And There Was a Hat Trick. . .?

And three power play goals? And a shorthanded goal? FOR them?

What team was I watching last night?

All kidding aside, I promise this will be a very short wrapup.

-So last night, not last monday night on the Island, was Chris Drury's coming out party, it seemed. If so, great. Don't mistake my saracasm here. I think every Rangers fan wants him to do well. If not because he appears to be a good guy, and if not because he is the captain of this team, but because there is really no way he's going anywhere. So while he and his $7+ salary are here, I do want him to succeed, obviously. Yesterday was a good step in the right direction. Good for him.

-The power play was tweaked huh? And that worked, huh? I was laughing when it was "power play goal" time and Callahan, Zherdev, and Dubinsky were out with Mara and Girardi. And Callahan scored. I was like, well duh. This was before the Chris Drury show, but still, the point stands. Move, shoot, and good things will happen.

-This isn't meant as a negative, merely a fact. The Rangers, a few players aside (Mara, Voros, Zherdev, etc) are not a big team. Not at all really. Callahan, Drury, Dawes, Prucha, Sjostrom, Gomez. None of these players are big. And I noticed it on Tuesday as well. There is nothing wrong with small speedy guys. They complement a team. But that many small guys - some of which are not speedy. I do wonder.

-Which means a guy like Aaron Voros, who is not a great fighter, but yes, has heart, has to take on the big boys on the other team. And last night, that included goalie Mike Smith. I admittedly missed some of the pre-antics. I saw now Smith was not happy earlier in the night that Voros fell over him. And it escalated from there. Kudos to Voros for not taking it. I think Smith should just stick to being as good a goalie as he recently has been. It might be Tampa Bay's only shot. They looked better tho.

-As did the Rangers. And I don't mean necessarily Drury scoring, or the power play clicking, although those things are big steps. I just mean cohesiveness. They seemed faster, the passes were crisper. All those things I have been saying. Again it's one game against a marginal team in Tampa Bay, but it's a step.

Tomorrow in Washington will be a test. I will be out of computer realm for the next two days, so I'll catch up Sunday. Enjoy.

p.s. Drury's hat trick, was the first by a New York Rangers since Marty Straka in January of 2007.