RANGERS EDGED BY BOSTON IN PRESEASON OPENER
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By Jim Cerny, newyorkrangers.com
After only three days of training camp, the Rangers took to the ice on Tuesday night for their first 2009 preseason game. On an evening in which the Rangers played progressively better as it wore on, the home team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Boston Bruins at Madison Square Garden.
“I thought as the game wore on we got stronger,” said Rangers head coach John Tortorella. “As the game wore on some good things were there.”
Trailing 2-0 midway through the third period, the Rangers finally broke through against rookie netminder Tuukka Rask, who interestingly blanked the Blueshirts in his only NHL start last season.
Defenseman Alexei Semenov, who is attending training camp with the Rangers on a tryout basis, fired a wrist shot through a maze of players in front, and after Rask made the pad save,
Christopher Higgins beat Boston’s Zdeno Chara to the loose puck and slipped it into the net at the 10:05 mark to bring the Rangers within one.
“I thought Higgins was probably one of our strongest players on the puck, especially the second half of the game,” saidd Tortorella. “If we are going to be a good team, and a competitive team, he needs to be a goal-scorer for us.”
The Rangers carried the action to the Bruins over the final half of the third period, but were unable to score again.
P-A Parenteau,
Evgeny Grachev, and Higgins all came very close to scoring, but were denied by Rask.
Of the 20 players who dressed for the Rangers, only five were regulars with the club in 2008-09. Newcomers
Ales Kotalik,
Matt Gilroy,
Brian Boyle,
Donald Brashear,
Enver Lisin, and Higgins all wore the home blue jersey for the first time as members of the Rangers organization.
Lisin showed tremendous jump, creating three different scoring chances on his first two shifts of the game. He displayed quick feet, nifty stick handling, and a nice chemistry with fellow Russian linemates
Artem Anisimov and Grachev.
Kotalik, who signed with the club as a free agent over the summer, stood out most when the Rangers skated on the power play. Tortorella played Kotalik, a forward, on the left point of the first unit, and he responded with three shots on goal, including a booming slap shot at 7:25 of the second that required a quick right-pad save by Rask. Kotalik also shined at even strength, earning an assist on the goal scored by Higgins.
“I didn’t know this would happen, but on the first power play the coach told me to go to the point, and that’s where I go even though we really didn’t have time to work on anything,” said Kotalik. “I was able to get some heavy shots through. But we’ll work on it, and I’m sure it will get better.”
Although the power play was held off the scoreboard by Rask and his Bruins teammates, the Rangers moved the puck well throughout and had several very good chances to score with the man-advantage. Key to the puck movement was the play of two youngsters vying to make the opening night roster -- the 25-year-old Gilroy and 19-year-old
Michael Del Zotto.
Neither of the young defensemen showed any signs of being nervous. And both confidently jumped into the play in the offensive end, whether on the power play or at even strength.
“I thought I played really well, and I felt really good out there,” said Del Zotto, the Rangers’ first round pick in the 2008 draft. “Playing with (Dan) Girardi made it that much easier for me.”
Del Zotto also made a nifty hip-check that sent Boston’s Chuck Kobasew to the ice early in the first period. And Gilroy displayed some grit when he picked himself up off the ice after being hit hard from behind midway through the middle period to create a scoring chance for Kotalik.
Gilroy downplayed his effort, and said, “I got hit on the power play, and then I took a swing at a puck and couldn’t see it with the blood in my face, and I whiffed on it and got off the ice as quick as I could.”
However, Gilroy, like Del Zotto, was pleased with his overall play on Tuesday.
“Towards the end I got into a little bit of a rhythm, and it was nice,” said Gilroy, who was second on the team with four shots on goal.
Tortorella was also pleased with the play of Gilroy and Del Zotto, who will both be in the lineup again on Wednesday night when the Rangers skate against the Devils in Newark. The head coach said that both youngsters will “get a long look”, though they are not “locks to make the team.”
Steve Valiquette started in goal for the Rangers and was sharp, allowing just one goal on 19 shots in 31:17 worth of action. He was particularly solid in the first period when the Bruins, buoyed by four power plays, outshot the Blueshirts 14-6.
The only goal Valiquette surrendered came at 7:30 of the opening period. Zach Hamill, the Bruins first round pick in the 2007 draft, was left open to Valiquette’s right to score an easy power play goal. Veteran winger Marco Sturm made the quick feed to earn the primary assist on the score.
Valiquette earned a measure of personal revenge later in the first period when he fell into the splits to rob Hamill on the doorstep of the crease.
Matt Zaba, who posted an impressive 2.33 goals against average in 41 appearances with the Hartford Wolf Pack a year ago, replaced Valiquette at the 11:17 mark of the middle stanza and faced only three shots the remainder of the period. He stopped them all; and the Rangers trailed 1-0 after 40 minutes of play.
However, the Bruins scored another power play goal at 6:39 of the third period to take a 2-0 lead. Max Sauve, a 19-year-old center, got in behind the Rangers’ defense to accept a centering pass, and then neatly tucked a backhand shot past Zaba for the score.
Zaba, who robbed Milan Lucic with a diving save with 33 seconds left in the game, stopped 15 of the 16 shots he faced.
The Rangers will now play three road contests over the next four nights as the preseason schedule continues. After Wednesday’s game against the Devils, the Rangers will skate against the Red Wings in Detroit on Friday and then in Boston against the Bruins on Saturday.
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