Game On!

There's a fire sale of Panic Buttons in Rangerville. Nobody needs to press any these days, at least not until next week, and that's only for the Nervous Nellies in the crowd.

Rolling into Washington, D.C. for the Saturday night meeting with Bruce Boudreau's Capitals, the Blueshirts can thank Chris Drury for the newfound feeling of comfort. The captain's hat trick in Thursday night's 5-2 victory over Tampa Bay produced a big exhale of relief on Seventh Avenue after two straight losses had a few media critics and a horde of fans doing Chicken Little imitations.

No the sky was NOT falling on Tom's Renney-gades and the rip-roaring win over Barry Melrose's sextet at The Garden merely underlined the point, not only for The Maven, but Drury himself.

"Even with the two losses," says Chris, "I wasn't worried about this club. We were outplaying Toronto (last Saturday) and dominated the Islanders (on Election Day), but we lost. We'll be just fine."

Not that the club is 100 percent perfect (who is?), and the coach recognizes that fact of life.

"I like where we are," Renney asserts, "but I'm not completely satisfied. We've got things to improve and we'll address them."

The power play had been an Achilles heel lately, but the balm applied on Thursday night amounted to a pair of PP goals: the first by Ryan Callahan, opening scoring in the first period, and the second – his second as well – delivered by Drury early in the final frame.

Actually, the captain's trio was unusual since he also scored a shorthanded beauty in the second period and closed out his hat trick with a five-on-three clincher with half-a-minute left in the game.

"We needed the win," Drury explains, "just to get back on track. It just felt good, getting the 'W.'"

Also feeling his oats was Aaron Voros, who battled Ryan Malone in another excellent toe-to-toe bout in the first period and later traded punches with Tampa's belligerent goalie Mike Smith at 18:19 of the third. Voros also took an ankle chop from Smitty preceding the bout.

"I think he (Smith) should be suspended for that," says Renney.

Marc Staal, playing steady if not spectacular defense, rounded out New York's scoring in the third and Nik Zherdev produced another dazzling effort, starting with a radar pass that led to Callahan's opening goal.

"It wasn't a textbook win," Renney concludes, "but we'll take it."

Now the question is: Will they take it to the Caps?

Answer: They will if Drury continues his upswing and the Nervous Nellies calm down.

MORE:

• The Sky Is Not Falling
• No Time for an S.O.S.
• No Cause for Alarm