Rangers Snap Losing Streak!

Ryan Callahan helped snap the Rangers six game lose streak with three points on Sunday.

The New York Rangers, woeful losing streak has come to an end with a 5-3 victory over the injury plagued, Pittsburgh Penguins.

Though, early in the game, it looked like the Rangers' terrible streak would continue. The Penguins got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first two minutes. That's when Rangers coach John Tortorella called a time-out to talk to his team, and make sure a seventh straight loss was not going to happen.

The Rangers responded quickly to the time-out, and scored nearly 30 seconds after it was called. A couple minutes later, it was a tied hockey game, when Ryan Callahan scored his first of two power play goals.

Both teams were playing with a lot of intensity, the Rangers were looking to snap a awful streak while the Penguins tried to not get into a slump like the Rangers, with injuries to stars Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.

The Rangers started off the second period hot, and never looked back. They scored three goals that period, to the Penguins zero, and had no bad penalties. Vinny Prospal scored the go ahead goal, after receiving a great pass across the ice from Brandon Dubinsky. Marc-Andre Fleury went for the Dubinsky, and left the whole half the of the net open for Prospal. Following Prospal's goal were Ryan Callahan's second power play goal, and Artem Anisimov with a power play goal, the Rangers third of the day.

In the third period, the Penguins got a late goal, but it wasn't enough because the score would only be 5-3, and Henrik Lundqvist was not planning on letting up any more goals.

The Rangers currently rank seventh in the Eastern Conference, two points ahead of the Carolina Panthers, and four points behind the Montreal Canadiens.

Although the Rangers have not won many games in their last ten, a simple Win and Loss can be misleading. 14 of their last 18 games have been decided by only one goal, and two others would have been one goal decisions if it weren't for empty nets.

Goalie Henrik Lundqvist was pulled for a few games during the losing streak, but I believe that the blame was not on Henk, but it was on the offense. In games decided by only one goal, the offense should be able to score and not rely all on the goaltender.

The Rangers offense has not been nearly as strong as it was early in the season. It is very ironic though, because with offensive threats like Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal, and Ryan Callahan back from injury, the offense should be better. Also the addition of Wojtek Wolski should help the Rangers put some pucks in the back of the net.

The Rangers have a tough schedule coming up, but they should be able to keep their position in the standings. The Rangers face the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, and then face their rivals, the Devils on Friday. They finish up the month with games vs the Flyers, Hurricanes, Capitals, and Lightning.