N.Y. Rangers ~ Possible Bad Ice; Possible Bad Game

NEW YORK RANGERS:  N.Y. Knicks may have made things too hot at the Garden.


PRE-Game:  Capitals vs. Blueshirts
Sorry Hockey fans, but that was a fun game this afternoon.  However, I hate when both teams play at home on the same day.  No sooner than the last jubilant Knick fan filed out of MSG earlier today, did the work crews at the "city's busiest Arena" get to work transforming the HardWood into an Ice Rink.

What does that mean?  Usually, bad ice.  That means a lot of crazy bouncing pucks and unfortunate mishaps.  The biggest question is do they happen to us or to the visiting Capitals?  If last night's cheap goal by Columbus' Rick Nash is an indicator of our present "Luck" rating, vote for things happening against us.  Nightmares of mishandling the puck in the neutral zone and defensive end gaffes usually follow such Garden floor metamorphosis.  And you know what?  I betcha we can all envision Henrik giving up the softie...again.  C'mon, be honest, with some brilliant games aside, he's been mostly mediocre.  It's tough to say and tough to hear.  I know.

The fact we lost a well played game last night only to have deflating results doesn't help any.  Games on back-to-back nights helps less.

Do you sense the picture I'm painting here?

This is what I'm thinking.  We play a tight game again; smart and gritty.  The score is tied after the first period.  After two periods one team will be ahead 2-1.  Pick your team; Rangers or Caps.  In the third period, the Rangers fall apart like wet toilet paper and lose 4-1 or 4-2.

Gasp!  Been there ~ Done that. (Blame Sather).

Now, if I expect that, and get a real cool Rangers victory tonight, it will have been a very good night.  If not, at least I prepared myself.  But I think I'm really trying to convince myself to watch the Cowboys try and beat the Eagles for me later.

The truth is the Capitals are only four points better than us and we seem to play them quite well, .....when we're not being snake-bit.

A game like this is tailor made for a guy like Sean Avery.  He's perfectly suited to play up to Ovechkin's intensity line.  So, yes, I'd like to see Avery bumped up to the first or third line tonight and get at least 16:00 minutes of ice time.  I'm interested to see what first line combo Coach Torts goes with tonight in light of the fact Marc Staal scored our lone goal last night...on the PP.

Torts is still hard to read with regard to Avery.  He says he recognizes Avery's presence late in games and what he brings...Blah blah!  The minutes Coach Torts gives him say another.

TONIGHT

Washington Capitals   0

vs.

NEW YORK RANGERS   7

Madison Square Garden

FINAL


SCORING:
*GOAL ~ Prust; 4th (Frolov, Boyle) - 17:57 - 1st Period

*GOAL ~ Anisimov; 8th (unassisted) - 0:59 - 2nd Period
*GOAL ~ Gaborik; 9th, PP (Staal, Rozsival) - 3:07 - 2nd Period
*GOAL ~ Dunbinsky; 14th (Girardi, Anisimov) - 4:30 - 2nd Period
*GOAL ~ Staal; 6th, Short-Handed (Boyle, Prust) - 10:42 - 2nd Period

*GOAL ~ Callahan; 9th (Dubinsky, Prust) - 4:11 - 3rd Period
*GOAL ~ Callahan; 10th (unassisted) - 13:31 - 3rd Period

GOAL:
HENRIK LUNDQVIST
* 5th Shut-Out of Season
* 29th Shut-Out of Career
* 31 Saves



LINK:

Rapid Reaction ~ By Mike Hume @ ESPNnewyork.com
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/hockey/post/_/id/1535/rapid-reaction-rangers-7-caps-0

Mike.BTB