Peepin' Foes: San Jose Sharks

Where We Are: After sucking through four games earlier this month, the Blueshirts have bounced back with three straight wins - one of which that was actually in regulation! After beating Anaheim and the Kings on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Rangers to finish off their California roll tonight against the San Jose Sharks. The Rangers prevailed over them last year, and I wrote one of my favourite posts to date recapping that one but both teams have undergone some big changes so it really has no relevance on this one. We can only hope for a repeat of the effort (from both me and the team, lol).

Where They Are: They are coming off of a epic fail where the Detroit Red Wings took aim and blew them up 6-0. And yet they are still the best team in the NHL by at least five points. That debacle against the Wings on Thursday was just their fourth regulation loss in 32 games. Can you say Cup contender?

Who To Watch For: Not Kyle McLaren, who I wanted to trade for - he is now out for over a month after surgery. Jeremy Roenick is also done for a spell. But let's face it, neither one of these formerly prominent names really do much for the team nowadays (hell, McLaren was in the minors). Now the names are Devin Setoguchi, Ryane Clowe and Patrick Marleau. Oh yeah, and Joe Thornton, Dan Boyle and Evgeni Nabokov. They have so many weapons, it's scary.

What To Watch For: Which San Jose team jumps on the ice - the one that has lost two straight games and is reeling or the one that has lost two straight games and is pissed!

What We'll (Hopefully) See: A Ranger team that steps up their game against a big opponent, like they did when they played Detroit back in the early moments of the season. Granted, we lost that one, but the effort was impressive. It would also be nice to see an impressive defensive effort from Michal Rozsival, now that he has regained some of his offensive touch (pun not intended, but amusing nonetheless). And, of course, a heavyweight bout between Colton Orr and Jody Shelley.

Also Check Out: The Battle of California, Two For Elbowing and Fear The Fin are probably the three best (especially with Mike Chen broadening his scope over at KK).

As always, I recommend people check out Sam Weinman's Ranger Report but seeing as he didn't go to Cali, Steve Zipay's Blue Notes is a good place to stop by.