Do You Think They Heard Me?

I want this column to be as positive as the Rangers Tuesday night win in Anaheim so I'll get the jokes out of my system. Can a power play be anymore pathetic than giving up two quality short-handed opportunities before breaking an 0-19 slump by scoring a goal without the puck actually trickling over the goal line? If you didn't watch the game last night, then you missed Nikoli Zherdev getting taken down on a breakaway and being credited with a power play goal. Good Lord...I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Anyway... 

Just as soon as I finish ripping the Rangers for not putting forth a full and focused 60 minute effort they come out of the gate on their three game road trip with a fantastic road effort. We finally got a glimpse of what this talent can be capable of. The Ducks (17-11-3) were 7-3 in their last ten games going into last night's game and had been playing some solid hockey. Additionally, they are just the kind of team that torments the Rangers. They play tight defensive hockey with the ability to turn defense into excellent transition offense in a flash. These are typically the type of games that have the Rangers down early after they have pressed and pinched for goals only to get burned on a quick rush up the ice by the opposition. Last night however, they looked like a polished playoff contender.

When you're playing the likes of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger you brace yourself for a defensive struggle. The Rangers were up to the challenge. Mara, Girardi, Rozsival, Staal and GASP! even Wade Redden were ready for the game and successfully held Selane and the emerging Ryan Getzlaf in check by playing smart, physical hockey. Usually great defense serves as the spark plug to a struggling offense - and that's exactly what happened. After the defensmen set the tone early, physicality rubbed off on the forwards who applied the best forecheck I have seen all season. The evidence of this can be found on the score sheet. Both goals (I am discounting the fluke empty net take-down) were unassisted and created by good hustle and heads up hockey. My hat goes off to Nigel Dawes who has been long deserving of a goal as well as the Captain Chris Drury who lived up to his title by getting the Rangers on the board early. Also, a special shout-out to Brandon Dubinsky who has been quietly developing into a young powerhouse.

I hope that columns like this can continue, and they should, the Rangers play the Kings tonight.

Lastly, a friend emailed me a few days ago asking what I thought about the Mats Sundin saga so I decided to address it in this posting. The truth is I really don't know. Part of me knows that Sundin is still very, very good and has not shown any true signs of decline in his production. Another part of me wonders where the interest comes from. On a team stacked to the rafters with some of the most highly touted offensive talent of the last ten years, is the problem really a missing goal scorer. The Rangers have seven players with five or more goals, is it worth putting their backs up against the cap and possibly having to defer young talent in order to bring in a hired gun? Last season Sundin registered 78 points in 74 games with 32 goals and 46 assists - some nice numbers, but 6 months ago the Rangers packed up 25 goals and 46 assists and sent them to Siberia. So why now are we so desperate for a big Center? I don't think the answer to the Rangers problems is Mats Sundin. I think it is the addition of a hard nosed two way hockey player like free agent Peter Forsberg  (go ahead and laugh but it makes more sense than Mats Sundin) or a certain someone keeping track of his ex-girlfriends who was last seen in the greater - Dallas area.......