Put other players in Avery's shooting position. I'd be willing to bet that Jagr misses the net, Gomez hits Conklin in the logo, and Rozsival passes it. But Sean Avery roofs it!! His offensive capabilities are truly unique. He always seems to score goals that come out of nowhere. He needs no set up, no odd man rush...just a chance to shoot, and he usually takes advantage.
Lets talk about goaltending. Henrik did not need to be spectacular that period but he is clearly on his game and exhibited some truly excellent rebound control specifically directing pucks into the corners...something Ty Conklin did not do on the Rangers second goal. Not to take anything away from Cally but putting a rebound in the middle like that is not something a playoff caliber goaltender should be doing. I'm not to secure about my goaltending situation if I'm the Penguins.
It wasn't Chris Drury who stepped up defensively that period, it was the entire Rangers team. Nigel Dawes and Scott Gomez were extraordinary in the defensive end. Girardi, Tyutin and Backman all had very nice diving stops on 2 on 1's. Malik saved a goal and credit Marc Staal for stepping in front of a Malkin bomb...looked like it hurt...a lot. I was a little bothered by the last 2 minutes which saw two separate odd man rushes for Pittsburgh. The Rangers need to reestablish their defensive presence in the second.
2 more things...1. I thought Nigel Dawes was hands down the best player on the ice that period. As mentioned he was superb defensively and made some great plays in the offensive zone. 2. Jagr needs to realize that he is still a feared player and should be able to make plays as he did on the first goal on a nightly basis.
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