Game Recap
It was one of those nights on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, the kind anyone fortunate enough to have a ticket for the game will remember for a long time afterward.
It was one of those nights where everything clicked for the New York Rangers in a dominating 4-0 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. One of those nights where a total team performance translated into something even bigger than the sum of its parts.
"I think we kept the game simple," said Rangers head coach Tom Renney. "You have to respect your opponent enough to realize that you can't reinvent the wheel and be so creative that you try to do things that are way outside of what has been successful. By and large we try to keep the game simple."
Of course, as strong as the team was overall, it was also one of those special nights for three individuals -- Rangers captain Jaromir Jagr, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and winger Marcel Hossa.
Jagr scored twice to become the NHL's all-time leading European-born goal-scorer; Lundqvist made 34 saves to earn his first shutout of the season and the third of his NHL career; and Hossa got the game-winning goal for the Blueshirts -- his first of the season -- just 3:39 into the game.
With the victory, the Rangers moved back into a tie with New Jersey for first place in the NHL's Atlantic Division. At 12-9-1, the Blueshirts will now get a four-day break over the Thanskgiving holiday before returning to the ice on Saturday night at Pittsburgh.
Building up a 2-0 lead after one period and a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes, the Rangers worked hard in the third period to give Lundqvist the shutout that had eluded him two nights earlier in a 4-1 win over Tampa Bay. It was also the first time Lundqvist had blanked a team other than the Florida Panthers, who were the victims of both his shutouts last season -- which also happened to be 4-0 victories at The Garden.
"Of course it feels good to have a shutout, but the way we played today was outstanding," said Lundqvist. "We played great defense, and that helped me so much. It feels good. We all feel good about our game right now but we just have to keep it going here and get a couple more games in a row. Get a couple more points. Their team (Carolina) is different from last year, but it's a good team. A really good team right now, and they have had a really good record the last couple games, so it was a big win for us."
The crowd roared thundering cheers of "Hen-rik, Hen-rik" over the final minute of play, and Lundqvist thrust his arms into the air -- as it was clear this shutout meant a lot to him.
"We thrive off the energy of the fans, and they obviously thrive off us playing well," said center Blair Betts. "If we aren't playing well they won't be happy with us, and early on in the season we were definitely frustrated. We felt that we weren't playing our best hockey at home ice and we felt bad for our fans that they had to put up with it. But we have had some fire in our belly and have put together a nice streak."
Adam Hall agreed that the fans have been a big factor in helping the Rangers play so well this month at home. The Blueshirts are now over the .500 mark at MSG and unbeaten in regulation at 3-0-1 in November.
"The hockey fans here are so knowledgeable," said Hall. "It's such a treat for me, and I haven't been here a long time. It's little things, not just the hits and the goals, but the little things and little intricacies of the game that they cheer or boo. It's like the crowd is on top of you when the crowd is on top of you."
Other than Lundqvist's shutout bid, the third period was rather short on drama. And if the Hurricanes had any thoughts of coming back from their 3-0 deficit after two periods, those hopes were quickly dsispelled by Jagr, who scored his second goal of the game at 3:11 to pass Jari Kurri as the all-time leader in goals among European-born NHL players.
With 602 career goals, Jagr is now 15th on the NHL's career list. His record-breaking tally came in his 16th NHL season -- one fewer than it took Kurri to establish the previous standard. In Jagr's own mind, the achievement Tuesday night was even bigger than scoring his 600th goal two nights earlier against the Lightning.
"Oh this one means more, definitely," said Jagr. "I am from Europe, and there have been so many great players from there. It means more than 600."
This historic goal came off a pretty deflection of a long shot by Aaron Ward from just inside the blue line. Positioned dead-center in the slot, Jagr got his stick down just as the puck arrived to send it past Cam Ward. Ward, the MVP of last spring's Stanley Cup playoffs, was generally overwhelmed by the same Rangers offense he had been so effective against in the Hurricanes' 2-1 win over the Blueshirts last Wednesday.
"It was a totally different game," said Rangers defenseman Aaron Ward, who won the Cup as a member of the Hurricanes last season. "It was a normal game. I don't know if it was a culmination of being my old team at Carolina and the last time I was there I was hoisting the Cup, but for some reason the butterflies were not present tonight. I was ready to play, and I wanted to be the catalyst and do something. ... That's the thing about this team. We are catalysts out there and are not just waiting for things to happen."
Cam Ward had his hands full throughout the evening, and many of his 23 saves came on prime scoring chances. Hossa and Brendan Shanahan got the goals for the Blueshirts in the first period, and captain Jagr tallied in the second and third to provide the offense on a night when the Rangers played with extreme discipline at both ends of the ice.
The Rangers were penalized only four times in the game, and things went so well for them overall that even a 5-on-3 shorthanded situation early in the second period -- created by penalty calls seven seconds apart against Fedor Tyutin and Karel Rachunek -- didn't seem to faze them.
Not only did the Rangers' three-man unit somehow manage to dictate the play against Carolina's five skaters, but Betts was able to draw a tripping penalty against Carolina sniper Eric Staal that quickly reduced the two-man advantage to a standard power play. During that entire turning point, when the Hurricanes had an extra skater, Carolina managed only two shots at Lundqvist.
"It was big," Betts said of the penalty kill. "Early in the second period with a two-goal lead at that point, if they score there it could be a different game, but the last few 5-3s that we've been down we weren't able to come through, but tonight we did, so that was good."
Lundqvist really took charge of the game in the second period, making a left pad save on Mike Commodore at 6:53 and then coming up with one of his best saves of the season on Ray Whitney at the 10-minute mark. Whitney seemingly had a wide open net as the puck came across the crease to him, directly in front of Lundqvist to the goaltender's right. Lundqvist managed to get back in time to stop Whitney's eight-foot backhand.
"He was great again," said Renney of Lundqvist. "You can see Hank is certainly coming. That is certainly good enough for me. He was certainly good tonight. Carolina is a good team. If they get one or two then they are pushing and it is a different hockey game."
With Lundqvist in control in his own end of the ice, Jagr gave his goaltender an even larger cushion, scoring the second period's lone goal with 6:24 remaining. The goal was the 601st of Jagr's career, tying him with Kurri for the most by a European-born NHL player.
"I think every guy and every line did their job," Jagr said. "We did what we are supposed to do. We have some games when it is easier and some games when it is tougher. When you have a lead they have to take some chances offensively but if you are patient enough you are going to get your chances on the other side."
Jagr scored just over one minute after coming out of the penalty box for a hooking penalty that the Rangers had no trouble killing. Taking a pass from Michael Nylander as he came over the Carolina blue line, Jagr moved down the left side and fired his signature wrister from the left faceoff circle to give the Blueshirts their commanding three-goal lead.
"They (the Rangers) were skating, and the puck was bouncing for them, that was for sure," said Carolina's Scott Wallker. "We have to work a little harder. We didn't have the killer instinct. We had a couple of chances, but they were getting the bounces. We did some things well, but obviously, it wasn't enough to get a win."
In grabbing their 2-0 lead in the first period, the Rangers did not take a single penalty in a period for the first time since an Oct. 30 game in Los Angeles -- a string of 10 games.
"Everyone knows what their role is on the team," said Jagr. "Guys know what to do right now on the third and fourth lines. They didn't try to score goals because that is not their jobs. It is a bonus but not their jobs."
Feeding off their success in two previous home victories over New Jersey and Tampa Bay, the Rangers got on the board first at 3:39 of the opening period, when Hossa redireted a long shot by Fedor Tyutin past Ward.
Stationed directly in front of Ward from 20 feet out in the slot, Hossa caught the puck with the shaft of his stick and angled it in a downward motion past the Carolina goaltender for his first goal of the 2006-07 season. Earlier this year, Hossa had a dramatic shootout goal for the Blueshirts in Philadelphia, but tonight's tally was his first in regulation.
"When you score you have a good feeling, and it finally went through," Hossa said. "It's just a good feeling. It's been a long time, but I saw the puck was coming and put the stick towards it and it went through"
The goal marked the fifth consecutive period on Garden ice in which the Rangers have scored in the first five minutes. Although no goal was scored in the opening minutes of the second period, Jagr's third-period tally was also in the first five minutes.
Aaron Ward said that playing in front of the Garden Faithful has been a key factor role in firing up the Rangers to jump ahead of other teams at home.
"I saw on MSG TV that after Shanny scored that breakaway goal (vs. New Jersey) people were jumping on top of each other and going nuts," said Ward. "You don't usually see those things happening in the regular season, maybe the playoffs with all the emotion involved, but not the regular season. It's really a burst as a player knowing you have players playing the game with the idea in mind that these fans are along for the same ride and are as into the game as you are."
Shanahan put the Rangers up 2-0 with his 17th goal of the season at 15:16, taking a pass from Martin Straka in the slot and beating Ward. The play developed after Matt Cullen tried a wraparound on Ward, who made the stop. The puck came out to Straka, who moved behind the net and dropped the puck back to Shanahan for the goal.
"The fact that we played like we did was big for us," said Cullen. "I think, more so than anything, I think it is a feather in Henrik's (Lundqvist) cap to shut out a team like that speaks volumes for the way he played."
With 17 goals in 22 games, Shanahan is closing in on the pace established by Jagr last season when the Rangers captain set the team's single-season goals record of 54 tallies. Through 22 games last season, Jagr had 18 goals. Shanahan's goal on Tuesday also extended his points streak to eight games -- the longest by a Rangers player this season.
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