Articles: January 14th
“It’s hard to tell which comes quicker these days: the rate at which the Rangers give up goals, or the rate at which the Islanders lose starting goaltenders.
With Henrik Lundqvist standing on his head for much of the evening, the Rangers won another low-scoring affair Tuesday night, this time a 2-1 victory at the Coliseum over an Islander team so injury-ravaged it was looking for coaches who can lace up skates and may well hold open tryouts by the end of a lost season.”
“The margin of error was so small for the Rangers on Tuesday night that had they blinked, it could have disappeared.
It did not matter that the opponent was the hapless Islanders, on their way to a fifth straight defeat with a lineup filled with youngsters. The Rangers still had to fight for every inch. They took a 2-1 lead in the second period and were forced to cling to it with all their might. Their goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, was still turning away shots to the final buzzer.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, start your coffee makers. The Rangers now know exactly how they need to play to be a factor down the stretch this season, and let’s just say it’s not by blowing the opposition out of the arena.”
“Luck moves in mysterious ways. The Rangers are on a little roll. Meanwhile, good fortune almost never finds the Islanders.”
“They came hard, they always do against us, especially at home. We started off really well, and they took over for 10 or 12 minutes, when we didn’t win enough battles,” said Lundqvist, who made 18 of his 33 saves in the first period. “Tonight we had that little extra luck we needed. They hit the post, we got a couple bounces in the end, but we’ve also been on the other side for a couple weeks. If you keep working hard, sometimes you earn that luck.”
“Nothing about last night’s victory should reduce anyone’s anxiety about the Rangers’ prospects for a successful spring tour, even as they bounced back into the Atlantic lead by a point over the Flyers. For if the Blueshirts have appeared anxious on the bench, they were uptight on the ice all night against a club that’s 2-15-2 in its last 19 and may finish with the NHL’s worst record since the lockout.”
“What’s left of Rick DiPietro‘s season rests on a balky knee that hasn’t responded well to surgery more than two months ago to repair meniscus damage, and the Islanders must consider the possibility of shutting him down after only five starts this season. A decision is believed to be imminent.”
The Record: Game Notes
“Henrik Lundqvist, who came into the game with shutouts in two of his last three starts, credited some recent one-on-one work with goalie coach Benoit Allaire for getting him back to his usual level of performance.”
