Fishsticks For Breakfast

With a couple of new faces, and one particular familiar one, donning the Red, White, and Blue for the first time this season, there were bound to be some chemistry issues when the Rangers took the ice tonight.

And issues there were.

But, luckily for the Blueshirts tonight, they were matched up against the New York Islanders. Such an opponent on this particular date afforded Head Coach John Tortorella some breathing space to throw his new players directly into the fire without risking the two points at stake.

It certainly wasn't the prettiest of wins against the leagues worst team, but the game gave a glimpse or two of the potential that the team has. And with teams around in them in the standings losing tonight, these two points were very important. 

It's getting late here, so let's get right to...

GAME NOTES

TONIGHT'S LINES WERE:

Naslund- Gomez -Zherdev

Dubinsky- Drury -Antropov

Avery- Korpikoski -Callahan

Sjostrom- Betts -Orr

NYR LINES SHOULD BE:

Antropov- Gomez -Zherdev

Naslund- Drury -Callahan

Dubinsky- Korpikoski -Avery

Sjostrom- Betts -Orr

- This game could have been a travesty if not for the play of Henrik Lundqvist... again. The Isles had 3 odd-man rushes in the first 5 minutes of the tilt, and could have really taken control of the game early. Unfortunately for them, they were playing against the best goaltender in the league. The King made some ridiculous, acrobatic stops on pucks that he had no business even trying to save. He made 28 saves on the night, and the Rangers needed every one of them. Hank is good at this game.

- Having said that, how does the Rangers defense get repeatedly beaten like a tied-up goat by the freakin' no-name Islander offense? Wade Redden was outmustled and outraced to pucks all over the ice. Dan Girardi definitely had a game he would like to quickly forget. The Rangers can get away with a game like this today, but they won't be so lucky against the likes of Boston or Philly.

- Nik Antropov is very, very big. Though he isn't the fleetest of foot, he uses his other attributes very well. He didn't seem to have much chemistry with linemates Drury and Dubinsky tonight, but I'm sure he will find his stride quickly. He's a big body with very good hands to have on the Power Play, and that paid off tonight. He also had several good scoring chances and hit a post in the game.

- Derek Morris played a very quiet, yet pretty solid 17 minutes tonight. It is far too early to reach any kind of a verdict on him at this point.  (Nigel Dawes, one of the players traded away for Morris, recorded an assist for Phoenix tonight. Petr Prucha wore #16 for the Coyotes. I miss him.)

- Sean Avery had himself an eventful hockey game tonight. Overall I thought he played very well for a guy playing his first NHL game since Nov. 30th. Avery was his annoying, effective self on the rink tonight, and that is a very good sign. He drew penalties, threw a couple of nice hits, and even set up some nice scoring chances. The only negative to point out for Sean was that he spent too much of his ice time on his butt. He was knocked around quite a bit in the game, but I'm sure as he gets some more practices in, his balance and skating will return to top form.

- Sean Avery gets rocked from behind, and the first player flying in to his defense is Lauri Korpikoski. I like it.

- Scott Gomez looks like a new player under Tortorella. Gomer is skating with authority, driving hard to the net, and setting up offensive chances with his speed. It seems that Torts has given Scotty the green light to turn on the jets and be creative in the offensive zone.

- Nik Zherdev is starting to score again, and that is a very good thing. He ripped a nasty wrister for the game's first goal, and his assist to Gomez for the third goal was a thing of beauty. Hopefully he, too, will regain some of the confidence that he seemed to lose during the past two months.

- Chris Drury was very noticeable on the ice today. He certainly played his best game in a long while, and was efficient in all three zones tonight. I'm glad to see Drury shooting the puck more, particularly on the PP. The only negative to his game today was that he keeps pulling up and fading out on 3-on-2 rushes. Take the puck to the net, Chris.

- Speaking of the Power Play, the Rangers have scored with the man advantage in 5 of their last 7 games (2-for-5 in this game). Hey, better late than never I guess.

- Let's take a look at tonight's scoresheet:

• GOALS:  Zherdev, Drury, Gomez, Naslund 
  
• ASSISTS: Antropov, Dubinsky, Zherdev, Mara, Drury

If the Rangers are to be successful, these are the guys that need to continue scoring for this team.

3 Stars Of The Game

3rd Star) Nik Zherdev- (1g, 1a). Goals in consecutive games is a very good sign. Very nice goal and assist in this game. Has found some chemistry with Scott Gomez.

2nd Star) Chris Drury- (1g, 1a). Captain Clutch sighting! Has put up points in recent games. Expect him to turn up his play as the games become more important. 

1st Star) Henrik Lundqvist- (28 saves, W). Makes key stops from point-blank angles at important times. Never allowed the game to really be in question at any point. He is "The King" for a reason.

This W marks the first time that the Rangers have won consecutive games since Jan 20-Jan 27th. That's a long time to go without two wins in a row. 

Now, before we get too excited, let's remember that these two wins have come over the worst team in the Western Conference, and the worst team in the Eastern Conference, respectfully. Yet, at the same time, you have to start building wins from some point, and this could be a very good place to begin.

The real test for NYR begins now. Of the Rangers 12 games remaining in March, TEN of those are against potential playoff teams. 

Clearly, the road to the second season has already begun for the Blueshirts. 

-Rif