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More to Come or SSDD?

by Patrick Hoffman on 12/18/09 at 10:47 AM ET
Comments (1)

The New York Rangers found a way to snap out of their funk last night by defeating the New York Islanders by a score of 5-2. Yes folks, you read that right - the Rangers scored 5 goals.

Even more noteworthy is that Chris Drury scored his third goal of the season and that Artem Anisimov also had a terrific goal in the third period.

However, this game was all about the play of guys like Ryan Callahan (2g, 2a), Marian Gaborik (1g, 2a) and Henrik Lundqvist (35 saves). These players stepped up in a huge way last night and prior to the game, Lundqvist sat the team down and held a players only meeting along with Sean Avery.

Looks like something clicked, right?

On the scoreboard, things certainly clicked for the Blueshirts but what’s troubling is that the Islanders outplayed the Rangers for the majority of the hockey games. They had a ton of shots on goal, forechecked hard, won battles to loose pucks and had a lot more quality scoring chances. Luckily for the Blueshirts, Isles’ netminder Dwayne Roloson did not have one of his best games.

So, what does this all mean for the Rangers? Well, for one thing, it’s two points in an extremely tight Eastern Conference where every point counts. Secondly, it’s a potential stepping stone towards something bigger and may be even more consistent. Lastly, it shows that they were going to snap out of their funk at some point.

However, let’s not forget that this might just be a tease. The Blueshirts tend to do these kind of things and then crash right back down to earth.

The team will get a chance to show fans what this might be when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers tomorrow afternoon at the Wachovia Center.

What your thoughts/predictions?

Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
 Tags: New+York+Islanders, New+York+Rangers, Philadelphia+Flyers,

Comments

Rangers can show flashes of brilliance which makes this team so frustrating to watch.  It’s not about their potential, we saw what they’re capable of doing at the beginning of the season.  The questions is whether or not they can maintain that type of game on a consistent basis.  That remains to be seen.

I have no predictions for Saturday, but I’ll say that we have no reason to be optimistic.  History has shown us that they’ll play a game like this and then have a dud right afterwards.  If they continue to “bring it” then they’ll be great.  If they play heartless hockey (like the have been doing up until this game) they will lose.

Sat will be a must watch bloodbath between two struggling teams.

Posted by Adam on 12/18/09 at 10:57 AM ET

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Patrick has a tremendous passion for hockey. Besides covering the Rangers and the NHL for Kukla’s Korner, you can also find Patrick’s work over at RLD Hockey, Rangers Tribune, and TheGoodPoint.com.

Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick’s musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, The Fourth Period, Spector’s Hockey, Hokeja Vestnesis, Blueshirt Bulletin, SNYRangersBlog.com and many more.

For questions, comments and hip checks, feel free to e-mail Patrick at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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