Goal Line Report
Getting Back on Track
by Patrick Hoffman on 12/10/11 at 10:00 AM ET
Comments (1)
That is something that the New York Rangers (15-6-4) will look to do tonight against the Buffalo Sabres (14-11-2) in Buffalo.
Buffalo is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over the streaking Florida Panthers last night. It was a hard fought battle so there is no doubt that the Sabres may be a bit tired.
On the other side, the Blueshirts are coming off a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night. According to team beat writers, the team had a good practice yesterday before heading off to Buffalo for tonight’s tilt.
The Rangers come into this game having not won since last Saturday night when they defeated the Lightning by a score of 4-2. Since that game, the Blueshirts have lost to the Leafs (4-2 on Monday Night night) and the Lightning and picked-up one point in those two games combined.
Even with their recent “winless streak”, the team still sits fifth in the Eastern Conference with 34 points and is two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins (fourth in the Eastern Conference) and three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers (first in the Eastern Conference). If the team is able to pick up two points tonight, they will have a chance to move up a bit in the standings, which always feels good to any NHL hockey club.
To do so, the Rangers must find their offense again. Guys like Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, Ryan Callahan, Artem Anisimov, and Ryan Callahan need to do their part to put the puck in the net and create scoring opportunities. Players like Brandon Dubinsky, Brian Boyle, Brandon Prust and Ruslan Fedotenko must also contribute offense, especially Dubinsky who has really struggled this season.
After tonight’s game, the Blueshirts will head home to take on the Florida Panthers tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden for a 7:30 p.m. tilt. Two games and two tough teams on tap for the Blueshirts.
Should the Blueshirts come away with a victory in Buffalo, they’ll had back to MSG looking to steal one from the Panthers and launch themselves further up the standings in the Eastern Conference.
Anything is possible with these Rangers, right?
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Tags: artem+anisimov,
brad+richards,
brandon+dubinsky,
brandon+prust,
brian+boyle,
buffalo+sabres,
florida+panthers,
marian+gaborik,
new+york+rangers,
philadelphia+flyers,
pittsburgh+penguins,
ruslan+fedotenko,
ryan+callahan,
toronto+maple+leafs
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About Goal Line Report
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 Sportsnet.ca, The Red Light District Hockey Blog, NHL Home Ice, and Liam Maguire's Ultimate Hockey web site.
Prior to writing for the above mentioned outlets, you could find Patrick's musings at hockey web sites/outlets such as TheHockeyNews.com, TheFourthPeriod.com, 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 patrickhoffman3530@gmail.com.
We’re going to see what Buffalo does tonight. The game last night was similar to watching New Jersey at the height of the trap. Buffalo and Florida played one of those “minimize the other team’s chances” games. We’ll see if that works against the Rangers.
Posted by danabob on 12/10/11 at 11:28 AM ET