Rangers Recap: Rangers Kane-d in Atlanta, Lose 3-2, Skid Hits 6
With talk earlier in the day about Henrik Lundqvist opening a restaurant in Tribeca, his teammates decided to open a bakery where turnovers are the house specialty. The Atlanta Thrashers took advantage and got two late goals from Evander Kane to defeat the Rangers, 3-2 tonight at the Philips Arena in Atlanta.
Anthony Stewart got things going for the Thrashers midway through the first when he slid the puck under Lundqvist's pads to give Atlanta the lead. Stewart scored after a giveaway by Artem Anisimov and Matt Gilroy fell down trying to get back on the play.
Early in the second period the Rangers broke through. With Stewart in the penalty box, Marc Staal tied the game for the Rangers. Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal got the assists.
Brandon Dubinsky gave the Rangers their first lead since the Carter Administration just over a minute into the third period. That ended a streak of 255:35 where they had not had a lead. Later in the period Marian Gaborik missed on a penalty shot after being pulled down on a breakaway by Brent Sopel. Unfortunately, the Rangers visit with the advantage would be brief.
With six minutes to go, Evander Kane took over. First, he tied the game, and then after Michael Del Zotto takes a horrible tripping penalty, he scored on the power play to send the Rangers to their sixth straight loss, maybe the worst one yet. A game the Rangers had complete control of got away from them because of pure stupidity. Turnovers and dumb penalties did them in.
Final Thoughts:
- Marian Gaborik had a good night, two assists and was a presence on the ice all night. I don't really fault him on the penalty shot, he made a good move, and Ondrej Pavelec stayed with it and made the save.
- I thought Matt Gilroy and Del Zotto both played tonight like they want Steve Eminger to have more playing time.
- Del Zotto's game is not right, and I've changed my tune on him. He needs to go back to Hartford, for the rest of the season, and start over in September. John Tortorella was chewing him out on the bench after Atlanta took the lead, and he had the same look my four year old daughter gets when I yell at her.
- Henrik Lundqvist had little help from his defense tonight. I thought only the Stewart goal was his fault.
- Sean Avery had a strong game as well, until he took a dumb penalty in the third period.
- As a Prustbyterian, it was tough to see Brandon Prust on the receiving end in a fight with Eric Boulton in the first period. Brandon probably would have been best served skating away from that one, because it did seem to serve to jumpstart the Thrashers.
- Are the Rangers happy to be playing the Penguins Sunday, or is it the other way around?
