Rangers Fail to Lose Lead - Beat Caps 2-1

With Dave Pucks and Pucks Junior in attendance the Rangers rallied from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the despised Washington Capitals and the more despised Alexander Ovechkin 2-1.

The Capitals Holtby stopped 38 of 40 shots for a .950 save percentage. But Henrik Lundqvist was better with a .964.

The Game started off in frustrating fashion as Washington defenseman Carlson beat Lundqvist just 79 seconds into the contest to spot the Caps to an early one goal lead. Holtby then took over - stopping the Rangers on 20 first period shots I goal to escape the first period 1-0, despite being outplayed by the New Yorkers.

It was Carl Hagalin who finally got the Rangers on the board in the second by deflecting a Ryan McDonuagh shot past the Capital's netminder.

So on to the third period we went. And finally, the Rangers power play scored a key goal. 4:25 in, Derek Stepan sved Holtby, a d pt the rangers up to stay.

Form then on the Rangers, after failures in their two prior contests, were as to hold a lead and finish off their opponent in regulation.

Hank was brilliant and the Rangers kept their poise and kept digging throughout as the game slowly turned in their favor. And our one-time nemesis Alex Ovechkin was held pointless and was soundly jeered every time he touched the puck.

A good day for the Rangers. Glad I was there to see it.


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We'll Be There Tonight

 

First of all - like my hero Hockey Rodent - old Dave Pucks is having a hard time hanging in and hanging on these days.  The economy is still not great - I'm working longer hours with a much longer commute.  And I'm needed at home with two sons.

But - I'm staying here.  I'll keep firing away at this blog for as long as I can.  Just understand if it's not every day.

A few thoughts about our recent Rangers:

My co-worker Joey G. is a Islander fan.  And the last two Ranger games he watched - he turned off the TV and went to bed with the Rangers up 3-0 and 2-0 respectively.  Once Joe tuned out - the Rangers fell apart  - twice - and both games ended up in the shoot out.  So my mission now is trying to figure out a way to keep Joe's TV on until the games are over.

I think our Rangers will be okay. It will take Tortorella a little longer to get the troops playing right this year because he didn't have a training camp.  But the conditioning and consistency will get there - just not as soon as we'd like.

One more note - Pucks Junior and I will be attending the Rangers-Capitals contest tonight at MSG.  And I'll keep posting - as best I can - from now on.

Let's go Rangers.

Rangers beat Islanders - season saved - again!

Let's go back to the Captain!

This is a hockey club with some star power.  You've got Nash and Lundqvist and Gaborik and Richards.  But without captain Ryan Callahan - you don't have a winning team. 

Cally returned to the lineup last night and just like that the Rangers returned to form with a desperately needed 4-1 victory over the hated rival New York Islanders. 

 J.T. Miller was exactly what John Tortorella needed as the 19 year old rookie got the Rangers on the scoreboard in the game's first minute and added a second in a stunning MSG debut.  The young man's energy got the whole team going.  Putting Kreider and Callahan on JT's line was another Tortorella special that worked to perfection. 

And perhaps most importantly, Henrik Lundqvist finally started playing like Henrik Lundqvist last night, looking sharp from the outset and only surrendering one goal. 

We're only 5 and 5 now and we have a long way to go and much work to do as a hockey team.   But you gotta admit - we needed that win and it felt great to get it.  

And it all starts with Captain Ryan Callahan

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