• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
Washington Capitals

Rangers lack depth!

By The Hockey Writers November 18th, 2009

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp
Better days for Torts! (AP photo/Chris O'Meara)

Better days for Torts! (AP photo/Chris O'Meara)

Ranger coach John Tortorella sounded like a man who had just taken a seminar in redundancy 101 last night during his post game remarks at Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, after losing 4-2 to the Capitals, on the night Alex Ovechkin returned, the coaches press conference had a familiar theme.

“Our biggest weakness…we’re just not getting any secondary scoring.” In fact, leading scorer Marian Gaborik was the only Ranger to hit the twine, doing it twice, once on the power play.

Besides the lack of scoring prowess that this Ranger team has a fond proclivity for in general, they also scored just one even strength goal again, giving them 10 in their last 9 games. Going almost 19 minutes without a shot on goal last night doesn’t help their cause either. And that’s against a team not known for playing stellar defense. One might say that the Capitals looked like the 1995 version of Jacques Lemaire’s Devils, giving up only 11 shots through two periods last night.

Averaging just about one goal a game, aside from the power play, Tortorella lamented about his special teams unit, “we’re just depending on it too much.”

As far as Alex Ovechkin, the star forward scored on his lone shot of the night, a blistering slap shot from just inside the blue line on the power play. What was noteworthy was that  unlike the Caps first power play chance of the night, Ovechkin was moved back up high on the unit, a position he started the season at. Originally the staff thought they would ease the great one back in the line-up. That strategy was quickly abandoned and Ovechkin proved that a few weeks off has not diminished his scoring touch.

When a teams not scoring, defensive lapses tend to stand out. None could have been more egregious than Wade Redden’s mishap just past the 15:00 mark in the Caps zone. With the score tied at 2, Redden held his ground at the blue line but Matt Bradley was able to chip the puck past him, race down ice and beat Lunqvist up high for the game winner.

That was the same Matt Bradley who found himself badly bloodied just minutes into the game, after an altercation with Ranger forward Aaron Voros. The Rangers had taken an early lead just seconds into the game. So off a face-off, Bradley took it upon himself to talk Voros into fighting. The puck dropped as did Bradley shortly thereafter. The Caps forward however, was no worse for wear, as he was regaled in the winners locker room afterwards.

Coach Bruce Boudreau was particularly impressed. “It was nice to see…when your teammate gets bloodied like that, it seems on this team it has really rallied them in the past. I thought it made us play better for sure.”

And the NHL wants to get rid of “staged” fighting?

  • Tags
  • Aaron Voros
  • Alex Ovechkin
  • Bruce Boudreau
  • John Tortorella
  • Marian Gaborik
  • Matt Bradley
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 15th 6:25 PM
Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens’ Romanov Fired Up to Face Oilers’ McDavid and Draisaitl

Jan 15th 6:00 PM
San Jose Sharks

Sharks’ Second Line Shines in Season Opener

Jan 15th 5:50 PM
Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs’ Marner Looking to Add Goals to His Stats

Jan 15th 5:35 PM
Buffalo Sabres

Three Takeaways from the Sabres’ Season Opener

Jan 15th 4:50 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers News and Rumors: Smith, Barrie, Forsberg, Puljujarvi, More

Jan 15th 4:40 PM
Edmonton Oilers

Oilers Have Rough Season Opener but No Need to Panic

Jan 15th 4:20 PM
Column

Jets News & Rumors: Scheifele, Laine, Hellebuyck, Lewis & Quicksand

Jan 15th 4:10 PM
New York Rangers

Rangers Bring More of the Same in 2020-21 Opening Night

Jan 15th 3:45 PM
Column

Red Wings News & Rumors: Ryan, COVID, Markstrom & More

Jan 15th 3:30 PM
Boston Bruins

2020-21 Season Openers: Flames Lose Again, Islanders & Capitals Excel

Editor’s Picks
World Junior Championship All-Time Leading Scorers

World Junior Championship All-Time Leading Scorers

2021 Guide To the World Junior Championship

2021 Guide To the World Junior Championship

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information