You guys knows me by now. You know Im more concerned with how the team plays than what the end result is. But this is the rare instance where I would have been quite upset if they didn’t pick up the 2 points. I think it all comes down to a team that needs a win, plain and simple. Sometimes you just gotta have those 2 points, particularly when you play a full 60 minute game, where I can’t really pick on a single player being a goat. So yeah, I’m ecstatic they picked up the win.

Uncle Daddy was strong, there is no denying it. It took a picture perfect corner shot off a gorgeous passing play to beat him. But Henrik was no slouch either. While he had to face a bit more than 1/2 as many shots as Uncle Daddy, almost all of his saves were of the extremely difficult variety. Give credit to Henrik, he proved his last few starts were flukes, nothing more.

I really liked what I saw from Scotty Gomez in this one. He had the afterburners on all night, and only made a few turnovers in one on 3/4 situations. He’s gotten better at either slowing down to let his teammates catch up, or taking the puck wide and around letting his teammates get into areas to sustain the pressure. That is probably the biggest difference I am noticing in his game. Its a subtle thing, but its the difference between 2 seconds of attack time followed by a rush against, or 35 seconds of attack time followed by a dump and change against. THAT is what I mean by playing defense by controlling the puck.

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In pretty much a carbon copy of the first period, both teams continue to play near flawless hockey, and when there are any breakdowns both goalies have been phenomenal….yes, even Uncle Daddy.

I believe (and I’ll double check during my post game thoughts) Henrik has never given up more than 2 goals to the Devils when Uncle Daddy was in the other net, it looks like that trend will continue tonight, as the Rangers are getting the goalkeeping that they have not received over the past 3 brutal games.

During the game you continue to hear John Giannone (who I am actually a big fan of, we generally think very much alike) mention how the Rangers are committing themselves to win games 2-1, etc. I don’t see this game like that, they are using their offensive skills to augment their defensive skills by controlling the puck in the offensive zone for long stretches of time. THAT is what Rangers hockey is all about. Control the puck, and play 5 men in the picture. So far in this one, they are executing it to a T.

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Now that, was a fun period. Some spirited play, both teams looked sharp, and neither team looked particularly better than the other, even though the Rangers have the decided shots on goal advantage (Devils had super high quality chances on just about every shot).

I really like the way we are playing, not just sitting back and being content at playing defensive hockey, but actually playing Sutter-style hockey where you use physical play and smart defensive hockey to transition into rapid fire attack hockey as well as sustained forecheck hockey.

Its the kind of style I’d love for us to play night in, night out.

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