Rangers Recap: Rangers defeat Ottawa Senators 5-2 in home opener
by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 3, 2009 11:03 PM EDT
in New York Rangers Recaps
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NEW YORK RANGERS POST-GAME NOTES AND QUOTES
October 3, 2009 - New York Rangers 5, Ottawa Senators 2 (Game #2, Home #1)
Click Here For The Official Game Summary
- The Rangers opened their 2009-10 regular season home schedule with a 5-2 win over the Senators, in front of a sold-out crowd (18,200) at Madison Square Garden.
- The win marks the Rangers fifth straight in their Garden opener, which is a new franchise record.
- New York has sold out 157 consecutive regular season games, dating back to November 5, 2005 against New Jersey; the last regular season non-sellout was October 31, 2005 vs. Montreal (17,697); including the playoffs, the Rangers sellout streak is now at 171 games.
- The Blueshirts improved to 1-1-0 overall, including a 1-0-0 mark at home; the Rangers are in the midst of a five-game home winning streak dating back to last season, and are 9-1-0 in their last 10 regular season games at MSG.
- Michael Del Zotto tallied his first career NHL goal, the game-winner, at 19:09 of the second period; At 19 years 101 days old, he is the first teenager to score a goal for the Rangers since Manny Malhotra (1998-99), and the second youngest defenseman in team history to accomplish the feat behind Red Garrett (18 years 154 days).
- Vinny Prospal opened the game's scoring at 3:20 of the second period; the goal was Prospal's 600th career NHL point, and he is now one goal shy of 200 career NHL goals.
- Brandon Dubinsky led all skaters with two goals and three points in 22:36 of icetime; the two goals and three points tied his career-highs.
- Marian Gaborik finished with one goal and two points; he has now tallied a goal in back-to-back contests after notching a goal in his Rangers debut last night at Pittsburgh.
- Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves, including 19 in the second period, to register his first win of the season.
- Six New York skaters recorded one assist in the contest - Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Christopher Higgins, Chris Drury, Michal Rozsival, and Enver Lisin; Lisin's assist was his first point as a Ranger.
- The Blueshirts have an optional practice scheduled for tomorrow, October 4 (1:00 p.m.), at the MSG Training Center.
- The Rangers return to action on Monday, October 5, when they will face-off against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center (7:00 p.m.); the game will be nationally televised on Versus and can be heard on 1050 ESPN Radio.
Lots more after the jump......
John Tortorella on tonight's game...
"We need to button up some things along the way here. We have got young defense. After the first period we couldn't convert on the power play, we have to say with it. We are giving away too many chances against. But those are correctable things. I thought that the team played hard in a back-to-back. We scored some important goals. I thought that the most important play of the game was Cally (Ryan Callahan) screening the goalie on the third goal. It's a work in progress. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy at the way that they stayed with it and found a way to win the hockey game."
Brandon Dubinsky on the offense...
"Certainly we have opportunities and we have to continue to capitalize on those chances. I thought we did good tonight. We just have to continue to do it. With our offense, the attack we have, we are going to create those chances. We have to score some goals."
Michael Del Zotto on his first career goal...
"I can't even put it in words, it was an unbelievable feeling. I have to give credit to my teammates, my line mates. Cally (Ryan Callahan) provided a great screen, Higgins made a great pass and it happened to go in. I was pretty excited. I saw my mom was crying in the stands, she is pretty emotional. It makes it that much sweeter knowing they were here and they were proud of me. It is a great feeling."
While it will be months before the Rangers know whether Brandon Dubinsky can be a number one center in the NHL, after his performance tonight at Madison Square Garden, it would be unwise to bet against him.
Dubinsky had two goals and an assist, and the Rangers dominated the Senators, 5-2, in New York's home opener at Madison Square Garden and Ottawa's first game of the season.
Marian Gaborik added a goal and an assist and now has three points in two games since signing a free agent contract with the Rangers, who were defeated by the Stanley Cup champion Penguins on Friday in their season opener. Vinny Prospal scored his first goal with New York since also coming over in the offseason, while Michael Del Zotto notched his first NHL goal in the win.
- Vinny Prospal's goal gave him 600 points for his career
- This was Brandon Dubinsky's second 2 goal game, with both of them coming in the Rangers last three regular season games. Dubinsky had 2 goals in the regular season finale against the Flyers in April.
Blueshirt Banter Star of the Game:
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Dubi is on pace for 164pts. That’s a good sign.
Thought everyone played at least average tonight, which was a big plus over the pens game.
Still lots of mistakes to clean up, but this is such a different team from last year, there’s plenty of things to be happy about.
Now hopefully they get another 5 goals against Fatso on Monday.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Oct 3, 2009 11:15 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
164 pts
LMAO!
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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 3, 2009 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions
Ovechkin is on pace to shatter Gretzky’s record.
Early season stats are fun.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Oct 3, 2009 11:21 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Marty was way off tonight v Philly – let in like 4 really soft goals.
Maybe we can hit double-digits on him. Whadya say – how ’bout a nice 10-1 win ?
Be realistic
10-0
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Oct 3, 2009 11:35 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Can't take anything away from Dubinsky
Although Lundqvist was a close second followed by Gabby for the stars
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers the only NHL team with three home arenas.
One more note
Because of the last second goal, MDZ got the game winner. Props to the kid.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Oct 3, 2009 11:17 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
neither he nor mdz played much in the 3rd. mostly rotated the 4 vets.
by Michael Gleich on Oct 3, 2009 11:37 PM EDT up reply actions
This team is fun to watch
Gary Thorne=Simply the Best!
by The American Mr.Hockey on Oct 3, 2009 11:57 PM EDT reply actions
@ mleetch352 -- I agree about Dubi and the other 'A'
As you pointed out the other day, Dubi’s holdout likely cost him an ‘A’. However, Torts’ comments last night show that he likes Dubi’s approach to the game. Also, it seems odd that the second ‘A’ wasn’t awarded to one of the other obvious candidates. Perhaps Dubi still has a shot at it, and Torts is trying to find a way to give it to him without condoning the holdout.
Nice game...
Powerplay looked good, many more chances than last year. Tho like last year, they didn’t capitalize. I just can’t see how you get that many chances and not at some point score, so they will have a ‘break out’ game there.
Rooks look good, tho they looked like rooks. We’re gonna have to like with a lot of boneheadedness by Gilroy, MDZ and Animisov.
Defense was OK, probably cuz of the requisite R and R brain fart or 2 per game (tho they were pretty solid throughout, Redden more so than Rozi).
Staal is an all-star this year. I’m starting the campaign now.
Obviously the tale of 2 games. They looked like they for most of last year in the Pens game, a team that is incapable of scoring yet kept in the game by the King. Yet night, against an inferior (to the Pens at least…no one really knows who’s a contender just yet).
THe Rangers got chance after chance, tho they gave up too many pucks that could kill them against a team like the Pens or Caps (again…Lundqvist is always this team’s MVP).
Still, they are a very intriguing team who if they all stay healthy (not just you know who…) you may just be able to utter that SC contender thingy.
I just think that the addition of Gabby opens up so much ice that Dubi and Prospal are gonna have big years. It reminds me a whole lot of that year that Jagr went off and scored 100+ points for the Rangers, yet Gabby does more cuz while he’s not nearly taht strong as Jagr (not many players really ever were that strong on the puck) his speed really helps.
Only 2 games in, and I’m really starting to like this team. Even Ev Lisin, who may just be the Zherdev of this year’s squad, which is kind of a good thing cuz they really don’t have to rely on him like the Rangers did with Zherdev last year at times (which wasn’t good obviously).
What the f$%k is the internet?
anyone
know where to find face off stats? I don’t have time to go scouring for them…
but I think face offs are going to be an important part of Dubi’s game. I know we won a decent amount last night.
I’d be interested to see Dubi’s stats for the first two games.
Here you go sir
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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 4, 2009 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions
Michael DelZotto 1st NHL GOAL With Many more to come...CONGRATULATIONS
..Mchael DelZotto I am so proud of you . Keep up the great work and we will see you soon.
ILY
welcome to the Banter, ziapat!
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers
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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 4, 2009 12:22 PM EDT up reply actions
MDZ................
MDZ is a cool dude. He signed my poster that the Rangrs gave away last night and took a picture. Great guy and he seems to love NY. Also got Lundqvist Kotalik Boyle Stall and Higgins… That poster is gonna look sick once I frame it…LETS GO RANGERS!!!
good deal, where did you catch up with him?
Post the pic in the Fan Shots!
Blueshirt Banter: Covering the New York Rangers
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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Oct 4, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions
Why can’t I find a link to the highlights of the game? If anyone has one, pls pass it along. Every game on Yahoosports has highlights exept this one.
Lisin played over 16 minutes
Just something to Note. For a guy we expected to be on the 4th line that’s a lot of ice time. Love the talent but the coaching staff basically said he’s clueless away from the puck. Maybe he’ll play more in a high flying game like this one, and less in a more defensive game. We’ll See………
He's 3rd line right now
That’s why his ice time is up, plus he got alot of PP time.
When Avery comes back, Lisin’s minutes will drop, he’ll still likely see PP time though so he’s not gonna be a 6 min guy like Brashear and Voros, he’ll probably get between 8-12 a night.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Oct 5, 2009 8:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Micheal Del Zotto 'Toronto Game'
To see you play here at home and then score a goal was the most excieting
feeling ever so proud of you .I could not stop the tears from eyes. ..So happy zia-
Continued Success Michael.
LY -Ziapat
P.S. Torts is doing a great job with the NYR.
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Atlantic Standings
| GP | W | L | OTL | PT | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Rangers
|
53 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 75 |
|
Philadelphia
|
55 | 31 | 17 | 7 | 69 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
55 | 31 | 19 | 5 | 67 |
|
New Jersey
|
55 | 31 | 20 | 4 | 66 |
|
New York Islanders
|
54 | 23 | 23 | 8 | 54 |
(updated 2.12.2012 at 8:46 AM EST)
Rangers Schedule
Next 5 Games
|
@
Boston
|
Tue 02/14 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
Chicago
|
Thu 02/16 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
Columbus
|
Sun 02/19 | 8:00 PM EST |
|
@
Pittsburgh
|
Tue 02/21 | 7:00 PM EST |
|
@
New York Islanders
|
Fri 02/24 | 7:00 PM EST |
Last 5 Games
|
Washington
|
Sun 02/12 | W 3 - 2 |
|
@
Philadelphia
|
Sat 02/11 | W 5 - 2 |
|
Tampa Bay
|
Thu 02/09 | OT - W 4 - 3 |
|
New Jersey
|
Tue 02/07 | L 0 - 1 |
|
Philadelphia
|
Sun 02/05 | W 5 - 2 |
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