After The Horn: New York Rangers vs Dallas Stars

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Final Score:

New York Rangers 3 Dallas Stars 2

First Period:

Both teams came out battling and ready to play. Ryan Callahan was absolutely robbed by Kari Lehtonen on a beautiful shot. Not long after that the Dallas Stars struck first at the 4:06 mark. Cody Eakin got a quick snapper off to beat Henrik Lundqvist. The goal is questionable given the huge missed tripping call as Marc Staal was dropped to the ice with a stick between his feet (it wasn’t his stick). Ryan Callahan go the Rangers on the board at 11:20. He was assisted by Brad Richards and Benoit Pouliot. Brian Boyle played a hugely physical game with big hits and he had great hands working to make plays. The Rangers out hit the Stars 15 to 12 and won 16 face-offs compares to 12 for Dallas. Shots were 13 to 6 in favor of the Rangers. The lack of penalties in the period brought the intermission exceptionally fast; thought the number of icing calls was very high.

Second Period:

What a show. Ryan Garbutt put Dallas up 2-1 at the 3:34 mark. Dan Carcillo finally started to get settled in and looking comfortable in a physical role. The first penalty of the game came at 7:52 and was assessed against Dallas’s Shawn Horcoff. The Rangers needed only 30 seconds to get the power play goal. Derick Brassard netted a beautiful feed from Mats Zuccarello to tie the game at two. The referees didn’t call much again so the pace of the game stayed brisk. The number of face-offs continued to be high and Brassard stood strong with an 81% win percentage through the first two periods. The Stars slightly out shot the Rangers 13-11.

Third Period:

MAYHEM! Matching penalties at :26 and :27 for hooking on Garbutt and embellishment (diving) on Hagelin put the teams at 4-on4 for two minutes. During the penalties, the Stars were called for a bench minor as they had five players on the ice. The Rangers were unable to convert on either opportunity.  Lundqvist came up with some HUGE saves and even thanked the post for the help. Tempers began to flare and the post whistle shoving started. Neither team really had their heart into fighting though. Both were seeking to draw penalties not and not end up in the box. Derek Stepan played hard but had horrible puck luck as he fanned more than one shot in the game. John Moore gave Dallas their first power play at the 11:30 mark of the game after a horrible turnover by Pouliot in the neutral zone. With a strong penalty kill, the Rangers were able to keep things going. Ryan Callahan took a huge shot on goal that was blocked and broke a stick. As the puck cleared the zone, Lundqvist made huge saves. A frustrated Tyler Seguin broke his stick on the Rangers’ goal. As he went to the bench, the puck went back into the Dallas zone and Rick Nash buried the puck as he fell to the ice. Dallas pulled Lehtonen for the extra attacker but were unable to get the tying goal. The Rangers out shot the Stars 10-7 in the period.

The Breakdown:

Three Stars:

3- Ryan Garbutt

2-Brad Richards 2 assists

3- Rick Nash Game Winning Goal

My Stars:

3- Dan Carcillo- He get the team fired up and the energy flowing

2- Rick Nash he got the game winner

1- Henrik Lundqvist- he really did an amazing job in net tonight

The Rangers play again on Sunday, 12 January against the second place Flyers. With the Carolina Hurricanes losing and the Washington Captials still playing, the Rangers are sitting in third place of the Metropolitan Division.