Rangers defeat the Senators 1-0 in game three

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

The New York Rangers’ Brian Boyle scored the shot that won Monday’s match in Canada’s capital against the Ottawa Senators, 1-0, during the third game of the series.

The two teams stalemated throughout the first two periods, despite a heavier volume of shots by Ottawa; by the end of the second period they had 25 shots on goal compared to New York’s 16. Ottawa also scored higher in face offs and blocked shots throughout the first two periods, but neither team had made a goal yet.

Boyle’s goal came in the third period at 7:35 after an assist by Dan Girardi and Ryan Callahan, which sent the puck bouncing off the end-boards, allowing Boyle to find his opening.

Good defense by New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist and Ottawa’s Craig Anderson prevented most of the shots from landing in the nets throughout the night.

In one of the most frantic plays of the game, a move to block one of New York’s shots in the second put Anderson, along with Jason Spezza, off their skates and inside the net, preventing the Ranger’s closest shot in the game by that point.

New York’s Lundqvist was the Ranger’s saving grace, however, with 39 total saves.

“He’s been a rock all year,” said Ranger Rusian Fedotenko of Lundqvist.

This puts the count at two games won by New York and one by Ottawa; game four of the Stanley Cup series in on Wednesday night in Ottawa.

Brewers defeat Cubs 7-3 in game one

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

 Mat Gamel and superior hitting led the Milwaukee Brewers to victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night, with Gamel making two hits and two runs out of four at-bats in a game where the Brewers outscored the Cubs 7-5.

The game went back and forth through the first five innings, with the Cubs’ Darwin Barney and Bryan Lahair hitting homeruns in the first and second innings, respectively.

LaHair, who hit 38 homeruns in the minor leagues last year, was the most successful Cub at the plate, with two hits out of four at-bats and one RBI scored.

The Brewers held the lead by the end of the fourth after ex-Cub Aramis Ramirez hit a sac fly in the first, sending Nyjer Morgan across the home plate, Rickie Weeks hit a homerun in the third and Shaun Marcum brought Alex Gonzalez home on a squeeze bunt.

The Cubs evened it out in the fifth when Blake DeWitt pinch-hit for starting pitcher Chris Volstad, knocking a sac fly into right field that brought Geovany Soto in from third.

The tie didn’t last, though, as the Brewers scored two RBIs in the sixth thanks to a triple by Gamel and a sac fly by Lucroy that brought Hart and Gamel home.

In the seventh a double to center field by Ramirez allowed an RBI by Ryan Braun, and in the eighth Gamel scored again after Carlos Gomez sacrificed to the pitcher with a bunt, putting the score at 7-3, Brewers.

Two final runs in the ninth inning by Ian Stewart and Soto weren’t enough for the Cubs, and the Brewers took the game at 7-5.

Game two of the four game series will be at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m., Eastern Time.

New York Islanders beat the Pittsburg Penguins 5 to 3

By Fred Lambert

flambert@valenciavoice.com

The Pittsburg Penguins statistically dominated the New York Islanders in their Tuesday night home game, but still lost the match at 5 to 3.

New York finished the first period with a two-nothing lead, which the Penguins matched in the second period after Pascal Dupuis deflected a shot off of Tyler Kennedy’s stick and James Neal scored at 4:10 in.

This rapid catch-up was not enough to gain an advantage. The Islanders seized the lead again when Kyle Okposo snatched up the puck after a bad pass by Pittsburg that bounced off of the siding, rocketing it past Penguin goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Pittsburg never regained the initiative, despite 32 shots on goal by the end of the second, compared to New York’s 18.

“They’ve got a lot of offensive firepower,” said New York’s Dylan Reese about the Penguin’s hustle.

New York scored their final two goals in the second after David Ullstrom hit the puck in during a power play and Frans Neilsen knocked Fleury’s helmet off getting the Islander’s fifth point.

The Penguin’s scored a third point in the third period and made 22 shots over New York’s 7, but the superior effort didn’t help.

“With the momentum these guys have right now and how well they’ve been playing,” said Reese of the Penguins in between the second and third periods, “it’s important for us to establish ourselves as a franchise that can compete every night.”