ROSEY’S RANTS
ROSEY’S RANTS
Identity Theft :Rangers 4 Bruins 3 OT
The New York Rangers entered tonight’s contest in search of their identity. While the season is only two games old, The Rangers looked more like Melissa McCarthy then Jason Bateman in back to back losses to the Bruins and Penguins. It should come as no surprise that the Rangers spent a little more time in the video room after practice yesterday in search of last years group that came within 2 games of the Stanley Cup Finals. Coach Tortorella said “We place a lot of emphasis on our identity, but so do a lot of teams, Plain and simple, We’re not hard enough mentally and that certainly translates into physically. So that needs to change.”
A big part of last season’s NY Rangers identity was there success in back to back games. Tonight’s game will begin the second of six back to back sets. The Rangers hope to get back to the success of the 19-4-5 record in back to back games. During the pre-game press conference I asked coach Tortorella how easy it is to lose your Identity as a team, and conversely how tough is it to regain it. He said “It’s a mental thing, you ‘re out for so many months, and the way we play, the way we are able to compete, we don’t win a lot of games 5-2, 6-3,we have to grind away, and we certainly haven’t gotten to that state of mind and getting ready to play that way, so to an extent I think we have lost that, and I think the guys we have in the room and the success we built this last couple of years, I think will help us get back to it quickly”
The coaches pre-game remarks seem prophetic during the first 20 minutes of the game.The Rangers came out in the first period as if they all subscribed to Lifelock, the company that guarantees complete protection from Identity theft. The Rangers cycled hard, they competed and battled for lose pucks, they sacrificed their bodies to block shots. Quite simply they were the New York Rangers. The line of Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards and RIck Nash were busy in the first forging their own identity as one of the most lethal in the NHL. Marian Gaborik getting 2 goals in the first period, the second one driving to the net in traffic, the kind of goal that John Tortorella has been trying to coax out of Gaborik since he arrived here. When I asked the coach about that goal and Gaborik’s willingness to play in the dirty areas of the ice, he responded by saying”He has changed himself as a player since he got here, He might not liking me saying this, but he was a perimeter guy who did not want to practice because he was sore. he wasn’t injured. I think he has grown so much mentally in how he conducts himself, I’ll bet you 80 percent of his goals last year were from five and seven feet by the net. So he is a very talented player that is willing to be there and when I first met him, I don’t think he was willing to be there.” All about identity !!
The Rangers took a two goal lead into the locker room after the first period. The second period was a wake up call , and proof that in order to be successful in this shorten season, you cannot have any lapse in your play or intensity.
The period started out with a tripping penalty 18 seconds in by Marc Staal which resulted in a Bruin Power Play goal by Brad Marchand his second of the season, on Dougie Hamilton’s first NHL assist. Milian Lucic tied it at 2 with an even strength goal at 12:24 of the second when both Derek Stepan and Michael Del Zotto failed to pick him up in the slot. Stepan redeemed himself on the same shift with a key keep in at the point that set up Taylor Pyatt’s go ahead goal 46 seconds later. A big part of the Rangers Identity last season was there resiliency , every time they were faced with adversity in a game they seemed to battle back and tonight while the entire “Ranger” game was not what it was where it needs to be for a full 60, the ability to not let down, to have the confidence in the teams ability to come back was on full display. The Rangers gave up a 2-0, and then with less then 5 minutes to go in the game, they lost a 3-2 lead when Nathan Horton tied it up with a five hole goal against Henrik Lundqvist who is slowly regaining his identity. Marian Gaborik put the capper on the game with a beautiful Overtime winner and the Hat trick to give the Rangers a 4-3 overtime lead, and a major start towards regaining their collective identity.
FOR ALL THE PRE AND POST GAME INTERVIEWS GO TO SPORTSTALKNY’S YOUTUBE PAGE.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013