Goal Line Report
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It’s About Time
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/28/09 at 11:34 PM ET
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Well, how about that - the New York Rangers’ offense does exist as the team exploded for six goals, including four in the first period, in a 6-1 win over the visiting Colorado Avalanche.
This was a long time coming as the Rangers fired over 80 shots in their last two games combined, only to find the back of the net twice. Tonight, however, was a different story.
The Rangers struck early and often as the team had a 2-0 lead just two minutes into the first period, off goals by Ryan Callahan and Nikolai Zherdev. Then later in the period, the club would get goals from Petr Prucha and Scott Gomez to give the team a commanding 4-0 lead going into the second period.
The difference tonight is that they were lucky to be facing a team with below average goaltenders in Peter Budaj and Andrew Raycroft. Another difference - the Rangers cashed in on their chances.
You get a night like tonight when you fire the puck from all angels, crash the net for rebounds, shoot from the point and hit wide open nets, things they had trouble doing in their first two games (shooting from the put, hitting wide open nets) under new head coach John Tortorella.
If the team can play like this in their remaining 20 games, making the playoffs should not be a problem. However, it’s consistency that’s been holding them back this season is something that they need to get over fast.
“It’s a confidence thing,” Tortorella told the team’s web site after the victory. “It’s not effort, and it’s not the execution when it comes to finishing. It’s a confidence thing.”
Hopefully, that confidence will be there for the rest of the season.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Andrew+Raycroft, Colorado+Avalanche, John+Tortorella, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Peter+Budaj, Petr+Prucha, Ryan+Callahan, Scott+Gomez,
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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 .