Brilliant!

Brilliant!

Well, good stuff, eh?

The power play continues to improve, with Marian Gaborik and Michael del Zotto making sweet plays to set up Ales Kotalik’s second-period goal. Avery returns, gets into his old antics right away, and makes a strong play behind the net to set up Artem Anisimov’s first career NHL tally. Steve Valliquette turns in a solid effort, to give Henrik a rest before a busy week.

It’s too early to tell how good they are, but the general consensus is that this team is different, i.e. better, this year. Deeper, more skilled, whatever it is, just better. One thing I noticed for the first time today was how much better their offensive transition game is. Doesn’t seem like this team has too hard of a time coordinating their trips through the neutral zone, especially the first line. That was definitely not something we could say about last year’s squad. Also nice to solidly beat a Western Conference team for a change.

By the way, this post originally started out as a rant against the scheduling of yet another Sunday afternoon home game. They scheduled it at 5, and there was no New York late football game to compete with, so I guess they got their share of viewers. At least until the Yankee game started, that is, but can’t criticize them for that one, since there was no way to predict it. Still, though…this has been going on for a few seasons now. Why would fans want to leave the comfort of their own homes, on a Sunday afternoon during what is widely regarded as the best sports month there is, especially when there was so much going on elsewhere on the New York sports scene?

Me, for example, I spent the day at my parents’ house. We watched the Giants demolish my one-time love, the Raiders, and then the implosion of the Red Sox. My brother-in-law then whipped up some awesome nachos, and after devouring more than my fair share of them, I drifted in and out of consciousness while watching the Ranger game in one room, while everyone else was watching the late football game in the next one. Pretty much the best way to spend a Sunday that I can think of. Why would I want to disrupt that paradise to jump on the train, and head into the city for a game?