Avery Leads the Way
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Sean Avery was in classic form last night at MSG where the New York Rangers defeated the Minneso... er, Dallas Stars, by a score of 5-2. Avery scored and assisted on 3 other goals, got in Marty Turco's face (as well as everyone else), and he really had the Dallas Stars' attention last night. Remember- this is the team that signed Sean Avery to a 4-year, 15.5 million dollar deal and when things went wrong, they blamed it all on Sean. Give me a break! Luckily for Rangers fans, he ended up back in Ranger blue and now the Stars have no one else to blame but themselves. Like I always have maintained, Sean Avery could play for my team any day, any week, any time.
Getting back to the game... The Rangers found themselves down early on a fluky goal by Brad Richards. I was thinking to myself, "Here we go again". Luckily for the Rangers, Sean Avery responded with a goal on a slap shot that beat Marty Turco on the shortside. There was a nice pass by Matt Gilroy to set up Avery’s goal, by the way. Later in the period Sean Avery’s passing attempt found Marian Gaborik (who yet again showed he has the fastest gun in the East) who made a nice forehand to backhand move that defied logic. I’ve played and followed hockey for a long time and I am thoroughly convinced that Marian Gaborik has the fastest and quickest hands that I have ever seen.
Heading into the second period the Stars managed to fluke yet another goal off of a Rangers stick (that was held by Chris Drury) as Jere Lehtinen got credit for the goal. Ales Kotalik (believe it or not) blasted one past Turco’s short side yet again after a nice feed by Sean Avery to give the Blueshirts a 3-2 lead with one period to go.
In the third period Avery managed to pull off a magical spin move off the left boards that allowed him to find a hard charging Chris Drury for a nice empty-net deflection. See what happens when you go hard to the net? The Rangers then held on to a 4-2 lead and Ryan Callahan finished off the scoring with an empty net goal making the final score 5-2 in favor of the Rangers. The win gave the Rangers their 2nd in a row at home (Wow! Really?) and a big 2 points in the standings. Overall it was a very good night for the Rangers: Lundqvist was solid, the D was strong, the effort was there, and Sean Avery was clicking on all cylinders. With a record of 7-1-2 in their last 10, have the Rangers finally found some consistency? Who knows. One thing that is for sure is that if you play smart, hard, and give everything that you got- the results usually fall in your favor. The proof is in the pudding, there’s no fooling anyone.
Well, next up for the Blueshirts is a tilt in Atlanta against the struggling Thrashers tonight. The Rangers find themselves in the midst of a playoff push and right now all points are as valuable as gold. Let’s hope that the Rangers can put together another solid effort and take one on the road. With reports being that Chad Johnson will make his first career NHL start, the Rangers will need to give it all they have to make things easier for their rookie net minder.
Lastly, I want to take the time to congratulate Team USA for winning the gold medal in the World Juniors Championship. They had a thrilling OT victory over Team Canada (who mounted a late, third period comeback). As you know, I am Canadian and I was cheering Canada all the way- but you have to appreciate and give credit where it’s due. Team USA, led by Rangers prospects Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Ryan Borqoue, deserved the victory. No sour grapes from me. This win may get more fans in America to start watching and get into the great sport of hockey- because let’s face it, it is needed! Over and out!
By the way... check out this great post-game gem from the one and only Sean Avery.
10 comments:
Avery had a great night, i thought a career night,hes only had 2 four point games in his career,(last night was one of them)i like avery as long as hes wearing a nyr jersey,if he was with any other east team there would be a bounty on his head. i think i read a post by you somewhere that said just let him play(i think he read it because he came to play .he knows the garden and what it takes to play there,and how you can go from hero to zero in the bounce of a puck.if he comes to play "in your face" the way he does best, hell get more of those four point nights.or at least 2 point nights anyway!...i liked the way the rangers played in boston as well they didnt loose there cool when they lost the lead before higgins scored.
i hope team usa fares as well in the olympics as there junior squad did.and we wont hold that whole canadian thing against you!haha
greg m, Avery needs to be himself that's obvious. Unfortunately his past discretion's are being held against him by the NHL. That too is obvious.
No player today has the magnifying glass on him like Avery does. If he steps over the line penalize him like any other player in the NHL not just because he's Sean Avery.
As for the Rangers they have found a mini groove that they will have to continue from here on in. I'll keep hammering that the PLAYOFF PUSH is on
Greg, Got no problem when the better team wins. That was the case for the Jr's. USA deserved the win. As for the Olympics...Well that might be a different story time will tell.
ill root for the united states all the way, but some of the other countries are just so deep in talent,Canada,sweeden,cech rep,even slovakia. im looking forward to them....
greg m, I wouldn't expect anything less. You rooting for the USA. Just like me rooting for Canada.
Worst case scenario for me personally somebody outside North America wins the gold.
Gotta love the game last night. The last person in the world the Stars wanted to succeed was Avery and he was all over the place. Great to see.
Hopefully the Rangers can play well in front of Chad Johnson tonight or it could be a long one... for whatever reason Hedberg owns the Rangers (yet another mediocre goalie that owns us).
Wrath, It was great to see Avery at his petulant best. Unfortunately the Hedberg owned the Rangers again.Chad Johnson should have got the win.
Overall the best effort from the Rangers in some while!Sean had alot to prove and did just that,We all hope that this can continue night in and night out.It proves that Dirty,In your face hockey wins games....Will over Skill!
Great stuff Big Guy.
Paul D, Last night wasn't so good against the Thrashers. Johnson deserved the victory. However I am in total agreement with you.
Playing a hard, gritty, physical, style of play usually works .out well in the end. Just need to find some consistency.
Chris,
What's your take on this Burrows/Auger situation? Seems like that type of stuff is not uncommon.
Jason, All I can tell you is that most referees in my day were respectful towards the players and the game. However it doesn't surprise me at all that this could happen.
Unfortunately even in my day some not all thought they themselves were the show. The game and the players are what fans pay to see. Not the officials. If this true it's not good for the NHL.
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