Third period comeback falls short

September 28, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

In their final preseason game, the Rangers forgot to set their alarm clocks by failing to show for the first two periods in a 4-3 loss at Washington yesterday.

Having been pretty busy ourselves the previous day with a fantasy hockey draft and other stuff, we didn’t catch the disturbing aspect which saw John Tortorella’s club trail 4-0 after 25 minutes. An explosive Caps club took advantage of the sluggish start scoring twice in the first and getting two more before the second was five minutes old.

Brooks Laich got it started when turnover machine Michal Rozsival missed completely on an Artem Anisimov pass. He then deked Henrik Lundqvist going backhand. Alex Semin followed with his second goal in two exhibitions late in the stanza.

It only worsened as the Caps continued to dominate getting a Chris Bourque deflection at 2:59 and a Mike Knuble rebound less than two minutes later making it four goals all on Lundqvist, who was hung out to dry. Expected to go the distance a second straight in the back end of a home-and-home, he was lifted after 40 due to Washington holding a 24-11 shots advantage.

After being humiliated, the Rangers finally woke up playing a great third period scoring all three of their goals while outshooting the Caps 20-4. Anisimov got the comeback started by burying a Rozsival feed from the right circle for a power play goal. It was his club-leading fourth of the preseason, showcasing why the organization likes him. Minus Jaromir Jagr last year, they had no one who could one-time the puck like that for such tallies. Especially on the powerless play.

Continuing to attack, the club drew another power play coming close a couple of times. Despite not cashing it, they didn’t get discouraged with Marian Gaborik nearly tallying off a nice rush which was snuffed out by a Cap defenseman. He’d later draw a man-advantage off hard work. Prior to that, Evgeny Grachev finally scored. Off a nice defensive play by Marc Staal, who looked sharp in his return from a groin issue, Grachev led a three-on-one down the right side faking pass before absolutely wiring one far high side on Russian countryman Semyon Varlamov.

Deadly could be a word to describe the perfect shot which was in the net so quick, it eerily reminded us of the shorty Gaborik scored the other night on Jose Theodore. That kinda skill is what has many excited about the 19 year-old who afterwards was assigned to Hartford where he’ll get to play more for Ken Gernander, continuing to adjust to the pro style. Though we like what we saw, it’s the best move for the kid. Expect to see him sometime next year.

Former Cap Donald Brashear concluded the comeback bid by burying a one-timer off another great play by Staal, who carried the puck deep behind the net before setting up the veteran enforcer with a nice backhand pass for his second assist on Yom Kippur. Exactly what Tortorella wants to see from the third-year blueliner. If only he felt similarly about Dan Girardi, who he cited as not having a good camp. What about Rozsival? He’s been dreadful.

At least Wade Redden has looked better. He could be teamed with impressive rookie Matt Gilroy, who got the day off with the club wanting to give Alexei Semenov one more look. Figure the club to sign him. The question is will they start the year with seven with Mike Del Zotto impressing? The 19 year-old former 2008 first rounder can play in nine games before they have to decide. Would you send him back to London? What is another year in the OHL going to do? Along with Gilroy, he looks like he can handle responsibilities that include QB-ing our PP.

We’ll see if Tortorella agrees.