29-21-4: It Would Have Been Nice

In the Rangers' 3-2 loss to New Jersey tonight it would have been nice if Dan Girardi's shot hit the post and went in in the final second of the third period to force overtime.

It would have been nice if Henrik Lundqvist didn't give up three goals on 12 shots, one softie and two on his knees.

It would have been nice if Henrik Lundqvist didn't spend Wednesday night watching the Knicks and hanging out with Justin Bieber because some of the kid's suck was clearly absorbed by osmosis.

It would have been nice if Henrik Lundqvist's teammates bailed him out for once.

It would have been nice if John Tortorella didn't blame this loss (and the previous two) on Henrik Lundqvist, and placed it where it belonged - on himself. The coach has proven utterly incapable of getting the team to play three full periods or to score a timely goal and yet it was the goaltender's fault for getting pucks scored off of Arty Anisimov (Florida) or in a seven round shootout (Pittsburgh) or off of bad turnovers (tonight).

It would have been nice if Arty Anisimov had some ... fortitude ... so he could stand in front of the net and take advantage of the chances his teammates made for him. Three pucks came across towards him in the first period and yet he was sliding behind the net or curling away to avoid contact.

It would have been nice if the Rangers realized that they can't dump the puck into the zone of a puck moving goaltender like Mmmmaaarrrtttyyy because he will just send it right back out again.

It would have been nice if the Rangers actually challenged Mmmmaaarrrtttyyy with some shots and play down low instead of shooting it at his jelly belly or praying for a bad bounce down by his skates. Sure the goaltender likely hasn't seen said skates for years but he does have those pads to stop the puck.

It would have been nice if any of the Rangers could win an important faceoff.

It would have been nice if Chris Drury did the honourable thing and bequeathed the C to Callahan, where it rightfully belongs.

It would have been nice if Marian Gaborik knew how to score a goal that mattered. Or, at this point, knew how to score a goal at all.

It would have been nice if Michael Del Zotto had not played on Broadway last season and learned from Dale Hunter in the AHL. Or had not played in Broadway at the start of this season and spent the campaign in Connecticut. Or had not been called up when Dan Girardi went down. Or had been sent down when Girardi came back. Or been rightfully benched after the Pittsburgh game for wasting minute upon minute of important ice time. Steve Eminger had better be hurt because MDZ's continued presence in the lineup is inexcusable otherwise.

It would have been nice if MDZ wouldn't have taken a stupid penalty so the team could have had a chance at a second power play goal early in the third period.

It would have been nice if the Rangers would have gotten the boost they should have after killing the long 5-on-3 in the first period.

It would have been nice if Sean Avery didn't fall time after time. Avery tripped over the blueline. Avery swung at David Clarkson and missed, landing flat on his back. Somehow Avery kept falling and not once did his 'accidentally' fall on top of Fatso.

It would have been nice if - and this hurts to write - Brandon Prust was as smart as Clarkson. Prust took on Engy on Pittsburgh with the Rangers up 2-0 and the bout energized the Pens and set them on the road to victory. Prust tried to take on Clarkson with the Devils up 2-0 and Clarkson wanted nothing to do with him. Smart move by the minor leaguer.

But all of those ifs didn't happen so the Rangers lost at home. Again. Against the Devils.

Nothing nice about that.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Ilya Kovalchuk - one goal.
2-Vinny Prospal - one goal.
1-Dainius Zubrus - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Prospal - Nice of him to return to the Rangers, too bad he couldn't bring Gaborik's skill back with him.
2-Zubrus - Somehow this oversized former Flyer has the Rangers' number.
1-Jacques Lemaire - The Devils coach has turned things around for his team, instilling discipline and reinstating their defensive system. They were clearly trapping late in the third period and yet they did it cleanly and legally. Unlike the Ranger bench boss, Lemaire had his team ready to play at 7:05.

29-20-4: Disappointing But Acceptable

The Rangers returned from the All Star break last night and blew a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins, falling 1-0 in the skills competition and 4-3 overall. As the title says, it was disappointing but acceptable.

Sure the Penguins were without Crosby, Malkin and Letestu. They did what the Rangers did all season: overachieved without their best players. The Rangers were incorporating several guys back into their lineup and, as per always, their coach wouldn't allow any chemistry to form. It will happen again and again over the next two weeks, give or take, so don't be surprised. This team is right on track to battle for the eighth spot, just as most Ranger-related folks expected before the season.

Notes:

*It is odd to say this but Steve Eminger has been a staple of the defense all season long so he was unceremoniously dumped for Michael Del Zotto. It makes no sense whatsoever as MDZ showed no signs of any improvement down on the farm or in his return before the break. Yes, it was his shot that Cally deflected in for the game-tying goal but that doesn't excuse the other six-and-a-half minutes of wasted power play time. Is MDZ the lone reason for the atrocious man advantage? Certainly not, but last night he was a big part of it's ineptitude. MDZ can't play defense and isn't capable of playing quarterback on the power play - he has made that clear. Now he may be able to do it somewhere down the line but for the moment he - and the Rangers - are best served with him off-Broadway.

*Cally's power play goal was the lone tally or even scoring chance on the five minute power play resulting from Jordan Staal's cheap shot. I'm hearing Penguin fans are calling dive but that is a load of garbage. For one, Brandon Prust is not Sidney Crosby. Two, you get popped in the chin unawares from someone bigger than you and see how you take it. Three, just because he was hit in the chin and not full in the face doesn't mean it wasn't attempt to injure. The only difference between that shot and Domi-Samuelsson was Staal kept his glove on. An it isn't like the Penguins don't have a history full of cheap shots, full of slew foots, headhunting and punches to the nuts. Fair call.

*Why did Prust fight Deryk Engelland? Just because he had a few days to rest doesn't mean that he should take on the other team's heavyweight when it wasn't necessary. Prust has grown beyond your average goon and he needs to stop thinking like one. The Pens weren't taking many liberties, the Rangers had the 2-0 lead ... why let their idiot goad you into a fight to swing the momentum towards his team?

*Cally missing that open net earlier in the game was par for the course guys, not rust from the injury. Our love for the future captain aside, Cally has always earned chance after chance with his hard work - it is why we love him - but he doesn't always capitalize on them.

*Once you accept that Chris Drury is no more than a middling fourth liner, you can find that it is easy to accept his performance. He is not going to score, he is not going to contribute anything other than a breather for the top lines. It is not his fault he has a contract and a captaincy that he doesn't deserve, he didn't ask for either.

*How can Sean Avery be expected to score or make a difference when he is skating alongside Drury and Kris Newbury? Of course he is going to end up offsides as he takes two strides and he is a mile ahead of his linemates. When he did get shifts with players with NHL futures, he was able to make things happen. He just needs to make those things happen for himself.

*Marian Gaborik had five shot attempts in the game - one went on net, three were blocked and one was his botched shootout 'effort.' It is maddening to watch an AHLer like Dustin Jeffrey (even one with a solid NHL future ahead of him) score when one of the most talented players in the world can't even make the goaltender strain himself. As some big trade for a superstar center who will magically give Gaborik confidence and a scoring touch isn't about to happen, we can only hope that the comfort of old friend Vinny Prospal will do the trick. But I wouldn't bet on it.

*Mike f-ing Rupp. C'mon. Dammit Rangers, that the hell? Again and again and again. Mike f-ing Rupp.

*Poor Hank, three goals against in regulation and not one was his fault. Even when the guy doesn't give up a soft goal the team can't put together a win for him, ugh. Despite barely breaking sweat making four stops over the final 25 minutes Hank stopped six of the seven shooters in the skill competition. He has to be sitting back there wondering why his teammates can't keep the same mental focus.

*Now I've seen a good number of Penguin games over the last few seasons and I am completely baffled why the Rangers kept trying to go five hole on Fleury. Fleury is prone to over-committing and yet the Blueshirts went for the wickets again and again and again. I was waiting for Fleury to start doing jumping jacks or pushups just to taunt the incompetent Ranger shooters.

*Matt Cooke is such a scumbag.

*Highlight of the night? Mats Zuccarello giving Brooks Orpik free candy. The little man crushed the Penguins' hit machine in the first period along the endboards. Now that is entertainment folks.

*Mike Sauer quietly had himself a great game. Sauer has been an unheralded hero of this season and he deserves some accolades.

*Dubi won 15 of 19 faceoffs, what a nice change. Arty won six of eight but one of his two losses went right into the back of the Ranger net. It was a draw he shouldn't have even taken but was forced to as it came off of a sloppy icing the play before.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Chris Kunitz - one goal and one assist.
2-Ryan Callahan - one goal.
1-Dustin Jeffrey - one power play goal and one shootout goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Cally - Welcome back Cap.
2-Engelland - One fight changed the game - that is what fighting is for. It is no wonder the Penguin bench all got up to bang on the boards when he got out of the penalty box.
1-Jeffrey - A young, hungry up-and-coming scorer contributed exactly what an older, complacent star scorer on the Rangers couldn't.

29-20-3: Inevitable Letdown

It is astounding how a team can look so tough on some nights and so limp others. After surviving the deluge in DC on Monday the Rangers put together a pathetic effort at home against the Panthers tonight, losing 4-3.

It was the same old story, a weak start and a strong finish - one that just wasn't strong enough. Those extra strength finishes are seemingly reserved for road games, because why play desperate when you know you can go drinking after the game? As MZA said on tv on Monday, they couldn't wait to go to Warren 77. The boys must have mentally headed downtown before this one even started as they made the clawless Panthers look like a legitimate squad. Florida had just one regulation win in their last 11 games and had scored more than three goals just once in that same span. Plenty of folks chalked the bad bounces up to the hockey gods but you make your own luck and the Rangers didn't battle hard enough over the first 40 minutes to earn any of their own.

Tomas Vokoun is a good goaltender and for two periods the Rangers let him see every shot he faced. Florida conceded the blue line and the Rangers couldn't mount a cohesive attack. But how can you blame the boys? They are young, they are learning and, for the most part, they are trying hard ... that leaves Tortorella to shoulder much of the responsibility for this one. He didn't instill the hunger for victory at the outset, he couldn't keep them from making the mental mistake of allowing a goal moments after scoring (even if it was offsides) and he made several questionable calls. The man talks so much about consistency but the only consistent thing has been that he can't get his team to play three periods.

Notes:

*Why in the world would Chris Drury not only get power play time but also see the ice in the waning minutes with the team down a goal? He has no goals and four assists this season and just two power play goals in his last 109 games. Geno Grachev came to the Rangers with six goals in the three games before his recall and he didn't see the ice on the man advantage or in the final 10 minutes of the third period. Well, that makes sense, right?

*What exactly was Arty doing chasing a Panther across the ice -skating directly into Hank's line of sight - during the go-ahead goal? Sure it was unfortunate that the puck was headed well wide before it hit his back and fluttered in, but why was he there in the first place? He wasn't watching the play, he was just chasing a random Panther right through the slot. And his half-hearted attempt at blocking a shot in the first period provided the deflection to beat Hank. If I didn't like him before ...

*And if you disagree with me on that, you are going to hate this: if Michael Del Zotto never wears a Ranger jersey again, I won't be sad. Over a year and a half he has not gotten any better; at his age you should be able to see some gains and, if anything, he has gotten worse. He used to be able to carry the puck a little bit but now he gets rid of it at first check. He did have one good defensive play - credit given - but he still chases guys around looking for a hit. He doesn't seem to grasp that hitting should be used to separate the man from the puck. The blueline was just fine without him and next season there will be one, maybe two spots opening (Eminger and Gilroy) and MDZ hasn't shown anything this year to prove he deserves one of them. Maybe another summer with Gary Roberts can change that but Roberts can put him in good physical form but can't give him the mental discipline and confidence he needs.

*On the other side of the coin is Mats Zuccarello. MZA is looking more and more like a younger Marty St. Louis with his low center of gravity and willingness to work along the boards. Once he builds regular chemistry with regular linemates, he is going to be so incredibly dangerous. It might be interesting to see him with Christensen and Wolski ...

*Derek Stepan is another keeper. Step just keeps getting more and more comfortable and it shows. He has yet to hit the college wall and hopefully this All Star break will put it off for a while (till June perhaps? hopefully? maybe? please?).

*For all of the flak that I give the Garden staff for their idiocy, the decision to cut a highlight montage to Skid Row's "Youth Gone Wild" was inspired awesomeness.

*The NHL really should revisit their rules for reviewing goals, it should be able to encompass the entire play. A little ridiculous perhaps but c'mon, an extra minute to get things right wouldn't slow things down too much. The Panthers were clearly offsides on their second goal; it is just frustrating that a guy gets paid to watch the damned line and he blows it.

*Love the effort from Avery - as always - but our guy has to start contributing on the scoreboard. Next week against Pittsburgh and Jersey would be a really good time ...

*After viewing about a dozen Panther games this year it still astounds me how the Rangers made the Panthers look so tough. Vokoun is good, Weiss has his moments and Santorelli has been a revelation - because most teams don't bother to cover him - but the rest of their roster is incredibly unimpressive, a bunch of borderline prospects and castoffs from other teams. It is like they are still an expansion team 17 years later. And the Rangers just lost to them. Ugh.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Mats Zuccarello - three assists.
2-Mike Santorelli - one goal and one assist.
1-Rostislav Olesz - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Keaton Ellerby - Selected two spots before McDonagh and seven ahead of Alexei Cherepanov (RIP) in 2007, this youngster is still struggling to become a NHL regular but he had an inspired first period that was just eye opening.
2-Zook - Is he exciting to watch or what?
1-Santorelli - Who is this guy? The former Predator won faceoffs, killed penalties, forechecked, backchecked and scored.

29-19-3: Well, How About That?

Before puck drop I stopped by to say hello to the fine folks at Japer's Rink and said that they should enjoy the win as the Rangers mailed it in. Torts decided to let Del Zotto dress, to start Biron and let Brandon Prust make the call on whether he could play of not. Three very big strikes against the team.

Well, this ain't baseball and those didn't prove to be strikes as the Blueshirts beat the Capitals 2-1 after a wild shootout at the Phone Booth. The game wasn't a shootout - it was actually more of a shooting gallery - but it ended in one of the more entertaining skill competitions this season.

It seems like each time the Rangers find themselves under siege this season they find a way to win. It is shockingly delightful, but painfully ulcer-inducing at the same time. With few exceptions, Blueshirts are racking up points by the narrowest of margins and most of that success is coming away from the Garden. They return home tomorrow to face a Florida team far below them in the standings. The Rangers will have to replicate tonight's effort and polish off the Panthers before heading into the break where they can finally recuperate and reload.

Notes on tonight's win:

*Probably the biggest success to come out of his evening was the fact that no one else was injured. Thank goodness.

*Prust played despite all of his injuries and was his usual soldier self. Seeing how impressed his teammates are with his efforts, Prust should be rewarded with a letter - at least until Dubi returns. Compliments aside, Prust was partially to blame for the Washington goal. He had been covering Hendricks but dropped low to help McDonagh. The puck went up the wall, going past Kolarik to Hendricks, who crossed it. After Boyle committed to Hannan, Prust moved over Johansson but gave the Swede too much room. He seemed ready to block a shot, which opened up the middle of the ice, allowing Johansson to thread a pass to the open Hendricks for the redirection. Now Hendricks was free because Kolarik blew the coverage, but if Prust had closed he might have been able to break up the play.

*Back to the letter thing for a moment for today's Drury bashing. The captain earned as much ice time as three of the injury callups from Hartford - Newbury, Kolarik and Grachev - and was just as invisible as they were. He missed two shots (one from the slot), had another attempt blocked and lost five of eight faceoffs. And is making eight million dollars this year. Just sayin' ...

*Del Zotto calmed down a bit over the course of the game but wasn't particularly good. MDZ ran around like a chicken without a head chasing any Cap that came near him and, as per usual, wasn't good quarterbacking the power play. He is clearly a not-ready-for-prime-time player who needs more time in the bus league. Get well soon Girardi.

*If not for all of the injuries we wouldn't have had the delight of seeing Zuccarello and Wolski score in the shootout. The foreign born duo used essentially the same move but put the puck in opposite sides of the net. Wolski added a shot fake but both players included a sudden slowdown that threw off Washington's rookie goaltender. Both goals were beautiful but you have to wonder how much longer the move will work.

*I'm pretty sure I saw D.J. King on the ice for the Capitals during a power play. Now I advocated for Colton Orr to get a shot back in the day but back then, let's face it, we didn't have the talent that Washington has. Wonder what is up with them that they would resort to that.

*The Rangers decided to resort to Biron and the backup acquitted himself well with several old-school saves, including that sprawling pad stack in the first period. What would goalies be without a little luck as Biron managed to get juuuuuust enough of Johansson's shot three minutes into overtime to deflect it away from the post.

*On the subject of luck and deflections, the Rangers got both on the Gaborik goal. As most players will admit, it is the odd goal that hits off random body parts that can re-ignite a scoring touch so let's hope that the Maradona hand-of-god tally will set the slumping sniper straight.

*Arty scored the shootout winner, showing off his super-fast hands before beating Holtby. Too bad he can't do stuff like that when there are other players on the ice going after him.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Alexander Ovechkin - Probably just for being Alexander Ovechkin. No goals in four games against the Rangers and a bad miss in the shootout.
2-Martin Biron - 22 saves.
1-Marian Gaborik - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Michael Sauer - With Girardi out you would think that Tortorella would turn to Steve Eminger but he has finally seen what we have all season - Sauer is solid. The kid played big minutes and did a fantastic job. Hobey and McD also deserve accolades for good performances under pressure; Eminger babysat MDZ and the pairing was bailed out by Biron several times.
2-Matt Hendricks - Washington's Prust is getting better and better as the season goes on and was a big part of this game. He kept Avery in line, he helped kill penalties and he scored in regulation and the shootout.
1-Marc Staal - Where would we be without him? Thankfully we don't have to ponder that as he survived that awkward hit in Atlanta and showed fine form shutting down Ovie. It is nice to see his efforts this season are being honoured with a spot in the All Star Game but it is just a shame he can't take a vacation and rest. Tortorella leaned on him for 29 minutes tonight - how much time can he take before the wear and tear slows him down?

28-19-3: Ain't That Peachy?

I believe it was Mark Twain who said that "it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." Samuel Clemens could never have known that his words would apply so well to tonight's 3-2 shootout win by the Rangers (ice hockey? in Atlanta? Mah word!).

The Rangers showed that it wasn't size that mattered both their biggest and their littlest players came through in the clutch: Brian Boyle scored the game-tying goal and Mats Zuccarello won it in the skills competition. The size of the fight that is in those players and the rest of their teammates seems to be growing on a game-by-game basis. Occasional let downs aside, the battle level of the Blueshirts is what is making this season tolerable to watch despite seeing the team continually crushed by injuries.

The guys were outhit and outclassed for most of the night but they still escaped Atlanta with a big two points. They keep grounding out wins on the road and staying in the playoff picture despite watching their guys falling like flies.

Notes:

*A get well soon goes out to Brandon Prust. X-rays on his foot were negative but he is so battered that the All Star break can't come quick enough. Sadly the same can be said for half the roster right about now.

*As per always, Sean Avery was making things happen. Avery was all over the ice, forechecking and backchecking and being a nuisance (giggled at the facewash Byfuglien gave him). That being said, he has just one goal in his last 42 games and no assists in 15 of his last 16 games. Love Avery (as you guys know) but he has to add some production. Perhaps he will find it if Torts ever settles on (and sticks with) two linemates for him.

*It was nice of Andrew Ladd to stop fighting after making Dan Girardi's head bleed for super fan number five. Girardi wasted much of his punches on Ladd's helmet and then ended up on the worse end at the end. It was an unnecessary tussle after a clean hit but a tussle that is understandable when you consider the flak Girardi took for watching Gaborik fight Carcillo - you have to stand up for the stars and Staal is a star.

*With Girardi out after the fight, Sauer and McDonagh seriously stepped up their games. After being a proponent of Sauer for so many years it has been a true delight to see him becoming a bonafide NHL blueliner. And McD is continuing to get better and better; who knows just how far he can go? Just to finish off the defense, Eminger seems to still be recovering his game now that Rozy is gone while Hobey Gilroy had a quiet but solid game.

*The Ranger power play was all-too-quiet, as it has been all season. An option that Tortorella should explore is using the little viking as the primary power play quarterback. Gaborik was used in that spot during the 5-on-3 and he clearly is not cut out for it. Gabby's best weapon is his quick-release wrister and he can't use it sitting out at the blueline. Torts might be afraid that he would be overwhelmed but his speed should be enough to sneak through the pressure. The kid can stickhandle, the kid can pass, the kid can shoot and he can see the ice well. His nifty little feed to Boyle nearly got the big man a goal off the rush - the best chance the Rangers had during the two-man advantage.

*The refs missed at least three penalties committed on the Rangers. Sure two were not called because they were on Avery but how Gabby could have his stick slashed out of his hands with no whistle blown was inexcusable.

*Also inexcusable is the continued employment of Joe Micheletti. ShutUpShutUpShutUpShutUpShutUpShutUpPleaseGodMakeHimShutUp. It is a nightly rant around these parts but every time you think he can't get worse he does. An analyst is supposed to give insight and compliment the play-by-play guy. Joe does neither.

*From one 'favourite' target to another: if Chris Drury was just a little more physical then it would be interesting to entertain the thought of banishing him to the blueline but as he plays now he simply needs to be banished. The captain is nothing less than a liability in the offensive zone, a lamb wandering into a wolf's den. The defenders give him no quarter because they know he is no threat - they simply pounce and take the puck. In the second period Drury skated into the Thrasher end, was quickly overwhelmed, had his halfhearted shot blocked and watched as Atlanta went back the other way and scored. And Dru took all of five faceoffs over the course of the evening; he won three but the two he lost were both in the defensive zone. Kris Newbury has shown he is more than capable of doing what Dru does whole adding a physical element ... and he does it for far, far, far, far, far less money.

*Surprise, surprise, I found Arty Anisimov was disappointing as well. Arty seemingly lost every faceoff he took, he took a poor penalty and for all of the chances he got around the Atlanta net, he didn't come close to scoring. More muscle and more confidence would change all of that.

*After his impressive debut in Carolina, I expected Chad Kolarik to have a better game.

*Brodie Dupont finally made his NHL debut but he only played five minutes and was largely invisible. I'm hoping he sticks until at least Tuesday so I can get a better look.

*Notes;
3-Brian Boyle - one goal.
2-Nik Antropov - one goal.
1-Mats Zuccarello - shootout goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Sauer - Nearly 27 minutes of ice time, nearly five of which were shorthanded. He edged out Tobias Enstrom in my opinion purely because he was not cast in the role he succeeded in this evening.
2-Ondrej Pavelec - Pavelec made 29 saves and came an inch away from stopping Boyle too (the puck clipped his glove). This kid has some serious skill and hopefully for Atlanta he won't fall apart like Kari Lehtonen did.
1-Hank - Sure the King only made 20 saves but he couldn't be faulted for either of the goals against - and he came through in the shootout yet again. While more and more Rangers are going down with injury, Hank has been the crutch holding the team up while the replacements get used to their roles.

27-19-3: Sad Loss Down South

The Blueshirts were battered by the Hurricanes on Thursday night 4-1. At some point people are going to start hanging every loss on the rash of injuries but the fact is that the Rangers actually had a chance to win this one, or at least make it far more of the game it became.

The difference was tactical, as Tortorella's decision to start Hank for a second straight night backfired. After all of that talk about saving Lundqvist for the games that matter, Torts went with the King against the loser Leafs. When he made that call, he had to back it up by using the backup against the more important Carolina team ... but he didn't. Instead Hank was back in the crease and the goaltender gave up the all-important first goal, one that was simply soft. The Rangers had had the energy and the momentum and it all drained out as the puck trickled through his legs. Zook had a good chance six, seven minutes later but the full-team pressure that the Rangers had put on Ward was gone.

And, of course, not too much time passed before Mike Sauer got called for a bad penalty. And, of course, the usually-diligent Ranger PK went into a diamond that was sliced in half by the laser of Uh Oh Corvo. Sure the shot was tipped but it shouldn't have gotten to the slot - Boyle gave him too much room and too much time. Conn Smythe winner Ward was able to calm things down and hold the Blueshirts at bay, showing that he is still one of the best in the business. Hank is too, but he was lulled into complacency by the pop-gun attack of the Leafs the night before.

Hopefully this was a wake-up call for the King as the Southeastern swing continues with games in Atlanta (Saturday) and Washington (Monday).

Notes:

*How can you not love Brandon Prust? Seriously? Bad shoulder and all, the guy refuses to relent. He blew an early breakaway but kept on battling. He fought Jay Harrison and too a few good shots before turning the tables. And then he nearly lost the puck in traffic but kept with it and scored in the third period ... what more can you want from a guy? Heart and soul. With Cally, Dubi and Prospal all out, it would be great if Prust was rewarded with an A - even if it is temporary.

*From a guy deserves a letter to one who doesn't: nice of Chris Drury to contribute nothing, again. He has to took around and see that he is skating alongside Dale Weise and Kris Newbury - a far cry from Hejduk, Forsberg, Briere, Vanek, etc. Wouldn't that motivate him to be better?

*Marian Gaborik scores four goals against the hapless Leafs and yet doesn't even manage four SHOTS in this one. I said it yesterday, "the guy shows up when there is a dog to kick but when a real opponent comes around this season he has been the dog."

*Nice fight by Newbury. One day after making Sloppy Seconds look stupid Newbury engaged in a good battle with former Duck Ryan Carter. I knew I remembered his name from somewhere - Carter was beaten up by Ryan Hollweg at the Garden a few years back. Newbury, by the way, won eight of 10 faceoffs. Not too shabby.

*Derek Stepan needs to find his consistency. His skill level is unquestioned but some mental mistakes are sneaking through, as one did tonight on Skinner's goal. Step hasn't quite hit the College-Kid Wall but he is showing signs - hopefully the All Star break will do him well.

*So Sean Avery slashes Erik Cole and is penalized. Cole slashes Avery and is not penalized. Cole chases down Avery and both are equally penalized even though Cole initiated the contact. And the officials step in to break up what could have been a good fight. Ok then, that makes sense, right?

*Hopefully that same break won't break the momentum that Zuccarello has built up. The little man is playing big and getting in good spots to score. At some point more of those great chances will go in and when they do ... look out. Torts will want to re-unite Cally with Arty but with Dubi out, perhaps Zook could be a good fit with them.

*While I am still sad we didn't get to see Brodie Dupont make his debut, Chad Kolarik fared well in his first foray in a Blueshirt. He made some mistakes and seemed to struggle with the pace once or twice but he does have good offensive instincts.

*What the hell is that Tarzan cry that they kept playing in Carolina? Ugh.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Cam Ward - 39 saves.
2-Jeff Skinner - one goal and one assist.
1-Chad LaRose - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Prust - It is becoming cliche but In Prust We Trust. If there is one blue collar Blueshirt who this city could/should be proud of, it is Prust.
2-Skinner - MSG may love to get a laugh out of the kid's figure skating background but it is the former (Kitchener) Ranger who will have the last laugh. With Logan Couture's injury issues many may Believe in Bob for the Calder but my money is on this Carolina kid.
1-Ward - Is it the fact that he plays in Carolina that keeps him out of most people's minds when they name the top goaltenders in the league? I myself have left him out of the conversation in the past but certainly won't do it again ...

27-18-3: Yawn

The Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-0 on Wednesday night and if you are looking for a glowing, joyful review ... look elsewhere.

You've been warned.

The game was a boring beating of a dead horse. Toronto was completely lifeless and laid there as the Rangers piled on goal after goal. This was like the snow-day victory over the Islanders, it was a firm trouncing of a team that had no right being on the same ice as them.

Yes, these are the games that you are supposed to win and it was nice to come through. But beyond the two points the victory was completely unfulfilling and proved absolutely nothing. Let's see them have a strong showing against a real NHL team, or at least one that is capable of playing the AHL because the Leafs would have even lost to a SPHL side on this night. Atrocious; any Toronto fans out there have my sympathies. Let's just hope that the Rangers have something left in the tank for tomorrow night's game as the Canes will be one of the teams fighting them for a playoff spot notsofar down the road.

Notes:

*For all who are still delirious over Marian Gaborik's five point night, please keep in mind that he had hat tricks against Edmonton and the Islanders - the guy shows up when there is a dog to kick but when a real opponent comes around this season he has been the dog. I would rather see him score once in any of the close losses where were were desperate for a goal than see him put up four (and assist on another) against a bunch of bums like the Buds. That being said, his first goal featured some sexy stickhandling, wow. But, again, 10 of his 15 goals have come in three of his 34 games.

*Speaking of bums, Chris Drury. Over 20 minutes of nothingness. The only thing that makes his performance almost acceptable was the disastrous showing by Toronto captain Sloppy Seconds; we may not have the worst captain in the league but Drury is certainly in the conversation. Nice breakaway idiot. Why couldn't Drury get injured instead of Ruslan Fedotenko? Dru adds nothing to the lineup on the ice anymore - he is even a shadow of the fourth liner that he was in Vancouver 11 months ago, much less the star he was on the Sabres (and in Little League!).

*Very tough to lose Fedotenko with a separated shoulder; damn you West Islip waste of skates Mike Komisarek. Feds has been the perfect foot soldier this season and to see him go down was painful. Hopefully, as with Frolov, the Hartford replacement will be able to do the job (if not do even better). Finding someone to step up and fill Dubinsky's skates ... well, that will be far more difficult. A lot can happen in a month.

*When Colton Orr first came to NY I hated him. He was a slow, one-dimensional goon. Then Tom Renney worked some magic and turned Orr into a valuable defensive player, someone who I and most others loved to watch. It appears that Renney's pixie dust has worn off. Orr is back to being a goon and seems to have taken it a step forward and become a clown too. Sad.

*Really kinda curious as to why Dale Weise fought (and got his ass kicked by) Luke Schenn. Nothing positive could have come out of it and, if not for the injuries ravaging the locker room, Weise would have been banished to the minors long ago. It is a shame, he had potential to be more than a goon but he has fallen into the roll and simply is not good at it.

*There was another bout in this one, with Newbury "fighting" Sloppy Seconds. Credit to the little man for getting the jersey over Elishe's boyfriend's head. Just sad to see the refs immediately break it up before Newbury could add injury to Phaneuf's embarrassment.

*Sometimes you forget just how fast Sean Avery is but he showed off some stellar wheels tonight and, for once, managed to keep his new linemates on side. What are the odds that Avery sticks with Anisimov and Gaborik? I would say slim and none.

*Arty really didn't deserve two of his four assists but, hey, everyone acknowledges that the official scorer in NY is a nice guy. And, to be honest, his other two assists were perfect feeds. It is amazing how good he can be when no one is hitting him and he doesn't have to actually work for space.

*A friend tried throwing his hat after Gabby's third goal only to watch it fall short and have a teenager sitting a few rows from the ice pick it up and put it on his head. That is just wrong, and gross.

*The Blueshirts spent plenty of time late being cute with their passes and it gave the Leafs some life. Sure, the game was well out of hand by then and only a high stick could strike a puck past Hank but being cute is a bad habit for our boys and one that hopefully won't carry on to Carolina.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 22 saves.
2-Artem Anisimov - four assists.
1-Marian Gaborik - four goals and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Ron Wilson - The Maple Leafs coach's composure was astounding. If I was him I would have ripped off my tie, thrown it onto the ice and walked out before the end of the second period. And just think that if he had prepared his team to play, they could have capitalized on that power play thee minutes into the first and made it an entirely different game.
2-Ryan McDonagh - Sure the Leafs were limp but the kid played his most minutes to date in the NHL and played his best hockey to date. Toronto couldn't get second or third chances as McD was well positioned to make plays.
1-Gaborik - Nice to see that he is still indeed on the team but let's see him do something when he is actually needed before saluting the Slovak.

True Blue Subscriber Night

The Rangers held a fan forum for season subscribers tonight inside the Manhattan Center. It was the same space that held last year's Lifer Forum and the team kept the same formula this time around. Parade the Rangers in, have the team banter with a moderator, then open the floor to questions from fans.

Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist and Brian Boyle were on the panel last year and were joined tonight by Vinny Prospal, Brandon Prust and Ryan McDonagh. Some randomness to come out of all of the talking:

*The biggest thing to come out from the players was Vinny Prospal's admission that all is not well with his rehab. Prospal said that he has been testing it and was skating "on one leg." The one thing pushing him is his promise to his son that he will play again but certainly he did not seem optimistic.

*Prospal is so tan from spending all summer playing tennis outdoors. Hank is tan because he spent the off time during the recent Florida trip out by the pool.

*Hank overdressed with a sharp, skin-tight suit while Prust underdressed and was given a bit of grief for it.

*The guys have good chemistry and there was a bit of fun banter to be had. McDonagh, however, did the smart rookie thing and kept his mouth shut. Kinda felt bad for him because he was barely acknowledged after his initial q&a with Al.

*McDonagh admitted that he is not a big television guy and he prefers to read while Cally admitted that he has a passion for reality TV - specifically Toddlers & Tiaras and Jersey Shore.

*As ridiculous as that was, Cally came across as the captain. I'm not sure how to phrase it any other way - he had a certainty to the way he was talking and the way he spoke to the other guys that just seemed to me to show leadership.

*Brian Boyle's nickname is Boiler. And the guys acknowledged that hockey nicknames are not particularly inventive nowadays.

*As I tweeted, many of the fan-asked questions were dumb beyond redemption; the players must have walked away thinking that we are all idiots. Many people actually didn't ask questions, choosing instead to rant or talk about themselves.

*One poor woman, who may have had some kind of mental disability, went on and on about gifts she sent to the guys. It was heart-felt but rambling and she was cat-called by another member of the audience.

*Hank said that he goes through 120 sticks a year, and that he may not throw his sticks into the crowd anymore during the three stars as it ignites fights in the crowd (and some brass said that he shouldn't). The fact that he had the three-game point streak was brought up and Hank said he called several friends to taunt them.

*Scott Lasky was the MC and he was horrid. The guy is corporate vanilla awfulness. He tried to claim an life-long fandom of the team, saying that he was a Ranger fan who used to get beat up during the years that the "boys on the bus of Bossy, Potvin Trottier" were going on. Sorry pal, the Boys on the Bus were the Oilers, not the Islanders.

*For as good as Al was, he didn't do his homework ahead of time and said that Prust was a Western Canada guy when, in fact, the Ranger hails from London, Ontario. Whoops.

*People asked if the team was going to play in the next Winter Classic and, of course, the guys didn't know but would like to. They also have no problem with starting next season overseas as Callahan said that the last time it was a good experience and it brought the boys together.

*And everyone hates Sidney Crosby.

All told it was a nice evening but, of course, you left wanting more. There were no autographs, no photos and only a lucky few received prizes. But, considering the large amount of diehard Ranger fans, those 1,000 or so in attendance were the lucky few to even get to go so we should be thankful.

26-18-3: Phailure

Just four days ago the Rangers took on the best team in the Western Conference and beat them in a thrilling game at the Garden. Tonight the Rangers took on the best team in the Eastern Conference and lost in a 3-2 game that was not nearly as close as the score indicated. It was a result that nearly mirrored that of the loss on Saturday night in Montreal: slow legs led to dumb penalties led to big deficit early, before a late press made it look respectable.

It was not respectable.

It was a failure by coach to get the team ready to play at puck drop. It was a failure by the captain to lead his teammates. It was a failure by the star scorer to do much of anything. Worst of all, it was a failure of the team to live by the Code. Losing to the best team in the conference is unfortunate but acceptable. Failing to live by the Code of the sport during that second period fracas is not.

The video is here, and you can see not one but two infractions. First Kris Newbury had the nerve to jump Matt Walker from behind, then Sean Avery doing his pathetic, unfortunate extra punches on a prone opponent. Newbury should never be allowed to wear a Blueshirt again, while Avery's routine is sure to come back to him - perhaps soon as Sloppy Seconds comes to town on Wednesday. It is easy to be an apologist for Avery as he adds so much to the team but at some point enough is enough and seeing him punching softie Matt Carle as he is pulling his best Claude Lemieux impression by turtling on the ice is enough. If it was Darcy Tucker that would be one thing, pacifist Matt Carle is another.

Notes:

*As with the Fedotenko/Boyle/Prust line, Tortorella's overuse of Staal and Girardi could very well cost the team in the long run. Torts is leaning hard on these guys and the extra ice time is clearly wearing them down. There is no reason for Staal to play 28 minutes in a regular season game that is not that important. Ryan McDonagh, who Torts didn't trust enough to take some of that time, managed to be +2 in the loss.

*Three of the six goals that were scored against the Rangers in the last two games were directly Chris Drury's fault. As he did twice in Montreal, Dru was unable to cover his man and his man set up a goal. Dru dropped down low to slash a Flyer from behind, leaving Carle open at the point to take a shot that Jeff Carter tipped. Drury took just seven faceoffs - winning four of them - and missed two of the three shots he attempted. He isn't playing defensive hockey well, he isn't playing offensive hockey well, he isn't leading the team on the ice or the bench ... Someone should tell him that there is no shame in giving up the Captaincy for the good of the team - hell, a good captain should know that. Rod Brind'Amour did it in Carolina, Drury should do it here. And then it would be classy of him to pull a Naslund and simply go away (retire) but he is just 34 years old so the odds of that are slim.

*Sure Derek Stepan was the one stripped of the puck but Marty Biron should shoulder full responsibility for the game-winning goal. The entire building knew that Giroux was going to pass on the two-on-one and yet Biron somehow wasn't able to get across his crease to stop Mike Richards' shot.

*Gaborik, well, he was benched for a portion of the game, something that has been a long time coming. As said here several times, Gabby never really returned from injury so perhaps the upcoming All-Star break will give him the time to re-find his form. By my count, the Ranger power play is 2-28 this year (nine games) and that largely the Slovak's fault.

*It was nice to see the Rangers show up for the third period for the second straight night but, let's face it, both the Habs and the Flyers took their feet off the gas. It is hard to be heartened at the Ranger effort when the opponent is not bothering to play their best.

*When the Flyers were playing their best they really looked like a team that will contend for the Cup. Ugh.

*How stupid were those part-time, weekend Ranger fans? The Garden had several "Flyers Suck!" chants in the third period ... while the Flyers were winning. If they suck, what do the Rangers do?

*And I'm pretty sure it was a hockey game, so why the hell would the Garden staff feel the need to announce how a football team is doing? And a New Jersey team to boot. Listen, if people really cared about that, they should have gone to the damned game. We can't get decent replays of what happens on the ice but we can get highlights of some bullshit football game. Ridiculous.

*The Rangers took three hooking penalties over the course of the evening, showing that the team simply couldn't skate with the Flyers. If they could, or if they were smart enough to be positioned well enough not to have to, they wouldn't be forced to lay the lumber like that.

*The Rangers had trouble holding the offensive zone blue line and easily gave away the defensive zone blue line. We are rebuilding with youth so we have to forgive their mistakes but Hobey Gilroy being unable to keep the puck in the Flyer end three times was just ridiculous. And the Blueshirts never made Philly earn their way into the Ranger end. The Flyers cruised through the neutral zone and over the blueline with ease, which is not good. Not good at all.

*I'm still not sure how Meszaros' mugging of Arty Anisimov was just a hook and not a penalty shot.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Matt Carle - two assists.
2-Derek Stepan - one goal and one assist.
1-Ville Leino - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Brian Boucher - Sure Boucher pulled a Leighton and allowed a horrid low short-side shot to beat him but Boosh made 34 saves on the night and was all that kept the Rangers from equalizing as the skaters in front of him slowed in the final period.
2-Mike Richards - Imagine that, the captain of the team contributing in a big way.
1-Kimmo Timonen - Amazing how quietly he goes about his business - kinda like Teppo Numminen did so maybe it is a Finnish thing. Timo played 25:24, five minutes of PP, four of PK. He blocked five shots, had two takeaways, three hits and took three shots (one that went on net).

26-17-3: All Hail King Henrik

In general, the Rangers have struggled in Montreal for 84 years so the 3-2 loss on Saturday night was no surprise. The fact that the Blueshirts came out flat is no surprise. The facts that they took bad penalties, had a terrible power play and rallied late to make it interesting are all not surprising. All are par for the course this season.

What stands out in this one was a moment in the second period. Henrik Lundqvist was completely under siege throughout the frame, playing some of the best hockey he has to date. Brandon Dubinsky - who played some of his worst hockey to date - was a step behind Max Pacioretty and shoved the Canadien forward into Henrik. Pacioretty was headed for the crease anyway, he was just helped along, and he bumped into the Ranger goaltender. Now this wasn't the biggest hit Hank has taken this season (that 'honour' probably is still Dion Phaneuf's) but Hank took exception and pounced on Pacioretty. He managed to fire off a big right before Gionta jumped on his back like a spider monkey. The video of it is here.

After watching his teammates seemingly suffer from strip club hangovers, Hank was mad as hell and he wasn't going to take it any more. He snapped. And all of a sudden the Rangers started skating. They started hitting and they got back into the game. It proved to be too little too late to win this battle but it should help the team win the war.

Some notes:

*The only Ranger aside from Hank to play all three periods was Sean Avery. If only Tortorella would give Avery some consistent linemates he can really make something happen. For all of the notorious antics (which are overblown if you ask me), Avery can skate as fast as anyone, he has a good pair of hands and has good instincts. Let him get a little consistency and see what happens...

*The addition of Wolski was a good one but tonight you saw just how easily it is for him to disappear. With Gaborik already on a milk carton, Tortorella needs to ensure the Polish kid stays involved.

*How sad is it that the Rangers drew a power play in the last minute of the game and you just knew that there was no chance that they would score? Why Gaborik was playing as the quarterback is beyond me.

*Having Friday off from practice clearly helped Prust/Feds/Boyle and they accounted for the first Ranger goal, with Boyle putting it in. But if only the big BC man was a better player he would have had another three. He had so many chances! Why can't anyone else work themselves into those scoring spots?

*Mats Zuccarello snuck into one in the third period and was able to score. Without a Hab draped on his back, MZA was able to bang home his own rebound to bring the boys in Blue back within one. His ice time was limited in the second period, showing that Tortorella is not quite confident in the Norwegian's play without the puck. But he is clearly making gains in that aspect of his game and it will be hard to pry him out of the lineup the rest of this season.

*Kris Newbury had a decent debut. He "fought" Travis Moen, jumping the former Duck and swinging around before falling. Newbury did some good things in the third period but having Dale Weise's big body around could perhaps have turned things around earlier.

*Matt Gilroy keeps improving, which is great to see. You have to wonder if it is born of a legitimate drive to improve or just his interest to earn another big money contract this summer. But, either way, it is helping the Rangers right now.

*Can MexiCan't Scott Gomez be any more classless? His childish berating of John Giannone during their intermission interview was completely unprofessional and unwarranted.

*Can Chris Drury be any more useless?

*Why does Joe Micheletti insist on pointing out the blatantly obvious?

*Will someone give Arty Anisimov a cheeseburger?

*Final note of the night before the stars: as you surely saw, the Flyers practiced on Saturday in Central Park. They followed in the footsteps of the Ottawa Senators, who did it last season. Two teams hold public practices in New York City and neither are the team that calls the city home. That is ridiculous and unfair and oh so typically Dolan. He keeps the players in their Westchester country club, likely because he sees no money to be made in having them practice out in the open. It is ridiculously near-sighted as a public practice would allow kids to get to see the Rangers up close and help build fans for life - you know, so later on when they have money they might actually spend it on the team.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Andrei Kostitsyn - one goal.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 38 saves.
1-James Wisniewski - two assists.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-PK Subban - As @livestrongray tweeted, "you can't spell punk without P and K." The arrogant little defenseman knew he had a target on his back and he played it up, distracting the Rangers and getting them to be undisciplined.
2-Roman Hamrlik - The first overall draft pick in 1992 never lived up to the superstar billing but has been a rock for the Habs. They lose Andrei Markov and Hamrlik has picked up the slack. Sure BJ Wisniewski has stepped in and helped out but Hamrlik plays big, tough minutes and makes few mistakes.
1-Hank - What can you say? The man is the King.