Rangers find a way...
Rick DiPietro has been a Ranger killer this season. In their previous 3 meetings the Rangers fell to the New York Islanders and DiPietro afforded his cross town rivals only 4 goals throughout. The Rangers doubled that figure last night.
Jaromir Jagr has begun to rediscover his scoring touch, potting his second goal in as many games. He also added an assist on a sweet tic tac toe pass to Martin Straka who fed Brandon Dubinsky for the insurance score. Chris Drury also scored a goal and an assist in the Rangers 4-2 win over the Islanders. DiPietro made 27 saves in the loss.
The Rangers now have 30 points and are now tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for the Atlantic Division lead.
Quick Shave:
Is every Canadian team slumping right now or is it me? The Ottawa Senators, the Calgary Flames, the Toronto Maple Leafs.... what is going on? The Ottawa Senators lost their 5th straight last night in spectacular fashion to the Nashville Predators. The Sens overcame a two goal deficit late in the third period to tie the match 5-5, but got sloppy with less than half a minute to play and allowed Martin Erat to bury the game winner with 22 seconds to play. The Predators won 6-5. The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to take a little heat off of themselves and their highly scrutinized GM John Ferguson (out West currently enjoying the GM meetings) by defeating the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2. The Leafs can be thankful that their win will obviously shift the Canadian media towards their Ottawa neighbors for at least a day.
Your friend on ice,
Captain Bosh
Comments
Did you guys see that Panther's goalie (it wasn't Vokuun, I don't think) get hit with a Chara shot in what can only be described as the face? That's got to be one of those moments where your life flashes before your eyes, ay?
Also, is it just me or is the Central Division doing really well so far? They're all over .500 so far, and the worst team, the Blue Jackets, have 26 points, which would make them no worse than 4th in most divisions, and (get this) second in the Southeast.
But I'm constantly amazed at the Blackhawks and the Blues. Especially Chicago--they've done beat Detroit 4 times this year, I think. They've beat the Wings 4 times. FOUR! Literaly 2/3 (66%) of the Wings losses are at the hands of the Blackhawks.
Other interesting news...The sale of the preds has been approved.
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=344955&page=NewsPage&service=page
And, They (finally) realized how awful the scheduling is right now and how every team SHOULD play every other team.
http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=344955&page=NewsPage&service=page
Posted by: jeff | November 30, 2007 08:33 AM
The kids in Chicago are terrific! Toews and Kane are getting it done.... Calder trophy winner and runnerup on the same club.
Posted by: Cap | November 30, 2007 12:06 PM
Agreed - the Blackhawks are this year's Penguins. Kane is so impressive. He's small, not terribly flashy, but just continues to produce night in and night out. Not bad for a teenager! The central is easily the most improved division this year. Anybody else surprised that Nashville's been able to remain as competitive as they are?
As for Jagr all I can say is it's about time. My number one fantasy pick has been sleeping on me all year. Maybe he just need to get Straka back...
Posted by: Stache | November 30, 2007 01:31 PM
I'm not surprised they're doing well, but I'm surprised they overcame the start to their season.
I thought they'd be decent this year, but after the first couple games I figured they were horrible--guess I've got to change my mind again.
Posted by: jeff | November 30, 2007 02:49 PM