The New York Rangers came into
tonight’s game the feeling around the team and the fans was very good
considering the team’s three game winning streak and yesterday’s trade for
talent young forward Wojtek Wolski, who made his debut this evening, but at the
end of the night some of that luster was taken away with a 2-1 loss to
Montreal. The team would play well for
long stretches, but they did not finish the second or begin the third with
enough energy and it would turn a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 loss. They did create numerous chances, but were
only able to cash in once. Check out the
full review of the team and Wolski’s review in Habs
Halt Rangers Winstreak On Pouliot Soft Goal.
From the game itself there was a
this
beautiful goal by Brandon Dubinsky which all Rangers fans will enjoy
watching. Also including Dubinsky there
was the latest in a series of borderline to dirty plays in the game by rookie Subban
in which he slewfooted Dubinsky and no call was made. Inside there is the video of the play so you can discuss if you believe it was or was not a slewfoot along
with a discussion of whether other people complaining about this talented
rookie and his growing reputation were right.
Beyond tonight’s game there was
plenty of discussion to be had today whether it was before the game with the
announcement that Torts was going to start
Wolski with Gaborik and Anisimov along with Torts speaking on the idea of
veteran D. The decision to start him
there did not surprise me and neither did Torts praising his young defense in
one moment and then talking about possibly bringing in a veteran presence. There were a few things that did surprise and
irk me and you can check those out in the full article.
The two main articles today
dealt with the trade for Wolski and whether there was another move to be made
on defense. In terms of the move for
Wolski I took a morning after look having stepped back from many people’s
elation at eliminating Rozsival to see what the Rangers were actually getting
in the talented 24-year-old winger.
There is no denying the talent and he has produced numbers at this level
in the past, but the question that will play over the next bit of time is
whether what the Rangers are getting is a situation where Wolski
puts it all together and helps a run or if they got a new guy for the
Tortorella doghouse. Tonight saw
some of both as the skill was undeniable but there were also moments where
Torts sat him shifts for punishment.
Either way it is going to be fun to watch.
As far as the defense situation
goes the debate over the last 30 some hours has been whether the Rangers are
comfortable going with the young
defensive core they have or they will trade for a more experienced presence
to add to it. In the article I look at
the pros and cons of what each move has, give my opinion on what they should do
and more importantly to many of you on what I think they will actually do. The reality is to be in a situation where you
can debate whether six reasonably young defenders, actually the league’s
youngest group (24.9 years old) are good enough to be the unit for a playoff
team means the Rangers are in good shape for the future.
Beyond those there was today’s
announcement of the All-star Rosters which will feature three Rangers Marc
Staal and Henrik Lundqvist in the game and Derek Stepan in the skills
competition. Inside I also discuss
my view that Brandon Dubinsky was snubbed from the team and some players who made
it over him were not deserving of the honor.
Finally there is a video of
sweet knockout where Glass
literally busts his knuckles knocking out Martin
