Avery makes new enemies

Sean Avery gets ready to clock Ladislav Smid after waving him off, leading to a melee during the Rangers' 8-2 win over the Oilers Sunday.

They don't call him the Grate One for nothing. During yesterday's home blowout win over former bench boss Tom Renney's Oilers, Sean Avery was at it again. With the Rangers up three, the left wing caught Edmonton forward Colin Fraser with a clean shoulder hit into the boards. Simply put, there was nothing wrong with the takeout from the side that wasn't vicious. Had it been, perhaps Fraser would've responded.

Instead, Edmonton teammate Ladislav Smid went after Avery, challenging him immediately. There's nothing wrong with wanting to fight even if there was no reason for the Ranger pest to drop the gloves. Little could be gained from taking on the bigger Smid with Avery's team leading 5-2 halfway through the third. From that standpoint, it made sense when he waved off the towering 6-3, 226 pound defenseman. Had he just skated away, nothing probably happens. However, that's just not who he is. It came as no surprise that the 30 year-old antagonist acted like he wouldn't go before quickly throwing the gloves down and catching Smid with a right, taking him down- setting the wheels in motion for the fireworks that followed.

Nobody is defending Avery here. His initial play was fine but he broke The Code by tricking Smid into thinking nothing would happen. It was another classless move by a player who's very slick at hiding behind the rules. His games have turned favorite target David Clarkson into a raging maniac whenever the Devils and Rangers meet. The frustrating aspect for this loyal blue seat supporter is that Sean's capable of fighting but rarely ever obliges. It's always on his terms which drives opponents batty. He's not out to make friends nor should any opponent during a match.

Hockey is a physical game filled with battles all over the ice. As Avery's proven, it's also an emotional one. Give him credit for being an effective player who gets underneath foes' skin. By now, the book should be out on the Ranger bad boy. Ignore him. If only it were that simple as yesterday proved. There was no way the Oilers could stand there and not retaliate. So, it wasn't shocking that both Ryan Whitney and Theo Peckham went after Avery, who was escorted back to the locker room. The fun/chaos was just beginning on Kids' Day at The Garden. What should've been all about Marian Gaborik's 11th career hat trick along with linemates Alex Frolov and Erik Christensen, who dominated in the 8-2 thrashing became all about Avery, who predictably didn't speak to reporters.

“It’s a sucker punch, and I hope they look at it,” Whitney pointedly remarked. “Smid asked him to fight. (Avery) was saying wait. Then Laddie turned around and all of a sudden he gets suckered. I don’t know what the league can do with that, but it’s pretty obvious.”

“I thought it was pretty gutless,” Steve MacIntyre added after battling rival Derek Boogaard twice in the same period of a game that featured 124 penalty minutes, including 67 during the melee. “It just shows you what kind of guy he is. He’ll get his. Somebody who is bigger and tougher … he’ll get what’s coming.”

One day, it could happen. But while Avery was guilty of wrongdoing, it didn't explain Renney losing his bench. As many as three extra Oilers were out when it escalated, getting a rise out of an energized MSG. Former Alberta rivals Zach Stortini and Brandon Prust went at it at center ice while Brian Boyle made certain an enraged Peckham didn't get to Avery. Broadway's version of pandemonium included a wild sequence that saw Fraser trying to engage Brandon Dubinsky, who was seated on the Ranger bench with John Tortorella wisely pulling him back.

“I didn’t want anybody on our bench being involved on it,” the cooler than normal coach remarked while refusing to comment further. "It’s embarrassing out here,” assessed Whitney of a lost day that tarnished their coach's MSG return. “At least we’re sticking up for one another. I guess that’s the only thing you can take out of it.”

Funny but that's probably a good adjective to describe No.16, who can be an effective player. Early on without Gaborik, he produced while teamed with rookie Derek Stepan and Ruslan Fedotenko. In fact, seven of his nine points (1-8-9) came during the club's first eight games. Since, he's registered only two assists including one that helped set up Artem Anisimov's insurance marker in the second before the Rangers blitzed a disorganized Oiler club en route to seven unanswered goals. No wonder his role has decreased. What happens when Chris Drury and Vinny Prospal get back? That depends on Avery, who will always remain an enigma. Sometimes, he really stands out while others, you barely notice him.

Unfortunately for Edmonton, that wasn't the case Sunday. You can bet they'll have the next game against the Rangers circled on their calendar. Too bad it won't come later this season. You'll have to wait until Avery's final year of his contract in '11-12. If he's not careful, it could be his last in the NHL. Nobody would miss his circus act.

Gaborik hat trick steamrolls Renney Oilers

Marian Gaborik dekes Nikolai Khabibulin on a breakaway for his second goal. His 11th career hat trick led the Rangers past the Oilers 8-2 for their second straight win.

Marian Gaborik's back. If the previous game didn't produce any results, the Big Ticket made sure everyone got their money's worth, posting a hat trick in leading the Rangers past former coach Tom Renney's Oilers 8-2 on Kids' Day at MSG. His first three goals in Game No.5 gave him his second hat trick as a Ranger and 11th career.

“You want to go out there, work hard and be on top of your game. It is definitely good to go out there, score and get one under your belt,” Gabby said after his line with Alex Frolov and Erik Christensen dominated- combining for five goals, six assists with each forward finishing plus-five (+15).

Gaborik and his linemates went to work early with the trio working the puck behind the net until No.10 came out and jammed it past Nikolai Khabibulin at 1:35. While leading in shots 7-4, the Blueshirts killed off a pair of Oiler power plays, holding the 1-0 lead into the locker room. Before they could catch their breath, it was the rebuilding Oilers who grabbed the momentum, scoring twice in a 28-second span. Ryan Jones banged home a Jordan Eberle rebound past Martin Biron 2:45 into the second. On the next shift, Shawn Horcoff's wrister from beyond the right faceoff circle fooled Biron, suddenly steering Edmonton ahead 2-1.

“I felt like I was in the right place at the right time (on Horcoff’s goal), but I got handcuffed on the shot,” the veteran backup noted after settling down to make 19 saves in his second consecutive start and first ever win over Edmonton. “But, to me, the most important thing is how you respond to that. And fortunately I did not have to respond too much, the guys responded for me which gave me the chance to just settle in.”

That they did. Less than four minutes later, Christensen sprung Gaborik on a breakaway. The crafty Slovak beat Khabibulin with a forehand deke before banging into the left post. Teammates and fans breathed a sigh of relief as he was fine. With the game knotted, Brian Boyle again came through. Off an Edmonton turnover forced by Brandon Prust, he slid the puck to Ruslan Fedotenko who came in with Boyle two-on-one. Fedotenko dished across for Boyle who buried his career best eighth only 25 seconds later to give the Rangers the lead for good. Half of Boyle's output have come over the past five games.

Alex Frolov celebrates his first goal of two finally ending a 10-game drought.

It would only get worse for Renney's new club. Less than six minutes later, Artem Anisimov stayed hot when a Derek Stepan centering feed was redirected by his right skate, increasing to 4-2. Sean Avery and Stepan kept the play alive following a sloppy Edmonton turnover with D-Step outmaneuvering an Oiler before setting up Anisimov's sixth. After a nine-game drought, the improving sophomore has three goals over the last two. His Russian comrade Frolov also finally got into the act in the waning seconds, making it a three-goal lead. The former King's struggles have been well documented. He entered having not scored since my brother's birthday (Oct.23 @ Bos). This time, a strong forecheck forced Edmonton into a mistake. Gaborik worked the puck to Christensen, who then perfectly set up Frolov for his first goal in 11 games. His third came with less than five ticks left.

“It’s a great feeling to score, it takes some pressure off,” a pleased Frolov expressed after celebrating like a kid in a candy store. “It was a really good game for our line (Frolov, Christensen, and Gaborik) and now we have to build off this. It was a great two points for the team.”

Following a pair of heavyweight bouts between Derek Boogaard and Steve MacIntyre, it turned ugly when Edmonton took exception to a clean Avery hit on Colin Fraser against the boards. During the momentous shift, his clean check wasn't met with open arms. Instead, Ladislav Smid immediately challenged him. But with a three-goal lead, Avery didn't seem eager to oblige. When Smid dropped the gloves with his visor still on, Avery surprised the defenseman with a quick right taking him down. As MSG went to break, chaos ensued with at least three Oilers getting off the bench to start a brawl. At one point, with a linesman escorting our resident bad boy out, Theo Peckham snapped and tried to chase him before being cut off, only escalating matters. Even Ryan Whitney wanted Avery. Zach Stortini took on Prust for 90 seconds along and Boyle and Peckham squared off. The ugliest aspect was when Fraser tugged at Brandon Dubinsky, who John Tortorella made sure to keep on the bench. Somehow, he got a misconduct. Remarkably, it sounds like the league won't hand out any suspensions. We'll see.

“It’s a sucker punch, and I hope they look at it,” an irate Whitney said. “Smid asked him to fight. (Avery) was saying wait. Then Laddie turned around and all of a sudden he gets suckered. I don’t know what the league can do with that, but it’s pretty obvious.”

"I thought it was pretty gutless,” added MacIntyre of the melee that saw five misconducts, four ejections along with nearly half the 124 penalty minutes (67 PIM) coming during the fracas.. “It just shows you what kind of guy he is. He’ll get his. Somebody who is bigger and tougher … he’ll get what’s coming.”

The Rangers are greeted by lucky kids as they take the Garden ice on Kids' Day. They sent them home happy with an 8-2 win.

When the dust finally settled, Renney's former club responded by scoring three more goals- making it seven unanswered on a football Sunday. Another dreadful Edmonton giveaway led to Frolov scoring his second unassisted when he went high blocker on Khabibulin at 12:14. Forty-five seconds later, Stepan took advantage of another turnover quickly feeding an open Fedotenko for his third, increasing to 7-2. Matt Gilroy also notched an assist for his first point this season. The former Hobey Baker winner also was in on Anisimov's marker. He hasn't looked bad even getting a couple of shifts at forward.

By now, the question was would Gaborik or even Frolov get the hat trick? It didn't take long to answer when Frolov head-manned a flying Gabby who went to his bread and butter, firing low over the blocker as he had against Henrik Lundqvist for his fifth goal in St. Paul a couple of years ago.

"It wasn’t easy,” pointed out Biron of a wild game that saw him make one huge save denying Andrew Cogliano shorthanded in the second with it just a one-goal contest.

“We had a four-game homestand and lost the first two. This could have easily gone south really quickly, but we were able to salvage it with two big wins at the end. Now it’s for us to take that momentum and apply it to our road game which has been really good.”                                                                                                                                 

Just Wondering

If you had as good a team as the one in Newark, would you boo when they lose a game? Even if the Devils fell to Scott Clemmensen and the Panthers, here's one thing I know. You can't win 'em all. Sometimes, even the best teams have letdowns. I guess that's what happened tonight at The Rock.When you have all that success, it can go to your head. It's not the players we're referring to. Winning spoils.

Ya know. It would be nice if the team I cheer for played winning hockey like the bitter rival across the Hudson/Path. When you have the coach and former Cup winning coach chewing out the team's effort level, something's wrong. I've seen plenty of all four Battle teams and the Rangers are the worst. It's one thing if you don't have skill cause after The Big Ticket, there's little else. But when you don't have a ton of talent, you got to make up for it by giving maximum EFFORT. A foreign concept for the team that plays on 33rd and Seventh. The Devils usually show though I don't know what happened today. The Islanders normally work their asses off. Emerging star John Tavares helps but you have to love their spunk. The Sabres don't have top tier talent outside underachieving Thomas Vanek, who hasn't been the same since his early injury. Derek Roy, Tim Connolly, Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford are nice players but must come to work every night. Buffalo does it by winning the trenches as they were doing at last check versus the super skilled Blackhawks with Patrick Lalime in net.

Aside from the fact that the other three BONY clubs work harder/smarter, they aren't as dull to watch. Somehow, John Tortorella's lost bunch looks a lot like the one Tom Renney coached. I favored the change because it was obvious they tuned the affable man out. So, Tort came in and rallied the troops into the postseason, squeezing as much as he could out of them. He promised high octane. It started well. That seven-game win streak may as well have been ages ago. You mean we actually scored enough goals?!?!?!?!?! Well, don't worry. The rested Blueshirts get a tired Buffalo team tomorrow at MSG. Should be an easy two!

Gilroy sent down

Well, Matt Gilroy paid the price for his gaffe last night. He was sent down to Hartford today. Classic overreaction by an organization that is lost, eerily reminding us of pre-lockout. I guess I was wrong about Tom Renney. Under his leadership, this team had a pulse and wore the Ranger jersey with pride. It's taken a lot less for John Tortorella and Glen Sather to ruin things.

Everything our club accomplished is gone. Sad to say making the postseason four consecutive years, including Round Two twice is all they did. That was enough for Jim Dolan to hike prices. Even after they blew a 3-1 lead to the Caps in which Tort lost his cool. Fast forward to present and his misuse of players and lack of fourth line (his choice-not the senile GM) has this team headed for the lottery. Something I'm not opposed to. They need to hit rock bottom and luck out like the Blackhawks, Caps and Pens. Knowing our luck, we'll draft the wrong guy or ruin Taylor Hall.

Despite how bad they are, the Rangers do boast a good system full of promising kids such as Evgeny Grachev, Derek Stepan, Ryan McDonagh, Carl Hagelin, etc.So, it's not all bad. With Mike Del Zotto looking like a gem and Gilroy, who doesn't deserve to be down, learning on the job, we should be alright. That's why I'm in favor of sacrificing the season. Naturally, they make an example of a kid rather than rid themselves of some the overpaid stiffs. Amazing.

I'd say more but have to head out now. Why do I root for this team again? I'm embarrassed by this move. See ya later.

Dubi and Tambellini give Isles upper hand

On a night where the Islanders were without All-Star netminder Rick DiPietro, the more desperate team from Nassau County came into the Garden and earned a 4-3 shootout victory over the Rangers.

They can credit backup Wade Dubielewicz and rookie Jeff Tambellini as both proved to be the difference between one point and the big two Ted Nolan's club badly needed to stay afloat in the Eastern playoff race. With the Sabres posting a 5-2 win over the eighth seeded Flyers, it allowed the Isles to pull within three of the final spot. Buffalo has 73 points and trails Philly by one.

Despite being largely outplayed, it was the Islanders who built leads of 1-0 and 3-1 courtesy of goals off the sticks off Blake Comeau, Sean Bergenheim and Trent Hunter. Somehow, the Blueshirts didn't score in the game's first five minutes when they swarmed Dubielewicz' net but fired either into the capable backup or wide.

Instead, they came out of the first trailing by a goal which Comeau banked off a Ranger defenseman. The Isles led despite being outshot 12-6. Usually, when you don't convert your opportunities in rivalry games such as these, it comes back to bite you. Let's just say that was the case as the Rangers were forced to play catch up almost the entire night.

That's because Henrik "Seven Million" Lundqvist played like he had lead up his ass. He stunk most of this game and was the only reason his team trailed by two goals in the second after a Nigel Dawes power play tally knotted it.

So, how long did it take for the Islanders to reclaim the lead? Just 41 seconds later when a Bergenheim wrister from 40 feet beat the just turned 26 year-old overpaid No.1 goalie who came up about as small as possible when DiPietro didn't play due to the death of his grandmother. Unlike a few intoxicated angry Ranger fans at tonight's game, condolences go out to Rick and his family.

If Bergenheim's eighth wasn't enough to draw fans' ire, then the next softie Lundqvist managed to give up really stung. Let's be brutally honest here. King Henrik is the worst puckhandling goalie I've ever seen. He makes Mike Richter look like Martin Brodeur. He should never ever be allowed to play the puck because he freezes up and becomes a detriment.

That's exactly how the Isles got their third goal two minutes later thanks to a dreadful giveaway. Even worse was the routine Hunter stinker Lundqvist allowed to sneak through. Garbage.

This is supposed to be the league's highest paid goalie? Can anyone explain how our clueless GM somehow bumped Lundqvist from $4.5 million to $7 million on average? What did he do to merit it? He's won one freaking series. Is he one of the better netminders in the league? Without question. But I never was a fan of handing out a longterm deal such as that and such a hefty raise which will hurt the team's cap space.

To their credit, the Rangers rallied thanks to Chris Drury's 22nd less than two minutes later. A shorthanded goal by resurgent rookie Ryan Callahan off some hard work by Scott Gomez got it tied with 14:13 remaining in regulation.

The game would wind up in a shootout only because a routine Ruslan Fedotenko wrister drew the far iron with our franchise goalie napping. Maybe he was daydreaming about all the millions of dollars and slutty models he'll conquer afterwards. I know. I really shouldn't but I've had enough of Lundqvist losing concentration at key moments this season. It really makes you wonder what's going on in that head.

You want a real goalie? Watch Brodeur with a no-name defense stand on his head most nights.

Lundqvist got off to a great start this season but has been hot and cold ever since December. I'm tired of the excuses.

Oh. And he also blew the skills competition when our coach finally bought a clue and stuck Dawes out there. Somehow, he got no OT shifts. The same amount as Callahan. Can anyone explain that? Almost like asking what Renney was thinking with eight seconds to go in regulation and an offensive zone draw and he sticks out the fourth line. Are you freaking kidding?!?!?!?!?! Why not use a timeout there and setup a play. Stick Drury out there along with your best forwards and go for the kill.

Not this coach. Btw...this is why I really can't see this team winning a Cup. Because of these kind of questionable decisions. You want to be one of the best. How about playing to win for a change?

The Isles do it. You want to know why? Cause they have no choice. They got a lot better scoring chances in the final five minutes before the OT.

How about the selection of Michal Rozsival as the fifth shooter? Huh? Where's Jaromir Jagr or Drury or Callahan? Any of them would've been better.

Truthfully, the hungrier team won tonight. They had the better goalie. Not the one who made just 15 saves on 18 shots and allowed Tambellini to beat him for the winner after Bill Guerin's tying one snuck through in Round Two.

Dubielewicz stole this game finishing with 27 stops. He did it to the Rangers when his team had to win last year and had that miraculous final week to sneak in.

He was better than Lundqvist. How sad.

You could ask a lot of questions based on tonight's game. And no. I don't give one iota about the brownie point because it's a garbage point. Especially when you lose to a shorthanded rival who really has no business being out on the same sheet of ice.

Given how the Rangers played, the goalie was to blame. And btw...I'm with Lenny on Christian Backman. He's softer than a Hostess Twinkie. Get this guy out. Wow. Is he brutal.


Three Stars:

3rd Star-Ryan Callahan, NYR (SHG-7th goal overall)
2nd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (let in two bad Isles goals and looked lost)
1st Star-Wade Dubielewicz, NYI (27 saves plus 5 of 6 in shootout)

Valiquette in goal to start 2nd

Apparently, Tom Renney read my mind and decided to make a change in net to start the second replacing Lundqvist with Valiquette.

We'll see if the change sparks the Blueshirts.

Random thoughts

Since I'm not able to go to tonight's Thrashing of the Rangers (yeah that's what I said), I figured what better time than now to give you the hockey fan some of my total randomness. In no particular order:

1.When is the NHL going to stop allowing their star players to walk all over them? No. We're not talking about Gary Bettman's new CBA with a rising cap where teams are panicking and signing their own players to ridiculously long contracts. What I am referring to is the latest news about the upcoming All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Why should a star player such as Martin Brodeur be allowed to miss a game which is for the fans? You think he's going to miss any upcoming starts between tonight in Philadelphia when he does what he usually does to them and Sunday?!?!?!?!?! It is an absolute joke that the league doesn't step in and do the right thing by the fans who want to see the league's marquee stars lace'em up in a fun-filled skills competition.

Unless you're out with an excuse (injury, family crisis, health issue), it should be your obligation to take part in the All-Star Game. Especially if your own fans voted you in as a starter. Brodeur is still the best netminder in the conference and plenty of people want to see him. Even now as the three-time Vezina and Cup winner gets older, the Montreal native is still one of the NHL's biggest stars. Someone who is marketable and treats fans and writers alike with nothing but class. No.30 should be in net for that first period in Atlanta. No if's, and's or buts.

That also means you Roberto Luongo! The fans deserve to see the Vancouver netminder at the opposite end of the rink against Marty. The fact that the two league's top goalies were elected and won't participate for unknown reasons looks bad. They're what this game should be about.

This goes for any player who is elected. Unfortunately, the league already lost their most identifiable star in Sidney Crosby due to a high ankle sprain which appears will keep the 2006-07 Hart winner out at least six weeks. And losing one of the bright young stars out West in Paul Stastny due to injury doesn't help much. Neither does one of the game's best players in Henrik Zetterberg for no other apparent reason than wanting to rest due to recurring back spasms.


If the league wants to be taken seriously, put out the best players for this game and make it a priority. The encouraging news is at least Evgeni Malkin replaced Crosby and Tim Thomas is now in place of Brodeur. The surprising Boston No.1 goalie certainly was worthy of making it.

On the other side, Corey Perry and Mike Ribeiro will get to take part. They certainly both belong. Scott Niedermayer was also tabbed probably as a league selection due to his veteran status. He certainly hasn't disappointed since returning to the defending champion Ducks posting 11 points in 17 games and helping lead his team to the top of the Pacific.


2.Hell or high water, Tom Renney has to go. His message clearly isn't getting through anymore to the underachieving Blueshirts. There's little effort. No discipline. And zero accountability. The affable coach is good at analyzing the team's problems. The problem is he never punishes his best players and that's not a good recipe for success. This team is severely lacking and has become softer than a box of Twinkies.

If the Ranger organization wants to save their season, they must bring in a tough cop. Pat Burns would be perfect. So too would John Tortorella if he ever gets fired down in Tampa. It's more likely that Jim Schoenfeld takes over if the Rangers don't get a win tonight or on Brian Leetch night against Atlanta.

3.Speaking of which, how is it possible that the Rangers host the Thrashers twice in a row??? What are the schedule makers doing? If it were a traditional home-and-home like the games against the Bruins, that would make more sense. Give both fanbases a chance to see a rivalry formulate.

4.Rookie Nicklas Backstrom continues to play extremely well on the resurgent Caps who now are over .500 and just three points behind first place Carolina and the eighth seeded Islanders. The former 2006 Caps' fourth overall selection became the first rookie in league history to record back-to-back four assist games. He assisted on four Washington goals in a come from behind 6-5 shootout win over Pittsburgh last night. With nine goals and a team-leading 31 helpers, his 40 points place him second to only Chicago rookie forward Patrick Kane, who has 45 points (12-33-45).

Backstrom's strong play along with NHL-leading goalscorer Alexander Ovechkin (38 goals), the reemergence of Alexander Semin (5 goals in last four contests) and Mike Green (14-16-30; 14 pts in last 10 GP) have Bruce Boudreau's Caps thinking playoffs.

5.Now that John Ferguson, Jr.'s finally been giving his walking papers in Toronto, when does the Original Six franchise realize their problems are a lot more than just one executive???

6.Can anyone think of any good reason how Mats Sundin was passed over for the East?

7.If he gets the Bruins in the playoffs despite no Patrice Bergeron and other regulars out, does former Devil coach Claude Julien win the Jack Adams?

8.Tomas Vokoun's a good goalie but he's not better than Florida captain Olli Jokinen.

9.Remember when Bill Guerin was a bad move for the Islanders? How's that turning out?

10.Speaking of which, Dainius Zubrus: 47 games, seven goals. He's still got another five years left on his deal in New Jersey. Somehow, the Devils are still winning games. Brodeur and first-year coach Brent Sutter are the biggest reasons why.

Time for change

I wish I had more time to say what I want here but I have a Hard Hits Special NFL Playoff show coming up at the top of the hour including a preview of the first ever Giants-Cowboys postseason match-up in the Divisional Round.

Maybe it's for the best because the other New York team who wears those same Giant colors is anything but these days.

The latest embarrassing loss to the East's worst Tampa Bay- I don't care if they cut it from 4-1 to 4-3 and had nine zillion chances to tie late- it's just another reason to feel if you're a Blueshirt supporter.

Screw all the injury excuses!!!!! I don't care and will be damned if any Ranger fan uses that for why this team can't consistently play close to 60 minutes of hockey and remains an underachiving bunch which could actually miss the playoffs.

This team needs to seriously consider making a change with the coach. I have had it up to here with Tom Renney. His insistence of rolling four lines late in this game cost his team any realistic chance to tie it.

Why with your bench short as is would you send out the stonehands fourth line which has a grand total of two goals at even strength when there's only 4+ minutes to go?!?!?!?!?!?!

Can anyone out there answer that?

With that, I'm done. Renney must go! This team just won't get the results the organization's looking for until they get someone in who's not afraid to pull punches.

Maybe I'll have more after.

Renney is a nice guy but not the right fit for this team. It's time to fire him and save the season from a humiliation.

Who's with me?

Another bad loss by underachieving Blueshirts

Let's face it folks. This team just can't get it done against a Western Conference opponent. Heck. They couldn't even beat a bad Oilers team which once again failed to win in regulation even though the Rangers tried their best to hand them the game.

Only a last second tying goal by Mr. Clutch, Chris Drury off a brilliant stop of a hard Jaromir Jagr pass with Henrik Lundqvist pulled for an extra attacker allowed the Blueshirts to come away with a brownie point at Rexall Place.

Before the game, leading goalscorer Brendan Shanahan talked about the lack of discipline his team had in their recent shutout loss in Vancouver. Then Shanny took a dumb slashing minor which led to the Oilers' first power play goal by Jarret Stoll.

The ill advised penalties continued in the third period when Ryan Hollweg foolishly boarded Shawn Horcoff from behind being assessed a match penalty and automatic game misconduct and probable suspension, especially given the energizer's reputation.

While it's true No.44 tried to let up, he still nailed Horcoff from behind and the Oiler center was in a prone position. So, you can certainly understand why he was ejected from the game.

It was totally unnecessary and came at an inopportune time for his team who very well could've won the contest in regulation if not for some splendid netminding from Mathieu Garon (29 saves).

That the major was followed by a Martin Straka hold only 15 seconds later summed up another mystifying night for this underachieving team.

Of course, the Oilers made them pay the price as Ales Hemsky setup Horcoff on the doorstep for his 17th with 8:31 left.

Sadly, the Rangers weren't done taking silly penalties. Jagr got into the act with a lazy trip with 3:48 remaining which easily could've meant no point. And on a night when other teams such as the Flyers, Bruins and Pens all won, the Rangers needed that point.

That's what it's come down to for this club. Against a team which sucked ass on home ice ranking dead last on the man-advantage. But here were the Rangers staring up at the scoreboard despite outshooting another opponent (31-25).

The saving grace was that Joni Pitkanen took a penalty with 62 seconds left giving the Rangers a power play. With Lundqvist pulled, they worked the puck around forever before Jagr found Drury, who got them a point by stopping the puck with his shin before depositing his 11th with seven seconds left.

After another needless undisciplined penalty- this time a Blair Betts goalie interference in overtime, Lundqvist made a couple of big stops and then Stoll went to the box for interference off a faceoff.

Anyone who's followed the Oilers slightly knows that they've been money in the shootout all season. So the Rangers really needed to go for the kill on their late PP. Instead, they passed the puck around during a dreadful 4-on-3 even with Straka failing to keep a puck in at the point for an offside. Un-freaking-believable!

This team flat out sucks right now! When are they finally going to show some urgency and wake the hell up already?!?!?!?!?!

Especially on a day where the first place Devils somehow didn't win or even get a point because Tim Thomas (19 third period stops, 42 overall) flat out stoned them, this was a chance to pickup two on their Hudson rivals.

But instead, they chanced it to the skills competition where Tom Renney couldn't even use his best shooter in Shanahan because he suffered a left knee injury when he collided with big power forward Dustin Penner late in the third.

Even the goalie let the team down in this one. Was anyone surprised given how pedestrian Lundqvist has looked the past month that he would let rookie Sam Gagner's wrister sneak through his pads?

That's how they lost. Of course Jagr was denied by Garon who somehow was turned into Patrick Roy by this Broadway gang which can't shoot straight.

I'm sick of Marcel "One Goal" Hossa. Ryan Callahan was a healthy scratch. He really needs to be sent down on a conditioning assignment to regain lost confidence.

When is our genius of a coach going to recall Nigel Dawes??? He of course factored into both Wolf Pack goals in a 3-2 home defeat to Lowell.

What else does the kid who put up as many points as Zach Parise in the 2003 WJC have to prove to get a fair shake? This team has zero secondary scoring right now.

Is it going to take a foolish trade where Dawes morphs into a Brian Gionta clone cause I can totally see that happening?!?!?!?!?!?!

Speaking of Gionta, he is the definition of a dirty player. All those sneaky hacks are starting to catch up as he's being nailed for it a lot more this season. And did anyone see that crazy finish at TD Bank Garden where No.14 and Boston captain Zdeno Chara were at each other's throats as the buzzer sounded? Slashes and all sorts of illegal stickwork were being done.

And why you ask? Because of the stupid instigator. Does anyone really think Gionta would be able to get away with all the stuff he does in front of opposing nets? And Chara's stick coming dangerously close to the Mighty Mite's neck was ridiculous. How dirty does it have to get?

If anyone wants a good read, try to pickup THN's Top 60 Game Changing Moments. No.52 is appropriately entitled, "Goon Hockey Is Done" and has plenty on the lack of accountability where players sticks continue to come higher. There's little respect today as compared to the game before the big change came into place starting in the 1992-93 season.

If you want to learn about the history of the game, pick up this special issue as it's very well written. I've gotten through the first 10 thus far.


Also, if you haven't picked up THN's Top 60 Post Expansion Era, please do.