Senators Defeat Rangers 2-0 at Garden Thursday

The story of this game was that the Ottawa Senators won the battle in the neutral zone, beat the hell out of the Rangers up and down the ice and obviously wanted the game more. The Sens scored a horrible goal on Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist at 18:46 in the 3rd period that shouldn’t have happened. The Blueshirts got beaten in their zone on defense and Sens Chris Campoli scored on a wrist shot. Lundqvist was visibly not happy and slammed his stick on the crossbar. As he skated back to the crease with a new stick he appeared to be muttering inside his mask. He saved 32 of 33 shots on goal and hates to lose in these close games. I wonder what he’s thinking seeing the Rangers not score in front of him again. An empty netter at 19:40 of the 3rd period sealed the deal. The Sens are decimated with injuries and were on a five game losing streak. Their starting goalie got hurt in the morning skate and Mike Brodeur started his second NHL game. This Brodeur played like Marty stopping all 32 Ranger shots. For the Blueshirts it was a lackluster effort to say the least. Donald Brashear had two fights with Matt Carkner and didn’t look like the tough guy the Rangers need. I wish Colton Orr was still a Ranger. Sean Avery tried to stir it up a few times and got into it with Jarkko Ruutu who is no doubt one of the biggest mutts in the NHL. The Blueshirts PK did a good job again killing two penalties. Overall the refs let the boys play. A better effort is needed on Saturday night in St. Louis. The three stars of the game were Sen Mike Brodeur, Henrik Lundqvist and Sen Chris Campoli.