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Micheal Haley

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The Buzzer: Panarin’s 5-point night; Price, Samsonov stop them all

By Sean LeahyJan 13, 2020, 10:45 PM EST

THREE STARS

1. Artemi Panarin, Rangers: It was a pretty darn good night for the Rangers forward during a 6-2 win over the Islanders at MSG. Panarin scored twice and added three assists to become the second Rangers player in as many games to record a five-point night at home. In his last four games the Russian forward has four goals and 12 points.

2. Carey Price, Canadiens: Price made all 31 saves to help blank the Flames 2-0. The shutout was the 46th of his NHL career, tying him with Ken Dryden for third place on the Canadiens’ all-time list.

3. Ilya Samsonov, Capitals: Alex Ovechkin provided both goals in a 2-0 win over the Hurricanes. For Samsonov, he stopped all 23 shots he faced to pick up his first career NHL shutout. Ovechkin, meanwhile, tallied career goals No. 685 and 686 to pass Teemu Selanne for 11th place on the all-time list. More on that here.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NIGHT

• Here’s a look at Panarin’s five-point night:

• Ivan Barbashev is thankful for this gift from the Ducks:

• Brad Marchand continued the Bruins’ woes in the shootout with this unique failed attempt against the Flyers.

PREMATURE FIGHT OF THE NIGHT

It wouldn’t be an Islanders-Rangers game without a little edge to it. Ross Johnston and Micheal Haley dropped the mitts 2:33 into the game. Before the next face-off it was Matt Martin and Brendan Smith‘s turn to go at it. The only problem? You can’t have another fight before the puck drops after the first one. That meant Martin and Smith were assessed game misconducts and tossed from the game.

STATS OF THE NIGHT

SCORES
Canadiens 2, Flames 0
Rangers 6, Islanders 2
Capitals 2, Hurricanes 0
Flyers 6, Bruins 5 (SO)
Blues 4, Ducks 1

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.

Red Wings vs. Rangers livestream: How to watch Wednesday Night Hockey

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By Sean LeahyNov 6, 2019, 7:00 PM EST
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NBCSN’s coverage of the 2019-20 NHL season continues with the Wednesday Night Hockey matchup between the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers. Coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.

These two Original Six teams face off in the first of three meetings this season. Both clubs have been perennial contenders in this era but currently each is mired in a multi-season playoff drought. Neither team has gotten off to a strong start this season – both sitting below .500 as these storied franchises look to return to prominence, rather than extend their non-playoff streaks. Each of the last six meetings have been decided by one goal, including five of those reaching overtime and two being decided in a shootout.

The Red Wings returned home on Monday from a two-game road trip and could not turn things around. Andreas Athanasiou scored his first goal of the season 2:35 into the game but the Predators responded by outscoring the Wings 5-0 in the second period to chase Jimmy Howard (4 GA on 8 shots in 2nd per.) and added another in the third for the five-goal win.

Artemi Panarin, New York’s splashy free-agent signee this past offseason, leads the team in both goals (6) and points (12). His point/gm average is right in line with his last two seasons in Columbus when he set career highs each year. Kaapo Kakko, the second overall pick in last June’s draft, scored on Monday and added an assist for his first career two-point game.

[COVERAGE BEGINS AT 7 P.M. ET ON NBCSN]

WHAT: Detroit Red Wings at New York Rangers
WHERE: Madison Square Garden
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 6, 7 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
LIVE STREAM: You can watch the Red Wings-Rangers stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.

PROJECTED LINEUPS

RED WINGS
Tyler Bertuzzi – Dylan Larkin – Anthony Mantha
Andreas Athanasiou – Valtteri Filppula – Adam Erne
Taro Hirose – Frans Nielsen – Brendan Perlini
Justin Abdelkader – Jacob De La Rose – Darren Helm

Patrik Nemeth – Filip Hronek
Dennis Cholowski – Dylan McIlrath
Joe Hicketts – Madison Bowey

Starting goalie: Jimmy Howard

RANGERS
Artemi Panarin – Ryan Strome – Jesper Fast
Chris Kreider – Filip Chytil – Pavel Buchnevich
Brendan Lemieux – Brett Howden – Kaapo Kakko
Micheal Haley – Greg McKegg – Brendan Smith

Libor Hajek – Jacob Trouba
Brady Skjei – Tony DeAngelo
Marc Staal – Adam Fox

Starting goalie: Henrik Lundqvist

Liam McHugh will host Wednesday’s coverage on NHL Live alongside analysts Jeremy Roenick and Keith Jones and NHL insider Darren Dreger. Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Brian Boucher will call Red Wings-Rangers from Madison Square Garden in New York, N.Y.

NBC Sports will premiere “The Russian Five” documentary, a feature on the first five Russians to play hockey together in the NHL, Wednesday, November 6, following Wednesday Night Hockey between the Red Wings and Rangers. The documentary tells the story of how Sergei Fedorov, Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Slava Kozlov, and Igor Larionov were able to defect from their homeland and transform the Detroit Red Wings into perennial contenders and back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

Rangers win on rough night for Lightning

By James O'BrienOct 29, 2019, 10:45 PM EDT

For a while, it looked like the Tampa Bay Lightning would author the dreaded “costly win,” as they managed a 1-0 first period lead while seeing Victor Hedman and Patrick Maroon leave the game (and not return) with early injuries.

The New York Rangers were determined to make it a costly loss, instead, beating the Lightning with an impressive 4-1 effort.

Here are some takeaways from a hard-working win by this young Rangers team.

The costly part

After seeing a historic regular season be left in smoldering ruins thanks to a first-round sweep by the Blue Jackets, Lightning coach Jon Cooper wondered if the team wasn’t ready for adversity. Maybe this is a “be careful what you wish for” situation.

Again, Hedman and Maroon were injured on Tuesday. It’s unclear how Hedman got hurt (other than it’s a lower-body issue), while Maroon was injured after fighting with one of the NHL’s last remaining enforcers, Micheal Haley.

The Bolts were already a little banged up to begin with, as Anthony Cirelli missed the game, and Brayden Point was a game-time decision. The Lightning have to hope that Hedman’s new issue is a minor one, as they struggled mightily without him late in 2018-19, including that playoff plummet.

Of course, things weren’t perfect for the Rangers, as they won without star center Mika Zibanejad.

A nice all-around effort by New York

The only goal the Rangers allowed was partially due to the Lightning managing a very long stretch in the attacking zone, and partially based on a bad line change.

But aside from that, they managed to play a strong all-around game, bouncing back from a humbling 7-4 loss against the Bruins. Via Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers generated 11 high-danger chances at 5-on-5 while only allowing five by the Lightning.

It must be heartening that both Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox scored goals on Tuesday. The kids will have their growing pains, but they could be alright.

Also: Ryan Strome now has a three-game multi-point streak after scoring a goal and an assist, and his overall point streak is at five games (three goals, five assists for eight points).

Great goaltending

This was a low-scoring affair until the Rangers really started to break through, in part because of sharp goaltending.

Alexandar Georgiev grabbed the win, stopping 29 out of 30 shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy couldn’t grab the W, yet he was strong, making 38 out of 41 saves.

The Rangers face an uphill battle at 4-5-1, but nights like Tuesday strengthen the argument that they’re making some strides in the right direction. Now at 5-4-2, it’s clear that the Lightning have almost as much ground to cover.

MORE:
• Pro Hockey Talk’s Stanley Cup picks.
• Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

Rangers pay tribute to Dan Girardi’s career

By James O'BrienOct 29, 2019, 9:06 PM EDT

As the New York Rangers continue the start of a new era by facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (watch live on NBCSN), they celebrated the hard-nosed career of Dan Girardi, a defenseman who played for both teams.

When many hockey fans think of the John Tortorella era of the Rangers, they probably think of Henrik Lundqvist playing at an elite level in front of a dogged group of shot-blockers. Girardi was one of the most dogged of those dogged shot blockers, and distinguished himself enough to make an appearance in the 2012 NHL All-Star Game.

Girardi dropped the ceremonial first puck before Tuesday’s game at Madison Square Garden, with his daughter being maybe the most excited person of all. Lundqvist could be seen enjoying Girardi’s ceremony, and even with some sadness over fellow defensive defenseman Marc Staal being a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career, there were mostly good feelings heading into the contest.

(Less good feeling: Patrick Maroon won’t return to Tuesday’s game after getting injured from a fight with Micheal Haley. More worrying: Victor Hedman‘s night is also over for Tampa Bay.)

Girardi, 35, also shared an “open letter” to Rangers fans on Tuesday, as told to The Athletic’s Joe Smith (sub required). It began with this fun little slice-of-lice from living and playing in New York:

Everyone talks about the New York fans. You’re hard on us, but when we are winning — and going to the Cup final (in 2014) — it was the coolest thing I’ve been a part of. Walking around the city, you’ve got the guy on the horse and buggy, he’s saying, “Good luck, guys!” and “Come on Girardi, let’s go get ’em!” People you don’t even think would know what hockey was are cheering you on. New York is one of the best cities in the world, and to be able to call it home for 11 years was pretty special to me.

From the way fans and former players reacted to Girardi’s tribute and puck drop, it’s clear that he was pretty special to them, too.

MORE:
• Pro Hockey Talk’s Stanley Cup picks.
• Your 2019-20 NHL on NBC TV schedule

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

The Buzzer: Garland, Kuemper boost Coyotes; Canucks rout Panthers

By Sean LeahyOct 29, 2019, 12:59 AM EDT

Three Stars

1. Conor Garland, Arizona Coyotes

Garland scored Arizona’s opening goal and assisted on Carl Soderberg‘s tying goal on the power play with 3:28 left to play during a 3-2 shootout win over the Sabres. This was the second straight game the Coyotes erased a multi-goal deficit to win and only the second time they have done so in Coyotes/Jets franchise history. Garland leads the team in goals with six.

2. J.T. Miller, Vancouver Canucks

A five-goal first period led to a 7-2 rout of the Panthers Monday night. Miller did his part with two goals, while Elias Pettersson and Alex Edler chipped in three assists apiece. The goals were Nos. 100 and 101 in Miller’s NHL career. Pettersson, meanwhile, broke the 80-mark in his career during the game, with only Pavel Bure requiring fewer games to reach 80 points in his Canucks career. The loss snaps Florida’s eight-game point streak.

3. Darcy Kuemper, Arizona Coyotes

Kuemper made 24 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped two more in the shootout during the Coyotes’ victory. He’s now allowed two goals or fewer in 14 of his last 15 starts.

Highlights of the Night

• Birthday boy Jack Eichel potted his seventh of the season:

• Carter Hutton, who made 42 saves, nearly lost the game for the Sabres in overtime with this oopsie:

• Nifty little give-and-go here between Micheal Haley and Brandon Sutter:

Factoids

• All 12 Canucks forwards recorded at least one point vs. the Panthers.

Scores
Coyotes 3, Sabres 2 (SO)
Canucks 7, Panthers 2

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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.