Tonight's game (on Versus, don't forget) marks only the 3rd time since the lockout that these two teams are going to meet. It's the second time since then that the Wild will be at Madison Square Garden.
As it happens, I will be at tonight's game (thankfully, so I won't have to watch the Versus telecast... someone please inform me who the Bud Light Drinkability Player of the Game is). And as it happened, I was at MSG the last time, as well.
Since that game was in December 2005, let me remind you how it went down...
... Dwayne Roloson was in net for Minnesota. He nearly won a Cup later that season with Edmonton.
... Henrik Lundqvist had just starting playing regularly when Kevin Weekes got injured in November.
... Petr Prucha (remember him?) had 2 power play goals, his 8th and 9th goals of the season.
... Martin Rucinsky had 3 assists.
... Martin Straka scored the other Rangers goal (an empty-netter)
... Future and former Ranger Pascal Dupuis scored the lone goal for Minnesota. Alexandre Daigle (remember him?!) had an assist during his short-lived comeback tour.
... Mikko Koivu, far and away the team's leading point-getter this year, was a healthy scratch. he will miss tonight's game as well with a knee injury.
... And my $36 seats in Section 333 are now closer to $60.
* * *
It doesn't matter if the Rangers win tonight in regulation, overtime, or the shootout, so long as they win. Giving an extra point to Minnesota doesn't hurt them at all, they just need 2 themselves.
The Wild sit in 10th place. Two points tonight puts them tentatively in 8th place, as Nashville and Anaheim will have a game in hand.
Both teams desperately need a win tonight, the Wild maybe a little more, so I expect a pretty fast moving game. It should be more like last season's game as opposed to the 2005 Neutral Trap Game I witnessed.
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