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New York Rangers Blogger •
Alright, one down and three to go!
Well if only Washington will make the rest of the series nice and easy; which they certainly will not. Though, the Rangers taking the all important first win on the road is still a pretty big deal. The Rangers have now won four games in a row and the last two on the road.
It surely wasn't a pretty win last night but when it comes to the playoffs you take anything you can get. The Blueshirts were able to weather the first period storm and remained poised when they lost the 2 goal lead.
The Rangers, who were able to tally four goals against, earned themselves some direly needed confidence in the offensive zone. A question before the series was whether or not the sometimes comatose offense could exploit the Capitals' defense and namely Jose Theodore. Last night they answered, "why yes, they can". Even more importantly for the Rangers is that the power play pitched in with two timely goals from both Nik Antropov and Markus Naslund.
I suggested in the preview blog that certain things needed to come to together for the Rangers to pull off the upset. Last night some of those things certainly did happen. Scott Gomez had a HUGE game with a goal and 2 assists. Ryan Callahan even though he did not get a point was extremely physical and certainly did get his chances as two clanged off the post. Of course Brandon Dubinsky who was the hero with the game-winner had a great game; just ask Jeff Schultz who is still a day later looking to see where Dubie went.
Where the Rangers need to be better for Saturday's Game 2 is staying out of the cursed penalty box. The Capitals power play is quite the force to be reckoned with. If it wasn't for Henrik Lundqvist and some crafty penalty killing, especially in the third period, the Caps would have scored more than just 2 goals with the man advantage.
The Rangers racked up almost double the amount of penalty minutes than Washington did. If you play with fire, Alexander Ovechkin will burn you. And yes, I don't really count that first penalty on Daniel Girardi, that one was absolutely ponderous. Still the Rangers cannot afford to play the majority of this series short-handed, it's simply too dangerous.
Even though the Rangers were able to keep AO off the goal scoring sheets you were able to see last night the danger he poses. Not only did he have two assists but he absolutely peppered Henrik Lundqvist with blistering shots, especially from the point on the power play. Luckily Lundqvist, as we hoped he would, rose to the occasion and stifled the league MVP. He will not have a second of rest in this series.
The Rangers' defense who was quite shaky at times still managed to hold down the fort once they took the lead for the final time with 8 minutes to play in the third period. The Rangers' forwards pitched in and helped block shots, especially on the penalty kill. However, the Rangers defense must find a way to start clogging up the neutral zone as this series progresses and not let the Capitals have so much room. Then again, that is much easier said than done.
Game 2 will be on NBC Saturday with a 1pm start time. Chris Drury who pulled out of the game during the pre-game skate is expected to rejoin the team. This probably means that ole Aaron Voros will be the odd man out.
Send me an e-mail and three more Rangers' wins
Well if only Washington will make the rest of the series nice and easy; which they certainly will not. Though, the Rangers taking the all important first win on the road is still a pretty big deal. The Rangers have now won four games in a row and the last two on the road.
It surely wasn't a pretty win last night but when it comes to the playoffs you take anything you can get. The Blueshirts were able to weather the first period storm and remained poised when they lost the 2 goal lead.
The Rangers, who were able to tally four goals against, earned themselves some direly needed confidence in the offensive zone. A question before the series was whether or not the sometimes comatose offense could exploit the Capitals' defense and namely Jose Theodore. Last night they answered, "why yes, they can". Even more importantly for the Rangers is that the power play pitched in with two timely goals from both Nik Antropov and Markus Naslund.
I suggested in the preview blog that certain things needed to come to together for the Rangers to pull off the upset. Last night some of those things certainly did happen. Scott Gomez had a HUGE game with a goal and 2 assists. Ryan Callahan even though he did not get a point was extremely physical and certainly did get his chances as two clanged off the post. Of course Brandon Dubinsky who was the hero with the game-winner had a great game; just ask Jeff Schultz who is still a day later looking to see where Dubie went.
Where the Rangers need to be better for Saturday's Game 2 is staying out of the cursed penalty box. The Capitals power play is quite the force to be reckoned with. If it wasn't for Henrik Lundqvist and some crafty penalty killing, especially in the third period, the Caps would have scored more than just 2 goals with the man advantage.
The Rangers racked up almost double the amount of penalty minutes than Washington did. If you play with fire, Alexander Ovechkin will burn you. And yes, I don't really count that first penalty on Daniel Girardi, that one was absolutely ponderous. Still the Rangers cannot afford to play the majority of this series short-handed, it's simply too dangerous.
Even though the Rangers were able to keep AO off the goal scoring sheets you were able to see last night the danger he poses. Not only did he have two assists but he absolutely peppered Henrik Lundqvist with blistering shots, especially from the point on the power play. Luckily Lundqvist, as we hoped he would, rose to the occasion and stifled the league MVP. He will not have a second of rest in this series.
The Rangers' defense who was quite shaky at times still managed to hold down the fort once they took the lead for the final time with 8 minutes to play in the third period. The Rangers' forwards pitched in and helped block shots, especially on the penalty kill. However, the Rangers defense must find a way to start clogging up the neutral zone as this series progresses and not let the Capitals have so much room. Then again, that is much easier said than done.
Game 2 will be on NBC Saturday with a 1pm start time. Chris Drury who pulled out of the game during the pre-game skate is expected to rejoin the team. This probably means that ole Aaron Voros will be the odd man out.
Send me an e-mail and three more Rangers' wins
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