It was Hank early and the offense thereafter, as the Rangers "exploded" (yes, term used loosely, but five goals are a season-high) in their 5-1 win over the Lightning on Sunday. I will first reflect back on the keys to the game, with my views in italics, that I laid out on Sunday and then add in a few more thoughts.

Keys to the Game for the Rangers:

1) Much of the same. The Rangers played their game plan almost to a T on Thursday, forcing turnovers while taking advantage of space to get the transition game going and clamping down defensively. New York played a similar strong defensive game against Tampa the last time they played, resulting in the win. The Lightning entered that game averaging 5.2 goals per game but since, have averaged just 1.6 per game in the three-game losing streak. (this one is a clear green check. Early on the Rangers allowed six odd-man rushes, but Hank was up to the task. From around the 12 minutes mark forward, save for a bad line change that led to Tampa Bay's goal, the Rangers mirrored Thursday's approach. They were physical and did not allow Tampa to gain the zone with any momentum, and even when they did gain the zone, they shut them down. In addition, the forecheck might have been their best all season, especially by the Powe-Halpern-Asham line).

2) Stay out of the box. Against NJ, the Rangers did not play well but at least stayed out of the box for the most part. On Thursday, they took five penalties, but were fortunate that the PK and Hank were on that night. Despite Tampa's recent offensive struggles, if you go to the box, they will make you pay. The Lightning sit second in the league with a 29.6% success rate on the man advantage, so taking another ridiculous too many men on the ice penalty could prove to be a killer. (just two penalties on the night, so this has to be viewed as a green check. Unfortunately, the PP woes continue, as the team had no shots on net after the first PP, which didn't look half-bad. The Blueshirts are now 4-for-40, next to last in the league).

3) Scoring from a variety of sources. For much of the year, it's been the GNR line carrying the Rangers. On Thursday, Torts mixed up the lines and was rewarded with JT Miller scoring twice (third line) and Marian Gaborik scoring one (second line). Beyond the scoring, all three lines, for the most part, were involved offensively and created chances. The one minor exception was the Hagelin-Stepan-Nash trio, who were okay but need to be better going forward for these combinations to stick. (also a green check. Two by Carl Hagelin, who was phenomenal, one by Nash, who showed his strength in holding off Hedman and St. Louis to get the puck on net for Hagelin's deflection, one by Callahan, for which Mathieu Garon is still looking for his jock after that deke, as well as a top-shelf rocket by Asham. In addition, solid pressure by all three lines. Just as important, the defensive, especially Staal, was active in creating offense from defense, another key).

Other thoughts:
- Hank is back to Vezina form. He was brilliant early, fending off those odd-man rushes, and came up big when needed. Big boost of confidence for him and the team the last two games. It will be interesting to see when Torts rests him, given how good he looked.

- McDonagh. The Mack Truck was one throwing down Killorn when he got too close to Hank on a stoppage. Nice to see the defense not allowing opposing forwards take any liberties, which had been an issue in the past.

- Girardi. No setbacks and even played a bit with Staal, hearkening back to pre-Mack Truck days. Two assists and a plus-4, hard to argue with that.

- Stepan. Not great, but looked solid with Nash and Hagelin and his check and pinch on the first goal, helped create the turnover, leading to the score.

- Gilroy. Didn't think he played that badly and surprised that he basically was stapled to the bench in the third period.

- Boyle. Does he get back on the ice any time soon? Given how well the lines are rolling and despite him coming basically back home to Boston, I don't expect him to suit up Tuesday.

Tomorrow marks the quarter-pole of the season for the Rangers. A win and they are 7-5 with three games at MSG, where they are 5-2, upcoming. The team is just 1-3 on the road, so tomorrow is actually a fairly big game to establish some consistency on the road and get another win against a real good opponent.

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