Any doubt that the Rangers would be flat coming off the Olympics was erased tonight as the New York Rangers clobbered the Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia 6-1. Kevin Weekes played his best game of the season, especially in the first period, stopping 36 shots overall and fifteen in the first period. The Rangers took four penalties in the first period and the combination of Weekes and the penalty killers held the Flyers scoreless and basically won the game right there.
The game ended in the usual Flyer manner when they are about to lose. Donald Brashear was unleashed upon the Rangers and did the thing he does best, gooning it up. With 1:52 left in the game he took five penalties totaling 27 minutes and finished the game with a total of 35 minutes in penalties. There were more penalties that could have been called as for some reason the refs didn't call the hits after the whistles and the general shoving and sticking that has become his modus operandi. In fifty-five games this year Brashear has three goals and three assists plus 110 minutes in penalties. Flyer coach Ken Hitchcock will probably be fined also for this fiasco and rightly so.
Jaromir Jagr sparked the Ranger offense as only he can. He took over the game early with a gorgeous feed to Michael Nylander to put the Rangers up 1-0. Then in the second period, in a span of 1:58, he scored two power play goals to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. He now has 42 goals and 91 points, both tops in the league. He played a little over 14 minutes as Renney wisely did not overplay him in the third period. If he was tired from playing in the Olympics, he hid it well. Did you notice that Jagr scored his goal from the point on the five on three? I guess Tom Renney was paying attention when my son mentioned to him at the Ranger charity event the other night about putting Jagr at the point.
The Rangers were four for six on the power play getting the other goals from Blair Betts, Jason Ward and Martin Rucinsky. The Rangers have now scored 16 goals in their last 39 attempts. The penalty killing was back in early season form killing eight of nine Flyer attempts. Blair Betts was strong in his return after a six week absence. Besides scoring a goal he won 10 of 15 faceoffs and was a key penalty killer.
A good word about Kevin Weekes. He played outstanding through the whole game and has now won three straight. Finding his game now has to be a big plus for the Rangers and could pose a headache for Renney. There is no doubt that Lundqvist is the number one goalie but a strong steady Weekes has to be an asset for the Rangers. Remember the days of Eddie Giacomin and Gilles Villemure who were co-winners of the Vezina Trophy in the 1970-71 season? Can history repeat itself? If it does, we may see The Banner up there again. We have a right to dream.
ICINGS: Good omens for the Rangers. They have not lost to the Fliers in regulation this year. Both losses coming in OT. They are 3-0-2 against Philly and have now won 4 straight at Wachovia Center, including the last one in the 2003-04 season. The win was the Rangers seventh straight and they also have a six game road winning streak. The winning streak is the best since 2000-01 and the road streak is the best since 1992-93.
Lightning's Point (lower body) out against Blues
3 hours ago
Donald Brashear is the most useless human being... all he does is target smaller players... one instance where he had Malek goading him, struds next to him, so who does he seek out??? Rozival, who was getting off the ice from a shift... goes after the finesse defenseman... I particularly love how when they gooned it up, we made them pay dearly...
Also, is there anything more automatic now, than jagr scoring on a 5-3?? unreal...
It's amazing that Brashear is still playing in the "New" NHL. Speed, speed, speed that's the name of the game. Wouldn't it be great if the NHL played on Olympic size rinks? All the grabbing, holding, clutching, and gooning would disappear in a spray of ice chips.
Brashear is in the last year of his contract. I expect him to 'move on' next season.