Live Blog – Panthers @ Rangers
That’s right folks, the live blog is back! Let’s see if the Rangers can follow up a big win last night with another one tonight. With the Panthers struggling, tonight’s game is a very winnable one. But we’ve all seen how the Blueshirts tend to react in winnable games this season, so nothing’s a given.
Hossa in; Orr and Prucha out.
Anyway, let’s get the conversation going and keep it up throughout the game tonight. With the trade deadline just two days away, you have to wonder who is playing their last game on Broadway tonight…
7:17 p.m.: Very strong first 7 minutes for the Rangers. They’re doing a great job getting the puck in deep and applying pressure. Vokoun’s had a good start and so has Lundqvist for that matter. There haven’t been many shot’s against Lundy, but the one’s that have come his way have been good ones…
7:20 p.m.: That’s what happens when you get pucks to the net. A weird bounce off of a Florida defender pops right onto Gomez’s stick. Bing, bang, 1-0!
7:23 p.m.: Weird thing to review. That wraparound wasn’t even close…
7:31 p.m.: Hard work = Power Play. It’s nice to finally see the Rangers working like this night in night out…
7:35 p.m.: Hossa’s looked good so far. Here’s to hoping he can steal the spot away from Hollweg…
7:41 p.m.: You have to absoluetely LOVE this kid! He’s not exactly Muhammad Ali, but you’ve gotta love the effort. Hilarious how Avery tried to step in too…
7:47 p.m.: Great first period. The Rangers controlled play in the Florida zone for 3/4 of that period. Balter you’re 100% correct. For the few minutes where the Panthers got into the Rangers zone, they were kept to the outside. The Rangers need to keep it up and put a couple past Vokoun in the second. We’ve seen them dominate teams numerous times before and not put them away. They need to put this team away…
8:07 p.m.: And there it is, Marek Malik’s 55th of the season! He has now broken Jaromir Jagr’s single season goal record for the Rangers!! Okay, okay you caught me. That was actually #1 for the fan favorite. Some fans just booed when his name got announced…stupid. Great play by Hossa and the fourth line to keep the puck in…
8:09 p.m.: And there’s Jags! What a move by the captain. That’s 2 goals in 2 games. Is he heating up folks? This is exactly what I said the Rangers had to do. Start to pull away and don’t let the Panthers think they can win this one…
8:16 p.m.: Vokoun 2, Avery 0 on breakaways in the game. This line looks unstoppable…
8:22 p.m.: Jagr draws the penalty. How much looser does Jagr look now that he’s netted a couple? He’s a fragile guy, but when things start to go well, there are few others you’d want more on your squad…
8:26 p.m.: That’s a terrible call. Here comes the #5 PP in the league…
8:28 p.m.: Thatta boy Marek! How about the big guy protecting the king?!
8:31 p.m.: Great work there by Callahan. I don’t think he’s had one shift where he hasn’t worked his tail off since coming back up. That’s what is defining this Rangers team during this little run. They are putting in the work necessary to be successful…
8:36 p.m.: Another fantastic period by the Rangers. I don’t care who they’re playing, if they work like this the Rangers are tough to beat…
8:58 p.m.: Was that Hollweg in a fight? Was he actually doing his job?? Shocking…
9:00 p.m.: That’s how you know Lundqvist is on. When he’s at his best, he’s controlling rebounds and eating up pucks. He’s played well when tested tonight…
9:04 p.m.: And there’s another one. Don’t look now, but this offense is finally starting to show its face. Thats four out of the last five games with 4+ goals…
9:10 p.m.: Wow…just wow! This is an absolute clinic. Great to see Straks getting on the board. Maybe this can catalyze him now. Either way, it looks like Renney has finally found the right line combos. The Rangers have 3 waves of even lines coming at the opponent at all times…
9:11 p.m.: But uh oh…THE DREADED 5-0 LEAD!!
9:25 p.m.: So close for Hossa. Would’ve loved to see him get one. Great return to the lineup for #81…
9:28 p.m.: That was as close to perfection as possible. There were so many great performances that I don’t even know where to start. Malik was fantastic. Love him or hate him, you have to admit he’s been good since he’s been back in the lineup. Hossa looked great in his return. There’s no excuse for him not playing over Hollweg when Orr comes back. The King was back to normal. He controlled rebounds, seemed focused and got his 8th shutout of the season. Jagr was flying. All it takes is a couple of goals to get him going again. There’s plenty more, but you can sum it up by saying it was a great TEAM effort. They worked hard for 60 minutes and got rewarded for it. The Rangers are now 5-0-2 in their last seven and (excluding that 3rd period in Montreal) have been phenomenal as of late. If they keep this up there’s no reason to think they can’t come out of the East. With the trade deadline just two days away, I think it’s clear that the team doesn’t need any help offensively. They could use a physical defenseman who can run a power play, but outside of that I think they’ve finally found what works.
9:40 p.m.: Trautwig just asked Gomez if this team had turned the corner! Uh oh…
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26 Responses
trixsy February 24th at 7:20 pm
GOALLLLLLLL
balter16 February 24th at 7:29 pm
need to keep up the strong defensive zone play…a rare nice play from strudwick..lets keep it up
balter16 February 24th at 7:53 pm
not to take away from duby fighting but he is our first line center…and i think he needs to quiet down the fighting a little…love the intensity but now we dont have him for 5 min, which means the first line isnt the same for 5 min..any thoughts on that steve?
Steven February 24th at 7:56 pm
I can respect that point. I don’t mind it as much if he only gets the five, but he kept fighting when the linesmen tried to break it up which cost him an extra ten. The Rangers can’t be without their top line center for almost an entire period.
balter16 February 24th at 8:09 pm
great to hear the cheers for malik he deserves it as of late!!
Michael February 24th at 8:11 pm
Two goals in two games for Jagr since I mentioned on this site that I wished he’d break out of his goalscoring slump..
I’m on fire.
Looks like Jags has turned the..
Just kidding again!
trixsy February 24th at 8:11 pm
what a play, what a goal by jagr.
Steven February 24th at 8:12 pm
Easy there Michael. If something happens, Inferno might seek you out!
Brad February 24th at 8:13 pm
Skilled assist / skilled goal w/ Avery and Jagr there. I realize this is the Panthers but the Rangers look great tonight (other than Dubinsky learning how to fight)
Michael February 24th at 8:15 pm
I didn’t know we had George Parros on the team.
Oh wait, that’s Jason Strudwick!
Baumer February 24th at 8:20 pm
It’s goals like that that make me reconsider Jagr being done. When he’s skating hard, he can still be dominant. But he doesn’t skate hard often enough. How sad is it that we essentially put Dubinsky with Jagr to get Jagr going and not the other way around? Who’s the veteran?
Brendan S February 24th at 8:22 pm
Top line looks unbelieveable…
Brad February 24th at 8:29 pm
Who is wearing the Malik jersey? A goal and dumping that florida punk in the net?
Michael February 24th at 8:39 pm
What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is an extreme case of mistaken identities.
Jason Strudwick seems to believe that he’s either George Parros or Ron Jeremy with that moustache.
Marek Malik seems to think that he’s Dion Phaneuf, a big, left-handed shooting defenseman who can score and be physical.
Brandon Dubinsky seems to think that he’s the next Georges Laraque or Donald Brashear with as many times as he’s fought lately. Unfortunately, Duby isn’t even at the level of..yes, Ryan Hollweg.
That’s ok, we have a team who doesn’t know who they are. As long as we keep winning, I could care less.
Brendan S February 24th at 9:03 pm
I love seeing Jags springing Avery all night….
trixsy February 24th at 9:10 pm
what a game, i’m loving this.
Baumer February 24th at 9:11 pm
oh wow, i thought callahan was shooting that for sure, that was impressive
Larry February 24th at 9:16 pm
Great blog. It’s almost as if I can see the game!!!!!
trixsy February 24th at 9:20 pm
i hope the 5-0 lead wont turn into the 2-0 lead from last season….
Foster February 24th at 9:31 pm
Few things I thought about during the game
1. Good to see Henrik get the shutout. 20+ saves and not letting up a goal, even with a five goal lead probably helped whatever confidence was hurt Tuesday night.
2. Scott Gomez is having one hell of a year for this team. He’s been consistent all season, another three points tonight show how important he is to the Blueshirts.
3. Let’s hope Mr. Jagr continues to skate for the rest of the season how he did tonight.
4. Jason Strudwick has nothing on Keith Hernandez.
balter16 February 24th at 9:40 pm
dont know if anyone is watching but al trautwig said the dreaded turn around the ….
Foster February 24th at 9:41 pm
5. Trautwig is responsible for any unfortunate Ranger occurances in the next 2 weeks for his corner turning reference
balter16 February 24th at 9:55 pm
inferno do you know where Trautwig lives? you might need to take care of bussiness
Inferno February 24th at 11:10 pm
*note to self, get Trautwigs address off internet*
Great win for the Rangers. I was way more afraid about this game than the Sabres game. I am a happy camper.
francesco February 25th at 12:35 am
come on guys Jason Strudwick almost play a decent game. can you belive that. heheeh
Inferno February 25th at 4:16 am
yeah, i actually commented on it in my site. he was quite good today. (*keels over and dies*)