Peepin' Playoff Foes: Ottawa Senators

So it has been quite a while since I peeped a foe but what the hell, the playoffs are here so what better time to get back on the horse?

Series Schedule:
Game 1 - at MSG, 7 pm, on MSG Network or the NHL Network
Game 2 - at MSG, 7 pm, on MSG Network or the NHL Network
Game 3 - at Scotiabank, 7:30 pm, on MSG Network or CNBC
Game 4 - at Scotiabank, 7:30 pm, on MSG Network or CNBC
Game 5 - at MSG, 7 pm, on MSG Network or NBC Sports
Game 6 - at Scotiabank, TBD, on MSG Network
Game 7 - at MSG, TBD, on MSG Network

Where We Finished: The Rangers closed the regular season atop the Eastern Conference with a 51-24-7 record, despite losing three of four at the end. They fell two points short of the albatross that is the President's Trophy (*whew*).

Where They Finished: The Senators similarly stumbled to the finish. Ottawa lost their three final games to make the race for the final few playoff positions interesting. They closed with the same 92 points that Washington had but ceded seventh on the tiebreaker - regulation wins; they had one less than the Caps for a 41-31-10 record. For a good recap and report card of the Senators' regular season, take a look at Eye On The Sens.

What Happened In Playoffs Past: Wonderful Wikipedia tells us that in 1930 the "Senators faced off against the New York Rangers in a two-game total-goals series. In the last NHL playoff game in Ottawa until 1996, the Senators tied the Rangers 1–1 on March 28, 1930, but lost game two in New York 5–1 to lose the series 6 goals to 2."

What Happened This Season: The Rangers went 1-2-1 against the Sens. The first matchup proved to be the end of the stumble out of the gates for the Blueshirts. At the end of October they blew a 2-1 lead to lose 5-4 in a shootout to the Sens, the catalyst for a 7-0 Ranger run. The second meeting was within that run, a 3-2 victory. The remaining two games between the teams were both ugly. First there was a lifeless 3-0 loss in mid-January and a 4-1 atrocity last month.

Who To Watch For:
*Daniel Alfredsson is no stranger to his fellow Swede Henrik Lundqvist and, understandably, has 56 points in 57 career games against the Rangers.
*As he has matured Jason Spezza has raised his game to that of one of the NHL's elite centers has somehow done it for the Senators despite their trials and tribulations since the lockout. And, of course, Spezza has four goals and two assists in the four games vs. the Blueshirts this season.
*Erik Karlsson is a far, far better version of Del Zaster. Karlsson - a Norris candidate to be sure - has incredible offensive instincts and great wheels. He used to be horrid in his own end but has made strides in that area this season.
*Sniper Milan Michalek has four goals and one assist in four games against the Blueshirts this year.
*Nick Foligno might as well be a clone of his dad Mike the way he does all of the gritty little things.
*Chris Neil has proving that he not just a neanderthal, he had 13 goals this season - the second highest total of his 10 season career.

Tough Stuff: It is an arbitrary stat but the Rangers won the hit battle 129-105 this season. Matt Carkner, the man who's punch sent Boogaard on his death spiral, has just four fights this season but one of them was against our Stu Bickel when both were in the AHL. There were four fights during the four games between the two teams: Sean Avery fought out of his weight class against Zenon Konopka, Andre Deveaux soundly defeated Jared Cowan, Pruster battled Konopka and Zack Smith. Mike Rupp played in two of the four games and had seven minutes of ice time and two hits in each.

Random Stats and Stuff:
*While having a solid 2.05 gaa and .931 save %, Hank has a career record of 11-12-2 against Ottawa.
*In 2006-07 Erik Karlsson had 10 points in 10 games for the Södertälje junior team - his teammate and the leading scorer? Carl Hagelin. Bork!
*Brad Richard$ is -5 this season against the Sens, his worst +/- against any opponent; Marian Gabori is +3.
*Dan Girardi played more than 26 minutes in three of the four games.
*Sergei Gonchar played for the Penguins when they defeated the Rangers in the second round back in 2008; he had three assists in that five-game series.
*In 2007 I wanted to trade Scott Gomez for Jason Spezza.
*Erik Condra has eight goals this season but just one in his last 42 games.
*The Rangers have out-blocked the Senators 64-41 this season.
*Ottawa drafted Karlsson five spots before the Rangers took Del Zaster in 2008 and drafted Foligno seven picks after the Blueshirts took Bobby Sanguinetti in 2006. They also drafted Brian Lee - now on Tampa - three picks before the Rangers took Marc Staal in 2005.
*Due to Ottawa's poor attendance against American teams, the Sens moved a few home games to Atlantic City in '29-30 and they faced the Rangers there on December 28th, 1929. The Rangers won 3-1.
*When the Rangers were an expansion team in 1926, they went 0-3-1 against Ottawa. When the Senators were an expansion team in 1992, they went 0-3 against the Rangers.
*The Sens took goaltender Mark Laforest from the Rangers in the 1992 expansion draft.
*Some notable players who skated for both teams: Leo Bourgeault (won the Cup with the Rangers in '28, wore #99 late in his career), Norm Maciver, Joe Cirella, Marty Straka, Vinny Prospal, Alex Daigle, Karel Rachunek and, of course, Wade Redden.

Who To Troll On Twitter: The Sens themselves @NHL_Sens, Jason Spezza @JSpezza_19 (FAKE), Craig Anderson @CraigAnderson41, his backup Ben Bishop @benbishop30, Kyle Turris @kyleturris, Erik Condra @econdra, Jesse Winchester @jwinch18, Ottawa's mascot Spartacat, former player and current media hack Jason York @jasonyork33, Ottawa's NHL.com writer Erin Nicks @erinnicks and Ottawa Sun scribe Bruce Garrioch @sungarrioch.

Bad Guy Blogs: The Black Aces is a solid fan blog and then there are the MSM SenatorsExtra, Bloguin's 6th Sens, and SBN's Silver Seven.

51-24-7: Well That's Over

Perhaps resting some of their 'stars' would have been too obvious. Perhaps the Rangers felt afraid of facing Washington in the playoffs. Perhaps the Rangers believed that the President's Trophy is indeed an albatross. Whatever it was, the team rolled over and played dead on Saturday night, falling 4-1 to Washington.

The Rangers regular season ended not with a bang but with a whimper as the Blueshirts lost three of their final four games. But that little losing streak - as well as the rest of their results - is utterly meaningless as the real season starts up next week. There will be a big preview piece in this space in the next few days but for now, just a few Late Hits on this one:

*No one got injured. Yay.

*We got free tee shirts. Double yay.

*Hank did his best Marty Biron impression, choking up two inexcusable goals in the first 10 minutes. Not sure why Biron himself didn't start this one if the King wasn't even going to try.

*The power play went 0-4 but, let's face it, the man advantage unit has been incompetent more often than not this season so their ineptness was no shock.

*The Rangers did play a good five minutes in the third period but after getting back-to-back breakaways stopped by a minor league netminder they went right back to waiting for the final buzzer.

*Holtby followed in a long tradition of mediocre goaltenders that marched into MSG and left looking good after the Rangers inflated the shot total with attempt after attempt from the outside.

*Don't look now but Carl Hagelin ended the season without a goal in his final 12 games. Former college kids hit the wall after the while, it is just a sad fact. Stepan had just one goal in his last 11 last year. Keep that in mind while pleading for Chris Kreider to come after a full university campaign.

*Who says hockey players have no respect for each other anymore? Ryan Callahan had a perfect chance to put Nicklas Backstrom back on the IR with one firm punch to the face and he restrained himself. Our captain, all class.

*Boyle had the lone goal for the Blueshirts, a Frolov-ian wrap-around. It was his 10th goal of the season. Basically the Rangers paid him three times as much as he made last year to score half the amount of goals - $1.7m v. $525k, 10g v. 21g.

*Dubi got the secondary assist - his third straight game with a point. So that's a plus. He also finished the season with 10 goals, and he was paid $4.2m for it ...

*Nice giveaways Del Zaster.

*Yet another year and I didn't get Blueshirts off our Backs but, as my buddy said, "I don't want the Blueshirts off their back tonight. Whatever they have might be contagious."

*Didn't see Mike Sauer out there for the 'ceremony.' Pray the Rangers aren't ostracizing him the way they did Boogaard ...

*Priceless moment: the Rangers showed Pat Lafontaine during a tv break, a wonderful slap in the face to the Islanders in the wake of the WSJ article. Love, love, love when the Isles look awful - and they make it so easy too!

*PHW Three Stars
3-Roman Hamrlik - two assists.
2-Nicklas Backstrom - one goal and one assist.
1-Braden Holtby - 35 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-None tonight, not when one team played and the other did not.
2-
1-

51-23-7: It's All About Torts

The Rangers continued to play out the regular season string, taking on Pittsburgh in the penultimate match before the playoffs on Thursday. It was an ugly affair as the Blueshirts put forth a less-than-par effort and the Pens played to win. And win they did, 5-2.

The circumstance of the game meant that the result was largely meaningless - the Rangers had little to play for so win or lose, whatever. There is no posterity in the President's Trophy, in fact that piece of hardware has been an albatross in recent years: five of the last six winners came up short in the end. No one remembers or cares about the regular season winner, we treasure the guys who get etched into history upon Stanley's Cup.

So the biggest item of note came from the fallout of a missed hit late in the third period. Brooks Orpik tried to line up Derek Stepan for an open-ice check, Stepan tried to juke out of the way and their knees knocked. It was a far cry from Bryan Marchment's many attempts to injure. But it provided John Tortorella the perfect opportunity to make himself the story and the egomaniacal blowhard did just that, ranting at the Pens postgame.

Those who hold the coach in higher regard than I may see it as a masterstroke - Torts made himself the story, deflecting media focus from the embarrassing loss itself, the sieve of a goaltender he started, the unacceptable performance of many of his players ... but my opinion was that the hit just gave Torts the opportunity to grandstand yet again and he took it.

Did Torts say anything that us fans haven't been claiming about the Pens for years? No. But all of Torts' sound and fury signifies nothing when the coach doesn't back it up. If he was so upset why didn't he send out someone to exact revenge? His sense of honour? Ha, we know that's a joke - the guy has rarely taken the honourable road. Because Torts didn't want to risk any of his players? Mike Rupp has contributed less than nothing for months and the revenge would be worth far more than the cost of a minor suspension to him. Because Torts didn't want to risk the points? Ha. His sleepwalking team was down three goals with four and a half minutes to go against a side that was playing for something (home ice vs. the Flyers).

So instead addressing the issues with his own team or attempting to exact vengeance, Torts made himself the center of attention yet again and gave the Pens bulletin board material for their playoff run. Stellar work coach.

Late Hits:

*It does need to be noticed just how cheap and dirty both Crosby and Malkin are when they don't have the puck. Saw several late hits on the numbers and stick jabs by both of them. Want to send a message coach? Don't swear in the media, give no quarter - tell your guys not to take sh-t from anyone.

*The only player who didn't was Ryan Callahan, who was by far the most involved of the Rangers (as per usual). The captain doesn't have a dimmer - he is all-in, all the time. It is wonderful to watch but a bit nerve racking when you realize how he puts himself in the line of fire and can be injured at any time, even in a meaningless game.

*The best thing to come out of the evening was the rest that Henrik received. His wrist got to relax and he got to see just how important he is to his team's success. The moronic Pittsburgh fans chanted MVP for Malkin when the Russian was left alone and scored an easy goal on a backup goaltender. Big deal. #Hank4Hart

*Of course, Hank's night off meant that Marty Biron had to play and the former Islander proved incapable of giving the Rangers a chance to win. Biron put his team behind the eight ball yet again - he has allowed the first goal of the game in 10 of his 20 starts, and 16 of the 50 goals he gave up this season came in the first 10 minutes of the opening period; someone doesn't come ready to play. And even after the 10 minute mark Biron was jumpy and unsettled. Both the Kennedy and Park goals completely fell upon his shoulders and they were the ones that ultimately decided the game.

*Stu Bickel was stapled to the bench for 20 minutes after the Kennedy goal, because it was he who kicked the puck right to the Penguin's stick. Right? Stu was not responsible for the bad rebound but Tortorella's selective accountability struck again and the big defender had to sit. None of the other defensemen missed a shift for any of their faux pas.

*The Ranger power play went just 1-6 over 11:52 of man advantage time, including 47 seconds of 5-on-3. They were handily kept to the outside for the majority of the time and the one time they crashed the crease they scored.

*Del Zaster saw 7:20 of power play time and contributed nothing. All night long he took himself out of position looking for backdoor goals and the one chance he got he blew, shooting the puck right at the logo on Fleury's chest.

*If the team was indeed attempting to win, how was it that Brad Richard$ saw less playing time than Dubi, Arty and Step?

*Nice to see Dubi score, one can only hope that it will spark him towards getting his game back together. An involved Dubinsky is a powerful player.

*John Mitchell has not scored in 33 games and has just one assist in his last 12. He also has all of eight penalty minutes in 62 games. Wait a second, John Mitchell has played 62 NHL games this season?

*The Whale were off, why not call someone up to give one of the stars a breather? Why not dress John Scott and/or Jeff Woywitka?

*Whatever, one more meaningless game remaining before things get real. It will be interesting to see what kind of effort we see on Saturday.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Kris Letang - one goal and one assist.
2-Chris Kunitz - one goal and one assist.
1-Evgeni Malkin - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Kunitz - Every now and then you see just how good Kunitz can be.
2-Jordan Staal - A consistent, two-way player who was involved all night and put up a pair of primary assists.
1-Henrik Lundqvist - No injuries.

51-22-7: You Can't Beat Us!!!!

Let's just get this out of the way - with their 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday the Rangers clinched first place in the Eastern Conference.

Yippee and woo hoo. Home ice and all that. Great. Hopefully that proves to mean something two months from now. What is meaningful at the moment is that one of the most heated Ranger rivalries was completely and utterly owned by the Blueshirts this season. Six games against Philadelphia. Six wins. Suck on that you savages. WE. EAT. YOUR. CHEESESTEAK! WE EAT IT UP!

Tee hee.

Late Hits:

*All gloating aside, this game proved that the Rangers don't have that killer instinct in them. Up 4-0 they took their feet off the gas, took stupid penalties and allowed the Flyers to make things interesting. Sure some of the officiating was dubious ... to say the least ... but sloppy play put them in the position to allow Philly to get things going.

*The team as a whole has drawn much criticism in this space and, if anything, this game showed the reason for much of it: there are times that the Rangers are capable of greatness. The forecheck can be ferocious. The power play can work. Marian Gaborik can snipe with the best of them. Brad Richard$ reads the ice like few others. Brian Boyle can use his size to gain room and score from the slot. Arty Anisimov can channel his skill and confidence to power through the opposition on his way to sexy goals. Del Zaster has it in him to play passable defense. These are all things that need to happen at the same time, all the time.

*Henrik Lundqvist - a few foul performances in recent weeks aside - has been the most consistent contributor to the Ranger success. And on this night he was pretty damned successful. Lundqvist made 37 saves, several of them of the extraordinary type. After opening the door for his Vezina competition, he surely shut it with this evening's simply outstanding performance. Point blank saves, falling-back last-ditch stick-throwing blocker saves ... and there are few things more enjoyable than his Statue of Liberty glove saves. Puck in hand, hand outwards and upwards, on fire (metaphorically) - the King of New York, holding his torch high.

*Guessing that everyone out there said some kind of prayer when Hank took a puck off his wrist and doubled over in pain. After the game he said he could hardly clutch his stick after the injury, which doesn't bode well but Biron is long past due to make an appearance anyway. Hopefully those prayers carry and it proves to be just a bruise and not a break.

*Speaking of bruises, there were a pair of fights and they were exact examples of what is good about fighting in hockey and what is bad about fighting in hockey. Zac Rinaldo wants to screw with the Rangers' top scorer, he will have to face the consequences - the left and right fists of Brandon Prust. Honor, the Code, hockey. Then when things get amped up Mike Rupp decides to dance with Jody Shelley in what was clearly an orchestrated exhibition of the lone skill each one possesses. It meant nothing and it should not be part of the game.

*Stuuu vs. Simmonds? I don't even know what that was.

*McD: one goal, one assist and literally one second of power play time. Del Zaster: no points and 6:20 of power play time. That makes sense.

*Pardon me Sam, please shut your partner up. Micheletti is just terrible, up there with Chico and Butch in the race for most awful analysts in the NHL.

*Hope those brave souls that went down to Philly got home safe. At least the ones that were smart enough not to provoke the savages in that city.

*I know Mike Richards is gone so he didn't have his regular dance partner but how/why was Brandon Dubinsky all but invisible in this one?

*Dubi provides quite a contrast to captain Callahan - it is astounding the different career trajectories that the two have had after starting together.

*The Whale can not catch the team ahead of them and they can't lose their playoff spot. The Rangers have used two of their four post-deadline callups with Zuke and Erixon, leaving two for the two remaining games of the regular season. With the top spot wrapped up, it might be nice to see if Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Ryan Bourque can handle NHL speed (while resting regulars like Richard$ and Gaborik).

*PHW Three Stars
3-Claude Giroux - three assists.
2-Henrik Lundqvist - 37 saves.
1-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Boyle - The big man won faceoffs, killed penalties and scored a goal.
2-Giroux - He's talented, that's for sure.
1-Hank - Simply stellar.

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.

49-21-7: The Last Of The Cupcakes

Mmmm cupcakes. Well, usually cupcakes are welcomed treats but the Rangers have often made a mess of them this season - not unlike a toddler taking on his/her first tasty cake, just not as adorable. The Blueshirts butcher theirs by playing down to the level of their sub-standard opponents. And, for large portions of Wednesday night's game in Winnipeg they did the same.

But Ryan Callahan wasn't about to let the two points go, and he did what he has done for much of the year - picked up his effort and shamed the team into following him. And they did. And they rallied from a 2-0 hole to defeat the Jets 4-2.

As per usual the Rangers consistency of effort and intensity was questionable and it nearly cost them. But things are about to get real and top teams won't let them off the hook as easily as Winnipeg did. The remaining five games will prove that - two Original Six rivals, two division rivals and one team that knocked them out of the playoffs the last two times the Rangers made it. Hopefully the Blueshirts enjoyed the mess they made, because if they don't clean things up they are going to be thrown out of the house playoffs quickly.

Late Hits:

*Hank had himself a solid game, 22 saves and he could hardly be blamed for the two shots that beat him. That being said, I still don't think he should have been starting - nearly had a heart attack when Kane crashed the crease late in the first period. Just have to hope that the momentum gained was worth the risk.

*Outside of seeing the Stanley Cup being raised by any team other than the Islanders, there is nothing in hockey that I enjoy watching as much as stellar shorthanded play. And the Rangers had that last night. The five-on-three work by Girardi, Boyle, Cally and Hank was something to behold. And Cally's effort to get Del Zaster the tap-in shorty a period later was wonderful. Sheer tenacity. Absolutely adored it.

*Brian Boyle continues to be one of the more frustrating talents in the NHL. How he can be so useless for so long then suddenly realize how valuable his size is is infuriating. The brief moments like last night show why he was drafted so high by Los Angeles and extending the moment will go a long way towards helping the Rangers make a real run at the Cup.

*Honestly had higher hopes for a more hostile crowd but the second the Rangers got things going Winnipeg got awfully quiet. And Evander Kane took after his audience - after a good, physical start he faded something fierce.

*The idea has been batted around quite a bit on Twitter and around the Garden: make Del Zaster a winger. His defense has not improved one iota since he came into the league and he is clearly more interested in joining the attack than in helping Hank out. He simply does not comprehend how to properly play his position. Erik Karlsson can get away with his defensive deficiencies not only because he is astounding on offense but he clearly has been working to improve his game in his own zone. DZ still makes the same mistakes he always has. He doesn't close gaps, he gets beaten wide, he doesn't know when to go to the ice, he doesn't hit for possession and he goes on wild, irresponsible rushes down the ice. Making him a winger would let him off the hook and allow him to concentrate on the aspects of the game he enjoys - carrying the puck, moving the puck, going backdoor to score slam dunk goals...

*The first Winnipeg goal was scored not only because Del Zaster's stick redirected the puck but because he didn't close on his man in the first place. Stu had the skater on the far side and DZ worried about the drop-pass, which was not his responsibility. He should know that by now but he doesn't. Spencer Machacek used the room to get off a shot and the ill-position DZ had it tip off his stick and go past Hank. Horrid.

*Initially I blamed DZ entirely for the second Jets goal but I partially retract that accusation. Watching it again it is clear he is just standing there screening Hank instead of hammering Byfuglien but the slipped coverage in the lost was John Mitchell's mistake. As written in this space, Mitchell has not been the same since Carl Hagelin was stripped from his side. Mitch has showed decent ability in all zones but he has also shown the lapses that left him in the AHL not too long ago.

*How did Blake Wheeler get so skilled so suddenly?

*Interesting how Brad RichardS can win 14 of 17 faceoffs and still manage to be invisible. Gabby at least stays involved in the plays while Richard$ sits on the outskirts.

*Snipe snipe. Snipe snipe snipey snipe. What a shot by Step.

*Solid bounce-back effort by Staal, essentially trading places with Stralman from the Minnesota game.

*Glass vs. Bickel. Why? Why Stu? Why? And he lost to a guy four inches and at least 10 pounds smaller. Ugh.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Evander Kane - one impressive dive.
2-Ryan Callahan - one goal and one assist.
1-Michael Del Zotto - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Girardi/McD - Not sure anyone would have picked them to be not just the top pairing on the team but one of the top pairings in the NHL.
2-Boyle - Lose a tooth, score a game-winning goal. Seems like a good exchange to me.
1-Cally - Still in his first season as captain Cally already ranks among the league's elite leaders with Toews, Doan and Iginla. Outstanding.

48-21-7: Nothing Wild About That Win

It would be easy to re-write the usual rant about the Rangers playing down to the level of their opponents. It would be easy to talk about how the man advantage is no advantage for the Rangers. It would be easy to attack a Ranger team that played grinding, boring hockey on their way to a grinding, boring 3-2 win over a bad Wild team.

Instead I'll rant at the fact that neither MSG nor the Rangers made any mention of Mike Sauer or Derek Boogaard. For all of the talk about the team being in Minnesota and all of the homecomings for the guys, both were ignored.

Sauer's serious concussion has kept him away from the ice and - guessing here because the team releases no information - will keep him away from it for a long, long time. But he is still a member of the franchise and it should have at least been mentioned by MSG (or by his teammates) that he is from St. Cloud, Minnesota. As we heard in the sad story of Boogaard, being away from the guys makes the injured player feel like he isn't a part of the team and adds to the depression they already feel. So certainly being ignored as being one of the Minnesota-born Rangers stung Sauer.

As for Boogaard, you just have to shake your head. The Rangers were partly culpable in the Boogeyman's demise and have done their best to sweep everything about his death under the rug. First they give it lip service in the home opener, then they decide not to wear patches this season but to put helmet stickers on - stickers that are almost impossible to see, even with HDTV. And when the team stepped into the XCel Center, they didn't do anything publicly to honour the man. Perhaps a player or two stopped by the memorial in the arena but as a team - nothing. I tweeted yesterday that a simple, classy gesture like sending the guys out in sweaters with Boogey's name and number would have gone a long way. But that would have been a salute to a player the team helped kill (with all of the prescriptions), and they couldn't have that. Sad.

The boys are back in action tomorrow so just a few Late Hits:

*Gabby's goal was sexy. Fedotenko's goal was not. But both were from the same basic play - get the puck deep along the wall and blindly fire it to the slot, (hopefully) to a cutting teammate. Richard$ won the faceoff and ended up making a beautiful pass to Gabby, who fired across his body to beat Harding. Feds forced the turnover, the puck swung all the way around the ice and Feds slid backwards out into the slot, where McDonagh's feed found him. Nice to see something that Torts has done has worked.

*Del Zaster played 7:10 of the eight minutes of power play time; the power play went 0-4.

*Hank made 24 saves and could hardly be faulted for the two goals against. It would nice to give him credit for a return to form but this was against Minnesota and they are terrible. Let's see what happens against a good team.

*It is really easy to forget how fast Dubi is when he is tied to ponderous linemates.

*Speaking of, Brian Boyle had one of his better games. Goal aside, things just seemed to work better for him - perhaps because the Wild aren't a quick team, or perhaps just because it was his night. As was observed to me, he may struggle quite often but he always tries his hardest - something several of his teammates does not do.

*Arty was all but invisible.

*Ryan Callahan is such a great captain. Just sayin'.

*Always brings a smile to see Jed Ortmeyer doing what he does in the NHL. Not the biggest guy, not the most skilled guy, but guts count and guts has given him a NHL career. Definitely glad Stu decided not to kill him in the third period.

*Anton Stralman returned and collected an assist on the Boyle goal thanks to his shot from the blueline. Nice to see him contribute, but would have been nicer to get Timmy Erixon more experience.

*Marc Staal played just 12:28. Huh?

*PHW Three Stars
3-Kyle Brodziak - one goal.
2-Marco Scandella - one assist.
1-Ryan McDonagh - two assists.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Harding - Nearly gave this star to Brodziak for his goal and his penalty killing but Harding was capable and hardly culpable for the goals against.
2-McDonagh - Mac's two assists helped offset the two Minnesota goals he was on for.
1-Boyle - The big man won faceoffs, fired the puck freely and skated away with a goal. Dubi deserves some recognition but he saw nearly three minutes of power play time so he can''t escape that ineptitude.

47-21-7: Well, We're Better Than Toronto

The Ranger team that was blown out by Buffalo 4-1 on Friday was the same one that defeated Toronto 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. The only difference was the ability of their opponent. All the mistakes, all of the errors in judgement, all of the lapses were still there - the Leafs simply weren't capable of taking advantage of all of them. And their goaltending is terrrrrrrible.

Heard the term "gut check" used a few times in the wake of this one - and, honestly, in the wake of more than a few games this season. That is inaccurate. The Rangers didn't dig deep and find something there to persevere against all odds, they put together another sub-par performance. They played down to the level of their opponent and, on this night, got a couple of good bounces to keep pace before winning the breakaway contest.

As ranted again and again in this space, there are major flaws in this franchise and they have to be addressed before there is to be any real success. Power play, depth, consistency ... and now, shockingly/disappointingly/tragically, goaltending. Time is running short, things are about to get real and the Rangers had better come up with some solutions soon. They've won three out of four now but certainly won't be able to take four out of seven when it counts unless they step things up.

Late Hits:

*Not a great night for Swedish goaltenders as both Hank and Gustavsson gave up awful goals. The difference there is that Hank is actually quite good, or was. It is uncharacteristic of him to see mental lapses night after night like this - overcommitting to Kessel, horrid rebound control to Connolly ... hopefully the shootout stops will be a starting point for the King to get his game back together. Seeing as the next Ranger opponent is Minnesota, and the Wild are anything but, Biron should get the start and Hank can have three full days to rest, relax and practice.

*Earlier this year Ryan McDonagh had a few bad games but the Rangers were able to rely on his rock of a partner Dan Girardi. Now Girardi has hit a rough patch and McD is the reliable one. Given the absence of Sauer and the troubles Staal is suffering through, the Rangers will need both of their top blueliners going if they are to withstand the playoff pressure.

*Is there any more under-covered concussion than that of Mike Sauer? The only updates we get are when the beat guys deign to reply to fan queries, and then they only seem to have some form of 'nothing new.' With McIlrath and Ceresnak still at least a year or three away, Pashnin likely to be with the rebuilt Lokomotiv next season and Valentenko not developing as hoped, the Rangers may need to seriously address the position this summer.

*Del Zaster didn't help Toronto score a single goal. He also didn't help the Rangers score a single goal. Call it a push.

*Richard$ made up for the turnover he had (the one that led to the Crabb goal) with his sexy assist on the Gabby goal. He then made up for his missed coverage of Tim Connolly with his first shootout goal of the year. Another push.

*TIm Erixon - two games, two assists. DZ one assist in his last seven. Just sayin' ...

*It has often seemed this season like Callahan was the only Ranger on the ice - often skating into the opposition end one-on-four and playing a far more motivated game than his teammates. So it is a bit amusing that his success came when he literally was the one Ranger on the ice. Well, I thought it was amusing. And outstanding.

*Did you notice Rupp hit Dubinsky an instant before Dubi scored? He collided with the kid from behind, shoving Dubi forward. Maybe the contact altered the angle of the shot and helped it go in, who knows? But it was certainly the closest thing Rupp has come to an assist in over a month. Nineteen games, no points. One assist in 33 games. I thought the point of having him as team goon was that he could contribute in other ways than using his fists?

*What game was the official scorer watching? He/she/it somehow counted 100 (!!!) hits in this game - one of the least physical exhibitions that the Rangers have skated in all season. Derek Stepan, who was all but invisible when not losing faceoffs, somehow accounted for a team high six hits (a total matched by Cally, although he has hit that number before). Ridiculous.

*Joey Crabb? Really?

*Sam and Joe are completely unlistenable. Sam doesn't know anyone's names anymore and Joe has amped up the obnoxiousness more than ever - something thought to be impossible. Said it before, I will say it again - I weep for the kids who are learning the game from these two. I was lucky to have had the best - JD and a young Sam - so I truly feel for those who get their info and insight from the current pairing.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Joey Crabb - one goal and one assist.
2-Marian Gaborik - two goals.
1-Ryan Callahan - game-winning shootout goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Gabby - The Slovak was just as involved as he was in Buffalo, but he faced a far weaker team and found far better results.
2-Connolly - Sexy snipe in the shootout plus the game-tying goal - just seconds after Gabby's go-ahead goal - gives him the nod over Joey Crabb.
1-Cally - The captain comes through yet again; where would the Rangers be without him?

46-21-7: Sad Excuse For An Effort

On Friday night the Rangers appeared to have bought into their own hype, thinking that they are something special. Reality hits hard, and it slapped the Blueshirts across their faces to the tune of a 4-1 loss against a team 19 points below them in the standings.

Silly drop passes, passes behind their backs, blind passes ... not bothering to close gaps, not bothering to follow up their shots, not bothering to cover the short side ... freewheeling and not paying attention to details. Completely disappointing and infuriating that it is happening this late in the campaign. The one thing about the Blueshirts battling for eighth place the last few seasons was that they came to play more often than not - although the nots were far, far more painful. But this time around the many reoccurring issues that weren't addressed are coming back to bite the boys at a bad time, not the worst but far from the best.

Seeing as the Rangers return to action in about 14 hours, this will be brief, Late Hits:

*Those reoccurring issues? John Mitchell has been lost without Carl Hagelin. Hagelin has been wildly erratic as he tries to do too much. Del Zaster is grossly incompetent. Staal is not himself. Gaborik is hit or miss. Richard$ disappears on a semi-regular basis. Rupp is useless. Stepan is struggling with added responsibility. And Cally often seems like he is skating alone and is the only guy out there who cares.

*Del Zaster was just as, if not even more, of a detriment to the team than Mitchell was. Sure Mitch kicked a puck in and lost another in his skates but those at least happened while he was trying to do his job. DZ forgets that he is a defenseman. During Stafford's first goal he was deeper than all three of the Ranger forwards and during his second he tried to split the defense and when that failed he stood around and watched as Buffalo counter-attacked. Not to mention his pathetic flop to the ice during the two-on-one that Ennis capitalized on. Clueless.

*Hank is ultimately responsible for the goals that went in and all four were stoppable. As mentioned in several recent posts, he is steadily playing himself out of the Vezina. While initially I believed that the news of an incoming offspring was to blame, perhaps it is his backup's struggles that have struck him. With Biron being outright bad, Hank has to be that much better and the extra pressure is perhaps getting to him. How else to explain the mental lapses? Certainly don't want to blame the grind of the season, as he upped his game in springs past.

*Pretty dangle McD, but all the fancy moves are for naught when your backhand from five feet away misses the net by a wide margin.

*Too many shots missed the net, most from the stick of Marian Gaborik. It is understandable that the Slovak sniper wants to pick the corners but sometimes just putting the puck on net is a good thing.

*Without seeing a good replay it is impossible to judge the goal that wasn't. In typical fashion the in-arena crew dropped the ball on the replays and explanations.

*Actually caught a replay of the Ehrhoff stops on Gabby. That's some good defense right there, and it was all caused by his own terrible turnover - a pass through the slot from the corner of his own zone.

*Did Thomas Vanek even play?

*Tim Erixon is getting more and more comfortable out there, and some of that is certainly due to his partner Stu Bickel. Remember when Staal came back at the Classic he credited Stu for being talkative and that is surely helping Jan Timmy adjust.

*Can't put it off any longer, have to mention Zuccarello ... this sucks. Zuke showed improvement in all aspects of the game from where he had been and now all that progress is gone. In its place is a cast on his fractured wrist and hopefully the promise of future success. And hopefully that future success will be on Broadway. At least he went down doing his job, unlike the last fan favourite who was forced out by a domineering, short-sighted egomaniac.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Tyler Ennis - one goal and two assists.
2-Ryan Miller - 26 saves.
1-Drew Stafford - two goals and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Cally - You could tell the captain didn't want to lose to his hometown team.
2-Ennis - He's so little, how can you hate him? As Brian Gionta proved, easily.
1-Stafford - Drew is getting hot at the right time, that is for sure - 12 points in his last six games; Gabby has none in four.