Rangers Need to Have Wild Night Against Minnesota

Just Friday night I found myself rooting for my second favorite team of sorts, the Minnesota Wild. But now when the Wild head into Madison Square Garden to face the Rangers tonight, I will be rooting for my true team in a game they desperately need to win.

The Rangers who pulled off a very important win versus the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night found themselves not playing to standard and looking a bit lethargic in Sunday night’s game against the surging Ottawa Senators. Due to Tortorella’s fast pace and aggressive style of play, the Rangers may have either experienced a Tom Renney Relapse or they could have been just tired. It will still take a while for them to full adapt to the new system, but it’s getting there and with very good results.

However, tonight’s game will be a test to see if they can rebound from that tough loss the other night. Minnesota comes into the game with one of the best defenses in the league, and one of the worst offenses. Sound familiar? Coach Jacques Lemaire, who is the father of the defensive trap will have his team playing it on the garden ice tonight, hoping to keep the newly found Rangers offense at bay. Superstar Marian Gaborik will also be returning to the team tonight to play just his eighth game on the season. He will be a very important addition if the Wild are to make the playoffs, especially with star center and captain Miko Koivu out indefinitely.

We all remember last time the Rangers and Wild played, an epic game from the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul where Gaborik had the game of his life, and scored five times on the Rangers and bewildered goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. With that game in the back of every Ranger fan’s mind, and the knowledge that Gaborik will be an unrestricted free agent this off-season, there have been whispers going around that the Rangers should make a push for him. But the Rangers have a bad habit of signing players who have succeeded well against them in the past. I’m going to call it right now, if the Rangers sign Marian Gaborik because he kills them every time the two teams play, just wait until he becomes a Ranger and kills the team every night.

Well anyway, back to tonight’s matchup. It should be a good, close, low-scoring game. The beginning will be very slow as the Wild touch, feel, and trap their way to getting comfortable. If the Rangers can fight through the neutral zone and put three goals or more on the scoreboard, the game will be theirs. The only question is who will win this epic goaltending battle, Niklas Backstrom or Henrik Lundqvist?

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