Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Few Thoughts from Rangers 3-2 Win over Capitals...

Just a few thoughts from tonights 3-2 win over the Capitals...

First of all, Marian Gaborik is that good! The Slovak really has shown his stuff these past two games. Tonight's two goal, one assist effort was truly exciting to watch and even more exciting to hope for this season. I know this has been harped on numerous times, but barring any injuries, we have a 50 goal scorer on our hands...

Chris Drury seemed to be invisible this game. Apart from that penalty kill where he stole the puck from Ovechkin, sprinted for a breakaway and drew a penalty, I didn't notice much from him tonight. He is either doing all the little things that don't get notice, or he is just not the same Drury from a few years ago that we desperately need this year. I was hoping for a turnaround year for Drury this year, but it just doesnt look like he has any spark in his step. I hope i'm wrong...

Did anyone else wonder what was with the Third Star selection at the conclusion of the game...Wade Redden??? Just in case I missed some of his stats, I checked the box score and saw 0 goals, 0 assists, 1 shot and a +2 rating. The only thing impressive on his stats for the night was his ice time, 23:50, the most out of both squads (yes, even more than #8). Is that enough to claim 3rd Star selection? I guess so. What about Chris Higgins and his 2 point night, assisting on Gaborik's second goal and netting the game winning goal with just over a minute to go in the game? Either i'm not familiar with the criteria for 3 Stars and ice time precedes game winning goals, or something else was going on. Maybe there was some sympathy for Redden and his not so favorable popularity with the fans, that there was an effort to use the excitement from the win to trick the fans into not booing Redden. If so, it partially worked..I heard some boos from the crowd, but definitely less than usual.  Who knows...    

1 comment:

  1. Also convenient that Redden didn't get a -1 for that play that led to Alfie's goal. He was the genius who decided to go for a line change when Ottawa got the puck & was heading out of the zone on the attack. But, in saying that he’s been much better through two games than he was the entire year last season

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