Goal Line Report
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Four Big Points on the line this weekend and some Ranger Notes
by Patrick Hoffman on 03/19/09 at 10:50 PM ET
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With the Eastern Conference standings changing every day, every game from here on out means something for the New York Rangers.
This would especially be true for the two games they have this weekend at home against the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. In actuality, the Blueshirts should be able to come away with four points but since the Sabres are still battling for a playoff spot and the Senators are playing better hockey under their new coach, four points are certainly not guaranteed.
The good news? The Rangers are finding ways to win, getting their offense into high gear and looking like a team that deserves to be in the playoffs.
Other notes:
- It’s certainly nice that Scott Gomez decided to wake up and play. He’s found new life with Sean Avery, Ryan Callahan and Nikolai Zherdev and has recorded 10 points (three goals and seven assists) in the last nine games.
- How about that Nik Antropov? He has three points in his last five games and has proven to be an upgrade over Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes.
- It’s nice to see that John Tortorella realized that defensemen Dan Girardi and Marc Staal could be the team’s No. 1 defensive pairing. They’ve both played well by breaking up plays, joining the rush, clearing out rebounds and doing everything that a No. 1 pairing should do.
- Henrik Lundqvist must feel great knowing that his team can actually score more than one goal a game. In their last four games, the team has scored 14 goals.
There’s still some time left but if they keep playing this way, the chance to go far in the playoffs will be there.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Buffalo+Sabres, Dan+Girardi, Henrik+Lundqvist, John+Tortorella, Marc+Staal, New+York+Rangers, Nik+Antropov, Nikolai+Zherdev, Ottawa+Senators, Ryan+Callahan, Scott+Gomez, Sean+Avery,
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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 .