Thank You Hank

Thanks to Hank’s stellar goaltending the Rangers were able to tally another win last night. The first half of the game the Rangers looked slow and sloppy. The Islanders aggressive forecheck caused numerous blueshirt errors, the most glaring of which was a Zherdev turnover in the first period. Gradually however, and true to form, the Rangers took back the game, going hard to the net and managing the puck efficiently and quickly. 

Who Looked Good

1. Hank – Hank seems to be in midseason form. He is sharp, he is consistent, and he is playing with a purpose. If not for Hank, the Rangers could have been down 5-1 after the first period last night.

2. Gomez – Scott has been on fire the last three or four games. His speed and ability to manage the puck are second to none. I am afraid however, that Gomez’s skill is being underutilized on a line with Cally and Dawes. Gomer needs to be playing with at least one true finisher. While I like Cally’s grit and speed on the wing of Gomer, Dawes has not been the finisher that he needs to be to earn a spot playing alongside Gomer. I say, move Zherdev onto the wing with Gomer and Cally and insert Prucha into Zherdev’s space with Naslund and Drury and see how that works. 

3. Prucha – Prucha, though he did not put the puck in the back of the net, had another strong game last night. He sacrificed his body, drew penalties, and hustled with avengance. On the few occasions that he had the opportunity to play with Naslund and Drury, the line looked pretty potent.

4. Drury – After scoring a flukey goal in the first, Drury seemed to get his confidence back. Drury played hard all night, whether it was in front of the net in the offensive zone, or battling in the corner in the defensive zone. He wanted the puck and he generated chance after chance. This is the Drury we need to show up night after night if we want to be serious cup contenders.

Who Did Not Look So Good

1. Dubinsky – While I have all of the respect in the world for Dubinksy, and although he has had an amazing season thus far, last night was most certainly NOT one of his best games. I will say however, that after taking 2 unnecessary penalities and getting benched by Renney, he did pick up his game. Moreover, after the game, he was the first to admit and take responsibility for his poor play.    

2. Zherdev – In my opinion, Zherdev is one of the most frustrating players to watch. While he is tremendously skilled and has the capacity to do jaw dropping things with the puck, he is also prone to overhandling the puck and to making blatant errors. For instance, last night we saw him turnover the puck in the defensive zone right in front of Hank and commit an uncalled for penalty in the offensive zone in the third. While I think Zherdev has the potential to develop into a tremendous asset for the Rangers, as evidenced last night, he still has some learning and growing to do.  

3. Dawes – Once again, Dawes was invisible last night. He has been unable to capitalize on the beautiful opportunities presented to him by the playmaking Gomez. Dawes is a one-dimensional player and if he is not producing in that dimension, his usefulness to the Rangers is non-existent.

Rangers of the Game

1st – Hank

2nd – Drury

3rd – Gomez