Rangers vs. Blackhawks: Of Course They Did
They could barely get 10 shots last week, but beating Chicago in a lottery race? Of course. Sykora’s first, Laf keeps rolling, and the tank takes another dent.
- Knew it. Knew it. Knew it from the second I saw this team and their beady little eyes. This team continue to simply frustrate in the most annoying of ways, and beating a Chicago Blackhawks team which they are in a fistfight with for second place in the lottery odds—the New York Rangers have two more ROW as well, so Chicago holds the tiebreaker—less than a week removed from needing an official NHL audit to give themselves 10 shots in a game is just peak this organization.
- In all reality, is it the biggest deal in the world? No. The lottery is a lottery. The difference between second and third is the difference between a 13.5 percent chance and an 11.5 percent chance at the top overall pick. The frustration is this team continuing to just be that team in a season when they have so often not been. That they meet the moment when it actually quite literally hurts them to do so.
- Can't be mad at Adam Sykora scoring his first NHL goal. What a moment for the kid. And it was some finish. I really like Sykora a lot, but I think he is more of a depth option for a good Rangers team than anything else. Still, you need those guys, and he has looked great in his first two NHL games.
- As had Dylan Garand. Not sure why we needed to do the whole Spencer Martin thing earlier in the year, but whatever.
- Drew Forstescue notches an assist in his first ever NHL game. He actually got to play as well, which is nice. I think it's going to take him some time to figure out the speed of the game, but Gabe Perreault can help him there. Was also awesome to see all his Boston College teammates hop down to the Garden to watch him play.
