Malik The Magician

The circus was back in town in the Garden last night. It was disguised as a hockey game. The game ended in a 2-2 tie and no one scored in OT despite the fact that the Caps had a two minute power play because Jaromir Jagr's stick was just a little bit too curved. The circus involved a fifteen round shootout that had such Ranger 'snipers' as Ville Nieminen and Jason Strudwick score game saving tying shootout goals to keep the Rangers alive.

Then onto center stage stepped the Ringmaster, Marek Malik. He skated in and performed what will be remembered as the most amazing, incredible goal ever scored in the history of hockey. He slid the puck back between his legs and then back went his stick, between his legs, and the shot past a startled Olie the Goalie Kolzig. If the goal wasn't enough, the deadpan look on Malik was even better. The look of, what's the big deal? Then The Ringmaster stood at center ice looking up to the heavens (thank you dear lord) and beckoned the rest of the cast to come out and take a bow. Unbelievable! Unbelievable that they call this hockey.

The goalies put on a great show. The Prince made 35 saves in the game including the OT. He stopped 12 of fifteen in the shootout, one better than Olie The Goalie Kolzig. The Prince also stopped the Cap phenom Alexander Ovechkin in the shootout marking the first time that Ovechkin had been stopped in a shootout. He was previously four for four. It's about time that The Prince, Henrik Lundqvist I, started getting some recognition as rookie of the year.

The win extending the Rangers win streak to five games and they are now nine games over .500, for the first time since the end of the 1995-96 season. They are also six points ahead of the Flyers who naturally have four games in hand. They now have the third best record in the NHL. Unbelievable. Two goals scored in the regulation game were tallied by two of The Kamikaze Kids, Jason Ward and Jed Ortmeyer. The circus will be off until Thursday when the Rangers play Pittsburgh and that other hotshot rookie. Long live The Prince!

ICINGS:
Game recap [NHL.com]
Official Shootout Summary [NHL.com]
NHL Highlight Video [NHL.com, reg. required]
Malik Goal - Rangers & Caps Shootout, here and here [video highlights]

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