My Beef With Tom

The Rangers put in a very short effort tonight... so I'll do the same. 

As for the title of this post, let me begin by saying that I am pro-Tom Renney. Which, in Rangerland, seems to be more like being pro-cancer.

But here's where I don't understand Tom's thinking.

New York is down 2-1 (when they should be winning 3-1), Pittsburgh has all the momentum in the game, there's 15 minutes left in the tilt- and Tom puts out his PUNCHLESS (especially Colton Orr in that fight... ouch.) 4th line. 

And then I called it. I literally said it (to the two Pens fans I watched the game with tonight) mere SECONDS before Letang was left alone to slide down to the dot before wristing one high over Hank's shoulder.

"Great. We're down in the game, we need the puck, and Renney throws out the 4th liners," I called out. "This does nothing but kill a minute off the clock... or go for a goal against."

I pause for air and it's Cindy to Letang, who walks down the slot unmolested and ices the game. 

Our 4th line is not the type that scores timely goals. It doesn't even consist of young players or bangers who go out there and give you a few chances and a solid spark. No. Instead, our fourth line is made up of a fighter and two good penalty killers.

I'm not advocating that they be replaced. Betts and Sjo are too valuable on the PK. Instead, just KEEP THEM OFF OF THE ICE when the team NEEDS A GOAL. 

Again, their shift means nothing but time off the clock. They ARE NOT going to break the game even. You have 3 other lines that each have a much better chance off accomplishing something 5-on-5, and can manage themselves defensively.

 I just can't stand the fact that they were called on in that spot. I don't care that 15 minutes is a lot of time. When you're down in the 3rd, and you're a team that struggles to score goals to begin with, YOU NEED TO SCORE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. 

I'm done with that.

GAME NOTES

- Henrik Lundqvist did not have a good game. He was swiss cheese in there tonight. At least 3 goals were scored that he would, no doubt, like to have back. 

- The Rangers defense, most notable Michal Rozsival and Dmitri Kalinin, were Hechting brutal in all facets of the game. Each was routinely beaten in one-on-one battles and were absolutely dreadful with the puck. Though the 2nd goal falls mostly on Hank, if Rozsival skates hard to the dumped puck instead of being afraid of getting hit, Jordan Staal never gets the opportunity to whip it to the front.

- Nik Zherdev is still really, really good. What a drag and shot on that first goal<33.>

-Scratch that. Marc Staal played a pretty solid game on the blueline.

- Go back upstairs Aaron Voros. Please. Not only was Voros slow on the forecheck, but he cant even one-touch a puck into the open net after Z hands it to him on a platter.

-The only two Rangers who were not a Minus tonight: Nik Zherdev and (WTF) Michal Rozsival.

- The Rangers really missed Ryan Callahan in this game. Cally, who was out with the flu, brings that spark and fire to the Rangers lineup that they were sorely lacking tonight.

So the roller coaster ride continues. And it's not going to get easier anytime soon, folks. Next up is the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins on Saturday afternoon. 

Let's hope the Blueshirts remember to bring their game.

-Rif

Rally for Valli

I don't think that Stephen Valliquette is an NHL caliber goaltender.

Does he have a cool Spiderman helmet? Yes. Is he a nice guy? He sounds like one. Will he ever have a starting job in the National Hockey League? No. That's because when he puts on the pads and stands in Henrik's net, it's  just hard to be confident in his ability to keep the biscuit out of the basket.

Nonetheless, Sean Avery was only half right when he called Valliquette "A minor leaguer". And that's because Valli is an OK backup goalie.

Sam Rosen and Joe Mica-not-JD-letti like to praise the lanky backstop a little more. They will repeat the refrain about how he "comes up big when his number is called" until we all believe that #40 stole one for the good guys.

Unfortunately, that's not the WHOLE story.

Something happens to a team when they are a little less confident about the guy standing between the pipes. Forwards backcheck a little harder. Defensemen make the simple chips off the boards and out of the zone. Everybody has their head on a swivel inside their blueline.

In fact, the Rangers downright collapse all 5 skaters below the top of the circles.

How many breakaways/2-on-1s did you witness coming in on Stevie V tonight? Yeah. I didn't see one either.

This is because when the Rangers don't have the league's best goalie guarding their net, they have to be a little more careful and conservative about getting caught deep in the O-zone, and about their positioning up and down the entire rink.

When The King is in net, we see these mental and positional breakdowns time and time again. In some games the Swede may face 3 or 4 clean breakaways in regulation time.

But not Valli.

What you will see coming in on Valiquette are long slap shots from the points- now open due to New York's defensive zone, slot covering, collapse strategy. When these shots came roaring through off the sticks of Joe Corvo and Joni Pitkanen, Spiderman was there to repel the puck. In fact, there were a number of very impressive saves off of deflections from the sticks of Hurricane forwards.

Valliquette played a pretty good game. But the Rangers, defensively, were (for the most part) stifling the Carolina attack, keeping them to the outside of the dots along the boards. So we'll tip our cap to Valli for now, but I'll stop short of calling him Mike Richter. Or Mike Dunham. Or Glen Healy. 

Lets just say I wouldn't want to have to put the season on the guy's shoulders.

GAME NOTES

- The Rangers first line of Naslund-Gomez-Callahan looked.. well... like a first line. This trio was flying all game long, skating dominant shift after dominant shift. All 3 forwards had their legs tonight.

- Nik Zherdev hasn't scored in 13 games now, but I'm still crushing. He's still skating hard, dangling out of his mind, and dishing the pill off exceptionally well on his way to racking up more assists. The goals will come Nicky. Just keep working.

- New York's powerplay looked IMPRESSIVE! This isn't even a typo! In fact, the PP has looked quite sharp for the last 4 or 5 games in a row now. Good player movement with the man advantage + quick, smart decisions with the puck = chances. Chances turn into goals. Goals turn into me being happy. Me being happy turns into everybody else being happy.

- Sam had an interesting point when he mentioned that Blair Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom may be the greatest Penalty Killing pair in NYR history. Can you think of a better unit??

- Lauri Korpikoski played a smart, responsible, and impressive game. This kid could be a future Selke trophy(Best Defensive Forward) winner. Let's just hope the offensive side of his game starts to show some consistency.

- The Staals are barely 20 and I'm already sick of their rivalries. All 4 of them. And the one isn't even in the league yet.

- That being said, Marc may very well be the best of the bunch. What a stud we have on our blueline. He's already such a calming force back there.

- Back to Gomez for a second... Did anybody else see the Alaska native throwing the body around out there tonight? He actually did a little bit of everything on the ice in this game. Now, as is always the case with Gomer, we would just like to see some consistency.

- 3 Goals in 6 games for Brandon Dubinsky after a long, ugly drought. Looks like he may be building some confidence again. He has been reunited with his Playstation linemates of Nikolai Zherdev and a recently re-installed and semi-effective Aaron Voros.

3 Stars Of The Game

3) Lauri Korpikoski- 1g- The Korpedo played an immensely disciplined defensive game tonight, and was rewarded with some late ice time. The main reason I have him as the 3rd star is because his goal came as the result of pure hustle and going to the net hard after a shot on goal. That's what I like to see.

2) Stephen Valliquette- 33 saves, W- I know I kinda ripped on Valli in my earlier rant, but the guy played a strong game. He doesn't face the quality of shots that Hank does, but he did what he needed to do to get the W and that's what matters. I'm trying not to be contradictory here.

1) Scott Gomez- 1g, 1a- So at least we know he hasn't completely lost all of his skill and desire. Apparently Gomer spent his entire All-Star break at the Rangers training facility preparing for the 2nd half of the season. His work paid off today. Deserving of a mention are his linemates- Markus Naslund and Ryan Callahan. All 3 were great but Gomez was the best player on the ice tonight.

NOTES:

--> Dan Fritsche was placed on waivers earlier today. I don't have too much of an opinion on the youngster, but  there was clearly no place for him on this roster. Still, don't completely bash this move by Slater, because he arrived in the same deal that brought us Nikolai Zherdev. The interesting part of this is that Fritsche's contract will not be the one that opens the cap space for Slats to  wheel and deal.

--> Cindy Crosby IS expected to play tomorrow night against the Rangers. (menstrual cycle/knee).

-Rif

Hasenfratz'd!

For the second consecutive game, Mike Hasenfratz was baring stripes and a whistle as the New York Rangers skated in a National Hockey League contest. 

For the second consecutive game, Mike Hasenfratz called an absolutely TERRIBLE, BRUTAL, ONE-SIDED and EMBARASSING game, strongly effecting the outcome of the match.

I think it's fairly obvious to anybody with eyes what went down on Sunday afternoon-The Sidney Crosby showcase. And when the Penguins are nationally televised (and competing with a Super Bowl hopeful city), they are not supposed to lose. Bettman mandates that, and Hasenfratz saw it through. 

The Rangers were called for EVERYTHING in this game. And by EVERYTHING, I mean mostly things that flat out did not happen- and are not penalties, among the one or two fair calls that were whistled.

The Penguins on the other hand got away with absolute murder. There were cross checks, two-handed slashes, elbows and trips that were overlooked over and over again by the referees.

For Example...

2nd period. Rangers power play (don't worry there weren't many). Puck is centered to Chris Drury in front. Chris gets ready to tap the puck into the open side when BAM! Cross-checked FROM BEHIND by Jordan Staal. And I mean WRECKED.  M.A. Fleury pounces on the dormant puck and the pressure is relieved. 

Blair Betts comes down the left wing on the forecheck. He's ready to pick up the puck in the O-zone corner when WHACK! He gets two handed on the hands. The slash breaks his stick and leaves Blair hunched over in pain holding his hand. Meanwhile, play continues and the Pens break out of the zone. 

Cindy Crosby  makes Wade Redden look silly. Goes outside-inside on the defenseman and is almost in on Lundqvist when the stick of a backchecker GRAZES, (DOES NOT TUG OR SLASH) the arm of Cindy. Crosby jumps 3 feet in the air and slides in on Henrik. PENALTY SHOT!!! 

For a guy who is "so strong on his skates" as Pierre Mcguire feels the need to tell his audience every 6 seconds, Sid sure goes down on the ice ALOT.

The King makes a great save on a long point shot from a Pens defenseman. The rebound squirts into the high slot where a Pittsburgh forward is charging in to fire it into the open cage. Scott Gomez (who sucks by the way) actually hustles for a second and LIFTS the stick of the Penguin, thus negating the chance. Gomez gets two for hooking. LOL!!!

See the pattern here?

Don't get me wrong. The Rangers were hechting DREADFUL in this game. They were slow, they were sloppy, and they were awful positionally. Nonetheless, the referees need to let the boys play. Or at least be consistent and not so blatantly one-sided. If Crosby is as good as advertised (and we're told), then he will stand out on his own... he wouldn't need so much help.

GAME NOTES

- All that said, how many odd-man rushes did NYR give up tonight?? Pens forwards had acres of room to skate in this game before a Ranger defender was anywhere in sight to heed their progress.

- What the hell is with the dump and chase? When it's not working in a game (which it rarely is for the Rangers) TRY SOMETHING NEW! How about going to the net? Shoot and crash the cage for rebounds. You learn that as a freakin' Mite. I don't know if that's on Tom Renney, but it's on somebody.

- Scott Gomez really sucks. 

- Nikolai Zherdev was the lone Ranger who stood out in a positive way in this game. Nikki was creating chances all by his lonesome, and was very impressive despite the negative commentary from Eddie O. and Doc.

- Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival are the best penalty killers... of New York power plays.

-Henrik Lundqvist played extremely well in this game. He was hung out to dry on each and every goal that was scored in this game. This could have been 6-0 if it wasn't for his heroics.

That's all for now. I'm far too angry after watching that debauchery to keep writing. The Rangers played terrible and deserved to lose, but not with the obvious assistance from the men in stripes. 

They have one day off before returning home to face a very tough Anaheim (no longer Mighty) Ducks team. 7 of 10 points on a road trip isn't bad by any means... but you'd like to end it on a little more of a high note.  Keep in mind that the first game back from a road trip can often be tough on a team.

The Rangers better have a tough practice and bring their legs on Tuesday.

Let's hope Hasenfratz stays home.

-Rif

In Spite Of It All

Rarely do the Rangers end up with the W after a game like that.

That the Rangers wind up winning this game on a Power Play is even more ironic.

Usually, FIVE  5-on-3s called against you in a game would end up as at least two or three goals against. From there, New York would find themselves scrambling for a tying goal in the final minutes. 

But not this day.

NYR penalty killers (and some guy named Lundqvist) were phenominal, surrendering only one goal in ELEVEN attempts. Blair Betts, Paul Mara, and yes, even Dimitri Kalinin deserve a game puck or something for their work on the PK last night.

Officiating on the other hand.... Hechting BRUTAL. (if you missed that reference then read back a couple of posts). It must have been so painful for them to be forced to make the call against Chicago in OT once Brandon Dubinsky's stick was snapped in half by a slash.

Still, What I like most about this game is the resiliency of the boys in blue. Instead of putting their guard down in frustration at the zebras, they bared down and got the job done in spite of it all. 

This is the HEART I have spoken about. The heart that sometimes goes missing for stretches of two or three games at a time. Consistency is key.

Anyway... 

This game goes to show exactly how important special teams are in this league. You win and lose so many games on the Power Play and the Penalty Kill.  Efficiency can be the difference between a 2nd seed and the 6th seed, and in the playoffs it can be the difference between a cup champion and a quarter-final drop out.

GAME NOTES

- Sure the penalty kill came up big last night, but the Power Play also went 2-6, which isn't terrible considering the struggles the group has had in the past. Not to mention that the two goals came in big spots, contributing the game-tying and game-winning goals.

- I get this strange feeling that Lauri Korpikoski is going to put up points in this league one day. His play yesterday to set up Dubinsky's goal was a move worthy of a 19th overall pick. Korpedo is still very young and he's starting to show flashes of breaking out of his shell a bit.

- As I mentioned, Dimitri Kalinin had a strong game in Chicago. His stick was active in the passing lanes on the Penalty Kill, and he actually cleared the puck effectively all night. Kudos to him.

- Dan Girardi's hit, in my opinion, was questionable in legality. Still, he rocked that guy. And it was fun as hell to watch. If this "upper body injury" (LOL) is anything that keeps him out of the lineup for an extended period of time, the Rangers will surely miss his presence on the blue line.

- How nice would it be to see Chris Drury go wild on goaltenders right now? Drury is a hot-and-cold player, and right now he's heating up with 5 goals in his last 6 games played. 

- Henrik Lundqvist. He's pretty good at this game.

- Pretty cool to see the Rangers' fathers in attendance. I bet it's just as special for the players right now as it was when my dad came to see all my games. Professional pro-shmessional. There's nothing like playing in front of your dad.

- The Rangers have now taken 7 of a possible 8 points on this road trip. They'll face an up-swinging Pens team on Sunday afternoon. A win there and we'll officially talk streak.

3 STARS OF THE GAME

3rd Star) Dimitri Kalinin (0 points). ::GASP!:: I know, I know. But the thing is that with Girardi's injury leaving the Rangers short a defenseman, Kalinin stepped his game up and was really, really solid in the d-zone. He's not gonna get many (positive) mentions in this blog so here's his day in the sun.

2nd Star) Chris Drury (2g, GWG). Captain Clutch is finally starting to show signs of clutch-ness. 5 goals in his last 6 is what I hope to see consistently from Drury. His two goals tonight were both well timed, and the guy is nasty at deflecting pucks.

1st Star) Henrik Lundqvist (32 saves, W). I don't care how awesome your penalty kill is, you don't kill off 10-of-11 penalties without your goalie standing on his head- and that's what the KING did tonight. He routinely robbed John Toews and Co. and held his team in the game so that a comback/win was possible. Gosh it's nice to have the best goalie in the league in your net.

The Rangers have now taken 7 of a possible 8 points on this 5 game road trip so far. They face an up-swinging Pittsburgh Crosbys team on Sunday afternoon, perhaps sans Crosby (knee/vagina injury). A win there and we'll officially talk streak.

-Rif

The King Is An All-Star

Henrik Lundqvist was officially named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team on Thursday morning! He will be the Rangers' lone representative in Montreal for the festivities.

This is Hank's first All-Star selection despite being a Venzina Trophy finalist in each of his first three professional seasons. Hopefully this designation will give the Swede a confidence boost, seeing as how he has been struggling of late.

Congratulations to him!

-Rif

To Hab or Hab Not

This was a game that the Rangers were supposed to win. You could just sense it. The Rangers would fall behind, but even the fickle garden crowd would not despair. Those two points seemed so attainable all game long.

The Blueshirts OUTPLAYED their Montreal-ian counterparts in tonight's tilt. They out-shot them (39-25), out-chanced them, and out-hustled the Canadians for most of the game.

But they didn't out-score them, and as buzzer sounded after 60 minutes, the scoreboard read 6-3 Montreal.

At the end of the day, the Rangers will have to look at this game in terms of positives and negatives. Some things need to be completely fixed. Others just need to be slightly adjusted. Then there are the things that are out of the control of Tom Renney & Co.

Nonetheless, this game- unlike many other New York losses, provided some positives, and things that should be highlighted as the team picks up and moves forward.

THE BAD 

- -The officiating. Very rarely will Tom Renney even mention poor referee-ing in his post-game interviews. Tonight was one of those rare times. He has a case ladies and gentlemen. And I'm not talking so much the penalties against the Rangers- Gomez's call (which gave MON a 5-on-3) was blatantly obvious. And the other calls, from what I remember, were just lazy fouls by Rangers. The concern lies in the lack of penalties called the other way- until the final minute at least. Montreal interfered with the skating of numerous blueshirts, kept their arms up on hits, and laid slashes on the arms of NY players repeatedly (most notably on Paul Mara) without being reprimanded. Calls seemed to be very one sided while the game was on the line.

- -Henrik Lundqvist did not have himself an all-star-esque performance tonight. The King was vulnerable from the start of this game, and at least two of the goals should be pinned directly on him. The first goal was the result of him turning the puck over behind his net, which was then fed into the slot to an unmarked Alex Kovalev (that part is Rozsival's fault) who fired it into the open net. 

Still, one has to wonder when will Hank learn that he is a New York Ranger goalie. Take a note from Mike Richter and DO NOT HANDLE THE PUCK. Stay in your Hechting (Jochen Hecht= my least favorite hockey player ever. Replaces my curse words.) crease and just stop that black disk when it's headed toward the cage! 

The only other problem is that the Henry didn't do much of that disk-stopping either tonight. 

The other goal that was clearly falls on #30 was Montreal's 2nd goal, in which he kicked a loonngg slapshot right back into the slot, where it was plucked by Guillaume Latendresse, and finished UP HIGH over his shoulder. The same UP HIGH where another 3 goals on the night were put past Lundqvist. 

There has to be SOME concern building about Hank's play of late. The backstop has allowed 4 goals or more in 6 of his last 11 starts. That is a very ugly statistic.

Hey, he may actually be able to stay home and rest during the all-star break after all if NHL Network analysts' predictions are correct. Despite Henrik's struggles, I hope they're wrong.

-- Aaron Voros. OK. I have seen enough, please bring back Lauri Korpikoski, or at least give Dan Fritsche a chance in place of this guy. What a waste of space. Tonight his lack of foot speed was abused by Hab players, and his poor decisions with the puck, and lack of actually doing anything productive on the forecheck (he even took a totally unnecessary hooking penalty on the forecheck) cost his line numerous scoring opportunities. I can't count the amount of times he took himself out of a play while trying to finish a check that he wound up missing anyway. At least the other guys have some speed, skill, and much more potential.

-- Put me down for officially supporting a benching/skyboxing of Brandon Dubinsky. I don't question the kid's hustle or desire, but he needs to contribute offensively at some point. Sit him. Light a fire under him. He looks lost in the offensive zone. Prucha doesn't score for 3 games and he's scratched.. Duby hasn't finished in 18, and has just 1 goal in his last 33. Ew.

-- Ranger defensemen were beaten routinely in 1-on-1 situations on the ice tonight. Though only one goal came as the direct result of a d-man's failure to play a Hab player's body instead of the puck (Lang's 2nd goal and game breaker), other such plays resulted in big chances and penalties against. New York blueliners were also guilty of being absolutely brutal with the puck today, unable to keep the puck and pressure in the offensive zone on numerous occasions, and failing to clear the puck from trouble in Hank's territory even more often. 

-- Alex Kovalev scored for the Habs. What the hell Alex? Your tantalizing potential that you could never reach here was painful enough. Stop scoring goals on us.

The Not-Bad/Good

-- The Montreal Canadiens are fast. Very fast. But the good news is that the Rangers clearly kept up with their opponents, and even out skated them for long stretches of time, especially with the game 3-2 during the third period. The Rangers trouble, again, was when it came to finishing plays and putting the biscuit in the basket. They had their chances for sure, but just couldn't get the puck past a not-so-sharp Jaroslav Halak when they needed it most.

-- Petr Prucha continues to play hard, win battles, and find the scoresheet. Mark another assist for the Pruchster, in another game in which he was all over the ice. The kid hits, wins battles on the boards, leads the rush, and his meshing beautifully with Chris Drury and Nigel Dawes. The chemistry between these 3 is very, very noticeable and encouraging. They have been the Rangers best line since Prucha has returned to the lineup.

-- 9 (nine) different Rangers registered a point in this game. I'm not really sure what it means, but I like it. Maybe it's a sign that the lineup is at least balanced offensively. Still, it would be nice to see the offense explode with a whole bunch of goals at some point. 

-- Mats Sundin went scoreless with no shots on goal in his debut with the Vancouver Canucks. At least we aren't dealing with the headache of that guy not helping the team and the circus that comes with him.

While I have described a few more negatives from this game in this post than positives, I reiterate that some of the negatives, such as Henrik's play, and questionable officiating, are not really consistent problems for this team in the long run. I think the Rangers out-played Montreal tonight. And while I do believe that earning the two points in this game would have been very positive for this team, not getting the points certainly does not break them. I wasn't TOO upset with this loss. A strong performance in the game is sufficient to me for now.

So, the question remains, AGAIN, whether or not the team can build on their strong, effort-filled showings going into their next game. Will they realize that they can play against some top notch competition? Or will they remain inconsistent and identity-less? This kind of loss will not be the kind of game that will help this team turn a corner and go on a tear, but at least it was a 2nd solid effort in a row. Now build on that.

Next up is a tough, gritty Buffalo Sabres squad. Only 5 more games before the All-Star break. Where does this roller-coaster take us next?

-Rif

A Special Win

The Rangers KNEW I was gonna be there tonight. 

And when I'm in attendance, the Blueshirts know better than to give a half-assed effort on the ice. They fear my wrath I tell you. If they think I'm loud when they hear me through my TV...

Well, wisely, they did not disappoint me.

Instead, the Rangers were- FINALLY- firing on all cylinders Monday night against the Pittsburgh Malksbys, and they were rewarded with a hard earned 4-0 victory.

New York routinely out-mustled, out-hustled, out goaltended and out-hockeyed their visitors all night. They played disciplined (defensively), physically, and effectively. And in doing so they shutout one of hockey's most potent offenses, and two of the league's top 3 scorers.

Perhaps most encouraging, is that this game was won with Special Teams. And were they ever special.

The Penalty Kill unit, which is currently #1 (yes.. Number One) in the NHL, and has been sensational all season long, came through yet again, killing 8-of-8 penalties- most impressive of which included a full 2:00 5-on-3, during which they allowed but one shot on net (and a rocket off the post- but we'll let that go). Betts, Shoes, Callahan, Drury and even Gomez all deserve high marks for their efforts shorthanded tonight. They even managed to tag on a shortie, albeit an empty netter.

And then there's the Power Play. Let's just say that coming into this game, the man advantage has been.. well.. no advantage. In fact, some would go so far as to say it's been a downright killer, recommending NYR elect to decline the penalties as they occur.

Tonight at the Garden, NY's unimpressive, weak PP (LOL) came through when they needed it. Though they went an unremarkable 2-for-7 on the night, those goals were certainly important to the outcome of this game.

The first goal, a Power Play marker on the Ranger's first attempt at the one minute mark of the game, helped set the tone of the match in favor of the home team. Not only did Dawes' 7th of the season give the team the lead, but an early PP marker gets the impatient crowd off the unit's back for at least the next two Power Plays they may have. 

Then, the 2nd goal, a cannon from Paul Mara off of a clean faceoff win from Scott Gomez, provided some much needed insurance, and some hope that Perry Pearn may keep his job in 2009. 

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW IMPORTANT SPECIAL TEAM PLAY IS IN THIS LEAGUE. 

Look at the teams that win in the NHL. Just look at the teams on top of the standings. 

Detroit. San Jose. Philadelphia. Boston. Chicago. Washington. 

What else do these teams have in common? They are all in the the top 8 teams in the league in terms of Power Play efficiency.

But I digress.

Defensively, the Rangers were responsible, patient, and disciplined. I was very impressed with the defensive zone coverage tonight. Very rarely were any of the boys in Blue caught running around puck chasing, or beaten by their man (with or without the puck). The poke checking was timed and effective, and the body checking was a pleasant surprise. 

Evgeni Malkin, the league's leading scorer and ugliest player, was marked equally as well. Come to think of it, he was barely noticeable but for one break in on Lundqvist. 

Cindy.. er.. Sidney was more noticeable, but only by the BOO's that rained down on him each and every time he touched the puck. Still, he was equally ineffective. Crosby had no room to gain any speed in this game. he was consistently marked and checked each time the puck approached his stick, put on his bottom a nice amount of times, much to the delight of the fired-up Garden Faithful. 

Watch the defensive play against him in previous games that he has torched the Rangers. The kid is most effective when he has time and SPACE to make a play. NY checkers provided him NONE of that tonight at The Garden.

In fact, no Pens were really provided much space.

When they did find a crack in the Ranger's defense, Henrik Lundqvist was there to repel 27-of-27 shots for his first clean sheet of the season (after 10 last year). 

The King was back to his usual sharp self tonight. He made two smart poke checks on Pens near his crease in this game that broke up good chances against. His most important save of the night came with the game at 1-0. After ANOTHER ill advised line change, Malkin and former Ranger/Devil Petr Sykora broke in 2 on 0 on Hank. Malkin elected to keep the puck and take a high shot on net, which The King shouldered over the net.

Other than that, Henrik didn't really need to be SPECTACULAR, and he made all the saves that we've come to expect him to make.

Wins like this, where the Rangers manage to put all the pieces together for an entire 60 minutes, are certainly very satisfying. But the key to this comes with consistency. The Rangers completed this effort against a struggling Pittsburgh team that has now fallen out of the top 8 in the conference. Up next is a very, very sharp Montreal Canadiens squad, who boasts (undeservingly), 4 all-star starters. 

The Rangers need to play smart. They need to hustle, play disciplined, and they need to be efficient in all aspects of the game.

And they need to play as if I'm in attendance.

GAME NOTES

A few extra observations from the game tonight.

- Ah, I love when professional coaches read my blog and listen to my advice. After being given my good graces, Petr Prucha saw some consistent Power Play time! Though the Czech didn't figure into any PP scoring tonight, he hustled (as usual), was strong on the puck, and created numerous chances. He later gave a bea-u-ti-ful pass from behind the net to Drury for the third goal of the game. Keep it going Pruch.

- How about Colton Orr? This guy got the crowd cheering on its feet often in this game with his physical play and, later, his great bout with tough guy Eric Goddard (which he unanimously won). Orr was also extremely effective in the D-zone, and was tough on the forecheck all game long. Very impressive.

- Speaking of the Garden crowd, they were really fired up for this game, and boy did they ever give it to Crosby. This treatment of Crosby is a topic I will elaborate much more on in my next post.

- Nigel Dawes has been finding some of that consistency I talked about earlier. His goal tonight was a matter of simply putting the puck towards the net on the Power Play!-something the Rangers did effectively tonight. With a goal and an assist in the game, Dawes, along with Prucha, has provided the Rangers with that secondary scoring that they were hoping to get earlier in the season. The only problem is that their "secondary" scoring has been the majority of the scoring lately.

-Marc-Andre Fleury does not impress me.

-The Pens looked flat and uninspired in this game. Yeah. That coming from a RANGER fan.

-I loved Ryan Callahan going down to block a shot and preserve the shutout with 45 seconds remaining and a 4-0 lead. That's heart.

- Rozsival, Redden, Mara, Girardi, Staal, and even Kalinin- yes, all the defensemen- had VERY strong games.

- Scott Gomez, despite the goal and assist on the scoresheet, remains unimpressive. His assist was a faceoff win, and his goal was a shorthanded empty netter after goal hanging while Drury made a great clear of the D-zone. He was, again, sloppy with the puck in the neutral zone, and I haven't seen that speed of his in weeks.

-The Rangers new lines seemed to work pretty well, but time will tell how long Renney allows for them to gel. Only one even-strength goal today, but the lines are balanced and all have scoring potential and some defensive responsibility. Changes in bold.

Naslund-Gomez-Callahan

Dawes-Drury-Prucha

Voros (in for Korpikoski)-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

STARS OF THE GAME

All Penalty Killers deserve to be stars of this game.. but I have to give the stars to individuals.

3rd Star) Paul Mara (1g 1a)- Mara provided a big PP goal, an assist, and was a rock in the defensive end and on the PK. He has really emerged as the leader on defense.

2nd Star) Nigel Dawes (1g 1a)- Dawes remained hot with another goal (another PP goal) and an assist against the Pens. He has found some consistency lately and is creating offensive chances.

1st Star) Henrik Lundqvist (27 saves, 0 goals allowed)- Henrik's first shutout of the year, and a very strong effort between the pipes gets him the first star of the game.

-Rif