On Saturday, fans walked out of MSG with a smile of relief. What us blue-shirt faithful witnessed was one of the best performances by Henrik Lundqvist this season. Before I go into the game, I would like to explain what makes a goaltender truly great. It is not his strength or acrobatics, but his ability to adapt. For two seasons people have been criticizing the King's glove side but as of this season he has shown that he does not ignore his problems. As seen on Saturday, our Regal guardian of MSG proves the fans, the media, and Ken Daneyko wrong. Almost every key save was made with a flashing of the King's leather, one of them on the all-mighty Kovalchuk (who was held scoreless in the game). This isn't just a one game fluke. Henrik has grown throughout the season and shown he can adapt.
During the Game we saw Gaborik score on the powerplay from a great setup started by Del Zotto. The Rangers actually went up 3-0 off goals from Callahan and "dare we say his name" Chris Drury. The team showed resilience although they were out shot significantly. Avery seemed to get under Kovalchuk's skin towards the end of the game which resulted in Kovalchuck gloving him in the face while he was being dragged back by another Devil. Props to Avery for using a good strategy late in the game that put a key player in the box during a desperate time for the Devils offense.
Overall, it wasn't the prettiest game played by the Rangers but Lundqvist got the job done. He saved over 40 shots once again and robbed several Devils with his supposedly weak glove hand. Callahan is becoming a true Ranger as well. He never takes a night off and shows that he honors the jersey he wears unlike half the Ranger squad. Hopefully this effort will rub off on Wednesday when the Rangers face the Predators at MSG. Along with the game coverage, I will also be making a special post on Souray as a possible addition to the Rangers and what Ken Daneyko had to say about their past experience playing together. As always, Lets Go Rangers! oh and FIRE SATHER!!!!!
JS
Although part of me agrees with you regarding the Kings glove hand, i think the naysayers will remain prevalent until he brings home another medal to Sweden against the best snipers in the world...
ReplyDeleteps Kenny Daneyko is a gorilla in a suit. That aside... He has no business commenting on goal tending with 36 goals in over 1200 career games.