Exhausted beats Rusty - Rangers Grab Game One

Another game one - another Ranger win!

Would game 1 versus the Devils favor the Red Hot (but Exhausted) Rangers or the Rested (but Rusty Devils?

As it turned out - the Devils started out hot and not rusty at all. The first period was a bit of a mess for both sides - but in the second - the Devils began getting the best of the action - forcing the puck in the Rangers zone - getting shots and solid chances on net - and looking like the better team.

But nobody told Lundqvist. The great Henrik was magnificent in the 2nd - stopping flurries of shots from every angle. The Devils came away with nothing for their efforts other than frustration and a 0-0 tie.

But - then - like game seven against Washington - the third period belonged to the New York Rangers. Clamping down on the Devils - the Blueshirts allowed just 4 shots on goal. And Hank handled each of them.

So all that was needed was a Ranger goal. They got three.

The first was a perfect pass from Rookie sensation Chris Krieder to defenseman Dan Girardi - who had just coming off the Ranger bench and was unaccounted for by the Devil's defense. Girardi one timed the puck through a perfect screen of four lined-up players. Marty Broeder didn't see it until he looked behind himself into the net. 1-0 Rangers.

Krieder scored the 2nd goal himself - off a nifty no-look pass from Artem Anisimov. Krieder, who was not born when the Devil's goalie first played in the NHL, shot low along the ice to Broedur's left - but the aging netminder was too slow to stop it.

The third and final Ranger tally was an empty netter - and the Rangers had captured their third consecutive game 1 victory in a playoff series.

So far so good. The big question is - will the Rangers take a 2 game lead - something they have failed to do in their 5 previous attempts. In fact - the Rangers are 1-5 in even numbered playoff games this year, losing to Ottawa in games 2 and 4, and to Washington in games 2, 4 and 6.

Wednesday would be a great time to reverse that trend. Maybe for once we can do this the easy way.

(My son Pucks Junior's analysis of the New Jersey Goaltender: "Brodeur is fat")

Let's go Rangers.

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