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Scotty Gomez played seven seasons with the Devils and won two Stanley Cups with them, but it is doubtful if he ever had a more enjoyable game on a New Jersey ice surface then he did tonight. Booed every time he touched the puck Gomez saved his best game as a Ranger for the big time of the opening night of the playoffs. In 20:03 of ice time, which included 2:38 of power play time and 1:59 of penalty killing, Scotty picked up three big assists, none more important than the assist he got on Ryan Callahan's short handed goal which was a gift from the great Martin Brodeur. The Gomez, Shanahan, Avery line got two goals and five assists. Two ex Devils and one big Devil tormentor stuck the dagger into the Devils.The Devils opened up trying to intimidate the Rangers by hitting everything with a white jersey. They figured that would wear the Rangers down. I guess Brent Sutter didn't watch last years opening round between the Thrashers and the Rangers. The Thrashers tried the same thing and you saw what happened to them. The Devils outhit the Rangers 34-27, but it wasn't enough of a difference to alter the outcome of the game. Zubrus and Rupp led the Devils with five hits each while Gerardi with five and Avery with four led the Rangers. Another key stat that went the Rangers way was the 31-25 edge in faceoffs with Drury at 14-4 and Gomez at 9-6. The only thing Gomez didn't do tonight was hawk the program books.
The goalie matchup was much the same as we have seen all year. The young gunslinger, Henrik Lundqvist outdueled the old warhorse, Martin Brodeur. In nine games against the Devils this year, Henrik Lundqvist has given up ten goals. In thirteen regular season games against the Rangers the Devils have not scored more than two goals in any game. Though aided by a couple of posts Lundqvist was outstanding, never more than the save he made on Patrik Elias to keep the score tied at 1-1. Lundqvist made 26 saves and Brodeur made 24, but his biggest miss was his flub on an aggressive Ryan Callahan rebound. That is usually how playoff games are won and lost, by great plays or big mistakes. The game winning goal was a combination of both. A great play by Gomez and Callahan and a big mistake by Brodeur. On to game two.
ICINGS:
Daily News:
Rangers Stick It To Devils In Game 1
Devils Lose To Their Mirror Image
Brodeur Expecting A Big Rebound
NY Post:
Rangers Strike First
Kids Night In Newark
Hurtin' Gomez Enjoys Some Rib-Tickling Fun
The Dark Ranger [in the belly of the beast with his peeps]:
The King Rocks The Rock, NYR 4, Devils 1
Newsday:
Rangers Win After Callahan Jumps On Brodeur Mistake
Gomez Learned Well From His Devils' Experience
Goons Take Night Off In Game 1 Of Rangers-Devils
Journal News:
Rangers Strike First Against Devils
Mike, it's Brent Sutter, but anyways...LET'S GO RANGERS!!!
anonymous-Thanks, I corrected it. I have to stop writing these late at night. But you are right.....Let's Keep Going Rangers!!
15 to go. 1 at a time. Nice win. You have to love Shanny giving Dawes a goal. Look for that to be repaid big time. You have to love the Prince coming up big in the 3rd. He has Marty thinking he has to be perfect - and that meant Marty followed Scottie with the puck till he dished it to Avery. Anyone else think Glen Anderson as Avery followed the play and crashed the net? You have to love Callahan following up the play and Stahl taking the body and keeping in position. I even give Renney credit for sitting Malik and not making any stupid adjustments beyond handling the new look Devils powerplay - where he did adjust!
Go Rangers. 15 more please.
section 335-Your memory is great, its a time warp on Anderson. You had to love everything about tonight.
One at a time, baby, one at a time.
Pundit, thanks for the plug...i just love the 'beam me up' pix you used, which is world's better than a picture of 'Gomer Pyle'. Optimism is bleeding over me, and the trip over the river is responsible for it. They played with confidence. They played with heart. ..and Shanny's such a good guy. See you Friday...
tdr
dark ranger-I went to the Rock Sunday and we lost. You go Wednesday and we win. The plan. You go to the Rock and I stay home.
jb is the best when it comes to the graphics glad you liked it. Keep pluggin', we need you.
Bring home game number two so we can end it at MSG.
I just can't understandhow the coach gave Rosival 25 minutes of ice time. He is afraid to get hit, gives up sloppy turnovers and cannot be part of the first defensive pair if the rangers plan on making it deepin the playoffs. I don't know what they needto do to fix that but I think that Tyutin and Girardi's play is far superior and they should be getting the playing time.
anonymous-That is why I call him coach clueless. Thank God Malik wasn't paired with him. We would have lost the game. Staal made Rozsival look better than he is. Staal should be paired with Staal an Rozsival should sit. But there is about as much chance of that happening as there is of us having a new coach next year.