Rangers Rebound to Beat Jets 3-2 in Winnipeg

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Woods)

The Rangers were coming off two consecutive losses and three out of the last four, and the team was feeling the heat from many members of the media. You know the kind; those that jump on and off the bandwagon when it suits them or when they want to sell papers or secure twitter hits or just raise some controversy or take a different slant than all the others.

Those members of the media that do this for whatever reasons they have, give a disservice to the players, coaches and the team that they cover. You want to write that the team stunk in a game, that is fine, but do not attack a team that has 101 points and is in first place in their Division and one point out of first place in their Conference. That is absurd. The first 73 games of the season are thrown out the window and only the last two are counted because they are bad losses. Seriously guys?

Well those members of the media and those fair weather fans as well will have to talk and write about something else, because the Rangers came from behind twice in Winnipeg and defeated the Jets 3-2.

Henrik Lundqvist was in nets for the Blueshirts and he gave up an early very soft goal, as Jim Slater scored on Hank’s short side when there was not even enough room for the puck to get through, but it did.

Mats Zuccarello, the small guy with the huge heart, was able to convert a rebound into his 15^th goal of the season. But in the second period, former Ranger Lee Stempniak scored a goal on his old team to give Winnipeg the lead. But it was short lived, as Derick Brassard scored on the Power Play to tie it up at 2-2.

There was a play in the second period that the fans and the announcers will still be talking about tomorrow. A shot on the Winnipeg net resulted in a rebound that J. T. Miller was trying to corral, when Dustin Byfuglien unleashed a horrific cross check to the back of the neck of Miller, who at this time was on his knees and defenseless. But worse than that, all four on ice officials MISSED the play and NO PENALTY WAS CALLED!!!!

How these four blind mice missed this play, or decided not to call in is absurd. If they missed it, shame on them. If they decided not to call it, they should be fined and suspended themselves.

But, Karma bites you back. With less them four minutes left in the third period, Derek Stepan dug the puck out from behind Lundqvist and passed it to Miller. J. T. skated up ice and threw a beauty of a pass to the tape on Chris Kreider’s stick, and the ex BC Eagle did the rest. He outskated the aforementioned Dustin Byfuglien and swooped in on Ondrej Pavelec and scored the game winning goal on a neat backhand move. Kreider lost his edge and wound up in the net with the puck.

With under 40 seconds left in the game and the Jets desperately trying to tie the score, Dustin Byfuglien rode Mats Zuccarello into the boards and slashed the Hobbit. This penalty negated the extra man advantage of pulling the goalie, and the Rangers ran out the clock on the power play, to preserve the victory 3-2.

Scoring:

WPG: Jim Slater (4) Assisted by Chris Thorburn & Jiri Tlusty

NYR: Mats Zuccarello (15) Assisted by Rick Nash & Derick Brassard

WPG: Lee Stempniak (12) Assisted by Mathieu Perreault & Adam Lowry

NYR: Derick Brassard (17) Assisted by Ryan McDonagh & Keith Yandle

NYR: Chris Kreider (21) Assisted by J. T. Miller and Derek Stepan

Team Stats                              NYR                    WPG

Shots on Goal                         24                         34

Power Play                              1 for 3                  0 for 2

Hits                                         14                         19

Face Off Wins                        27                         35

Giveaways                              15                         13

Takeaways                             8                           6

Blocked Shots                         24                         9

Goalie Stats:

Ondrej Pavelec: 21 Saves on 24 Shots for a SV% of .875

Henrik Lundqvist: 32 Saves on 34 Shots for a SV% of .941

Three Stars of the Game:

3^rd Star: Henrik Lundqvist: 32 Saves on 34 Shots for a SV% of .941

2^nd Star: Adam Lowry: 1 Assist

1^st Star: Derick Brassard: 1 Goal 1 Assist

Broadway Bits:

The New York Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association nominated Marc Staal for the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy. This is awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the sport.

The New York Writers also awarded Derek Stepan with the John Halligan Good Guy Award for cooperation with the media.

The Broadway Blueshirts earned their 25^th road win of the season with this victory in Winnipeg.

The Rangers were 10-4-1 during the month of March

The Rangers have allowed two goals or less in 41 of their 76 games so far this season

The Rangers were 2 for 2 on the penalty kill

Derick Brassard had two points (a goal and an assist) and had four shots on goal in 15:44 of ice time

Dan Girardi had 10 blocks, which set a single game career high. He also had five hits and two shots on goal in 23:57 of ice time

Alain Vigneault has now coached in 964 games, which ties him for 23^rd place all-time with Jack Adams and Sid Abel

Chris Kreider had the game winning goal and three shots on goal in 15:30 of ice time

Mats Zuccarello had a goal and two blocked shots in 18:55 of ice time

Rick Nash had an assist, two takeaways and three shots on goal in 16:33 of ice time

Ryan McDonagh had an assist in 24:23 of ice time

Keith Yandle had an assist, three shots on goal and two blocks

T. Miller had an assist and a plus one rating in 15:04 of ice time

Derek Stepan had an assist, won nine of 18 Face offs and posted a plus one rating in 18:02 of ice time

The Rangers have now played 76 games and have a record of 48-21-7 for 103 Points which is good for first place in not only the Metropolitan Division, but the Eastern Conference as well. Only Nashville at 103 points and Anaheim at 105 points are ahead of the Broadway Blueshirts, but the Rangers have a two games in hand on both of them

The Rangers will travel to Minnesota and play the Wild on Thursday at 8:00PM EST on the MSG Network

The Garden of Dreams Foundation held a telethon during the game. You could have called in or used MSG online to purchase a raffle ticket for $100.00 a piece to help the Garden of Dreams help children who are sick or in need throughout the tri state area. The collected over $200,000 between 7:30 and 11:00 PM

I called in during the first intermission and purchased my raffle ticket.