The Rangers, staring a 1-4 start squarely in it's unyielding face, found their gumption in the third period, and then Henrik Lundqvist remembered he's one of the best goaltenders in the world in the shootout as the Rangers outlasted a beat up but feisty Carolina Hurricanes squad by a 2-1 margin.
A scoreless first period in which neither team played very well led to the second period which again looked like neither team would grab a lead. Oh, but these are the 2014-2015 New York Rangers, who do not make anything easy on themselves. They fell behind 1-0 at 16:53 when Chris Terry (WHO?) ricocheted one past Henrik Lundqvist off of assists from Ryan Murphy (WHO?) and Tim Gleason (I've heard of him). So the Hurricanes, playing without Jeff Skinner, Eric Staal, and Jordan Staal took a 1-0 lead into the locker room after two periods.
Apparently, assistant coach Scott Arniel told the TV broadcast team that the Rangers would be fine, that they were playing well, and they just needed a break. Well, at 9:40 of the 3rd, they got one. A Dan Girardi shot from the right point skittered through Mats Zuccarello and deflected off of the stick of Derick Brassard and past an up to that point impenetrable Anton Khudobin to forge a 1-1 tie. Girardi and Zuccarello each notched their first assists of the season on the play, and the score held through the end of regulation.
The new overtime rules, where the ice is dry scraped before the Overtime period and where the teams change ends didn't matter as neither team scored in the exttra frame, so we headed to the shootout, where the Rangers elected to shoot first. Mats Zuccarello, who scores in these things more often than not, led off, coming down the right side, slowing to a crawl - and rifling one into the chest of Khudobin. No soup for you, The Hurricanes started with Alexander Semin, who may have one of the deadliest wrist shots in the game, but is a far cry from the player he used to be in Washington. Leaving the wrist shot in the arsenal, he attempted a backhand deke that Lundqvist snuffed out rather easily. Round 2 brought out Lee Stempniak for the Rangers, who has been surprisingly very very good so far - however not good enough to beat Khudobin. The Hurricanes countered with Chris Terry (WHO?) again, who apparently in his career was 3 for 3 in shootouts. He's now 3 for 4. Lundqvist stopped him as well, leading to Round 3 appearance of the Rangers best player without a doubt so far this season. Rick Nash steamrolled in from the right side, came across the crease, and slipped one past Khudobin to give the Rangers the 1-0 advantage in the shootout. It all came down to the matchup all the paying customers came to see - if they were named Murphy. Ryan Murphy (WHO?) came in and looking like every beer league player I've seen, snapped a wrist shot from the face off dots that Lundqvist turned aside, giving the Rangers the two points in the standings and a 2-1 victory.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Rick Nash. Again, the best player on the ice the entire game. Lost his four game scoring streak, but buried his shootout attempt.
PLUS - Henrik Lundqvist. The only shot that beat him all night was a deflection. Big saves when needed, and a perfect shootout.
PLUS - Derick Brassard. Pretty tip-in for the tying goal, giving him a 3 game goal streak.
PLUS - Matt Hunwick. For NOT being Michael Kostka.
PLUS - Anton Khudobin. The Hurricane goaltender was every bit as impressive as Lundqvist. If Cam Ward even remotely thinks he should still be the starter in Carolina, they need to trade him for a bag of practice pucks.
MINUS - The Power(less) Play. It is now 0-16 on the season. Decline the penalty and replay the down next time, boys.
MINUS - Jay Harrison of Carolina can't throw a check without bringing his arm up to the chin and face. How he never gets called is beyond me.
The Rangers take the ice again Sunday at home against the San Jose Sharks. Puck drop for the Sunday Matinee is 5:00 PM, so you can watch the game AND the Walking Dead!
Look for a (P)Review early Sunday. I apologize for no (P)Review of this one, but I do what I can when I can, and it just didn't happen.
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