Goal Line Report
Top Spot in the Division and Conference
by Patrick Hoffman on 04/04/12 at 01:03 PM ET
Comments (1)
That is what the 2011-12 New York Rangers are in terms of the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference this season.
With their 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers last night, the Blueshirts clinched the top spot in both their division and conference for the first time since 1994. Yes, we all know what happened that year but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The Blueshirts jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period last night and never really looked back. Sure, they allowed the Flyers to score 3 goals and yes, Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist certainly had to come up big but for the most part, this game was won in the first period.
The team got solid performances from Marian Gaborik (1 goal and 1 assist), Ryan McDonagh (1 goal and 1 assist), Brad Richards (2 assists) and Lundqvist (37 saves on 40 shots). The other usual suspects such as Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, and Brian Boyle also put forth solid efforts in the clinching victory.
With that said, there are still two games left on the schedule and both will not be easy by any means. The Blueshirts take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night in Pittsburgh and then the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The team needs to continue to stay on track heading into the postseason and finishing out the regular season with three straight victories would certainly be the way to do it.
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Tags: brad+richards,
brian+boyle,
dan+girardi,
henrik+lundqvist,
marc+staal,
marian+gaborik,
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philadelphia+flyers,
pittsburgh+penguins,
ryan+callahan,
ryan+mcdonagh,
washington+capitals
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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.
Placing first in the conference doesn’t equal being champions of the conferences.
Posted by PP on 04/04/12 at 01:22 PM ET