More specifically speaking

I'm separating this portion of the post out so you don't think I talk too much. I want to talk about some personnel here.

No need to talk about our first class goaltending (did I mention it was our backup who picked up that first shutout of the season on Sunday?), starting at the top of the lineup and moving down...

Dubinsky is starting to figure out his job as the center between Gaborik and Prospal: keep Gaborik and Prospal happy. Gaborik continues to be impressive, with 5 goals and 4 assists so far this season, and what has really gotten me is how he comes out of nowhere. All of a sudden, he's shooting the puck, and you're not sure how he found such good ice position. Prospal, meanwhile, is very obviously finding a way to skate with the puck past 2 defenders, by being strong with it. Dubinsky's job, then, is to get other people out of the way, and to keep the puck for long stretches, until he can get it to one of them. And he has been, admirably. Dubi's been significantly stronger on the puck and more physical this season, and he's starting to develop a real chemistry with his two scoring wingers. You know, like a first line should.

Speaking of centers figuring out what their jobs are, Chris Drury has had probably his best stretch as a Ranger. With the pressure off, he's back to being an incredibly valuable penalty killer and a presence in front of the net. Callahan... was probably a little more shaken up by that collision in practice last week than he let on. After his heroics against the Caps, while he's still been putting his body in the right place, he's looked a little weak with his stick and on the puck these last two games. I expect this will get sorted out. Higgins, on Drury's other side, has continued to play great hockey. He's frustrated he hasn't scored yet (a feeling that was probably compounded by his being the only forward not named Brashear or Boyle that didn't nab at least a point Monday night), but I'm not too worried - I really like the things he's been doing with the puck, and the scoring will come - as long as in the meanwhile it's coming from everyone else.

Anisimov is starting to develop, and while I'm not exactly buying his jersey yet, I'm excited about where he might be 6 months or 2 years from now. I'm still a little confused about what's happening wing-wise on his and the fourth lines. For two consecutive games, Torts has put Kotalik down on the fourth line, opting for Avery and Lisin surrounding Anisimov. Not sure what he's seeing in Lisin (who has admittedly been playing decent hockey) that I'm not, but I can't imagine how it justifies placing him above Ales Kotalik, who has already shown some flashes of brilliance. Meanwhile, if the idea is to put some scoring on the fourth line (which Kotalik, who is part of Torts's 5-forward power play unit, would certainly bring), shouldn't Voros be out there instead of Brashear? Anyway, I'm very happy with Boyle, and Brashear finally won a fight the other day.

Hey, remember that time Wade Redden wasn't atrocious? Yeah, he's actually been pretty solid. Rozsival, after his benching, has improved back to regular-grade awful, but Redden is starting to play like a guy I might actually want on my team. It's weird. I keep cheering for him and then looking back on myself going "wait, huh?" The dude is +4 with 3 points so far. I hope this keeps up.

On our other defensemen, the story is obvious. Staal is great, Girardi is becoming better every game, and our kids (cause Staal and Girardi aren't "our kids") are young and talented and need to learn to play more solidly, which they will. For now, they're picking up the job pretty quickly.

I'm not unhappy!

Also, don't be fooled: NHL.com is wrong about the standings. We're not first in the league. We're tied with the Pens in points, in the same number of games, but they beat us head-to-head, so NHL.com should be listing them ahead of us. No idea why they're not.