Although this was a pre-season game being played in late September, the intensity level and pace made it seem as if we were watching a game in mid January. This game, by far, was the best of the pre-season, with Madison Square Garden 3/4ths full, both teams playing full lineups, and the incredible matchup of Marian Gaborik and Alexander Ovechkin, two prolific goal scorers going head to head. Well, the better of the two obviously was Marian Gaborik, not only registering his first goal as a Ranger, but adding another in the second period, and tacking on a late assist on the game-winning goal.
Gaborik's first goal, came shorthanded when the Capitals mis-communicated, leading to a deflected pass on the blade of Gabs who took off on the breakaway and launched a wrister through the legs of Jose Theodore with ease. At least half of Marian Gaborik's goals come one the breakaway for two reasons; a) He is at top speed with only two strides, and b) Gabs is one of the top one-on-one players in this league with his soft hands and lightning-quick release. Both were displayed on this goal, and the shot was something to behold, as that thing was simply lasered through the five-hole.
Marian's second goal came later in the same period, when there was a delayed penalty on Alex Semin for tripping up Brandon Dubinsky. The Blueshirts pulled Lundqvist for the extra attacker, and Gaborik found the loose puck on a broken play, and sniped Theodore over the left shoulder. Once again, we saw the glorious release of Gaborik, and hopefully we will see it at least 50 more times over the course of the regular season.
Gaborik was not the only star on the ice for the Rangers, however, as Henrik Lundqvist was spectacular in goal. Tonight was the first game Lundqvist would play the full sixty minutes, and he looked like he is in mid-season form. The two goals that Hank did allow were not his fault by any means, and he had no chance of saving them. Other than those two, Lundqvist made 23 saves in the game, and some of them were beauties, bringing "HEN-RIK" chants from the Garden Faithful multiple times.
If you recall, Lundqvist had a horrid pre-season last year, but this year it is a different story, and he looks magnificent. There is no sign of his shoulder bothering him from last April, so Hank is good to go, and I am anxiously looking forward to watching him this season, because it looks as if he will have one of his best seasons of his career in 2009-10.
Another player that stood out to me was Brandon Dubinsky, who, as I predicted, did not have any rust on his skates. Dubi skated extremely well for only three days of training camp, and was one of the better players on the ice wearing a Ranger jersey, along with Gaborik and Lundqvist. Dubinsky is most definitely a much faster and smoother skater than we have seen in previous years, and is looking for the shot quite often. Brandon admitted to passing up too many opportunities to shoot last season, and he has made an evident change in is game to improve that.
Dubinsky was very strong on the puck, and a prime example was the game-winning goal that he created by taking the puck to the net, and setting Chris Higgins up for the tap-in. Dubinksy is another player that I feel will have a big season this year, and I am very happy that Glen Sather finally got him re-signed.
On defense, the story, once again, was the play of Mike Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy, who was recognized as the top rookie in training camp for the Rangers earlier today. There is not much of a better test for a young player than to go up against Alexander Ovechkin, and Matt Gilroy handled the task like a world-class veteran. There were several instances in which we saw Gilroy knock Ovechkin off the puck, and if this does not prove to head coach John Tortorella that this kid deserves to be in the lineup come opening night, than I honestly do not know what will.
Del Zotto's passing is incredible for such a young player, and he will be this team's powerplay quarterback if he is given the chance. Mike works very well with Dan Girardi on defense, and that will be a solid d-pairing, containing both an offensive-defensemen and a defensive-defensemen. The ultimate test for DZ and Gilroy was whether or not they could bounce back after making a mistake. Well, both players made one tonight, but both players rebounded nicely, and did not show any timidness on the ice as a result of the error.
I cannot stress enough how much these kids deserve to be in this lineup, but it is not my decision. I have faith in John Tortorella that he will make the right one, and that is bringing both of these players to the NHL level in 2009-10.
In my postgame piece, I sort of took a shot at the veterans of this team for not showing up in the pre-season thus far. Tonight, they came out and made me feel much better about them, because players like Wade Redden, Chris Drury, Ales Kotalik, and Chris Higgins were much more noticeable in this contest. It takes the older guys a bit longer to get going than it does for the rookies, because it took until tonight (the sixth pre-season game) to look like a competitive hockey game, and was very exciting to watch.
A veteran of note was Donald Brashear, who participated in two fights, both with the same player. After losing his balance in the first bought, Donald came out and dominated the second fight, in attempt to finally win over the tough Garden crowd. It definitely got the attention of Tortorella, who made it a point to approach Brash on the bench and give him a tap on the back.
To wrap up the postgame analysis, I would just like to comment on some of the line combinations. Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan, who has been stellar in the pre-season, showed great chemistry out there tonight, and that is surely something that Tortorella will take into consideration. The chemistry was not only on offense, but on the penalty-kill as well. They are a very fast duo, as both players have dramatically become faster over the summer, so I could see these two playing on a line together in the future.
Dubinsky and Gaborik were played together on a line tonight, including during a four-on-four situation, which was a very smart move by Torts being that the ice was wide open. Both passed to each other very well, so Dubinsky is ,without a doubt, a viable option for the first line center position, as is Vinny Prospal, who also played well with Gabs.
Even though they did not play together tonight, Artem Anisimov and Enver Lisin have excellent chemistry together as well. I do not know if it is the Russian thing or what, but they click very well, and Tortorella should play them together on Sunday to help make a final decision on AA.
The Rangers will now prepare for their final pre-season game in Washington on Sunday afternoon. There will most likely be one more player cut from the roster by that time, but if not, all remaining cuts will be made at the conclusion of Sunday's game, trimming this roster down to only 20 players.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
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