The New York Rangers defeated the Oilers in Edmonton last night 4-2. The difference was scoring 3 goals on the power play and the Blueshirts blocking 28 Edmonton shots. Steve Valiquette started in goal and played very well to earn the win. The Rangers didn’t pass up (no pun intended) opportunities to shoot the puck and had 39 for the game. Christopher Higgins scored the Rangers 1st goal and his 2nd in two games at 15:28 in the 1st period. Their 2nd goal was scored on the power play by Ryan Callahan on a perfect pass by Michael Del Zotto at 10:36 in the 2nd period. On another perfect pass from Marian Gaborik, Ales Kotalik (1 goal, 2 assists) scored another power play on a blast that Oiler goalie Nikolai Khabibulin didn’t even see. On the power play at 7:31 in the 3rd period Gaborik came behind the net and pushed the puck into the net on a rebound from Ryan Callahan’s shot. The Rangers’ penalty kill was excellent again killing 4 penalties. It’s great to see rookies Matt Gilroy and Del Zotto getting lots of ice time. Vali stopped 26 of 28 shots for the win. This was the first game against ex-coach Tom Renney now the Oiler’s associate coach.Renney as reported to AP before the Islander game:
"I'm going to have a hard time looking at the logo and not identifying with it," said Renney, who spent four years as Rangers coach before being dismissed in February. "I'm going to see familiar faces and be happy to see them again and all that kind of stuff, but I want to beat them. There is no question about that."Renney did a great job coaching the Blueshirts out of the lockout and into the playoffs for three successive years but Glen Sather felt the team needed a kick in the pants last season to make the playoffs. I didn’t see Renney chomping on his gum per usual but did see Oiler head coach Pat Quinn doing so. The three stars of the game were Gaborik, Patrick O'Sullivan (Oilers) and Valiquette.
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