Blueshirts Measure Up In The Eastern Conference, Down Penguins

Chris Farris dons the Broadway Hat

How great is it that the Rangers are finally winning at the Garden, huh? We have the World's Most Famous Arena--newly renovated to lock in sound and maximize the seating capacity--and the best, most rabid fans on the planet, and now after a number of seasons spent middling at home or only gelling on the road, the Rangers and the Blueshirt Fans are synergizing, spouting a dominant 7-1-1 Garden record. And that's 7 wins...IN A ROW, just to be sure.

To me it's just another example of how the resourceful Rangers are making the most of everything they have. Last year, 9 out of 10 LOCAL media outlets were ready to write off Gaborik and put him on the trading block, but true Blueshirt fans not only couldn't forget the dominant debut season #10 had, but knew the Slovakian Sniper had better days ahead of him. This year he is, in Torts lingo, "A Force." Our farm system has consistently provided players who fit into the big club's system and who are in terrific shape so that when a player gets injured we don't have to scramble to make trades. Hagelin and Mitchell are two of the latest, but even Zucc's call up last year was effective and certainly won us some shootouts and OT games. I see the Garden in the same light. There is no way that an asset as strong as 19,000 raging fans cheering their squad and relentlessly ranking on the opposition should be suppressed because the team can't win at home. The Garden should be a hellish, intimidating place for visiting teams to play and this year it is starting to become that. Like I said: Synergy.

now let's take a look at some highlights from last nite:

ON THE BOARD
You could just feel a big play like this from Gaborik coming because he was threatening all night. This is when you know Gabi's confidence is high, look at him receive this pass from B Rad and then immediately shift to take it wide. This clears up his path to the net and he gingerly comes in, makes one last move and is able to find Cally's stick as the Captain creeps in from the boards. Perfect execution, and a prelude to a big night for Money.




TIEBREAKER
Hagelin's speed makes this whole play possible. At the last moment he cuts to the outside, forcing the defenseman to deal with him and move out of the center lane. A controlled drop pass to the trailer allows Mitchell to come down Broadway with all the time in the world. Huge goal for the Rangers at that point, and huge goal for #34. I also think the call up of these two is improving B. Boyles game, giving him a more manageable sense of purpose than on the 3rd line where maybe he was getting caught up in the responsibility of providing the offense. I don't need Boyle netting 22 goals (though I loved it last year), but I'd like him to use his size effectively to free up space for Hagelin to fly and we'll see his point totals cruise.


RICHARDS GETS IT DONE
Not sure what TSN, CBC, or any other National hockey media outlet can't see about this Richards acquisition working out well for the Rangers but the guy is making things happen. He didn't even play such a consistent game, and seemed to struggle at times, but when the Rangers needed him to make a big play he was instrumental in getting it done. Here he takes a pass from Feds and wrists a laser past Fleury just like he did against Montreal's Cary Price at the Garden. Maybe he just hates French Canadian goalies?




PP Tic-Tac-Toe
Now this is how you work a Powerplay. Win the draw. Richards is your visionary, so get the puck back to him as quickly as possible. Recognize the geometry of the lanes and get into one that's open, like Del Zotto does. If the puck goes cross ice quickly and everyone shifts, try to get it to the middle so you capitalize on the other team scrambling out of position. Del Z does it perfectly, knowing where he's going with the puck before it gets to him, and G Money is able to cash in on the 2nd effort with some incredible eye-hand coordination. Simple, right. haha!

All in all a great effort from the boys in Blue. Sure the Penguins got back in the game, but hey, they were the 1st place team and games between these two teams are always close. As Lundqvist noted, we stayed on our game and as a result of that, Pitt took lazy penalties in the 3rd. Even though we couldn't capitalize on the 5-3 it killed off a chunk of time and our defensive play shined for the 2 points.

Lovin' The Garden Buzz!