Huge victory on the Island last night for the Blueshirts. The streak rolls on to 7 wins in a row, and hat-wearer Brad Richards put up his 8th point in as many games, ripping the game winner over the shoulder of Nabokov late in the 3rd period. Even Al Truatwig had to rescind on his lobbying for the Broadway Fedora in the presence of Richards in the postgame interview, calling it, aptly, the Broadway Hat. Small step for man, but a giant leap for Ranger fans.
Lets WORK THE POINTS on last night's Win:
HENRIK!! HENRIK!! HENRIK!! While the offense was stalling at the beginning of the season, Hank was still playing great goal for the Rangers, but it seemed there was little he could do when we were putting the opposition on the powerplay 8 and 9 times a game. During this winning streak The King is 5-0 and last night he was an absolutely clutch performer. It was a close game. The Islanders are a good team, and their top line dismantled us the last time we met, but Lundqvist was phenomenal last night.
Look at this sequence below with the Ranger lead on the line and the Islanders pressing in the 2nd frame. Hank uses his mask to control the action, then waits out an impatient Parenteau in a game of goal-line chicken.
Sorry, PA.
OFFENSE FROM THE DEFENSE
I love it when our D gets involved in the goal buffet. Early on it was McDonagh being a hero, then Girardi and Del Z added to the Powerplay attack, Woywitka earned his stripes and last night hardworking, underrated Stevie44 finished off a perfect cross ice Callahan feed after spending 2 minutes in the box for sticking up for himself when Matt Martin ran him in the corner. (True Prust got in their for the fight, but I think it was actually Emminger's retaliatory hit that caused Martin to immediately retreat to the lockerroom holding his shoulder. Bottom line: you don't mess with Stevie44!)
AVERY
Can't deny the impact 16 has had the last 3 games. It started when he got the cobwebs off his knuckles by fighting Zenon Konopka in Ottawa and has carried through with 2 goals, penalties drawn, + ice rating and more sustain on the forecheck. Last night's goal sparked the club and gave the Rangers the start they needed on the Island to be successful. Sean had Mottau off his game the whole night and even though the emotion of the rivalry seemed to un-discipline our team a bit (too many penalties, old habit) we kept patient to our game plan and prevailed.
CALLY, DUBI AND RICHARDS
Let this be the line. It's insane to me that B. Rad should play 3rd line. I know they want to get Boyle going and keep Avery's momentum at a full charge, but the line of Richards, Dubi, Cally coming off the GAS line (who were dangerous, though scoreless) is the best 1-2 punch we can put together. On top of that, Avery scored on a play set up by Boyle. And Richards scored on a play set up by Dubi. So learn from what works and keep those guys together in Montreal, eh?
