Goal Line Report
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Big Two Points
by Patrick Hoffman on 03/18/09 at 10:10 AM ET
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Last night’s game was the kind of game that the New York Rangers may have lost under Tom Renney. However, it was a much different outcome for the Blueshirts under new guy John Tortorella, who overcame some bad bounces and bad goals allowed to beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 in a shootout at the Bell Centre.
Yes, I know that the team needs to continue to learn how to win games in regulation but let’s face it - they need all the points they can get and last night’s two points put them in sixth place in the ever-increasing tight Eastern Conference.
Nik Antropov continues to show the Blueshirts that he was worth getting at the deadline as he added another goal in regulation while also putting one in in the skills competition. He’s a big guy who has soft hands and a powerful wrist shot and is still working towards being a more consistent player with each passing game.
It was also nice to finally see Chris Drury come through in the clutch as he scored the game-winning shootout goal. He may be piling on the assists as of late but this team needs him to score big goals like he did with the Buffalo Sabres and the Colorado Avalanche.
It was disturbing to see Rangers’ netminder Henrik Lundqvist allow a soft goal to tie the game and not be at his best in the shootout. However, at the same time, he did make 26 saves in regulation and did a good enough job to pick up his 32nd win of the season in an extremely tough building.
Since the team doesn’t play again till Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, they will certainly be watching the scoreboard, focusing on teams such as the Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, and Florida Panthers, all teams that are within striking distance of the Blueshirts.
No matter how you look at it, two points is two points and for now, the Rangers are in good position to clinch the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Carolina+Hurricanes, Chris+Drury, Colorado+Avalanche, Florida+Panthers, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Tortorella, Montreal+Canadiens, New+York+Rangers, Nik+Antropov, Tom+Renney,
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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 .