Bruins at Rangers - Post Game

There were a lot of things about this game not to like. The Rangers had almost every factor in their favor coming in...well rested, full lineup, home, momentum. All things considered the Rangers should have been able to put the puck in the net. Despite not finding the net all afternoon the Rangers pulled out a win making for an exciting Sunday afternoon at the Garden.

As I said at the end of the 3rd period, you can't be to upset about the Bruins getting a point. The Rangers have points now in 12 straight games (9-0-3) and with Buffalo falling off a bit, I wouldn't be all that concerned with jeopardizing a playoff spot. As a fan you have to be happy with the Rangers playoff positioning right now having just gotten the jump on the all important 6 seed (6 seed gets to play whatever team squeaks out of the Southeast division). 

Rangers 3 Stars Of The Game:

1. Henrik Lundqvist: A shutout all the way around for Henrik today. Today's game gives him 2 well played games in a row and will hopefully go a long way towards him regaining any lost confidence. I imagine Henry will get the start in another important game tomorrow in Buffalo and 1 of the starts on the Florida trip, with Vally getting the other.  Good to see the King get back to form.

2. Nigel Dawes: Where was this guy in shootouts earlier in the season. Goals on 3 straight attempts is a nice boost for a team inexplicably void of players that can come through in the shootout. Outside of his game winning shootout goal Nigel played another great game making smart plays and once again displaying his deceptively sneaky shot.  

3. It would be cliche to give this star to all 6 D-men so I'll go with Michael Roszival logging a team high 25+ minutes of ice time. Rozy has done a great job of readjusting to his defensive partner Malik despite being flipped back and forth between partners all season. 

Something I definitely want to see, especially in the next couple games against weaker Florida and Tampa Bay teams is more ice time for Freddy Sjostrom. He logged 9 minutes tonight, not nearly enough to show how he can impact a game. Tom Renney needs to figure out what he can get out of this guy in a high-pressure playoff situation...why not give him 15-20 min one game on this road trip?

Solid defensive effort today...always nice to pull out the win.