Rangers Need Answers to Questions

Two months into this young NHL season, it is obvious who the weakest division is. 

The Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference has become the joke of the NHL right now. The Pittsburgh Penguins have been the only consistent team so far this season while the Washington Capitals have come on strong of late and may be finding their stride behind captain Alex Ovechkin. 

So who wants that third spot in the Metropolitan Division? The New York Rangers would seem to be the odds on favorite to secure the third spot, but have had trouble putting back to back wins together and have lost three in a row to under achieving teams. 

After starting the season with a treacherous nine game road trip where the Blueshirts went 3-6, and a home opening loss to Montreal, it seemed as if the Rangers were in for a long season with their star goaltender in the final year of his contract. The Rangers struggled to find the back of the net while opponents were peppering the back of theirs. 

Then came a favorable stretch of games where the Rangers would begin to elevate their game to the level everyone expected. A three game winning streak against mediocre to bad teams was halted by the mighty Anaheim Ducks, but the Rangers bounced back with a blowout win against Pittsburgh and two more wins against the basement of the Eastern Conference. 

Winning five out of six helped this team regain their mojo....or at least everyone thought they did. 

Rangers Shutout for Second Straight Game

The New York Rangers were shutout 3-0 for a second consecutive game Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Michael Ryder scored just 47 seconds into the game, and provided all the offense the Habs would need. Ryder dumped the puck off the back boards, and it took a bounce off the side of the net to Ryder who was all alone in front, and Ryder slid the puck past Marty Biron.

The Rangers carried the play for most of the first period following the early goal, but could not beat Montreal goaltender Carey Price. Price stonewalled Marian Gaborik late in the first period as Gaborik got behind the Canadien defense and tried to go five hole, but Price was up to the challenge. Less than two minutes after Gaborik was stopped by Price, Tomas Plekanec came down on a two-on-one and rifled a shot by Biron to give Montreal a 2-0 lead after one period.

The Rangers outshot Montreal 17-10 in the first period, but still found themselves in a 2-0 hole.