Predators Defeated Rangers 2-1 at Garden Wednesday as Blizzard Hits New York City

The 13,128 at the Garden who braved the blizzard saw another very good performance by goalie Henrik Lundqvist went unrewarded. The Nashville Predators defeated the New York Rangers 2-1 last night. Once again the scoring was MIA and it didn’t help that top sniper Marian Gaborik was out with a lacerated thigh suffered in practice by Henrik Lundqvist’s right skate during practice Tuesday morning. The power play was mildly successful going 1-for-6. The defense could have been better and resulted in Lundqvist making stellar saves on multiple Nashville breakaway scoring chances. The Rangers called up defenseman Corey Potter from the Hartford Wolf Pack, going with 7 defensemen for the first time this season. Captain Chris Drury moved from the 4th to the 1st line to play in Gaborik’s absence. After the game Lundqvist said it was “painful” to see his offense not score in front of him and I can completely indentify with that feeling. Backup goalie Dan Ellis got the start for the Predators and was excellent with 37 saves and 18 in the 3rd period alone. Vinny Prospal scored the lone Blueshirt goal at 9:48 in the 2nd period on a 5-on-3 power play. The puck banked off of Ellis and Vinny pushed it in for the score. He worked well down low and earned the goal. The Rangers killed off 3 minor penalties in the 1st period and that took any wind out of their sails. The killer was rookie defenseman Michael Del Zotto taking a hooking penalty at 12:34 in the 2nd period and yapping about it to the referee. He was called for unsportsmanlike conduct and ended up with a double minor. Earlier in the game he yapped to the refs on a play where he felt he was hooked behind his net. The Blueshirts did a great job killing it off for 3:50 until the puck hit off of Ryan Callahan’s arm on a clearing attempt. Colin Wilson’s wrist shot got past Lundqvist to give Nashville the lead 2-1. As Del Zotto skated back to the bench I told my Wife “I bet he gets benched” and sure enough, six seconds later John Tortorella yelled some explicatives and directed Del Zotto to the end of the bench. Del Zotto got ice time in the 3rd period as he’s too valuable to the team. The Blueshirts are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and currently out of the playoffs. Next stop is the Igloo in Pittsburgh Friday night for a game against Sidney (aka Cindy) Crosby in a must win division game. The three stars of the game were Pred Dan Ellis, Pred Colin Wilson and Henrik Lundqvist.