Modified Postgame: Rangers Top Renney and Oilers 4-2 in Edmonton

Here is the modified postgame anlysis due to last night's late start, recapping the Rangers 4-2 Victory over the Oilers.

First Period:

The Rangers played a very solid period in the first stanza of the contest, minus the penalties, of course. At even strength, there was a great pace to the game and the Rangers had excellent pressure down low in the offensive zone. The Oilers are not clogging the middle, and the Blueshirts have taken advantage of that by constantly feeding pucks to the slot.

This is exactly how Chris Higgins found the back of the net for the second time in two games. Higgins faked the slapshot, gave the puck to Gilroy behind the goal line, who fed Higgins for the one-timer. It was a well executed give-and-go by the two players, and kudos to Gilroy for reading the play. Higgins skated very well in the period and had at least three prime scoring chances.

The Rangers, guilty of three penalties, were fantastic on the penalty kill, but were helped by the fact that there was no movement by the Oilers. Valiquette looked a bit shaky to start, but settled down and made saves when he needed to.

Period 2:

A dominating effort from the Rangers has them leading 3-1 going into the intermission. The Blueshirts ended their powerplay drought, scoring two goals with the man advantage in the period, as well as coming up huge on the penalty kill. Evidently, special teams is turning out to control this game.

The first powerplay goal came off of great vision by Mike Del Zotto to set up Ryan Callahan for the perfect redirection over Khabibulin's shoulder. Callahan registered his first goal in eleven games, as the secondary scoring on this team is beginning to awaken. Late in the period, the Rangers were put on the powerplay yet again. Marian Gaborik made a perfect pass from the corner to the point to Ales Kotalik, who launched a bomb through the legs of Khabibulin.

Drury, Callahan, Staal, and Girardi have been excellent on the penalty kill, and Valiquette has made the stops when called upon. Well, for the most part anyway, as he did allow a very soft goal to Lubomir Vishnovsky.

Anyway, the Oilers are leaving the slot wide open for the Rangers, and that led to both the Higgins and the Callahan goal. This is the best New York has looked on offense in quite a while with great forecheck efforts, and extremely accurate passes.

Period 3:

Once again, the Rangers controlled the period for the most part. In fact, they were on the powerplay for a majority of the twenty minutes, and they converted for their third powerplay goal on the night. This time Ales Kotalik let a slapper go through traffic, and it managed to trickle through Khabibulin's legs and onto the goal-line where Marian Gaborik swooped around the net and poked it in.

Mike Comrie did answer back with a goal of his own, one Vally should have had I might add, but it didn't really harm the Rangers in the long-run. The defensive efforts by the Blueshirts in the third were outstanding, as Edmonton did attempt to pile it on to try and find that tying goal.

Additional Thoughts:

- The two rookie defensemen in Matt Gilroy and Mike Del Zotto were remarkable against the Oilers on Thursday. Both picked up an assist, and had solid games beyond that. Del Zotto's passing is improving every game, and he has unbelievable vision for a 19-year-old. Gilroy had a phenomenal game in his own zone.

- Chris Higgins seems to have finally put an end to his scoring drought. Now with two goals in his last two games, Higgins has regained his confidence and has made something happen almost every time he touches the puck. He is now playing with speed and energy, much like he did with Montreal.

- Ryan Callahan is really beginning to come along after getting off to a slow start. Cally picked up a goal and an assist, but was also very effective in the defensive zone and on the penalty kill. His partner in crime was Chris Drury, and the both of them simply shutdown the Oilers powerplay.

- Ales Kotalik has now displayed a great performance in three consecutive contests. Kotalik recorded a goal and two assists, and played a major role in overcoming his former team at Rexall place. The same can be said of Marian Gaborik, who had a goal and an assist of his own.

- Steve Valiquette made the required saves, but as I said, the ones he allowed were very soft. However, I cannot complain too much because he got the job done with 26 saves on the night.

The Rangers will head out to Calgary later today to prepare to go head-to-head with the Flames on Saturday night. Back with more later.....
(Sent using my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry)