Quick Lightning strikes send Rangers to another defeat

September 26, 2008   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

The puck is dropped.

Bolts of Lightning came quickly in the third. Goals by Ryan Malone and Martin St. Louis That allowed Tampa Bay to erase a one-goal deficit and many good things the Rangers did because despite a 47-25 shots edge, they prevailed outscoring the home club 3-0 to comeback and post a 4-2 win at MSG Thursday night.

The Rangers dominated the first 40 minutes getting goals from ex-Jacket Dan Fritsche in the first and rookie Lauri Korpikoski (2nd of preseason) sandwiched around Chris Gratton’s backhand stuff past Stephen Valiquette to lead 2-1.

However, they easily could’ve led by more if not for a solid effort from Tampa’s Kari Ramo (45 saves). That proved costly as Barry Melrose’s club who will take on the Blueshirts in a two-game series at Prague to kickoff the season sprung to life thanks to goals from Malone and St. Louis 2:18 apart. On a delayed call, the former Pen rebounded home a Steven Stamkos shot to tie it. St. Louis followed suit on a broken play by beating Dmitri Kalinin to a loose puck and then flipping a backhand top shelf for his second with both coming against the Rangers.

Lauri Korpikoski prepares for faceoff.

In exhibition, you’re not expecting a whole lot but the two quick tallies forced Tom Renney to call a rare timeout. This is a guy who hardly ever uses it during the regular season. However, the lack of effort from Kalinin was pathetic as the ex-Sabre couldn’t even be bothered to try letting a dangerous scorer move in and get the shot off without forcing him. He’s been outplayed by Brian Fahey, who once again looked very steady in all facets using his skating to jump into the rush and make wise decisions.

A few days ago, I figured the 27 year-old former Colorado property would be ticketed for Hartford because of stiff competition from prospects Corey Potter and Bobby Sanguinetti and Wolf Pack holdover Thomas Pock. However, both Fahey (18:51 TOI) and Potter (22:06) have fared well outplaying Kalinin who was signed to be the club’s sixth defenseman alongside Paul Mara.

At this point, the addition looks like overkill as they seem to have found something with the smooth skating Fahey, who reminds me of Brian Rafalski. Interestingly, the former University of Wisconsin product was never a big scorer but improved for a third straight season in the ‘A’ with the Chicago Wolves posting 37 points (14-23-37) and 123 penalty minutes in 76 games for 2007-08.

Will he make the roster? He deserves to as does Potter and Korpikoski, who has demonstrated why the Rangers traded up to select him four years ago with superb skating, playmaking and grit.

The club definitely has some interesting decisions with yet another game tomorrow afternoon at home versus the Devils which btw is five games in six days and six in a preposterous eight. So, this is what happens when the league decides to push games overseas? Let’s just say I’m not a fan but have other interesting thoughts on Europe. Perhaps I’ll get to that some other time.

Evgeny Artyukhin added an insurance tally for the Bolts with 19 seconds left concluding the scoring.

Bolts-Rangers

Some quick hits:

-Stamkos tallied two assists once again showing off the skills. Tampa fans are in for a treat based on what I’ve seen. Physical play doesn’t seem to bother this kid.

-There were two entertaining scraps three seconds apart in the first with Ranger enforcer Colton Orr dishing out the punishment to David Koci, who took it like a man staying in there. Orr now looks like one of the best heavyweights in the league and his skating continues to improve even getting a minibreak before being stopped from in close.

-The other fight involved Aaron Voros, who did alright against Zenon Konopka. I loved this signing and the ex-Devil draft pick who made his name with Jacques Lemaire’s Wild continues to impress not only with his physicality but with his ability to make plays. He is an underrated skater with decent hands who should be a fixture on the third line. The guy will be a fan favorite. Nobody should mess with our team. They have seriously upgraded from Ryan Hollweg.

-From the Bizarro World were two misplaced Devil fans who acted inappropriately embarrassing themselves. It was misguided and juvenile behavior. What the heck were they doing piss drunk at a Tampa-Ranger preseason game? Maybe it’s better we don’t know why.

-Petr Nedved got into his third game playing just under 18 minutes. He once again generated chances and worked hard. But there just is no room here. I do believe if another team needs a veteran who can fill a role, they should give him a shot because he looks better than I remember. Very motivated. Best of luck.

Ranger forward Petr Prucha is set.

-Petr Prucha continues to take his lumps getting slammed into the boards drawing a penalty but getting up. He always is a target. Still had the move of the night besting Korpikoski’s dipsy do double deke finish with an inside out one-on-one move and almost scoring. The play drew a power play and the familiar, “Pruuuu” chants from the crowd. He really needs a good season.

-Patrick Rissmiller impressed in 14:40 with a primary helper on Fritsche’s first period tally. He’s similar to Blair Betts but with better scoring ability. I wonder if they’ll find a spot for the ex-Shark.

-If there’s been a negative so far in these games with the Rangers now 1-4, it’s that they continue to fire blanks. They outshoot their opponents with regularity outchancing them by a mile but can’t seem to finish. I realize they haven’t played a full lineup yet but why do I get a feeling it could be rough in the early going? Especially with the back and forth travel added in. Don’t be surprised if they get out of the gate slow again and people start asking where’s Jagr?

Islanders blanked in Philly: In a game I didn’t get to see due to being at the Garden, the Islanders were shutout in Philly 4-0. There were four different Flyer goalscorers- Mike Richards, Mike Knuble, Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul.

Yann Danis went the whole way for the Isles making 22 saves while counterparts Jean-Sebastien Aubin (18 saves in 40 mins) and Martin Biron (6 saves) combined for the shutout.