R2, G5: Shameful Finish

There is no shame in losing.

When maximum effort is given and the opponent is superior, failure - while not acceptable - is not shameful. The losers can go out with their heads held high, knowing they went to the wall.

As the final seconds of the Rangers' 3-1 loss ticked down, Henrik Lundqvist buried his head in his hands at the bench. It was a poignant, heart-wrenching sight to behold. Of all the players in the New York organization, Hank should have been the one Blueshirt to leave this loss proudly. But he didn't. The King took responsibility, and later acknowledged that his team "didn't reach our top level and, when you play a team like Boston it's going to be tough to beat them."

The Swede has a penchant for understatement. Lundqvist was perhaps the lone Ranger playing to his potential in Game 5, but his errors in the earlier games of the series helped seal the team's fate. No one in blue can say that they left it all on the ice, and that is the atrocious aspect of this loss.

Last year's team had its issues but, by and large, lack of effort was not the cause of its downfall. Mismanagement of personnel, lack of depth on the blueline and the underperformance of the well-paid concluded that campaign ahead of its time. When you take those factors and add in a seeming unwillingness to pay the price to win and you have the grounds for the end of the 2013 Rangers.

Many questions remain, not the least of which being why John Tortorella has a job? But that and the rest are questions that should be asked another time. Game 5 brought the sun down on season yesterday afternoon, so just a few Late Hits:

*Don't get me wrong, Boston was a superior opponent. The Bruins have skill, depth and great coaching. But they opened the door a number of times over the series and the Blueshirts wouldn't/couldn't walk through.

*Marian Gaborik had the excuse of a shoulder tear for his ineptness in crunch time last spring. Wonder what Rick Nash's explanation will be. Nash looked perfectly healthy, and completely out of his league.

*The Rangers essentially ice two fourth lines and neither one could match up to Boston's bottom bunch. Thornton, Colin's kid and the other NHL Dan from Welland are a stable, well-made unit that has found chemistry and a championship. (I refuse to call them the Merlot line, real men don't drink any f-ing merlot.) Neither Newbury, Haley and Dorsett nor Boyle, Pyatt and Zuccarello have any cohesion and they won't win a championship. At least not in this league.

*No idea why Dorsett decided to go with Thornton, it didn't particularly spark his team and he nearly got his ass kicked. But, I guess, at least he was willing to go with one of the toughest guys in the league. He just has to cut out the dumb penalties, he's lucky Torts likes him better than Sean Avery. Otherwise he'd already be looooooong gone.

*Roman Hamrlik, who came off the waiver wire out of shape and older than dirt back in March, had previously proven grossly incompetent. So, of course, he was included in the lineup and, of course, he was grossly incompetent.

*Speaking of, Del Zastrous.

*Thought Moore held up well against the physical pounding of the Boston forecheck. Kid has a good future ahead.

*Great to see Stepan stay in the game despite being blooded early and often. Sad not to see much of him offensively.

*Two games in a row Boyle stepped into the slot on the power play and the Rangers scored. It's about time he listened to most everyone and put his gargantuan body in front.

*Defended Cally just the other day, explaining how he is a very good third line winger and not someone who should be counted on to score. But when he has chances, he needs to bury them. And he didn't.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Tuukka Rask - 28 saves.
2-Milan Lucic - no points.
1-Gregory Campbell - two assists.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Campbell - Toughness and two tallies.
2-Rask - That third period blocker save on Cally's breakaway won the game.
1-Hank - Without the King this game was 4-0 Boston in the first period. 

R2, G4: The Gift Of Life

On Thursday night Tuukka Rask gave the (allegedly) greatest gift one can give: the gift of life. The Bruins goaltender fell on his ass and revived a dead Ranger squad, starting them off on a comeback that was completed as an 4-3 overtime win.

The series is not over, rigor mortis is not yet setting in. Rask's stumble set up a Game 5 on Saturday afternoon, the Rangers' season extended at least another two days.

Seeing as those two days are almost up, onto the Late Hits:

*Spectacular feed from Nash to Kreider. Best thing the former Blue Jacket has done in weeks, too bad it likely came a few games too late.

*Quite a contrast between the Stepan who started this season and the Stepan who has been the anchor of the offense. Once he shook off the bad habits that crept in while playing in Finland, Step has really seized a top line spot. Any surprise he, Cally and McDonagh have been the best Blueshirts this year (not named Henrik)?? USA! USA! USA!

*Of course, that theory is shattered by Brian Boyle. Boyle broke a drought of 181 regular season and playoff games without a power play goal, a lone highlight in another horrid performance by the oversized Blueshirt. He did his usual cruise through the slot - because he'll never stop and take the abuse the way Cally does - and Step successfully fed him the puck. It was the same play that had failed on the previous rush, but Rask was somehow caught unawares. Hopefully someone this summer is caught unawares and Sather can unload this waste of space.

*It's nice when things are put into perspective: compared to Roman Hamrlik, Del Zaster is Doug Harvey. DZ is atrocious and clueless but at least he isn't slow and weak. But both are sloppy, and both hurt the Blueshirts.

*Brad Richard$ was scratched in favour of Kris Newbury, who took a typical Kris Newbury penalty that, of course, Boston scored on. Richard$ wasn't missed but the fact that the organization is so thin that Kris Newbury got the call in the Eastern Conference semifinals shows a major issue that has to be addressed.

*It was amusing and sad to see the Ranger 'tough guys' chasing after Boston's bruisers, trying (unsuccessfully) to provoke them into fighting with their team up 1-0. There is a reason why those same Bruins have Cup rings and those same Rangers are AHLers.

*If Brassard could improve his defensive game, he could turn into Patrice Bergeron.

*Surprising how old and tired Jagr looked by the third period.

*Miss you John Amirante, this just hasn't been the same ...

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Chris Kreider - one goal.
2-Derick Brassard - two assists.
1-Derek Stepan - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Tyler Seguin - Hate you Kessel, clap-clap-clapclapclap, hate you Kessel ...
2-Hank - Hard to fault him for the goals against, easy to credit him for keeping the Rangers in it until Rask fell apart.
1-Step - He stole the puck from the best defenseman in the NHL and scored. Just think about that.

R2, G3: It's All Over But The Shouting

You knew that Tuesday night's tilt against Boston was going to be a painful game when the Bruins spend the first minute and a half in the Ranger end. The Blueshirts had no energy or interest at the start, they had no energy or interest in the middle and they had no energy or interest at the end of what was a 2-1 failure. They had few scoring chances, they scrambled around their own end, they had almost no physical edge and - if I didn't see them with my own eyes - I'd think they had no fans.

It was a lifeless, gutless, pathetic performance that belied the fact that it was Game 3 of the second round of the playoffs. It was as if the Rangers felt that just stepping onto home ice would have been enough to win. That may have worked against Washington but Boston is a far different side - one that has depth, intelligence, confidence, resolve, leadership and ability.

The Blueshirts are clearly lacking many of those qualities as well as they have fallen behind the B's 0-3 in the best-of-seven series. The lone time this year the Rangers won four in a row was end of February, early March when they defeated Tampa, Buffalo, Philly and the Islanders - three non-playoff teams and a team that shouldn't have made the playoffs.

There will be plenty of time to analyze the inherent flaws in the Rangers and speculate over the future in a few days time. For now, a few Late Hits on tonight's awfulness:

*For long stretches it seemed like it was Hank against the Bruins and he was back to his old outstanding self. If only he could quarterback the power play too.

*Hank definitely deserves his share of blame for his idiotic backhanded pass to the Bruins to set up the equalizer but my Tw-enemy Asham had a chance to break up the play and he went for a half-hearted, one-handed jab at the puck that, of course, failed.

*Speaking of failures ... Brian Boyle. Brad Richard$. Del Zaster. Nash. Dorsett. Zuke. The power play. Torts. Take your pick ...

*Anyone else like totally shocked that it was Del Zaster's man who scored the eventual game-winning goal?

*Boyle getting nearly 20 minutes of ice time shows just how delusional Torts is. Hagelin "stinks" but Boyle's soft, clueless, skill-less play is rewarded with more minutes.

*Hags did get some power play time but he is hardly the solution. When you have utterly inept men quarterbacking, you have no chance. DZ gets just over two minutes while Moore and Stralman ride the bench during the man advantage.

*Thought Dan Girardi had a nice bounce-back game. Amazing what getting away from DZ will do for someone.

*Pyatt was credited with the lone Ranger tally after McD's shot ricocheted off of him and into the Boston net. Hmm, a big player can use his size to screen the goaltender? The hell you say.

*Now, the guys on the ice didn't give us much to cheer for but even when they did the building was incredibly quiet. Insanely high ticket prices have forced many of the real fans out and replaced them with pastel-shirt-wearing stiffs.

*Another playoff game without John Amirante doing the anthem; truly hope he is alright.

*Moment of silence for the people in Oklahoma, the state that refused to help post-Hurricane Sandy. And it was a few seconds more respect than the Rangers showed Derek Boogaard, one of their own.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 32 saves.
2-Tuukka Rask - 23 saves.
1-Daniel Paille - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Patrice Bergeron - No points and yet seemed dynamic, controlling play.
2-Shawn Thornton - A pair of assists thanks to solid grinding and great positioning. A veteran tough guy who is utterly invaluable to his team. Basically, everything Asham is not.
1-Paille - Never stopped skating and his hustle paid off.

R2, G2: Down In A Hole, Again

It is always a sad, sad thing when we see that our superheroes are really human after all. And that's what has been happening with Henrik Lundqvist over the first two games of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The King has sank from royalty to the real world, allowing uncharacteristic goals go by him left and right.

While his brother Joel was busy winning a gold medal in Stockholm with Sweden, Hank struggled with the black and gold of the Boston Bruins. Repeatedly exposed by the porous Blueshirts' blueline, Lundqvist let puck after puck get past him in Boston as the Bruins took a 2-0 lead in the series with a 5-2 win.

Shots that he sees, shots that he gets a piece of, shots from bad angles ... we've taken his Vezina form for granted for a long, long time and seeing him struggle with those shots is a shock. Even when he wasn't himself at the start of this asterisked season, Lundqvist was still better than the guy who backstopped the Rangers in Games 1 and 2.

But it's not over yet, there's time for him to reclaim his crown. The boys rebounded after failing at the Phone Booth to start the last series so perhaps a return to the real Garden will hopefully help. The only problem is that Rask and the Bruins aren't half as horrid as Holtby and the Caps...

Late Hits:

*At the start of the year Hank was helped out by the boys in front of them, and that hasn't been happening. The cornerstone of the defense, Dan Girardi, has been making mistakes over the last few weeks as all of the mileage has piled up. G was on for all five goals against, and was directly culpable for at least two of them.

*It certainly didn't help that G was constantly pulled out of position to cover for his inept partner Del Zaster. The two didn't play together too much over the regular season, so of course Torts felt it best to pair them in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Of course.

*Torey Krug, two goals and one assist in the first two games. The entire Ranger blueline, one goal and one assist in the first two games (goal by McD, assist by G).

*Nine minutes and 12 seconds of power play time. Forrest.

*Nice to see people overreacting because Nash finally scored a goal. Remember when those folks celebrated the long-awaited goals by Boyle and Gaborik? What became of them? Just because he found daylight as Rask sagged off his angle doesn't mean Nash still isn't a factor.

*So now Brad Richard$ isn't even taking faceoffs on the fourth line. Too bad there aren't any other real options for the fourth line (Newbury? No.), then Richie could be a healthy scratch.

*Speaking of someone who should be scratched, Boyle. Slow, physically outmatched with hands of cement - but he was given over six minutes of power play time. The same Boyle who has no power play goals in his last 180 games (incl. playoffs). Zero. But he doesn't stink with the man advantage, Carl Hagelin does. Right Torts?

*Nice of Dorsett to show some pride and start a fight, too bad it came two goals too late.

*With him around, what's the point of having Asham? Not that having another man advantage woulda helped anything, but my tw-enemy negated a power play that woulda happened seconds before Boston scored the go-ahead goal in the second period.

*Cally had a nice bounce-back game.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Torey Krug - one goal and one assist.
2-Patrice Bergeron - two assists.
1-Tuukka Rask - 35 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Johnny Boychuk - A goal and some good, physical defense.
2-Krug - Remember when everyone thought DZ or Hobey were going to be big point-getters from the blueline?
1-Bergeron - Must be nice to have a first line center on your team.

R2, G1: Blown Out In Boston

The Rangers found out that it is difficult to win playoff games when their offense appears for less than 20 seconds on Thursday night as they fell to the Bruins 3-2.

Despite the dearth of scoring chances, the disorganization of the defense, the goaltender's gaffes and the utter incompetence of the special teams, the Blueshirts made it to overtime against Boston. So that's something to build on.

Not really going to expound too much on this atrocity, as Game 2 is just a day away.

Late Hits:

*Rene Rancourt can't sing. Oh, and clowns wear gold bowties.

*You have to be utterly brainless to take a penalty in overtime of a playoff game ... and just when we were starting to like Dorsett. That being said, that was the third penalty drawn by Rich Peverley in the game. The former Thrasher is one of those hard hat guys you can count on come tough times, like Feds was for us last year.

*Zdeno Chara was huge (har har). The Boston captain literally played half the game, wasn't on for either Ranger goal, opened the night's scoring and set up the game winner. Ranger captain Ryan Callahan? Had a secondary assist and wasn't much of a factor.

*Del Zaster and Nash led the team in power play time with over three minutes each out of the 5:35 of man advantage time. The Rangers had just three shots make it on goal over that span, one each from Nash, John Moore and Brad Richard$. Yep.

*Odd fact, there was just one Ranger who did not even attempt a shot: my tw-enemy Asham.

*Bonus with this series being against Boston? A motivated Brian Boyle. Some of his best hockey of the season, but that isn't saying much.

*Difference between Brad Marchand and former Ranger Sean Avery? Both are/were incredibly annoying, both have/had terrific speed and a decent touch around the net but Marchand has terrific chemistry with Patrice Bergeron, one of the most underrated players in the NHL. Avery didn't spend enough time on any single line to get any chemistry with anyone.

*The Rangers had just two days off between series but they looked a bit rusty; that first period was brutal. They'd better have more jump early on Sunday...

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Derick Brassard - one assist.
2-Zdeno Chara - one goal and one assist.
1-Brad Marchand - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Hank - Does he want all three goals against back? Surely. Was he under siege all night keeping the Rangers in a game they had no right to be? Absolutely.
2-Chara - The man-mountain played 38 minutes and contributed on both sides of the ice. I'm sure he also managed to complete a triathlon, help an old lady across the street, save children from a burning orphanage and force Superman to kneel before Zod.
1-The Posts - Half dozen or so saves by the iron. 

Peepin' Foes Playoff Edition: Boston Bruins

The Rangers have an Original 6 matchup in the conference semifinals, a best-of-seven date with the Boston Bruins. As the series starts tonight, this will be quick.

When Do We Play:
Game 1: Thursday, 7:30 p.m. at Boston
Game 2: Sunday, 3:00 p.m. at Boston
Game 3: May 21st, 7:30 p.m. at MSG
Game 4: May 23rd, 7:00 p.m. at MSG
*Game 5: May 25th, TBD at Boston
*Game 6: May 27th, TBD at MSG
* Game 7: May 29th, TBD at Boston
* - if necessary

Where We Are: In the second round!! The Rangers rallied from a 2-0 hole to defeat the Capitals in seven games. The team had two days off to hopefully learn a power play and heal some wounds before facing the Big, Bad Bruins.

Where They Are: Boston nearly blew a 3-1 lead in their series against Toronto and were down 4-1 going into the third period of Game 7. But they won 5-4 in overtime. If you didn't see it, it was one of the more remarkable finishes in a looooong time. The Bruins finished the regular season with the fourth seed - one point behind second-seeded Montreal, five more than Washington.

What Happened This Season: The Rangers took on the Bruins three times, all within the first dozen games. They lost the season opener in Boston 3-1 (my recap), won 4-3 in overtime four days later (my recap) and took a 4-3 shootout victory in the third game three weeks later (my recap).

What Happened Past Seasons: The Rangers have faced Boston in the playoffs nine times, winning just three of those series. Two of the seven losses were in the Stanley Cup Finals (1929, 1972), but two of the three victories, however, were on the way to Stanley Cups (1928, 1940).

Who Played On Both Teams: There are some great names to wear both the spoked-B and the Blueshirt: Andy Hebenton, Dean Prentice, Allen Stanley, Red Sullivan, Orland Kurtenbach, Brad Park, Jean Ratelle, Rick Middleton, Carol Vadnais, Phil Esposito, Chris Nilan, Marc Savard, PJ Stock, Mike Knuble, Brian Leetch, Colton Orr and Wade Redden!

Who To Watch For: Milan Lucic was a beast in Game 7 against the Leafs during crunch time, absolutely dominant. Patrice Bergeron rarely wows but is one of the most complete players in the NHL. Brad Marchand is a smaller version of Sean Avery, just with better hands, and Tyler Seguin has been slumping but when he is on, he is on. Their defense is thinned by injury (no Seidenberg, Ference or Redden) but they still have the man-mountain that is Zdeno Chara, who admitted to me in Prague before this season that he hated the Rangers.

What To Watch For: That Jagr guy to score, especially since he enters with just one goal in his last 17 games. Bergeron winning all the faceoffs. Nathan Horton making himself comfortable in the slot. Shawn Thornton sending a message. Tuukka Rask either completely shutting the Rangers down or completely falling apart. Hank to make some wonderful, wonderful, wonderful saves. During the regular season Boston's power play was actually worse than the Rangers' but their penalty kill was better.

Also Check Out: Big fan of two of the Boston blogs, Stanley Cup of Chowder and Days of Y'Orr.

20-16-4: Taking Two From Toronto

The Rangers completed their home-and-home with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and came through with a pair of points, prevailing 3-2 in a shootout. It was a poor performance by the Blueshirts but they got the result they desperately needed.

Toronto, a team that the Rangers were battling with for Eastern Conference position, collected three out of four points from the two games against New York. The battle between the Original Six rivals is all but over, as the Leafs are sitting in fifth place - five points clear of the logjam that is 6-7-8-9. To think, the Maple Leafs have all but sealed a playoff spot while the Rangers are jockeying with the Islanders and the Jets (and the Sens).

This asterisked season really is an aberration. But, as the Devils proved in '95, even bad teams can take the Cup if they get hot at the right time so there is hope for the Rangers yet. They'll just have to work harder - far harder than they did against Toronto - to turn that hope into results.

Late Hits:

*To think that individual skill competitions will continue to have a heavy hand in determining postseason eligibility in this team sport is stupefying. Really wish the NHL would do away with shootouts or at least make it a 3-2-1 point system.

*Three wasted Ranger power plays. Ho hum. Par for the course, as was the third expiring and Toronto scoring soonafter. The opportunities that have come and past this season are legion, and infuriating.

*Poor Brad Richard$. All that money and he can't buy a goal.

*Nice of Ryane Clowe to come through with a fight to swing the pendulum. Really, what is Arron Asham getting paid for?

*Torts' mismanagement of the Blueshirt blueline is killing this team. Dan Girardi is playing far too many minutes, John Moore far too few. Moore has shown he can skate and make plays, and yet he had just two shifts in the third period and none in overtime - a four on four OT with a ton of space for a kid who can skate and make plays. And yet Steve Eminger was out there for over 30 seconds. Senseless.

*Girardi ... an All Star last season, G is a shadow of that player and his Del Zastrous fumble of an ill-advised Asham pass led to the game-tying goal. He's making mistakes more than ever and yet Torts had him out there for a half hour.

*Neither he nor anyone else on the Rangers were able to contain Toronto's top trio - Kessel, JvR and Bozak. Their speed, hustle and chemistry just killed. Imagine that, a line that has chemistry. What a concept.

*Great shot by McDonagh to give the Blueshirts the lead. Amazing what happens when players screen the goalie and the shooter avoids putting the puck into the legs of the guy right in front of him.

*Bork! Finally, Hagelin's hard work paid off in a goal. Hopefully it will open the floodgates ...

*Really seems like a long time since Taylor Pyatt was a contributing member of this team. Maybe facing his former franchise on Saturday will get him back in the game. His big body could be a big help down the stretch and in the playoffs (if the Rangers make it).

*Speaking of big bodies, why/how in the world did Boyle get a star? He was abominable, as per usual. He had nothing to do with either of the Ranger goals, he missed passes and gift-wrapped chances, his penalty killing consisted of standing around watching the Leafs pass the puck ... Which of the writers did he pay off?

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Brian Boyle - no points.
2-Phil Kessel - two goals.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 23 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Clowe - Sure he didn't win the fight against Fraser but the Rangers were in desperate need of life and he sparked it.
2-Kessel - By far the best skater on the ice; wonder why he wasn't in the shootout. Can't wait to see him in Sochi. (USA! USA! USA!)
1-Hank - Even with the 20+ minute gap between shots, the King collected a multitude of game-saving stops. With a common goaltender, this game was over in regulation with the Leafs winning handily. Good thing we have royalty amongst us. 

19-16-4: Right Back Where We Started From

The boost of adrenaline the Rangers received from the trade deadline and subsequent 6-1 curbstomping of the Penguins has completely worn off. The Blueshirts fell back to their familiar failings on Monday night, falling to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3.

We all joked that once Torts went back to coaching the team it would regress and it has. The lines that worked so well have been broken up, new guys Brassard and Moore are seeing limited minutes, the power play was back to being predictable and the Rangers are allowing their opponents to do whatever they want, wherever they want.

No one is laughing now.

Late Hits:

*Del Zastrous. Those who see his poor performance as an aberration are wrong have the excuse that the kid tried to do too much in front of a hometown crowd. It has happened before at the ACC, and likely will happen again. But, frankly, it was par for the course. DZ chases the puck, gambles on the rush, hits for contact and not 'impact', and has little clue of proper positioning in his own end. When his gambles pay off, things are rosy. When they don't ...

*Torts juggles the forwards lines incessantly and yet he stuck with the DZ/Girardi pairing despite consistent failures. Mind boggling.

*Yet another game where Girardi and McDonagh looked exhausted. Too many minutes over the last year and a half have taken their toll; Marc Staal can't return quick enough, and it is a shame Torts stopped trusting Moore already.

*The Leafs goal to go up 3-1 - Kessel's power play goal - was painful. Not only did it come off a hokey holding call on Cally (great dive by Sloppy Seconds), but the Rangers just let New Jersey boy JvR do his best Tomas Holmstrom impression.

*Phil Kessel is Toronto's best player. Perhaps someone should cover him. Just a thought.

*Can't blame the posts in this one, both teams tasted iron several times.

*Typical Ranger performance, making a mediocre goaltender look like a god. Perhaps if they weren't so predictable Reimer wouldn't be able to square to every shot and take the puck in the logo. The goaltender was caught completely offguard when Step fired the puck past him rather than dumping it into the corner and 'grinding' the way they usually do.

*That was a beautiful shot by the True Blue trooper and Nash's singular effort on the Rangers' second goal was stellar. Maybe he felt he was back in Columbus, thinking "if I don't do it myself, no one else will."

*Brian Boyle. Enough with this oversized, understrengthed waste of a sweater already.

*Zuccarello has returned a different player than he was, one who is more willing to shoot. Combined with his sublime passing ability and decisiveness with the puck, he has clearly made the next step in his development. Once it all starts clicking - regular linemates might help - Zuke will be one helluva NHLer.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Phil Kessel - two goals and one assist.
2-Rick Nash - two goals.
1-James van Riemsdyk - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Nash - That was one highlight goal by the hot dog, more than made up for kicking in the other one. Haha.
2-JvR - A big, power forward willing to work the tough areas to get goals? Hope Ryane Clowe took notes.
1-Kessel - Marian Gaborik played like that, for a spell ... 

7-5-0: Bailed Out In Boston

 

Captain Cally came through again, leading his lackluster teammates to a big win in Boston after they blew a 3-0 lead. Callahan's shootout winner saved the Rangers from awful embarrassment and, instead, secured them a 4-3 win over the beast of the East.

This game was all-too-familiar in that the Blueshirts took control, then thought the job was done and sat back. For being such a pit bull of a coach, Torts has no killer instinct. He instead insists his team sit back and cling to whatever lead they build, thus allowing the other team more space to create and mount a comeback. It is a problem that has plagued this team in the last seven or so seasons and it needs to be fixed before they can reach the next level.

But for now, for those counting, this is three wins in a row for the Blueshirts. It is a nice little streak that hopefully continues on Thursday.

Late Hits:

*Three games without Brian Boyle, three wins. His absence has allowed Torts to balance the lines better; the poor-skating, oversized softie with bad hands was dragging a second unit down to fourth line status. They weren't creating any energy or any offense, they just staggered around hoping not to give up any goals. Good riddance.

*Kind of refreshing playing against a team that wastes a ton of talent while falling flat on their face while on the power play. Granted, Krejci's goal came seconds after a man advantage finished ... but still, the Bruin and Ranger power plays are remarkably underwhelming to say the least.

*Rick "The Riverboat Gambler" Nash showed off his hot dog hands with two stupefyingly skilled plays that words simply can not do justice. Nash undressed Boston and fed Carl Hagelin (BORK!) from his knees on one and scored a shootout goal for the ages on the other.

*But all was not wonderful with our silky superstar. He took exception to Milan Lucic's physical play and took an inexcusable hooking penalty early in the third period, spurring the home side's rally. As such a big guy, he should have given the shove right back to Lucic, not relied on his stick.

*Or he could have just sucked it up. Arron Asham made his best achievement as a Blueshirt by not getting suckered into a fight he surely would have lost.

*Did Brad Richard$ play? Has he been injured? Top line center has been invisible the last five, six games. His passes have been telegraphed, his shots easily blocked and, on this night, his shootout attempt was laughable.


*Too many men on the ice. AGAIN. This joke is not funny.


*Was really surprised to see a sluggish, soft Bruins team at the outset - they were far from the motivated bunch of bangers who took on Buffalo the other day.

*And, like both of the Bolts goalenders the other day, Tuukka suuckked. Step and Stralman's goals would have been grabbed by even a half-competent goaltender. But you miss 100% of the shots you don't take and all that, so keep chuckin' 'em from the cheap seats boys.

*Hank, for his part, did just fine. But he is not the player he was last season, he doesn't seem to have the same patience and confidence that he had while winning the Vezina. Even his outstanding save on Patrice Bergeron's breakaway looked uncertain, and it knocked him backwards. Plays like that were his bread and butter and this one didn't inspire the same confidence.

*Bergeron is one outstanding hockey player. He is just awesome all over the ice, truly a prototypical two-way player. Every time I watch him I come away impressed.

*Amazing how Boston has one of the iconic logos in all of sport and yet donned such an ugly uniform on this night. It looked like they were wearing black pajamas.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Dan Girardi - one assist.
2-David Krejci - one goal.
1-Rick Nash - one shootout goal and one regulation assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Lucic - Two assists and the physical play that initiated the comeback.
2-Girardi - Just defense to help out Hank. McD and Staal were also stellar but G made some really big blocks.
1-Nash - Skillz.

0-1-0: Stumbling Start

It is not like most of the Rangers were all that busy during the lockout, you would think they would have had time to work out. But they proved to be woefully underprepared for the start of the season on Saturday night when they fell to the Bruins in Beantown 3-1.

It was a sloppy, slow open to the asterisked year and it was largely inexcusable. Half the team simply did not show up ready to play. You could see on Thursday's broadcast of the Blueshirts practice, the boys didn't take it seriously. Well, it is serious. With a 48 game year every point counts and they wasted two last night.

Late Hits:

*Boston was lauded for having half their side in shape after playing overseas, and deservingly so. Andrew Ference and David Krejci, both of whom played in the Czech Extraliga, assisted on the first goal. Daniel Paille, who spent nine games in Finland, tipped home the second. Johnny Boychuk, who played in Austria, scored the third off a faceoff win by Patrice Bergeron - a star in Switzerland.

*That being said, the Rangers who saw time in Europe were ineffective. Step played in Finland and was invisible. Nash's play was almost as neutral as the country he played in. Hagelin's highlight was drawing a penalty (more on that in a moment). McDonagh was mediocre. DZ ... ha.

*If not for Hagelin's visor, his face would have been wrecked on the glass when he was hit from behind by Milan Lucic. It was a far more egregious hit than the elbow Hags laid on Alfredsson in the playoffs and Lootch has a reputation for dirty play. And yet it only drew a two minute penalty? Shanny had better take a look ...

*Speaking of neanderthals, a big thank you to Mike Rupp and Stu Bickel for killing any chance the Rangers had at coming back. Brad Richards gets a lucky goal and the two idiots have to go out and pick that moment to justify their pathetic existence. You fight to start your team's momentum. You fight to stop the other team's momentum. You don't fight the second your side shows a sign of life. Sheer stupidity by the lowbrows.

*Brian Boyle is a genius. He translated a few lucky weeks a few years back into a NHL career. Brilliant. Too bad he has no knowledge on the ice. He can't skate, he can't shoot and he has no ice sight.

*When Brandon Segal is more involved then you, there's a problem. Step, Kreider, Pyatt, Cally, Halpern (who seemed to lose every faceoff he took) ... all absent.

*That has to rank as one of the worst games of Marc Staal's career.

*Yes, I did admit that Del Zaster made a good play in the third period. No, it did not wipe out the fact that he was poor the rest of the night. He couldn't keep the puck in the offensive zone, he got beaten in the neutral zone and he lost his coverage regularly in the defensive zone.

*Thought for sure that Girardi had kept the streak alive of Rangers blocking shots in Boston and breaking things. Haveta be thankful he survived unscathed.

*Hank's glove save on Krejci was gorgeous, and it reminded me of his stellar stop on Marc Savard (that I was in the building for and utterly lost my mind). Only difference? Hank's glove wasn't in the goal on the Savvy save.

*PHW Three Stars:
3-Patrice Bergeron - one assist.
2-Tuukka Rask - 20 saves.
1-Zdeno Chara - tallest guy on the ice.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars:
3-Shawn Thornton - The Bruins' resident tough guy taunted Rupp into the fight that sealed the Ranger fate. Smart. Credit also to Brad Marchand for being a pest all night long, completely distracting Cally and others.
2-Bergeron - Seguin may have been flashier at times but Bergeron commanded the ice when he was out there, dictating pace and placement.
1-Lucic - The missing link scored the all-important goal and played Bruins hockey until his ejection.

50-22-7: Arrogance Is Not Attractive

All the Rangers needed on Sunday was a point. One point. One point and the regular season was all sealed up for them. Get that one point and have three games left to rest key guys, to practice in real game situations and get ready for the real season to start.

Needless to say, they did not get it.

Instead the Blueshirts blew an early lead and limply let two points skate off the Garden ice. The Boston Bruins beat them 2-1.

Perhaps the team figured the B's would roll over. Perhaps the team figured that their earlier success against the B's would just happen again. Perhaps the team thought that their last four wins - against franchises out of contention for the postseason - actually meant that they could cruise against the reigning Stanley Cup winners.

Perhaps.

But whatever they were thinking is irrelevant as their actions spoke volumes - the Rangers didn't want to win this one nearly as badly as Boston did. That simple. That sad. Now they have to somehow find the motivation to get back in gear against Philly, Pittsburgh and Washington - all franchises that have found success against the Rangers when it has counted in the past. The Blueshirts were handed a reality check by the Bruins: you can't take anything for granted - not ever, but especially not in April.

Late Hits:

*Aside from being unable to properly motivate his team, John Tortorella also failed the franchise by continually fooling with the lines. By game 79 you would think he would have allowed the guys to develop some kind of chemistry but instead he threw random guys over the boards and it cost them. Case in point: Carl Hagelin (Bork!) couldn't tell if he was coming or he was going. The kid clearly had no clue who was out on the ice with him, and where those linemates may have been.

*In beating Boston earlier this season the Rangers matched the Bruins intensity and physicality. So why did Brandon Prust see two shifts in the second period and just one in the third? John Mitchell got two and Mike Rupp none (not that Rupp should ever be on the ice, or even allowed to wear a Ranger jersey, but I digress). Prust played 5:29 - his second lowest total of the entire season - and one minute of that was killing penalties. Even his Boston counterpart, Shawn Thornton, saw more time and Thornton didn't get special teams time.

*Nice penalty and power play work Del Zaster. DZ qb'd the power play for nearly five minutes and it went 0-3 while managing two shots on goal. Two shots. Two. Two shots in four minutes and 53 seconds to be precise. Two.

*DZ's stupid penalty led to the game-winning goal but responsibility on the goal itself goes to Dan Girardi. Not sure what Dan-O was thinking right there (or how Hank got beaten short side for seemingly the umpteenth time this season).

*Arty received a home-run pass, made a power move to the outside and wasted the scoring chance it gave him. As always, we see flashes of brilliance from this boy but he just can't put it all together.

*Too many Bruin fans at MSG.

*The usual hard work from captain Callahan but it just wasn't enough as Boston clearly was expecting it.

*Didn't get to see the replay but was Hank screened on the Seidenberg goal? He had to be, right?

*Congrats to Gabby on number 40. The goal came on a beautiful play with a swift and easy finish - long rebound comes all the way out to free him for a breakaway and the Slovak Sniper just blasted it past Tim Thomas.

*Every time Thomas came out of his crease to stretch during time outs I prayed for Sean Avery to just skate by and hit him in the back of the head again. Ah well.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Marian Gaborik - one goal.
2-Zdeno Chara - one assist.
1-Tim Thomas - 33 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Cally - At least there was one Ranger who really wanted to win.
2-Thomas - Sure he was under fire more from the media in the wake of the Obama nonsense then he was from the Rangers in this one but he still did his job.
1-Patrice Bergeron - Outstanding work by the (certain-to-be) Selke finalist. Not only did he take advantage of Girardi's mistake for the game-winner but he also played in all situations and won 17 of 19 faceoffs. That is outrageous.

50-21-7: Ole, Ole Ole Ole, Ole ...

Many of those that fill Madison Square Garden nowadays would be shocked to hear it, but for decades the roles were reversed: the Canadiens were the first place team while the Rangers were the doormats. The Habs abused the Blueshirts year after year after year. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

The current edition of the bleu, blanc et rouge got their assistant coach fired. Then they got their head coach fired. Then they got their general manager fired. To say that the team that came to play Friday night was a poor shadow of the dynasties that once filled the Forum would be a gross, gross, gross understatement.

They were a bunch of lame ducks going through the motions and the Rangers barely had to break a sweat to beat them 4-1. Having read about the embarrassments over the ages at the hands of the Habs it was quite enjoyable to see the tables turned.

Have to rip through the Late Hits quick:

*Those two Statue Of Liberty glove saves by Hank were outstanding. Not as dramatic as the French Canadian arm swing but far more in-your-face. 'Yeah, the puck is in my glove, what are you going to do about it?' Hank made a half dozen or so good saves but easily could have sat back and filed his taxes the rest of the evening - guess it helps that the Habs traded away Kostitsyn and Cammalleri and were missing the injured Gionta and Gomez.

*Gabby has seven points in his last four games, all against atrocious teams. We'll get to see if the Slovak Sniper is really on-target when he faces the fierce Boston defense on Sunday.

*Hearing Lady of Spain on the organ in the second period almost outweighed the atrocious music selection the rest of the evening. Slap Shot references rule.

*Steven McDonald is awesome. Love that the Garden honours him with a standing ovation every year, love that he returns the favour with a quick, poignant pep talk.

*Impossible to fault the selection of Ryan Callahan for the officer's award because he clearly puts in the extra effort ... but he is the captain - he's kinda supposed to. After suffering through Jagr and Drury, we may have lowered our expectations. Even so, Cally certainly has surpassed them and, as written after the last match, he is already among the top men in the NHL to wear the C.

*Speaking of fierce defense, how great was it to see McDonagh doing well against his former franchise? Thanks again Gainey, wherever you are.

*Even though he was wearing a Bruins sweater, I have to steal a Happy Gilmour line - 'the Price is wrong, bitch!' Perhaps Carey should cut out the smoking because he was burned several times tonight. Hey ohhhhhhhh.

*Love the heritage sweaters, wonder if they will wear them again on Sunday.

*John Mitchell on the power play? Was Torts just screwing around or trying to rub Cunneyworth's nose in the fact that his team is terrible?

*Del Zaster was still Del Zastrous, three point evening aside. He is going to get points when he focuses on offense, and that is fine. But his continuing incompetence in his own end is infuriating. First he simply fell down to give Montreal a free breakaway early in the third period. Then, moments after lobbing that long shot past Price to make it 4-0, DZ was soundly and easily beaten wide by Plekanec, ineffectively wacking the Czech with his stick as he skated by. Plekanec then passed to Bourque and Hank's deserved shutout was done. If DZ does his job, the King ties Elliott and Quick with nine shutouts and improves his case for Vezina.

*Still think that Richard$ tipped DZ's first goal but if the $60 million man wants to give credit to the kid, so be it. The official scorer is more than willing to help him out with all of the charity second assists this season.

*Just turned on the MSG replay - John Giannone is far, far better than Bill Pidto at the MSG 150. Still think that the 150 is a faulty gimmick, but at least with Giannone is anchoring it isn't so awkward and forced.

*Oh Artyyyyy, where art thou Arty?

*Hey MSG, we payed to go to a hockey game. Because we like hockey. We don't need updates about the Knicks every single break. We don't care. Especially about a .500 borderline playoff team in a terrible conference that already got the coach fired and was playing without its cash cow point guard. Thank goodness those score updates stopped after the first period because I nearly burst a blood vessel.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.
2-Michael Del Zotto - two goals and one assist.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 19 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Hank - So close to the no-no ...
2-Cally - Received his Extra Effort award and continued to give the extra effort, battling along the boards and in front of the net. Having a captain like him makes me even more proud to be a Ranger fan.
1-Richard$ - Brad effortlessly sliced apart the Montreal defense all night and skated away with (officially) a goal and two assists.

37-13-5: Not So Big, Not So Bad

The Rangers visited Boston for the second time this season and they skated away with two points for the second time this season. Three weeks after Marian Gaborik scored to give the Blueshirts a 3-2 overtime win, the team needed no such heroics on Tuesday. Well, no one moment of heroics - Hank put forth his usual herculean effort to give the Rangers a 3-0 shutout victory over the reigning Stanley Cup champion Bruins.

If the Bs are indeed the gritty Americans who rebelled against England, well then the Rangers are a tough band of vikings led by a Swedish King who have conquered the Causeway. Hank has played the Bruins 25 times in his career and is 18-5-2 with six shutouts, a gaa that is roughly 1.50 and a save % of roughly .950. While nothing will ever unseat this as my favourite Lundqvist save vs. Boston, he made several sharp stops among his 42 saves on this night. And his serfs served up three goals against Timmy Thomas and the team was able to skate away with a heckuva win.

Late Hits:

*Yet again the Rangers did not play 60 minutes. A bad start allowed the Bruins to press the action for the first 15 minutes before the Blueshirts showed up to play. And yet, when those 15 minutes were over it was the Rangers who were ahead thanks to a power play goal (of all things). Boston pressed the action all night, dominating play and attempting an astounding 79 shots but the Rangers won. Remarkable.

*The Blueshirts blocked 22 shots and just two were not credited with at least one: Staal and Stepan. Weird how the puck bounces sometimes.

*The other key to victory aside from the King was how the Rangers handled Zdeno Chara. The biggest of the Bruins was not given any time or space anywhere on the ice and Boston couldn't adapt without their cap. The Rangers were constantly all over the Slovak with Arty battling him behind the Boston net, Derek Stepan checking him hard at the Ranger blueline, Hank stopping six of his shots and McD banking the puck off of one of his beanstalks for the second Ranger goal.

*If you aren't contributing on the scoreboard you have to contribute elsewhere. And that is exactly what Brad Richard$ did in this one. Richard$ showed off his ice sight with solid defensive positioning and smart passing to move the puck to good spots.

*Torts had to limit the minutes Del Zaster and Stralman saw because they just can't keep up with talent like Boston. If Sauer is indeed done for the season, Sather would be best served bringing in a big body to help out. Hal Gill as a Ranger? Feels dirty to say but might be necessary.

*What is Mike Rupp's purpose again? He was even on the ice when Bruins crashed the Ranger net and nothing.

*So thankful Pruster didn't throw down with Lucic. He would give Lootch a run for his money but his shoulder probably would not survive.

*Dubi just missed making my stars but with an assist and 10 stitches, he certainly made a good case.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Ryan McDonagh - one goal.
2-Ryan Callahan - one goal.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - 42 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Arty - Shocked as you are that he is here and yet the big Russian kid had one of his best games to date. He did not back down physically to anyone, won a battle against Chara and scored with a sexy snipe.
2-Cally - Grind on captain, grind on.
1-Hank - All hail.

Making Their Cases For The Mount

By now you've seen Puck Daddy's Mount Puckmore summer series where a blogger has been selected to honour four of the pillars of their respective franchise. As Leahy explained, they are "the four defining faces of their franchise. These four people are who you remember most when you think of these teams -- whether they be players, coaches or executives." Playing the part of the Borglums (the father and son who carved the original) for the Rangers will be whomever Wysh picks. While I don't think that fella will follow suit with the overwhelming majority in the "who you remember most" all being '94 guys, I figured I go through some of the candidates (alphabetically) and explain why they should and why they shouldn't be etched in digital stone. My selections are bolded ...

Andy Bathgate
+ The face of the Rangers for the 50s; 1958-59 Hart Trophy; eight All Star berths; 729 points in 719 regular season games.
- No Stanley Cups with New York; captained the team for just three seasons.

Frank Boucher
+ Won two Stanley Cups as a player and coached the Blueshirts to a third; had the Fan Club's most popular player trophy named after him; was with the team from 1926 through 1954 as a player, coach and GM.
- Walk around the Garden now and 90% of the people will have no idea who he was.

Bill Cook
+ One of the most dominant players in NHL history; won two Stanley Cups; 367 points in 474 games in the original dead puck era.
- Walk around the Garden now and 95% of the people will have no idea who he was; a Gretzky-esque failure as a coach in the early 50s.

Emile Francis
+ Sixteen years with the franchise; coached the team to the '72 Finals; drafted Brad Park, Steve Vickers, Pat Hickey and Rick Middleton; started the New York Junior League.
- No Cups; wasn't a particularly good goaltender.

Eddie Giacomin
+ Greatest goaltender in Ranger history; adored by the Faithful; 267-174-89 record; team-record 49 shutouts.
- No Cups.

Rod Gilbert
+ Collected 1,065 points and a team-record 406 goals over 15 seasons; team ambassador; eight All-Star games; Masterton Trophy winner.
- No Cups; had some great help with GAG linemates Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield.

Adam Graves
+ Beat Hadfield's regular-season record 50 goals with 52 in 93-94; 1994 Stanley Cup; team ambassador; Masterton Trophy winner.
- Played in the shadow of Messier.

Ron Greschner
+ Played over 1,000 games including playoffs; second-most career points by a Ranger defenseman; helped drive the Rangers to the 1979 Cup Final; defensive stalwart.
- No Cups; never considered among the best blueliners in the league.

Harry Howell
+ Played more games in a Blueshirt than anyone; defensive stalwart; 1966-67 Norris Trophy.
- No Cups; named the Rangers' MVP just once over his entire tenure.

Brian Leetch
+ All-time leading scorer among Ranger defensemen; two Norris Trophies; 1994 Stanley Cup; '94 Conn Smythe; Calder Trophy.
- Horrible as team captain; stupid injuries robbed him of some prime time.

Henrik Lundqvist
+ Three-time Vezina finalist; 177 wins in 338 regular season games; collected 30 or more wins each of his five NHL seasons.
- No Cups yet; no awards; biggest successes came overseas.

Mark Messier
+ Messiah; the Guarantee; The Captain; 1994 Stanley Cup.
- Everything was downhill after 94; went after Vancouver's money; second-stint nothing less than horrible.

Lester Patrick
+ One of Hockey's Royal Family; took over for Conn Smythe and built the Blueshirts; coach, GM and VP over a 24 year career; Lester Patrick Trophy; Patrick Division; one game as goaltender a puck legend.
- Walk around the Garden now and 90% of the people will have no idea who he was.

Mike Richter
+ All-time Ranger win leader with 301 victories over 666 appearances; stopped Pavel Bure on perhaps the most famous penalty shot in hockey history; 1994 Stanley Cup.
- Only two seasons with 30 or more wins; variety of injury woes; never considered among the best goaltenders in the business.

Neil Smith
+ Built the 1994 Rangers including trading for Messier and Graves and drafting Sergei Nemchinov, Alexei Kovalev, Doug Weight, and Sergei Zubov.
- Played a big part in steering the NHL towards the lockout with outrageous salaries.

Others deserving of a moment's consideration: Bill Gadsby, Buddy O'Connor, Jaromir Jagr, Chuck Rayner, Lynn Patrick, Phil Esposito, Dean Prentice, Rod Seiling, Walt Tkaczuk, Jim Neilson, John Vanbiesbrouck, Steve Vickers, Ratelle and Hadfield.

14-14-2: Something More Than Nothing

Are you sure that Tom Renney no longer coaches the New York Rangers? I'm not. The Blueshirts played a typical Renney game in Chicago and lost to the Blackhawks 2-1. The good news? They were able to hold on to get a point before falling in overtime.

Just like the loss to Detroit, the Rangers got themselves a 1-0 lead and tried to nurse it to the final buzzer.

It didn't work.

The Blueshirt blueline actually acquitted themselves quite well throughout the night to limit Chicago to low-percentage scoring chances as the offense collapsed in front of them. That was, before Dustin Byfuglien walked right around Hobey Gilroy and slid the puck through a mediocre Henrik Lundqvist.

And yes, I thought Hank was quite mediocre. The talking heads on TV can rave all they like but Hank sat deep in his crease and rarely had to make a decent save - thanks to the defense in front of him if you can believe that (more on them later). The stop on Jon Toews in the second period was completely luck as Toews lost the puck and Hank's poke check missed. And this isn't just blind bashing; remember, I've been defending the King while the masses have been questioning his capability (especially after the Detroit loss). Which brings me to the new poll: do you think Hank will win Stanley with the Rangers? Not this year - there is a better chance of me going to the moon - but before he leaves New York, do you think Henrik Lundqvist will ever win a championship?

*The Hawks have a good chance this season, but they don't have the goaltending. Cristobal Huet is horrid and yet the Rangers barely tested him. One shot on goal in the third? How embarrassing.

*Donald Brashear's first shift back from "injury" and Ben Eager takes the puck right off his stick for a shot on net. He did recover and actually got some shots off. The pathetic part of it all? He had more, better chances than most of his teammates. If that doesn't make you feel shame, I don't know what does.

*Wade Redden also returned and was part of defense that did so well to keep the Hawks to the outside. I was more than ready to rail on him but he and the other five blueliners (even and especially Rozy) helped hold the fort as the offense collapsed in front of them. When you consider that none of them have the strength to knock players off the puck, they did yeoman work.

*But at the same time, it was the same old story with the Rangers: when they don't play the body around the net they set themselves up for trouble. Trapped around their own net the Blueshirts scramble, swing their sticks around and lose track of the puck, allowing Chicago to equalize with a power play goal. All someone (Brian Boyle) had to do was to knock Toews on his ass. That simple.

*After being an atrocious -4 against the Pens in the 5-2 loss, Chris Higgins has himself a three game point scoring streak. He opened this game's scoring with a high, hard wrister off the rush down the left wing. It was quite familiar as he scored the same way against Buffalo and he passed instead of shot on the Boyle goal against the Wings. Hey, if it works, keep doing it Chris.

*Cally couldn't come through with a goal but his penalty kill work in the third period keeps him off the hate list and gives a little reprieve before we get back to questioning his ability.

*Midway through the third period Ales Kotalik ran at Duncan Keith from behind for his third dirty/dangerous hit this season. When not taking big shots on the power play, this guy is a three million dollar waste of money. And he lost his power play time so he is rapidly becoming a prime contender for an offseason buy-out.

*OT - does anyone still think the Geico caveman commercials are funny or interesting? Did anyone in the first place? I won't buy their insurance purely because their advertising is so awful.

*How long before Arty Anisimov gets the BUST label and is shipped out of town? After an extended apprenticeship on the farm, Arty has been given every chance to succeed and hasn't. Maybe he will be better once Geno Grachev gets to Broadway, but can we wait that long?

*Why is it that Drury and Arty are doing so little shift after shift and Erik Christensen spends most of the game on the bench? The new guy went 4-0 at the faceoff dot on just seven shifts.

*Dru ... as mean as it sounds, I was hoping that that blocked shot would knock him out of the lineup again and for a long time. He contributes so little night after night and gets so many minutes. It is disheartening. Maybe when Dubi comes back the pressure will lessen and Dru can regain some of his game. This is the guy who has come through with so many clutch goals when the pressure is the highest and he appears to be crushed by his captaincy.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Jonathan Toews - one goal.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 39 saves.
1-Dustin Byfuglien - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Higgins - Even though he will be gone after this season, I think we need a nickname for him. Higgs? Higgy? Ziggy? One-and-Done? The Hab? Smithtown? I'm liking Smithtown - after his Long Island hometown. Whatever we call him, Higgins had his best game as a Ranger to date. Not saying too much but still an accomplishment.
2-Duncan Keith - Keith was on the ice every other shift for Chicago and moved the puck quite well. It was his feed that caught Byfuglien in stride so the big man could sweep around Hobey to score the game-winner.
1-Toews - So that is how a captain is supposed to lead his team. Skate hard, go to the net, get the puck and never give up.

34-24-8: Another Great Memory

What is it about the Original Six matchup against the Boston Bruins that seems to provide memorable games more often then not? Think about it. Recent history of this rivalry is filled with some magnificent moments. Since the lockout we have seen the return of Brian Leetch to the Garden, Jed Ortmeyer (of all players) scoring a penalty shot goal, two 1-0 shootout games in one season, one of the best saves of Henrik Lundqvist's career and yesterday a standing ovation for a player who got an assist on a garbage goal.

Welcome back Sean.

The Garden buzzed every time Avery stepped on the ice (Torts should have started him) and he didn't disappoint. Sean was Sean, working hard to get the puck, getting good opportunities and running his mouth. Sure there was the break down the wing where he took a shot and missed the net by 10 feet. Sure there was the 10 times he fell down. Sure there was the ridiculous interference penalty on him. All have to be expected - he is getting back into NHL shape and the referees will call anything and everything they see as remotely borderline (even though it wasn't even close) as he is public enemy No. 1.

Now, I understand what Torts was trying to do by putting him on a line with Ryan Callahan and Lauri Korpikoski but I hope that experiment doesn't last. Both Callahan and Avery work better alongside skill players. They will certainly get chances to score, but their best offensive work comes when they are making room for playmakers - Jagr, Z, etc. Korp just seemed to be lost out there, trying to figure out where he fit in beside these two lunatics who were throwing their bodies around. But this was just their second game, there are 16 more to go so we will see how things flesh out.

But back into the Bruin game:

*That memorable moments things goes both ways - Boston fans are sure to recall Zdeno Chara's slap shot shootout winner and Tuukka Rask's 35 save domination of the Blueshirts. I bet the Bruin faithful wish that Rask started this game. I know I would Manny Fernandez singlehandedly gave the Rangers the win by allowing three pitiful goals. After standing tall during the pressure-filled first period, Manny lost his bearings and his mind and started spinning and flopping and letting pucks in. While there is no way to say that Rask or Tim Thomas would have fared better, it is almost certain that they wouldn't have fared much worse.

*How cool is it that Hank likes to head away shots? Ole!

*Did Markus Naslund play? I couldn't tell. How about Chris Drury? I am serious, they need to get him a hypnotist or psychologist so he just sees the opposing team wearing Islander jerseys every night.

*Where was Marty Straka when you needed him? Without Straka, Zdeno Chara had a clear lane to the net and rocketed a shot past Hank to make it a 3-2 game.

*Why is it that when Drury and David Krejci went at it in a real hockey fight - one that was actually a result of play - the Garden was deathly silent? When the idiot goons Colton Orr and Shawn Thornton battled in a contrived, pointless dance at center ice the building shook with energy. It is that kind of stupid hooliganism that will get fighting banned from hockey and for folks to go nuts over it is just sad. I love, LOVE a good hockey fight but it has to have some kind of reason. When the other team scores to tie the game at one, there is no reason to fight off of the ensuing faceoff.

*On the fisticuffs note, what is sadder: that we all complain that there are more fights today after clean hits then ever or that it felt like someone should do something when both Scott Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky got absolutely creamed in the third period?

*Stat of the game: Maybe it was me, but as physical as the game was, I really don't think there were 89 hits between the two teams. Somehow Sean Avery had just three while Milan Lucic led all players with nine.

*Sticking with old time hockey, it was a shame that the Garden didn't hold a moment of silence before the game for Alf Pike. Pike was a big enough part of the history of the franchise that he deserved that. Instead we got a quick history lesson during a first period commercial break that most people ignored (for shame!).

*The two newest Rangers got some respect from the home crowd and Nik Antropov put up a pair of points. As much as I dislike Borat, I gotta give him credit. Granted, he got lucky on his goal because he dodged to avoid contact and looked up to see Dubi screening Manny, but it was a nice effort for the big softie. Derek Morris still needs work. Morris clearly has yet to regain the chemistry he had with Paul Mara and nearly collided with his partner at least once. Petr Prucha has two assists in two games with Phoenix.

*When is John Tortorella going to come to his senses and realize that Redden and Rozy are two of the main reasons that the power play sucks? They are useless out there and prone to turnovers.

*My buddy Pete had the line of the day. When I compared Redden to a traffic cone he pointed out that that wasn't true because "people try to avoid traffic cones." Redden may just take over the place of my most loathed Ranger, he has already surpassed Malik and is treading into Poti territory ...

*PHW Three Stars
3-Brandon Dubinsky - no points.
2-Zdeno Chara - one goal and one assist.
1-Nik Antropov - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Chara - He is the size of a small mountain and will very likely never win a Norris Trophy (at least not while Nick Lidstrom is still playing) but he truly is an incredible defenseman. Chara is smart, moves well for a big man and that shot ... damn.
2-Nik Zherdev - Z disappeared in the second period like most of the Rangers but in the first and the third he was incredible. Maybe Torts has indeed lit the fire because Z played close to his potential and was a constant offensive threat. A better goaltender probably would not have given up Z's game winning goal but that was just one of many times he threatened the net.
1-Avery - Sure the new coach and aggressive style of play has helped, but Avery brought life back to the Garden. That place has been dead for most of the season so far and it was exciting to see him back. There is just something right about seeing him in a Blueshirt.