Rangers Recap: Rangers fall to Detroit 4-3
Tonight was a rough night for the Rangers as they saw themselves forfeit a 2-0 lead and give up 4 goals in the third period.
[Note by Jim Schmiedeberg, 09/19/09 11:22 AM EDT Here is the NHL Game Summary]
Rangers vs Red Wings boxscore
Winging It In Motown
Let's look at the good:
- Henrik Lundqvist: was, well, Henrik Lundqvist. Very good in his stint shutting out the Wings during his half of the game.
- Artem Anisimov: Wow he really showed me what he can do today. His goal was simply the result of a smart and talented player. Put him down in the "already made the team and is just showing off" category. He also had an assist on Lisin's goal.
- Enver Lisin: Scored a goal and looked very quick on his feet. He took good shots and worked well in the corners. I think he is making a really big statement that he belongs on this team.
- Brashear-Boyle-Voros: I can't believe I am saying this but Voros looked really good. This line was the single best forechecking line on the day and they had some great shots. They were impressive.
- Ryan Callahan: Scored the final goal of the game on a georgious move around the goalie. He played pretty well up to that point but that goal was enough to put him in the good category.
- Grachev: I really liked what I saw from him these past three games. He recorded an assist on the Lisin goal but he was great in the corners and he worked really well in the offensive zone. He takes shots when he has the lane and that is all we as Ranger fans can ask from him.
Click after the jump for more.
Now let's do the neutral:
- Chris Drury and Chris Higgins: Both were relatively invisible the entire game. But I guess they didn't do anything badly so they get put here in no mans land.
- Illka Heikkinen: Looked good at times and hesitant at others. You can chalk tonight up to nerves since it was his first taste of the NHL but he needs to step it up if he plays tomorrow.
- Matt Zaba: Yeah yeah four goals in the third blah blah. You can only really blame him for the second goal. The first and second were perfect shots and the fourth was a great tip. He played pretty well when the defense didn't abandon him.
- Alexei Semenov and Bobby Sanguinetti: Both of them looked pretty good in their own rights. Sanguinetti looked good in the defensive zone and hesitant in the offensive zone. Sememov looked better in the offensive zone honestly but he did play out some great hits.
- Wade Redden: He wasn't bad defensively but he certainly wasn't good. he made a nice pass on the Anisimov goal and looked pretty good in the offensive zone. Nothing too special though.
The bad:
- The 3rd period: You all know that Tortorella stresses the third period but the Rangers weren't listening tonight. They played awful and abandoned Zaba at basically every turn. They need to bounce back from this.
- The power play: Nothing special here. Same old same old but don't forget the power play tonight was without Gaborik, Kotalik, Prospal and Gilroy.
- The penalty kill: It looked good at times and bad at others. I'll throw it in the bad category because it was not up to the 1st in the NHL standard they set last year. /
The awful:
- Rozsival: Words cannot express how poorly he preformed tonight. It seemed like he was on the ice for every goal and out of position everywhere he went. Me and Jim both expressed him having a better season once fully healed. Well he did not show it tonight.
- Brandon Dubinsky: The more he misses camp and pre-season the more the prospects are showing that they can take his place. Ansimov, Grachev and Crowder looked good today and all viable options to take his place. Who says the Rangers are worse off now?