Well, a full 60 minute effort was displayed by the Rangers, and surprise surprise, they won.? Which, by the way, was the exact result of the only other full 60 minute efforts I can remember this team playing (against the Sharks, and against the Devils).? There is a lot to be happy about in this one, as the Rangers have not gotten 9 out of a possible 10 points in their last 5 games coming against teams who have a combined 121 points (~24 points each), and have now improved to a sparkling 7-2-0 on the road this year.? I think we can now safely say there are 2 significant trends that we can point to.?

1)The Rangers play to the level of their opponent.? When they play teams with more losses than wins,IE? the Flyers,? Panthers, Coyotes, and Kings their record is a measley 3-3, however when they play against teams with winning records, IE the Caps, Pens, Sabres, Leafs,? Devils, Predators, Ducks, Sharks, and Thrashers they are now 6-3-1, and more importantly 4-0-1 in their past 5 games against such teams.

2)When Renney is allowed the final change, he overthinks things and causes his team to overplay their top lines.? This is, I believe, an important fact about how the Rangers have played so well on the road, and so poorly at home.? When hes on the road, Renney more or less just runs all 4 lines out there, but when he is at home, he can put jagr on just about any time, and it is costing his team.? Obviously another reason they play so damn well on the road is because so far, their road teams have been elite level teams.

Colton Orr can play. Period, end of story.? The kid can, and should play regular 4th line minutes.? Ive been screaming about it for over a year now, and I think Renney has finally found my blog (he cant be happy about all my fire Renney remarks aye?).? Colton Orr brings a level of intimidation, and physicality this team really needs, particularly with Kaspar being a complete and utter bust so far this year.? Also the kid has enough smarts to not be a detriment when he is on the ice, and knows when to be agressive, and when to back off, when to fight, and when not to fight.? I dont think he gets nearly enough credit for his smarts, and I think that is what is going to make him an everyday 4th liner.? Good teams have enforcers who can play regular 4th line minutes, at least I feel so.?

Not much else to say about this one.

Rangers 3 Stars Of The Game:

1)Kari Lehtonen.? Lets be serious here folks, Lehtonen was AWFUL out there, directly responsible for 2 goals , and was shaky on just about every shot.
2)Jaromir Jagr.? Was dominant from the opening tip.? Controlled the play, and found the open men.
3)Michael Nylander.? The most opportunisitic 2 goals I have ever seen scored.

-Inferno

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I’ll give the Rangers one thing, they are keeping it entertaining.? Really in a game where the best player for the Rangers has been Kari Lehtonen, the Rangers have been pretty sharp.? The one exception really being Hollwegs penalty, followed by a hook on Hall.? Those 2 penalties really hurt, and had it not been for that I think the Rangers would still be up 4-1, but as it stands now it is 4-2.? The Rangers blew a 2 goal lead against the Sabres 2 games ago only to lose in OT.? Proof positive that no lead is safe, particularly against high powered offensive teams.? Henrik Lundqvist is playing about the deepest in net I have ever seen, its like the guy has lost all confidence in his defenseman to keep guys out of his crease, protect the slam dunk, etc.? Its a shame because its costing him some big juicy rebounds.?

My God does Ilya Kovalchuk have a shot or what.? Thats gotta be the hardest 1-timer ive seen all year, which is saying something considering I watch every single Shanahan game.

Rangers are putting a lot of pressure on the Thrashers defenders to make the right breakout play, three times it has cost the Thrashers a goal.

-Inferno

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Its hard not to come to this conclusion: The Rangers play to the enemy level.? If they play a good team, they play great, if they play a poor team they play HORRIBLE.? How else can you explain the Rangers 3-1 lead after the first against a VERY good Atlanta team.? Seriously, think about it, with the exception of the games against the Predators and Sabres (first game) the Rangers have picked up at least 1 point, usually the win, against the following teams (all with winning records)Devils, Leafs, Ducks, Sharks, Sabres, and now are leading the Thrashers.? Conversely they have lost to some bottom feeders in the Flyers and Kings.?

Getting back to the game at hand, you have to be pretty happy with the game, except for a shaky looking Lundqvist.? The Thrashers lone goal came when 5 men (3 Rangers, 2 Thrashers) were all screening Henrik on the shot.? Hard to blame him as it was obvious he just didnt see it.? The amazing thing is how the puck missed all those guys in front and went straight in.? Otherwise the Rangers took advantage of a shaky Lehtonen with 3 goals, all looked 5-hole to me (the Thrashers feed that I get didnt really show many quality replays).

-Inferno

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