R1, G5: Failed Philosophy

The Blueshirts were sent to the brink on Friday night when they fell 2-1 in overtime to the Caps.

The first 60 minutes were full of mind-numbingly boring hockey, with the Rangers seemingly playing for a shootout that would never come. But once they hit the OT, things suddenly opened up and it was a edge-of-the-seat, heart attack-inducing, utterly terrifying sudden death stanza. And you know what? The Rangers were just fine. Hank made some big saves - he can do that, you know - and the boys were in it.

It was only when they went back to being Torts' team and followed his failed philosophies that they lost. They collapsed deep in their zone, clogged the middle, allowed the Washington point men time and space, and focused on blocking shots rather than pressing the action. They penalty killed at even strength and the NHL's top power play players took advantage.

Poor John Moore blocked a shot, found himself stranded and then out of position as Mike Ribeiro slid into the slot to slam home the game-winner. And now the Rangers return to MSG Sunday - at the odd time of 4:30 in the afternoon. I know I'm repeating the cliche: it's not over until the home team loses and if they lose Sunday, it's over.

Late Hits:

*Mentioned it after last game, how Clowe was taking a risk playing at less than 100%. Skating around with a bullseye on his head he was one hit away from trouble and he took that hit in the first period. The terms "upper body" and "lower body" were created to protect players because, in the playoffs, opponents would target weakness to knock them out. Everyone knew Clowe had a concussion so it is little surprise that one of Washington's warriors, Jason Chimera - would take advantage of that knowledge.

*Five games down, still no sign of Rick Nash. But I'm sure he'll show up again in October.

*Boyle giveth, Boyle taketh away. Another goal for, another mistake that led to a goal against. Credit due him for being more involved than he was during the regular season, I guess.

*Richard$ has been horrid but to put him with Asham and Pyatt? How can you spark a playmaker if you put him with guys who can't play?

*That being said, having Richie and DZ out on the power play is getting ridiculous. The team went 0-4, including virtually four straight minutes of man advantage time in the second period. The unit is slow, predictable and about as harmless as a puppy. All told, seven shots in eight power play minutes, none by Nash.

*Thought Dorsett skated well, he's slowly finding his fitness and should be terrific after a full training camp.

*Anton Stralman is too soft and incapable to be a useful second-pairing blueliner. That was him getting outmuscled by Troy Brouwer on the final play, allowing for the tip to Ribeiro. But at least he is better than Del Zaster, right?

*Guess I wasn't just being cruel when I pointed out DZ's various deficiencies? Or can he still play the age card? By the way, this was his 275th NHL game ...

*Why does it seem that Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin are often the only Rangers on the ice when they rush over the Washington blue line? Every attack appears to be one on three or one on four.

*Crazy numbers for Matt Hendricks: 9:12 of ice time - 3:29 of it was shorthanded - four hits and seven blocked shots. That's one helluva playoff performance.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 33 saves.
2-Joel Ward - one goal.
1-Mike Ribeiro - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Ovie - Fifteen shot attempts, nine of which went on net. Damn.
2-Hank - Where Holtby was hardly tested, the King found himself under siege and can not be collectable for the loss.
1-Ribeiro - Won a ton of faceoffs and helped make Hank's life hard. 

R1, G2: Disappointment in DC

Oh, what a difference an inch makes. Anton Stralman's shot four minutes into Game 2 is an inch lower and Saturday may have been quite different. While I am not about to go all Al Pacino over that inch, it proved to be quite important as it was the Blueshirts' closest scoring attempt in what was to be a 1-0 overtime loss to the Capitals.

But as old Al details in that classic speech from "Any Given Sunday", you've got to fight for that inch and the Rangers have yet to put that effort in. For all of his blustering and hysterics, Torts has never been able to get his team ready to play at puck drop so perhaps, perhaps - two games in - they will finally wake up for Game 3.

Perhaps getting out of that cesspool city they were in for the first two games will help. But, given how quiet the Garden has been this year, home ice may not be so much of an advantage. Plus, I saw that there are over two thousand tickets available between Stubhub and TicketsNow for Monday's match. Thanks to the insane prices set by Dolan's minions, plenty of True Blue are selling and it is impossible to blame them for it.

Either way, the games are won on the ice and not in the crowd. The saying goes that a playoff series isn't over until a team loses at home. So, at least we have that. For now.

Enough about Game 3, some Late Hits about 2:

*Three power plays, nothing. Guys standing around, taking bad shots that were easily blocked ... Ranger typical. Were they hosed on Alzner's puck into the crowd? Absolutely. But do you really think another power play really would have mattered?

*Braden Holtby - a goaltender who wouldn't even start on 28 other teams (figure he'd be an upgrade in Edmonton, maybe) - has barely been challenged, barely been disturbed. It's one thing to give the goalie wide berth if you are playing against a l33t tender, but Holtby has been given an easy ride by the lackluster Ranger attack.

*Here's a wild thought for the Rangers: don't shoot the puck at Holtby's chest.

*Wouldn't it be nice for the team to forecheck, to hold their own blue line, to carry the puck across the opposition's instead of dumping ... what wonderful team that would be to watch.

*The scorekeeper counted an insane 58 hits for the Rangers. Fifty-eight hits that resulted in just five takeaways. That's a problem. Hit for possession, hit for intimidation, don't hit just to hit.

*That was a big issue for DZ over the last few years (and still is) but the kid is putting together some of the best defensive shifts of his career. It is a shame that they are largely wasted as his partners are horrible and the two guys above him are so exhausted that they're making amateur mistakes.

*Speaking of amateur, John Tortorella. What kind of coach is so clueless, so incapable of motivating his players, so lacking in ideas that he has to juggle his lines in the second game of the playoffs? (Yes, I know he has done it all season long, it was rhetorical.)

*As for his decision to put Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett in ... ridiculousness. Boyle, who's mere presence is a black hole in the lineup that makes the lines uneven, and a guy who is coming off an injury, has never played in the playoffs and never played for the organization before. And neither of them have any real hope of scoring goals, the prime problem of Game 1.

*It is a real shame that Torts has no faith in Chris Kreider. No idea why the bench boss has so much faith in Taylor Pyatt.

*That being said, no judgement on Dorsett's first game. He shouldn't have been inserted in the lineup cold turkey but he appeared to skate hard and was certainly willing to throw his recently-healed body around. We'll see what happens once Torts drains the life out of him.

*Previously made the comparison of Brian Boyle to Willie Huber before but now I want to issue an apology. Willie, wherever you are (he passed away in '10), I'm sorry. You were not nearly as useless.

*Zuccarello was all over the ice in the first period, then pretty much disappeared as Torts started his juggling act. Using him as the physical winger with a completely covered Nash and a legless Richard$ is pointless.

*John Carlson had seven shots on goal in 10 attempts for Washington. The entire Ranger defense had four shots on goal on 11 attempts. The Caps are capably clogging the middle, but the Blueshirts are taking far too long in their decision making.

*Best part of the series coming back to MSG? No stupid horn or morons incessantly banging on the glass. Man, are DC fans annoying or what?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Braden Holtby - 24 saves.
2-Mike Green - one goal.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 37 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Cally - The only Ranger skater who looked interested throughout the entire game, the only one who looked like he got angry. Woulda loved to hear what Hendricks said to him in that scrum.
2-Green - Saw his goal coming a mile away and it still beat Hank.
1-Hank - No King, no chance. This one woulda been five or six-zip, easily.

24-18-4: Failure In Florida

Was it arrogance? Was it ambivalence? Was it alcohol? Whatever it was, the Rangers had a chance to seize a playoff spot on Tuesday and bricked, falling 3-2 to the worst team in the NHL, the Florida Panthers.

For those counting, this was the second loss by the Blueshirts to the Putty Tats this season and it came just five days after the lone win, a 6-1 curbstomp at the Garden. So the Rangers could very well have entered the evening overconfident, overlooking their injury-plagued opponents. They could have also soaked in too much sun and were too sleepy to play some puck. Or, having won eight of their previous 11, they could have over-indulged over their two nights in Miami and - without a morning skate to sweat out some of the booze - had to handle raging hangovers as well as Kevin Dineen's kids.

No matter what, it was an inexcusable failure in a season chock-full of them. You know, just being in this position is ridiculous. Sure, there was no way the Rangers would repeat last year's performance with a largely new cast of characters, but to be behind the Islanders, to be praying for Winnipeg to lose and to be (still, always) praying for important power play goals is ... preposterous.

So, I believe to make the playoffs the Rangers need to take two points out of their last two games or for the Jets to lose to Montreal on Thursday. Go Habs Go.

(I feel dirty saying that, but the Canadiens probably have a better chance than the Rangers do.)

Late Hits:

*The boys really responded to the beating Asham took at the hands of the best mustache in hockey, didn't they?

*What is it about Jacob Markstrom? The Rangers threw 83 shots at the Swede over the two games he started and they didn't force him to make a single tough stop. Not a one. Yet again the Blueshirts drove the puck right into the body of the big kid, and stood and watched as he stopped them.

*Del Zaster is continuing to be a massive liability. On the all-important first goal he let Huberdeau into the zone untouched, stopped, picked up another Panther to cover and screened Hank as Kuba's shot came in. His own-zone awfulness aside, DZ is hardly helping on the other side of the ice. He has just one goal in his last 38 games and four assists in his last 14 - three of which were secondary.

*Taylor Pyatt scored the game-tying tally after Mats Zuccarello earned the blueline and found a driving John Moore. So, of course, Torts had the team relying on his favourite gameplan the rest of the game - dump, chase and grind.

*Pyatt was standing in the crease when he scored, Brassard was standing in the crease when he scored. Amazing what happens when guys are willing to work the slot, right?

*The Rangers successfully killed all three of their power plays. Man, are they good at doing that.

*If Torts doesn't trust Kreider to play more than four minutes against the worst team in the league, when is he ever going to trust him?

*On the topic of ice time, nearly 28 minutes for Girardi. Ludicrous. In the off chance the Rangers even make the playoffs, they can't possibly last long in that torture test thanks to all of the milage on Dan-O and Hank.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Marcel Goc - one goal.
2-Tomas Fleischmann - one goal and one assist.
1-Jacob Markstrom - 36 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Huberdeau - A consistent offensive threat, this kid could have himself one helluva NHL career if the Cats build a team around him.
2-Zuke - The best of the Blueshirts on this night, the fearless 25-year-old carried the offense.
1-Markstrom - Why not give him some credit for not allowing any soft goals?

21-17-4: The Ole Let-Down

As have often been the case with the 2013 New York Rangers, they followed up a big victory with a big loss when they failed against the Flyers 4-2 on Tuesday night. Just three days after Hank's heroics gave them a stirring overtime victory over the Isles, the Blueshirts put together a piss poor performance against a piss poor team.

John Tortorella, as per usual, is killing this franchise's fortunes. Torts' utter inability to get his team to come prepared to play at puck drop, his cluelessness about chemistry, his lack of creativity and his power play 'plan' is making a middling team terrible.

The bench boss is, of course, safe - can't imagine a company that employed Isiah Thomas for so long canning a coach amid an asterisked season - but his failings are sending this team to one nerve racking finish. All the talk about the Rangers playing non-playoff teams for the remainder of their schedule is senseless as they play down to the level of their opponents. And if they keep playing like non-playoff teams, soon enough they will be one themselves.

Late Hits:

*Steve Mason became just another sieve of a goaltender made to look magnificent by the Blueshirts. The Rangers threw a deluge of shots on net, shots that the netminder was able to see, shots that weren't followed up. Mason made what? two good saves? A glove on Girardi and a point-blank stop of Zuke. The rest were routine.

*Given their sheer size, Taylor Pyatt and Ryane Clowe should be crashing the net to bang home some rebounds. But they aren't. Pyatt has one goal in his last 38 games, Clowe none since that brace in his debut. I guess Brian Boyle is rubbing off and their size is going to waste.

*Speaking of Boyle, he was unsure of his own injury after the game. How do you not know what hurts? And was there a single person - other than Torts - who missed him after he left in the first period?

*Maybe Arron Asham should get his GED. Instead of being proud of not graduating high school, Asham should get a clue and realize that stupidity is something one should smile about. The team suffered through an awful first period that saw them fall behind 2-0. The smallest player on the ice came through with a goal to cut the deficit to one. The right thing to do was not jump on the ice and start a senseless fight that you summarily lose. You would think that you wouldn't need no fancy buk lernin' 2 now thatt ...

*Continually astounding what low-lifes Flyer fans are, really the lowest form of life in the sports world. Classless, vulgar, obnoxious, ignorant slobs. No wonder they still have love for Asham.

*Brad Richard$ was abominable, possibly his worst game as a Ranger (or NHLer). While you would like to think that he can only get better from here, like the rest of the Blueshirts, he surely will find a new way to disappoint.

*No disappointments from John Moore. None at all. As I tweeted, I fully admit to underestimating him when he came over in the Gaborik trade. While I have advocated for more and more ice time for the kid over the last week, even I did not expect the display he put on at Wells Fargo. Smooth skating, solid stickhandling, confident ... even edgy - did you see him jump to Cally's defense when the captain was knocked down in front of the Flyer net? Delightful.

*Del Zastrous night for him and his partner Anton Stralman. I delighted in the shot that hit DZ's face only in that he blocked it and no one was able to skate around him and get a scoring chance. That's it; the report that it was I who yelled "Get up you pussy!" is inaccurate ... I only thought it.

*Really can't wait until Dylan McIlrath gets to town and finally makes opponents accountable for hitting Hank. What a day that will be.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Jay Rosehill - one fight.
2-Kimmo Timonen - one goal and one assist.
1-Steve Mason - 38 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Rosehill - Not only did he stunt the Ranger rush at the top of the second period by beating the hell out of Asham, he also took a stupid penalty in the first to allow his team to get two minutes closer to victory. Some less sarcastic credit to Sean Couturier for solid work on both sides of the ice.
2-Claude Giroux - The former Eisbaren won 18 faceoffs, including the offensive zone draw that went right to Kimmo for Philly's third goal.
1-Timonen - An all-around fine performance by the Finn. The 38 year old will not end up in the Hall of Fame but he will be able to skate away from the game next year having had an admirable career.

16-15-3: Self-Fulfilling Prophesy

Being the pessimist that I am, I have been told a number of a times by happier people to lighten my outlook on life. They've said, 'if you expect bad things to happen, then bad things will happen. If you start expecting good things to happen, good things will happen."

While I try to relate that I just prepare for the worst, I do believe that there are such things as self-fulfilling prophecies. The lack of confidence by the Blueshirts after their constant struggles has been obvious. And when you combine that with the recent history the franchise has had in Montreal which was spoken of ad nauseam, well, they lost this game before the puck dropped.

Sure, it was a fluke bounce that set up that Canadiens goal in the first minute and sure, the Rangers had several chances to tie the game but the Blueshirts' hearts were never in it. All of their various deficiencies that have hurt them over the past few weeks were evident and their fate was sealed long before the final buzzer sounded to end the 3-0 blanking by the bleu, blanc et rouge.

As written here after the loss in Ottawa, what has been going on is insane - a nightly retread of the wrong ideas and actions. Something has to change. It can be something as big as a coaching change (please, oh please), it can be a trade to shake up the lineup, it can be a big fight or big goal on Monday. Hell, it can be simply an outdoor practice or a visit to a kids' hospital to renew the players faith in their abilities, their confidence and their love for the game. Whatever it is, it has to happen soon or they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.

Late Hits:

*If Gabby didn't blow that power play breakaway moments before Plekanec's goal, would that have rendered all of the above moot? I don't think so, but it woulda been nice to have the Rangers finally score inside the Bell Centre.

*Welcome back Zuke. Mats Zuccarello was the best of the Blueshirts last night, likely because he hasn't had time to be brought down just yet. In addition to a hockey stick that is as tall as he is, the Norwegian brought a decisiveness that has been rare around the Rangers this season. We've seen it on rare occasion with the tic-tac-toe goals but every time the puck came to Zuke he knew what he was going to do with it. It was refreshing to see. If he has added a willingness to shoot to his sublime passing ability, he will be quite the asset.

*Another addition has to be made, someone has to come in to shore up the blue line. McD and Girardi are showing their mileage, DZ is still Del Zastrous in his own end and the other three 'defensemen' aren't playing at a NHL level. Last season worked out in that Sauer was in while Staal was out, Staal returned to cover when Sauer went out. Staal is gone, and there isn't anyone around who can fill his skates.

*Really don't understand why Sean Avery tweeted what he did when he did. I think he's right about Torts, but the timing of it was odd ... maybe he was just drunk and frustrated at some bar in SOHO that had the game on.

*Kris Newbury remembered he was Kris Newbury and took one of his typical poor penalties. Woulda been nice to have Powe out there to kill it, after all he was acquired for his penalty killing ability.

*Powe, like Asham were on the bench. Sure my Twitter buddy surely wouldn't have played that hard, seeing the game was against one of his former franchises, but there was zero toughness in that lineup. A good fight might have injected a little injury but there was no one willing to go to the wall.

*Ah, Pruster. I fully admit to writing that he was past his expiration date, that he never fully recovered from the Barch fight and the hard minutes had made him less of a player - one that wasn't worth the huge payday he was seeking. While Brad Richard$ was clearly hurt by the inactivity of the lockout, the extra time certainly helped Prust get back to being himself. What a warrior.

*Are we sure that it is Brian Boyle out there, not Peter Boyle from Young Frankenstein?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Brendan Gallagher - one goal.
2-P.K. Subban - three assists.
1-Carey Price - 34 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Halpern - Considered giving Pruster the star just 'cause but Super Jew played a motivated game and won 11 of 17 faceoffs. Did he ever even take that many in one game over his short tenure as a Ranger?
2-Gallagher - Unlike J.T. Miller, Gally was able to finish his chance in close.
1-Subban - The much maligned defenseman has added some maturity to his game and should be considered among the best blueliners in the NHL.

16-14-3: Insanity

As the idiom goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Examples: the Ranger power play, constant line juggling, Roman Hamrlik receiving ice time, John Tortorella's coaching.

In addition to being an obvious egomaniac, the Rangers' bench boss has made a case for being called crazy as well.

Tortorella has yet to realize that he has a different team in front of him from last season and hasn't adjusted his outlook or his gameplan. As I said last week, he just keeps laying the whip hoping for a response. He's not getting one, but that isn't stopping him.

On the other bench on Thursday night was Paul MacLean. MacLean lost his best forward, defenseman and goaltender and yet has been able to adjust, turning his squad of foot soldiers into a cohesive unit that gets the job done with alarming regularity. And that is what they did last night, handily defeating the Rangers 3-0.

The Senators played a smart, tough team game and the Blueshirts couldn't match up. Ottawa clogged the middle, filled passing lanes and were stronger physically. Torts' response was to juggle his lines - his usual crutch - and, not-so-surprisingly, the decision didn't do a thing except seal the Rangers' fate.

Insanity.

Just a few Late Hits as this stuff getting old quick:

*Time for Marty Biron (or, preferably, Cam Talbot) to get some starts. Not only is Hank getting headaches, but he is not playing like himself. He is getting frustrated and taking stupid, senseless chances. He needs a break.

*Hank definitely needs some physical assistance from his teammates - as I've railed upon in the past, the King has been ran a number of times this year and no one has done anything about it. Dylan McIlrath can't grow up fast enough.

*If the bottom six aren't going to contribute offensively, they should contribute physically. They didn't. They can't be petrified of taking hard-hit penalties, especially when the rest of the roster takes dumber, lazier ones with infuriating regularity.

*What are the odds Zuke will be able to jump start Gabby? Thinking slim and none, as Gabby has been getting chances but he just can't bury them. As I tweeted, he's played 98:14 of power play ice time this season with just one goal.

*MacLean had his guys keep close check of Step and Nash and neither one was a factor whatsoever. Nash is a big power forward, he should be able to battle through tight checking like last night. He didn't, he attempted just one shot the entire night.

*Had Hagelin finished his opportunities, last night woulda been a bit different - the result may have been the same, but at least the Rangers wouldn't have given Bishop his second NHL nono.

*Cally's broken stick was only part of the problem on the Ottawa power play goal - Derek Stepan also erred. Step never closed with any of the Sens to try to force a mistake and was practically standing still by the time Benoit shot. That was after almost a full minute of the Rangers being trapped in their own end, after Step's shorthanded rush down the left wing resulted in soft., bad angle shot. He either should have changed or, after being trapped for so long, lunged at someone to either force a turnover or a bad shot.

*Is it any wonder Iggy didn't want anything to do with this franchise?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Erik Contra - no points.
2-Mika Zibanejad - two assists.
1-Ben Bishop - 24 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Methot/Phillips - Ottawa's top pair had far more success than the Blueshirts' blueliners.
2-Zibanejad - Clearly the extra time in the minors paid off for the smart, good skating Swede.
1-Chris Neil - Neil was his usual acerbic self and it paid off. Not to mention his quick recovery from injury ...

15-13-3: Familiar Failure

As the puck drops on yet another game in moments, a quickquickquick recap of the Rangers' 3-2 shootout loss to the Caps on Sunday. Sorry about the delay, life gets in the way... 

Slow start? Check.

Bad penalty? Check.

Give up the first goal? Check.

Make a bad goalie look good? Check. 

Rally to give us false hope? Check.

Disappointing loss to a poor opponent? Check.

To quote Battlestar Galactica: "All this has happened before, and will happen again. Again. Again. Again. Again ..."

Late Hits:

*My Twitter buddy Arron Asham returned from injury and scored a goal in his first game back. It was a easy wrister far side past Holtby's glove, just like Asham's first goal this year on the other awful Southeastern goalie Lindback. It also should have been a shot the Rangers scorers should have been throwing past LOLtby all night long. Good on Asham to finally decide to show up, let's see him do it again against a team he used to play for.

*Quite possibly the best defensive game Del Zaster has played in a Ranger uniform. He still made mistakes, but his positioning was better and he was relentless.

*I've been unable to re-watch the game a third time to check the numbers, but I can't imagine the official scorekeepers were accurate. Nine shots for Cally? Six hits for Boyle?

*It is so ludicrous that they call dives alongside the initial infractions.

*Amazing that Newbury was not one of those who took stupid penalties. But it is interesting that his presence created a comfort level for Kreider, in the same way John Mitchell helped Carl Hagelin last season.

*Keep thinking Matt Hendricks won't look that bad in a Blueshirt.

*Those Caps sweaters are beautiful, too bad they are constant reminders of John Druce.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Nicklas Backstrom - one goal and one assist.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 22 saves.
1-Braden Holtby - 30 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - Solid game by the King, hard to blame him for a goal deflected off Backstrom's chest and another was tipped by Ovie.
2-Ovechkin - Everything Gabby was not.
1-Backstrom - Everything Richard$ was not.

15-13-2: The Rollercoaster Continues

The up-and-down, back-and-forth Ranger season continued on Thursday night with another low, a 3-1 loss to the injury-ravaged, NHL-worst Florida Panthers.

A normal reaction would be outrage, outrage for the lack of effort and emotion. But, frankly, I don't feel that. I'm numb. There have been far too many occasions over the last few seasons where the team followed solid victories with inexcusable failures. Consistency is simply not a characteristic of the John Tortorella Rangers.

And that is to be expected. Torts is the jockey to this horse of a team - a jockey who relies on the whip to get a response. He starts raining down blows at the start of the race and rarely relents. A few good wins changes his spirits and he lowers his crop, only to see the stallion slow. So he begins the abuse all over again.

The Rangers didn't reach the finish of last season's race because Torts' continual castigation wore them down a few furlongs from the line. This current race is more of a sprint due to the lockout but the beast beneath Torts is simply not as strong, and it isn't responding to the lash nearly as well as the last.

Late Hits:

*Brandon Prust was around last season, and when he fought early his teammates followed with an effort. Well, he's long gone now and the Rangers don't bother showing up for the first 10, 15, 20 minutes on most nights.

*Happy birthday Cally. Sorry your teammates gave you such a terrible present.

*Rick Nash has to be suspended. Has to. There is no place for gutless, blindside, leaping elbows in this sport anymore. I love a bit of the old ultra violence, but at least look the guy in the eye as you attack him.

*But, alas, the stellar NHL officiating didn't even bother to penalize Nash, and he set up Gabby's goal just a few minutes later. Amazing how that worked out.

*Nice of Gabby to score, reminding us of what he is capable of. Just hope that it isn't another eight games before he strikes again.

*That was the Slovakian Sniper's ninth goal of the year. Just one of them came on the power play. Martin Brodeur has one power play goal too. He's a goalie.

*Brodeur's touch tonight allowed him to match Brian Boyle's goal total for this season. He is awful, and should have been the one sent to Hartford instead of Micheal Haley. Yep, he is so bad that I'm advocating the Rangers keep an ex-Islander on the roster. Haley, at least, makes the most of his size and he's willing to risk his body to make a play.

*Speaking of ex-Islanders, Marty Biron should have started this game. Hank was concussed on that elbow from Girardi on Tuesday and yet Torts put him right back in net, against an opponent that (on paper) deserved a backup. One thing I learned from the incessant head shot talk is that any bruise to the brain counts as a concussion and Hank having a headache for an hour after the hit proved he was black and blue.

*Despite being at risk for another, worse head injury Hank had himself a good game. He was a big more jumpy than usual but he still made a half dozen stellar saves - six more than Markstrom had to.

*I'm so demanding. I begged the Blueshirts to 'Hit. The Net.' Now I want them to Stop. Shooting. At. The. Logo. Far too many shots were right at the leaping cat on Markstrom's sweater.

*0-3 on the power play. What a surprise.

*The fourth line played three minutes and Halpern nearly scored. But keep on putting Brad Richard$ out there, maybe he will work himself into shape one of these days. Said it before, as an older guy Richie shoulda played somewhere, anywhere during the lockout. He still has not regained that step.

*Only time I noticed Chris Kreider was when he was being punched in the back of the head.

*Happy trails to Alex Kovalev, one of the first high-profile enigmatic Europeans in the NHL. Kovy was incredible at times when he wore a Blueshirt, and was infuriating at others. But Mark Messier wouldn't let him give anything less than his best and he helped bring us the Cup in '94.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Scottie Upshall - one goal.
2-Brian Campbell - one goal.
1-Jacob Markstrom - 44 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - This easily could have been a 5-0 loss if not for the King.
2-Markstrom - The Swede certainly knows how to get square to the shots and swallows rebounds off his chest quite well.
1-Cally - It was his birthday, he deserves the top star!

13-12-2: Pitiful In Pittsburgh

The city of Pittsburgh was celebrating St. Patty's on Saturday and, man, did I wish I was drunk.

The lack of lager in my system made the Rangers lifeless, gutless, embarrassing 3-0 loss to Pittsburgh quite the painful endeavor. I showed up to the Consol Energy Center, they did not.

As has often been the case this season, they spotted their opponent a lead and had to battle to get it back. Unlike in Winnipeg on Tuesday, they proved unable to do it this time around. Sure they put in a better effort in the second period but anything would have been better than the first. Fleury's biggest concern was covering the one shot that ricocheted off his own teammate's head; the majority of the night he barely had to break a sweat.

There is virtually no physicality on the roster of this year's Ranger roster and their skills are not paying the bills. In fact, a lot of their abilities appear to have been repossessed. Mediocrity would be a step up for Gabby and Richard$ and many of their teammates at this point. The many flaws of this franchise need to be addressed and this current streak of ineptitude will hopefully force Glen Sather to do something about them. 

Just ranting my way through the Late Hits without watching a replay of the game. Can't bear to relive it:

*Remember when everyone said that scoring was the problem last season and not the defense, so adding Rick Nash would solve everything? Yeah, no.

*Over two minutes on the power play gave Richard$ a team-high total of 89 minutes and 21 seconds of man advantage time this season. He has no power play goals and just two power play assists.

*Things are so bad for the offense that they are trying Alex Frolov wrap-arounds with some regularity. Because that move worked so well for him. 

*The DoubleTrees line of Pyatt, Boyle and Miller couldn't be more disappointing. Two big guys too scared to use their size and a rookie making plays (and occasional mistakes) in a vacuum. 

*I remember last week when everyone said Boyle - like Gaborik - was back when he scored that one goal on that one lucky shot. So foolish. One goal in 37 games for Boyle (stretching back to last season's playoffs), one in 14 for Gaborik.

*The Rangers simply can not go forward starting three No. 7 defensemen. Roman Hamrlik has no place in the NHL, and he is a huge reason for this loss. Hamrlik's incompetence allowed the puck to get to Bennett for the first goal and forced Stralman to take the bad penalty that set up the second and his indecisiveness allowed the easy two-on-one tally that capped off the scoring (either cover the man or the pass, dammit). He is long past his expiration date.

*Of course, the Pens' power play goal came after Del Zaster had a perfectly good chance to clear the puck and didn't. Really, really miss Marc Staal. 

*Speaking of the PK, Ryan Callahan without a stick is better than everyone else is with one. Jeff Halpern without a stick? Scary.

*To their credit, the majority of the folks inside Consol Center weren't hammered and weren't overly obnoxious - the benefit of an early afternoon start. They did whine quite a bit, and were yelling for Girardi to be ejected for the game for touching their precious Crosby in the first period. 

*That was awesome Dan-O, shoulda hit him again. 

*The arena, by the way, is quite nice - it shares a lot of the same characteristics as the Rock.

*Two clear dives to draw penalties in this one: Crosby and Del Zaster. What a pair of players ...

*Beau Bennett? Really? Hank was outstanding aside from letting Bennett's shot sail past him far side for the first goal. That was ... ugh. The rest of the afternoon the King was outstanding, even Pens fans gave him accolades.

*Consol is a beautiful new building, quite reminiscent of the Prudential Center in Jersey. Kudos also to their game night staff, who really put together a nice presentation. They have a terrific scoreboard and know how to use it. Great stuff.

*In case you were wondering, I don't drink at most away games (outside of the Rock). No problem being the obnoxious Ranger fan, don't want to be the drunk and obnoxious Ranger fan. Also, I am not spending an extra penny inside NHL arenas (aside from tickets) this season as a protest of the lockout.

*And, finally, a huge thank you to Gretchen, my season subscriber rep for setting up the tix in Pittsburgh. Beautiful view for face price was nice. Too bad the team didn't come through. 

*PHW Three Stars:

3-Dustin Jeffrey - two assists.
2-Tyler Kennedy - one goal and one assist.
1-Marc-Andre Fleury - 23 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - With any other goaltender in the New York net this one was 7, 8-0 ...
2-Jeffrey - Took full advantage of Hamrlik's awfulness to set up two goals.
1-Hamrlik - Had the Rangers had a capable blueliner in his roster spot, the Pens might have had a tougher time winning.

13-11-2: Winless Vs. Winnipeg

It is getting quite difficult to do these game wraps as the team keeps repeating their former failures. On Thursday night the Blueshirts soiled the bed yet again, falling to Winnipeg 3-1 - their second loss to the Southeast squad since the lockout. It's a good thing they don't meet again in this asterisked season.

In an all-too-familiar script, our side fell behind at the start. Of no surprise, Ryan Callahan's hard work got them back in the game but his teammates refused to follow his example and they ended up losing to a far inferior team for the third time in their last four games.

Really not going much deeper into this one as it was a sad, inexcusable story we've seen before, and only a few Late Hits:

*Del Zaster's usual ineptness in his own end gave Winnipeg two goals - bad penalty at the start, utter awfulness on the Miettinen tally. So unsurprising. And he still saw 27:41 in ice time. Love that accountability by the Blueshirts' bench boss.

*Step took a big, shorthanded defensive zone faceoff against Antropov and lost it. And Borat went on to score the power play goal, just two minutes into the match.

*Step took two huge, offensive zone faceoffs against creepy Olli Jokinen at the end of the game. And Step lost both. And Andrew Ladd sealed the game with an empty netter.

*Remember when Borat was too soft for a player with his big body. Sure glad Brian Boyle is still around.

*No blame to the King on this one, little he could do on either of the goals that got past him and he made that terrific save on what appeared to be one hard shot by Evander Kane to keep his team within one.

*Sure glad Marian Gaborik was 'back' when he scored that goal against the Islanders. That one goal in his last 13 games really showed us haters out there that he is stil l33t. What an awful excuse for a penalty shot in this one. Sure glad to see him blame the stick afterwards. Because it was the stick's fault. Stupid unskilled stick, why you deke in slow motion?

*Nashty miss on a breakaway.

*Haley's little bout was nice, senseless but nice.

*Powe, who Torts was raving about just days ago, barely left the bench. Apparently he tries too hard every shift to warrant ice time. And Roman Hamrlik has been out of shape so he was, of course put back in the lineup.

*Bet going to a game in Winnipeg is a nice experience, when it doesn't include the Rangers.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 30 saves.
2-Dustin Byfuglien - two assists.
1-Ondrej Pavelec - 28 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Ladd - A hard working captain that battles every shift and scores a much needed goal. Sounds familiar...
2-Hank - Hard to hang Lundqvist for this recent slump.
1-Byfuglien - Sure he gave Gaborik a penalty shot but better Gabby than someone the least bit competent going one-on-one with a goalie. And he did set up the two Jets' goals too. 

13-10-2: Beaten In Buffalo

One of the most remarkable things about the Blackhawk's now broken undefeated streak was their consistency. Sounds silly and obvious, but no matter if they were winning or of they were losing, they were battling. The Rangers ... well, they haven't been.

Combine their inconsistent effort with their continuing tendency to take poor, lazy penalties and you have a 3-1 loss to one of the worst teams in the league.

After the embarrassment John Tortorella said he wouldn't give Buffalo any credit and he was disgusted and disappointed with how his top guys played. Despite being disgusted and disappointed with the Rangers on a regular basis, I do give the Sabres some credit. Interim head coach Ron Rolston had his largely unskilled lineup play smart, positional, counterattacking hockey. However (!) the Blueshirts, who should have been able to overcome that obstacle, couldn't break through.

They barely even tried.

Perhaps all of the confidence gained during their recent 5-1 run was just cockiness, a conceited self-assurance that made them overlook their awful opponents. Perhaps it is their innate inability to play 60 minutes of hockey. Perhaps they're beginning to get used to Tortorella's lash, giving a short knee-jerk of a reaction before the numbness sets in.

Whatever it may be, it can't go on and can't be allowed to happen again. There are tough games ahead and easy points like these shouldn't be pissed away.

Just a few Late Hits:

*As I wrote when the Rangers lost their last game before the 5-1 run, the Blueshirts inexplicably do not follow Ryan Callahan's example. The captain put forth his usual balls-to-the-wall, anything-for-the-team effort and yet no one followed suit. How is that even possible?

*McDonagh and Girardi were not the usual McDonagh and Girardi. Really not a good thing, when you consider that they are the only real Ranger defensemen.

*Given that Del Zaster's defense is ... lacking ... his offense is supposed to make up for it. Two golden chances. No goals.

*The best offense came from Micheal Haley. Just think about that. You'll end up weeping, like me.

*Remember how everyone declared Marian Gaborik 'back' after his goal against the Islanders? Two games since, zero contributions.

*Hank outplayed his Swedish subject Jhonas Enroth, making several big saves. But Enroth's awfulness was hidden by the five skaters standing in between him and the Blueshirts. Hank was left to hang.

*No Kaleta, no revenge for Richard$. Not much physical play at all actually, aside from some guys clattering into each other once the puck is gone. Not surprising but disappointing nonetheless.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Andrej Sekera - two assists.
2-Jhonas Enroth - 32 saves.
1-Marcus Foligno - two goals.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - Seriously, he made these saves.
2-Foligno - Mike's boy Marcus scored goals that Taylor Pyatt was scoring at the start of the season. The least he could have done was leap like his dad afterwards.
1-Ron Rolston - The Sabres bench boss knew how to get his team a chance to win. Torts knew how to piss off the media afterwards.

Next In Line ...

European-born defensemen to skate at least one game for the New York Rangers since Sergei Zubov was dealt to Pittsburgh in the summer of 1995 (along with Petr Nedved, for Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson):

• Ulf Samuelsson
• Alexander Karpotsev
• Mattias Norstrom 
• Maxim Galanov
• Ronnie Sundin
• Jan Mertzig
• Peter Popovic
• Stanislav Neckar
• Alexei Vasiliev
• Kim Johnsson
• Peter Smrek
• Vlad Malakhov
• Alexei Gusarov
• Tomas Kloucek
• Bert Robertsson
• Igor Ulanov
• Richard Lintner
• Ales Pisa
• Boris Mironov
• Darius Kasparaitis
• Thomas Pock
• Fedor Tyutin
• Karel Rachunek
• Michael Rozsival
• Marek Malik
• Sandis Ozolinsh
• Maxim Kondratiev
• Christian Backman
• Ivan Baranka
• Dmitri Kalinin
• Ilkka Heikkinen
• Anders Eriksson
• Anton Stralman
• and starting tonight ... Roman Hamrlik

What a soft, overwhelmingly disappointing bunch. The best of the blueliners - Norstrom, Johnsson and Tyutin - were all Ranger draft picks and were all traded well before their time ... like Zubov himself. Sad.

8-8-2: 24 Is The Loneliest Number

When the Rangers decided to pick a new captain after Chris Drury's dismissal the only real choice was Ryan Callahan. Everything about his game and his dedication to the team made him the perfect candidate. But, back then, there was some cause for concern: the Rangers didn't appear to respond to him.

They still don't.

On Tuesday night the Blueshirts, who had two days to brood after the mockery in Montreal, were outplayed and outhustled by a Winnipeg team playing the fifth game of a road trip. The Jets came out on top 4-3 in a game that belied its scoreline.

Cally put together a stellar defensive shift in the second period, a stickless, selfless shot blocking extravaganza that drew a standing ovation. It was one of the best moments at MSG in recent memory. And then his teammates followed it up by allowing two inexcusable goals.

The captain came right back and countered with a goal to get the boys back into it ... and they then allowed another to nullify it. It is hard to comprehend that Callahan goes out there willing to risk life and limb to make plays and his teammates simply don't.

Late Hits:

*Amazes me how John Tortorella is willing to risk two points to send a message to his team, but he won't risk two points to send a message to the opposition. Bet Kreider learned a lot from the bench during this one.

*Darrell Powe played nearly three times as much as Kreider did. Boring, uncreative, lowest denominator coaching. As usual.

*The bench boss puts together awful, unbalanced lines with players who's styles don't match and have not played together before and then gets upset when they end up scrambling around their own end. There is something called chemistry, he should learn what it is. Miller, Mashinter and Halpern? What the hell?

*And everything looks that much worse when King Henrik is playing like a peasant. A friend who has three young children of his own called it 'crying baby syndrome.' Hard to be your best when there's an infant demanding attention at all hours.

*This team is getting to frustrating to watch that Ranger fans are fighting amongst themselves. From the top of 210 I saw four scuffles, none featuring fans of our foes. Did notice one jerk wearing a Devils jersey getting tossed out to a typical Garden serenade, but did not see if he provoked violence as well.

*At least a dozen Potvin Sucks whistles throughout the game. None when Ulf Nilsson was introduced to the crowd. Utter and complete New York Ranger fan fail.

*Olli Jokinen's face is still terrifying.

*Just three minutes after Stralman scored to bring the Blueshirts back within one Winnipeg took a penalty. For some teams that would be a golden opportunity to tie the game. Not for the Rangers ... no one kills Ranger power plays like the Rangers. Perry Pearn was on the Winnipeg bench as an assistant coach, wonder if Mike Sullivan leaned over to ask some advice ...

*Carl Hagelin got chances to score last season. Carl Hagelin is getting chances this season. But it is only when Rick Nash was around that he was finishing his chances. Have to wonder if it is an Anisimov-esque confidence issue.

*Rave about Cally but credit due to Dan Girardi as well. Dude a warrior. Not a No. 1 defenseman, but a warrior. After needing to be helped off the Bell Centre ice Dan-O was back and skated for nearly half the game (27:58). And, despite all that time, he was only on for one of the four goals against - the softie Hank let up to Kane.

*Aside from Cally, Hagelin and Dan-O there was little physicality left in the Ranger lineup last night. Brian Boyle is six-foot-seven. Just sayin'.

*Steve Eminger was surprisingly solid. If he keeps playing like he did, he will deserve to stay in the lineup once McD or Del Zaster return. Hopefully, whenever that is, it will signal the end of Matt Gilroy's New York Ranger career. Hobey Redux has been even more disappointing than the original.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Olli Jokinen - two goals.
2-Ryan Callahan - one goal.
1-Evander Kane - two goals and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Jokinen - Actually agreeing with all three of the PHW for once. Olli's one-timer to make the score 3-1 was pure lightning. Exactly the kind of goal Marian Gaborik should be scoring.
2-Callahan - Simply outstanding. Just wish his leadership-by-example worked.
1-Kane - During the lockout Evander was ran out of Minsk for being out of shape and because he "could not adapt" to KHL hockey. Well, he has this NHL thing down pretty pat. 

8-7-2: Blueshirts Go Yellow

That the Rangers entered the Bell Centre Saturday night and had their bells rung by the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge was of no surprise. For years the New York team that basks in the footlights of Broadway has wilted in the spotlight of Montreal.

But not since Dan Girardi watched Marian Gaborik get his face beaten in by Dan Carcillo have the Rangers stood by and allowed their opponent free physical reign. Max Pacioretty aimed for Ryan McDonagh's numbers and took to the air to hit them. And, after typically wasting the ensuing power play, did anyone seek vengeance? Nope.

Too bad Hank wasn't on the ice, at least you know he woulda been willing to hit Pacioretty.

Backup Marty Biron was hit not once but twice and did anyone run Carey Price? Nope. The second time it was Travis Moen who crashed the crease and Brian Boyle took exception. The six-foot-seven Ranger shoved the smaller Hab and shared some angry words with him, but his gloves remained firmly on his hands.

The grit that helped define this franchise last season is mostly gone. The heart and soul guys who stepped up, sans Callahan, were sent away or allowed to walk and the returns aren't making the cut. Arron Asham was useless before he began bailing out of the lineup with 'back spasms.' Taylor Pyatt is a big boy but has just 12 bouts on his resume of 772 games. Jeff Halpern is simply not a physical fellow. And the various call-ups and kids live in perpetual fear of failure, because Tortorella will unleash his fury upon them.

Toughness took this team to the Eastern Conference Finals last year and the lack thereof is a prime reason for the failures of the present. Sure the skill is struggling something fierce but this side was able to survive similar slumps last season by grinding though games. Either Torts has to start encouraging these kids to just lay it all out there, play their game and grow into a team or Sather needs to make some moves. And soon.

Just a few Late Hits:

*Said it in the offseason - offense wasn't the Rangers' problem during the playoffs. The lack of trustworthy defensemen cost them the Cup and it is killing them now. You simply can't have three reliable blueliners and expect to succeed. And now that McDonagh and Girardi might be out? We're screwed.

*PleaseOhPleaseOhPleaseOhPleaseOhPlease let McD and G be ok. PleaseOhPleaseOhPlease.

*In what world is Matt Gilroy a better NHL option than Steve Eminger? Granted, an ideal world would see neither one of them anywhere near the NHL but Hobey is simply horrible. He had a chance to clear the puck on the first goal and was outmuscled, and then he passed the puck right to Erik Cole. Hobey was well behind the play when Gally got the second goal and he was stumbling around senselessly on the third.

*I wonder if I would get kicked out of the Garden for carrying a sign that read "No One Kills Power Plays Like The Rangers" ... We stared in wonder at Stepan's power play goal last week and at Eller's on this evening. Both goals had plenty in common: players moving and quick passing. There was no standing around, trying to figure out fissures in the defensive wall. The guys were skating around the zone with the knowledge of who to pass to even before they had the puck. The regular Ranger unit has become lazy, uncreative and predictable, and we are paying for it night after night.

*Welcome to the NHL Christian Thomas, barely noticed you. But the same can be said for Miller, Mashinter, Kreider and even Hagelin. The kids are gripping their sticks too tight and, too often, are not in position to make things happen. Not even Gretzky could succeed if he was stuck on the ice with Boyle or an uninterested Brad Richard$.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Erik Cole - one goal and one assist.
2-Lars Eller - one goal and one assist.
1-Alex Galchenyuk - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Pacioretty - Traded two minutes in the box for the best Ranger blueliner. Great deal. Could have made a case for Prust to get this, as he played in all situations and had a big hand in Cole's goal.
2-Gally - Unlike his U.S. teammate Miller, Galchenyuk skated unfettered out there and made things happen with his hard work and skill. His goal was a bit of a fluke but it came as the result of hard work.
1-Eller - The Dane did quite well; he's finally making the Halak deal appear closer to even.

8-6-2: Losing Leads

The Rangers continued their latest trend of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on Thursday night by blowing a lead on their way to a 3-2 shootout loss to the Ottawa Senators.

The Blueshirts scored two goals in less than a minute of the third period to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead, but then they endeavoured to erase their own advantage. Over the next two minutes they iced the puck, gave up one-timers from the slot by Erik Condra and Stephane Da Costa, threw the puck into their own bench, let Chad Greening get an open shot, let Mika Zibanejad get a chance at the rebound, took a dumb penalty and then left Zibanejad alone for the one-timer that tied the game.

It was like a bad horror flick: we got to enjoy the cute coed taking her top off, but then had to watch as she proceeded through a comedy of errors that resulted in her inevitable, bloody doom. And, like the horror genre, it happens again and again and again. The Rangers inexplicably become complacent as soon as the score tilts in their favour, and it can't go on for much longer if they are to have a chance this season.

Changing metaphors, John Tortorella has a thing for dogs - quite fitting considering he is all bark but no bite - and it is on him to to turn this team of mercenary mutts into a pack of pit bulls that will bite down and not let go until June.

Late Hits:

*Speaking of mercenary mutts, Rick Nash and Arron Asham didn't bother to play. Given that neither one has visibly been injured this season and the team won't release any info, they leave a lot of cause to wonder what is keeping them off the ice. Could it be Tin Man syndrome?

*Was Brad Richard$ out too? Didn't see him.

*Looks like Marian Gaborik is going through the Jaromir Jagr lack of confidence in the shootout. It is tough watching someone so skilled give such half-hearted, uncreative efforts in the skill competition. Jagr started begging out of his opportunities to go, will Gabby soon do the same?

*Del Zastrous, simply Del Zastrous. Amid his nearly five minutes of power play time he turned the puck over for Silfverberg's goal and blew a wide open backhand. He missed the overtime with that alleged injury, and without him the team played their best hockey of the night. Coincidence? Hmmm.

*Chris Kreider is a young, skilled forward. His hard work earned two power plays and took out Ottawa's starting goaltender. So why did he only see 12 seconds of power play time and no shifts in overtime?

*Even though I attempt to avoid all blogs until this one is written, I saw some folks are blaming the stripes for  the loss because of two blown Blueshirt goals. The NHL officiating is a joke and has been butchering calls all season across the league, but they are equally inept and their errors aren't what are keeping the Rangers down.

*If it wasn't against us, it would have been great to celebrate Kaspars Daugavins game-winning goal. Latvians love their hockey so very much that it is wonderful to see one of their own succeeding. (Even if he may have simply mishandled the puck, rather than intentionally slipping it through Hank's legs.)

*What a shot by McDonagh to thread that puck into the Ottawa net for the go-ahead goal. Defensemen who can get pucks on goal from the point ... craziness.


*Marc Staal had a good night, but to see him trading punches postconcussion is nerve-racking.

*One of Super Jew Jeff Halpern's best performances this season. As mentioned before, he looked like he was one of the vets who was hurt by the lockout - now he is getting his legs back and getting going.

*Remember when the Rangers had someone to offset Chris Neil? What was that guy's name again? But seriously, Ottawa had a distinct edge in the physical game last night and that can't be allowed to happen to often.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 35 saves.
2-Jakob Silferberg - one regulation goal, one shootout goal.
1-Craig Anderson - 21 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - The Sens kept him busy but he kept the Rangers in the game until they could take the lead, and then he helped them at least leave with the one point.
2-Ryan Callahan - So if you work the slot, good things happen? The team needs to learn from their captain's lead and battle down low. Plus he knew in the shootout to go around a thick-padded 6-foot-7 goaltender, rather than through him.
1-Silferberg - Any surprise that this young Swede knew how to solve Hank? Went gloveside twice, scored twice. Silferberg has a big future ahead of him and is in a prime position right now, learning alongside Daniel Alfredsson. Stud.

7-5-1: Taken Down By Torts

You had a team that stumbled out of the gate finally getting their game together. They'd won three games in a row and had a softball of a foe ahead of them, a glorified AHL team. So do they keep things rolling?

Nah.

The head coach tinkered with lineup and put in his backup goaltender, decisions that doomed the team to an unacceptable failure. It is one thing to blow a 3-0 lead to the best team in the Eastern Conference, it is another to blow a 2-0 lead to the bunch of pathetic losers from Long Island. What a disgrace.

Why would you want Chris Kreider out on the ice to create offense and combine with Cally and Miller to form an energy line when you can dress Brian Boyle?! Boyle, who's demotion to the press box spurred the win streak. Boyle, who can't skate, can't shoot, can't pass and can't fight. Boyle, who was given 17 minutes in ice time, including shifts on the power play and in overtime.

Why would you want to start Henrik Lundqvist when he is finally getting his game in motion after a inactive offseason when you can start that shaky sieve of a backup Marty Biron. Biron, a former Islander. Biron, who stood still while the Islanders won the shootout.

Torts is the boss, and he will do what he wants. And what he did caused his team to not just sink to the level of their inferior foes, but drown below them. This simply can not happen. Just past the quarter mark of this asterisked season, the Rangers lie four points from first place and four points from last place in the Eastern Conference. Anything can happen and giving away points to piss-poor opponents is very, very dangerous. Luckily Sunday will bring a woeful Washington team to town, giving the Blueshirts have two days to learn how to hold a lead. Not nearly enough time.

Late Hits:

*One of the highlights of the evening was at the outset, when John Amirante did the anthem. Rumour had it that he had pneumonia when the season started, keeping him from his duties. Glad he is better and back to form, he's truly a Garden institution.

*It was an honour to have a Medal of Honor winner in attendance, Sergent Clinton Romesha. Great ovation from the Garden faithful.

*My new twitter friend Arron Asham had himself a banner night, with less than three minutes of ice time and a fight (that he lost). What a great tough guy for this team to have, really inspires the troops.

*The cheap-ass Rangers gave out an advertising booklet, I mean calendar, to all fans in attendance. It ranks up with the horrible Hummer calendar from years past. No pictures of players but plenty of ads for Foxwoods. Weak. Oh, and it is the middle of February - what a good time to give out a calendar.

*Saw a few fights in the stands, always love the passion that this rivalry brings. Really wish the players had one iota of it.

*Hagelin's goal (off the rush) aside, the power play continued to be a disaster of Hindenburg proportions. So glad to see Del Zaster back out there, killing time and momentum.

*Loved Jeff Halpern's play. Super Jew won a whole slew of faceoffs and skated hard all evening. Too bad he has zero offensive ability at this point in his career. Shocking to think he had 18 points in 19 games for Tampa after being part of the Brad Richard$ deal way back when.

*Maybe Richard$ picked up some kind of fungus while he was helping folks clean up from Sandy. Gotta be some excuse for his horrible play and that is as good as any.

*Hoped for more from Taylor Pyatt against the team that drafted him, but he seemed to be one of those who fell victim to Tortorella's chemistry-killing line juggling.

*Happy birthday Gabby, thanks for giving us a present. Very Jagr-esque play by the Slovak, displaying serious skills in regulation before stumbling in the shootout.

*Michael "Rico Fata" Grabner struck again, blowing another breakaway for the blue and orange. It is truly amazing how he earns so many good opportunities and utterly wastes them.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Carl Hagelin - one goal and one assist.
2-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.
1-John Tavares - one regulation goal, one shootout goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Lubo Visnovsky - Mark Streit play more minutes but Lubo was clearly in control whenever he was out on the ice, making things happen like a proper quarterback should.
2-Hagelin - BORK!
1-Tavares - Someone should Dale Hunter that kid. 

4-5-0: Rock Bottom?

In the wee hours of the fall mornings, while waiting for the KHL games to kick off, I swore that I would not be as wrapped up in the NHL again if they ever did come back. I also swore I would stop blogging about the Blueshirts because, dammit, if they didn't care about me, I wouldn't care about them. Well, we all know how that worked out.

Games like last night's 3-1 utter debacle against the Devils reinforced my reasoning. It has been a battle of mine for years and years to acknowledge that the players will never care about their on-ice fortunes as much as we fans care about them. But last night was a win for the bad guys, as the lackluster display proved that they just don't have that passion. Or any passion, as near as I could tell from the (literally) last row of the Rock.

The Rangers played a poor, predictable brand of puck at the Prudential Center that was easily countered by Lou's Losers. New York's caustic coach is left looking clueless as his yelling, screaming and atrocious sense of accountability has badgered his boys into being the Skating Dead. They are too afraid to take penalties that their offensive edge is gone and the defensive shell they fall back into fails when the best defenseman is missing and the goaltender is off his game. And let's just not mention the power play ...

Last night's gutless garbage begs the question, has this team hit rock bottom? Or are we going to see something worse on Thursday against the Isles? Is that even possible? I shudder to think of the reply ...

Late Hits:

*Ok, let's mention the power play. The one time when it should be alright for the players to be creative, for Richie to be fancypasser, Nash to showboat and Gabby to shoot the wheels off. Instead, the utter lack of a quarterback has led to the same predictable passes through the same predictable lanes to the same predictable players standing in the same predictable positions. And, last night, that led to New Jersey having more of an advantage shorthanded then they did anytime else.

*The Devils did their best impression of last year's Rangers - blocking shots, stepping up, being daring - to smack down the ineffective offense of this season's edition of the Blueshirts.

*It was nights like that that reinforce my belief that Brodeur is the most overrated player in NHL history. The PHW made him the top star of the game, a game where he wasn't tested for the majority of the night. He made one save of any importance, which he did by flopping his fat rear end down on the ice. The only sweating he probably did was in anticipation of his next alimony payment. And yet he was feted like he did something special. Ridiculous.

*That being said, he was still better than Hank. The King has not been himself, likely due to a combination of factors - he didn't play during the lockout despite Frolunda bending over backwards to be able to afford him, and he became a dad. Not that I am one, but supposedly that changes ones perspective on what is important in life.

*Wasn't big on JT Miller when he was drafted, wasn't big on him when I saw him in Hartford, wasn't big on him when I watched the WJCs. But he was the best Ranger on the ice against the Devs. Of course, sadly, that isn't saying a helluva lot but kudos to the kid for a strong debut. He made some smart little plays and never stopped skating. Impressive stuff.

*Kreider looked more comfortable as the game went on, and it was nice to see him score. At the outset, it was clear he was afraid to get checked but, by the third period, he was more involved and more willing to take a hit to make a play. At the time his goal seemed to be a fluke, but replays show it was one helluva shot.

*Del Zaster: 37 minutes and 51 seconds of power play this season. No goals, one assist. And I'm not even going to address his defensive delinquencies on this evening.

*Arron Asham is close to being the most despicable, senseless signing by the Rangers all-time, getting close to Donald Brashear territory. Asham, a long time villain in these parts, was supposed to add his aggressive edge to the Rangers and instead plays like a pu... poorly, he plays very poorly.

*Which, of course, leads so some of my usual rhetoric - rhetoric that will be heavily denied in some circles, utterly ignored in some more and agreed with in others: the Rangers chances were ruined by Tortorella chasing Sean Avery out of town, yet again. There were dozens of games last season, last playoffs and on several occasions so far this campaign that the Grate One would have helped.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Patrik Elias - three assists.
2-David Clarkson - two goals and one assist.
1-Martin Brodeur - 24 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Adam Henrique - Damn do I loathe this guy. Rapidly reaching the upper levels of most-hated Devils alongside Claude Lemieux, Scott Stevens and Mmmmmaaaarrrrtttyyyyy.
2-Elias - Ole Hepatitis himself is still kickin', still one of the more underrated players in the NHL.
1-Clarkson - The "bonehead minor leaguer" was allowed to run roughshod around the Ranger end and he made the most of his moment to shine. What a shame. 

1-3-0: So That's Over ...

All good things come to an end, but this one shouldn't have. This one is hard to let go. The Rangers' eight game undefeated streak against the Flyers was snapped on Thursday night in a 2-1 tilt that didn't remotely match the scoreline. And there is no excuse for it.

Well, there is an excuse, but it is hard for most to accept: despite claims to the contrary, the slavedriver head coach didn't aptly prepare his team for the season and the early grind has already worn them down. The supposedly torturous Camp Torts supposedly insured that everyone would not just be in shape, but be in peak physical form. Because it was shortened, the players claimed they came prepared. Thursday's loss showed that that was certainly not the case.

The Blueshirts looked slow, incapable, inept and just plain awful for the majority of the evening. They were outplayed by a poor, injury-riddled opponent. Simply said, the inferior Flyers should not have been able to skate away with their first victory of the season.

Late Hits:

*Seriously, how the hell did the Rangers let them win?!? Philly was without both Babyface Briere and Sideshow Bob Hartnell ... and they still won!! Inexplicable. Inexcusable. Infuriating!

*Not only were the Rangers unable to take advantage of a lineup that had fewer familiar faces, but they were unable to take advantage of that lineup when they had less actual players on the ice. Mike Sullivan is doing his best to challenge Perry Pearn's resume of power play failure. What horrible coaching.

*Stop with Del Zaster already. Yes, he has offensive ability. But he is clearly incapable of quarterbacking a power play. Try other guys. Give Anton Stralman a chance, hell, give Matt Gilroy a chance. Give the peanut vendor a chance. Yes, it is so bad that even Hobey's horrible play is preferable to watching more of the same. Five-on-f-ing-three. Again. Are you kidding me?

*Have to thank Kris Newbury for coming up and proving yet again why he is a AAAA player (and why he would survive a zombie apocalypse): no brains. With his team already trailing 1-0 the Whale-r took a high stick and sought revenge after a whistle. He started a senseless fight with Tye McGinn - another AHL nobody, one wearing plexiglass to boot. Newbury was tabbed with the extra penalty and Voracek scored what would be the game-winner. Stupid and selfish minor leaguer.

*Happier thoughts: Taylor Pyatt came through again, goals three games in a row. Better than even I dreamed he'd be. Doubt he will be able to keep up the scoring touch but if he keeps the effort going that guy with the Pyatt sweater at the home opener will be joined by many others.

*As has often been the case over the last few years, the King kept the Rangers in the game. There is definitely something about the Flyers that brings out the best in Henrik, it is just a shame they completely wasted his best effort of this shortened season.

*Nice of Arron Asham to beg out of facing his friends. Gutless puke.

*Rupper played almost 10 minutes? Instead of being a Neanderthal he was the Missing Link, didn't notice him once. That isn't a bad thing.

*And thankfully there were no fights off the opening faceoff like some freakshow. Sure Stu Bickel's bout came early in the evening but he threw down the gloves to defend Jeff Halpern against Fantasy Camp Sestito. And he won. Good job Stuuuuuuuuu.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 31 saves.
2-Ilya Bryzgalov - 18 saves.
1-Wayne Simmonds - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Sean Couturier - Knew he would be trouble for the Rangers the second Philly got him sixth in the '11 draft (thanks to Columbus). The legacy knows the game and, despite being just a sophomore, capably plays in all situations.
2-Hank - This game shoulda been 6-1. After his iffy start to the season, maybe a visit with the Swedish Chef was exactly what he needed ...
1-Simmonds - Loved this kid on L.A., hate him now. All because he plays the game the way it should be played.