The New York Rangers without Chris Drury: Where's "Captain Clutch"?

The New York Rangers without team captain Chris Drury the past two games have played their best pair of games of the season. Rangers fans are asking, "Where's "Captain Clutch"?"

The Rangers are not answering that question, saying only that Drury has "undisclosed injuries." It is rumored to be a problem with his wrist or arm.

The Rangers beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 to end the season and beat the Washington Capitals by the same score to start the playoffs.

The Rangers rose to the occasion, playing their best games while their captain was on the injured list. Nobody is suggesting the Rangers are better without him.

Drury did not miss a game all season until the final game. The Rangers did not have much on the line in their last game, as they had already clinched a playoff spot.

Missing the first game of the playoffs was a different sort of scenario. The Rangers scored eight goals and won both games without him.

Drury got two goals and two assists in his last two games of the year so far. The Rangers are on a four game winning streak.

Earlier this season, Drury was criticized as an underachiever. He shouldered the blame when the Rangers endured their longest skid in decades.

His critics say he is a player who will give you 25 goals a season and 60 points but the Rangers gave him the kind of contract usually reserved for a player who gets 45 goals and 100 points.

He finished the 2008-09 regular season with 22 goals and 34 assists in 81 games.

While he is living up to his career average he is not living up to the money, some say, even though he was a leader on the ice and in the dressing room.

Drury became the Rangers' 25th captain at the start of the season and the team got off to a great start, going 10 and 2. After that, he had a disappointing season, shifting from centre to wing and enduring a scoring drought.

The team turned around after the NHL Trade Deadline, with the addition of coach John Tortorella, forward Nik Antropov, defenseman Derek Morris, and the return of agitator Sean Avery.

Avery was promoted from the third line to the first line, with Scott Gomez and Antropov, and Drury's line became the second line.

Gomez thrived under Tortorella, playing with Avery and Antropov. Drury appeared to be responding to the new coach, too.

The reason Drury is out of the lineup is described only as an "upper body" injury. He took the pregame warm-up, but didn't play.

Tortorella said Drury was  "day to day" and that he almost played in the opening game of the playoffs.

Aaron Voros, who had been scratched for 20 games, was back for the game in Washington. Drury is expected back for the second game of the playoffs, Saturday, in Washington.

Ryan Callahan took Drury's place, centering the second line, for the last game of the regular season, and had two goals against the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Rangers got a good deal of offense against the Capitals, surprising them with an upset win, coming from behind to take the lead twice and finishing with a 4-3 win.
Gomez led the scoring with a goal and two assists. The Rangers also got goals from Antropov, Brandon Dubinsky, and Markus Naslund.

Sean Avery led the attack, drawing penalties, battling high-scoring defenseman Mike Green and enforcer John Erskine, as well as goalie Jose Theodore, and setting up the Gomez goal.

Green drilled Fredrik Sjostrom into the boards with a fierce second-period check, leaving him crumpled to the ice. He had to be attended to by the training staff and appeared to have a sore jaw. But he returned from the monster hit.

Avery dumped Green into the Rangers' bench late in the game.

Drury is well known for championships with the Boston University Terriers when he played in the NCAA, a 1989 Little League World Series title, and the 2001 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche.

The Caps won 46 of 56 faceoffs, or 70 percent. The Rangers kept both Alex Ovechkin and Green off the scoreboard.

Ovechkin was the first and only NHLer to score more than 50 goals this season and Green was the first NHL defenseman to hit the 30 goal mark since 1993.

Before the playoffs began, Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated said Drury and Gomez should both start paying back some of their contracts with an impressive series.

When Drury returns, we will see that the Rangers play even better with him than without him.