B R O A D W A Y***B L U E S H I R T S

NY PJ1 wrote:

for sure ? on a blog?

just nervous lol

HE'S 'LIGHTS' OUT
HENRIK & CO. TOP TAMPA
By LARRY BROOKS
FINISHING TOUCH: Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist is congratulated by teammate Paul Mara in Tampa last night after the Blueshirts' 2-1 winover the Lightning.November 22, 2007 -- TAMPA - In the showdown between the irresistible force known as Vincent Lecavalier and the immovable object that is King Henrik Lundqvist, the goaltender stood his ground and the center's might was resisted.

This can be documented by the Blueshirts' 2-1 victory here last night against a Lightning team that had scored 24 goals in its previous five games and came into the match as the highest-scoring team in the East and the second-highest scoring team in the NHL at 3.4 goals per.

This can be documented by virtue of the fact that Lecavalier, who came into the match with a multi-point game streak of eight (7-14-21) - the longest such string in 12 seasons - was held off the board by a combination of Lundqvist's excellence and the Blueshirts' commitment to a defense-first game.

"I read on the [grease] board in here before the game that he had a lot of points in a row, but I didn't think about that too much; I had a lot of focus on my own game," said the King, whose bid for a fifth shutout was spoiled with 16.7 seconds remaining.

"The last couple of games I felt like I was OK, not great, so I played a little deeper and was more square. It worked for me."

It worked for Lundqvist, who made 32 saves, and it worked for the Rangers, who lead the NHL in goals-against at 1.79 per and have held opponents to two goals or fewer in 16 of their 22 matches this season.

That's reflective of more than goaltending. That's reflective of a structure.

"We want teams to say, "It's going to be tough to score on this [Ranger] team tonight," said Paul Mara, who played 24:02 paired with Marc Staal in the absence of Michal Rozsival (sore knee).

This offensive powerhouse received nothing from Scott Gomez, who was dreadful with the puck all night long. There was little from Jaromir Jagr. And while Chris Drury was more assertive in the offensive zone as left wing with Jagr and Brandon Dubinsky, the Blueshirts got their goals from Fedor Tyutin and Colton Orr.

Orr, who scored what proved to be the winner at 2:05 of the third using Brendan Shanahan's stick after breaking his own, not only got his first goal of the season, but he also was effective when he and linemates Blair Betts and Ryan Hollweg were matched against Lecavalier and his revolving sets of wings.

Indeed, Ranger coach Tom Renney sent the Betts line on for the final 16.7 seconds after Michel Oulette's deflection brought the Lightning within a goal.

"It was great for me to get the goal, but our primary responsibility is not to be scored on," said Orr.

"We don't want to let anybody down."

The Rangers didn't let anyone do much of anything.

*

Sean Avery left the game with just under 6:00 to play when he was struck in the left hand by a Shanahan drive. Preliminary X-rays were negative.

larry.brooksnypost.com

Rangers 2 Lightning 1