New York Rangers thrash Florida Panthers for second straight 6-1 -NHL Update
New York got its second straight victory with the Rangers, dominating the first 40 minutes of play and thrashing Florida Panthers to slide to a easy, 6-1, victory on Sunday night, December 11, 2011, at the sold-out Madison Square Garden, New York, New York.
The Rangers is above Florida in term of points, now with 38, while the latter has 37, but the Panthers still lead at the third position in the Eastern Conference, with a 16-9-5 record, while New York has a 17-6-4.
According to New York's head coach, John Tortorella, his team is working hard and it seems that all that hard work is finally beginning to show some results.
"We have a hard camp. It's condition-oriented. It's a challenge for them," Tortorella said. "With the way we always talk about it, it's this is going to pay off. You can hear me say it between periods in these types of situations. I think (training camp) has something to do with it. I'm not sure it's all that for our record in back-to-backs, but it's nice to have that in the back of your mind, that you know what? Our work is going to pay off now."
Brad Richards and Artem Anisimov potted two straight to kick off the scoring in the opening period, both on power plays, nearly seven minutes apart, to give New York an early lead.
Erik Gudbranson answered back with Florida’s first of the night and his inaugural goal of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League's (NHL) regular season, less than a minute after Anisimov’s sixth.
Florida thought they were back in the game but as Derek Stepan built back the scoring momentum for New York on a breakaway, unassisted in the opening minutes of the second period, Steve Eminger, Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan added three more to flush out all the Panthers' motivation to secure the contest.
"They looked a little tired," New York's goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, said.
New York will certainly be looking for a third straight victory against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, while Florida Panthers will be kicking off its four-game home stand against New Jersey Devils the same day.
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