There’s a lot going on for a preseason game.  First, the Rangers fell to the Flyers 5-3 in their final North American preseason game.  The Blueshirts fly to Europe to start their European stand in the Czech Republic, but will do so without their last cuts, and with two injured players.

  • Andreas Thuresson and Andre Deveaux have been cut.  Coach John Tortorella said there would be two more cuts before the trip to Europe, and it’s clear these were the two cuts he had in mind.  These should not be a surprise to anyone, even though they had relatively strong games tonight.
  • Sean Avery was left with a bloody toe after blocking a shot tonight.  He did not return after blocking the shot, but nothing is broken, so he won’t be out long term.
  • Mike Sauer sprained his right shoulder in the first period, and did not return for the rest of the game.  He will be out for at least a week, but he should likely be back for the regular season opener in Sweden.
  • How about Glen Sather guaranteeing a Cup for the Rangers and a World Series for the Yanks?
  • Seeing Jagr in orange is weird.
  • Dale Weise…where have you gone? You got your butt kicked in that fight.  Here’s the video of that:

  • Erik Christensen dazzled on one play, but he disappeared for the rest of the game. Hartford is a nice city though.
  • Kudos to Avery and Stu Bickel, who stood up for Deveaux after he got crushed into the boards by Tom Sesito.  Sesito will be suspended, no doubt.  It’s good to see both of them, particularly Avery, stand up for a teammate destined for the AHL.
  • After that fight, it was funny to see Avery head to the box, only to leave after realizing he didn’t get a penalty.  Force of habit?
  • Wayne Simmonds: Epic fail. Just one game after having a horrendous slur “thrown” upon you, you do the same thing to Avery. Here’s that video:

  • Neither Tim Erixon nor Michael Del Zotto had strong games, but the defense was exhausted following Sauer’s injury and the multiple 5-on-3s they had to kill. No excuse, but they looked bad and tired.

Rangers are headed to Europe tonight. It’s about 5am where they will land at the current moment, so they will land at around noon. Their next preseason game is Thursday against HC Sparta in the Czech Republic.

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