Well for one night it worked. For a change coach clueless made the right moves. He scratched Malik and Hossa and that opened up all kinds of good things for the Rangers. Marc Staal was moved to the first defensive pairing with Rozsival and that steadied Rozsival who racked up three assists, two on the power play. Strudwick moved back to defense which allowed Ryan Hollweg back in the lineup from exile in the blue seats. Hollweg was an instant hit, five to be exact, and along with Betts and Orr shut down the Sidney Crosby line. They were the unofficial stars of the game. The HBO line of Hollweg, Bets and Orr. Kudos.
The other change by 'clued for one night' was putting the top six scorers on the top two lines and leaving them there all night, no adjustments and no tweaks. It paid off. Gomez, centering Jagr and Straka had two goals, (7,8) and an assist, Straka had a goal (5) and an assist and Drury had a goal (8) and an assist. Seven different players shared the points. The Rangers were 2-7 on the PP. Pittsburgh was 0-4 on the PP.
Lundqvist who took a nap for the first two periods, 5 shots, put up his 6th shutout of the season which ties him for the league lead with Pascal Leclaire of Columbus. It was Lundqvist's 13th career shutout. The last game the Rangers won was also a shutout by Lundqvist, 1-0 over the Devils in OT back on December 9th. Lundqvist stopped 13 shots in the third period as the Pens tried to rally. Lundqvist was number one star, Gomez #2 and Chris Drury number three.
Now the Rangers go on a two day swing of Minnesota and Colorado and we shall see if this truly was a revival or a one nighter. Pittsburgh did not offer the same fierce forechecking that Phoenix and Washington did so the jury is still out. Let's see if the top two lines stay in place for a few games. Let's see if Malik and Hossa continue to sit and that Dawes continues to get meaningful ice time. Let's see if the fourth line continues to go against the other guys top lines. One game does not make me a believer. Let's see.
ICINGS: Joseph Kaiser of the Metropolitan Opera, who is starring in Romeo and Juliet, belted out the National Anthem and I mean belted out. He had to fight off the jerks who continue to chant nonsense during the singing but he received a loud ovation at the conclusion. Much better than John Amirante waving his arm to stir up an already rowdy crowd. The National Anthem deserves respect and not some inane chant.
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The stars of the game were the Prince, Gomez and Drury. That is the good news, as this will be the core for a long time. Also good news, we have Staal on the first line on defense. He belongs there already - and he will only get better and more involved on offense.
The bad news, Jagr took seven shots, only two were on net and none in net. He is a shadow of himself.
So the good news is the future is bright. The bad news is that the Rangers of the future need Jagr or someone else to put the puck in the net. The Cup will not come here unless someone does. Time for a trade.
section 335-He passed up a gimmee early in the game and he'll be lucky to get 20 goals this year at this pace. Trade is definitely needed. Ovechkin would look great in Ranger Blue.
I agree.
since i started making posts on the rp comment section this season i have said that this team seems to be sluggish, lifeless and selfish..but the last game they did seem to have some jump and the results speak for themselves..but the question here is will it stick? i really dont know if its just the loss of avery or the mental loss of jagr that has hampered this team but i have thought of a few ideas since the last posting..1)strip the "C" off of jagr and give it to shanny lets see if freeing jagr of this can give him less stress and more time to focus on hitting the net 2)make deals for less known but more dependent if not younger forwards..i want to make this clear there is NO SANTA CLAUSE and washington will NEVER i mean NEVER give up Ovechkin without gutting the rangers and to be honest one man cannot win the cup by himself (even though he is a great player) and its always been the rangers forte to get these great players after they turn 35..hehe its time for THIS team to turn it on..it has the parts so lets see what they do tonight...thoughts?
thanks rp...
james
Agree,
give Shanny the C.
Sorry no Ovechkin,
must go with has been.
Rangers need heart,
Avery must start.
Just flung chair,
Rangers play tonite makes me dispair.
Now will go weep,
Rangers season headed for trash heap.
blueknight5754-Periodically the Rangers will play good sometimes great games but over the long haul they are not constructed to be a consistent winning team, especially for the playoffs. The Rangers are too soft.
anonymous-
They don't protect Prucha
Which makes me want to pukea
As long as we have coach clueless
We will continue to go cupless