Hockey is a funny game. The way the puck bounces, the difference between the Rangers blowing out the Sabres or the Sabres blowing out the Rangers was as slim as the ultimate outcome of the match as it headed into a shootout. On one hand, the Sabres had a huge territorial advantage in the first and third periods, and somewhat of an edge in the more evenly played second period. Although the Rangers kept them on the perimeter much of the time, they were still able to work most of their shots into the kill zone in front of the net. Kevin Weekes was sharp, very sharp, in stopping 37 of 39 shots, beaten only on a five on three power play and a quickly converted turnover, but he did it all positionally, rarely called upon to make a save of the spectacular variety.
On the other hand, as much as they were outplayed, the Rangers had numerous chances to blow this game right out of the water. Four straight power plays in the first period negated the Sabres' nearly relentless pressure, but the Rangers could not covert a single one of them, nor two others late in the game, including a four on three in overtime. Numerous Buffalo turnovers, some of them truly heinous, gave the Rangers quite a few juicy counters, but they couldn't convert any of those either. And had the Rangers gotten better bounces on half the goal posts they hit, the game would not have been close -- Jaromir Jagr hit three and Ville Nieminen rang one. Not to mention the phenomenol kick save Mikka Noronen made on Martin Straka near the end of the second period when it appeared he was out of the play, lying on his belly with the net open.
In the end, the difference was Jagr. Again. He scored the first equalizer not long after Buffalo had finally grabbed a lead on the five on three. And when things looked bleak with Buffalo leading again and time winding down, the rebound of his shot was put back in from a sharp angle by Michael Nylander. That gave Jagr eight points (two goals, six assists) in the last three games, a point in all but one Ranger goal (and he helped set that one up too without earning an assist). Nylander's goal and assist made it six points for him in the last three games (two goals, four assists).
And then there was the shootout that decided the game in the Rangers' favor. Straka and Nylander scored with apparent ease on the first two shots but were matched with equal ease by Daniel Briere and Ales Kotalik. There is an old blues lyric that goes, "He was so fast, he could turn out the lights and get in bed before the room got dark." Nylander is so deliberate on his shootout attempts (he has beaten the goalie every time, though he has hit a couple of goal posts), he comes in so slowly, that he had already turned away and removed his mouth guard before the puck had settled in the back of the net.
But it was up to Jagr to keep things going, and that he did by finishing his shootout attempt with as much aplomb as his linemates. And it was more than fitting for Weekes to seal the win after Jagr's tally by snuffing Chris Drury, though it appeared that Drury muffed his shot.
So file this one away as one of those games you have to win if you want to be considered a good team, even though you really didn't deserve it. But the jury is still out, after 24 games, on whether the Rangers are pulling these out because they are truly a good team, or only because they are getting their fair share of luck (lucky to have Jagr in most cases) and will start dropping them as the season wears on (and wears on Jagr an Co.).
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