New York Rangers to take on the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning – NHL Preview
A defeat against New Jersey Devils certainly annoyed New York Rangers, who are now desperate to vent their frustration out and it is expected that they are not going to be a warm host as Tampa Bay Lightning travels to play them on Thursday, February 9, 2012,
at the Madison Square Garden, New York.
The National Hockey League (NHL) Eastern Conference leaders, Rangers, were crushed by New Jersey Devils, 1-0.
Rangers strived to score goals in all the periods, but were denied, thanks to the miraculous efforts by Devils’ goalie, Martin Brodeur, who earned his first shutout of the season.
Rangers’ captain, Ryan Callahan, was disappointed over the loss. However, he counted the loss as a learning experience and said that the players would try to improve in the next game.
He commented:
"We need to have a better start. I think that's what hurts the most. There are a lot of good things that went on in this game, even though we didn't generate a goal, but we'll take some positives out of it.”
After playing 51 games, Rangers have 71 points and eyes on the playoffs.
The odds are certainly in favour of the Rangers as Tampa Bay is not among the league’s best teams.
The Lightning did perform well recently when it went to win five games in a row after losing seven straight, but the team has only won one of its last three games.
The recent loss came against Los Angeles Kings in which Tampa Bay scored a goal in the second period to level the score, 1-1, but conceded two more goals in the same period to give the game away.
Tampa Bay is 10 points behind Ottawa Senators, which is placed on eight spot in the Eastern Conference.
Tampa Bay has 51 points after 52 games and should be among the top eight teams of the conference in order to qualify for the playoffs.
Tampa Bay’s coach, Guy Boucher, is focusing on one game at a time. He said:
"For us, it's about what we do and not the teams in front of us. It's not about the standings. We really don't care about that, and when we do that we have a tendency to do very well."
Rangers, certainly have an edge over Lightning and it would take an outstanding performance from the latter, if it wants to stun the former.
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