Once again – let's start with Sean.
Unfortunately our favorite agitator had another uneventful 5 minutes.
This time Avery had 8 shifts, 5:21 of ice time, and one hit.
Nothing bad – but nothing Avery-esque (And I know that's not a
word, okay?) (Editor: okay). And with the Rangers going so well, I
don't see a reason for Tortorella to change up anything right now.
Okay – let's talk about the game
itself. The Rangers rocketed through what looked like a classic trap
game – the final contest of a homestand against a bad opponent
after a modest win streak:
As a team: The Rangers outshot the
J-E-T-S Jets 27 to 24, outhit them 24-23, and won the faceoff battle
37-27- once again reversing the bad trends we had seen earlier this
year. And they only took 4 penalties to the Jets' 6.
Man-Up: On Special teams the Rangers
were perfect on the Penalty Kill in 4 tries. And it was the power
play that got the first Ranger goal, on a great feed from Del Zotto
to Stepan in the 2nd period. The 1-0 Ranger lead was all
they would need.
Pipe-Cleaners: Marty Biron is the
unheralded MVP of this team. He's now 3-0 on the 7-3-3 Rangers,
registering his first shutout – and stopping all 23 shots he faced.
Pavelec had a .923 save percentage, stopping 26 of 28. That's good
enough to win most nights – but not against last night's Rangers.
Hot Pockets: A Plus minus of +2 for:
Anisimov, Gaborik, Girardi, McDonagh, and Stepan. 2 goals and an
assist for the Gifted One, as Gaborik is thriving despite being
separated from Richards. You can't do much better than being a
factor on all 3 Ranger tallies. Also, Stepan had a goal and an
assist, Anisimov had a pair of assists, and a single assist was
notched by a resurgent Michael Del Zotto.
The Lone Ranger: Above and beyond all
the rest of last night's heroes – stands marty Biron. You cannot
underestimate the value of a 3-0 backup goalie. Not just for the
boost he gives when he plays (we're just 4-3-3 without him) but also
for the rest he's given Hank – which will pay off down the stretch
and in the playoffs.
In the End: A well deserved shut out –
a another huge night for the defense (imagine what we'll be if Stahl
ever returns) and a sniper in Gaborik looking as good as he's ever
looked. Not a bad night right now – a great finish to the
homestand – and we'll take it out on the road later this week. I
would have loved to have seen more from Sean – but other than that,
all”s right with the world.
Let's Go Rangers
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