Penn Plaza, NY – The Rangers are looking good, Tuesday nights game against Marty and the Devils aside. The Rangers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division (that name really hasn’t sunken in yet) with a 9-9 record. After their 2-6 start on the road, the Blueshirts have done well to get back to .500. They’ve won with speed and good goaltending. And the defensemen have been playing well pretty good defensively. The King seems to have gotten over whatever was wrong with him at the start of the season.
Mats “The Hobbit” Zuccarello has been great of late after having a very mediocre start to the season. Opposing goaltenders have seen plenty of the Norwegian with the Italian name in front of goal. He’s become quite the pest, but he’s also producing. He has 10 points in his last 10 games. At the beginning of the season I thought the Italwegian would be racking up mileage traveling between Hartford and MSG, but it looks like Mats is here to stay. Maybe the MtM staff can find a slot for a bi-weekly piece from Scandinavian Mats.
Carl Hagelin is up to speed after missing the start to the season recovering from shoulder surgery. He’s looked sharp and his pace has been a real boost to the Rangers. Captain Callahan is also back in the lineup after shoulder surgery and that broken thumb that kept him out for most of this season so far. Brad Richards has continued his Lazarus routine after being essentially dead last season. He’s actually skating now and he’s playing some good hockey. He’s not finding the net as much as he, or anyone would like though. Sometimes it looks like he’s trying not to score with some of his shots. But i can’t complain about Richards. He’s been very good. With Hagelin, Callahan, Richards, and Derek Stepan all playing well the team is almost complete.
Benoit Pouliot sucks, as Cheesy Bruin predicted he would. But he probably won’t be with the team much longer. Pouliot’s ice time has already been slashed by Alain Vigneault of late. It won’t be long before he finds himself consistently on the healthy scratch list or sent down for an extended stay with the Wolfpack. He’s been very inconsistent and he’ll probably fade into obscurity when Rick Nash gets back. It’s good to finally be getting some news about Nash. There was complete silence about Nash’s concussion for a few weeks, which made it seem like he might not be back until sometime after the Olympics. But Nash practiced with the Rangers on Wednesday and felt fine afterwards. Barring any setbacks, Nash will be back with the team in a week or two.
In goal, the King is back in his throne. He looked shaky at the start of the season but has settled in with some consistent performances in net. The team’s success this season will depend on a foundation of good netminding and the Blueshirts have that with Lundqvist and new deputy Cam Talbot. Talbot all but forced former backup Marty Biron’s retirement with his solid play in net. Marty had a good run as Hank’s backup, but so far the choice of Cam Talbot over Biron has been a good one.
The Rangers showed that they can beat good teams when they dismantled the Penguins last week. But they can’t seem to beat the Devils. The Broadway Blues will have to beat New Jersey and their other Metropolitan Division (still sounds weird) rivals going forward if they’re going to make a push into the playoffs.
Brooklyn Islanders fan, Junoir Blaber, tomorrow.
