Rangers Allow Devils to Exorcise MSG Demons; lose 4-2

*Excuse my absence after the San Jose game. Not only was I not able to watch the game, I was too ashamed to even write about what I did see.

Post-Game Thoughts:

• It’s very rare to watch a Rangers Devils matchup and not see a competitive, exciting game. This was no exception. A physical edge, end-to-end action etc.
• The stud pairing of Dan Girardi-Marc Staal did not have a good game at all. Staal’s neutral zone turnover lead to Bergfors’ goal and Girardi’s passiveness allowed Zubrus to walk in front of Lundqvist and deflect the game-winning goal for New Jersey. Despite putting points up, Girardi has not been his consistent, reliable self early on this season. Tortorella called Girardi out after the preseason, saying he didn’t have a great camp and called him out again after the game last night, saying his play was “average.”
• Brashear was a healthy scratch for this game and I’m OK with that. In fact, let him ride the pine for a while. I think he’s better used sparingly and should only be used in games against overly physical teams.
• We saw John Tortorella mix up the lines quite a bit in this game, something he likes to use if he feels the lines have become stale or is trying to jump start players (Callahan, Higgins). Good to see Enver Lisin get some 1st line time along side Prospal and Gaborik.
• The 3 Million Dollar Man a.k.a Ales Kotalik scored a beauty of a goal to tie the game at 2. If not for a brilliant save by Marty Broduer in the 2nd period, Kotalik would have had 2 goals.
• I was very impressed with New Jersey’s extra effort tonight, especially on defensive plays they didn’t give up on. Colin White’s diving poke check on Ryan Callahan late in the game is a prime example as the Devils did this multiple times tonight.
• 8 straight games now with the New York scoring a PP goal. Somewhere, Perry Pearn is sulking.
• I cannot fully blame Lundqvist for the game winning goal because, if not for some spectacular saves, this game would have been out of reach. However, I thought Henrik could have been a bit more aggressive on that 3rd goal. Even he would agree he could have.

Next game: Saturday in Montreal 7:00pm start