2-0 Victory Over The New Jersey Devils: Sign Of Something Greater?
The New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-0 Monday night, quieting down some critics that were mentioning that the Devils had the Rangers number.
New York was unable to score or get many shots off against the Devils and goalie Martin Brodeur, but the team as a whole showed something that I haven't seen from the team in a long time.
The Rangers looked like a Stanley Cup team.
Now, don't get me wrong, the offense was not great. The Rangers scored on an ugly goal by Carl Hagelin, and an empty-netter by Ryan Callahan after Carl Hagelin our raced a New Jersey Devil to the puck.
That being said, the defense, work ethic, and overall game play by the Rangers was wonderful. It wasn't the most exciting game to watch, but the Rangers stopped the Devils from getting many chances, while not getting many chances themselves.
One area I have been worried about is the Rangers ability to win close games in which they cannot score many goals, and the Rangers proved their ability to do that last night. The defense stepped up and worked together to stop Ilya Kovalchuk and his teammates, and Henrik Lundqvist shutout the Devils on what was basically a night off for the King.
If the Rangers can ignore the attempts by teams to get into their heads, score ugly goals, and play fantastic defense, in addition to Henrik Lundqvist in net, I am very confident about this team.