That's the way to do it. Never mind your draft position or prior history, you're guaranteed nothing when you come to the NHL and have to make a name for yourself all over again. For one of the few nights in his Ranger career, Lundmark seemed to understand that tonight. He skated hard, made some hits, kept the play moving and even scored a goal by smartly putting it on net from a bad angle when there were no other options. Put the game away in the 3rd by coming out of the corner with the puck and making a beautiful pass to a streaking Messier. EXCELLENT game. Finally, for the first time in what seems like forever I have some genuine great things to say about Lundmark tonight. Deservedly first star of the game.

Let's look at some positives: Last season they also started out 2-2-2, lost their next game and only got back to .500 for ONE night the rest of the season. This time they got right back to even the very next game. They also just completed their longest homestand of the season with what was essentially a 4-2 record (3-1-2), and you can't hope for much better than a .667 home winning percentage. .667 at home, .500 on the road and you're  not only in the playoffs easily, but challenging for the top spot. So, all in all, as good a homestand as we could've reasonably wanted, ESPECIALLY considering Lindros missed 3 of those games and Leetch all of them.

As for this game in particular, the Rangers really got lucky in the 1st period but picked it up about halfway through the game and carried the play the rest of the way. The solid defense is still there - few mistakes and shots (and bodies) are being kept to the outside - while finally the offense seems to be coming around. Actually, though, I'm not sure how much better they played tonight compared to Tuesday night against the Ducks, if they played any better at all. The only difference was Dunham was sharper and the breaks went the Rangers way this time.