Monday, January 18, 2010

Slump-Be-Gone! Rangers Storm back to Beat Habs 6-2



Things were looking grim. The Rangers had lost 3 in a row -0 and now they were down 2-0 in the 2nd at home to period down 2-0 to the Montreal Canadiens.
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But – your mighty Rangers rose up and smote Montreal with the fury of .. of – well anyway they had a great comeback and beat the Habs 6-2 in front of an ecstatic (Editor - that means very happy) MSG crowd.

After struggling to score anything for more than a week – the Rangers exploded for 6 unanswered goals in two periods.
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Here are the details:
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The Goalies: Henrik only saved 90% of the 20 shots that came his way – although one of the goals was a borderline high stick that could have been called either way. But it was great that the Rangers gave Lundqvist – finally – a night where he didn't have to be perfect.
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Halek was something of a mess – letting up 6 goals on 34 shots for a save percentage of just .824 (which makes Chad Johnson's recent .875 look a lot better in retrospect.
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So Hank had an off night – but he was still much better than his opponent and the Rangers dominated the shots on goal anyway.
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Special Teams: Our PK let up one goal in 5 attempts and out powerplay finally got one in the net in 6 tries. But this game was won at even strength.
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The New Veteran Rangers: Finally – some goals and assists to talk about. Remember the name Marian Gaborik? Well, after a few games where he disappeared – the Gifted One showed up with a goal, two assists, and a +3 on the night. And Prospal – shaking off rust from his recent surgery – has 2 assists and a +3 of his own. And Lisin managed to get himself in a fight.
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The Kid Rangers: Del Zotto had an assist and a +3 night that is probably his best of the season.
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The Returning Rangers had a huge night. Ryan Callahan was off-the-charts unreal. Two goals. Two Assists. +3. And Ryan was everywhere – rushing end-to-end – hustling – and igniting everyone around him. Dubinsky had two goals and an assist. One of Dubi's goals was a marvel – he swatted a Callahan rebound out of the air and past Halak. The Captain Chris Drury had a goal and an assist. Marc Staal had an assist as well.
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Defense on Offense: Two assists for this unit. And Wade Redden got in a actual drop-the-gloves-and -square-off hockey brawl.
In Conclusion: Very entertaining game – plenty of goals – plenty of fights – 38 minutes in Ranger penalties. We turned our game around – and how about our season? Time will tell – but a lot of fun being a Ranger fan last night.
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The one worrisome sign – Sean Avery and John Tortorella were seen yelling at each other on the bench after Sean had given a questionable penalty. And John double shifted Gaborik to bench Avery – but then re-inserted him later on.
But what a game by Ryan Callahan. Earlier in the year he looked just a bit slow – but last night he was a blur of motion – helping the Blueshirts on every shift and in every corner of the ice.
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Next Up: Monday rest day and then Tampa Bay comes to visit on Tuesday
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Where We Stand: Still in 7th place in the East, one point behind the Senators with a game at hand. The hated Islanders are in 8th, 3 points back.

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