The Rangers came into Monday night’s game with a fresh three-game losing streak. The poor play culminated with the benching of Brandon Dubinsky and Christopher Higgins for the second half of the last game in Montreal. Clearly, John Tortorella was sending his team a message about their level of effort.
Getting back on track was no easy task with the Coyotes in town. Normally, that would be a joke but Phoenix had started 6-3-0 with Ilya Bryzgalov playing like the best goalie in the NHL. However, the Rangers ignored the visiting team’s hype and quickly put up the first goal of the game on an Artem Anisimov spin-o-rama. Gaborik added to the lead with a beautiful one-timer that was perfectly set up by Brandon Dubinsky. And just like that, the Rangers were cruising.
Initially, the second period was more of the same with Vaclav Prospal and Gaborik netting goals to make the score 4-0. That’s when the Rangers started to relax and the Coyotes scored two goals in the final five minutes of the second period. In the third period, the Rangers put the game away on an Enver Lisin goal.
The first line of Prospal, Gaborik, and Lisin is proving to be quite the combination. Gaborik’s two goals were both scored on quick-release snapshot lasers. The second goal came on a one-timer where Gaborik picked the upper right corner of the net with a perfect shot. While Gaborik is the gunner, Vaclav Prospal might be providing the Rangers with the most bang for their buck. Chris Drury continued his absolutely putrid play. Other than being invisible, he was -1 and picked up a penalty. The former first-line center is essentially a third line player now.
The soap opera on the Rangers’ blueline showed no signs of slowing down on Monday. Rookie Michael Del Zotto continued his scorching hot play with two assists. After getting an earful from John Tortorella, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal played poorly again. Girardi was -1 and Staal was -2 in a game that the Rangers won by three goals. The two defensemen were victimized at the end of the second period on a Coyotes short-handed goal. It’s not good when the team’s two best defensive defensemen are constantly out of position. Surprisingly, Michal Roszival had the most ice time while Matt Gilroy had the last amount of ice team for a defenseman.
Tags: artem anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, enver lisin, hockey, marian gaborik, michael del zotto, new york rangers, NHL, vaclav prospal
