New York Rangers vs. The Anaheim Ducks
by Robert Holt
Last night, at a sold out Madison Square Garden Arena, the New York Rangers squared off with the visiting Anaheim Ducks in the final game before the all-star break. The Rangers relied heavily on their specials teams to overcome the relentless attack and forecheck of the Ducks. Cashing in on two of their nine power-play chances, while adding two short-handed goals was the key for the Rangers 4-2 win Tuesday.
Markus Naslund gave the Rangers the lead at 12:46 of the first period after a flurry of shots, which were all turned aside by Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller, the puck then squirted out towards the slot, while an awaiting Naslund slapped the puck between Hiller's legs. A minute later, the Ducks on a power-play of their own,tied the score on a rebound goal by Bobby Ryan. Henrik Lundqvist stopped the previous three shots until Ryan scored his 14th of the season.
The second period started off quickly when the Rangers took a "too many men on the ice" penalty after Chris Drury jumped off the bench too hastily. Lundqvist, who has won 4 of his last 5 games, stifled the Ducks on numerous scoring chances. Michal Rozsival then made a great defense play in his own zone to spring Fredrik Sjostrom on a short-handed rush into the Duck's zone. Sjostrom then placed a beautiful shot into the upper right hand corner of the net, beating Hiller, to once again give the Rangers the lead.
The Rangers proceeded to get chance after chance while being stopped by Hiller. The Ducks then took three straight penalties, however the Rangers were unable to capitalize. Seemingly rejuvenated by the penalty kill, the Ducks took control of the final minutes of the second period. Corey Potter made a beautiful move to get passed the Rangers defense and slid the puck between Lundqvist's legs to tie the game.
The entire third belonged to Blair Betts and the New York Rangers. A major reason why the Rangers are 2nd in the NHL in penalty kill is largely due to the stellar play by Betts. As stated before, this was a game of special teams and the third period was no acceptation. Scott Gomez put the Rangers up for good with his power-play goal and ninth of the season. He recieved an excellent pass from Naslund across the goal mouth and put the puck over a sprawled out Hiller.
Finally, with thirty seconds left in the game, Betts got rewarded for all his hard work. He notched his fifth goal of the season while killing off a Dan Girardi delay of game penalty in the final minute of the game.
This was a huge win for the Rangers who wanted to head into the All-Star game on hot streak and gained valuable points in the very competitive Atlantic Division. The Rangers ended the first half of the season leading the Division and third in the Eastern Conference.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32-34 shots and earned his 24th win. The Rangers are 28-16-4. The Ducks are 23-21-5. The Rangers will continue play on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Kyle L.