Rangers Explode to Win Opener [New York Rangers]

[New York Rangers] Hockey is back at the Garden as the Rangers and Capitals faced off in the season opener for both teams. And just like last season, the Rangers dominated the game from start to finish to thrill the crowd with a convincing 5-2 victory.

But while the Garden Faithful might have come to expect this type of performance from the Rangers, they were given an added bonus as Brendan Shanahan, in his Rangers debut, notched two goals to become the 15th player in NHL history to score 600 goals.

The night began with a rousing pregame ceremony to kick off the season. The entire Rangers team was introduced to the fans, who picked up right where it left off during last years playoff run, cheering the Blueshirts on at a near deafening level. Also prior to faceoff, Jaromir Jagr was introduced as the Rangers captain, becoming only the 24th captain in the Blueshirts 80-year history. Shanahan and Martin Straka were also named alternate captains.

Once the puck dropped, the Rangers got the 2006-07 season off to a rousing start. Straka took the puck out of his own zone and fed Jagr a pass in the neutral zone, where the new captain waved his way into the offensive zone and unleashed a wrister past Olaf Kolzig just 29 seconds into the game to give the Blueshirts a quick 1-0 lead.

Comment -

Its great that hockey is back. Not that I'll be paying much attention as long as the Mets are still alive in the playoffs, and the New York Giants are still fighting for a chance to survive in the NFC East. But once baseball is finished, and the Giants season has expired, the Rangers will have the New York stage...since the Knicks will hardly have any share of the spotlight.