dlbalr

Gilroy set up the shot so no assists is probably the correct call (I could have used the extra assist for Eller in a pool though). By the end of the game I felt bad for the Rangers. No Del Zotto, McDonagh goes down, Girardi goes down, Staal was playing sick (and clearly wasn't himself). They ended the night with Anton Stralman as their best healthy defenceman. Eeep. I wonder if Tortorella will have a rant in his presser, I'm beginning to get the suspicion it may be his last (or really close to it).

That was a much better period after the Habs equalled their worst shooting period in the 1st. The Rangers are really trying to win the physical battles out there, they're tripling the Habs in hits. That's a first this season.

The board accepts HTML code so if you have any experience with that, you can 'pretty it up.' Otherwise, a straight text one (as I do for the Hamilton GDT's, there are links to some at the bottom of the page in the 'also tagged' section) works just as well. I just want to see GDT's opened early enough so that there is ample time for pre-game talk, lineup news and notes, stuff from the game day skate, etc.

Ryane Clowe is in some trouble with the league, he has been offered an in-person hearing with the league for coming off the bench to start an altercation. Normally that would carry an automatic 10 game suspension but it doesn't appear he'll get that as it's not as 'cut and dry' as the rule was designed for. Not a great clip but that's all I could find:

Seriously guys, I can't do all of these. I do need some help and as I noted in the last GDT, if the new one isn't up by noon on game day, it's fair game. You can put a reasonable one together with just lines in only a couple of minutes, it doesn't have to be formatted like this. A couple of lineup notes - Marc Staal (flu) is a game-time decision as is Arron Asham. Christian Thomas was recalled today and could make his NHL debut for the Rangers. As for the Habs, Prust's status is still up in the air, early reports suggest Cole will yield his spot if Prust is indeed ready to go.

New York Rangers (8-6-2) Forwards Defence & Goalies Pyatt - Richards - Gaborik Hagelin - Stepan - Callahan Kreider - Halpern - Miller Mashinter - Boyle - Thomas McDonagh - Girardi Staal - Stralman Gilroy - Eminger Biron/Lundqvist Not Expected to Play Scratches: Bickel Injured: Nash, Powe, Sauer, Asham, Del Zotto Montreal Canadiens (11-4-2) Forwards Defence & Goalies Prust - Plekanec - Gionta Pacioretty - Desharnais - Gallagher Eller - Galchenyuk - Cole Moen - White - Armstrong Markov - Emelin Gorges - Diaz Bouillon - Subban Price/Budaj Not Expected to Play Scratches: Kaberle, Weber Injured: Nokelainen, Bourque Scoring Leaders New York Montreal Goals Marian Gaborik (7) Tomas Plekanec (8) Assists Nash/Richards (9) Raphael Diaz (11) Points Rick Nash (12) Pacioretty/Plekanec (13) +/- Rick Nash (+9) Alex Galchenyuk (+8) PIMS Stu Bickel (26) Brandon Prust (76) Puck Drop: 7:00 PM EST TV: RDS, CBC, NHL N (US) Radio: TSN 690 FM 98.5

The team confirmed he'll play. Prust (upper body) is a game time decision.

By the way, someone else can do the GDT for today. bar was hoping to get to it but if it's not up by noon, I'd say it's fair game.

Brady Vail is really struggling at the moment. He's -9 on the month (-4 yesterday) and now -20 on the season, which puts him in a tie for 556th in the OHL (out of 588). Offensively he also has tailed off with just 5 goals in his last 29 games. Hudon had a good night though with a goal (SH) and an assist plus a shootout goal. Dietz's goals from last night:

Bulldogs hold on to win 3-2! http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary.php?game_id=1010635

Tony Marinaro (doing the colour since Al isn't here): "3:45 left and Zack Stortini is on the ice, he has the confidence of the coaching staff. Nice to see." In what possible way is that a good thing?

Yep, it's tough and I'm sure they're not the only one. Heck, the Habs have a rough one with a lot of road games. Balance certainly isn't a bad thing (as long as it's within reason of course, I'm certainly not advocating an even distribution of minutes across the board), players are really going start to wear down next month.

3-2 Hamilton in the 3rd. Tinordi, Blunden, and Quailer have the goals for Hamilton.

I know. I've noted that a lot of fans are saying their roles (and thus ice time) should be reversed when in reality, it's a 1 shift per game difference which is hardly relevant in the grand scheme of things. I wouldn't mind Subban playing a bit more but I like the largely balanced attack from the D (even Markov has lost time lately). I think that will come in handy down the stretch as more teams really get into the compressed schedule.

Sure. That's 1 shift more for Subban, 1 less for Diaz. That's not going to radically change anything.

It should be noted that Diaz's average TOI per game is 20:29 and Subban's is 19:49. That's a 40 second difference or the equivalent of one shift per game. That's hardly worth even noting.

If the Habs think he can still be a useful player, I don't seem them even wanting to take the chance (and I agree, the odds would be low...although I said the same about Palushaj and we all know how that turned out).

If he agrees to it, he can have a conditioning stint for up to two weeks. If he doesn't want to go down (he hasn't played in the AHL since '07-'08), then they would have to throw him right in (or make him a healthy scratch of course).

Archambault had another strong game yesterday with a goal and two assists, surpassing his previous career high in points in the process (he has 54 in 54 games). He has 11 points in his last 7 games.

It looks like Tenute and Stejskal (flu) will sit this one out while St. Denis and Fortier are also out. Quailer, however, will play and I suppose Corbin will be the #6 defenceman.

Under the head-scratching category, Rick DiPietro has been told he'll be waived today by the Islanders. I'm not sure what they're hoping to accomplish here. They have to know he won't be claimed, are they actually going to pay him to play in Bridgeport?

Yes, I feel oh so much better now seeing someone at least pretending to overreact. You forgot the requisite smiley though...

After having their season long 4 game winning streak snapped on Monday, the Bulldogs (19-25-1-5) will look to get back in the winning column by avenging their loss to Rochester as the host the Americans (27-19-2-1) once again, this time at the Bell Centre. The Amerks just changed their head coach as Ron Rolston was promoted to the Sabres when Lindy Ruff was let go. There is no word yet on whether St. Denis or Quailer are ready to return to the lineup. Projected Rochester Lines: (based on last games' +/- data) Rissmiller - Adam - Tarnasky Ellis - Varone - Mancari Girgensons - Schofield - Legault Roy - Sundher - Parker McNabb - Pysyk Biega - Pardy Crawford - MacKenzie Leggio Projected Hamilton Lines: Blunden - Tenute - Holland Bournival - Dumont - Leblanc Murovich - Chaput - Stortini Hagel - Leveille - Lefebvre Beaulieu - Pateryn Tinordi - Stejskal Ellis - DeSantis Tokarski Puck drop is at 7:30 PM, Funny820 as always will have the play-by-play; click the banner below to listen.

That was a tough loss considering how well they played early on. However, it's 1 game, all isn't lost (I'm happy to see no one is panicking on here). To combat the defence fatigue, I think it's time to rotate Kaberle back in for a game or two. Gallagher hopes to be back as well for tomorrow, I'm curious to find out who would yield their spot to him.

The Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole line really looks good out there, it's nice to see that line control the game. Also, the shot block leader for the Habs tonight is a bit of a surprise - Alex Galchenyuk with 3.