GOALS! GOALS! GOALS!

Rangers 6 Lightning 2
OMG YAY!
Boy, am I ever glad I decided to tape this game on Versus. (in glorious Hi-Def)
After all of the struggles to score, the shutouts, the offensive ineptitude and frustration, the past 2 games have been a revelation. 8 different scorers, and 16 different Blueshirts had points. The game began and ended with an Aaron Voros fight, but the oft-healthy scratch contributed to the scoring with his 1st goal of the season:
I hope this will earn him some more playing time. See how happy his friends were to see him score, more 'face-washes' and bops on the head than a brawl from the seventies:

When they played this song for the EIGHTH time last night, I was really hoping to see Rick Tochett's head explode on the Tampa Bay bench: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
2 angles of Vinny Prospal's happy goal face:

King Henrik was tested early by such sharpshooters as Marty St. Louis, and Vincent Lecavalier, but for the most part, enjoyed the Rangers' pressing offensive show from the far end of the rink.
Flyers in Philly on Thursday night...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

The return of the OFFENSE!

Rangers 6 Canadiens 2
YAY!
When the 1st period ended with the Habs leading 2-0, it must've looked like the Rangers 4th loss in a row. But the Blueshirts regrouped, scoring 3 unanswered in the 2nd and 3 more in the 3rd, including 2 goals each for Ryan Callahan:
and
Brandon Dubinsky:
This lovely tune was played 6 times yesterday: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
King Henrik was back between the pipes, and he finally got a little offensive support, yay team! The 2nd and 3rd were also nasty, with Avery, Redden, Lisin, and Voros all slugging it out with various opponents.
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Blues 4 Rangers 1
In the previous game, St. Louis piled on visiting New York, who managed to scrounge up a goal after getting shut out the previous 2 games. guh
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The boys are back in 6th place, with another big test at the Garden against the Lightning on Tuesday night...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Shut out by another Brodeur?

Senators 2 Rangers 0
guh.
2 nights after getting shut out by Martin Brodeur, the Blueshirts get shut out by his distant cousin, Mike Brodeur, who was making his 2nd NHL appearance.
No offense, but plenty of thug on thug action, starring Donald Brashear and Matt Carkner:

Gotta try to get on the scoreboard in St. Louis tomorrow night...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

Goalies get the Glory

Devils 1 Rangers 0 OT/SO
A muted yay for getting the standings point, and an 'I'm not worthy' bow down to both goaltenders.
King Henrik of Sweden vs. Martin Brodeur, the NHL all-time leader in shutouts (among other titles). Between the two, they stopped 96 (NINETY-SIX!) shots in regulation and overtime. Only Jersey's Patrick Elias managed to get one past a netminder for the win.
Along the way, Sean of the 'Avery Rule' found a moment to say hello to his old pal Marty:

Senators tonight at MSG...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

holy moly, what a goalie!

Rangers 3 Bruins 1
YAY!
The tone of this game might have hinged on the result of a 1st period penalty shot awarded to Boston, but King Henrik came up big against Marco Sturm:

Ranger goals were scored by Michael Del Zotto, Brandon Dubinsky and Erik Christensen:
Erik's 3rd goal in 6 games sinced being claimed from Anaheim deserves a little extra recognition: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
The boys are now in 6th place, 1 point behind the Bruins for 5th. Keep it up boys! Tuesday night versus the Devils at The World's Most Famous Arena...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

so close, yet so guh.

Thrashers 2 Rangers 1 OT/SO
guh.
Chad Johnson made his first NHL start in goal for the Rangers, and was brilliant; check out this stick save:

He stopped 31 of 32 shots, and might have claimed the victory if the boys could have put one more shot past Johan Hedberg of Atlanta. Ales Kotalik almost did during the shootout. (see top photo)
The lone Ranger goal was scored by Enver Lisin.
Bruins in Beantown tomorrow afternoon...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

Avery 'stars' against his old team.

Rangers 5 Stars 2
YAY!
After Sean Avery had his, um, difficulty in Dallas last season, (he said hideous things about his ex-girlfriends being involved with other NHL players) the Stars dropped him like a bad habit. So last night at the Garden Avery
had a chance to get reacquainted with the team that was still paying off his contract. With a goal...

and 3 assists, it's obvious we have to spin this tune in his honor: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
Marian Gaborik put in goal number 28 (assist to Avery):

Ales Kotalik scored the eventual game-winner (assist to Avery):

The pass to Chris Drury (see top photo) was a thing of beauty, perfectly placed to a point just above the crease, where all the captain had to do was deflect the puck into an open net.
How did Dallas feel after the Avery experience? Stars netminder Marty Turco said, “I would have loved to see that delinquent do that for us last year”
BWAHAHAHAHA!
Thrashers tonight in Atlanta...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Vacation for me, but not for the Blueshirts

Rangers 3 Hurricanes 1
YAY!
A goal each for Brandon Dubinsky:

and Marian Gaborik (see top photo) plus an empty netter by Marc Staal earns a moment of music: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
Listening on the radio, it was obvious King Henrik made a series of huge saves to preserve the lead in the 3rd, so way to be, Hank!
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Dec. 23rd Rangers 4 Panthers 1
YAY!
My brother Ben took me to the Garden to see the game, a complete surprise, what an amazing Christmas present! 2 goals for Vinny Prospal, 1 each for Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury. And King Henrik was the game's 1st star, with 33 saves. 'Henrik! Henrik!'
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upcoming games:
Dec. 26th Islanders 3 Rangers 2 OT
guh. At least the boys snagged 1 point in the standings
Dec. 30th Flyers 6 Rangers 0
guh. This was just a disaster all around
Dec. 31st Rangers 2 Hurricnes 1
YAY, Happy New Year!
Jan. 2nd Hurricanes 2 Rangers 1 OT
guh. another point for the regulation tie, tho.
Jan. 4th Rangers 3 Bruins 2
YAY!
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Snowed-win!

Rangers 2 Flyers 1
YAY!
A snowstorm kept most of the Philly fans trapped in their homes, but New York showed up and, largely thanks to Henrik Lundqvist (36 of 37) and defenceman Marc Staal (31 minutes of ice time, holy crap!), came away with their 2nd win in as many games.
Artem Anisimov scored the eventual game-winner with kind of a fluky, throw-it-at-the-net-and-see-what-happens goal. And Captain Chris Drury proved you can show leadership even from the 4th line, scoring the game's opening goal, and earning a playing of our theme song: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
King Henrik was his usual tremendous self yesterday, even taking on off of his noggin to keep the puck out of the net:

Can the boys keep the streak going? Hurricanes in Raleigh, Monday night ...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Emerging from the Darkness?

Rangers 5 Islanders2
YAY!
Marion Gaborik (see above) added to his league leading mark with a power play tally in the 3rd:

Ryan Callahan also scored 2 on the power play, so I think a little happy music is in order: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
King Henrik keeps pucks out of the net, but can't keep players out of the crease:

As I'm writing this, the boys have just beaten the Flyers in Philly. This could be the start of something, well, better than losing...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

[expletives deleted]

Islanders 2 Rangers 1
guh.
The Rangers alienated the Garden fans by coming out flat in the 1st, letting the visitors outshoot, outwork and outscore them. The 'blue seaters' started chanting, "Fire Sather!" (team General Manager) and that's probably not going to happen.
The Islanders added another late in the 3rd, and while Enver Lisin's goal with a minute left made things interesting, the final score is all that counts. The Blueshirts are 1-6-2 in the last 9 games.
A rematch with the fishsticks on the Island tonight...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

two more losses. *sigh*

Sabres 3 Rangers 2
guh.
38 shots for the boys, but Ryan Miller made 36 saves. King Henrik made 28 stops, but obviously, it wasn't enough. The Ranger goals were scored by Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik.
Oh well, it least my brother Ben will be happy his team won.
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Now on to last night's game...

Thrashers 3 Rangers 2 OT/SO
The good news first: Brandon Dubinsky made his return from missing 13 games with a broken hand, yay! The Blueshirts scored 2 power play goals and registered 48 shots!
The bad news: it wasn't enough.. Ryan Callahan tied the game on a breakaway in the 2nd...

and Marian Gaborik added to his league-leading goal total of 23 when he tied it in the 3rd. But sadly, Gabs couldn't get one past Atlanta's Johan Hedberg in the shootout.
So, a point in the standings for getting the regulation tie, but that's not enough, is it? The boys need wins if they hope to stay in the playoff hunt.
Islanders tomorrow night...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

one lousy goal, one lousy point

Black Hawks 2 Rangers 1 OT
guh.
At first blush, one might say, yay, the boys snagged a point from a great team in their building. But the offense was entirely one 1st period goal by Chris Higgins:

And if it were not for King Henrik (39 saves ) keeping things close, they might have been blown out. As it is, the Hawks tied it in the 3rd, and won it in overtime. (See top photo) Coach Tortorella, noting the lame effort, commented that, other than Lundqvist, his team "stunk".
Saturday it is the Sabres back home at MSG...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

Rangers' up and down weekend.

Rangers 2 Sabres 1
YAY!
A pair of tough games for the boys this weekend; on Saturday in Buffalo, Chris Higgins' 1st period goal was the only offense through 2 periods:

Ryan Callahan scored the eventual game-winner in the 3rd, (see top photo) and this seems like a good time for some music: NY Rangers Goal Celebration Song
King Henrik had to be awesome right to the very end, allowing only one goal. Listening to the broadcast, it sounded like he made a bunch of point blank stops in the last stages of the game.
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Now on to Sunday's game:
Red Wings 3 Rangers 1
guh.
This was so close to being a win-win-weekend for the Blueshirts, but Detroit scored to break the tie with 2 minutes left in the game, and New York could not answer. An empty netter made the final 3-1.
Jimmy Howard was in net for the Wings, I have no idea who he is, but apparently he's quite good. (28 save on 29 shots, including a penalty shot attempt)
Brian Boyle got the only Ranger score.
Patrick Kane and the Hawks in Chicago on Wednesday night...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

five-sixths of a great game.

Penguins 5 Rangers 2
guh.
2 goals for Marian Gaborik, and a well played, very tight contest last night in the rematch with Pittsburgh... until halfway through the 3rd period.
Then it all went to dren.
A hat trick for Mike Rupp (who?), of course Sid Crosby got a goal, and now the boys are in a whole. 3 game losing streak, 10 losses in 15 games. guh
The boys are in Buffalo on Saturday night...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!