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A Start

This game had shootout written all over it. There were many missed scoring chances, big saves by each goaltender, and quality special team’s efforts.

Fortunately, this ended with a 2-1 shootout win for the New York Rangers over the Ottawa Senators. Surprisingly, the game-winning shootout goal came from P.A. Parenteau, recently called up from the Hartford Wolf Pack.

However, this game was all about the big-time effort from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 35 saves in the game and made some huge stops in the skills competition. After reading yesterday’s papers and listening to him during the post-game on Thursday night after the team lost to the Atlanta Thrashers, it was easy to see/hear that Lundqvist was frustrated and wanted to get things back on the right track. 

Certainly, this afternoon was a start. Although the team allowed 37 shots, they did a much better job protecting Lundqvist and didn’t allow as many quality scoring chances as they did on Thursday night.

And how about that shorthanded goal by Vinny Prospal? Believe it or not, that was his first shorthanded goal in 894 games played. What was more remarkable was the patience that Marian Gaborik showed with the puck. I’m sure a lot of other players would have taken the shot but with the skill that Gabby has, he knew what the right thing to do was.

It was also great to see the team sacrifice their bodies to block shots, especially in the overtime frame when they were killing the 4-on-3 penalty.

Now what the team needs to do is build on it and prepare for Tuesday night’s game against the offensively-skilled Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden.

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About Goal Line Report

The Goal Line Report will focus on all things Eastern Conference. Do I have a bias towards the Eastern Conference just because I am a New Yorker? No, but it certainly does make things easier! I’ll make my opinions known on Eastern Conference news bits (as often as I can), big games, hot and cold players, trades (I don’t make things up) and anything and everything else related to the Eastern Conference that I think is important for hockey fans to know. I will, in every sense of the word, be the beast of the East while also making sure to drop my thoughts on other hockey news items.

I, Patrick Hoffman, have covered the NHL since 2003 and have worked for a variety of hockey media sources including: Stan Fischler, Spector’s Hockey, TheHockeyNews.com, HockeyBuzz.com, McKeen’s Hockey, Blueshirt Bulletin, XM Home Ice Channel Hockey Blog, HockeyPrimeTime.com, FantasyHockey.com. NY SportsDay, and HokejaVestnesis.com.

For questions, comments or to talk hockey, feel free to send me an e-mail at .

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