The Rangers played their best game since the season opening win in Buffalo and blocked an incredible 30 shots tonight as Martin Biron backstopped them to a 2-1 victory over the Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Without Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury, who were both injured the last time these two teams met, the Blueshirts used a total team effort and a flawless defensive game plan to neutralize the speedy Leafs and hand them their first regulation loss of the season.

The Rangers used a strong forecheck to set the pace early and jumped ahead when Ruslan Fedotenko scored his first goal as a Ranger, poking home a loose puck from behind Toronto net minder Jonas Gustavsson to give the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead. Artem Anisimov, who was the Rangers’ best skater tonight, deflected a perfect pass from Ryan Callahan past Gustavsson with under 3 minutes to go in the first period to stretch the lead to 2-0. Martin Biron took over from there. Biron, making his first regular season start as a Ranger, was solid if not spectacular for most of the evening, making 24 saves en route to his first win. Derek Stepan, Erik Christensen and Sean Avery also had strong performances and always seemed to be in on the action.

The biggest story of the night was the Rangers team defense. The Blueshirts, led by Dan Girardi, who has been the team’s best blueliner thus far,and Ryan Callahan were all over the defensive zone blocking 30 Leafs shots in a very impressive performance. The penalty kill which was also led by Girardi and Callahan shut out Toronto on 5 chances and Biron’s stop of Kris Versteeg late in the third period sealed the victory for the Rangers.

I don’t want to put all the blame on Steve Eminger but the defense looked much better tonight without him, as he was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Matt Gilroy and Mike Sauer looked like a pretty good combination and hopefully the coaches gained some confidence in the young pair following tonight’s outing.

The Rangers will attempt to start a winning streak when they visit the Bruins in Beantown on Saturday afternoon. It wouldn’t be surprising if John Tortorella gives Biron another start after tonight’s win.

Martin Biron will make his New York Rangers debut tonight when the Blueshirts face the Maple Leafs in Toronto. He will be opposed in goal by Jonas Gustvasson (1-0-0 3.00 GAA). The Rangers will be hoping to avenge an overtime defeat at the hands of the Leafs last week during which they lost Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury to injuries.

The line combinations and pairings will be:

Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Sean Avery-Derek Stepan-Ruslan Fedotenko
Alex Frolov-Erik Christensen-Brandon Prust
Derek Boogaard-Todd White-Brian Boyle

Marc Staal-Michal Roszival
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Michael Sauer-Matt Gilroy

Steve Eminger will be a healthy scratch.

The line combinations and defensive pairings will be:

Marian Gaborik-Chris Drury-Alex Frolov
Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Sean Avery-Derek Stepan-Ruslan Fedotenko
Derek Boogard-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust

Marc Staal-Michal Rozsival
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Matt Gilroy-Steve Eminger

Henrik Lundqvist (1-1-0 4.03 GAA) will be opposed by Toronto netminder J.S. Giguere (2-0-0 1.51 GAA).

Former Ranger Colton Orr will play tonight after suffering a head injury Wednesday night vs. Pittsburgh.

The Leafs (3-0-0) are experiencing their best start to a season since 1999-2000.

Repeat after me: The sky is NOT falling, the sky is NOT falling. It is way too early in the season to sound the alarms and begin worrying. This team is obviously better than last year’s squad. The power play looks good, the effort is there and the goals are coming in bunches but unfortunately, so are the mistakes.

In a game in which the Islanders were without two of their biggest offensive weapons and their top defenseman, The Rangers were unable to match the skating of the Isles and were burned by some undisciplined play in the third period, falling 6-4 at the Coliseum in the early afternoon contest. The offense showed up again as Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov had standout performances but the blue line (with the exception of Dan Girardi, who played second straight strong game) looked lost for most of the matchup. Steve Eminger was atrocious for the second straight game and Michael Del Zotto really struggled in his own end throughout. Henrik Lundqvist made some big saves early when the Isles were controlling the pace but wasn’t very sharp as the game went on and has now allowed 7 goals in 2 games.

The Rangers had problems all last year with undisciplined play and in the words of coach Tortorella “with being consistent, night in and night out” and today that inconsistency reared it’s ugly head again. In a game that the Rangers should have won, especially after fighting back and taking the lead midway through the third period, taking two bad penalties and allowing the hard working Isles to grab the momentum and the victory, is exactly the type of thing Blueshirt fans saw all last season and ultimately what would keep them from the postseason. The effort of this team can’t be questioned so far but the discipline and intelligence of this team is still something that needs to be improved upon even after another summer of “teaching” from the coaching staff.

I hate to jump on a guy after only two games but Steve Eminger is looking early on like this season’s Wade Redden, Tom Poti or Marek Malik. I don’t know what Tortorella was watching on Saturday to  say that Eminger “played well” and was “aggressive” and if Eminger is in the lineup instead of a deserving Matt Gilroy on Friday night at MSG, Tortorella should be forced to spend a weekend locked in a room with Larry Brooks.

The Rangers will look to put this disappointing loss behind them in front of what should be an electric crowd on Friday night at MSG and they might even welcome the return of their captain as Chris Drury will see a doctor tomorrow and may be cleared to return for the home opener.

The lines and defensive pairings are expected to be the same for the Blueshirts:

Gaborik-Christensen-Frolov
Callahan-Anisimov-Dubinsky
Fedotenko-Stepan-Avery
Prust-Boyle- Boogaard

Staal-Rozsival
Girardi-Del Zotto
Eminger-Sauer

Henrik Lundqvist (1-0-0  3.00GAA) will get the start in goal and will be opposed by Rick DiPietro (0-0-1  3.69 GAA), who once again is trying to come back from injury for the the Isles.

In other news, Chris Drury is progressing well and is likely to return to the lineup for the home opener.  The question most Rangers fans want answered however, besides why is John Tortorella heaping praise on Steve Eminger, wasn’t he watching the same game as everyone else on Saturday?, is who will be out of the lineup once Drury returns…Boyle? Prust? Boogaard?

What do you think…Who will be out when Drury returns?

Highlights of the Rangers 6-3 win over the Sabres.

Some reactions to last night’s victory and Derek Stepan’s hat trick:

Ruslan Fedotenko:

“I think he’s a pretty humble guy, I’m very happy for him, how he started. If he keeps improving as a player, it’s going to be great. (Avery) has some good speed and forces the defense to make mistakes and I do the same thing. The defense made a couple of bad decisions and covered the wrong people and Derek was in the right spot.”

Ryan Callahan

“I’m happy for him,” Callahan said. “It’s unbelievable. He played a great game. The whole line (also Sean Avery and Ruslan Fedotenko) did. Aves and Feds set him and that’s good to see.”

Derek Stepan on his own play

“You dream of playing an NHL game, but you don’t dream about a game like this. It felt great that I got some chances, I couldn’t believe I missed (an empty-netter), I choked under pressure. It’s great for me in kind of getting my feet wet in my first NHL game. It was nerve-wracking but I settled in.”

In arguably the most impressive debut in Rangers history, rookie Derek “The Real Deal” Stepan stole the spotlight with a hat trick to lead the Blueshirts to a win in their season opener, 6-3 over the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena. The Rangers, who spent last season desperately seeking complementary scoring for Marian Gaborik, rode the precocious rookie’s big night to an impressive road victory.

The Blueshirts got strong performances from their entire lineup tonight as Brandon Dubinsky, whom the Rangers are counting on for a big season, scored 2 goals and Erik Christensen, who had a lackluster preseason, added a tally off a perfect pass from Gaborik early in the third period to give the team a 4 goal cushion. Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery and Ryan Callahan played up tempo hockey all contest long and the defense led by Dan Girardi (2 A) and a solid game by Michael Sauer kept the Sabres at bay for most of the matchup. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 of 34 shots to earn his first victory.

Even with all the great performances, the story of the night was undoubtedly Derek Stepan. With his 3 goals, he became the first player in the long and storied history of the franchise to score a hat trick in his first NHL game. Stepan, who had an impressive training camp and preseason, still might not have been on the opening night roster if Chris Drury and Vinny Prospal were not forced to miss time with injuries. Stepan, who could have had 5 goals tonight but who missed high on a breakaway and hit the post in the closing seconds on an empty net, proved that he is ready to not only play but make an impact at this level, threw his hat into the ring for Calder Trophy very early on.

It would be foolish to expect this kind of offensive output from the Blueshirts on a nightly basis but it would not be a stretch to expect the level of effort we saw tonight consistently as the season progresses. The Rangers’ biggest problem last season was giving that type of effort on a nightly basis but with the competition to stay with the club from youngsters like Stepan and Sauer, newcomers like Ruslan Fedotenko and Steve Eminger and even players like Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust, whose jobs might be in jeopardy with the return of Drury expected soon, the effort we saw tonight might come easier for this group than last year’s squad. The Rangers will try to follow up tonight’s victory with another strong performance against the Islanders in a matinee at the Coliseum on Monday.

In other news, Chris Drury, who is currently on injured reserve, skated with the team this morning. There is still no timetable for his return.

Probable Lineup:

Marian Gaborik-Erik Christensen-Alexander Frolov
Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Sean Avery-Derek Stepan-Ruslan Fedotenko
Derek Boogaard-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust

Marc Staal-Michal Rozsival
Michael Del Zotto-Dan Girardi
Mike Sauer-Steve Eminger

Henrik Lundqvist will get the start in goal and will be opposed by Ryan Miller (1-0-0, 1.00 GAA).

Carl Hagelin
Forward
6’0-187
08/23/1988
Sodetalje, Sweden

Hagelin was selected by the New York Rangers in the 6th round of the 2007 NHL Draft. After being drafted, Hagelin decided that instead of playing in the Swedish Elite league, he would take his considerable talents to Michigan to play for the Wolverines. As a junior at Michigan this past season, he took the CCHA by storm, tying for 11th in the nation with 50 points and ranking 12th in the nation with 31 assists. Playing all 45 of his team’s games, Hagelin led the Wolverines in numerous statistical categories in 2009-10, including assists (31), points (50), power-play points (18), and shots on goal (170). He was also second on the team in goals with 19 and in plus-minus rating with a plus-20.

In 127 career games with Michigan, he has scored 43 goals and 60 assists for 103 points. His plus-minus rating over that time is a remarkable plus-57.

Hagelin will play for Michigan as a senior this season and has been named by many publications as a legitimate contender for the Hobey Baker Award.

What the scouts are saying:“He’s a high-energy player that is a tremendous skater,” said Rangers amateur scout Larry Bernard, who has watched Hagelin at Michigan ever since the Swede arrived on campus. “Right now he’s scoring a lot of goals, but he’s also a very dangerous penalty killer. I project him at the NHL level to be a third- or fourth-line energy player that will be a tremendous penalty killer and also a threat a man down.”

Hagelin is currently ranked as the Rangers 9th best prospect by Hockey’s Future.

Hart Trophy (MVP): Eric Staal, Hurricanes
Art Ross (Top Scorer): Alex Ovechkin, Capitals
Rocket Richard (Most Goals): Marian Gaborik, Rangers
Norris (Top Defenseman): Drew Doughty, Kings
Vezina (Top Goalie): Jimmy Howard, Red Wings
Calder (Top Rookie): Jeff Skinner, Hurricanes
Adams (Top Coach): Lindy Ruff, Sabres

I want to know what you think…Leave a comment and tell us your picks.