Goal Line Report
Rangers Power Play Clicks In Victory Over the Penguins
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/13/11 at 07:40 PM ET
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As our fearless leader Paul Kukla mentioned in my previous blog, I need to start writing about the New York Rangers needing to win now in order to get the team going.
This afternoon at Madison Square Garden, the Blueshirts did just that in a 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins, snapping their six game winless strerak. The team was also able to get its power play as the team went three for five with the man advantage.
The game certainly did not start great for the Rangers as they found themselves 2-0 after the Penguins scored two goals on their first four shots. After Rangers’ head coach John Tortorella called a timeout, the team responded in a positive manner and exploded offensively.
The Blueshirts got goals from Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan (2), Vinny Prospal and Artem Anisimov with Callahan, Prospal and Anisimov all connecting on the power play. It just goes to show you what a good power play can do to a hockey team as this afternoon, it certainly raised the level of the Rangers.
Despite allowing three goals, the team also got a solid performance from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who made 26 saves on 29 shots. He did not get off to the start he wanted but he certainly finished the rest of the game strong and enabled his hockey club to pick up two big points in the Eastern Conference standings.
With the victory, the Rangers now have 64 points and jumped four points ahead of both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Atlanta Thrashers. With that said, however, the team has a tough week ahead and will have to do everything they can to pick up points in each of those games.
This week, the team will take on the Los Angeles Kings (Thursday night at Madison Square Garden), New Jersey Devils (friday night at the Prudential Center) and the Philadelphia Flyers (Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden). The Rangers cannot afford to take any of these teams lightly as the Kings are fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Devils are one of the hottest teams in the National Hockey League and the Flyers are the best team in the Eastern Conference.
For now though, we can say that the team is no longer on a winless streak and we can look forward to the upcoming games and the six points that go along with it.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: artem+anisimov,
atlanta+thrashers,
brian+boyle,
carolina+hurricanes,
henrik+lundqvist,
john+tortorella,
los+angeles+kings,
new+jersey+devils,
new+york+rangers,
philadelphia+flyers,
pittsburgh+penguins,
ryan+callahan,
vinny+prospal
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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.