Ryan McDonagh’s Roller Coaster Game Wins It In Overtime

The Rangers won their second straight game on their Canada road trip, topping Calgary in overtime 3-2 on a Ryan McDonagh goal with less than a second remaining. McDonagh won it, but it was Henrik Lundqvist who stopped a Calgary onslaught in the third period to keep the game tied. Let’s get to those bullet points.

• Lundqvist had his second straight ridiculous game. Sure, he didn’t get a shutout, but he made some great saves and kept the Rangers in it. There were a lot of defensive breakdowns in the third period, and Hank made a lot of difficult saves to keep the game tied.
• As good as McDonagh was against Vancouver was as inconsistent as he was tonight. He looked shaky early, then made a fantastic saucer pass to Marian Gaborik for a semi-breakaway, then followed that up with a bad delay of game penalty. It all ended with his overtime winner. It reminded me of the stock market.
• So Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan may be pressing a bit, trying to live up to their contracts, and it showed. They had horrendous starts to the game, but got better as it went along. It was Dubinsky who kept control of the puck that eventually led to the OT winner. I’d rather have a slow start than a slow finish.
• As inconsistent as McDonagh was tonight was as inconsistent as the officiating was tonight. The refs made the right calls in the interference penalties on Cory Sarich and Dan Girardi, but were wildly inconsistent in calling Gaborik for a hooking call, then not calling the same infraction on Mark Giordano while Gaborik was on his breakaway.
• Michael Del Zotto didn’t look all that good this game. He was strong in the other three games though, so take the good with the bad.
• The Rangers penalty kill has been incredibly aggressive this year, and it reminds me of the mid-90’s kills when teams attacked the puck. Too many teams passively sit in their box. This aggressive kill led to another short handed goal.
• Speaking of that shorty, how about the forecheck by Brian Boyle to get the puck away from Jay Bouwmeester, and then the feed to Brandon Prust, who buried it? That was beautiful.
• This game, as expected, was incredibly physical. Both teams are built relatively similarly, and it showed. It was interesting to see Jarome Iginla try to pick a fight with Callahan though. I don’t see Cally dropping the gloves like that unless it’s the Stanley Cup Finals (a la Iggy/Vincent Lecavalier in 2004).
• Kris Newbury made his presence known after a relatively quiet season debut. When Cory Sarich dropped Brad Richards from behind (which should have been a penalty), Newbury immediately went over and dropped the gloves with Sarich. He got the instigator, but that was a penalty worth taking. Great job sticking up for your teammates slim. It did cost him 17 minutes of penalty time, which led to far less ice time than the rest of the group.
• Tim Erixon getting booed by the home crowd was a little ridiculous. He never played with the Flames. Get over it.
• How about that first powerplay goal of the year by the Rangers? It started with Gaborik keeping the zone, getting the puck across the blue line to Richards, who got it down low to Derek Stepan. Stepan fed the puck to a cutting Gaborik in the high slot who one timed it past Karlsson. Great goal, with great passing.
• Marian Gaborik looks like a different player this year. He was all over the place. When he didn’t get the hooking call on the breakaway, he fought for the puck, and then went right back to the front of the net, something he didn’t do last year. He looks completely different, and it’s fantastic to watch.
• Steve Eminger had a great game. His partner Jeff Woywitka, not so much. You can’t take a delay of game penalty when the game is tied in the third period.
• The Rangers got crushed in the face off circle tonight. They had been stellar in the first four games. Regression to the mean is evil.