Rangers Dominate, Win Fourth in a Row

Last night’s game can be summed up by one stat, 37-18. The Rangers took twice as many shots as the Ducks over the course of last night’s game, and that doesn’t include the myriad of posts and crossbars hit by our beloved Blueshirts. The game wasn’t all that fun to watch until the third period, as it seemed that both teams were just sluggish. The Rangers in particular looked half asleep, especially Marc Staal, who had an epic turnover that led to the Ducks’ best chance of the night in the second period.

The Rangers came alive in third. After Sean Avery drew a roughing minor on Ryan Whitney, Ales Kotalik converted on a chance that deflected off Scott Niedermayer to give the Rangers the lead. Artem Anisimov made it 2-0, converting a nice pass in the slot from Vinny Prospal. Avery got the secondary assist on that one for his first point of the year. Then, with Brandon Dubinsky in the box for a late double-minor, one which gave the Ducks a fighting chance, Dan Girardi launched one into the empty net for the third and final goal of the game. After that, it was just a matter of preserving the shutout for backup goalie Steve Valliquette.

The Ducks best chance came on the aforementioned Staal gaff, which was a turnover that reminded me of Marek Malik circa 2006 against the Sabres. Luckily, Valliquette was up to the task, and chants of “Vally! Vally!” reigned down from the Blue Seats. These chants came alive again at the end of the game, and when Vally came out for the first star of the game.

Vinny Prospal took about 15 minutes to celebrate his third star selection for the game. He took so long, in fact, that the PA announcer started calling the second star (Ales Kotalik), and had to stop because Prospal was still on the ice. I laughed.