Rangers Crowned

by Joe McDonald

NEW YORK – This is not what Tom Renney had in mind when his team looked to the New York Giants for inspiration.

The Super Bowl Champs were the road warriors of the NFL, winning a record 11 straight away from the Meadowlands.

And the Rangers started emulating the G-Men, by getting three hard fought road wins.

And then they came back home to the league worst Lost Angeles Kings. The 4-2 loss just highlights what’s wrong with the Rangers this season.

“We talked about a good young team that was 6-3-1 before tonight,” Renney said. “They were just getting better and had nothing to lose. We needed a start to possibly put them on their heels and give us the room that we were looking for and take control of the game early.”

Bt the time Renney called a time out at 13:08 in the first, the Rangers were outshot 14-1 and the Kings led 2-0. That kind of start cost the team and the Rangers never recovered.

“The first period they came out hard, kept it simple,” Michal Rozsival said. “They dumped it in and forechecked hard, and we had trouble getting out of our own zone. They played well. We have to give them credit. They are a young, talented team. Basically we got outworked, especially the first half of the game.”

Sure Chris Drury was able to cut the lead in half after one, but a costly mistake by Sean Avery in the second, which allowed Alexander Frolov to whisk past Jason Strudwick to make it 3-1 killed any hopes of a comeback., even though the Rangers had 40 shots on former Ranger Jason LaBarbera for the final 2 ½ periods.

“You need to outwork your opponent, which we didn’t do to start with and without working we weren’t thinking,” Renney said. “We weren’t the more intelligent team and it cost us two points on a night that could really make a difference.”

Now, the Rangers have to get it done against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday before going on the road over the weekend and then having a rare five days off between games.

“We have to show some video and close the door,” Renney said. “It’s in our hands. Just look at the standings, these are very big games for us. We have to sit back and watch for five days next week while everyone else catches us, as games are played.

“We have to do, what we have to do, now.”

Tagged with: Alexander Frolov, Anaheim Ducks, Angeles Kings, Champs, Chris Drury, Costly Mistake, First Period, G Men, Jason Labarbera, Jason Strudwick, Meadowlands, Michal Rozsival, New York Giants, Own Zone, Rangers, Road Warriors, Sean Avery, Talented Team, Time Out, Tom Renney

Rangers Crowned

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