By Golly! Last night the NY Rangers broke one of the two curses of this season, embarrassing those pesky Devils of Newark, 5-2. With a slight boost of confidence mid-way through the second period and down 0-1, the Blueshirts went on a 3-goal scoring binge within two minutes, and a subsequent two goals by Nik Zherdev. The curse of the 2-goal game has been proven otherwise. That leaves the 'curse of the first-period rutt' to deal with.
Needless to say, two more points and the NY Rangers dominate the Atlantic Division and lead the Eastern Conference (12-5-2). Not bad for a flawed team with very little defense. Just wait until they 'get good'!!?
Official recap here.
Here is an interesting tidbit: For only the third time in 101 meetings with the Devils over 15 years, the Rangers faced a goalie other than Brodeur. Our boys certainly took advantage of the Devils-minus-Brodeur and they took it to them in the second and third periods. I still have no understanding of the first period black hole, but I am certain coach Renney is whipping up a new batch of line potion to address the fact THAT THEY JUST DON'T LOOK INTERESTED in opening strong.
Curse...maybe.
Chemistry....maybe.
Coach.....f*ck yeah!
The Dark Ranger is proud of our boys last night --- this is the level of work we need every game to win 'em, and you can see (last night by example) that once they climb out of the first period hole - and take the lead - the 'defensive dark cloud' is lifted and they begin to play hockey. Sure, there will be mistakes in the process, but they obviously go to the net and dig a little tougher. Forechecking --- last night, yes! Power play unit -- last night, yes! Team confidence -- last night...yes! The Blueshirts and coaching staff need to stop listening to everyone calling us a 'one or two goal per game team' and let them play some God d*mn hockey!
Salute and Let's Go Rangers!
TDR
Why are you not happy with your team Dark Ranger? It is unusual to read various New York Rangers blogs and you are all complaining. Can't you just enjoy that all teams lose and win games and you are winning a lot of them?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy them. They look like a team playing kick ass hockey 26 points? aint worth complaining about.
Go Optimism. Go Rangers.
dave...obviously you haven't watched any games this season because they are NOT kicking ass. I, and other NYR bloggers, are the first to celebrate the winning record. I couldn't be happier, but our losses are not 'good' losses. They are structural 'break-down' losses where the system falls apart at the seams -- and over the last three seasons (Tom Renney and his coaching staff)have given us a team where we don't know which team we are going to get from one night to the next.
ReplyDeleteHey, and shut up by the way. It's complicated.
;)
tdr
i've been a rangers fan my whole life and it has been one of the most profoundly disappointing loves of my life. we new yorkers have a right to criticize the team -- we've been here longer than anyone ACUTALLY on the Rangers.
ReplyDeleteYou DO look like Malik, Dark! ha he he eh ehe he
ReplyDelete