Rangers re-sign Girardi, swap Voros for Eminger

Twenty four hours removed from a predictable disappointment of a clown for the other Garden tenant, the Rangers took care of some business by getting Dan Girardi re-signed and swapping Aaron Voros for Steve Eminger.

From most indications, it looks like Glen Sather got Girardi at fair value with it rumored to be two years, $4 million. Not bad considering there'd been talk that the 26 year-old who made the team as an undrafted free agent in '06-07 was said to be seeking three million-per-year. Instead of going to arbitration, the overachiever from Welland, Ontario returns for two more seasons at a friendly price.

UPDATE: Per Larry Brooks of the NY Post, Girardi received four years at $3.325 million-per-season. So much for the more affordable rumor. It's definitely overpayment but more in line with what he wanted. How that impacts unsigned Marc Staal remains to be seen. The cost just went up thanks to San Jose signing Chicago blueliner Niklas Hjalmarsson to a four-year, $14 million offersheet which leaves the Hawks seven days to match. That development certainly isn't positive for the Rangers, who must get Staal done.

In the mean time, Slats has done admirably getting Girardi re-signed along with Vinny Prospal and Erik Christensen while also signing Wisconsin duo Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh. If only he didn't break the bank for one-dimensional pugilist Derek Boogard. Well, you can't have everything when you got a senile GM running the asylum. Hopefully, Martin Biron doesn't bomb as Henrik Lundqvist's backup and Boogard protects teammates and maybe miraculously scores a goal.

As much criticism as Girardi received for not standing up for Marian Gaborik in the Daniel Carcillo humiliation, he did learn stepping in for Artem Anisimov against the hated Flyers where this time the culprit was clown Scott Hartnell. Is Danny G perfect? No. Consistency is still an issue for the soon to be fifth year NHLer. He's had good moments where he not only plays steady in his end but also contributes offensively. However, there have also been bad ones where he doesn't get it done and isn't a factor.

Perhaps that's to be expected from a guy who wasn't drafted. Still, this is a top four D who logs big minutes. Whether he's being used in a shutdown role alongside Staal or working with promising Mike Del Zotto, Girardi's been a good team player. He also isn't afraid to mix it up as his 180 blocked shots (6th in NHL) and 178 hits (T-12th among D) demonstrate. Not only does Danny G sacrifice his body but No.5's been durable playing in 280 consecutive games. There were quite a few where he took his lumps and returned. If he can improve on the six goals and 18 helpers produced last season, that would be nice. It's a matter of consistency. He'll certainly be one of the club's leaders. Time to step up.

After getting one order of business done, Slats wasn't finished, sending the popular Voros along with prospect Ryan Hillier to Anaheim for Eminger. The 26 year-old from Woodbridge, Ontario is a former first round pick ('02-12th overall) who's bounced around the league. Originally a Cap, he's moved four different times over two years going from Philly to Tampa to Florida and then Anaheim where he performed decently- registering four goals and 12 assists with 30 PIM while registering 99 blocks in 63 contests in '09-10.

Truth be told, Eminger isn't bad. He can skate and move the puck effectively while also being capable of offense. By moving Voros who earned a ton of respect from teammates and fans alike this past season, Sather fills a void. It's essentially an even swap with Eminger making $1.5 million to Voros' $1.4. Voros' days were numbered once the Ranger Team President/GM committed to Boogard and re-signed Brandon Prust. With Sean Avery also back and possibly Dane Byers or Dale Weise competiting for a spot, it made sense to move Voros, who hopefully will get a better opportunity with the Ducks.

Acquiring Eminger, who's a righty shot means that he'll be in competition with sophomore Matt Gilroy for the sixth slot on the blueline. Figure Gilroy to have the upper hand but he better not take it fore granted. Now, all Slats must do is get Staal under contract. As long as he can, the Wade Redden Era Error should finally end. Here's hoping.

Rangers respond to Fly into showdown

Twenty-four hours later, everything was alright. At least that's what a resounding 5-1 rout of the lowly Leafs did for the Rangers, who are very much alive depending on what Boston does versus Northeast rival Buffalo tonight. Indeed, the same Sabres who put a fifth consecutive postseason in jeopardy can help John Tortorella's club, who'll be watching closely to see if a team that clinched the division will give the effort. They are still fighting for second, trailing the Devils by a point with a regular season finale Sunday.

While that takes place in Beantown where the Yanks came back to take two of three from the Red Sox to kickoff the baseball season, all the Blueshirts can do is prepare for the first of the crucial home-and-home with the hated Flyers. It's all on the line. Fate is in their hands. Now, we find out if Tort's bunch can come through. In what's been a challenging season, it's hard to predict what will happen. Is this team good enough to win it's last three, including two straight over a bitter rival with the final verdict if they make it Sunday in Philly? Expect the unexpected.

A day removed from getting exposed as Henrik Lundqvist termed it after getting the hook, the Rangers made quick work of a Toronto club that looks like its tanking. Too bad the Bruins own their pick. Over their last three games including the latest debacle, they've managed only two goals while allowing nine to the trio competing for the final two spots, assuming Montreal gets one point. They play Carolina today.

As for the Rangers, they wasted no time scoring on the first shift 21 seconds in when Erik Christensen responded to Tortorella's challenge by banging home a Brandon Dubinsky feed in front for the first of two on the night. They'd tack on two more in the first but it easily could've been six or seven. If not for Jonas Gustavsson who played well despite an onslaught that saw him give up five on 32 shots, it would've been embarrassing. The Maple Leafs gave zero effort. With the exception of former Ranger Colton Orr instigating a fight versus Jody Shelley dating back to last season, it looked like Brian Burke's guys who have the second worst record mailed it in. Some of the Ranger chances that followed bordered on absurd. The Monster made some great saves, robbing Marc Staal point blank along with a few other close calls.
Another opportunity just missed on a good power play.

Eventually in a period they registered 18 of 32 shots for the game, the Garden hosts tripled their lead when Vinny Prospal and Christensen struck 30 seconds apart. First, Michal Rozsival took a Mike Del Zotto pass behind his net and sprung Olli Jokinen for a breakaway. Gustavsson made the initial save on Jokinen's backhand five-hole attempt but the rebound was slammed home by Prospal, who matched his jersey number becoming the second Ranger to hit 20. Marian Gaborik leads them with 41. As fans were celebrating, Christensen notched his second by converting a similar move off a Gaborik set up. It was Gabby's 84th point of the season, setting a new career high. Brandon Dubinsky netted a secondary helper after forcing a turnover in the neutral zone. He assisted on a pair of goals, establishing a new career best with 43 points (19-24-43 in 67 GP).

After kind of a down second which Wade Redden noted though each netminder shined to keep the clubs off the scoreboard, the Leafs finally made it interesting when there was a Dion Phaneuf sighting. The big defenseman who they acquired from Calgary finally scored his first goal in Toronto colors to cut it to 3-1 with still 11:51 left. On a strong shift, a Phaneuf shot shattered Artem Anisimov's stick resulting in the Rangers scrambling basically a man short. Eventually, Carl Gunnarsson and John Mitchell combined to work the puck to Phaneuf, who fired a halitzer from the right point past Lundqvist breaking the shutout.

With Toronto suddenly alive, the Blueshirts replied in timely fashion thanks to Jokinen, who's looked alive the past few games since being put with Prospal and P.A. Parenteau. The trio were all in on the Jokester's fourth as a Ranger. Parenteau and Prospal set up the wide open Finn, whose one-time slapshot blast went off Gustavsson's glove and in. A jovial Jokinen raised his arms in triumph. And for once, he deserved it finishing with a goal and assist along with a game high eight shots. The second time in five games he had at least two points. If only the headcase was more consistent.

Earlier with the rout on, I told my Dad I wanted Aaron Voros to pop one along with Shelley. Okay. So, I was pushing it. Low and behold, here came Voros flying off the bench while Anisimov and Brandon Prust dominated down low. It was new fan favorite Prust who made a perfect pass to a streaking Voros in the slot and he did the rest, wiring one for his third of the season. Afterwards, he emphatically slammed his stick against the glass getting deserved congrats from excited teammates. As much as I criticized him last year which more had to do with the length of the contract than anything is as much as I've become a big fan of Voros34. The guy has been all heart this year. The goal was his second in four and fourth point in the last five. For the season, he's played in 39 games with three goals and four assists while supplying a spark whenever his number's been called. That deserves respect. Very appropriate that Voros finished it off in style.

Lundqvist bounced back as usual, finishing with 26 saves for win No.34 (176th career). What a great attitude he has. Now, he must give the Blueshirts the decided edge they should have versus Brian Boucher tomorrow and Sunday. Even more, the guys in front of him must play winning hockey. They do that and they're in good shape. Not bad for a dead team.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Vinny Prospal, NYR (20th of season, assist, SOG, +2 in 16:15)
2nd Star-Olli Jokinen, NYR (goal, assist, 8 SOG, +2 in 13:30)
1st Star-Erik Christensen, NYR (2 goals-7, 8, 5 SOG, +2 in 16:48)

Big third draws Rangers even

For 40 minutes, nothing went right for the Rangers. Despite leading in shots 14-10 speaking to how little action there was, they trailed the Panthers 1-0. Playing their second consecutive game in 24 hours, they looked sluggish. Unable to mount anything against ex-Devil Scott Clemmensen, it looked like they'd emulate their season and get shutout in a must win situation. But before Clemmensen could entertain those thoughts, it all changed 18 seconds into the third thanks to Marc Staal. The suddenly evolving third-year defenseman's spectacular end-to-end rush that resulted in his third straight game with a goal sparked his team to a big four-goal period en route to a come from behind 4-1 win over the Cats.

The biggest win of the season allowed them to pull into a tie in points (82) with the idle Flyers, who still are clinging to the final spot due to more wins. All eyes will be on Philly this afternoon versus Detroit on NBC. With Montreal blanking Buffalo 3-zip, they remained sixth with 86 points. Two better than a desperate Boston club that got two goals from Miro Satan, who turned back the clock by deflecting home the winner in a 2-1 overtime win over Toronto. The Bruins responded immediately to the Ranger comeback by pulling out a tough one at the ACC. Following a near miss from Mark Recchi, David Krejci won a draw back to Zdeno Chara, whose shot was put in by Satan.

If you didn't catch the Ranger game, it'd be easy to mistake the score and think it was a piece of cake. Anyone who watched or even attended as the building was mostly Ranger fans speaking to how embarrassing it is that the Panthers still have a team- knows better. Nothing comes easy for our Blueshirts, who took a first period nap before awaking to beat the Islanders a few nights prior. We warned that it would probably be tough considering that Florida has a few players that usually show up against us. With that in mind, John Tortorella didn't take any chances, opting to team Staal and Dan Girardi a second consecutive game against Panther top line Cory Stillman, Stephen Weiss and Nathan Horton. After blanketing one of the best lines in St. Louis-Stamkos-Downie, the duo dominated by limiting them to only five combined shots and a minus-eight rating. Staal and Girardi each logged over 25 minutes, combining for a plus-five, five hits and six blocked shots including five from No.5 who almost became a Panther at the deadline. Sometimes, the trades you don't make work out for the best, proving this blogger wrong.

While each had outstanding games, the Ranger offense was MIA due to a stingy Florida D that limited their chances by blocking shots and taking care of the neutral zone. Despite four less shots, they led on Keith Ballard's eighth. A rocket through traffic that went off the crossbar and in just as Michal Rozsival's minor penalty expired. The Czech mainstay who's played well down the stretch, was off for a phantom hook that MSG's cameras were unable to find. The refs called something behind the play. God knows what it was. Regardless, Rozsival's undisciplined penalty hurt the Rangers, who to that point seemed incapable of mounting an attack.

Aside from the offensive struggles, the attention to detail wasn't there with an early bench minor on another regrettable change. How many times can this happen? And we thought it was bad under Tom Renney. Aaron Voros got into an early scrap with Nick Tarnasky exchanging well before landing awkwardly. He had to be helped off the ice. However, proving his mettle, the People's Champ would return and once again be instrumental. Friday, his sheer hustle got rewarded with just his second goal putting the exclamation point on a 5-0 rout of lifeless Tampa. In the fateful third, some more good Voros hustle led to the club's third straight goal, allowing them to breathe easier. For a great team guy who's only gotten into 37 games, he sure has made his presence known. Big tip of the hat to a guy we all wanted gone. Ever since Sean Avery went down, all he's done is step up providing a huge lift.

Voros is far from alone as key pickups Brandon Prust and Jody Shelley continued their inspired play with Artem Anisimov. It was the trio's hard work that led directly to Prust's decider with 10:24 left. Before we get to that, some kudos for Henrik Lundqvist who not only was on his 'A' Game but made the lone pass to an attacking Staal who skated between the Florida D before surprising Clemmensen that got things started. Who ever would've pictured a Lundqvist pass actually leading to offense? And Staal ain't exactly Brian Leetch. But if these three games don't show what Marc's capable of, I don't know what to say. He's always been a solid skater and now he's leading the charge in all facets. If Kris Letang can get $3.5 million, what might Staalsie wind up with? Let's forget that headache and just focus on now.

With the game knotted, Lundqvist came up with a few timely stops. Even if he didn't have to make many, only turning aside 19 of 20, he was as good as can be in his 13th straight start and 21st in the last 22. Alex Auld won't be seeing the net anytime soon with Henrik expected to go the distance. Four more to go which would give him a new career high in appearances (73) and match the most starts (72) in '07-08. One can't say enough about his professionalism. Win or lose, there's not a classier guy in the league. And this is our MVP who quietly is putting together an outstanding fifth season. I get on him plenty but let's give The King his due. Without him, we'd be dead last.

While Lundqvist took care of the crease, his teammates stepped up. More and more, you watch Prust, the more noticeable he is. How Calgary decided to include him with The Jokester for Ally and Higgs I'll never comprehend. The guy is pure energy and wins so many battles. He'll take on anyone, finish checks and outworks opponents. Now, he's scoring big goals on what's supposed to be our fourth line. Michael Del Zotto kept a puck alive and then threw it towards the net with both Shelley and Anisimov in front. Shelley got a piece of it allowing the puck to rebound out to Prust who snuck a backhand past Clemmensen to loud cheers from the Ranger fans.

“We weren’t happy with our first two periods. We were just average,” Prust said. “We were sitting on the bench and said, ‘Let’s get going.’ In the third period we were able to get in deep and do what we usually do, just kind of crash and bang and throw pucks to the net and it paid off.”

It injected more life with Voros, Marian Gaborik and Chris Drury combining for a second goal in 90 seconds. On a tremendous shift, Voros forced Weiss into a turnover at his blueline keeping the puck alive. His shot rebounded right to Drury, who deposited his 13th. The reaction by everyone was awesome. It's amazing how a couple of injuries to key guys (Avery, Callahan) has changed the look of the roster. Now, there's more grit and determination. Something they've lacked most of the season. The play of our fourth line, Voros and call-ups P.A. Parenteau, Anders Eriksson and Corey Locke can't be understated. What an eye opener.

Prust would take a roughing minor but our PK did what it had all night blanking the Panthers in four chances. With a minute left, a patient Gaborik scored into an open net for his 41st. He's two off his '07-08 career high 43 but the second point of the night allowed him to match a career best also from that year with 83 points (41-42-83). Eighty-three in 72 games including grueling Olympics. Not bad. There's still four big games left and you better believe the Rangers will need their most electrifying star since No.68 to come through.

“We knew the third period had to be our best,” Staal added. “We need the points, obviously, more than they do. We came out and had a great period and did it again. It was a big win.”


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Aaron Voros, NYR (assist, takeaway, fight, +1 in 11 shifts-5:44)
2nd Star-Brandon Prust, NYR (game-winner, 2 SOG, 2 hits in 20 shifts-13:32)
1st Star-Marc Staal/Dan Girardi, NYR (goal, 2 SOG, 5 hits, 6 blocked shots, +5 in 25+ Avg)

Quick Preview: Rangers look to tie Flyers

In a few minutes, they'll face it off in Sunrise when the Rangers take on the Panthers, who technically remain alive. Considering that the Cats have given us fits, John Tortorella's club should know what to expect. Games there are never easy. Will Olli Jokinen come back to haunt his former team? Or will guys like Stephen Weiss, Nathan Horton, Michal Frolik, Keith Ballard and Scott Clemmensen damage the Blueshirts' chances?

As expected, Henrik Lundqvist is in again with the coach showing no indication he won't ride his horse the rest of the way. Is he up to the challenge? So much for giving him more rest this season. The team would be nowhere close minus him and 40-goal man Marian Gaborik, who both need to deliver. Might the improved fourth line of Artie, Shelley and Prust provide another strong game? And what about the contributions they've gotten from P.A. Parenteau, Corey Locke and Anders Eriksson, who's supplied steady experience teamed with Wade Redden while Matt Gilroy watches from the press box. Management which includes the Savior and Messiah both on the trip have to have noticed the injection of energy the Hartford call-ups have had. Especially minus Ryan Callahan and Sean Avery. And how could we leave out Aaron Voros, who all he does is provide a lift whenever on for a shift following so much time away. It's a wonder he hasn't played more. Nice to see him get rewarded the other night.

Is this the game Chris Drury steps up? They'll need his leadership along with another strong 60-minute effort to come away with the all important two points. While that's going on, they'll also have an eye on Boston and Toronto. With Atlanta blowing a lead late in regulation to the Pens in falling 4-3 in overtime, the Rangers can leapfrog the Thrashers and tie the Flyers in points. But Philly has more wins. So, it very well may come down to those final two games.

They're set to go. We'll have more later.

Great Gabby's first Ranger hat trick ends misery

For one night at least, the misery ended. The Rangers can thank the Great Gabby as he recorded his first hat trick as a Blueshirt, getting the first three in a stunning 3-1 win over the surprising Avs in Denver.

That they even won against a very good young club challenging for the Northwest while The Sutter Boys blow up Calgary to epic proportions (more on that later) is a revelation. Or perhaps the Earth wasn't rotating properly. Whatever the explanation, unlike the disgrace in The Desert sans the last ditch effort/classic tease, the Rangers actually showed and backed by some Gabby magic, got Chad Johnson his first NHL win. Kudos to Ocho Cinco on bouncing back after that three-goal first period barrage last night, finishing with 34 saves, including more than half the final stanza.

"It’s a boost of energy for this club and myself as well to finally get a win and feel good about ourselves,” the club's leading goals (33), assists (32) and points (65) leader said.

Before last night's third period, the Rangers hadn't scored on the road in over 202 minutes before Gaborik ended a five-game drought reaching 30 in his first season in the Big Apple. Sean Avery also tallied Saturday but their rally fell short with Ryan Callahan hitting a post while skating five-on-five minus Johnson thanks to Petr Prucha drawing his third penalty in a game that saw the Coyotes honor Teppo Numminen with a victory.

Maybe the rust finally came off because they were a different team 24 hours later, taking the middle game of a three-game trip. We'll give credit even if I didn't catch the whole thing due to fixing steak nachos. To my shock when I checked the score early on, they were leading for a change thanks to Marian Gaborik beating Craig Anderson with a wrist shot from the right circle, scoring for a second consecutive night. The first time he's connected in two straight since 12/21-23 in wins over Carolina and Florida. A welcome sight for our anemic offense. Avery and Artem Anisimov notched assists on the lone goal of the first.

During intermission, leading rookie scorer Matt Duchene chatted with John Giannone about how exciting Year One's been. Still can't believe he asked Duchene who his favorite player is. Everyone knows it's Joe Sakic, which must be a thrill getting to see his idol daily. This kid has all the tools. He just might be better than John Tavares. Nothing against JT91 who should be great but there's something about Duchene that we like. He's a little more polished. Granted. He has more to work with at the moment. Tracking both along with Victor Hedman should be fun for years.

Back to the game. As I was chowing down, there was Gaborik making a bee line for the net to slam home Vinny Prospal's perfect feed that caught Anderson leaning the other way for 2-0 at 4:57 into the second. Marc Staal- who was a beast logging over 27 minutes- added the first of two helpers, foreshadowing a lucky combo that went to work once more to salt it away in the third. Whatever the reason, the Avs just couldn't mount an attack getting outshot 12-5 in the second. Coming off two straight losses and an off day, they should've been the more rested club. However, rare attention to detail from the guys in red, white and blue was making Johnson's night easier than expected.

Not surprisingly, the hosts ramped it up in the third, firing 18 shots from all cylinders in an attempt to get back in. But Johnson held up while getting help from the Big Ticket, who put the cherry on top with his 10th career hat trick and first since that epic five-goal masterpiece versus our team on Dec.20, 2007. He got it in fine style. After Prospal served a bogus delay of game minor when he accidentally knocked over Johnson and lost control knocking the net off (seri---ously), the Ranger PK which did the job (6-for-6) led to No.33.With Prosp out of the box, Staal found him and then a quick seam pass sprung a flying Gaborik for a breakaway which he didn't miss, firing a low rocket by Anderson.

"You could tell right from the start that he had that jump, he had that swagger,” explained Ocho Cinco. “He was beating guys wide, having control of the puck. The other guys look up to a guy like him to lead the way and when he’s playing his best hockey, I think other guys pick it up and follow his lead.

“All it takes sometimes is one guy to kind of lead the team, pick’em up and put them on his shoulders, and Gabby was unbelivable tonight. He did that.”

His fourth in two games which also included a milestone back in the first, recording his 500th point gave the Rangers some breathing room. Good thing because Colorado came hard with almost nothing working, speaking to how good Johnson was. Eventually, they broke through when tough guy Cody McLeod, who earlier earned a decision over Aaron Voros, rebounded home a Kyle Quincey shot cutting it to 3-1 with 7:21 left. Rookie Justin Mercier added a secondary assist, registering his first NHL point. Of course on the play, Michal Rozsival stood around and let McLeod get position.

Even in a 3-1 win where Gabby records his first hat trick as a Ranger and Ocho Cinco wins his first game, you can always count on Woh-zy to give the other team life. At least the Avs didn't get any closer with another made up penalty this time on Paul Stastny for "tripping Rozsival" dashing any comeback hopes. For the Ranger fans who made their presence known even tossing a few hats on the ice for Gaborik's trick, they actually got to celebrate. I just don't see what there is to be happy about. Even if Ally Kota-leak could be bye bye with Higgs later today in an agreed to deal with the Flames for Olli Joke-inen and real enforcer Brandon Prust, it's not going to change much. 


On second thought, maybe they were thankful for what they witnessed.


Notes: Kotalik, who still must approve the trade due to a no-trade (only Savior) and per Post's Larry Brooks left the team probably to cry her eyes out- was scratched for the eighth game in nine. Other waste Donald Brashear was the other scratch for the seventh time in eight. ... By reaching 30 the other day in Phoenix, Gaborik's scored at least 30+ in six seasons. ... The Avalanche have dropped three in a row, getting outscored 7-3. Currently sixth in the West with 66 points, they trail Vancouver by four and are three up on seventh Nashville and four better than both Calgary and Detroit. ... Duchene was held without a point but still leads all rookies with 36 points (17-19-36). Three better than Tavares (17-16-33) with Philly's James Van Riemsdyk (12-19-31) and Buffalo's Tyler Myers (7-24-31) tied for third. 

... With seventh Florida posting a 2-0 shutout of the Islanders (5 straight losses), Rangers (25-24-7, 57 Pts) vault over idle Atlanta and Montreal back into eighth, a point up with Boston and Tampa two out while the Isles remain stuck on 54. John Tortorella's club concludes three in four on the road tomorrow night against Kings, who pulled a Canes on the Devils Sunday to win their sixth straight.

BONY 3 STARS:

3rd Star-Cody McLeod, Col (6th goal, 3 SOG, 2 hits, 5 PIM, +1 in 16 shifts-10:07)
2nd Star-Chad Johnson, NYR (34 saves incl.17/18 in 3rd for 1st career NHL victory)
1st Star-Marian Gaborik, NYR (1st Ranger hat trick-goals 31, 32, 33, 6 SOG, 3 hits, +3 in 21:06)

Fourteen goals in two games

Say it with me slow-----lll-------yyy. The Rangers scored:

FOU-----------RT----------EEN 

over two games!!!!!

Please keep repeating until it sinks in. In two consecutive games, our gang that couldn't shoot straight has finished, finished and finished. Granted. It came at the expense of a pair of suspect defensive clubs in this topsy turvy conference that changes daily. First, they lit the lamp for six unanswered in a 6-2 victory over Les Canadiens. Another game we sold. Given our luck evidenced by the fact that nobody could recall the last time we saw a Ranger win, what transpired tonight was miraculous. They scored 88888888!!!!!!!!

Okay. So the Bolts were running on fumes, still hungover from their win over the Candy Canes the night before. But c'mon! C'mpuckin on! This was bananas. The eight goals were the highest they'd scored since January 2001 during the Dark Ages. That Justin even knew Jeff Toms recorded a hat trick playing with Lindros and Fleury speaks to his insanity. The most I could remember were seven in a St. Patty's Day Massacre of the Bruins during Cally's rookie year. A great memory as our team swept the Kovalchuk/Hossa Thrashers with Marcel outperforming big bro. Hey. We had Buffalo on the ropes before Renney erred. Ah. Didn't they also roast Hotlanta for 7 in Game Three? Good times.

Getting back to this eight goal eruption, meaning the Rangers have scored a month's worth in two consecutive wins, this was about as perfect a dismantling as humanly possible. It was Devil-esque. Hell. Hasan is probably a little envious considering how tough Tampa played them. That's about the only edge we have along with team doctors. Sorry. Couldn't resist. :-P In all seriousness, it's nice to see Tort Reform pay off. Even if it was far from a sellout. Are you listening Jazzy Jim? It was just great to get back on the winning track. Honestly had doubts that we'd ever witness another home win. Haha. Here were the highlights:

-Aaron Voros (yes) stood in there against PIM leader Zenon Konopka and did well 10 seconds in really setting the tone. He had a memorable night later drawing an instigator on Konopka and then scoring on it. A just reward for a great team guy who's not played a whole lot. When he has, he's contributed much more than Huggy Bear. Voros also battled Ryan Malone even having his name chanted. Seri---ous---ly! You deserved it. If anyone wants to follow him, please do so on Twitter. He got plenty of love including from us.


-Sixteen different Rangers recorded a point. Even the rejuvenated Tinman, who notched a helper two days removed from his second fight in Ranger Blue.

-For a second straight game since being reunited, Dubi, Prosp and Great Gabby dominated combining for eight points (2-6-8), plus-nine along with Dubi hammering Jeff Halpern. Gaborik matched a career high with four assists, eclipsing 60 points. He's now up to 61 (29-32-61) or three better than the leading Ranger scorer(s) [Gomez/Zherdev] all last year. So explosive. Before Sunday, Gaborik had just three points this month but in the last two, he has seven (1-6-7). Hope that trend continues Thursday at Philly. In the duh moment of the night, MSG radio announcer Kenny Albert actually asked Prospal what the reason for their line's success was. Hell-o! They played together with similar results earlier this season. Holy cow!

-Prospal had a sweet finish versus his ex-team off a nifty Gabby set up, going backhand deke. He nearly pulled it off again later when he had Antero Niittymaki dead to rights but hit the right post. Just how lethal was our transition? Had they not hit posts and Niitty not prevented a couple of others before getting the hook, they easily could've reached a cool dozen. Also speaking to how inept the Lightning were.

-After an otherwise invisible Vinny Lecavalier banked one in off Henrik to cut it to 2-1, a quick response by the captain Dru, who rebounded home a Cally shot to score for a second straight game only 73 seconds later. Sticking the Team USA PK tandem together with Christy was smart. So was shifting Avery to the fourth line turning it into a crash line with Boyle and Voros, who both were strong. Seems Tort has finally come to his senses, balancing out things with Artie working with a revitalized Enver Lisin and Higgs. Since being reinserted, all Lisin's done is work, work and work, finally getting rewarded with his sixth from Higgins and Matt Gilroy, who jumped up contributing two helpers. Even Higgins finished for just the second time at MSG, putting the cherry on top late.

-Marc Staal had another stellar performance, contributing defensively and offensively, finishing his career best fifth while adding his career best 13th assist for you guessed it. Eighteen points. Also a career high in Year Three with still 32 games left. We'd be remiss if we didn't mention how well he works with Rozy, who looks much more comfortable. He's played better for a while, blocking shots while moving the puck effectively and getting involved offensively. All cause there's less pressure on him.

-Up two in the second, Dan Girardi's right point shot eluded Niitty to match his jersey No.5, ending a long 31-game drought. That it came unscreened from way out should tell you how under siege the poor Tampa netminder was, permitting five on 20 shots before 2008 fifth rounder Dustin Tokarski replaced him faring no better (3 GA on 11 shots). It's awfully hard to win when you don't compete.

-Our club's not known to be tough but the past two games (both convincing wins), they've fought five times. Even when the gloves haven't been dropped, our guys are finally standing up for each other as evidenced by Lisin getting in Maxim Lapierre's face Sunday. A refreshing change for the better!

-Not to sound like a broken record but between all this good stuff, Henrik again was solid, needing just 21 saves after coming off light work (19) the other day. He still made some timely stops before we put it out of reach. That's now nine in a row of two goals-or-less dating back to a New Year's Eve 2-1 triumph at Raleigh. In eight starts this month, The King's 5-1-2 with a miniscule 1.48 GAA, 947 save percentage plus the memorable 0-0 shutout duel with MB30 in a shootout defeat. Not too shabby. How dominant has he been? Lundqvist's now up to 22 wins with a 2.26 GAA and on pace for a career best save percentage (.925). If he continues this upswing, it's going to be hard not to include him in the Vezina talk. Once impossible. Still, with Miller Time, Bryzgalov, Marty, Kipper and fantastic frosh Jimmy Howard, it's going to be awfully tough.

-He had only one assist following a career high four points (2-2-4) but Cally was everywhere. He and Dubi couldn't be stopped, generating shorthanded chance after shorthanded chance. This American duo is quickly becoming one to watch.

-Hey Ally. Keep trying to figure out why you're out of the lineup. Stay in the press box!

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brandon Dubinsky, NYR (G, A, fight = Gordie Howe Hat Trick, +3 in 25 shifts-18:36)
2nd Star-Enver Lisin, NYR (6th goal of season, 3 hits, 2 takeaways, +1 in 18 shifts-12:58)
1st Star-Aaron Voros, NYR (1st goal of season, 2 fights, major penalty drawn in 13 shifts-8:08)

Singing The Blues

Where's B.B. King when you need him? Even the King of Blues would be appalled by what's happened to the Rangers' offense. So what if they finally scored a goal in a dismal 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It didn't matter much. Not when you hardly test their goalie. At one point, shots were 13-7 St. Louis with like seven minutes left in the second period. Somehow, our punchless club managed to be tied 1-1 after 40 minutes thanks to immortal Brian Boyle, who slipped a backhand past Chris Mason from Aaron Voros. That was the extent of our offense.

Just how unwatchable was this? The Blues led in SOG 15-12. Outside of Team USA wrecking ball David Backes absolutely destroying our team, there was little entertainment value. Unless you caught a rested Henrik Lundqvist during first intermission and the one and only John Davidson back with Sam Rosen during an emotional segment. It's always a joy to see JD, who admittedly is balder now with whiter hair but definitely has dropped a lot of weight and still has the passion for the sport. Something missing from our cigar smoking son of a gun that somehow continues to cash Jazzy Jim paychecks. At least I caught it because there was little else to keep from switching to awful playoff football and a much more entertaining Sabres/Islanders conclusion in the shootout which Rick DiPietro finally won in his Coliseum return. Ah. Emotion. There was plenty of it written all over his face, thanking just about everyone.

Who should the Rangers thank for another listless performance that made watching a chore? They're slowly killing their own fans. It's no wonder so many sold their tix to Devil fans at the game of the season. Well, it should've just been the final game. Period. That's the lone highlight. Mike Brodeur would disagree since he won a second consecutive start for the Sens in the Hockey Night In Canada match-up over the Habs. The same club our team returns home to play tomorrow. Scott Gomez and Paul Mara's MSG return. How thrilling. They'll probably have a lot more to smile about.

So, how much did I see? Enough to conclude we weren't winning. Even with two bit scrubs like Voros- in for Huggy Bear- and Boyle combining for the club's first goal in 172:00 wasn't enough to inspire most of their teammates. At least Enver Lisin dressed in place of Ally and played hard. Watch Tort healthy scratch him Sunday for some unknown reason. Speaking of the coach, when does he finally realize that Vinny Prospal isn't the same since returning. Why is he still on the top line? Marian Gaborik is being wasted. He must feel like he's in jail. Teams are keying on him, taking away time and space. He's been stuck on 28 goals for a while. Gabby's still trying as evidenced by three break-ins during this putrid stretch but even he's stopped finishing. It's now five games without a goal and only one point. The Big Ticket's scored just twice in eight games this month. Dating back further, it's two over the past 11. It's hard to get on Gaborik because minus him, this would be the worst team. Good job Slats!

Yes. Ocho Cinco got his second start and fared alright, finishing with 21 saves, giving them a chance. Ultimately, our soft as molasses team were overmatched by a much bigger, stronger opponent that pounded away putting the Blueshirts into submission. As Anthony might say in our section, 'how could this team be so soft?' They don't stand up for each other. The other night, the biggest cheapshot artist Jarkko Ruutu did whatever he wanted and nobody answered the bell. Humiliating.


Roman Polak (who???) scored the winner and had a primary helper on Alex Steen's insurance marker. Our great powerless play went 0-for-2 with no shots! Tort even pulled Ocho with over two minutes left using a timeout. As if that was going to save us. My favorite part was when Prosp had a two-on-one downlow and didn't shoot, instead passing for a covered Gabby. You're down two goals! Wow. Twenty-two lousy shots on Mason, who should've had a shutout. Give up a goal to Boyle and you should be sent to the dungeon.

Fittingly, Backes hit the empty to put them out of their misery. When even Joe Micheletti says something negative about the effort, you know it's bad. Dave Maloney sounded comatose. I also heard Pete Stemkowski trashed them on the radio. Think the old-timers are fed up with these cupcakes. They should be sponsored by Hostess.

Well, there's always tomorrow! Annie's warming up.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brian Boyle, NYR (goal-1st in 19 games, 5 hits, +1 in 10:51)
2nd Star-Roman Polak, Stl (GWG/assist, 2 blocked shots, +1 in 21:15)
1st Star-David Backes, Stl (ENG, 5 hits, 2 takeaways, 7-8 draws in 19:14)