So there were Vinny Prospal and Ryan Callahan on a two-on-one seven minutes into the second of what was then a 1-1 game against the Islanders.
A nifty exchange and a niftier return feed from Prospal set up Callahan at the left porch, with goaltender Dwayne Roloson still pulled across to the other side.
But Callahan hit the post. And when the game had ended in 3-1 defeat at the Coliseum, Callahan’s scoreless streak had reached seven games.
“The last couple of games I probably wasn’t doing enough to get scoring chances, but tonight I thought I did,” said the alternate captain. “I hit a post, I had a tip that went just wide.
“It’s not the first time in my career I’ve gone a stretch without scoring, but if I continue working to get to the dirty areas of the ice the way I did in this one, goals will come.”
Callahan is one of several Rangers forwards in meaningful scoring slumps. Chris Drury, who got some power play time, has scored once in the last 12 games. Brandon Dubinsky, who has had difficulty making plays, is scoreless in his last five games, with one goal in his last 10. Sean Avery has gone seven games without a goal.
And Christopher Higgins, bumped to the fourth line for much of the third period, has yet to score in 13 games as a Ranger. He seems lost.
If Donald Brashear, who missed his third game in the last four with an undisclosed upper body issue, is ready to go in Minnesota tomorrow night, it would not be a shock to see Higgins out as a healthy scratch.
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Matt Gilroy, perhaps nervous playing his first game on his native Long Island, was extremely shaky with and without the puck all night. Indeed, it was Gilroy who allowed Matt Moulson to get behind him for the breakaway on which the Islanders took a 1-0 lead 55 seconds into the match. Gilroy, who had been on the point with the second power play unit, did not get on the PP last night. Michal Rozsival replaced him.
“I’d like to have that breakaway goal back,” said Henrik Lundqvist, beaten along the ice.
P.A. Parenteau became the fourth Ranger this season to score his first NHL goal, joining teammates Gilroy, Michael Del Zotto and Artem Anisimov. But the 26-year-old winger probably shouldn’t begin house hunting in the area. “He is an offensive guy and he has a nose for the net, but I worry about his skating at this level,” said head coach John Tortorella.
Rangers had won five straight at the Coliseum since last losing on Nov. 6, 2007, all of them with Lundqvist in nets. Lundqvist came into the game with a lifetime 9-3-1 record and 1.53 GAA at the Coliseum. Last night marked the second time in 14 starts that he surrendered more than two goals in the building.
Blueshirts, 8-4-1, are in Minnesota tomorrow night before facing Bruins at the Garden on Sunday afternoon. They follow that match with a three-game trip to Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.