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AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

Ondrej Pavelec and Phillippe Grubauer were the stars of the show last night in the Battle of the Backups. They made a combined 67 saves –30 for Pavelec– as both went 65 minutes without allowing a goal. The Rangers eventually won in the shootout after two rounds, as Pavelec also stopped both of his shootout attempts.

I laughed when Mike Milbury made a comment about how both teams were starting their backup goalies. He is truly the worst announcer I’ve ever listened to. He was really riding that too, even in the third period. But we know better. These goalies were great, and it was Pav who came out on top.

Since there were no goals to breakdown, let’s go through some thoughts.

  • Rick Nash is a beast. He’s been doing this all year, but last night was something else. I honestly thought he was going to score in the third when he went in 1-on-2 and was able to get the shot off. If he scored, I would’ve hit the ceiling.
  • How about that Benoit Allaire? He really can work magic with anyone. This year his project was Ondrej Pavelec. Pavelec turned in another magnificent performance in the shutout. He’s proving he can spell Henrik Lundqvist for more than 10% of the games.
  • Mats Zuccarello’s move on the shootout was special. He’s just so good at this hockey thing.
  • Mika Zibanejad on the shootout – what a shot. I love this trade everyday we get to was ZBad play.
  • The Chris Kreider injury looms large. The Rangers are already down a steady forward. Losing a second will be tough to manage. I know people will want Vinny Lettieri to be called up (Filip Chytil is at the World Juniors), but my money would be on Peter Holland.
  • I still really hate Pavel Buchnevich on the fourth line. I don’t care how fun the final 25 minutes of the game were.
  • That brings me to a good point. The last 25 minutes were a lot of fun. That first 40? Woof. Although the opening to the second was fun, if maddening that they couldn’t score.
  • I laughed when Milbury said the Rangers need more out of David Desharnais. They are getting more than they had ever hoped from him. Anything more at this point is just gravy.
  • I really hate the shootout. Continuous OT!
  • This was a pretty even game in terms of possession. Big step in the right direction for the Rangers. There was more stepping up at the blue line, preventing zone entries. There was more passing the puck out of the zone instead of flipping the puck out. Just overall better process. Let’s see if they can continue that.

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