Rangers 5
Capitals 2
It was another opening. It was another show.
It was a 60-minute slice of the steak and the sizzle the Rangers can bring with them to the rink every night over the course of this, the second season of the Jagr Years.
The lights were bright all over the marquee on Broadway throughout last night’s decisive 5-2 triumph over the badly outmanned Capitals at the Garden.
There was Jaromir Jagr, the newly named 24th captain of the team, scoring 29 seconds into the match to kick-start his Blueshirts. There was Brendan Shanahan scoring twice in his Broadway debut to become the 15th player in NHL history to reach the 600-goal circle. There was Henrik Lundqvist sharp in nets, the King staking claim to his castle. And there was the cast of supporting actors who did the dirty work, including spotless penalty-killing over 14:23 of shorthanded time.
This really should be the start of something big.
“This team is similar to the Red Wings when I arrived there,” said Shanahan, whose acquisition by Detroit early in the 1996-97 season was the key to that team ending its 42-year Stanley Cup drought. “From that time forward, we had very high expectations, but winning was a lot of fun.
“I was asked the other day if we could win the Cup. The answer now is yes. But each game and each month you’re going to be asked that same question and the most important time to answer positively is when you’re going into the playoffs.
“To be able to challenge for the Cup, we’re going to have to improve a lot,” said Shanahan, who got his first goal on a breakaway late in the second then netted the milestone 600th from the right porch early in the third. “That’s what good teams do: They get better as the season progresses.”
Good teams get better over the course of the season. The Rangers have gotten better in the course of the offseason. They have taken their strengths from last year and have built upon them. And they have themselves a captain.
“It’s very special in New York and to be captain of this team,” said Jagr, who beat Olaf Kolzig from the right circle on the season’s first shift. “I’m proud to be captain of this team.”
If No. 68 carried the team last season, he has more help this year. This is no one-man show.
“No matter what line we [are] out on, we have a chance to score, and that’s a different feeling from last year,” Jagr said. “I’m very happy about that; there’s not as much pressure on me.
“Even if I don’t feel good, I can go onto the ice and not worry or feel bad about what that means to the team.”
There is Jagr wearing the “C;” there is Shanahan as one of the alternate captains with Martin Straka, who has replaced last night’s scratch Darius Kasparaitis; and there is camaraderie between two of the league’s greatest stars over the last 15 years.
“I don’t ever want to wait for an invitation to speak, but I’m not one who believes that speeches make leaders,” said Shanahan, who recorded eight shots on net. “I want to do my share and let Jaromir lead.
“Him scoring on the first shift the way he did, that told everyone that he’s the captain of the Rangers.”