No Pain, No Gain

Martin Straka who is known for his offense not defensive skills, stood up to the puck, risking every inch of his 5-foot-9 body. He did not even have a stick to defend him. The first shot from Devils defenseman Karel Rachunek shattered Straka’s stick. The second one caught him on the ankle, which is very painful. I know from personal experience since I play hockey myself. Straka was in so much pain, he was not even sure where the shot ricocheted off his body.

Any one of those shots could’ve turned into the goal that could have stretched the Rangers losing streak to 4. It would have also stretched the Devils winning streak to 10. But that didn't happen. Instead Rangers forward, Brendan Shanahan, ripped a shot past Martin Brodeur 30 seconds into overtime. Breaking a scoreless tie and giving the Rangers a 1-0 victory. Those three blocked shot were very important plays during the game. It made Lundqvist's job a whole lot easier when it was a time that the Rangers were shorthanded. The goalie was getting bombarded with shots and he continued to make the saves. During the blocked shots, Lundqvist was getting screen and was unable to see the shots. Straka just rejoined the team after breaking a finger keeping him out for a month. He was lucky he did not break something else. During the Rangers skid, they had been outscored 14-4 in the three games. These blocked shot were very important to the game and possibly helped the Rangers preserve a win.