A lifeless and, at some points, brainless first period, but the 'Blueshirts in a hole' had Ranger fans everywhere squirming in their seats with that old familiar feeling.
Read the official recap here.
With the heart(Callahan) and attitude (Avery) of the team out nursing leg injuries, it became a question of who would emerge and take the reigns of the team in these make or break games. The usual suspects were called upon as Gaborik, Prospal and Jokinen gained back more of their ice time. With a supporting cast of energized P.A. Parentau, Brandon Prust, often headstrong Brandon Dubinsky and even the Ranger, etc ... They delivered.
The comeback was started by Prospal, and it continued with Jokinen. Gaborik, netting his 40th of the season and an uncharacteristic goal by Marc Staal, sealed the Islanders fate. The theme of the night definitely seemed to be "shoot first, ask questions later" as the Ranger forwards and occasional defensemen, pelted the usually solid Islanders Netminder with quick shots and got all the right bounces.
The team is showing a bit of its potential. Forwards like Brandon Prust rebounded well after taking two horrible penalties. Hartford promotion Parenteau played like he was already auditioning for next season. The star forwards generated their offense and the coach finally appeared to have become less selective with his discipline, living up to his word to give minutes to the players that are bringing it every night. Tonight was also perhaps a glimpse of a system that Tortorella was trying to implement all season. The run and gun plays like the one that produced the Marc Staal goal, showed what happens when players can play both sides of the puck, are in the right place to advance the puck up ice and the defense chips in. How long it lasts is anyone's guess. Our hope is at least till the end of the season...
- J_Undisputed
Excellent recap. It would have been easy for the team to pack it in after falling behind in the 1st, but again they showed resiliency.
ReplyDeleteI still don't think they will make the playoffs but at least they are playing with some inspiration. There will be plenty of time for post-mortems.