Rangers See Stars, Lose 2-1.. No Thanks to Sean Avery

Markus Naslund scored an early power play goal in the first minute of the game but that was all the Rangers were able to manage against Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars. Brendan Morrow scored a highlight reel power play goal that was just out of Henrik Lundqvist’s reach. Mike Modano sniped the winner over Lundqvist’s glove late in the third period as the Rangers were unable to generate much offense.

As the game wore on the Rangers looked like they didn’t have any legs and were completely gassed. They started to become lazy and couldn’t sustain a forecheck. They also seemed to be somewhat brain dead as they kept trying to skate the puck past the Stars 1-4 instead of dumping and chasing. They also missed the net more times than they had shots on goal. Not a formula for success.

Sean Avery had little to no impact on the game. He tried to get his Avery on with Stephen Valiquette, Brandon Dubinsky and Lundqvist during warm ups. He tried getting in Henriks face after the play but was promptly steered to the side by Dubinsky. He took a run at Gomez but Colton Orr seemed to put an end to that by waiting for Avery by the Dallas bench and throwing a few jabs at him. But for the most part, the Rangers ignored him, which was expected. He was a non-factor in the outcome of the game.

It seems as though Avery is the one whose missing out though. During his pre-game and post-game interviews he seemed to miss the Rangers and NY. Lets face it, a ‘hollywood’ guy like Avery must be bored to death in Dallas. He had nothing but nice things to say about the Rangers, the fans and the organization as a whole. He said he didn’t mind being booed by the Garden Faithful and said thats what makes the Garden the ‘greatest arena in the world’. He really did seem to wish he was still playing in NY.

When asked about Stephen Valiquette and Brandon Dubinsky’s comments about him, Avery gave his honest opinion. He called Valiquette a “minor leaguer” adding “what better way to get in the paper than by talking about me”. So once again, its all about Sean Avery, no suprise. On Dubinsky, he seemed as though he had no ill will towards him. He did nothing but praise Dubinsky saying hes going to be a great player for a long time.

The Rangers have had a tremendously difficult schedule with 6 games in 9 nights, plus the Europe trip. The next few days off with their next game not being until Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. One thing from the game that has me somewhat infuriated is Pat Rissmiller playing alongside Drury and Naslund. Rissmiller has done absolutely nothing thus far and hasn’t shown anything positive with his play. Why is Petr Prucha not in that spot? It’s ridiculous. He needs to be given more of a shot than hes been given to re-establish himself. Rissmiller has no business playing with Drury and Naslund.