I know a lot of you can’t stand those “they played all right but managed to lose” stories, and I don’t find ’em much fun either, so I was wondering how I was gonna do it halfway through this one. Then James Sixsmith went and stole the puck from Jared Nightingale, and away this one went, finally.
“James is a guy, he cuts back, he protects the puck well, he’s got good speed, good hands, he manages the puck very well,” Jack Capuano said. “He’s a guy you feel comfortable putting on the ice.”
Good screen by Smith makes it 2-2, and then it’s a race to overtime, because, you know, these things are (8-1) automatic now.
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Haley: the ol’ “upper body, day-to-day” thing. Didn’t see him to ask him. Capuano said the only thing he knew was Haley’s problematic thumb wasn’t broken.
No word on No. 29.
You may have seen the second assist on Smith’s goal go back and forth a few times. It was originally credited to Tomas Marcinko, who got a piece of it as Anton Klementyev played it ahead and they went for a change. Then it was called upstairs that, no, Marcinko didn’t get a piece; Klementyev got credit for what would have been his first point in North America. But then, no, it was determined that Marcinko did get a piece, and it was Marcinko’s all the way. (I think those in the stands missed the drama, and it was only announced once.)
A 6-7-0-1 month, the first non-April, sub-points-.500 month since November 2007. Ended a lot better than it could have, of course, when you consider that it began 0-5.
Rangers braintrust in attendance included, as commented, Adam Graves. Anders Hedberg and Jim Schoenfeld were reportedly among the others.
Sounds from Mike Russo’s tweets like Jaime Sifers had a good one last night, but he still got sent back to Houston.
Off day tomorrow.