NEW YORK – Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, the Rangers scored seven goals in tonight’s game.
And before you ask, Marian Gaborik only had two.
The Rangers finally broke out of the scoring drought with a 7-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Goal after goal, the team looked sharp, which is precisely the team needed.
“We had a good forecheck and we kept playing in their zone which was important,” said Gaborik, who also had two assists to go along with his two goals. “Our defensive side of the game was good. We’re talking about having the third guy coming back and being responsible defensively and I think we did that. It has to carry over on the road. We haven’t had a long trip in a while so we have to build on this and just go from here.”
The welcomed relief came after a well timed time out called by coach John Tortorella. After the Blue Jackets went up 2-0 at 9:31 of the first period, the team got a break.
“It was good to have a break, that is for sure,” said goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. “I think the first goal was huge. To get that in the first period and not go in here trailing 3-0. We needed some positive energy and we got that from [Marian Gaborik]. After that, you could see how we got confidence.”
After No. 10 put the Rangers on the board, the secondary scoring happened. First Artim Anisimov scored followed by Michael Del Zotto to give the Rangers the lead in first 3-2.
Then in the second the goals kept coming. Sean Avery scored at 6:12 to chase Steve Mason, and his replacement Mathieu Garon came in with a tank of gas and a book of matches.
Less than a minute later, Avery scored again, followed by Gaborik after another 20 seconds, to make it 6-2.
“The biggest thing was coming back from a two goal deficit,” said Avery. “I think regardless of what the score was, coming back and winning a game after you’re losing 2-0 us big for a team that is struggling. I hope it puts everybody around here in a good mood.”
Matt Gilroy capped the Ranger scoring later that period with beautiful breakaway beating Garon.
Even with the seven goals, Columbus was able to make it close with a goal late in the second and one in the third.
“Do you think we were going to score seven goals tonight?” Tortorella said. “Who knows how this happens. When you go through some tough times, you need to stick with it. We got a bunch of breaks and their goaltending wasn’t that great. You can’t figure it.”
The Rangers now go on a three game road trip that includes both Florida destinations and Pittsburgh before coming home next day to Madison Square Garden.
Notes: After allowing the game’s first two goals, New York tallied seven straight from 11:29 of the first period to 12:47 of the second, marking the first time the Rangers tallied seven unanswered goals since a 7-0 victory against Boston on Mar. 7, 2009; the Blueshirts tallied three goals in a 71-second span in the second period…Marian Gaborik led all skaters with four points (two goals and two assists) to extend his point streak to seven games (seven goals and 13 points); he also tied for the game-high with a plus-three rating…Sean Avery notched two goals in 51 seconds, including one power play tally and the game-winning goal; it was his second multi-goal effort on the season and 10th of his career.
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