The Rangers had a reversal of fortune from last year's Cup Finals and boy was it sweet. Not as gratifying as if it happened last year or the leads hadn't been lost, but nice to be on the other side of the equation. New York fell behind 2-0 six minutes into the game but rallied behind two goals in 19 seconds during a dominant second period and held off LA late to beat the Kings 4-3 on Thursday.
It's now 12 wins in 13 games. Any thoughts that this was a fluke or bolstered solely by playing against "weaker" teams can be thrown in the trash. On back-to-back nights, the Rangers faced the top team in the West and a solid Kings team, last year's Cup winners, and prevailed in both contests. You want to play, physical, they can do that. You want to go speed for speed, good luck with that, as the Blueshirts will blow your doors off. There are still areas that can be worked on and strengthened, but right now, this looks to be a pretty complete team.
The Kings jumped off to a 2-0 lead but it was Dan Boyle with a huge goal that started the comeback. Earlier in the season when he was injured and even when he returned and struggled, it was the de riguer thing - or what everyone was doing in the media and in the fanbase - to bash Boyle. But look at the difference in the power play since he has returned. The team now has a major weapon and Boyle is the trigger man.
In the second, the two goals were scored by 'depth' players, another hallmark to this team. Kevin Optimus Klein did what he does best, score goals. Of course, eventually that close to 19 percent shooting percentage will drop and some will criticize him as they did the past few games that he hadn't scored, but he has given everything New York could want from a $2.9 million third line player (sarcasm dripping as I write that). The second goal came off the stick of Lee Stempniak, who also has been a whipping boy at times. But he provides solid depth and fits well on the third line.
The Ranhers dominated the middle frame. When the opposing coach admits that his team, which is a good skating one, couldn't keep up with the a Rangers, it's a pretty good indication how good New York was. The third goal of the frame was scored by Martin St. Louis, who I thought had one of his better games recently, beyond scoring, he hit a post and of course, it was Boyle who helped create the goal. LA came on later scoring a goal with under five minutes left and Cam Talbot had to make several key saves the last three minutes, but a win is a win.
Not all was positive, as Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi struggled a bit in the win. Of course, bashing G has all become the in-thing to do, but how quickly everyone forgot how well that pairing played the night before. Girardi hasn't been great all the time, but as I have written in the past, good luck finding someone else who plays that kind of minutes nightly at that price and stands up to the top line. McDonagh gets a pass to an extent, given how well he has played recently. Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the opponent. You know I call it as I see it and yes, G and McD struggled yesterday but overall, they have been more than solid and at times, very good.
Elliotte Friedman reported today that the Rangers have interest in Andrej Sekera, who is in the last year of his contract. As the year wears on, the cap hit drops, but if acquired now, Sekera, with a $1.75 mil cap hit this year, would have a $1.375 million cap hit the rest of the way. Speed wise, I am unsure if Sekera matches up to what New York has, but overall, I view him as an upgrade on the Matt Hunwick/John Moore duo as the sixth d-man and he can play on the PP? If New York can get and fit in Sekera salary wise, I implore New York not to deal Marc Staal to make room. You all know I have been a big proponent of re-signing Staal, if the Rangers are 'all-in' as has been rumored, then getting rid of Staal without finding an equal or better replacement seems foolish. Of course, there is no guarantee that Carolina deals Sekera, as they want him back, but he would be a nice rental for several teams.
With the win, the Rangers are 6-1 vs. the Pacific, and 8-2-3 vs. the West. With the win, the Blueshirts now trail the Islanders by three points, with the ROW tiebreaker and two games in hand, plus four head-to-heads remaining. In addition, they are four points behind Pittsburgh with those aforementioned two games in hand and as a Carp wrote, six behind East-leading Tampa (despite the 0-3 season series) with four games in hand. Saturday's game will be a dogfight, as San Jose is likely to put forth a monster effort coming off a 7-2 embarrassment in St. Louis.
Sweep Cali is now the chant for Saturday night.