Rangers Tie Fleury

The New York Rangers left Atlanta last night shaking their heads in obvious frustration. The blue shirts only managed two goals against the team that won the first over all pick last year despite dominating the game and pouring 45 shots at Marc Andre Fleury. Fleury gave a hint of what he might become last night as he turned aside shot after shot and nearly beat the Rangers singlehandedly.

The Rangers looked like they were going to lose the game when Ryan Vandenbusshe beat Mike Dunham at 12:51 of the third period. The Rangers had been dominating in terms of attack time, pressure, and shots but simply could not beat Fleury. It took a scramble that involved 5 shots in a row 5 minutes later for Alexei Ponikarovsky to tie the game.

A look at the stat sheet shows an amazing record of futility for the Rangers. Pavel Bure had 8 shots on net and no goals as he was repeatedly robbed by the Fleury. Ponikarovsky ended with 7 shots while Fedorov, Ribeiro, and Lukowich combined for another 10 shots without a goal.

"Sometimes games are like that," said captain JP Dumont. "A goalie gets hot and stops everything. I wish we had another point but at least we managed to beat him for the tie."