Last night ended a little disappointingly for the Rangers, but they did manage to nab a point, and they will get a second shot at the Islanders tonight in Nassau.
At this moment, the Rangers are in first place in the Eastern Conference. Don't get too excited, they have played a few more games than some other teams. Nonetheless, considering the recent history of the team, just being able to mention that they are in first place is fun.
Once again, the Rangers played a good game, marred only by the spectacular play of Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro. I felt that, for the first time, the officiating was questionable. Add on to that the fact that they took two senseless delay of game infractions for shooting the puck over the glass from the defensive zone, and you had a special-teams filled game. The Blueshirts gave up two power-play goals, one on a 5-on-3. At least three times during the game, a Rangers' man advantage was nullified by penalties in the offensive zone. Tom Poti was wrongfully called for a goaltender interference penalty where he was CLEARLY pushed into the crease.
After all was said and done, the Rangers earned a come-from-behind point, and fans got to see the first shoot-out in team history. Now, I hate the shoot-out. However, I have to admit that Madison Square Garden was going nuts for it. Everyone was on their feet. When Henrik Lundqvist stopped Alexei Yashin on the first shot, the place erupted. Of course, five shots and one broken stick later, the Rangers lost.
While we are quick to point out his flaws, we have to be fair and admit when Tom Poti has a good game. Yesterday he might have had his best game in years. He played physical (well, relatively physical), he hustled, and he was aggressive offensively. He made a spin move towards the end of the game that drew a load "whoa" from the crowd, and nearly scored. Consistency has always been his problem, so let's see how he does tonight.
NY Post - Larry Brooks covers last night game.
NY Daily News - John Dellapina thought last night's game was exactly what the NHL hopes hockey will look like. The Daily News also reports that Kevin Weekes will start in goal against the Islanders tonight.
NY Newsday - Steve Zipay talks to Lundqvist, who was obviously disappointed with the outcome of the game.
The Journal News - Andrew Gross says that fans got a good look at what the new NHL is supposed to be.
The Star Ledger - Colin Stephenson has a great mini-recap of the game: "In a game that featured marvelous skating, superb stickhandling and outstanding goaltending, the Rangers had two excellent chances to win in overtime. But DiPietro, who made 33 saves and was simply awesome in his first game back after suffering a concussion Thursday in Philadelphia, got a glove on Prucha's short shot from the lower left circle with 1:47 left and then nullified Tom Poti's excellent fake-spin-shoot move from the opposite circle eight seconds later with another glove save."
Colin also talked to Tom Renney about the shootout.
NY Times - Jason Diamos talks about last night's game and tonight's rematch.
The Rodent and I disagree about the officiating and the Rangers effort. I think Rodent would agree with me, though, in the belief that Petr Prucha deserves more than seven minutes of ice time.
Blueshirt Bulletin covered the game. They once again point out that there were a number of scouts in the building, some of them from Western Conference teams that neither the Rangers or Islanders play anytime soon.
Joe Mac and NY Sports Day give their take on the match-up.
Rangers-Islanders, Part II, tonight. Puck drops at 7:00 PM, EST. Man, am I happy hockey is back.
HDH
Posted by Jim at October 20, 2005 10:14 AMeMail this entry!
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