Tag: new york rangers

Ja Morant’s Comeback, Rangers’ Revenge

by Miguel Mike Medina

The Ja Morant Effect

In his first game back, Ja Morant hits a game-winning shot on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Memphis trailed as many as 24 points in this game. The team scored 62 points in the paint. Morant scored 27 of his 34 points in the second half. Jaren Jackson Jr added 24 points. Desmond Bane added 21. Memphis snaps a 5-game losing streak. Impressive comeback story by Ja Morant.

New York Rangers Gets Revenge in Toronto

Toronto Maple Leafs manhandle the Rangers at the Garden last week. On Tuesday night, the Rangers gave them a taste of their own medicine. Rangers beat the Maple Leafs 5-2. Mika Zibanejad scored two goals for the Rangers.

Big East: Marquette vs Providence

There was no slowing down this Providence team. The Friars dominated Marquette Golden Knights by raining threes and putting points in the paint. Friars won 72-57. Guard Devin Carter led the Friars with 22 points, making five of 9 three-pointers. The Friars improve to 10-2 in the season.

Ducks Hand Bruins’ First Loss

By Miguel Mike Medina

The Anaheim Ducks came back to hand the Boston Bruins their first loss of the season. The Ducks trailed 3-1 late in the third period before tying it with back-to-back goals in the final 1:55. Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry also each had an assist. Goalie John Gibson made 27 saves. Ducks won 4-3 in overtime. 

New York Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick, who signed a one-year contract with the Rangers in July, made 29 saves for his first shutout with the New York Rangers, a 3-0 win against the Edmonton Oilers. Braden Schneider, Adam Fox, and Alexis Lafreniere scored three goals for the Rangers. Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner made 29 saves. The misery continues for Edmonton but it’s still a long season to go. Oilers have lost four in a row. 

The NHL has suspended Ottawa Senators player Shane Pinto for 41 games for activities relating to sports wagering. It’s a costly suspension for Pinto because he’s an important piece to this Ottawa that’s trying to compete. It’s playoffs or bust for Ottawa. It’s a distraction for the team. We hope Pinto and Ottawa can fix their relationship after he completes his suspension. 

Sunday Sports Shorts

By Miguel Mike Medina

Miami Heat’ defense played outstanding against the New York Knicks on Saturday afternoon. If they can play like this each game, then they could make the Finals and possibly win it all. The Heat were dominant in Game 3. Heat defeated the Knicks 105-86. Jimmy Butler led Miami with 28 points. Bam Adebayo added 17 points with 12 rebounds. Game Four will be on Monday night at 7:30. 

Edmonton Oilers were on fire against the Vegas Golden Knights. It’s the fourth playoff game where the Oilers score five goals or more. Leon Draisaitl is having an unbelievable postseason for the ages. He scored two goals in Game 3. Draisaitl has 13 goals in 8 games this postseason. Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists. Bouchard leads all defensemen in scoring with 15 points. Oilers won 5-1 to take a 2-1 series lead. 

After two seasons, Gerald Gallant is out as the New York Rangers. When the Devils eliminated the Rangers in the first round, we knew how bad this would look on the team, especially on the head coach. Letting go of Gallant won’t solve all of their problems, though. The Rangers had a lot of moves during the trade deadline to compete for the Stanley Cup. We will see what other decisions the front office will make during the off-season. 

The Yankees rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, 3-2. The Yankees were trailing 2-0 in the game until DJ LeMahieu hit a double to right field to bring the first run. Harrison Bader went 2 for 2 in this game and got two hits. He had two RBIs in this game and was one of the heroes for the Yankees. The Yankees have split the series so far. 

Saturday Hockey News with Miguel

Toronto Maple Leafs acquire Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari in a 3-team trade with St Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild.

Connor McDavid made history in the garden on Friday night. He surpassed 100 points by recording two assists. The Edmonton Oilers squandered a 4-1 lead to the New York Rangers and lost in a 6-round shootout. The Rangers have won seven consecutive games. They are one of the hottest teams in the second half so far. 

Another New York team that rallied in a comeback fashion is the New York Islanders. The Islanders won 5-4 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ilya Sorokin saved 40 of 44 shots. Brock Nelson and Anders Lee each recorded 3 points. 

The Carolina Hurricanes will host their first outdoor Stadium Series game against the Washington Capitals at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday night. 

Saturday Hockey News with Miguel

The New York Rangers played smart and intellectual hockey against the Vegas Golden Knights at the garden on Friday night. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak made 33 saves for the Rangers. Vincent Trocheck scored a goal and an assist to Filip Chytil, who made a sweet goal in the third period. The Rangers won this game 4-1. 

New Jersey Devils, the best road team in the NHL, traveled to Dallas to take on the Dallas Stars. Jack Hughes scored two goals in this game, and one came in overtime to give the Devils a 3-2 over the Dallas Stars. Vitek Vanecek deserves more recognition for his goal-tending performance. He saved 33 shots for the Devils. Also, the Devils blocked 24 of the Stars’ shots. 

It was a thrilling finish between the San Jose Sharks and Carolina Hurricanes. Trailing 4-3 with less than a minute to go, Martin Necas ties the game 4-4 with 11.5 seconds left in the third period. Necas forced the game to go to overtime and struck once again by scoring the game-winning goal to send everyone home. The Hurricanes won 5-4. 

Vancouver Canucks played with a lot of intensity and high energy against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Bo Horvat added four assists. Elias Pettersson scored two goals. CanuCks defeated the Blue Jackets 5-2. Canucks wore the old-school jerseys from the 1990s. 

Saturday Hockey News with Miguel

New York Rangers won in a shootout contest against the defending champions Colorado Avalanche, who were short-handed in this game. Artemi Panarin scored the winning goal. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin stopped 41 of the 42 shots. Braden Schneider scored a goal in the second period, his fourth in the last ten games. Avalanche didn’t have Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Evan Rodrigues, Bowen Byram, and Artturi Lehkonen in their lineup. 

Edmonton Oilers took care of business against the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. The Oilers jumped early in the first period with two goals by Conor McDavid and Derek Ryan. Minnesota would respond with two goals on their own by Joel Ericksson and Mats Zuccarello to tie the game at 2-2. It looked like momentum shifted towards Minnesota way. Edmonton said not tonight. Oilers would end the game with three unanswered goals by Kailer Yamamoto, a power play goal by Leon Draisaitl, and an empty net goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Goaltender Stuart Skinner finished the game with 42 saves for Edmonton. 

Calgary Flames tried to make a comeback, but it was too little too late. Columbus Blue Jackets won 3-1. Patrik Laine is one of the stars of last night’s victory for the Blue Jackets as he scored the first goal of the game, which set the tone for Columbus. 

New York Islanders stopped the red-hot New Jersey Devils as they came to the Prudential Center and defeated the Devils, 6-4. The devils made a late push by scoring two goals after trailing 6-2, but the Islanders had enough defense, speech, and physicality to hold on to the lead. 

Jake Gyllenhaal New Limited Series, Xander Bogaerts’ Contract

Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal will have a lead role in Apple TV’s new limited series called ‘Presumed Innocent.’ The project is an adaptation of the 1990 film which featured Harrison Ford. The showrunner for the upcoming series is the 11-time Emmy award, David E. Kelly. 

San Diego Padres will not go away quietly this off-season. They hit the jackpot with one of the best shortstops in baseball. The Padres and Xander Bogaerts agreed to a $280 million, 11-year contract on Wednesday night. Padres have a ferocious lineup from 1 through 4: Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto, Manny Machado, and Xavier Bogaerts. 

The St Louis Cardinals have found the successor of Yadier Molina. Wilson Contreras will sign with the Cardinals for five years and $87.5 million. He will join All-Stars and MVP-caliber players Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. 

The Rangers came to Las Vegas to play great hockey on the ice and not in a casino. Ranger’s young core: Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, and Alexis Lafreniere scored three of the Ranger’s five goals. They defeated one of the best teams in the NHL, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, 5-1. 

Saturday Hockey News with Miguel

It’s time to shake things up a bit. We are switching from “Saturday Morning Sports with Miguel” to “Saturday Hockey News with Miguel.” Saturday mornings belong to hockey. The move is exciting, and I will provide updates about the Hockey world. 

The New York Rangers continue to struggle to close out games. Ottawa Senators rallied back to beat the Rangers, 3-2 at the garden on Friday night. In his 300th NHL game, Senators’ Brady Tkachuk scored with 18 seconds left to go in overtime. The Rangers have fallen back compared to this last season. Nagging injuries and losing poise in the third period are things they need to improve and work on. 

The headlines in Nashville belong to Kevin Lankinen because he posted a career-high 46 saves in a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Lankinen returned in a big way since he was out from November 23rd. The Predators are currently on a three-game winning streak. 

Rangers Take 2-0 Lead in the ECF

The New York Rangers have overachieved this season. This group is growing up fast. The Rangers have beaten good teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. Now, they have a chance to dethrone the two-time defending champs, Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Thanks to their 3-2 win over the Lightning in Game 2 on Friday night, the Rangers now have a 2-0 lead in the series as it shifts to Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon and is just two wins away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

Igor Shesterkin has been magnificent in front of the net. After Friday’s win, he now has a .930 save percentage for the playoffs and has been at .912 or better in the past 11 games. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider have been fantastic throughout this postseason. The Rangers are a blend of a young core of players with a few veterans. 

Rangers will travel to Tampa for Game 3 on Sunday afternoon. Tampa is looking to win at home while the Rangers are trying to take a 3-0 commanding lead. 

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images