N.Y. Rangers ~ Life in the Sixties is a Grind

From the desk of:   RAISE GRESCH WITH THE GREATS






NEW YORK RANGERS:  Blueshirts Exhibit a Short Memory after Losses to Ottawa and Montreal.  Answer Back Each Time With Shut-Outs of Toronto and Nashville.

GAIN POINTS NUMBER SIXTY-ONE and SIXTY-TWO

I assure you.  This is not the typical win-loss-win-loss-loss-win-loss-win kind of year we're used to.  The other shoe will not be falling off these Rangers.  So take these last four games with a grain of salt.  Ottawa has been beating us in our house for years.  And the Montreal Canadiens have been beating us in their house for years as well.  So in that respect, no, some things have not changed.  We'll just have to wait till the next time we meet to even out the respective season series against them.



If there is anything this team has earned from us, is that we take the high road first before peeling back layers to find things to bicker over.  So I'll look at how they responded to the two losses instead.  Beating the Toronto Maple Leafs was very important to me after the way they manhandled us in two prior meetings.  The fact Marty Biron pitched a shut-out in that game just added to the sweet taste of victory; not to mention his effort propelled the Rangers to sixty-points before any other team in the NHL.



Then Henrik Lundqvist followed up the drubbing we took at the hands of Montreal by shutting-out the Nashville Predators for points sixty-one and sixty-two of the season.  And yes, they are the first to achieve these heights too.  It was also the Rangers' fifth and sixth shut-outs of the season and the fourth for Henrik Lundqvist.  It was also win number twenty on the season versus nine losses for our goalie.  Against Nashville, he faced twenty-seven shots and turned them all away.



Another Ranger All-Star; Dan Girardi; got the Rangers on the score board in the first period with his fourth goal of the season.  John Mitchell provided an insurance goal in the second.  And Captain Callahan put this game away when he was awarded a goal after getting interfered with on an empty net attempt.



This game was characterized by sheer hard work.  There was absolutely nothing flashy about it.  The effort was as lunch-pail as you get.  They played superb defense, dominated the neutral zone, and kept the majority of play in Nashville's end.  It was a BLUE-collar game to be proud of.



A game against Pittsburgh is next for the Blueshirts.  And then, the showdown against Boston will be upon us.






Mike,BTB