Ok, so we lost. You know what? I really don’t care. Well, thats not true, I care, but what I am looking for in the early going are signs of chemistry. And really, we didn’t show much. We played the defending Eastern Conference Champs, who put on an absolute clinic on how to play the trap, and only gave up 2 goals, neither of which I consider “legit” goals. To be shutout looks bad, but I think we saw a lot of positives in this game.

The 1 thing that bothered me in this game, is the sheer amount of times the Rangers tried to break through the trap by going 1 on 4 or 1 on 3, rather than using their teammates or dumping and chasing. Other than that, I really don’t have that many complaints. The 2 goals against were definitely a product of a lack of chemistry, and some questionable work ethic by the first power play unit (i highly doubt that will be a prevailing factor here on out). Oh yeah, Jason Strudwick SUCKS, and should never suit up for the Rangers ever again.

The positives I have already discussed, but in case you missed my in-game entries, I’ll repeat em. Henrik Lundqvist was flat out dominating. The term “scary good” seems, at this point, a ridiculous understatement. Without Henrik, we probably are talking about how Heatley had a 5 goal game. Instead, he was held off the goal sheet. Great goaltending wins big games, and we’ve got one of the best goalies in the league. And the pairing of Girardi and Tyutin were great out there. Really strong away from the puck, assertive with their bodies, and gave the opposition nothing. When they made a poor play, or got beat, the other defenseman immediately picked up the other. They looked really mature and smart out there, and you all know how much I preach playing smart hockey.

Let’s face it folks, three of the worst players on the ice for the Rangers today were Drury, Gomez, and Straka. What are the odds that will happen a whole lot this year?

Dont freak out, we’ll be fine.

UPDATE
As you can probably tell….assuming you’ve been here before, I got bored with the layout and changed things up. Hope you guys like it.

-Inferno

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I’m going to try my best to curtail my pessimism for later in the season. As of right now im just looking for certain things with the way the players are playing that show hints of what might be. Right now there are only 2 good things to take from this game.

1)Fedor Tyutin and Daniel Girardi are clearly the #1 pairing. They were good last year, but my goodness they have been flat out spectacular so far this year.

2)Henrik Lundqvist is the man. In case you werent sure, there you have it. He is the man. He may have had a terrible preseason, but so far this year hes been great. Really great. Really really great. So great that we should be 0-2 with a GAA of roughly 14.

Also, Alfie-Spezza-Heatley, are scary good.

Don’t attach the hose to the tailpipe just yet folks, it’s only game 2. Look for the positives. Though Tom Renney’s decision to play Strudwick, who has been disgustingly bad out there, still leaves me scratching my head.

-Inferno

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If you read my preseason predictions, I picked the Senators to win the presidents trophy. Nothing has changed. They still look like an amazing team, and definitely one who has long established the chemistry and on ice coordination to dismantle teams. The Rangers on the other hand look all kinds of out of synch. They looked flat out terrible during their power plays, and hideous in their own zone coverage.

Jason Strudwick may be the nicest guy on the planet, but he is NOT an NHL caliber defenseman. What is Staal supposed to learn about from Strudwick? How to commit to a guy who is already taken (by Staal) and leave a guy wide open in front of the net? Strudwick, despite kicking the crap out of a better fighter in Neil, should have have played in this game.

This is why I really get mad at Tom Renneys judgement at times. If you want to bench Mara, fine, but put in Pock, a kid who can skate, and play the game at least as good as Strudwick, but with more mobility. Putting in Jason just makes no sense at all to me. He has looked simply brutal out there.

I think the hit on Avery looked pretty clean, but it was to the head. You all know I HATE hits to the head, clean or not.

-Inferno

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