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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Trust me, I was jumping around like a fool just like the rest of you. I too was doing a fist pump when Drury scored his, as usual, game winning goal. However, as the 3rd period went on I really started to get nervous. Not because I thought for even a moment that Florida would come back, but rather, because the Rangers were able to turn it on, at will, for 20 minutes, and pick up a win.

We saw it with another superpowered new york team just a few days ago. A team so powerful that they could just sleep through 8 innings, and turn it on in the 9th to win it….except they didn’t. Look, I’m not a met fan, and I dont want to blow this out of proportion, all I am saying is, just beware. The players need to recognize that it will take a consistent 60 minute effort and a consistent 60 minute display of “smart” hockey to beat the non floridas of the NHL. The Panthers are a decent team, but we should beat them, easily, so the fact that we struggled mightily for about 30 minutes during this game, and were only “in it” because of one Henrik Lundqvist, should be worrisome.

What shouldn’t be worrisome is the offensive ability of this team. They can score goals, and can do it from all over the ice. You saw a defenseman put in a puck, you saw the 3rd line with 2 HUGE goals, and you saw the Jagr line basically dominate every second they were on the ice in the 3rd. The 2nd line actually had a really good game as well, with Avery missing a glorious chance with a puck shot 3 feet wide. Avery should have netted that one, and Gomez should have had his first point as a Ranger.

Either way, it’s not about the individuals, it’s about the team, and as a team, in the 3rd, the Rangers played like Stanley Cup Champions. After the first 10 minutes of the first, and throughout the 2nd, they played like an ECHL team.

Let’s hope we see a more consistent effort throughout, and chalk those 30 minutes to growing pains of youth, and a lack of chemistry.

-Inferno

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As you probably know, I am a fairly big Yankees fan. With that said, when the Yanks are playing at the same time as the Rangers during this postseason, you won’t be getting any between-period thoughts from me. Instead I will be catching what little I can of the Yanks. With that said I will definitely finish my postgame wrap following the game (assuming both games are done).

Just thought I should fill you in.

-Inferno

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