Rangers extend their win streak to seven
Photo credit: Getty Images | Mikhail Grabovski #84 of the Toronto Maple Leafs gets hammered by Michal Rozsival #33 of the New York Rangers. (October 17, 2009)
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Oct. 17: Rangers 4, Maple Leafs 1
TORONTO - Call it the magnificent seven.
The streaking Rangers extended their winning streak to seven with a 4-1 win over the winless Maple Leafs (0-6-1). In the space of a week, the Rangers have outscored Toronto 11-3, having routed them at Madison Square Garden, 7-2, on Monday night. By midway through the third period, the crowd at Air Canada Centre had turned sour, chanting "oh for seven" and hundreds of seats were vacant.
Brandon Dubinsky, Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto and Enver Lisin beat Joey MacDonald, the Leafs' No. 3 goaltender forced into action by injuries. At the other end, Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding with 34 saves, and garnered his sixth victory of the season.
Leafs coach Ron Wilson said: "When it comes down to it, Lundqvist was unbelievable. We got all the scrums we wanted. We seem to give up a soft goal each game, in this one, the wraparound goal in the second period."
That was Staal's goal that made it 2-0 at 4:36 of the second. With his third goal of the season, Dubinsky had given the Rangers a 1-0 lead with four minutes left in the first period after the Rangers were outplayed and outshot 14-8. The teams were skating four-on-four and two Leafs collided in the Rangers zone. Dubinsky then lugged the loose puck down the right side, skated into the circle and his wrister angled off the near post and behind MacDonald.
For Del Zotto, the slap shot on a power play at 5:47 of the second period that gave the Rangers a 3-0 bulge was memorable. Not only was it his third goal of the season, it came on a homecoming night for the 19-year-old, who has been one of the early surprises of the season with three goals and five assists.
"Pretty special," he said. "I'd say out of the three, that probably ranks as No. 1, just having all of my family here to see that. I just wanted to get the puck through, I think they had two guys in front screening. I knew if I got it through it would be a good scoring chance."
The puck went under MacDonald's arm and the Rangers would not be denied.
Del Zotto, who grew up in Stouffville, about a 40-minute drive from downtown Toronto, went into last night's game against the Maple Leafs leading all rookies in scoring with seven points. Between 70 and 80 members of his family and friends attended the game.
"It's been a good adjustment, but between the games and the practice and everything, it really hasn't all sunk in," Del Zotto said. "I had dinner with my parents here [Friday] and it was nice to get away for awhile."
Before training camp, no one expected Del Zotto, the 20th overall choice in the 2008 entry draft, to stick with the club. The smart money was that the traditionally conservative Rangers would send him back to his junior team, the London Knights. No chance.
"I like the way we play, we give up a couple chances, but we're in control," Lundqvist said. With new equipment to start the season, he said he feels "solid . . . it's not any bigger, it's just the mental part. A couple stretches in the game we were scrambling, but we're not panicking. It helps when you're 7-1, you're making the right decisions, smart decisions. The other difference this year is we're scoring at crucial times, times when the other team is trying to get back, we're finding the net."
