October 12th '09: Rangers 7, Maple Leafs 2

Game Highlights:


Flexing their offensive muscles, 5 wins in a row and the Rangers are tied [with the evil Penguins] for the league lead. With 7 points on the board, a lot of players stats got a nice bit of padding - and in some cases crucial padding to their careers.

Wade Redden's goal and two assists, his first 3 points of the season, put him right on par with the 0.6 point/game production that his salary assumes, as we discussed in this story. Keep it up #6.

Dan Girardi and Sean Avery both put in two goals a-piece from positions on the ice (top right circle for D-Gir and <10 feet from the net for Avery) that gave me a feeling of deja-vu of the '06-07 and '07-08 campaigns in which they've experienced their Blueshirts-best campaigns - so far..

Enver Lisin played particularly hard tonight I think, especially with that massive open-ice hit in the 2nd, although forcing Lundqvist to make another big save. Amazing effort on all cylinders.

Chris Higgins' (0-2-2, +1) and Matt Gilroy's (1-0-1 +1) stats have not reflected their hustle and success in the coach's system. The defining principle of John Tortorella's game is offensive-zone presence and these two players have made some outstanding rushes and plays that have moved the puck into the offensive zone and sprung major opportunities. If there is a magical statistics wheel in the sky, it's next spin would land on some big points for these players, at this team's rate.

Donald Brashear and Colton Orr's bare-knuckled melee was long-awaited and a valiant effort by both. Although I know if Colton Orr really wanted to, he could of swung those huge, full-bodied hay-makers and gone for the guttural knockout, so kudos to the ex-Ranger for keeping to the jabs. It also makes me wonder if after tonight's duel Donald Brashear will have reached his comfort zone. You know the comfort zone.. throwing high hits, sucker punches, hits from behind. I await the villainy of Donald Brashear as eagerly as I await the scoring or gloves-dropping of Brian Boyle.


Dan Girardi, Henrik Lundqvist, Chris Drury Post-Game:


John Tortorella Post-Game:


Al Trautwig and Dave Maloney Post-Game: