The Top 10 Rangers Games of the 2010-2011 Season: Part 3

#3: April 9, 2011 (Rangers 5 - Devils 2)


In dramatic fashion like the previous year, the final game of the season would have decided the Rangers fate. This year, they had to face the New Jersey Devils, and a win was necessary to get two points on the Carolina Hurricanes who had the tiebreaker for the final playoff spot with the Rangers. The Rangers got backed up a bit, as Ilya Kovalchuk snapped an early goal past Henrik Lundqvist early on. His goal was promptly followed up by the man regarded as "Captain Clutch", Chris Drury as he got his first goal of the season after coming back from an injury. Late in the period, the Devils would get another goal coming again from Ilya Kovalchuk, the final goal of the game they would get. Nearly two-minutes into the 2nd period, Wojtek Wolski converted on a 2-on-1 to deadlock the score at two. Ten minutes later, another Ranger would get his first goal of the season, and his first NHL goal, as Ryan McDonagh got a brilliant pass from Vinny Prospal behind the net and put the Rangers ahead 3-2. Five minutes later, Brandon Prust got a lucky slide that went in, and in the 3rd, Vinny Prospal got one more to cement a victory on the last game of the regular season. It was a must-win game for the Rangers, who needed help from the Tampa Bay Lightning to get into the playoffs. The chants of "Lets Go Lightning" rang up from the crowd as the game would down and a victory was almost certain. The Rangers got that help, as the Lightning defeated the Hurricanes, and sent the Rangers to the playoffs, but none of that could have been possible without this one goal.

The Top 10 Rangers Games of the 2010-2011 Season: Part 2

#6: March 6, 2011 (Rangers 7 - Flyers 0)

After having lost to the Flyers on all four of their previous meeting this season, the Rangers needed a shakeup if they wanted confidence in their division. The Rangers decided to shake it up, and wear their away jerseys at home, and perhaps that was just the shake-up they needed. 51- seconds into the game, the man many people regarded as the captain of the Rangers while Chris Drury sat with injuries, Ryan Callahan, got a fortunate bounce of his skates that found its way in. Later on in the period, Callahan sniped the puck over the head of Brian Boucher from a terrible angle to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead. Mats Zuccarello potted one in the 2nd, and the Ryan Callahan again took advantage of a turnover and potted another to give him his first career hat-trick. But he wasn't done there, and the Rangers refused to relinquish pressure and managed to deflect a puck into the net cleanly off of his skates. Artem Anisimov managed to get one of his own, and Zuccarello got another one in the closing minutes of the game to really stake their claim as a force to be reckoned with.

Also, Brandon Dubinsky and Mike Richards added a new chapter to their brawling history in this game. It was awesome.

The Top 10 Rangers Games of the 2010-2011 Season: Part 1

This season saw many ups and downs on the ice by the Rangers, but overall it was a fairly successful season. The Rangers found ways to win at times when it seemed almost impossible, and overachieved in games when it was a necessity to win. It wasn't a single players effort throughout the season, a plethora of the players that stepped on the ice managed to do great things at important times for the Rangers. When people look back on the 2010-2011 season, these are the games they are going to remember.

#10: March 18, 2011 (Rangers 6 - Canadiens 3)


Right off the opening face-off, you knew this was going to be an entertaining game, as Brandon Prust and Travis Moen had themselves a good scrap one-second into the game. This would translate into a hard-fought, chippy game and would lead to one of the most stellar 1st-periods the Rangers had all season.

The scoring began as Artem Anisimov blocked a shot from the point and had a nearly uncontested breakaway to the net as he put a backhander behind Carey Price. Following a PK Subban goal, Dan Girardi gobbled up a juicy rebound and slapped it home. Several minutes later, Ryan Callahan became the recipient of a fortunate bounce as the puck rainbowed over the back of Carey Price and found its way into the back of the net. This would be the goal that opened the floodgates for the Rangers as swiftly after that goal, Marian Gaobirk followed up with a wonderful snap-shot that found the twine, and then shortly after that Brian Boyle capitalized on a 3-on-1 to give the Rangers five goals in the 1st period, those last three coming in a span of 67 seconds. The Canadiens made a push in the 3rd, scoring two goals, but one more goal from Vinny Prospal, and this wonderful save by Henrik Lundqvist capped a victory for the Rangers on home ice.