Biron, Fedotenko spark Rangers past Jets

Sometimes, when you're not going good, someone steps up and makes a play that lifts a team. Such was the case during last night's Rangers' 2-1 win over the Jets at soldout Winnipeg- finally concluding their crazy seven-game trip around the world at 3-2-2. That they managed to go 3-1 on the Western part speaks volumes about the goaltending they received from Henrik Lundqvist and yesterday's hero Martin Biron, who sparkled with 27 saves in his first start since preseason.

“If you look at it, we’ve played seven road games with a trip to Europe and a Western Canadian trip and we’ve only lost two games in regulation,” Biron said after keeping his team afloat with a series of saves early in the third when the Jets buzzed for 90 seconds. “We got points in five out of the seven. You win three of them, it makes a big difference going home.”

As John Tortorella emphasized, they're ugly. But the bottom line is they survived by gutting out tough road wins in Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg and now finally come home for tomorrow's home opener at the newly renovated MSG versus an improved Toronto club. It'll be the first of a six-game homestand. The longest of the season and a chance for the Rangers to take advantage of overwhelming support along with the comfort of their own practice facility in Greenburgh.

Locked in a tie game following ex-Ranger Nik Antropov's blast off a forced Brandon Prust turnover, the Blueshirts were on their heels literally as Winnipeg began to dominate shifts. Despite a huge territorial edge in play, they couldn't get another one past a Biron, who was outstanding making several Lundqvist-esque clutch stops in tight.

While the capable backup got the job done, the Blueshirts had help from Ruslan Fedotenko. The hard working checking wing was the team's best forward, scoring and setting up two actual power play goals. The first came in the second following another meager start in which they had three shots. With nothing working for the top unit, Tortorella sent out Fedotenko, Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan, who finally played like the captain we love. With Dan Girardi also out, he took a Mike Del Zotto pass and then patiently waited for Fedotenko to flash open in the slot. With Boyle in front screening Chris Mason, the more conventional look worked as Fedotenko neatly tipped Girardi's shot pass past the Winnipeg backup for the lead.

With the team more assertive, it looked like maybe they'd pad the lead. But Mason made a few key stops before his team drew even thanks to their top unit. Trying to get the puck out, Prust was closed off by former Devil Johnny Oduya, forcing him to fumble the puck, eventually turning it over to Evander Kane. Kane and Alex Burmistrov combined to set up Antropov, who blasted one past Biron.

Getting plenty of support from a wild home crowd 15,000+ strong, the Jets made life difficult on the Rangers. They controlled play for the rest of the second and the first part of the third until a hustling Fedotenko got around the D and forced Chris Thorburn to take him down. All night, Tortorella mixed his lines, eventually sliding Artem Anisimov down to the fourth line while shifting Brandon Dubinsky to center Callahan and Wojtek Wolski, who received over 15 minutes in his return. There were some oddities with Marian Gaborik sitting for a long stretch for unknown reasons.

None of that mattered when Girardi and Fedotenko combined to spring Callahan, who was flying down the right wing. With Winnipeg scrambling back, he centered for Fedotenko right off Zach Bogosian's skate and in for the game-winner. A relieved Cally raised his arms in triumph with a wide eyed grin as teammates congratulated him. It snapped a six-game scoreless drought.

From there, the Blueshirts clamped down defensively- not allowing the Jets to generate much. Even if they pulled Mason for an extra late, making it dicey, a couple of clears allowed them to exhale with a nice win.


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Ryan Callahan, NYR (PP GW- 2nd of season w/11:19 remaining in 3rd)
2nd Star-Ruslan Fedotenko, NYR (PPG, assist, penalty drawn)
1st Star-Martin Biron, NYR (27 saves, 1st win of season)

Singing The Blues

Where's B.B. King when you need him? Even the King of Blues would be appalled by what's happened to the Rangers' offense. So what if they finally scored a goal in a dismal 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It didn't matter much. Not when you hardly test their goalie. At one point, shots were 13-7 St. Louis with like seven minutes left in the second period. Somehow, our punchless club managed to be tied 1-1 after 40 minutes thanks to immortal Brian Boyle, who slipped a backhand past Chris Mason from Aaron Voros. That was the extent of our offense.

Just how unwatchable was this? The Blues led in SOG 15-12. Outside of Team USA wrecking ball David Backes absolutely destroying our team, there was little entertainment value. Unless you caught a rested Henrik Lundqvist during first intermission and the one and only John Davidson back with Sam Rosen during an emotional segment. It's always a joy to see JD, who admittedly is balder now with whiter hair but definitely has dropped a lot of weight and still has the passion for the sport. Something missing from our cigar smoking son of a gun that somehow continues to cash Jazzy Jim paychecks. At least I caught it because there was little else to keep from switching to awful playoff football and a much more entertaining Sabres/Islanders conclusion in the shootout which Rick DiPietro finally won in his Coliseum return. Ah. Emotion. There was plenty of it written all over his face, thanking just about everyone.

Who should the Rangers thank for another listless performance that made watching a chore? They're slowly killing their own fans. It's no wonder so many sold their tix to Devil fans at the game of the season. Well, it should've just been the final game. Period. That's the lone highlight. Mike Brodeur would disagree since he won a second consecutive start for the Sens in the Hockey Night In Canada match-up over the Habs. The same club our team returns home to play tomorrow. Scott Gomez and Paul Mara's MSG return. How thrilling. They'll probably have a lot more to smile about.

So, how much did I see? Enough to conclude we weren't winning. Even with two bit scrubs like Voros- in for Huggy Bear- and Boyle combining for the club's first goal in 172:00 wasn't enough to inspire most of their teammates. At least Enver Lisin dressed in place of Ally and played hard. Watch Tort healthy scratch him Sunday for some unknown reason. Speaking of the coach, when does he finally realize that Vinny Prospal isn't the same since returning. Why is he still on the top line? Marian Gaborik is being wasted. He must feel like he's in jail. Teams are keying on him, taking away time and space. He's been stuck on 28 goals for a while. Gabby's still trying as evidenced by three break-ins during this putrid stretch but even he's stopped finishing. It's now five games without a goal and only one point. The Big Ticket's scored just twice in eight games this month. Dating back further, it's two over the past 11. It's hard to get on Gaborik because minus him, this would be the worst team. Good job Slats!

Yes. Ocho Cinco got his second start and fared alright, finishing with 21 saves, giving them a chance. Ultimately, our soft as molasses team were overmatched by a much bigger, stronger opponent that pounded away putting the Blueshirts into submission. As Anthony might say in our section, 'how could this team be so soft?' They don't stand up for each other. The other night, the biggest cheapshot artist Jarkko Ruutu did whatever he wanted and nobody answered the bell. Humiliating.


Roman Polak (who???) scored the winner and had a primary helper on Alex Steen's insurance marker. Our great powerless play went 0-for-2 with no shots! Tort even pulled Ocho with over two minutes left using a timeout. As if that was going to save us. My favorite part was when Prosp had a two-on-one downlow and didn't shoot, instead passing for a covered Gabby. You're down two goals! Wow. Twenty-two lousy shots on Mason, who should've had a shutout. Give up a goal to Boyle and you should be sent to the dungeon.

Fittingly, Backes hit the empty to put them out of their misery. When even Joe Micheletti says something negative about the effort, you know it's bad. Dave Maloney sounded comatose. I also heard Pete Stemkowski trashed them on the radio. Think the old-timers are fed up with these cupcakes. They should be sponsored by Hostess.

Well, there's always tomorrow! Annie's warming up.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brian Boyle, NYR (goal-1st in 19 games, 5 hits, +1 in 10:51)
2nd Star-Roman Polak, Stl (GWG/assist, 2 blocked shots, +1 in 21:15)
1st Star-David Backes, Stl (ENG, 5 hits, 2 takeaways, 7-8 draws in 19:14)