New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins: Gameday Notebook
Today's game has huge ramifications. If the Rangers win, they hop over the Penguins and will be sittin' pretty in the sixth spot. They also will have built a four point lead over the Habs. If the Rangers lose, they might have lost their opportunity to catch the Penguins for good. I'm not sure what the exact record is, but the Rangers do not play well in the Igloo. I don't know why, maybe its the 18,000 #87 wearing fans screaming for their lover boy that knocks them off their game.
- Henrik Lundqvist is going to get the start today after being given the night off against Atlanta. Hank is 8-2 over his last 10, but as PensBurgh points out, he didn't fare so well against the Pens in their last meeting.
- Evgeni Malkin is the 2nd best player in the league IMO, behind AO. A few games ago him and Siddy didn't get register a shot on goal. It would be fantastic if that could be the case today.
- The Rangers are going to be facing a much stronger Penguins team than their last go around. Recently acquired Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin have solidified the Pens up front. I was a bit of a critic on the Guerin trade. He was a great pick up for the price and thus far, he has done much better than he did a few years ago when he was traded to the Sharks at the deadline. He has 10 points in as many games. As always when the Rangers play the Pens, be on the look out for the cheese and whine of Sidney Crosby. I fully expect Sean Avery to be in his face right from the drop of the puck.
- Colton Orr does a nice job getting Crosby going. I'm not so sure he's going to see the ice enough to do so though since Tom Renney is gone. /
Arguably the Rangers biggest game of the season, at the very least they need to scrape out a point. I will be disgusted if they come out flat in the first period though. It's somewhat understandable (not an excuse) to take the Thrashers lightly, but a division rival in the middle of a playoff race? They better come out flying.
