This win felt good. The New York Rangers played two poor games and were outplayed by both the Montreal Canadiens and the Florida Panthers coming into today’s game against the Washington Capitals. They came in today, weathered the first period storm, and then dominated the Caps en route to a 6-3 victory. This game was a complete effort by every Ranger that dressed tonight. Let’s get to those bullet points:

Offense

  • It was very, very clear that the Rangers matched up very well against the Caps. Washington may be more skilled than Florida and Montreal, but they are slower, which really helps the Rangers out. The slump they are in helped too. The Rangers prey on slow teams in a slump.
  • The Rangers offense was alive and kicking this game. They forechecked, they capitalized on chances, they forced turnovers, they took shots, and they maintained pressure. In short, they did everything that an offense needs to do to win games. Keeping the puck deep in the Caps zone directly led to three goals (both Ruslan Fedotenko goals and the Brian Boyle goal).
  • The Marian Gaborik goal, set up by Derek Stepan, was a thing of beauty. Stepan took advantage of a bouncing puck, beat John Carlson to the puck, saucered a pass over to Gaborik, who took a perfect shot to the top corner to beat Michal Neuvirth.
  • The Brad Richards goal was a goal that you could see developing a good five seconds beforehand. Roman Hamrlik’s legs were in a position that a pass could be fed through them, and Richards was behind the defense. Perfect execution.
  • Good to see Boyle, Fedotenko, and Artem Anisimov put some pucks in the net. They had been struggling to get goals, and today they really shined. Anisimov has been great this year, even if it doesn’t show on the scoreboard. Hopefully he can continue scoring.
  • Fedotenko should be taking Cally out to dinner tonight. He’s the reason why Feds scored both his goals. Simply put, Cally might have been the best Ranger skater this game, and he didn’t even score. That shows how much he means to this team.
  • Worth noting that Sean Avery and Brandon Prust played less than eight minutes this game. This was expected for Avery, but it looked like Prust was hurting in the second period. “It’s only pain” returned in the third, but it’s worth noting.
  • Congrats to Carl Hagelin on his first NHL point. He looked good this game. Still needs some work, but his work ethic is there and he has great speed. Great job along the boards to get the puck to John Mitchell for the Brian Boyle goal.
Defense/Goaltending
  • Henrik Lundqvist. Period. The Alex Ovechkin goal was a rocket and not a softie by any means, and Hank kept this team in the game early while the Rangers were busy weathering the storm. I found it funny when Caps fans serenaded him with “Lundqvist” chants, because if they had him they’d have won multiple Stanley Cups by now.
  • Dan Girardi had one rough game. He got used as a screen for the Ovechkin goal, he got caught out of position on the Troy Brouwer goal, and he made a few really bad passes. It happens, even Iron Man has an off night.
  • Michael Del Zotto is still young, and he is clearly making some young kid mistakes. He should have shot in the first period when he tried to get too fancy on the 3-on-1 (passed to Fedotenko instead), and he has made some really boneheaded passes. However, the fact that John Tortorella trusts him on the penalty kill should speak volumes.
  • Jeff Woywitka played less than eight minutes today. What is the point of him dressing if he’s going to play that little. Sad part is that he played better than Steve Eminger, who was a pylon all day. Marc Staal can’t come back soon enough.
Caps Play
  • The Caps played a very physical game in both the first and the second periods. They almost took control of the game when they made it 3-2 on Carlson’s goal, but they couldn’t cash in on other attempts.
  • Of course, it looks like every single Caps player quit –save for Ovechkin– on Bruce Boudreau this game. Boudreau doesn’t have control of that locker room anymore, and the Caps are currently in a 4-8-1 slide. A change may be in order.
  • Michal Neuvirth really has been hampered by his ankle injuries in the past. It’s tough to watch, but he flinches every time he puts weight on it.
The next two games (Philadelphia tomorrow, Pittsburgh Tuesday) are key games for the Rangers. Two wins show they belong with the big boys. Two losses show they are pretenders riding a hot streak.

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