Goal Line Report
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Not Bad
by Patrick Hoffman on 01/21/09 at 10:30 AM ET
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The New York Rangers went into the NHL All-Star break last night with a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks.
The team got strong performances from Henrik Lundqvist (not a surprise), Scott Gomez (1 goal and 1 assist), Markus Naslund (1 goal and 1 assist), Blair Betts (blocked a few shots and scored a shorthanded goal) as well as from their special teams, as the team scored two power play goals and two shorthanded goals.
With the victory, the Blueshirts head into the break with a 28-16-4 record, good enough for 60 points and the top spot in the Atlantic Division for now. As such, as inconsistent as this team has been, Blueshirt fans really cannot complain too much.
With that said, one thing they can complain about is the play of Aaron Voros. Voros returned to the lineup last night after being a healthy scratch for a handful of games and promptly took three penalties.
Can somebody tell me why the team doesn’t play Petr Prucha or Lauri Korpikoski instead of Voros? Yes, Voros got off to an extremely hot start this season but since November, he’s been relatively quiet and looks nowhere near the player he did when the season started. At least Prucha and “Korpedo” create scoring chances and don’t take bad penalties.
Also, where has Nikolai Zherdev been? Steve Zipay pointed out in his blog that Zherdev has 0 shots in his last two games and no goals in his last 11.
I’m not complaining. I’m just pointing out things that most Ranger fans are probably concerned about.
With that said, what do you think the team needs to improve on coming out of the all-star break? What can they do to get better? What players have step up, etc.?
Let’s hear your thoughts!
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: Aaron+Voros, Anaheim+Ducks, Atlantic+Division, Blair+Betts, Henrik+Lundqvist, Lauri+Korpikoski, Markus+Naslund, New+York+Rangers, Nikolai+Zherdev, Petr+Prucha, 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 .