Sorry for the delay, but procrastination got the better of me yesterday. I was able to catch the game late last night, and I have to say that I was impressed at what I saw. The Rangers played a solid 60 minutes last night, which was probably their biggest problem last season. Some other things that stuck out from last night:

– Almost every site is reporting it, but it’s true; parking a man in front of the net did wonders for the power play. It was the reason for Jagr and Shanahan’s goals. Nigel Dawes’ was just a cool deflection. The Rangers need to keep that up.

– Fedor Tyutin’s hitting keeps getting better. So does Dan Girardi’s. Seeing Joey McDonald’s gear go flying was insane, but the fact that those two take players to the boards, or to the ice without taking penalties is exactly what needs to be done if the defense is going to stay this sharp.

– Sean Avery wants to come back for Thursday’s tilt against Michael Nylander and the Capitals, but it looks like he’ll be held back until Saturday’s game. When he comes back Jason Strudwick obviously goes back to his position in the press box and Ryan Hollweg moves back down to the fourth line, but no one can knock the job these guys have done. Strudwick has provided good forechecking minutes, and Hollweg didn’t look too out of place, although neither did anything spectacular either. The real problem comes when it’s time to move someone else out of the lineup, as Dawes cannot be moved.

Same lineup most likely on Thursday, and while I was all for a call up last week, I don’t mind not having one now. Shows why I am not behind the bench or in the front office for the Blueshirts. Maybe some day though, you never know. Back on Thursday unless something newsworthy happens.