Rangers Fall Short of B's in Pre-Season Opener

Despite the loss to the Bruins tonight, there are a lot of positives to pull out of this game, especially when looking at the youngsters that made up almost half of the lineup for the Rangers. The game started off sort of slow, with the Rangers being very sloppy with the puck in their own zone, and taking four penalties as a result of laziness and the inability to clear. From there, the overall pace of the game picked up in the second, as the Blueshirts really began to press offensively, and then even more so in the third stanza.

In the first period, it seemed like the Rangers lacked speed, and were a bit sluggish, which is normal to see in the pre-season, but the Bruins were dominating the game, playing mostly in the Rangers own zone. Goaltender Steve Valiquette was stellar, making saves on 13 out of the 14 Bruin shots he faces. Bruins forward Zach Hamill was the lone goal scorer in the period, finding the back of the net off of a good play by Marco Sturm. Towards the end of the period, the Blueshirts began to pick up their play, especially the line with Brashear and Boyle on it. The Grachev and Anisimov line had some late shots in the period as well.

To begin the second, the Rangers came out looking much sharper, and found their legs. This resulted in some times where we saw a very effective forecheck, specifically from the Higgins-Drury-Kotalik line, who were very effective tonight. The Blueshirts totaled 14 shots in the second period, but B's goaltender Tuukka Rask had an answer for each and every one, blanking the Rangers through two. Max Suave beat Matt Zaba late in the period from a beautiful pass by Milan Lucic, to give Boston a 2-0 lead going into the third.

Once again, the Rangers came out firing to begin the third period, when we really saw Tortorella's system in full effect, which is a good sign this early in the pre-season. It was Chris Higgins that found a way to put one past Tuukka Rask midway through the third on the rebound. Higgins actually had several legitimate scoring chances in that period, and prevented the Rangers from being shutout. The Rangers were solid defensively through the third, but could not find a way to put home the tying goal.

Now it is time to point out the highlight players that stood out to me, which is something that I like to do in all off my postgame analysis, even during the regular season.

First off, I would like to start with the defense, who was very strong in the second and third period. Matt Gilroy, in my opinion, would have to be a runner-up for "player of the game" in tonight's contest. Gilroy, looking to make the team out of camp, was very poise in his own zone, shutting down most plays that were forming in front of him. Gilroy met Zdeno Chara several times in this game, and played him very well each and every time. Aside from the defense, you can already see the type of skater and offensive minded d-man that Gilroy is, and we have only seen him play one game. Matt very swiftly joins the offensive rush, and always seems to get into an open area in the high slot, looking for a scoring chance. For the most part, it worked well, as Gilroy had four shots in the game. When he does join the rush, he is very quick to fall back and play defense.

Another impressing defensemen, in my eyes anyway, was Mike Del Zotto. Ranger fans have big expectations for Del Zotto, and he seemed to meet those expectations for a majority of this game. He worked very well with Ales Kotalik on the powerplay, and was great in his own zone as well. Mike was not as visible in the third period, but his overall performance is definitely worth acknowledging.

Marc Staal, who was paired up with Gilroy, was basically himself in this game, which means sound defense, and great outlet passes. One thing I did notice about Staal is that he was pinching in the offensive zone much more often than we have seen in previous years, and that is exactly what Tortorella is attempting to get him to do on a gamely basis. Staal and Gilroy, as I told you to watch for in my pregame, joined the rush very often during the game, and were effective while doing so.

Now to look at the top players on offense. Evgeny Grachev was fairly quiet in the first period, but did he ever pick it up in the second. It is probable that Torts said something to him during the first intermission, because he was a demon in most of the second and all of the third. You can see how Evgeny can take over games, and he was doing just that in the third, creating several scoring chances by using his strength and skill.

Chris Higgins, scoring the only Ranger goal, looked good in his first game as a Blueshirt, as he was very noticeable, with several shots in the game.

Ales Kotalik, playing on a line with Drury, looked good as well. We were fortunate enough to see him launch his rocket several times over the course of the game. They may not have been very accurate, but when he did get them on net, he automatically created a scoring chance.

Ryan Callahan was quiet early on, but began to find his legs, and was him same old self, being a force on the forecheck, which was nice to see. Cally created several scoring chances in this game as well.

One other player I would like to look at on offense is Donald Brashear. Brashear was very good on the forecheck, and was moving well. Believe it or not, Brashear was one of the better players in this game for the Blueshirts, and had several chances to find the back of the net. Donald recorded numerous hits throughout the game.

Some other topics I would like to make note of are the powerplay and the goaltending. Starting with the powerplay. I saw a lot of movement on the powerplay, and as I predicted earlier in the day, we saw Ales Kotalik on the point with the man advantage, and that is something I liked a lot. Kotalik and Del Zotto worked very well with each other on the blueline. Overall, a lot more movement, and much more shooting. I can already see that the powerplay will be better for the Rangers this season.

The goaltending for the Blueshirts was exceptional. Steve Valiquette stopped 17 out of 18 shots, and made some beautiful saves in the process. Vally looked very sharp, and that is a good sign, because he will be getting more playing time under Tortorella this season.

Matt Zaba, who entered the game midway through the second, was also very sharp in net, saving 14 out of the 15 shots that were thrown his way. Zaba faced a Chara slapshot, in which knocked him on his back, but he made the save in the process.

All in all, there were a lot of good signs from key players in this game, and it gives head coach John Tortorella a lot to think about as far as who makes the cut and who does not. The second half of the lineup will play tomorrow night in New Jersey, when the Rangers go head to head with the Devils. Henrik Lundqvist will be playing in half of that game, and we will also be seeing Vinny Prospal, Sean Avery, Wade Redden, and Michael Rozsival hit the ice for the first time this season also. That game is scheduled to start at 7pm, and I will have the same coverage right here on the blog.

(Photo courtesy of Rangers Official Site)