The New York Rangers (4-6-1) struck lightning in the third period scoring two powerplay goals to defeat Tampa Bay 3-1. With Chris Gratton in the box for cross-checking and captain Jaromir Jagr missing a couple of chicklets the Blueshirts scored on the ensuing powerplay.

Jagr took a cross ice feed from Michal Rozsival and put the Blueshirts up 2-1 at 10:45 beating Johan Holmqvist with a low hard shot. The Tampa netminder was screened by Brendan Shanahan on the play who had parked himself at the lip of the crease.

The goal inspired the Blueshirts who shortly thereafter enjoyed another powerplay. Shanahan, again in front of Holmqvist took the feed from Chris Drury at 13:29 to give the Rangers the breathing room they needed to coast home.

Tampa’s streak of allowing first period goals continued Monday night as Nigel Dawes scored on a beautiful deflection of a Paul Mara shot at 7:40.  Mara’s shot was going well wide of the net before Dawes deflected it past the startled Johan Holmqvist for his team leading third goal of the season.

The hit of the game came about eight minutes later when Fedor Tyutin levelled Craig MacDonald with an open ice hit in the Rangers zone. The hit separated MacDonald from his helmet and left glove and he headed off to the Bolts dressing room on the ensuing whistle for repairs with a busted lip. MacDonald returned in the second period sporting six new stitches.

Vincent Lecavalier tied the game on a penalty shot at 6:28 of the second period. Lecavalier completely undressed Henrik Lundqvist as he slid a backhand through the legs of the sliding netminder. It was the 12^th goal that the Blueshirts have given up in the second period. They have only allowed 22 goals against on the year.

On a night celebrating local youth hockey the Remedial Rangers looked like they would have a hard time scoring against a bunch of 11-year-old kids for most of the game. Thank goodness for the powerplay.

ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Jaromir Jagr. Jagr’s powerplay marker tied him for the team lead in goals with Nigel Dawes. The captain also had an assist on Shanahan’s marker and showed some heart by playing through the pain of some broken teeth.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers are Al Ovechkin (6-7-13) and the Washington Capitals (4-6) on November 1. The Caps superstar winger looks good taking feeds from former Blueshirt Michael Nylander (4-4-8). There’s a winger here on Broadway who misses Nylander very much. The Capitals played the Leafs tonight in Toronto and were winning 7-1 in the third period. Ovechkin has added a couple of goals to his listed totals and Nylander has added a few more assists.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Dave Scatchard has been released following a tryout with Hartford…Lundqvist’s penalty shot save percentage falls to .600…Brandon Dubinsky led the way with five hits…Jagr had a team high six shots on goal.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 9:46 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.