Rangers Vs. Sabres: It Wasn't Pretty, But A Win Is A Win

- There's an old saying: There's no style points in hockey. Which is true. And last night is a perfect example. The New York Rangers (aside from Henrik Lundqvist) didn't play particularly well, and yet the team walked away with two points. That's all that matters, in the end, but it wasn't the best effort from the Rangers.

- That said, a few players did stand out. Rick Nash (who scored a beautiful goal) stood out all game. Brad Richards (power play goal) also looked pretty good. Mats Zuccarello (goal) and Chris Kreider were involved all game. Ryan McDonagh (two assists), Derek Stepan (an assist) and Derick Brassard (an assist) played pretty well, too.

- And, of course, the star of the show was Lundqvist. What a brilliant game from him. His best save won't go down as one, sadly. Richards accidentally deflected the puck towards his own net and Lundqvist had to contort his entire body to just get a piece of the puck with his arm. Jaw dropping. The whole game was for the King. Maybe the contract negotiations were wearing on him, or maybe he's been really good since the beginning of the year and people just don't appreciate it. Either way, I'm really happy to have him back for another seven years.

- The Nash and Kreider combination is quickly becoming one of my favorite combinations in a long time. They're both animals on the puck, and Kreider's speed along with Nash's strength makes the duo a hell of a one-two punch. It's so nice to see.

- That being said, the Rangers didn't look like they were interested in playing the game the first 20 minutes. And then that attitude came back for spurts in the second, and the Rangers (minus Lundqvist) were outmatched for the end of the third. Not sure what happened, really, but a better team would have beaten the Rangers on Thursday.

- The Rangers play their next nine games at home. Nine. If this team is going to make a move now is the time to do it.

Not much else to talk about from last night. Thoughts guys?