Rangers/Devils Recap: Avery Returns

The New York Rangers hosted the rival New Jersey Devils on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. It was the second meeting between the 2 this year, and it marked the first game a of a key 4 game stretch for the Rangers in which they will play each member of their division once. The big story was the return of agitator and crowd favorite Sean Avery to the Rangers' lineup. Avery injured his shoulder in the second game of the season on a cheap shot by the Ottawa Senator's Chris Neil. Last season the Rangers were hovering on the bubble of the playoff picture when they brought Avery in at the trade deadline. New York then went on a tear, and many attribute the turnaround to Avery's energy and toughness. On a side note, Marek Malik, a member of the Rangers' top defensive pair was out with a knee injury. He is considered day to day. Jason Strudwick took his place in the lineup.

Avery's return to the lineup caused head coach Tom Renney to make some changes in the line combinations. Rookie Brandon Dubinsky centered Jaromir Jagr and Marcel Hossa. Scott Gomez centered Avery and Petr Prucha. Chris Drury centered Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes, to round out a 3rd very dangerous scoring line for the Rangers. The 4th checking line of Blair Betts, Colton Orr, and Ryan Hollweg remained in tact.

Right away, Avery's contribution to lineup was noticable. The Prucha/Gomez/Avery line provided a spark all game long, often holding the puck in the Devils' zone for the duration of their shifts. In fact, Scott Gomez netted a goal against his former team early in the 1st period. Petr Prucha made some nice moves as he carried the puck from end to end. He threw it at Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur, and the puck bounced back out to Gomez, who blasted it through a Sean Avery screen and past Brodeur. Unfortunately, the Devils answered right back as Sergei Brylin jammed one passed Henrik Lundqvist in a scram in front of the Rangers' net only 33 seconds later. Although Avery did not record a point, he registered 5 hits and agitated the Devils into some penalties. He had a pretty typical Avery game, and the crowd was certainly glad to have his energy back on the ice.

While the line changes may have energized the Gomez and Drury lines, I felt like the Hossa/Dubinsky/Jagr line was lacking energy throughout much of the game. Dubinsky and Hossa simply don't control the puck well enough to help Jagr keep the puck in the opponent's zone. Maybe I'm just accustomed to the puck dominance that the Jagr line used to display when Michael Nylander centered Jagr the past 2 seasons. Renney really needs to find the right combination of linesmates to get his superstar winger going.

From then on, the story of this game was all about the 2 outstanding goalies. Lundqvist and Brodeur are arguably the two best in the game, and both certainly played that way for the final 2 and a half periods. Lundqvist made an outstanding save midway through the 2nd period. As he was lying on the ground, the puck was flipped over his head, at which point he bent over backwards and swatted the puck away with his glove just before it crossed the goalline. Brodeur answered a little later on with an outstanding glove snare on Brendan Shanahan. Lundqvist again made an outstanding stop in the 3rd period. The puck rolled slowly into the Rangers zone and a Devils forward and Lundqvist both charged the puck at the same time. Lundqvist attempted to clear it with his stick, but it hit off a Rangers defenseman right to a Devils player. Despite an open goal, Lundqvist dove backwards and made an awesome pad stop to keep the score a tie.

Regulation time ended in a 1-1 tie and the game went to overtime. There wasn't too much offensive action in OT, except for a Chris Drury breakway on Martin Brodeur. Drury received an outlet pass and had a 1 on 1 situation with Brodeur. He wound up and took a slap shot but the Devils goaltender blockered it away. OT also ended in a 1-1 tie, and the game commenced to the shootout.

A shootout in the NHL is always a treat, but its even more exciting when it includes 2 premiere goalies. The first shooter for the Rangers was Marcel Hossa. He deeked Brodeur to the left but then flipped it too high over the top of the net. The Devils first shooter, Zach Parise, got Lundqvist leaning the wrong way, but lost control of the puck and could not get a shot off. The Rangers second shooter was Petr Prucha. Prucha moved in on Brodeur, faked a wrist shot, and then put one into the back of the net just over Brodeur's outstretched left pad. With the Rangers up 1-0 in the shootout, Brian Gionta tried to beat Lundqvist low and to the left, but Henrik stoned him with his right pad. Brodeur then knocked away Nigel Dawes' wrister with his glove, leaving it up to John Madden to beat Henrik Lundqvist to extend the shootout. Madden moved in but shot it well over the net, giving the Rangers the 2-1 (1-0) victory.

The Rangers have now won 3 in a row to even their record up at 6-6-1. Henrik Lundqvist was once again outstanding in a low scoring game, and again asserted his dominance in shootouts. The stars of the game were as follows: 3rd Star: Scott Gomez, 2nd Star: Petr Prucha, 1st star: Henrik Lundqvist. I also however give honorable mention to Martin Brodeur and Sean Avery. The Rangers now continue with 3 in-division games against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night, the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, and the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night.