Un-Glooed...

Opening night for the Rangers started with waiting for one of the most corny banner raising ceremony in the history of the sport. They were not on the bench for the pregame ceremonies as Coach John Tortorella had said they would be. "I didn't realize it was going to be so long and I don't think Pittsburgh wanted us out there anyway," Tortorella said. The Blueshirts came out flat in the first period of the game they eventually lost 3-2.

Pittsburgh opened the scoring with a power play goal from Evgeny Malkin, a beautiful deflection that Henrik Lundqvist had no chance on. The call, against Chris Drury, was a joke but surprisingly the officiating was pretty good and didn't become the central focus of the game.

Drury tied the game at 1 toward the end of the period off a good feed from Christopher Higgins. Drury was largely invisible for most of the game as he has been through the preseason.

The turning point happened in the second when Vinny Prospal was robbed on a two on one by Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pens responded shortly thereafter with goals 1:08 apart from Sidney Crosby and Tyler Kennedy (deflection). The Rangers battled harder in the third but gave up way too many odd man rushes in the game. Tortorella admitted it will take some time for his system to become instinct for these players and it looked that way.

Marian Gaborik was as advertised... explosive. He could have easily had 3 goals but settled for one (as first predicted on this blog). This man can change the game at any time. As more Rangers understand his speed he will have more and more chances. Michael Del Zotto already seems to get him springing him several times during the preseason and on a first period breakaway last night. Gaborik went through the legs but Fleury got enough to force it just wide.

Michal Rozsival continued his dreadful play since hip surgery and signing his $5 million-a-year salary but Wade Redden was ok. Matt Gilroy was solid while Del Zotto was a little shaky. They are going to make mistakes but Ranger fans can deal with them from kids... not Redden and Rozsival.

The Rangers hung in there with a championship team with several new faces in their lineup and a new system they're still trying to learn. It'll be interesting to see how they respond in the home opener against the Ottawa Senators at MSG tonight. Henrik Lundqvist, who had no chance on any of Pittsburgh's goals, is expected to start.