The Rangers played a whale of a hockey game this evening beating Tampa Bay 4-3 at Tampa. Well they played a heck of two periods and then turned it over to Lundqvist to save the day. They scored three power play goals, took a 4-2 lead into the third period and then it was vintage Lundqvist who made 15 of his 37 saves in the third period.
Rick Nash ended his slump with his 7th to put the Rangers on top, but Tampa Bay fought back with two goals. The Rangers then scored three power play goals in a row, Zuccarello, (9), Kreider, (10), and Pouliot, (7) to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead. Flippula, flipped one over Lundqvist in the third to make it 4-3 and it was nail biting time. But the King, with 15 big saves kept the lead safe 'til the end.
This was no cup cake win. The Rangers beat a team that was 12 games over .500. The Rangers are 19-19-2, a solid .500 team, one game shy of the halfway mark. Zuccarello. Brassard and McDonagh all had two assists. The 'diminutive hobbit' may well lead these Rangers to the promised land.
But the big story is that the King returned and rebounded and led the Rangers to a win. There was one sequence in the third where the Lightning poured shot after shot, but Henrik stood tall and weathered the onslaught. Great win, Now let's go to Florida and get over that dreaded .500 mark. It would be a great end to 2013, a year to forget.
Nash scores. Three power play goals. Lundqvist makes 37 saves, 15 in the third period. What more could you ask for? Good night folks!
Returning Ruff: Time to turn Sabres around
3 hours ago
Yes really big win in Tampa and one we all needed, especially the King. When Filppula scored that 3rd goal I was so upset for Henrik. Who could have stopped that? That was the most precise skate deflection Iv'e ever seen. He wasn't even facing the net! It was a bummer that went by Henrik because it was looking like he was going to have a start where he would allow less than 3 goals. The fact they beat a really good team and Henrik played some really sharp minutes is certainly a positive.
The first two periods were fun to watch but the third was a fall back on old bad habits. The protect the lead, block shot after shot mode seemed to kick back in. That is a dangerous game plan when you are playing a really good team with some offensive weapons and I'm glad it didn't cost us. I would have loved to see the Rangers continue to push the pace and want the puck throughout the third but its going to take a while for them to make new habits.
Going back to an earlier comment Mike made on another post - I don't feel as though the coach is making a goaltender controversy. That hasn't happened yet if you ask me. I always want Henrik to have the start but when he chose to start Cam against the Caps I understood it and I think Henrik did too. The only thing I had an issue with is the fact that Henrik has a history of beating the Caps and frustrating Ovie but I don't expect a guy who spent the last 7 years in Vancouver to be familiar with that history. Even if someone informed him of the history, hearing about it and witnessing it are two different things. Anyway, I feel like AV knows Henrik is our franchise player and he has given him start after start to try and get on a roll but it didn't happen for him. So when Cam was able to get two straight wins, it wouldn't have been fair to Cam to not start him against the Caps. He was playing well and got rewarded for it. As soon as he lost, AV went back to Henrik. I am confident Henrik is only going through some adversity and he will be Henrik again. The sooner the better!