NYR 5, Phoenix 2
Yes. The Rangers were up 4-0 against the Phoenix Coyotes midway through the second period.
Yes. The Rangers yet again lost sight of the win allowing 2 Phoenix goals in the latter half of the second period, every Blueshirt fan rubbing our heads with that 'ole familiar feeling.
Yes. Whew! We won the game 5-2, but....
With 7:25 minutes left in the final period, Marian Gaborik left the Rangers bench limping, leaving the game early.
NOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe by the time you are reading this, Marian Gaborik is taking a spontaneous midnight skate, proving to Coach Torts that he has nothing to worry about. Amen for that. Assuming everything is okay and the Blueshirts are not another league-wide groin joke, onward to discussing tonight's game that broke the Rangers three-game losing streak, positioning them fourth in the Eastern Conference with an 8-3-1 record (at the time of this writing 10:12 EST). Official recap here.
The "we'll give you free tickets if we lose" Phoenix Coyotes (6-3-0) came into The Garden tonight with expectations of a win, eager to prove to all in Phoenix that there are more fans than investors willing to buy the team.
Opening the first period, NY Rangers Anisimov scored a 'sick' goal reaching back to corral a pass from Brian Boyle, spun around in the circle with his back to the net, and twisted to put in a shot as Coyote Zbynek Michalek tried to cover him. No luck 'Zip-neck' or however you pronounce your name....nice try. That nine-year-old YOUTUBE sensation would have been proud of the goal and would have tipped the glass for Artem if he were legal. Gaborik doubled the lead 7:39 later with a power-play goal, perfectly assisted by Dubinsky who streaked down the left wing into the Phoenix zone, carried the puck behind the net and found Gaborik in the slot for a quick one-timer.
The onslaught continued in the second period. Marion Gaborik and Vinny Prospal ran a give-and-go with Prospal cutting to the net, shifting to his backhand and beating Bryzgalov for the Rangers third goal, while then-healthy Marion Gaborik struck again on the power play; young'en Michael Del Zotto moved the puck to Prospal, who drew attention from Coyote D-dogs in the slot and found Gaborik in the middle of the circle for another one-timed goal.
Then while resting, the Coyotes caught the Rangers sleeping the latter half of the second half scoring two against NYR Goalkeeper Henrik Lundqvist, goals by Jovanovski and a Fiddler (On the Roof). I couldn't help myself..
While the second period ended, as Rangers fans I found myself in a similar psychology, elated by a 4-0 lead and a pure dominance by the team I love, but an 'all too familiar Rangers team that frequently loses four goal leads every season for three seasons' -- It happens. We hate it. So while I was preparing myself for yet another disappointment in hockey -- the Rangers of old, the Tom Renney Rangers...
...the Blueshirts pull out of the intermission and kick some Phoenix tail.
The third period opened with the John Tortorella New York Rangers squad out-shooting, out-playing, out-checking the Phoenix Coyotes, and Enver Lisin pushing New York's lead to 5-2 at 11:47 of the third - it was obvious we'd take the two points and end the losing streak.
Then FOUR MINUTES & TWENTY-TWO MINUTES AFTER THE FIFTH GOAL, GABORIK LEFT THE BUILDING.... oh no.
Other than the goal-scorers, I see strength and confidence in most of the D-men -- but honorable mention tonight goes to Marc Staal who singlehandedly prevented many goals in the third period and played like a veteran-who-deserves-to-make-six-mill-a-year. The newbies again outplayed the vets on 'D', but what else is new?
Until we hear otherwise, the roster is healthy and we see the NY Islanders and John Tavares for the first time this season. See you then 7pm EST and hang in there Rangers fans -- Coach Good For Us is improving our team and I hear he finds groin injuries unacceptable behavior. Let's see what Marian thinks of that.
tdr
Dark, One thing about the playing in the NHL is it's very easy to work hard in the offensive zone of the ice. Especially when you're filling up the net with pucks.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, for the Rangers they seem to have moments of being flat out lazy in the neutral and defensive end of the ice.
It's just not as glamorous as scoring goals. However it is just as important to put in the hard work in these 2 areas of the ice.
Hard work in all ends of the ice separate the average teams from the "Great" teams.
Let's just hope:
ReplyDeleteTorts + (hard work) = Great team
That quick exit from the lockeroom from Torts and Sully prior to the 3rd had me wondering if Tortorella walked in and screamed "SONOVA.... FIX IT OR SO HELP ME GOD, I'LL.." and then kicked a garbage can and backhanded Voros (for effect) on the way out...
ReplyDelete