Since when does a 3 game winning streak start in the 2nd week of February and last until March? When you have an Olympic break in the middle - that's when.Your New York Rangers won for the third consecutive time - again without the services of their leading scorer Marian Gaborik who was hurt before the break - got better - played for Slovakia - got hurt again - and ended up back on the Ranger injury list.
The Rangers took on the third-place-in-the-East-Ottawa Senators - on the road - and came up with 4 goals in the 2nd period to erase a 1-0 deficit and blow by a team that had won 14 of their last 16 games.
The Jokinen version of these Rangers is looking pretty good right now. And when Gaborik returns - we might really have something to get excited about.
The Goalies: Henrik Lundqvist - still stinging from an Olympic meltdown where he gave up 4 goals on 14 shots - came back huge last night, stopping 24 of the 25 shots that came his way. Any night the King has a .960 save percentage - he's giving us a very good chance to win.
Ottawa's Elliott stopped just 12 of the 16 shots he faced before getting yanked.
Special Teams: Not a factor. Rangers 0-1 on the Powerplay and 2-0 on the penalty kill. Good job for our guys staying out of the box. Or are the refs taking a cue from the Olympic refs who were happy to let the other players slash at one another as long as play kept going?
The New Veteran Rangers - Christensen, playing on the top line, had two assists. Prust had an assist. And Enver Lisin - who was placed on waivers earlier in the day - played hard and earned an assist of his own. If this is goodbye Enver - thanks for the effort - a very classy move.
Your Returning Rangers: rocked the house. Silver medalist Ryan Callahan kept his motor running from Vancouver - scored twice and nearly had the hat trick. Sean Avery had a goal and an assist. I would love for the guy to get hot down the stretch. And Dubinsky scored. Even Redden had an assist.
The Kid Rangers - were missing Michael Del Zotto - who had 50 stitches in his chest from a collision with the Penguin's Malkin's skate before the break. The Olympics were perfectly timed to help the teenager heal up. But the big story is that Corey Potter stepped up and played just fine. And Gilroy continues to perform. 2 rookie defensemen on the road - where the opposition gets the last line change - and we only give up one goal. Well done fellows
And yes - it has been a while since we called Anisimov's name.
Defense on Offense? One assist.
In conclusion: Let's hope Gabby gets well soon. And check back here as the 3pm trade deadline approaches. With the madman Slats in charge - if we don't make a deal - that in itself will be news.
Next Up: the Olympic Gold Medal crybaby Sidney Crosby on Friday. The start of 3 games in 3 days. Let's see Auld on Saturday. Please.
Where we stand. The win gets us to 65 points - tying the 8th place Bruins. There is still a big clump of teams from 6th place on down. It should be a fight to the finish.
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Well, the trade deadline has passed with no stupid deals mortgaging the teams future so that Sather can hang on to his job for another year. I'm gonna cross my fingers that this means he already knows he's done and they're just waiting until the off-season to actually pull the trigger.
ReplyDeleteYou're right Mike - in a way I am relieved that there was no big crazy deal at the wire. But the Christensen deal and the Jokinen deal have worked out well for us. And signing Gaborik was a good move. So Slats does have his moments.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it just took him 5 years to figure out this whole salary cap thing.
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