Heading into the second game of a three-game roadie, the Rangers were nursing their wounds following a beating at the hands of the Lightning on Thanksgiving Eve. Looming ahead of them was a back-to-back against the Panthers and Predators. One could forgive the Blueshirts faithful if going through their heads were visions of a sweep in the wrong direction and three game losing streak with the Penguins to town Monday. Lo and behold, there was a sweep and in the right manner; each game taking on its own identity and proving something else about the team.
On Friday, it was the Henrik Lundqvist show. The work he did with goaltending coach Benoit Allaire was on full display as he stonewalled the Panthers, making 40 saves to notch the shutout. Lundqvist said after the game, "I changed my stance a little bit. I came back to how I used to play [with] a little bit higher stance, and my timing was better." That tweak, plus remaining a bit more still between the pipes, made all the difference as he kept the team in the game early and was rewarded by a pair of goals in the third to give him some breathing room.
A good shot by Avery after he received a breakout pass from Marc Staal after he came out of the box after he served a double, high-sticking minor, led to a rebound goal by Stepan. That 1-0 lead stood up as Hank made save after save. Cally upped the lead to 2-0 on the PP while Prust netted a shortie for a 3-0 lead, leaving the only challenge to protect the shutout, which Hank did.
Less than 24 hours later, the Rangers were in Nashville team back on home ice and smarting from a 5-2 defeat by Minnesota Friday. In addition, New York was without Marian Gaborik, who was sidelined with the flu, but welcomed back Michal Rozsival. A couple of bad bounces led to an early goal by Colin Wilson and that 1-0 deficit looked as if it would hold up. However, the Rangers, as has been their pattern much of the year, refused to give up.
After a sluggish first and slightly better second, the Rangers kicked it up in the third. The goal was scored after a brilliant shift by a juggled Dubinsky-Callahan-Christensen line. Dubi was all over the Nashville zone, and a lucky bounce off J.P. Dumont on Cally's shot resulted in a knotted contest. Torts continued to mix and match, trying to find a combination that worked, but the game remained tied through the OT and into a shootout.
Erik Christensen netted the sole goal in the shootout, redeeming himself somewhat for missing a wide-open net earlier in the game. A brilliant deke of Pekka Rinne, pulled the goalie wide to Christensen's right and this time he didn't miss the yawning net to give the Blueshirts a 2-1 win. Hank made 29 saves in the victory and was a stalwart, stopping all three shots, each of them a different type, in the shootout. As Christensen and Torts said, this is a game that the team wouldn't have won last year as they would have stopped working. This year, the work ethic and resiliency shown by this group of players is clear every time they step on the ice.
As others mentioned in the prior blog, Michael Sauer has played extremely well of late and has been matched with that fine performance by Steve Eminger, who has been extremely steady. Getting Rosi back helps the PP and likely means that Gilroy will be a scratch in the future.
The Rangers now sit 14-10-1 on the year and are 7-3-0 in their last 10. Monday welcomes Pittsburgh to the Garden, where New York is 5-6-1. An intra-divisional game and one in which the team needs to start holding serve at home should mean another battle between two squads with no love lost for one another.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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