Goal Line Report
Disappointing Shootout Loss to the Islanders
by Patrick Hoffman on 02/25/12 at 12:07 AM ET
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While it may not have been in regulation and while the team got a point, it was essentially another loss for the New York Rangers 4-3 in a shootout to the New York Islanders.
This was simply a game that the Rangers should always have. Yes, the Islanders always bring their best effort against the Rangers but in the grand scheme of things, the Blueshirts need to win these games against the lower seeded New York Islanders.
While Rangers’ netminder Martin Biron was not terrible, he certainly was not great. This is the third straight start in which Biron has allowed three goals or more and is the second straight start in which Biron failed to help get the team two points.
Obviously, there is no real reason to panic given that the team is currently atop both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
Looking at the positives, it was nice to see the Rangers’ power play go 2/5 for tonight. The team got power play goals from Marc Staal and Derek Stepan while Marian Gaboirk got the goal in between.
Secondly, it was also nice to see the Blueshirts battle back. The team was first down 2-0 and then 3-1 but managed to find a way to come back to at least pick-up a point.
Lastly, the team was not afraid throw pucks on the net. The Rangers took 36 shots but the Islanders were able to get a solid performance from goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, despite allowing two questionable goals.
The Blueshirts will not have time to stress about this loss as the team will be back in action tomorrow night on home ice to take on the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres are playing great hockey right now and are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games.
The Rangers need to get themselves back on track before this somewhat downward spiral continues to turn in a negative direction.
Filed in: | Goal Line Report | Permalink
Tags: buffalo+sabres,
derek+stepan,
evgeni+nabokov,
marc+staal,
marian+gaborik,
martin+biron,
new+york+islanders,
new+york+rangers
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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.