41-15-7: Beaten By The Bolts

The Blueshirts held true to form on Friday night, playing down to the level of their opponents. No, they played below the level of their opponent - an opponent who opened the night 24 points behind them in the standings, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Rangers went 8-2-2 in their last 12 tilts, bookended by extra-time affairs against Tampa. The Blueshirts beat the Bolts 4-3 in the first one and the Lightning flipped the script in this one. Where Ryan Callahan collected the winner the first time around, the captain was absent with injury in this one and Ryan Malone filled the void for the bad guys.

The one solace in all of this is that the points keep pouring in despite the team being entrenched in the doldrums of the season. But, as we well know, all the points in the world will be meaningless in the playoffs so the boys have to snap out this soon and start showing that they are a team that contend when things really get tough.

Late Hits:

*Yet again Hank proved his Hart candidacy by keeping the Rangers in the game. Without the King, this one woud have been a laugher for the Lightning.

*Much will be made of the motivated Brandon Dubinsky. After being benched in Raleigh for something that Del Zaster skated away from scot free, Dubi had to endure his coach threatening to scratch him entirely. It is amazing how guys respond to Tortorella's slander. Vinny Prospal once did it by scoring two goals and said he did it to "shove it up somebody's butt." Dubi wasn't as entertainingly honest after the game but he did put together one of his best performances of the season. Leads one to wonder why he can't kick it into high gear more often ...

*Arty Anisimov is another player who you have to pray finds that high gear more consistently because - as he showed on this night - he can be quite good. It has always been a confidence issue with the Russian kid and once he gets it in his head that he is capable, he can help carry the team.

*Where Cally's absence was apparent, Del Zaster's went unnoticed and may have even been a boon for the boys. Jeff Woywitka got back into the lineup for the first time in forever, something that can only help if he gets called upon again down the line.

*Mike Sullivan scrambled to keep St. Louis and Stamkos covered and he ended up favouring Staal and Stralman - a clear mistake. Sure Dan Girardi was playing hurt and he and McD were on for the first two goals against but they have shown time and again that they could handle big minutes. Keeping a recent concussion case and a No. 6 or 7 defender out there for so much time cost the team as they were out of gas by the overtime.

*Tampa has actual Tesla coils that shoot electricity into the air every time they score. How did MSG not show that?!?

*They did well to show the electricity that was Steven Stamkos, a kid who is clearly among the NHL elite. Always dangerous, Stamkos scored Tampa's third straight goal and his 45th of the season. He is seriously scary.

*Mike Rupp? Not scary at all. Not useful at all either.

*Brad Richard$ has got to be better. The former Conn Smyth winner was active but blew several good chances. With just one goal in his last 10 games, you have to wonder if it is a confidence issue with him at this point.

*Love Stevie Y but does he really think that the draft pick he got for Steve Downie will turn out to be someone better than the shift disturber? Not every team will be as meek as the Rangers were. Garon was untroubled as he made most of his saves and there weren't many scrums at all.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.
2-Steven Stamkos - one goal and one assist.
1-Ryan Malone - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Dubi - Sure Hank's play could have earned him a star but Dubiis effort alone earned recognition. He simply wasn't going to be stopped as he emerged from Chateau Bow Wow.
2-Teddy Purcell - Purcell is much like another Kings' castoff - Matt Moulson. As Moulson compliments John Tavares well, Purcell synchs with Stamkos to give defenses fits.
1-Stamkos - Stud.

41-15-6: Rangers Win!

Because real life stepped in the way I was unable to watch all of the Rangers' 3-2 win over the Hurricanes on Thursday, so this will be brief. Feel free to fill in the blanks in the comments if you feel so inclined.

Late Hits:

*Astounding how the Blueshirts continue to play down to the level of the worst teams in the NHL.

*Marty Biron didn't give up a goal in the first 10 minutes, a nice change of pace.

*Give Boyle a lot of flak in this space but credit due for a perfect pass to Pruster for the Rangers third goal.

*Brandon Dubinsky felt the wrath of Tortorella for a supposedly stupid penalty late in the first period (didn't see it). Odd how Torts only feels accountability is necessary on rare occasion. DZ wasn't benched for making the same mistake a few games ago...

*Heard Del Zaster re-injured his hip. Boo hoo. Wonder if Rammer jabbed at the injury again, that was hilarious when he did it during the Buffalo game.

*Also odd: how Torts constantly feels the need to follow up a Ranger goal by putting his goon line out there - so they can do their best to give the opposition that goal back. Mike Rupp may just be the most useless player in the NHL right now.

*Delighted and shocked that that shot to Dan Girardi's arm didn't break anything. Starting to think that he is invincible.

*If you drank every time Sam and Joe referred to the Staals being brothers, you wouldn't be reading this right now because you'd be dead.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Eric Staal - two assists.
2-Artem Anisimov - one goal.
1-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3, 2, 1 - Didn't see the whole game, won't judge.

40-15-6: Gut Check

It is a rare thing when you can reflect upon a game that featured all of 27 shots and realize that it was actually exciting. That was the case on Monday night as the Rangers edged the Devils 2-0.

The Blueshirts avenged their 1-0 defeat 20 days prior by playing more physical and having the crutch of the best goaltender in the NHL in their goal. The Rangers stood up their rivals and gave back as good as they got. And there was none of the scrambling that was seen when Biron was in the paint. Hank continued to provide evidence for his MVP candidacy with a fantastic performance under odd circumstances - he made just 13 saves but at least six of them were on stellar scoring chances for the Devils.

So, as usual, the King came through to protect the castle, defeating the Stay Puft Marshmallow goaltender and his evil henchmen from across the river. It was a good gut check to end February and send the team into a packed March where they will play 17 games in 30 days.

Late Hits:

*It is good but saddening to read Carl Hagelin's postgame quote: "Richie has been on me a lot about things I need to work on and things I need to do. It's important for me to have a veteran like him telling me and leading the way." On one hand it is a great thing that B-Rich is sharing his experience - it can only help kids like Hagelin (and Step and Arty, etc.) in the long run. On the other, Richard$ really should be worrying about his own game right about now. The big-money game-breaker has been a nonfactor far too often this season - even with his seven game winners - and that largely helped Sather justify that ridiculous big push for Nash.

*Loved that Hagelin/Callahan pairing though. The two epitomize the current Ranger: fast, relentless, unselfish and capable.

*The Ranger power play went a typical oh-fer, blowing two opportunities. The three usual suspects were at fault, John Tortorella, Richard$ and Del Zaster. Torts allows the guys to change their entire outlook when there is a man advantage and B-Rich was on for 3:12 and DZ 3:23 of the four minutes. Love that the guy has seven game winners this season but getting this much power play time should translate into more than one goal in his last nine games and no ppgs in his last 34.

*Mmmmaaarrrttyyy pulled one of his classic flops in the third period, which the ref luckily ignored. Brodeur just needs to disappear into fat air already.

*Kovalchuk fired off 10 shots - four were blocked, four were wide and just two made it on net. An impressive showing by Girardi, McDonagh, Callahan and the rest of the boys to shut down the Devil. And did Parise even play?

*Nice of Pruster to answer the bell, again. Luckily he escaped injury against the bigger Boulton and inflicted some damage of his own.

*On one hand you shouldn't want a $4.2m forward fighting. On the other hand Brandon Dubinsky has had serious struggles this season so at least he is trying to contribute something. But, as we saw with Chris Higgins, effort only goes so far ... Dubi needs to get his act together before the end of the season or one of those many trade rumours will come to pass at the draft.

*Even before the acquisition of John Scott Mike Rupp was useless. Now his existence is utterly unnecessary. Whether the Devils dodged him or not, he is not intimidating in the least and he has few hockey skills. Two goals in one ridiculous should-be-exhibition game do not make up for 30-plus games of ineffectual play. Hopefully the next tilt against New Jersey will feature Scott ending David Clarkson's career.

*Sorry, but I really missed Sean Avery in this one. Well, for every one - but especially those against Mmmmaaarrrttyyy, Avery's fat foil.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Henrik Lundqvist - 13 saves.
2-Ryan McDonagh - no points.
1-Carl Hagelin - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Hagelin - Bork bork bork!
2-Cally - The captain set the tone and set up the Swede's goal with hard work behind the net despite a double team. And the kid returned the favour by feeding Cally for the empty netter. Beautiful.
1-Hank - Where Mmmmaaarrrttyyy used to rack up win after win with low shot totals like this, rarely did the Devils' system give up as many scoring chances. Hank hung in there and came through when called upon.

Deadline Day 2012

That clip, if you didn't know, is from Star Wars. The Rebels needed to accomplish their mission of destroying the Death Star. To do that, someone had to fire a shot down an exhaust port to destroy the Death Star - an extremely difficult task, even without Darth Vader and his wingmen firing from behind.

Atop the Eastern Conference, the Rangers under fire from the teams behind them and they need to stay on target no matter the temptation to panic and pull out. Getting a shot to win the Stanley Cup is a monumental task and one that the franchise has been working towards the last few seasons. Glen Sather and company have done it by using Jedi mind tricks and making brilliant trades, as well as taking Yoda's Gordie Clark's wise advice in drafting youngsters.

This team is in a better position than it has been in nearly 20 years. To ignore the blueprint brought by the Bothan spies would be folly. Giving up a sizable portion of the future for another version of Marian Gaborik is not the answer. There is no need to bring in more big name bounty hunters players when a few more solid soldiers would be enough to help the cause.

For all of the talk about the inept offense, the Rangers simply need their skill players to be their skill players. By adding more complimentary players, they can do that.

By adding a guy like Sammy Pahlsson, Brian Boyle can return to his fourth line center role. The oversized softie succeeded when playing fewer minutes and when facing the other teams' lower lines. And the benefits of Pahlsson are many, as I've mentioned. Another option would be Paul Gaustad but the Sabre didn't fight when Milan Lucic ran Ryan Miller and when he did fight, well, we saw Brandon Prust knock him down. Gaustad's teammate Derek Roy would take some of the pressure off of Derek Stepan but Buffalo would surely want too much.

Should Sather decide to improve the wing, Pahlsson's old Anaheim teammate Travis Moen would bring grit and experience while Colorado kid David Jones is capable of adding some tertiary scoring. Former Ranger Mike Knuble could be welcomed back to Broadway but at 39 years old and with 12 points in 57 games so far this season, you have to wonder what he has left. Anyone added up front will need to be a rental as kids like Chris Kreider, Andrew Yogan, Ryan Bourque and perhaps even Jesper Fasth (if he heals) should be given a fall audition at the big boy camp. My guess is that Michael St. Croix, JT Miller, Christian Thomas and Shane McColgan will all need time on the farm or more time in junior but you never know, maybe one can challenge as well.

There is also serious need back on the blueline. Everyone loves the offense added by Del Zaster but someone has to stay back and that someone is certainly not Anton Stralman, nor the slowly-recovering Marc Staal.

Restricted free agents like Theo Peckham and Alexei Emelin both tantalize but both of their teams are more likely to re-sign them rather than send them elsewhere. So that leaves the unrestricted guys. Mark Eaton might be worthwhile if Sather could find it inside himself to deal with the wretched hive of scum and villainy that is the Islanders. But seeing as that stench would never come off of Eaton, guys like Greg Zanon of Minnesota and our old friend from the Devils Johnny Oduya are options. Zanon is one of the best shot blockers in the business and Oduya has been a solid citizen for the Jets this season. Should Colorado decide to deal Shane O'Brien, the Rangers would be wise to put in a bid. SOB might enjoy the New York nightlife a little too much but if he can be kept in line he could be a good asset to add.

And even though he is not a free agent this summer, Washington is supposedly shopping Roman Hamrlik. However, as the folks in DC found out, Hamrlik is not the answer. To anything.

But the question of what are the Rangers going do will be answered by this afternoon. Let's just hope they stay on target.

39-15-6: Edging Out The Sabres

The Rangers are clearly immersed in the winter doldrums. Thankfully, much like the weather outside, this winter has been mild. Despite putting forth yet another poor performance on Saturday night the Blueshirts beat Buffalo 3-2 in overtime to improve to 2-2-1 in their last five games.

The successes come not from some meteorological magic but by a few players stepping up to carry the load. This one featured the captain, the King and the kid. Ryan Callahan, Henrik Lundqvist and Carl Hagelin all had good efforts to help the Rangers slice past the Sabres by the narrowest of margins.

Cally has consistently raised his game against his 'hometown' team and was relentless on Saturday night. Hank has allowed two or less goals in his last 11 starts and has a record of 9-2 over that span. He made just 18 saves but several were solid scoring chances by the Sabres. And young Carl was all over the ice, tenacious and speedy. His play suckered that clown Kaleta into a bad penalty (that the power play of course squandered).

If Torts is ever able to get the team firing on all pistons they might actually be able to get out of this funk and deep into the playoffs. If.

Just a few Late Hits:

*As usual, the Rangers won when Brandon Prust fights in the first two minutes - love that MSG now uses my stat on their broadcast (still sad it went un-attributed). I was asked how I can hate fighting for fighting's sake and love the early Prust bouts. Prust fights to energize the team, that simple. The Rangers have stumbled out of the gate so often this season, and was coming off of that hideously embarrassing loss on Friday night so they needed a spark. And Pruster provided it.

*Ranger power play continued to be no advantage at all, going 0-2. The biggest culprit is the man they claimed would quarterback the unit upon his high priced signing: Brad Richard$. B-Rich has just four assists and zero, count 'em, zero power play goals in his last 33 games. And it can't be blamed on Olivia Munn breaking his heart as that streak started mid-relationship. Had he been able to convert or cause more chances, the current clamour for Columbus' Rick Nash certainly would not be as loud.

*As my buddy Eric observed, Brandon Dubinsky has turned into Chris Higgins - for all of his failings, at least he's trying. If this was his final game in a Blueshirt at least he went out working as hard as ever.

*Ring a ding ding. Buffalo hit the iron twice, and Marc Staal connected on what could have been the game winning power play goal a minute from the final buzzer. The posts are a goalie's best friends ...

*Marian Gaborik's game-tying goal was just sick. Del Zaster sent him the puck on a nice pass (credit given!) and the Slovakian Sniper roofed it over Miller. What a shot. It is goals like that one that make his slumps so frustrating because you know he is so extremely talented. After a five game goal drought he has scored in back-to-back games. With 29 so far this season, 40 is definitely in reach with over a month to go.

*Pat Kaleta. What a cheap, dirty, piece of garbage excuse for a hockey player. That guy needs to get his comeuppance something fierce. Like headhunting Andy Sutton, Kaleta is only out there to injure others and someday someone should send him into early retirement himself. It was wonderful to see him get embarrassed by Callahan on the game-winner.

*Odd to see good goaltenders like Hank and Miller give up bad goals through their five holes to get both teams on the scoreboard. Then again, Miller lost the Olympic gold medal for the U.S. by opening his legs to Sidney Crosby so perhaps it is not as strange.

*Oh Del Zaster. Rammer jabbing at the kid's "injured" hip was hilarious, made me think of this.

*Stu Bickel had a far better game than Anton Stralman. Not that that is saying much. If Sather secures another defender on Monday, it should be the big guy who keeps his job.

*Really would have liked to see more from Derek Stepan. The sophomore has not been slumping this season but he has been hit-or-miss.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Carl Hagelin - one goal and one assist.
2-Drew Stafford - two goals.
1-Ryan Callahan - one goal.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Hagelin - Bork bork bork!
2-Cally - Rochester's finest finished this game on a gorgeous goal.
1-Stafford - On a night where the Rangers top defenders shut down the city of Pominville and Austria's finest Thomas Vanek, Stafford finally stepped up his game and showed the skill that got him 31 goals last season.

38-15-6: Meek In The Mausoleum

The way I see things, if you grew up in the 80s you despise the Islanders. 90s, Devils. Millennium Flyers. And if you found your fandom post-lockout, Pens. I grew up in the 80s. If the Rangers lost 76 games in a season but still won all six against the Islanders I would be fine. Well, maybe not fine but not as crazed as I could be.

In recent seasons it has been hit or miss, with the Isles often playing above their ability and the Rangers sinking below theirs. That happened again on Friday, as the Blueshirts fell 4-3 in a shootout - they were lucky to escape with a point.

As the anger and disgust are making it hard to maintain any kind of cohesive thought, I'll just jump into the Late Hits:

*John Tortorella put the team behind the eight ball to start by going with Marty Biron in net. As with his decision of starting Biron against the Hawks rather than the Jackets, this one backfired on the Rangers. As he did in the Chicago game, Biron was caught sleeping at the start and allowed early, easy goals. No matter how good a guy he is, if he can't stop the puck he shouldn't have a job. He is not Henrik Lundqvist - that is accepted - but he can't be spotting the opposition 3-0 and 2-0 leads in the first 10 minutes of games. Biron was bailed out by an equally poor performance by Nabokov, nothing more.

*Del Zastrous. Utterly Del Zastrous. At this point all I can do is shake my head because I've already said it all. Stupid, stupid mistakes night after night, year after year.

*Ryan McDonagh played 29 minutes and Dan Girardi played 30. Against the Islanders. If Torts was worried enough to work his top pairing into the ground, he should have been worried enough to start Henrik.

*John Mitchell, he of no goals and one assist in his last 11 games, was on the ice in overtime and he got a shot in the shootout. Sure he drew a penalty - the result of the stupidity of Milan Jurcina - but to have him out on the ice with Gaborik skating four on four is ridiculous. Mitchell and Hagelin worked great together and both could use the jumpstart of a reunion. You would think Hagelin's wheels would be an asset in the open ice of OT but Torts left him on the bench the entire time.

*Surprisingly Mitchell was the long Ranger not to record at least a single hit. Another statistical oddity? Stu Bickel was the lone Ranger to have a positive +/- with a +1.

*Very happy to see Marc Staal score. Infuriated to see Martin go after him at the end of the second period. Utterly disgusted not to see any Ranger seek revenge the rest of the way.

*Bickel fought Martin, but that was well before the minor leaguer nailed Staal. Boyle hid behind a linesman so he wouldn't have to fight. And neither Bickel nor Brandon Prust nor Mike Rupp were anywhere to be found. Given the lack of intensity in the third period - when the teams seemed more than happy to get their point and run - there was ample opportunity to seek vengeance. Despite the Blueshirts leading the NHL in fighting majors, there is no one is scared of the Rangers. No one has to think twice that there will be some kind of retribution for taking liberties. Unacceptable.

*Aside from taking a terrible penalty and drawing another, Brad Richard$ was invisible. Meanwhile, John Tavares was outstanding. It is amazing how that kid has turned Kings cast-off Matt Moulson and minor leaguer PA Parenteau into actual NHL players. Meanwhile Richard$ hasn't shown much chemistry with anyone and hasn't become the power play quarterback everyone had hoped.

*Anton Stralman - three straight games with stupid minor penalties. Three more days until the deadline when he will hopefully be replaced. Greg Zanon or Shane O'Brien would be nice ...

*PHW Three Stars
3-John Tavares - two assists.
2-Marian Gaborik - one goal and one assist.
1-P.A. Parenteau - two goals.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Parenteau - Hardly given a chance with the Rangers, PA has ridden Tavares' coattails to a NHL career.
2-Tavares - I'm loathe to give any Islander credit for anything ever but man is this kid good.
1-The Slovakian Sniper - One even strength goal, one power play assist and one goal in the shootout. Not too shabby Gabby.

38-15-5: Power-less Play

It is safe to say that the Rangers are now entrenched in the inevitable winter doldrums. The Blueshirts put together their third straight poor performance when they took the ice in Pittsburgh on Tuesday and lost to the Penguins 2-0.

Yet again the power play pissed passed away chance after chance. The Rangers aren't desperate to add scorers, they are desperate to have their own scorers start scoring. Gabby has one power play goal in his last 12 games and two in his last 28. Brad Richards doesn't have any in his last 31 games, with just four assists during that span. Arty Anisimov, 30 games no ppgs. Derek Stepan, none in 45. This is simply unacceptable.

As this was as painful to watch as that picture of Cally at the top looks, let's just going to get right to the Late Hits:

*Reason why the Nash rumours are nothing more than rumours? If Dubi was to be included then he would be showcased. Instead he was saddled with John Mitchell and Mike Rupp. The kid is not being used is a position where he can succeed, so it is of little wonder that he is left wandering out there. He is definitely trying his hardest - can't take anything away from his effort - but all the forechecking in the world is useless if there is no one out there to take advantage of it.

*Why was Rupp playing? He contributes absolutely nothing whatsoever to the roster. The Rangers were desperate for a spark and not only did he not fight anyone, he didn't even hit anyone. Not one recorded hit in six minutes of ice time.

*Stu Bickel at least tried to mix things up but he looked very much like a dog who realizes he is on a short leash. Amazing that he actually went to the Pittsburgh crease and planted himself there - something no other Ranger was willing to do - and it was on a shift where he was supposed to be a defenseman, so he got reamed out for it. Funny to see Boyle, who had to cover for him at the point, go up and say something when he doesn't have the nerve to take the abuse and use his size to help the team.

*Dan Girardi was the All Star but Ryan McDonagh has been equally as good, and on this night he was better. McD was great defensively and a post away from getting the Rangers into the game.

*Penguin fans are going to point to Malkin's goal and assist as reasons for his candidacy for Hart Trophy. But the other three Pens lines still controlled action. Without Henrik Lundqvist, Pittsburgh wins this one by six or seven - easily. Malkin was stellar, to be sure, but his team could very well have won without him.

*I'm proud to say I learned a lot about hockey from watch MSG broadcasts with John Davidson ... which makes me sad to think kids are learning from Joe Micheletti.

*Last wrap I pointed out that Eminger and Stralman don't belong starting in the NHL, and they both proved it on this night. Please Mike Sauer, get well soon! Either that or Sather should try to get Greg Zanon or Shane O'Brien for low level picks.

*Still think Sammy Pahlsson would be a huge upgrade over Boyle and Mitchell.

*Is it a French-Canadian goaltender thing to try to win an Academy Award while playing hockey? Marc-Andre Fleury gave Patrick Roy a run for making easy saves look difficult, and he pulled a very Mmmmaaarrrttyyy-esque dive to draw a penalty.

*Yet another game where the Rangers clearly could have used Sean Avery. Long stretches where they were lifeless and pinned in their own zone. Antics aside, Avery's speed and forechecking ability could have been a big help.

*Del Zastrous. Shocked he wasn't given a second assist on the Malkin goal.

*Steve Sullivan's story should be bought by a Hollywood agent. It really is amazing and it really is unfortunate that this good chapter is being played in Pittsburgh.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Steve Sullivan - one goal.
2-Evgeni Malkin - one goal and one assist.
1-Marc-Andre Fleury - 27 saves.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Hank - The King made some big stops. He could hardly be faulted for the Sullivan goal and the Malkin tally was All-World.
2-Fleury - Antics aside, he made all the saves he had to.
1-Malkin - The Penguins best player completely outclassed the Rangers best players.

38-14-5: Awful But Enough

The best way to think about Sunday is that Rangers played a game, and they earned two points from it. Look any deeper and you should be utterly disgusted.

Columbus is by far the worst team in the league. They were playing the second half of a back-to-back, they were without their top defenseman and they are surrounded by rumours that their lone "star" is going to be traded any day now. They entered the game with 20 less wins than the Rangers.

And the Rangers needed overtime to beat them.

It is taking all of my restraint not to unleash a diatribe of four letter words. After getting embarrassed by the Blackhawks the Blueshirts somehow came in overconfident or something and nearly were beaten by the worst team in the NHL.

It should have been a statement game. It should have been a blowout. And instead the Rangers disgraced themselves with that so-called effort and were lucky to escape with the win. The most ridiculous part is that they played half-heartedly, dominated most of the action and still needed overtime. Overtime! Against Columbus! These guys should be forced to celebrate Presidents Day by doing Herbies for hours on end.

Just atrocious.

Late Hits:

*"We don't need you!" Fewer chants were more true. Nash lollygagged around half the night and was easily kept away from scoring areas. His game-tying goal came because Boyle blew the faceoff and Dubi didn't bother to come out to cover him. Yeah, why would you want to cover the only guy on the opposing team who can shoot the puck?

*Steve Mason allowed four or more goals in 16 of his 31 prior starts and had a save percentage of under .900 in 20 of them. And yet the Rangers shot the puck into his logo time after time and refused to fight for the many rebounds he gave up. They managed to ring his bell with a great high shot to the mask but didn't bother to follow it up with physical play around the crease the rest of the night.

*Love getting all of the hate mail and tweets when Del Zaster does anything. He still can't play his position well, which has been my problem with him to begin with. His offense is not my issue. Although, had DZ actually beaten the clock or had he not blown a wide open net on another occasion, then the Rangers wouldn't have needed overtime to beat the worst team in the NHL. But sorry guys, his OT assist does not make him Ray Bourque. It came thanks to former Islander Aaron Johnson getting caught out of position and our old friend Tyutin diving like an idiot to cover him, exactly the kind of mistakes DZ himself has been guilty of many times. And I have no idea how DZ got an assist on the Richards goal as Richards passed to Hagelin, then Hagelin passed back to Richards. But I can see the comments already, 'Del Zotto is a superstar, Joe Micheletti told me so! Greatest defenseman evar!'

*MSG's clock is not the official clock, so no goal. Cope with it. This game should have been 6-0 long before the controversial call at the end of the second period.

*And that is partly because of DZ's and the rest of the power play's utter incompetence. There is nothing special about it, it is an utter failure and it may very well result in the eventual failure of this franchise this season. There is no excuse for not getting a single good scoring chance in 1:32 of five-on-three time AGAINST COLUMBUS!

*Stu Bickel and Mike Rupp played three and four minutes respectively. Why bother? Put Wolski in the lineup or bring up Zuke - let them try to help the power play. At the very least, it would showcase them to scouts around the league and increase their trade value.

*Eminger and Stralman both took unacceptable penalties but that should be expected as neither should be playing regularly in the NHL. Eminger is a solid No. 7 guy and Stralman has had more off nights than on. They were supposed to be band-aids but appear to be permanent patchwork. Or at least until the trade deadline when Sather can bring in some players who can actually contribute. (I miss you Mike Sauer!)

*Sammy Pahlsson, who Sather should certainly acquire, had a solid but quiet game. Statistically he won five of eight faceoffs, killed two minutes worth of penalties, had a pair of shots blocked and collected a takeaway. He also forechecked voraciously and played up and down the BJs' lineup.

*Weird stat of the night: Columbus blocked twice as many shots as the Rangers (20-10). Sure that is a result of the Rangers controlling play and constantly shooting it at the player two feet in front of them but, still, it doesn't happen very often.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Derek Stepan - one goal.
2-Artem Anisimov - one goal.
1-Ryan Callahan - being a friendly guy to the media in the locker room.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Brad Richard$ - In the battle of over-paid, under-performing centers Richard$ edged out Carter with a goal to the Blue Jackets assist.
2-Del Zaster - The kid is not unlike current flash-in-the-pan Jeremy Lin, playing a high risk/high reward game. DZ has skills but is too sloppy to be reliable. But I do give credit where due.
1-Ryan McDonagh - If the PHW can arbitrarily name one of their favourite Rangers as the first star of a terrible game, then I can too.

Pick Up Pahlsson

Much has been made about the possibility of the Rangers acquiring Rick Nash. While a move for that overrated Blue Jacket would be folly, one of his teammates should be targeted: Sammy Pahlsson.

The 34-year-old Pahlsson is a former Selke candidate and a Stanley Cup winner. He has a history with Henrik, having won an Olympic gold medal and an Elitserien title alongside the King. He has played in 81 career playoff games, collecting 28 points - more than he has in any single regular season campaign - showing he steps up in the clutch. As he will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and Columbus is going nowhere (ever), Pahlsson should be able to be picked up for a low level draft pick and little more.

On Saturday the last-place Blue Jacketss lost to the Blackhawks 6-1 and Pahlsson was on for just one of the goals against - the last one, when the game was looong over. A poor pass from his teammate left the puck in his skates, where Dave Bolland was able to grab it and send it across to Sami Lepisto for a shot. Not a big deal and hardly his fault. It is impossible to lay any of the blame for the disasterpiece that is the BJs on the Swedish center, who is remarkably just -7 in that mess this season.

Friend of the blog Joakim Norberg has watched Pahlsson since he was a youngster and offered up this scouting report:

"A former MoDo player (and one of my personal all-time favourites) he will be able to play bottom six and can contribute in a top 6 role if necessary when playoff time starts. He's one of the most underrated guys in the game. I still some time now and then think back to his debut in the MoDo jersey back in the mid 90's when he came up through the under 20 system and played with Anders Nilsson and Ragnar Karlsson. They were furious checkers with full face-cage on and mad competitors and were rightly hated by all the other teams. A true hard nosed blue collar player.

Pahlsson should be perfect as the center between Fedotenko and Prust. That's the closest thing we'll get to the Moen-Pahlsson-Niedermayer line the Ducks played when they won the cup."

And winning the Cup is what this is all about. Pahlsson would be a far more experienced improvement on Mitchell (and very likely Boyle as well). He has been to the top of the mountain and surely would do anything at this point of his career to get back. The Rangers should give him that shot.

37-14-5: Perspective Is Everything

Perspective is an interesting thing. One of the definitions of perspective is "subjective evaluation of relative significance; a point of view." That's what we do here, this is a blog - my subjective evaluation of the New York Rangers. Thursday night's 4-2 loss to the Blackhawks can be seen in a positive light, 'took one on the chin, but it was bound to happen. Can't win them all.'

As you know, I don't do positive well.

Thursday's loss was a disgraceful performance by the Rangers. It was not just five or 10 bad minutes, it was a demonstration of several of the major failures of this franchise. This team regularly stumbles out of the gates and - on this night, facing a top team without the King to save them - that early awfulness cost them. Hope the hangovers were worth it.

Hey, here is something positive from me: this game proved Henrik Lundqvist deserves to be in the Hart Trophy conversation. Hank is Hart-worthy because his team is not even close to capable without him. His backup had yet another pathetic performance (what's that, five in a row by the former Islander?) and the rest of the Rangers were given opportunity after opportunity to get back into the game and showed that they were grossly incapable of talking advantage of them.

To try to spin it as 'at least the Rangers showed up later rather than never' is ridiculous as the Blackhawks clearly sat back on their lead and stopped pressing their advantage. They took stupid penalties and they opened the door for the Rangers but the Blueshirts couldn't mount a coherent counterattack, even against a goalie as bad as Corey Crawford.

More rants, Late Hits:

*The Rangers put the two points at risk when they decided to start Biron against the Hawks. If the Rangers win, great. If they lose, well, it is a top opponent from the other conference. Better to start Hank on Sunday against the league-worst Blue Jackets to guarantee the two points from the cellar dwellers. The decision is one many teams use, but not a good one in this case. Given how horribly Biron has been his last few starts, success against Columbus would renew his confidence. Instead he looks the fool for getting beaten not once, not twice but three times one-on-one in a 10 minute span.

*On Tuesday I tweeted "If the Rangers get a power play goal against Boston, I promise not to mock the unit on Thursday ..." And I managed not to, I simply repeated again and again that I promised so I wasn't going to say anything. Well, it is technically Friday morning now so gloves are off. The power play looked every bit as bad as it was before the previous three games. It was putrid, predictable and pathetic. The personnel showed no chemistry with each other and no one bothered to bother Crawford in the least.

*Blackhawk fans are quick to call John Scott the worst player in the NHL but Mike Rupp certainly gave him a run for his money. Sure he had his Winter Classic heroics, but aside from that one moment in Philadelphia he has contributed nothing to the team. Stu Bickel has been more valuable as a fourth line winger and the guy never played forward before the other day. Rupp doesn't fight to defend his teammates, he not intimidating in the least, he can hardly skate, he blows easy opportunities - he had me wishing Wojtek Wolski was playing. Seriously, how low can he go?

*Rupp did come away with a secondary assist on Marc Staal's first goal of the season. A good deflection got Staal the goal, and hopefully it is a sign of things to come for the defenseman. Utterly meaningless for Rupp though.

*Del Zaster swimming along the ice after turning the puck over in the third period provided some well needed comic relief during this disgrace of a game.

*When skating four on four the Blackhawks put Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane out as their forwards. The Rangers countered with Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov. Yeah.

*When you are facing a former Stanley Cup winner like Chicago, you need your best players to be at their best and Marian Gaborik was a complete non-factor while Brad Richard$ was impotent and poor Derek Stepan actually looked utterly outmatched.

*John Mitchell's hard work is appreciated. Mitch won a battle, stickhanded past a defender and got open alone just five feet of the net ... only to try to pass the puck back to the point. Sorry bud, but that's just not the right play to make. With Columbus in town on Sunday, perhaps Sammy Pahlsson can be persuaded to switch locker rooms. (More on him in this space Saturday.)

*Brian Boyle was bounced off the puck all night long, losing battles to guys a foot shorter than him. All would have been forgiven if he had scored on that one sexy play - when he cut around a defender while spreading his legs to shield the puck - but after making the great move he just jammed the puck into Crawford's waiting pads. The goaltender didn't even have to move.

*That happened many times- the Blackhawk logo is a beautiful thing but someone should have told the Rangers not to aim for the damned thing. Crawford allowed five goals each of his previous two starts and he didn't even face five decent shots all game tonight.

*Too many Blackhawk sweaters in the building and, if reports are true, their bandwagon fans sang Chelsea Dagger outside of the building with no retribution. There officially is nothing intimidating about playing in New York anymore.

*PHW Three Stars
3-Patrick Sharp - one goal.
2-Marian Hossa - one goal and one assist.
1-Jonathan Toews - one goal and one assist.

Scotty Hockey Three Stars
3-Toews - Captain Serious is seriously one of the top players in the NHL on both sides of the ice. A delight to watch.
2-Marty Biron - Another goaltender might have made it hard for Chicago to score three breakaway goals.
1-Joel Quenneville - The Chicago coach had his team - losers of nine in a row - ready to play at puck drop, something his counterpart has proven incapable of doing night after night.