About Last Night: Rangers 1, Flames 0

No Nash. No Lundqvist. No Problem.

Calgary is no slouch and a 1-0 victory against a good team is just what the doctor ordered. They not only keep pace with the Islanders (also victorious last night) but finally show that they don’t have to score 5 goals each night to win.

So here’s the good and the not so good from last night.

The Good:

Cam Talbot – 21 saves, shutout & 1^st star. The win last night improved Cam’s record to 7-1-2 in Lundqvist’s absence and gave the Rangers their league-leading 9^th shutout of the season. His rebound control was much better and credit the defense around him for a change.

Defense – The goals cooled off and the defense stepped up. Finally. A few early bad turnovers aside everybody on the ice did their job well. They moved pucks to the outside, controlled rebounds and didn’t give Calgary lanes to fire away. Still believe the team is in need of some defensive depth but you certainly do worse than Dan Boyle and John Moore/Matt Hunwick as a 3^rd pairing. Speaking of defense…

3^rd Period Shutdown – Going into the 3^rd period last night Calgary had scored 74 third period goals (2^nd in the NHL behind Tampa’s 77) and they kept it that way. Calgary’s monster 3^rd periods are a big reason why they’re close to a wild card spot so keeping them off the scoreboard is an accomplishment on its own; especially for a Rangers team that’s struggled to close games out late.



Kevin Hayes (In for Rick Nash) – Karri Ramo was ON last night. It took a pretty pass from Brassard, to the sub on the line for Nash, Kevin Hayes to beat him and thankfully that’s all that was needed. The dude is still red hot with 6 goals and 11 points in the last 13 games. It’s been good to see others be able to step up when the stars go down.

Discipline – Not a single power play for the Flames. Fantastic. All the good for this.

Good/Not So Good:

Karri Ramo/J.T. Miller – Miller shoot the puck anywhere else, but RAMO WITH A SAVE!!!!

BRUH!!!!!

The Not So Good:

Tanner Glass – Why is JT Miller fighting? The only skill you seem to bring to the table is toughness and it’s not even there. How do you have a -15 on a team with one of the highest goal differentials? How you got a 3-year deal is beyond me. Hope you’re in the press box when Fast is healthy. He had a shot on goal though, his first in about 10 days, so good for you. Lee Stempiak produces better games at half the salary.

Not a whole lot of not so good. When you don’t give up a goal you can’t really bitch. A few shots wide and maybe some better finishing sure but an all-around good win, the type of win that was badly needed.

Current Standing: 37-16-6 (80 Points, 2^nd in Metropolitan)

Next Game: ***TRAP GAME ALERT*** Thursday 2/27 vs. Arizona (20-34-7, 46 Points, 6^th in Pacific)

--Mike Kane
https://twitter.com/ThatMikeKane
crossposted from https://rangers5thline.wordpress.com/