Let's start with the important stuff:
Sean Avery played his first game of the season for the New York
Rangers tonight - something that one week ago seemed like it would
never happen again. No matter what happens next – at least Sean
got to pull on that blue and red uniform one more time – got to
jump on that Garden Ice – got to hear the faithful chant his name
again.
Honestly, Avery seemed a bit rusty –
a little tentative – and did not get mixed up in a big helping of
the fights and penalties that featured prominently in this hockey
game.
All in – Sean played 7 shifts, and
had one shot on goal, one hit, and one take-away in 4:46 of ice time.
On the other hand – no penalties and no give-aways. If all goes
well, he'll get another chance tomorrow.
In other news – the Rangers won a
hockey game tonight – 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens, snapping the
Habs 4 game win streak and starting up a 3 game streak of their own.
The Key Stats: Montreal was penalized
40 minutes in a 60 minute game. They just didn't allow themselves
enough 5 on 5 to get any kind of offensive flow going – especially
early on. Just take a look at their penalties:
1st period
1:24 - Max Pacioretty: 2 Minutes for
Boarding
4:18 - Michael Blunden: 5 Minute Major
for Fighting
4:18 - Petteri Nokelainen: 5 Minute
Major for Fighting
4:18 - 2 Minute Bench Penalty for Too
Many Men on the Ice
4:18 - Michael Blunden: 2 Minutes for
Interference of
4:18 - Petteri Nokelainen: 10 Minute
Game Misconduct
4:18 - Hal Gill: 2 Minutes for Roughing
8:21 - David Desharnais: 2 Minutes for
Hooking
10:48 - David Desharnais: 2 Minutes for
Tripping
2nd period:
0:45 - Tomas Plekanec: 2 Minutes for
Hooking
8:17 - Brian Gionta: 2 Minutes for
High-sticking
10:40 - Ryan McDonagh: 2 Minutes for
Holding
14:56 - Yannick Weber: 2 Minutes for
High-sticking
3rd Period:
13:19 - P.K. Subban: 2 Minutes for
Unsportsmanlike Conduct
In some nice reversals of recent trends
- the Rangers won 31 of 50 faceoffs and led in shots 29-28.
Hits and Errors: The Rangers was out
hit by Montreal 25 to 18, and fumbled the pucks 8 time to the
Canadiens 1. On the plus side – we led 14-10 in take-aways.
Big Moments:
Brandon Dubinsky had the puck and a
free path into the Canadien's zone about 4 minutes into the first
period. But when he looked behind him for Rangers trailing the play
– Michael Blunden jumped off the Montreal bench and on the ice
directly in Dubi's path – actually becoming the 6th
skater on the ice in a dangerous and illegal maneuver. Brandon
caught sight of him at the last second – it was still a huge
collision – but it could have been much much worse for the Ranger
forward. The Rangers stuck up for Dubinsky and in a few moments
there were three seperate fights on the Garden ice.
When the linesmen got it all pulled
apart – ten separate penalties were handed out. The worst of it
for the Rangers was the game misconduct to Michael Sauer – meaning
that one of our top 4 defenseman was done for the night after only
1:33 of ice time – leaving an already-depleted blue line unit to
have to fill 55+ minutes of defensive ice time with just 5 healthy
blue-liners.
After the first period – when the MSG
broadcasters interviewed the newly signed ranger defenseman Anton
Stralman – I started yelling at the TV:
“Take that TV suit off – pull your
Red Pants on - and get out there Strals!”
The melee ignited the Rangers who went
on to outshoot their opponents 16 to 3 in the first frame and jump to
that (dangerous) 3 goal lead.
Christensen broke the ice on a 5 on 3
that resulted from the Dubinsky blind-siding and subsequent fight.
Girardi and Del Zotto added 2 more for the Rangers to lead 3-0 after
20 minutes. Delzi's goal was a pretty one – he made a huge deking
move right in the crease to sneak the puck past Price in goal.
In the 2nd period –
predictably – when Henrik doesn't see a lot of shots – he gets
off his game a bit. The games 4th Canadien shot on goal
was put aside by Lundqvist – but yielded a dangerous rebound to Max Pacioretty that was put right back
past Henrik from 24 feet out on the left side.
Later on in the 2nd –
after an odd-looking penalty on the Ranger Goaltender after Lundqvist
acted like a linebacker with a perfect football tackle of Brian
Gionta. Less than a minute later Andrei Kostitsyn snapped one in
the net from 13 feet out and the Ranger's had squandered 2/3 of a 3
goal lead.
But then, at 18:50 we got a chance to
see exactly why Brad Richards is Brad Richards. The top line Center
grabbed the puck – maneuvered into position and with one minute 10
left on the 2nd period clock, buried a 17 footer to boost
the Ranger lead back to 2.
Still, the 3rd period
yielded more chills and thrills as Brian Gionta scored on a
twice-deflected slapshot from52 feet and with 1:50 left in the 3rd
– we once again had a one goal lead.
Finally – at 19:21 – with the
Montreal Goalie pulled for the extra skater – Ryan Callahan tossed
one that deflected in the empty net from 84 feet out – and the
Blueshirts had a 5-3 win.
Heroes and Zeros:
Anisimov and Stepen each had 2 assists.
Christensen – feeling the Avery pressure – had a goal and
assist. Cally, Girardi, and Richards had goals, with lone assists
for Deveaux, Dubinsky, Gabby, McDonagh, and Prust.
Pipe-Cleaners: Hank stopped 25 of the
28 shots he faces, just topping Price who stopped on 24 of his 28
shots. Hank's .893 save percentage was below his usual average –
but the Rangers were down a defenseman.
So all in all – the Rangers got
enough offense to overcome a less than perfect night for Hank – and
the loss of a starting 6 defensemen for the night. I can't help but
thinking that without Brad Richards and his 2nd period
goal – we lose this game.
The Red Pants queue it up again
tomorrow night – for the last game of this first Ranger home stand
– facing the Jets at 7pm.
Good win fellows. See you Sunday
night.
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