All about Work

 

Patrick Hoffman (HV)

 

On March 19, the New York Rangers were given the challenge of stopping offensive superstars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Mark Recchi when they took on the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. The result: A 2-1 win where only Malkin got on the scoresheet with an assist.

 

The line for the Blueshirts that was in charge of stopping Crosby’s line consisted of Blair Betts, Ryan Hollweg and Colton Orr. This line showed a defensive prowess and even managed to contribute some offense as Betts gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead early in the third period.

 

“We finally got a break,” Betts said after the 2-1 victory. “It was nice because we have been playing well for a long time.”

Each member of the line contributed in one way or another as Betts created some offense and won key face-offs, Hollweg got to loose pucks in the corner, did a solid job of hounding Crosby and drew a penalty while Orr managed to play a smart game by staying out of the box and protecting his teammates when he was thrown into a situation that allowed it.

 

For Ryan Hollweg, covering the Crosby line was chance of a lifetime and showed him that his line’s hard work is paying off.

“It was really flattering to play against a guy like Crosby, one of the best players in the world,” Hollweg said. “We deserved this chance because lately, our line has had the role of shutting down the opponents’ top line.”

 

And the line did just that last night, shut down the mighty Crosby line and they were able to do that by keeping things simple and playing within their own roles.

 

“We don’t try to do too much offensively – we create our offense off forechecking,” Betts said. “Our mindset is to play good defensively.”

 

“We were able to get a good forecheck going and make them come two hundred feet all the time,” Hollweg said. “That was a huge bonus for us keeping them off the scoresheet tonight.”

 

For Rangers head coach Tom Renney, putting the Hollweg-Betts-Orr line together was not exactly science.

“I thought with Betts experience in face-offs and maybe Ryan with his energy would keep people on their toes and Colton can probably do the same on the other side – provided we didn’t spend an awful lot of time in our own end,” Renney said.

 

The line may not contribute much offensively but in the end, it was the trio of Hollweg, Betts and Orr that played a big role in helping the Rangers gain sole possession of 7th place in the Eastern Conference.

 

 

Photo: Ryan Hollweg © Richard Wolowicz (HV)