Rangers Drop Season Opener To Pens

Rangers G #30 Henrik Lundqvist looked to determined as he came into the night with an impressive career record of 142 wins, and only 83 losses.


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The 27 year old net minder had his work cut out for him as he had to face the lights of #87 Sidney Crosby, and #71 Evgeni Malkin.

New York was missing a key player in the game tonight as #16 Sean Avery was a scratch in the lineup due to a knee injury.

S. Avery will return to the lineup soon, so do not expect him off the ice for long.

#10 Marian Gaborik was among the new faces for Head Coach John Tortorella's new unit, and came in with a boat of confidence.

#97 Matt Gilroy made his NHL debut in a game that had a playoff type atmosphere. M. Gilroy is an excellent passer who sees the ice very well.

#24 Ryan Callahan answered the opening bell for New York after staying in the locker room during the celebration of the Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup victory last season.

As usual R. Callahan was throwing the body in his first shift bull rushing the Penguins defense in the offensive zone.

It was not long before the blueshirts were called for a soft penalty as #23 Chris Drury went to the box for taking a player down on a questionable call.

With the departure of Blair Betts the PK unit was not as good allowing an early goal to Evgeni Malkin assisted from #55 Sergei Gonchar.

New York responded by throwing the body repeatedly doing all they can to keep up with Pittsburgh's all stars.

The Rangers added a new face that would replace Colton Orr as the new enforcer #87 veteran Donald Brashear.

D. Brashear has always made a point to be noticed in every game that he plays, as he brings a lot of intensity to the ice.

Donald lived up to his reputation, and dropped the gloves to begin his 1st season in New York.

D. Brashear was treated for a cut on his head, but would dominate another heavyweight bout as he took on #28 Eric Godard.

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It was great to see a player I always hated finally become one of my favorites overnight. I somehow forget all the cheap shots from the past.

The Rangers captain Chris Drury redeemed himself after taking a penalty earlier in the game with a game tying goal past Marc-Andre Fleury.

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Sidney Crosby would burn his team taking a stupid penalty slashing Marc Staal who applied a clean hit.

Forget the fact New York was unable to score on the power play it was a huge momentum boost going into the 2nd period after Pittsburgh lost their early lead.

The 2nd period would display the Rangers breaking down as Pittsburgh scored 2 goals take a 3-1 lead into the 3rd.

Henrik Lundqvist kept his team in the game, and made some really nice saves to keep the Penguins at bay.

When you look at a goaltender allowing 2 goals in a minutes span you think of it as a bad performance, but remember what team he was playing.

The Rangers received some really strong play out of newcomer Marian Gaborik who put in the net for his first goal of the season.

The 3rd period went back and fourth but Penguins would win the game 3-2 to go up 1-0 for the new season.

There was a point where Pittsburgh had 6 men on the ice, but I guess the referees didn't want to see it.

It was an exciting game, and both goaltenders made some incredible saves.

New York will look to rebound for tomorrow against the Ottawa Senators for a 7:00 pm start.