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The Rangers recent struggles have made it difficult to appreciate the sight of the team actually earning two points. On Sunday night, in the fifth of a nine-game homestand, the Rangers earned two points, the first such occasion in this long stretch of games at Madison Square Garden, turning back the Flames. While it might have been been the most graceful of wins, the Rangers battled through the periods, an overtime, and a shootout to get both points. There were also a few other items from this weekend. Here are your Monday notes.
I'm foregoing the Three Stars seeing as there was one game this weekend, but there is a must see play!
What you missed
As much as we get on Benout Pouliot (and probably rightfully so), there's a reason he's a former first round pick: A ton of skill. Pouliot showed off some of it with this game-winning goal in the seventh round of the shootout on Sunday.
Two points are two points. During this difficult stretch for the Rangers where any result has been hard to come by, seeing the win column go up should be good enough for everyone right now. It was a hard-fought win, the Rangers erasing an early two-goal deficit, and outlasting Calgary in 7 rounds of the shootout. Some recaps of the tilt. [Blueshirt Banter] [Daily News] [The Record] [ESPN NY] [Newsday] [Blueshirts United]
Marc Staal has been working out off the ice, and is doing well, per Alain Vigneault, but a return date for the Rangers' defenseman is not yet clear. [Daily News] [ESPN NY] [Rangers Rants]
A must-read read from Katie Strang, who writes that at a young age, Ryan McDonagh is bringing an old-school attitude. [ESPN NY]
With the Rangers slumping, alternate captain Brad Richards is calling on the team's veterans to right the ship. [The Record]
The Rangers will have a number of critical contract decisions with a few impending free agents. [NY Post]
After ending his scoring drought on Thursday, Dominic Moore said he has more to give. [Newsday] On Sunday, Moore was sent out in the shootout (a bit of a surprise) and converted on a slick snap shot.
Offensively inconsistent, Derek Stepan wants to do his part to end the Rangers skid. [ESPN NY] To his credit, Stepan responded, scoring the first Rangers' goal Sunday night.
With the Rangers attempting to turn around one of the longer rough patches in the team's recent memory, the Blueshirts need the Henrik Lundqvist of old. [NY Post]
While things have gone south for the Rangers of late, Lundqvist says it's team the team needs to get back to the basics. [Newsday]
Going into Sunday night's game, Vigneault wanted higher-percentage decisions from the Rangers, and decided to split up the pair of McDonagh and Dan Girardi. [Blueshirts Blog]
