Jet's Shut Down and Out by Rangers 3-0

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 2^nd 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