Monday, January 4, 2010

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Bruins 1/4

Rangers 3, Bruins 2

  • So apparently Christopher Higgins CAN (and did) hit the side of a barn...but only if practically he's touching it already.
  • If you caught the postgame interview with Higgins on Versus, you may have noticed that he didn't even know who he scored on.  He thinks he beat an Olympic goalie (Time Thomas)...maybe we shouldn't tell him it was actually a 22-year-old Finnish rookie with a cool name (Tuuka Rask).
  • Erik Christensen again showed why he should continue to see ice time as a top 6 forward, even after Vinny Prospal comes back from his knee surgery.  I was sitting with a Bruins fan tonight who was quite impressed with the move he put on Rask to score...I agree.
  • Marian Gaborik seemed to have an off night, although he did put 6 pucks on net.
  • I thought Ales Kotalik had another effective game at even strength, and put his rocket of a slapper to work in picking up his 7th goal of the season.
  • Donald Brashear was for the most part effective in his 5+ minutes of ice time.  He got a pair of good shots on Rask and tried to engage Byron bitz, who declined.
  • Brandon Dubinsky had another strong game on the left wing, picking up a pair of assists and having Rask keep him from scoring a goal or 2.
  • Michal Rozsival had a strong defensive game and did a great job to deny Marc Savard of a shot on his partial breakaway without taking a penalty.  He was whistled in the 3rd period for tripping, but it looked a lot like a dive to me (and the Bruins fans sitting to my left). 
  • Henrik Lundqvist was sharp, and likely would have pitched a shut out save for a couple of late defensive breakdowns.
  • Ryan Callahan had a very strong game tonight, especially on the PK.  At one point he spent 10-15 shorthanded seconds with the puck in the Bruins zone, while 4 Bruins tried to take it away from him.  He probably could have even drawn a holding the stick or hooking penalty on the play, but nothing was called.
  • Tuuka Rask leads all NHL goalies this season with a 0.935 save percentage...and the Rangers beat him.  This was a very solid win for this team.

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