Postgame: Rangers Enter Olympic Break on a High Note, Diffuse Bolts 5-2

They couldn’t have gone into the Olympic break on a higher note than today’s tremendous comeback victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden. At first, everyone had that “here we go again” feeling when Steven Stamkos created back-to-back goals in the first period to give the Bolts a 2-0 lead at the end of one. However, a four-goal second stanza saw the Blueshirts take control and capture their second straight win and tie Tampa for ninth place in the Eastern Conference Standings. This one was definitely a boost for the team as they were able to overcome adversity without two star players in Marian Gaborik and Michael Del Zotto.

At about the midpoint of the first, Steven Stamkos’ slapshot from the point deflected off of the stick of Ryan Callahan and fooled goaltender Henrik Lundqvist and trickled into the net. Three minutes later Stamkos was fed coming off the bench and his rifled wrister was deflected in front by Steve Downie and the Bolts were suddenly up 2-0. Head coach John Tortorella, and the fans for that matter, were not happy with the performance from the home team in that period as they were booed off the ice.

In the second period, Sean Avery got things started for the Blueshirts when he was hooked on the breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. Avery came in slowly on Tampa netminder Mike Smith and showed a bundle of patience when he waited the goalie out and roofed a shot over him to cut the Lightning lead to 2-1.Then it was Vinny Prospal at 6:07 of the second who followed up on a rebound and tied the game at two with his third straight goal in three straight games. The Rangers wouldn’t stop there, though, as Erik Christensen buried his fourth and fifth goals of the year to give New York a 4-2 lead entering the intermission.

The third period was quite uneventful other than Chris Drury registering his 600th career point in the National Hockey League with an empty-net tally with only fifteen seconds left in regulation. Just the way to cap-off a spectacular afternoon at Madison Square Garden, which left the team in good spirits in the locker-room, and rightly so after the past two emotional wins this weekend.

Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding once again for the New York Rangers in goal. I am sure Henrik wanted to leave New York and fly to Vancouver for the Olympics in the best possible mood. Well, his red hot goaltending as of late should definitely have his confidence level up a ton compared to where it was at a few weeks ago when the team was not winning.

Erik Christensen and Vinny Prospal are my choices for players of the game in this one. Starting with Prospal, I said in the pregame that he was going to have to take some of the spotlight with the absence of Marian Gaborik in the lineup. That is exactly what he did, as I felt that he was the best player on the ice in all three periods. He led the Rangers in shots in the first, recorded a goal and an assist in the second, and was very helpful on defense in the third. GM Glen Sather is probably now at the point where he is considering a new contract for the Czech native with the way he has performed this season for the Rangers.

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