FINAL
Vancouver Canucks 0
NEW YORK RANGERS 1
26-16-3 55 Points
NEW YORK RANGERS: Play their Best Game against the League's Best Team.
HENRIK LUNDQVIST ~ Career Shut-Out #30; Ties him for 3rd Place on Rangers' All-Time Career Shut-Outs List.
A goal byMichal Rozsival Wojtek Wolski in the second period and his first as a N.Y. Ranger, was all the Blueshirts needed to white-wash the League's number one team Thursday night on our home-ice.
Tuesday night, the N.Y. Islanders took the Canucks all the way to a shoot-out but still lost. Tonight, the Rangers were working on the same amount of rest time since their last game against Montreal. That was supposed to be the only aspect of the Rangers/Canucks match-up looked upon as being competitively even.
But tonight, the Rangers were flat out quicker than a lightning fast Canucks team. They were smarter, grittier, tougher, hungrier and more disciplined than Vancouver. It was arguably their best game of the season. It just so happened it came against the League's best team. This is right up there among their best efforts in the Torts Era.
This victory comes despite the Rangers still waiting for their top scorer; Marian Gaborik to show up. With 7:30 left in the third period and the Rangers still nursing their slim 1-0 lead, the home crowd thought for a moment their sniper had finally arrived. But it wasn't so. Marian Gaborik skated a fine game against Vancouver, but with a break-away opportunity and nary a Canuck jersey in sight, he was thwarted by Corey Scheider, goal tending in place of Roberto Luongo. Corey received one of the Game Stars reaffirming what a really good game this was.
Facing the League's #1 Power Play unit, the Rangers killed off a first period penalty and in the second period, withstood a 5-on-3 Power Play opportunity for Vancouver on penalties to Staal and Drury. One of the League's most disciplined teams penalty wise, the Canucks, committed three penalties of their own. The Rangers cashed in on one of them, for the only goal of the game.
McDonagh, Anisimov and Wolski would combine on a series of events that staked the Rangers to their one goal lead. A great neutral zone stop; a pick and pass by McDonagh to Anisimov who shortly drew a penalty as Artem was bearing down on net with the puck set up a Power Play opportunity. The Rangers converted on the man-advantage when the newest Ranger, Wojtek Wolski, acquired in the Michal Rozsival trade, slapped home a loose rebound left in front of the net.
The Rangers would ride the back of Henrik Lundqvist the rest of the way. King Henrik ruled the third period majestically. And the last minute of the game which seemed to be spent all in the Rangers' zone was frenzied and furious! Henrik Lundqvist did everything humanly possible to make that one goal stand up for the Rangers on his way to gaining his 30th career shout-out. He stopped 31 shots tonight and the Rangers' defense blocked at least 8 more.
Henrik Lundqvist sits in third place on the Rangers' All-Time Shut-Out list.
BUT, the master stroke of the night gets credited to Coach Torts for sticking the Boyle/Prust/Fedotenko Line on the SEDIN SQUARED KESLER Line. Our boys were all over the Sedin Line like a cheap suit and couldn't have caused them to have a more inconsequential night. What a great job by them. I said in my PreGame Preview, if the Rangers can stymie the SEDIN SQUARED Kesler Line, the Canucks had nothing else, and that we actually had more scorers than they did. We scored from a new unlikely source, but we did shut down their highly touted line. Prust and Boyle in particular had them frozen all night.
The Rangers caused the Canucks to sustain their first regular season loss since December 5th, 2010. That's nice. It could have just been time for that streak to end, but the way they both played tonight, it's just not the case. The Rangers earned this one through a lot of hard work. Who am I to deny just rewards? There's this game, several more O.T. games, and third period thrillers, where we've come out on the winning end where once, we all were waiting for the "other shoe to fall off" in yet another late game collapse.
When you look around this locker room now, it's undeniable how amazing it is when you have a group of young kids who are willing to do things through pure want to help the team and their sheer exuberance in doing so, as opposed to what older veterans expect to get paid handsomely for and still fail at, too often to count.
So without a doubt, this puck is getting put into the trophy case back home.
"Look Ma! Look what I can do!!"
Mike.BTB
NEW YORK RANGERS: Play their Best Game against the League's Best Team.
HENRIK LUNDQVIST ~ Career Shut-Out #30; Ties him for 3rd Place on Rangers' All-Time Career Shut-Outs List.
A goal by
Tuesday night, the N.Y. Islanders took the Canucks all the way to a shoot-out but still lost. Tonight, the Rangers were working on the same amount of rest time since their last game against Montreal. That was supposed to be the only aspect of the Rangers/Canucks match-up looked upon as being competitively even.
But tonight, the Rangers were flat out quicker than a lightning fast Canucks team. They were smarter, grittier, tougher, hungrier and more disciplined than Vancouver. It was arguably their best game of the season. It just so happened it came against the League's best team. This is right up there among their best efforts in the Torts Era.
This victory comes despite the Rangers still waiting for their top scorer; Marian Gaborik to show up. With 7:30 left in the third period and the Rangers still nursing their slim 1-0 lead, the home crowd thought for a moment their sniper had finally arrived. But it wasn't so. Marian Gaborik skated a fine game against Vancouver, but with a break-away opportunity and nary a Canuck jersey in sight, he was thwarted by Corey Scheider, goal tending in place of Roberto Luongo. Corey received one of the Game Stars reaffirming what a really good game this was.
Facing the League's #1 Power Play unit, the Rangers killed off a first period penalty and in the second period, withstood a 5-on-3 Power Play opportunity for Vancouver on penalties to Staal and Drury. One of the League's most disciplined teams penalty wise, the Canucks, committed three penalties of their own. The Rangers cashed in on one of them, for the only goal of the game.
McDonagh, Anisimov and Wolski would combine on a series of events that staked the Rangers to their one goal lead. A great neutral zone stop; a pick and pass by McDonagh to Anisimov who shortly drew a penalty as Artem was bearing down on net with the puck set up a Power Play opportunity. The Rangers converted on the man-advantage when the newest Ranger, Wojtek Wolski, acquired in the Michal Rozsival trade, slapped home a loose rebound left in front of the net.
The Rangers would ride the back of Henrik Lundqvist the rest of the way. King Henrik ruled the third period majestically. And the last minute of the game which seemed to be spent all in the Rangers' zone was frenzied and furious! Henrik Lundqvist did everything humanly possible to make that one goal stand up for the Rangers on his way to gaining his 30th career shout-out. He stopped 31 shots tonight and the Rangers' defense blocked at least 8 more.
Henrik Lundqvist sits in third place on the Rangers' All-Time Shut-Out list.
BUT, the master stroke of the night gets credited to Coach Torts for sticking the Boyle/Prust/Fedotenko Line on the SEDIN SQUARED KESLER Line. Our boys were all over the Sedin Line like a cheap suit and couldn't have caused them to have a more inconsequential night. What a great job by them. I said in my PreGame Preview, if the Rangers can stymie the SEDIN SQUARED Kesler Line, the Canucks had nothing else, and that we actually had more scorers than they did. We scored from a new unlikely source, but we did shut down their highly touted line. Prust and Boyle in particular had them frozen all night.
The Rangers caused the Canucks to sustain their first regular season loss since December 5th, 2010. That's nice. It could have just been time for that streak to end, but the way they both played tonight, it's just not the case. The Rangers earned this one through a lot of hard work. Who am I to deny just rewards? There's this game, several more O.T. games, and third period thrillers, where we've come out on the winning end where once, we all were waiting for the "other shoe to fall off" in yet another late game collapse.
When you look around this locker room now, it's undeniable how amazing it is when you have a group of young kids who are willing to do things through pure want to help the team and their sheer exuberance in doing so, as opposed to what older veterans expect to get paid handsomely for and still fail at, too often to count.
So without a doubt, this puck is getting put into the trophy case back home.
"Look Ma! Look what I can do!!"
Mike.BTB
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