots on this suddenly average team I have no problem rewarding Prospal’s play with a good grade. Grade: A.

Brandon Dubinsky: In the time that we got to see him thus far (18 games) he notched 3 goals and 10 points, and really solidified the top line. His penalty killing was fantastic and currently the Rangers are really hurting without his face-off prowess. On my radio show last night Steve Zipay said he should be back in 10-14 games (you can download the podcast here) and the Rangers couldn’t be any happier. Grade: B to B+.

Ryan Callahan: While I am a huge fan of Callahan and he is a huge fan favorite there is no arguing that he is having tons of problems with his game. Thus far through 27 games he has 4 goals and 4 assists and has simply not looked anything like the Ryan Callahan of last year. While he is giving every shift his all and he is leaving his heart on the ice his play is hurting this team. While normally I would give him a pass because of his hear filled play I can’t, he was expected to be an offensive force this year and currently he simply isn’t. Grade: C.

Chris Higgins: Many people (myself included) expected Chris Higgins to be an offensive force this year. Yet again the Ranger faithful found themselves disappointed as Higgins is also having an off year. With just 2 goals and 5 assists in 26 games it seems as though he is playing horrible hockey. He’s not, he is just as snake bitten as I have ever seen a player in my life. Regardless his lack of goals is hurting this team but unlike Callahan he is at least generating scoring chances. Grade: C+.

Join me after the jump.

Ales Kotalik: In the beginning of the year Kotaliklooked like the steal of free agency, now that he has foundlevel ground Ranger fans are pretty sick of him. While his shot from the point is unbelievable and his shootout prowess is invaluable his five on five play is atrocious. He is also a minus 12 on the year and can’t seem to click with any of the line-mates he is paired with; still he makes the power play lethal and without the power play (even if it is bad right now) the Rangers would be much worse than they are now. Grade: C+.

Michael Del Zotto: Michael Del Zotto hit Broadway like a bang and quickly became the Rangers hottest defenseman. Currently he has 5 goals and 12 assist for 17 points and is a monster on the power play. While his numbers have slowed down a little of late he may actually be the hardest hitting D man on the team. Also his defensive game has come along quite nicely. He is another one of those few bright spots on this team; plus he is only 19. Grade: A.

Marc Staal: Usually the backbone of the Rangers defense this is the first year where Staalseems to be finding level ground. He is suddenly making mistakes he never made before, giving the puck away in the defensive zone and losing his control of the neutral zone. While there have been some blemishes he has still been reliable at the back. Grade: B.

Sean Avery: In the beginning of the year he wasn’t playing his normal brand of hockey but currently he is back on track. When he is on he is one of the most effective players in the league. Grade: B to B+.

Dan Girardi: Had an awful start to the year but has shored up his defensive game considerably. While his offensive game isn’t where we want it to be he is playing better. Grade: B-.

Wade Redden: While he will never live up to his contract he has really played very well defensively compared to last year. He is a solid second pairing defensemen who has played pretty well of late. Grade: C+.

Michael Rozsival: I have nothing to say. Grade: F.

Matt Gilroy: Coming straight from the NCAA I was not sure how effective he would be but he is actually playing quite well and has adapted to the NHL game quite nicely. His offensive game is finally starting to catch on and his defense is coming along nicely as well. He has flashes of brilliance and hopefully we will see more of it soon. Grade: B.

Donald Brashear: While I didn’t expect him to be the next coming of Wayne Gretzky I did expect him to be more effective. He is losing pretty much every fight he gets into and when he does fight it is often at inopportune moments that don’t change the momentum of the game. Grade: D.

Aaron Voros: He goes through stretches where he plays really well and then stretches where he is invisible. His fighting has improved though. Grade: C.

P.A Parentenau: Is a monster in the shootout and has been good five on five. Has earned a spot on this team in my opinion and has been solid of late. Grade: B.

Artem Anisimov: Hard to get a good read on him since he sees so little top line (1^st or 2^nd) time. I like what I see thus far though. Grade: B.

Brian Boyle: I expected more scoring out of him and currently he is doing little more than taking the body occasionally. He always talks about how he needs to score / more but he only has 2 goals. Grade C-.

Chris Drury: I honestly don’t know what to say. He is not playing good hockey right now, and seems like he will never break free. Like Jim said "if Drury is not winning face-offs he brings nothing to the table." Let’s just say he isn’t winning face-offs. Grade: D.

Henrik Lundqvist: Lundqvist has not been the Lundqvist of old and maybe he is taking more time to adjust to the Tortorella system than originally thought. He is still an all-world goaltender and although he has let in more soft goals than usual his play has still kept the Rangers in a lot of games. Can’t go too low on him. Grade: B to B+.

Glen Sather: Can’t blame him for Higgins, Drury and Callahan not scoring. The moves for Gaborik, Gilroy and Prospal were nothing short of brilliant. Still he needs to make some moves to fix this team and he hasn’t. Grade: B.

John Tortorella: In my opinion is trying to force feed this system to some players and has not been the fiery coach we expected. I also have a sneaking suspicion that this team is starting to tune him out. I do like him as a coach though so here is to him turning it around and for him to stop being stubborn. Grade: C.

Update: How did I forget Enver Lisin and Stephen Valiquette?

Enver Lisin: Personally I am a pretty big fan of Lisin. Regardless of whether you like him or not you can't deny that he is a huge upgrade over Lauri Korpikoski. Still he hasn't been great offensivley and I think the injury has hurt him more than we thought originally. Grade: B- to B.

Stephen Valiquette: Again I am unsure what to say here. We all epected alot out of him but his skill simply wasn't there this year. He looked out of place most games and gave up more soft goals than I can count. Find your game again Vally hope we see you soon. Grade: D.

Mike Sullivan: As far as I know he is responsible for the penalty kill which is close to tops in the league. Grade: B+.

Rangers Recap: Lighting 5 Rangers 1 the "we still have no secondary scoring" edition

Joe Fortunato — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 03:13:50 -0000

More photos » by Mike Carlson - AP

13 days ago: New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30), of Sweden, is replaced by teammate Steve Valiquette after giving up his fourth goal of the game during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

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Except this time it did matter. The Rangers had no heart, they had no passion, they didn't care and it showed. John Tortorella's return to Tampa Bay was ruined, and good; Tortorella deserved to get nothing from this one. His boys came out flat and he did nothing to change them. Few Rangers came out to play tonight and I include Tortorella in that category.

The first period was all Lightning, aside from a secluded minute where the Rangers moved the puck well and Sean Avery took a perfect feed from Marian Gaborik and rang his shot off the post. Steve Stamkos snapped home his 16th of the year finishing a pretty pass from Martin St. Louis and as the period drew to a close Kurtis Foster scored a power play goal with Ales Kotalik sitting in the box. The Rangers were outplayed all period and I was actually quite surprised that John Tortorella didn't call a time out, especially in the beginning moments of the first when the Rangers were getting completely dominated. Regardless hats off to Tampa Bay who came out firing and had the Rangers on their heels the entire period.

The second period continued to be bad for the Rangers. With Artem Anisimov sitting in the box for a high sticking penalty the Lightning went on yet another power play. It was there that Stamkos took the puck all the way from the point to the slot with Michael Rozsival just backing up and giving him space. Rozsival then let Stamkos pass the puck to St. Louis and then stand there as Steve Downie banged the puck home. You may not blame Rozsival here but I do, play the man with the puck or if you do decide to hang back don’t let the puck get past you.

I'm sorry but here is yet another gripe I have with Tortorella, Rozsival is playing horrible hockey right now; why is he on the ice in key moments? I know that Wade Redden is out but Michael Rozsival is just a waste of a hockey player right now.

Shortly following that goal Lighting scored again after Bobby Sanguinetti couldn't keep Paul Szczechura off the puck and he banked the puck in to make it 4-0. That goal chased Henrik Lundqvist, who didn't play as horrible as the score line would indicate but he didn't play a good game.

The third period was basically an encore of the other two, from all respects. The Lightning continued to dominate the play and scored their fifth goal (Foster scored his second, another rocket this time right off the faceoff). Nothing changed, including the Rangers play.

I’m going to put this here because it is way too important for the empty netters section below. I fully believe that John Tortorella has lost or is losing this team. No John Tortorella team should come out and play like this consistently, which they have been. As Jim said to me during the game "this nice little two game winning streak will probably turn into a three game losing streak." If the Rangers keep playing like this who can blame us for the thought?

Empty Netters:

If I hear Sam Rosen or Joe Micheletti say the phrase "The Rangers need to generate some scoring chances" or "The Rangers need a spark right now" I am going to punch a baby. We know boys, shut up and call the game, we are irritable as is.
Jim mentioned this during the game but big props to Brian Boyle for taking one for the team and fighting in the second period. He isn't a fighter and got the crap kicked out of him to try and spark the team. Good for you Boyle, the boys let you down tonight.
After a fantastic game against the Florida Panthers Chris Drury was invisible tonight. Sorry Chris but you need to start stepping up.
Look Chris Higgins might be playing really well but if he doesn’t start scoring I say relegate him to the 3^rd or even 4^th line. I know he makes the moves and gets some shots but he simply isn’t scoring and it’s hurting this team, period. He needs to step it up big time.
The same goes for Ryan Callahan who is not scoring goals and unlike Higgins is not getting many chances. He had a few tonight and didn’t bury them, of course. (I wrote this recap before the game was over and don't feel like changing it. He scored to make it 5-1 (congrats) but the point still stands, where was that for the past 16 games? I don't want to be too hard on him because he works his ass off and is one of the few Rangers who I really think cares but the point has to be made.)
On the bright side if Tortorella does make the call to go with Lundqvist tomorrow against the Penguins he has half a game off. Personally if I were a betting man I would say that Steve Valiquette starts tomorrow, just a hunch.

Won’t have to sit on this one for long as the Rangers play the Penguins in Pittsburgh tomorrow. Vent here my friends, the floor is yours.

Rangers Pregame: Tortorella returns, Sanguinetti arrives, Scouting the Bolts

Jim Schmiedeberg — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:30:11 -0000

The Rangers have won two in a row. If they win tonight, in the immortal words of Lou Brown in Major League 2: "That's called a winning streak, it has happened before."

It won't be an easy task against the Lightning, who have a 5-1-4 record at home this year, and are 5-2-3 in their last ten games.

As we told you yesterday, Bobby Sanguinetti was brought up from the Hartford Wolfpack, and will make his NHL debut tonight in place of Wade Redden, who is expected to miss a week with an apparent shoulder injury. Looks like Sangs will pair with Gilroy, with Gilroy moving to the left side.

Bobby Sanguinetti

#54 / Defenseman / New York Rangers

Height: 6-3

Weight: 190

Born: Feb 29, 1988

Ales Kotalik and Henrik Lundqvist are playing tonight, according to Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants.

Lines for tonight are about the same as Wednesday night, with Kotalik sliding into Voros' spot probably:

Christopher Higgins-Vinny Prospal-Marian Gaborik
Sean Avery-Artem Anisimov-P.A. Parenteau
Enver Lisin-Chris Drury-Ryan Callahan
Donald Brashear-Brian Boyle-Ales Kotalik/Aaron Voros

The Tampa Tribune has a story on John Tortorella that shows his other side.

Don't forget, while the focus has been on Torts' coming back to Tampa, Vinny Prospal will also be returning to the St. Pete Times Forum for the first time since the Lightning bought out his contract. I think we can expect him to play with a big chip on his shoulder tonight as well.

Ok. let's take a look at the Bolts after the jump.......

Lightning Leading Scorer:

Steven Stamkos

#91 / Center / Tampa Bay Lightning

Height: 6-1

Weight: 196

Born: Feb 07, 1990

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Steven Stamkos	22	15	11	26	4	10	6	1	2	0	69	21.7

Lightning Record: 9-6-7 (3rd place, Southeast Division)

Head Coach: Rick Tocchet

SBNation home of the Tampa Bay Lightning: Raw Charge

Notes from Yahoo Sports:

After making his season debut on Sunday in Atlanta, defenseman Mike Lundin was sent back to AHL Norfolk on Monday, only to be recalled to Tampa on Wednesday to play against Toronto. Because of his contract status, Ludin is not subject to waivers until he either spends 30 days with Tampa or appears in 10 games.
Tampa Bay suffered its first regulation loss in 10 homes games at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Lightning are the last team in the Eastern conference to suffer a home loss in regulation.
A 4-3 loss to Toronto is the first time Tampa Bay has lost in regulation to the Leafs in 11 games. The Lightning had been 8-0-2 in the previous 10 meetings.
The four goals allowed by goaltender Antero Niittymaki against Toronto matched a season high Niittymaki had done one other time on Oct. 17 in Pittsburgh. The loss was also the second this season suffered in regulation by Niittymaki in 11 starts.

Lightning co-owner subject to probe. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

The Lightning are coming off a loss at home to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-3 on Wednesday night (yikes). Cassie over at Raw Charge has the full recap.

Things to watch for:

The Rangers penalty kill is now first overall, which will make it tough on Tampa's struggling power play.

The Lightning's penalty has also been bad, they are 25th overall in the league. Rangers power play is 8th overall. Rangers look to have a big edge on special teams.

Rangers are 9-3-0 when they score first, Tampa is 6-1-2 when they get on the board before their opponent.

The Lightning have three different players averaging better than a point a game: Ryan Malone, Martin St.Louis, and Steven Stamkos. And oh yeah, Vincent Lecavalier is pretty good too.

Mike Smith is 0-2-1 lifetime against the Rangers, with a GAA of 2.92. Henrik Lundqvist is 4-0 for his career vs. Tampa with an astounding GAA of 1.48.

Rangers News: Wade Redden out 5 to 7 days

Jim Schmiedeberg — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 03:00:31 -0000

More photos » by Mary Altaffer - AP

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Steve Zipay over at Blue Notes is reporting that John Tortorella said that Wade Redden will miss 5 to 7 days with an "upper-body injury". It appeared Redden hurt his shoulder last night on a check from Victor Oreskovich of the Florida Panthers.

Looks like we are going to get a good look at Bobby Sanguinetti, as the Rangers play three games in the next four nights.

Rangers News: Bobby Sanguinetti called up from Hartford

Jim Schmiedeberg — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 16:29:46 -0000

Presumably as a pre-caution in case Wade Redden cannot play (insert your own joke here), defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been called up from the Hartford Wolfpack for tomorrow night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Sanguinetti has been playing well at Hartford, leading all AHL defensemen in scoring with 6 goals and 16 assists.

It will be interesting to see who he is paired with should Redden not be able to play.(again, giving you guys a setup here)

For those of you that are new to Blueshirt Banter, Bobby Sanguinetti did an interview with us and took questions from our readers, you can check it out here.

[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 11/26/09 1:13 PM EST The official release from the Rangers:]

New York, November 26, 2009 - New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced
today that defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey
League (AHL).

Sanguinetti, 21, has registered six goals and 16 assists for 22 points, along with 10 penalty minutes in 21
games with Hartford this season. Following a two assist performance last night at Lowell, Sanguinetti leads all AHL
defensemen in scoring and ranks fourth in the league overall with 22 points. He has registered six multi-point efforts on the season, including an AHL career-high four-point performance on October 31 against Providence (two goals and two assists). Last season, Sanguinetti led Wolf Pack defensemen in points (42) and assists (36), and set a Hartford single-season rookie record for assists by a blueliner. He also led all Wolf Pack skaters with five points (one goal and four assists) in six AHL playoff contests.

The Trenton, New Jersey native was originally the Rangers first round selection, 21st overall, in the 2006
NHL Entry Draft.

Rangers Recap: 2-1 Rangers (SO) the "we don't need no secondary scoring edition"

Joe Fortunato — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:15:08 -0000

More photos » by J Pat Carter - AP

15 days ago: Florida Panthers' Dominic Moore (19) misses a chance at goal as New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, of Sweden, defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Sunrise, Fla., on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

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Well at least not tonight, but it continues to be a problem that we will have to keep an eye on. The Gaborik's blew a 1-0 lead late in the third but won it in the shootout starting off their three game road trip on the proper notes. Say what you will, this was a gut check win for the Rangers; a win you can build on. The story of the night for MSG was the return of Rangers captian Chris Drury, who actually played a pretty brilliant game.

Wade Redden was injured in the first half of the first period, leaving the Rangers with five defensemen for the rest of the game. Then in the third period Matt Gilroy got into a fight to defend Vaclav Prospal and took a misconduct removing him from the game. As a result Michael Del Zotto, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi (who had a great game), and even Michael Rozsival played over 20 minutes each.

Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant throughout the game, making big stops when the Rangers needed him to; especially in the third period when the Rangers took back to back penalties. He helped the Rangers win this game, especially in the third period when the Rangers D was tired and overworked. The only goal he gave up was to former Ranger Dominic Moore,and he was screened pretty bad by Girardi.

Marian Gaborik extended his 7 game point scoring streak to 8 games, scoring his 19th goal of the year off of an unbelievable pass from Drury. Gaborik took the NHL lead in goals away from Dany Heatley, and continued helping the New York Rangers offensively. Its games like this when you really wish Higgins would score some goals, the Rangers have lost a bunch of one goal games this year and any contributions from Higgins (or Callahan) would be nice.

Now time for your empty netters:

Man Chris Higgins simply cannot score. He hit two posts tonight and had multiple scoring chances. If he keeps playing like this the goals will come in bunches.
I think today was Michael Rozsival's best day defensively, that's not to say he didn't make the occasional horrific "I wouldn't have even made that" play.
I also thought that Artem Anisimov and Sean Avery played awesome games.
I was one of the first people to say that I was not excited about Chris Drury coming back tonight, but if he plays like this every night I will be eating my words very soon. Here's to hoping that I eat my words.
After the end of regulation John Tortorella patted Sean Avery on the back, which drew some ire from a few Rangers fans I know. The Florida goal wasn't his fault, the pass handcuffed him and Lundqvist was screened.
Michael Del Zotto is the real deal, his power play prowess is just awesome to watch.
The power play did look a little de-fanged if you will without Ales Kotalik. He might be pretty bad five on five but he helps make that power play dangerous.
P.A Parenteau had his best game as a pro. He has earned a roster spot in my eyes, although it's not my eyes that matter. And boy does he have a set of hands on him, did you see that shootout goal? It was sick. He has become a bit of a shootout specialist going 2 for 2 in his career thus far.
Henrik Lundqvist has the twin towers on the back of his helmet. Maybe it's just me but I love that he embraces New York City, classy move in my eyes.