by Patrick Hoffman
When you look at the scoresheets from the New York Rangers' last two games and see guys like Aaron Voros, Blair Betts, Fredrik Sjostrom, Brandon Dubinsky, Michal Rozsival, Wade Redden and Nikolai Zherdev all scoring goals, you know that this team has depth.
Last weekend, the Blueshirts relied on the first line as they picked up three out of the four goals in their two victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning. While it was nice to see the first line putting up points, I wondered whether or not the rest of the team would chip in as much this season and so far, that answer appears to be yes.
In their 4-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, the team's second line dominated as Brandon Dubinsky, Aaron Voros and Nikolai Zherdev each had at least two points. Dubinsky had a goal and two assists while Voros and Zherdev each had a goal and an assist. This line skates hard, goes to the net, gets back on defense (yes, Zherdev does too), blocks shots and generates lots of offense in the opposition's zone.
Tonight, it was the team's fourth line that took center stage as both Blair Betts and Fredrik Sjostrom scored goals in the team's 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. This line of Sjostrom, Betts and Colton Orr worked hard, forechecked, played well in their zone and put pucks to the net.
It may be early on in the season but if the team can show this kind of depth on a consistent basis, they may end up surprising a lot of hockey clubs this season.
Rangers-Flyers
I was very pleased that the Rangers pulled of a tough win versus the Flyers. However, I didn't like the fact that after they got the four goal lead, they didn't put up a point the rest of the game. OK, they hit the post, and maybe it had to do with back to back games, but I still don't like seeing a 4-0 lead turn into a nail-biter in the end.