Matt Gilroy Sent Down After Blackhawks Beat Rangers 2-1 in Overtime - Dec. 12th '09

Game Highlights:


Dustin Byfuglien skated around Matt Gilroy to score the Overtime game-winning goal a few minutes after Matt Gilroy [among others] allowed Jonathan Toews to poke the puck in over a prone Lundqvist to tie a game that had been a Rangers' 1-0 lead for 41:55 of the game. By the way - in moments like this one really misses the presence of a big, physical defender like Paul Mara or Alexei Semenov.

You can assume that John Tortorella's thinking was even quicker than his actions, as Matt Gilroy (the highest +/- rated +2 on the Rangers defense) was promptly sent down to the Hartford Wolfpack. With Ilkka Heikkinen still on the roster [a healthy scratch this game], John Tortorella is able to fill 6 spots with Gilroy gone. It also makes you wonder if Heikkinen's satellite-presence was the pre-cursor to some defensive-discipline - Tortorella Style - of which Gilroy was the unfortunate victim.

That being said, the Rangers stole the 1 point they earned in Chicago almost entirely on the shoulders of Henrik Lundqvist, who made a season-high 39 saves - some of which were highlight-reel caliber against NHL top-ten forwards.

* Chris Higgins scored a goal for his 3rd point in 3 games (2-1-3), which the Rangers ended up clinging to for over 40 minutes.

* Marian Gaborik recorded the assist on the play, after a nice pick-and-roll by Michal Roszival. Although not much effort was made by the Blackhawks' backcheckers at this point in the game to cover Gaborik, their lesson was soon learned.

John Tortorella Post-Game:


Henrik Lundqvist (very emotional), Marc Staal Post-Game: