New York Rangers win third straight
The New York Rangers have now won three straight games after triumphing over the New Jersey Devils on Sunday night by a score of 3-1.
How it happened
After a scoreless first period, Rangers defenceman Michal Rozsival led the way by getting a goal and an assist on the Rangers second period goals.
Rozsival scored the Rangers' first at 1:26 of the second period when he fired in a bullet from the point after Devils goalie Martin Brodeur had made an initial save. Rozsival picked up his assist when
the Rangers were on the power play by feeding a pass to Brandon Dubinsky who moved into the slot and fired a low shot, which Ryan Callahan tipped past Brodeur.
The Devils pulled one back in the third period through Ilya Kovalchuk, who had been out of the line-up the previous night during the Devils' 6-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres.
Henrik Lundqvist was solid the rest of the way stopping 27 of 28 shots as the Rangers added an empty net goal, with one second left, courtesy of Dubinsky, his fourth of the season.
What they're saying
Despite collecting a goal and an assist for his team, Rozsival was nonetheless booed by the New York fans who are outraged at the size of the 32-year-old defenceman's contract and his lack of production
in recent seasons. Still, this season Rozsival is currently tied for eighth in league scoring among defencemen.
"You can hear it. It's a lot of people screaming. You definitely can hear it," Rozsival's team-mate Ryan Callahan said. "It's unfortunate. I know it gets under my skin a bit when it happens.
"It's disappointing to hear the boos come from the stands. We know in this room that he means a lot to us and we know what he does. It's unfortunate that he gets that kind of reception in our building. I
don't think it's right and I don't think he should."
Despite last season's poor numbers, Rangers head coach John Tortorella was quick to support his player by adding: "He gets run over sometimes, but he's played some unbelievable hockey for us here of late.
And I go back to last year. I thought his last couple of months, he stepped up in his preparation, how hard he's been on the puck. Everything about his game. And he plays most of the minutes because he's in all situations for us.
"I look at him from when I first came here to where he is now, I think it's a different player. And it's because he has a different intensity about him in practice. I think it rolls over into the game. He's
been a pretty d**n important player for us."
The Rangers will try to keep their win streak going when they host the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday 27 October.
The Devils travel to San Jose next to take on the Sharks on Wednesday night.
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