The Rangers are Getting Their Identity Back, But Is It Enough?

Well, it's time for me to eat some Clowe! Well, kind of.

But in all seriousness, the Rangers' trade deadline moves have inspired the team to play with the same grit, toughness, and resolve that defined last year's division winners.

Ryane Clowe, Derick Brassard, and John Moore paid immediate dividends in their first game on Broadway. They brought a mental toughness that the Rangers had been searching for.

It carried into each game after that, despite tough losses in Pittsburgh and Toronto. They took three out of a possible four points against a Crosby-less Penguins team, a feat thought unthinkable a few weeks ago.

They got behind 3-1 in Toronto last Monday night. They fought back to tie the game at 3, but ultimately faltered. A month ago, this Rangers team may have quit after going down 2 goals. But they didn't.

In tonight's back end of a home and home against Toronto, they got up 2-1 at the second intermission. Phil Kessel scores on a two-on-one to knot the game at 2. The team from a month ago may have cracked under the pressure. But this new team didn't.

Of course, they are getting a lot of help from the best goaltender on the planet, Henrik Lundqvist. Maybe sometimes too much help.

While it is wonderful for the Rangers to be flashing their identity again, is the onus, as it seems to be year after year, on their all-world goalie too much?

He stole another game tonight, making two spectacular saves in overtime, then going 3 for 3 in the shootout. They may need it again Saturday night in the biggest Rangers-Islanders tilt in years.

I believe the Rangers will make the playoffs. But they need to display their newfound grit every single night, not just selectively.

And Henrik will have to be Henrik.

It's going to be a fun last two weeks.