What Just Happened? Rangers Shock The Lightning (and Me) with a 8-2 win

Okay – if you didn't notice it before – there's no denying it now. John Tortorella's Rangers are officially the streakiest Ranger team I have ever seen in my lifetime.

After a three game stretch where we scored just once – we have now tossed in 14 goals in two games. Last night the Lightning played like they were on strike (“Lightning Strike” - see what I did there?) (Editor – yes, and please stop doing it.) and the Rangers scored 8 times to beat John Tortorella's and Vinnie Prospal's former team 8-2.

It was the Rangers highest scoring game of the season. Eight goals? Eight? Really? And this is the Rangers were talking about? I don't know what to make of it – but I like it.

The Goalies: Henrik did better than Sunday – he saved 21 of 23 shots for a .913 save percentage. But the Lightning? Don't ask. They started Niittymaki and he let in 25% of the shots he faced (5 goals on 25 shots). So Tampa replaced him with the rookie Tokarski – who was … worse! The unfortunate young man made only 8 saves on 11 shots for a save percentage of .727%. That, friends, is some of the worst goaltending you are ever likely to see in the NHL.

Special Teams: Even though the Lightning scored on 1 of their 5 powerplay attemtps, we did better – connecting on 2 of 4.

The New Veteran Rangers: Wow, there a lot of goals and assist to talk about! Let's start with 4 assists for Marian Gaborik. A goal and assist for Prospal and for Higgins, of all people. A goal for Lisin. And a single assist for Boyle.

The Kid Rangers did good stuff too. Del Zotto had an assist and Gilroy had 2 assists.

The Returning Rangers have been lighting up the night the past 2 games. Last night Callahan had an assist. Drury had another goal. Dubinsky had a goal and an assist. Girardi had a goal. Redden had an assist. Staal had a goal and an assist. And finally – Voros had a goal and a series of fights.

Defense on Offense: Yes there was. One goal and 4 big assists.

In Conclusion: When Vaclav Prospal and Brandon Dubinsky are both playing at 100 percent - the Rangers are a much better team. And with Callahan and even Drury contributing - we're that much better still. And when the 4th line scores - and when the defense scores - well, that's when we start to become a powerhouse.

So this year's Rangers can look very good - or very bad - sometimes in the same week. A little unsettling for a fan - but hey - it's a lot better than never being good.

I don't know how long thid will last - but let's just enjoy the wave while we're riding it.
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Where we stand: Ottawa also won so we are in 6th place in the East, one point behind the Senators and one point in front of Boston. (And just 5 points above of a tie for 12th place)
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Next Up - after just avenging a bad earlier loss to Tampa - the Rangers on Thursday Night will get the chance to get back at Philadelphia for a bad loss earlier this year. They play at MSG on Thursday at 7pm.