NEW YORK - The last bunch of games for the Rangers have been win one, lose one and while that’s not classified as a slump, it’s just a bump in the road in a long season which has seen some of the top players not scoring as much as they had been earlier in the season.  

There are stretches in a long 82-game season where teams will have scoring slumps and lose a few here and there and the Rangers are no different than anyone else this season. 

 

Henrik Lyndqvist - Photo by Lewis Bleiman

They are still one of the best teams in the league despite the fact that their power play has been nothing short of abysmal most of the time, looking like they are in slow motion and are never sure when to shoot the puck.  If they cannot get their power play fixed, it could come back to hurt them at playoff time when special teams can be a huge factor in winning or losing a series. 

On the flip side, their penalty kill has been near the top of the league and it hasn’t hurt that they have probably the best goalie tandem in the league in Henrik Lundqvist and Martin Biron.  In addition, they have players like Dan Girardi who sacrifices his body to block shots and prevent scoring chances for the opposition.

Speaking of Girardi, there are congratulations due to him, Marian Gaborik, and Lundqvist for all making the 2012 All-Star Game which will be played up in Ottawa on January 29^th.  Good luck to all three of you.

 

Marian Gaborik - Photo by Lewis Bleiman

The one game that needs to have some focus put on it was their last match they played Saturday in Boston against the Bruins.  There was certainly plenty of hype leading into this game since these are the top two teams in the East as of now and it indeed lived up to its billing.  After a scoreless first period, the Blueshirts jumped out to one goal leads twice only to have the Bruins tie it up each time, including a last minute score in the second.  

In the third, the Rangers had a great opportunity to win the game with late power plays, but as has been their usual problem, failed to capitalize, so then they went to overtime.  In overtime it was fast and furious action until there was a nasty hit from behind on Ryan McDonagh by Andrew Ference which resulted in a 5-minute major and game misconduct for Boston. 

It looked for a while like the Rangers were headed for the shootout because again the power play was misfiring, but finally inside the last 15 seconds, they drove to the net put a couple of shots on Tukka Rask and Gaborik was in the right place in the right time and won the game 3-2. 

This win still has them on top of the East as of now and with one game left before the All-Star Break against Winnipeg at home, it would be nice for them to finish up with a couple of wins in a row.

So  now comes the All-Star Break and a chance for some players who have been banged-up a little to get healthy and a last bit of rest before the stretch run to the playoffs where the Rangers will have 35 games left to try to secure their playoff position and home-ice advantage as well. 

The schedule breaks down as follows:  one left in January, 13 in February, 17 in March and wrapping up the season with four games in April so it’s going to be a tough haul the rest of the way. 

 

Ryan McDonaugh - Photo by Lewis Bleiman

It will be fun to see how things go for them since it’s been such a great rid so far and their expectations are rising with each game which excites the fan base more and more.

Note:  A follow up to the Boston game was that Ference was handed down a 3-game suspension by the National Hockey League and just adds to the list of players that have been banished by them this season.  You would think that the players would get the message about these bad hits but apparently not, so these suspensions will continue to be handed out.

Contact Howie.Sussman@prohockeynews.com

Photographer at Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com