Rangers' Prospects Top Detroit, Will Play for Third

After defeating the Atlanta Thrashers Monday night in Traverse City, the group of Rangers taking part in the Prospects tournament had to go up against the hometown Detroit Red Wings tonight. This game determined what place the Blueshirts will battle for tomorrow, so it was quite important that this one ended up in the win column.

To begin the game, the Rangers came out firing, getting two un-answered goals from left wing Daniel Bartek, and defenseman Luke Walker. The Bartek goal was assisted by Luke Walker and Greg Cunningham, while Walker's goal was registered as unassisted. The Red Wing's Travis Ehrhardt and the Rangers' Samuel Klassen took the only minor penalties in the period, but the real fireworks were when Blueshirt defenseman Mike Berube dropped the gloves with Mitchell Callahan of the Red Wings. Both were handed fighting majors at 11:55 of the first period.

The Rangers did not let up in the second period, as Ethan Werek cashed in on great forecheck work by third round draft pick Ryan Bourque. After that, Luke Walker registered his second of the night, which was assisted by Soryal and Gaulton, giving the Rangers a 4-0 lead going into the third period. The Rangers were guilty of two minor penalties in the period; Tomas Kundratek for tripping at 2:41, and Luke Pitcher for hooking at 15:28. Wings forward Jan Mursak also found himself in the box for holding just under four minutes into the period.

To open up the third period, Paul Crowder put the Rangers down a man, as he was called for slashing. Detroit's Jan Mursak scored on the powerplay from Ehrhardt and Nestrasil to stop the bleeding, and cut the lead down to three. As the period progressed, the Blueshirts went on to take two more minor penalties, but they were both killed off by the penalty-killing unit, which has been magnificent throughout the tournament. The Red Wings then struck late with less then five minutes remaining in the game, on an unassisted goal scored by Brent Raedeke. Looking to continue their comeback on the Rangers, the Wings pulled their goalie for an extra attacker, allowing Brian Lashoff to score with about 20 seconds remaining in the game, and putting his team that was once down 4-0, a goal away from tying the game. Thankfully goaltender Chad Johnson stood strong and closed out the win for the Blueshirts.

Speaking of Chad Johnson, goalie acquired in a trade with the Penguins this summer, he would qualify as the number one reason the Blueshirts walked out with a win in this one, as he stopped 32 of the 35 shots he faced in the game. The Rangers were outshot 35-28, but Johnson really made the difference in net tonight, as did free agent Luke Walker on the scoresheet, who is here on a tryout basis. That is essentially what this tournament is all about, prospects showing what they can do, while shocking many critics in the process.

The Rangers' Prospects now move on to play for third place Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues at 6 pm. The loss to the Hurricanes in game one of the tourney is what prevented the boys from New York from entering the championship game, but that is history and cannot be changed, so the Rangers have to focus now on capturing third place. We will once again have full post game coverage and analysis of the game from Traverse City once it is completed, so be sure to check out the site for the entire game summary.

Full Game boxscore HERE.