Rangers West Coast Road Trip Off to Excellent Start with Huge 4-1 Win Over Ducks Wednesday

Photo Credit Harry How, Getty Images

The Rangers were calling this a Yardstick Game, to see exactly where they measure up with the NHL’s best and the results were excellent. The Blueshirts began their 3-game West Coast road trip with a dominating 4-1 victory over the NHL’s top club, the Anaheim Ducks last night (01/07/15). The game was scoreless through the first period and checking hard. The Rangers scored first at 9:10 in the second period as Derick Brassard came flying off the bench and blasted a slap shot past Ducks goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. With Bryz you’ll never know who will show up but he played well in the loss. Rich Nash scored his 25th goal of the season early at 2:32 in the third. It is great to see the Rangers defensemen continue to contribute to the offense as Marc Staal (6) and Kevin Klein (7) tallied assists in the game. Derek Stepan was called for delay of game as he inadvertently shot the puck over the glass from the defensive zone. This game Anaheim’s only goal scored on a power play by Francois Beauchemin at 10:09 in the third. Mats Zuccarello scored on a bad giveaway at 14:27 and Dominic Moore scored an empty net goal to seal the deal at 4-1. This was the Rangers first road win at Anaheim since December 16, 2008 and boy does it feel good. The road trip continues with a visit to the team that defeated the Rangers in the Stanley Cup Final last season the Los Angeles Kings. The three stars of the game were Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash and Ilya Bryzgalov.