|
| Banged up Blue Shirts
find a way to win!!! |
|
Find a way to win is an under statement with Marian Gaborik not being
able to continue in last nights game due to his deep thigh laceration
sustained in practice, then Michael Del Zotto going down with the same
type of injury with a skate to rib also causing a cut.
The Rangers picked up their game up on every level and they could of
clearly won this game in regulation as they were the better team on
the ice that night.
Olli Jokenin officially became a Ranger! Stating before last nights
game he needed to have a big game and he did just that. Not only did
he hook up a secondary assist on Chris Dury feed to Brandon Dubinsky's
goal tying the game at one. Olli was good for the game winner in the
Over Time session earning the Blue Shirt the much needed two points.
Chris Dury defined the letter C on his chest in this game and showed
signs of a legendary former Ranger captain who's number eleven is retired.
I'm not by far comparing the two, but when you do the things Chris did
last night it made me feel very good who is currently wearing the C
on his chest on this team.
After finishing off his clean check on Matt Cooke making Matt feel
the boards hard and as both players fell, Cooke quickly got up and started
running his mouth standing over Dury. Dury quickly got up and dropped
the gloves with Cooke wasting no time swinging his fists. Dury had the
edge in the beginning of the battle but Cooke took it at the end as
Michal Rozsival would defend his Captain and pull Cooke off Dury during
the end of the fight that lead to a third man in penalty, however the
Rangers would still wind up with a man advantage.
Rangers would get two back to back power play opportunities after the
fight and it would be two power plays the team would want to forget.
No short handed goals against but the Rangers let the Penguins get some
good scoring chances up a man.
Besides the bad power play chances the Rangers second period was a
very good one out shooting the Penguins 13-6 in the second and 2-0 in
the goals department taking a 2-1 lead into the third.
The Ranger killer this season Sidney Crosby would tie the game in the
third for his second of the night scoring goals 40 and 41 his career
high.
But Crosby's two goal night would be spoiled by Olli's over time winner
and an all out New York team effort. Short on defense and Offense this
team stepped up in every way they could and took home two points on
the road against the defending champs.
This Ranger team is playing well even though their record of late don't
show for it in the last few battles. They were in all of those games
and lost all those games by a goal since playing Phoenix and in most
of those games they were the better team.
There is one more game before the Olympic break and it's on home ice
against a team that is ahead of the Rangers in the standings. The game
against the Lightning will have a playoff atmosphere to it as this Blue
Shirt team is playing like they know what's at stake.
|