ROSEY’S RANTS
ROSEY’S RANTS
Groundhogs Day Rangers 2 Flyers 1
Ground Hogs Day came four days early this year. It is only fitting that the Rangers played the Flyers who hail from a state that has the the largest Groundhog Day celebration in the states which is held annually in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. For those of you who are too young to remember the 1993 Bill Murray classic film, in which Murray plays Phil Connors, an arrogant and egocentric Pittsburgh TV weatherman who, during a hated assignment covering the annual Groundhog Day event in Punxsutawney, finds himself in a time loop, repeating the same day again and again. I have to imagine that Peter Laviolette is beginning to feel a little like Phil Connors whenever his Flyers take on the Rangers. The Rangers headed into tonights game having won 8 of their last 9 games against the Flyers dating back to March of 2011. They have outscored the Flyers 35-15 over those 9 games, and have won 4 straight at the Garden outscoring the Broad Street Bullies 18-4 in those 4 games. To say the Rangers have the Flyers number would be an understatement.
The Rangers picked up in the first period just where they left off Saturday night in the third against the Maple Leafs. They played strong below the hash marks, won every battle in the corners and while the shots were close at 11 -9 in favor of the Rangers, the Rangers had the better of the play.
Michael Del Zotto got the Rangers on the board with his second goal of the season, with Benn Ferriero got his first point as a Ranger with the assist at 1:57 of the first. One of the numbers you usually look to to see how the Rangers are playing is blocked shots which sometimes is misleading the Flyers blocked 11 Ranger shots and the Rangers only 5 of the Flyers, the reason is the Rangers rarely let the Flyers have the puck in the first. Would Peter Laviolette come out of the locker room for the second period only to have a replay of the 28 some odd periods he has witnessed before ?
According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, then spring will come early; if it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks. It’s ironic that in the second period that every time the Flyers had the puck they saw a shadow of the Ranger player marking him, and most times the Flyers retreated. The Rangers seemed to have a set game plan against the Flyers which focused on defending below the hash and center in. That game plan would be tested on a key 5-3 penalty kill. Jeff Halpern was every thing he was advertised to be on that kill, defending the last 30 seconds without a stick. After the huge kill the Rangers went up 2-0 as the Rangers were awarded a power play of their own when Max Talbot pulled down Del Zotto. And at 11:31 the Rangers cashed in as Ryan Callahan buried a his second of the season off a picture perfect passing sequence with Rick Nash and Del Zotto.
The Rangers would take the 2-0 lead into the third and just like so many times before the Flyers would make it interesting as the Rangers took a series of penalties, which led to Kimmo Timonen’s power play goal which cut the lead to 2-1 . The Rangers would hold on for the 2-1 victory , and putting them at .500 for the season and giving them their first winning streak. The bad penalties in the third and an injury to Ryan Callahan left the locker room less joyous then most wins over the Flyers.
For the Flyers it was the same old story, Ground hogs day all over again....
Tuesday, January 29, 2013