Rangers 3
Sharks 1
SAN JOSE – They have won two straight for the first time since the opening two games of the season, they have won two straight without the benefit of a shootout for the first time in 2006-07, and they have won two straight with Kevin Weekes in net
And so, as the Rangers come home to face the Sabres at the Garden on Sunday after their 3-1 western trip that culminated with last night’s 3-1 victory here over the Sharks, the question is, do the Blueshirts have a goaltending controversy?
And the answer is, no, they do not, but for the time being, the keys to the castle do not belong exclusively to Henrik Lundqvist. And at least in the short term, this is not a bad thing.
It is not a bad thing to have Weekes, whose shutout was his first since January 2004 when he was a Hurricane performing as he did in the back-to-back sweep of Anaheim and San Jose teams that were a combined 18-4-3 before facing the Rangers. It is not a bad thing for Lundqvist to be pushed for playing time by his partner.
Weekes was quick in his movements and poised facing traffic, especially in the final minutes of the games as San Jose stormed the net after pulling its goal tender. No. 80 has started three in a row with Lundqvist healthy only once since the goaltenders joined forces on Broadway. The last time it happened was Nov. 3-7, excluding the games on either side of the Olympic break. Who knows whether Weekes will get his third straight against the Sabres?
But while the Rangers seemed to play nervous hockey in front of Weekes last year, that sure wasn’t the case the last two nights. For the most part, the Blueshirts were attentive to detail even if outshot decisively. They moved their feet. They supported both the puck and one another.
The reunited Matt Cullen-Brendan Shanahan-Petr Prucha trio had a second successive fine evening. Cullen gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 00.7 of a second to go in the first, converting a breakaway relay from Prucha after Shanahan had poked the puck off Joe Thornton’s stick at the top of the defensive left circle.
Jumbo Joe? Jumbo Shrimp. The Hart Trophy winner was miserable last night. Not only did he repeatedly turn over the puck, but he lost the defensive zone face off that preceded the Martin Straka goal that gave the Rangers a 2-0 lead early in the second.
The newly constituted Sandis Ozolinsh-Karel Rachunek defensive pair played intelligently and effectively for the second time in two games. Ranger forwards were diligent in getting back into their own end. Ryan Hollweg, back on the wing for the second straight time, created all sorts of havoc in throwing his body around.
The power play continued to fail, but inefficiency with the man advantage was offset by excellence while a man down. The Rangers killed five San Jose power plays last night.
Last night’s victory lifted the Rangers to 7-6. A year ago, the Blueshirts were 6-4-3 through their first 13. Despite so much sloppy play, the Blueshirts are only one point off last year’s pace.