Kids lead the way in Devils' emotional win over Carolina

During the Devils' 9-1-2 stretch going into last night's game against the eighth-seeded Hurricanes, the Devils have cut a once insurmountable 27-point playoff deficit to a still-formidable 16. Our three-game 'series' against Carolina (three games in the next twelve days, including last night) might be the closest thing to a playoff series we have this year, since those games will either provide an opportunity to really get back in the race or finally end this spectacular run.

While the Devils' 3-2 OT win only got them one point closer in a game where they could have easily gotten the two-point difference of a regulation win, it still had the feel of a big victory. Even if this Devils team falls short of the playoffs, their future keeps getting brighter and brighter, as young Swede Mattias Tedenby scored two goals (including the OT winner) and fellow rookie Nick Palmeri got the tying goal late in the third to give their team a much-needed win.

Yet, as Jacques Lemaire pointed out in his postgame press conference there were a lot of things that were annoying about last night's game. For one, the team didn't exactly start out very well - sluggishly, in fact. At one point in the first period we were being outshot 7-2 and only had thirteen shots on net through the first two periods total. Specifically, Anton Volchenkov had a poor game taking three minor penalties and all but getting benched after the third one (a delay of game midway through the third period), which cost the team when Carolina's wunderkid Jeff Skinner scored his second goal of the game within six seconds of the power play's opening.

Our penalty killing was poor, going 1-3 although you couldn't blame the defense as much for Skinner's first goal and the first of the game by either team, a shortside floater that went through Johan Hedberg at 9:22 of the second. You could see the vet Hedberg's frustration after the goal as he slammed his blocker on the ice. And our power play? Don't ask...we didn't even get an opportunity with the man advantage. Personally I felt that the refs missed several obvious calls on the Canes but Lemaire chose to take a different tact and put the blame on the team for not drawing penalties.

Here, I disagree with the coach in that the Devils did more than enough to draw penalties in the third period, when they dominated play and outshot the Canes 19-5 (19-3 at even strength, since Carolina got two shots on their six-second power play). Usually that kind of dominance gets rewarded with a call at some point. Even with that, the team still had plenty of opportunities to get the two points in regulation including a shot by Jason Arnott outside the blueline that somehow eluded Cam Ward midway through the third, but rang off the post.

Arnott did at least have a hand in the Devils' first goal earlier in the game just a couple of minutes after Skinner's potentially deflating opener in the second. It was a play that started when Colin White intentionally shot a puck wide that rebounded to Arnott, who made a nice spin-a-rama pass to Tedenby in front, and the rookie put it home for his sixth of the season at 11:31. Still, the Devils were down 2-1 in the final four minutes - the season was on the line, folks - until Ilya Kovalchuk skated into the zone, drawing the attention of four Hurricanes, which left wide-open real estate for Palmeri in front to put home a rebound from a Kovy slapshot at 17:06 to tie the game.

Even at this late juncture the Devils still had the opportunity to turn one point into two during regulation but missed a couple of great chances in the final minute, including Patrik Elias getting robbed by Ward on the doorstep with just under thirty seconds left when it seemed as if he had a wide open net to score in. At this point Lemaire by his own admission took a chance, and played Tedenby in the overtime. Tedenby played just a shade under nine minutes in the game, but made every second count and put home the winner at 2:42 of the extra period, getting a big assist on the goal by Travis Zajac. Zajac took both defensemen out of the play - one by skating to the net and the other by skating into him - leaving a wide open front of the net for the rookie to skate in and put his second of the game by Ward.

Though there's still a long way to go to even dream of a playoff spot - we're still ten games under and my rule of thumb is talk to me when we're at .500 (Lemaire went further, saying he won't talk about the playoffs until we're two points back), at least pride has been restored to the sweater at last. A team decried for lack of heart and character for the second half of last year and the first half of this year is suddenly showing it in gobs. And a long, cold winter of meaningless games suddenly has some juice to it.

BoNY Three Stars:

1. Mattias Tedenby (two goals, +2)
2. Nick Palmeri (goal, +1 with 15:58 TOI)
3. Jeff Skinner (two PP goals, -2)

Rangers-Red Wings Preview: Biron in again tonight

Suddenly, Henrik Lundqvist is riding the pine. The King has slumped since his best game of the year- a 1-0 shutout of the Canucks at MSG last month. Having let in questionable goals in each of his last four starts, John Tortorella has decided to give our franchise netminder a breather by playing Martin Biron a second consecutive game. Since relieving Lundqvist in a 3-2 home loss to the Devils, all Biron has done is allow one goal on 36 shots. Albeit a flukey one by ex-Ranger Scott Gomez, who picked up a hard carom of an Alexandre Picard wide shot and went upstairs during the Canadiens' 2-0 shutout Saturday.

So, Biron gets the call again in Detroit against a very skilled Red Wing team that even minus Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Holmstrom can score in bunches. They enter having been blanked consecutively. Figure Henrik Zetterberg, Nick Lidstrom, Johan Franzen and Company to play with an edge. Especially with Nashville breathing down their necks. In their proud history, the Red Wings have never been shutout three straight times. I highly expect Biron to keep them off the scoreboard tonight. But that also means this MIA act by Marian Gaborik has to end. There have been too many games where our most dangerous sniper hasn't been noticeable. With his ice-time dwindling including on our dreadful power play that fired blanks on four in a row in en empty second at Molson Centre, it's time for No.10 to resemble the guy who scored 43 goals last year. Tonight is as good a place as any to start.

Hopefully, our guys who are on their first four-game skid of the season will turn it up and snap out of it. They're only making it harder on themselves.

Kovy leads the way in another Devils win at Montreal

After stubbing their toe on Friday, the Devils made sure they didn't fall into a pothole this afternoon, coming out with a purpose early against the Habs and hanging on late despite the fact that Martin Brodeur left the game due to injury (tweaked knee, supposedly day-to-day but with this medical staff you have to remain skeptical). New Jersey's 4-1 win - our sixth in a row at the Bell Centre - was especially satisfying for Ilya Kovalchuk, who for reasons known only to them was booed mercilessly by Hab fans every time he touched the puck. Kovy responded the best way possible with two goals, for the second time in three games dominating in front of a hostile crowd. Despite his uneven play Friday night, that's encouraging in itself.

Granted, I get why Kovy gets booed in Atlanta and LA (contract issues) and at the Garden because of his rivalry with 'favorite son' Avery. Heck, I'm not even surprised at the boos in Toronto because of the nonsense this offseason with Brian Burke getting involved in the Kovalchuk contract hearing. Today's booing seemed pretty random though...if they're gonna boo the best player than boo Brodeur - who's a thorn in the side of their team, of course they won't do that for obvious reasons.

With Brodeur in net, that figured to give the Devils an edge in a matchup of two of the league's hottest teams given the hometown kid's career record in Montreal, which includes a .945 save percentage and five shutouts. However, the first period was about Devil domination more than anything else as the team came out with a purpose after blowing Friday's game with Danius Zubrus scoring after just seventy-two seconds, pouncing on a turnover behind the net and beating Carey Price with some quick stickwork in front for his tenth goal of the season. At 4:04 Kovy scored his first of the game and 16th of the year with a sick deflection of a Colin White point shot, and celebrated emphatically in front of the booing fans.

Although Brodeur made eleven saves, one of them proved costly when he tweaked his knee and didn't return for the second period. Despite being out for the rest of the game, Brodeur would add to his record wins total thanks to some good, controlled play by Johan Hedberg and an insurance goal by Travis Zajac just 3:16 into the second. Hedberg only allowed one goal, a shot by P.K. Subban that deflected off a defenseman and past him to pull the Habs back to 3-1, and there the game remained until Kovy scored an empty-net 'goal'. Actually Kovy missed the empty net but was previously hooked on a clear breakaway so it counted as an automatic goal at 18:39, accounting for the final score in a 4-1 win that pulled New Jersey back to within sixteen points of the final playoff spot.

Yeah okay I admit it, I have started to think in terms of 'well, a win Tuesday at least can get us back to 14 and makes it somewhat interesting' since we're playing the eighth-seed Hurricanes in a critical matchup. Not only are the two home games against Carolina this month a must-win, they're pretty much a must-win in regulation if we have any shot of accomplishing the miracle of miracle comebacks. Despite his good play today, I'm not anxious to see Hedberg in net Tuesday. Not if he's going to try too hard and put himself wildly out of position the way he did Friday. From what I saw of the second and third periods at my friend's house for a Super Bowl party, Hedberg looked much more controlled this afternoon. Zajac also had an excellent game with two assists to go along with his goal, but it was Kovy who stole the show playing over twenty-five minutes with two goals and a +2 in what was (imo) his best game as a Devil to date.

For the Devils to keep up their run to .500 or better, Kovy's going to have to be a dominant player again and it looks like he's getting more and more comfortable both offensively and defensively since the return of Jacques Lemaire. Maybe the team's success has finally gotten Lemaire thinking of a possible return, since just two weeks after he flatly denied he'd come back he didn't rule it out entirely talking to one of the local reporters today. For whatever issues I have with Lemaire (the power play being one, his treatment of Matthais Tedenby being another), he has at least curtailed the mad line juggling that drove me up a wall last year and that's been a change for the better. If he can unlock the key to assimilating Kovy to the Devils, it'd certainly be worth having him around next year to finish the job.

Bad Hab-it continues for slumping Rangers

The bad Hab-it continues. The Canadiens' mastery of the Rangers once again was too much for our team to overcome. Even in a game they deserved a better fate, it didn't matter because Carey Price stood tall turning aside all 35 Ranger shots in a 2-0 win at Bell Centre this afternoon. Not only did they fall short but now have dropped four in a row dating back to that wacky loss to the Panthers where Mike Weaver's shot went in off Artem Anisimov. Three of the losses have come at home with the other against a team they just can't beat. The Habs improved to 3-0 this season winning all tight games.

The 0-2-2 mark has the Blueshirts just four up on both Carolina and Atlanta thanks to the Hurricanes' 4-3 overtime win that just ended. Oh. And the way it's been going, of course the Canes would allow the Thrashers to tie it in the final minute before Erik Cole won it- drawing the Canes even with the slumping Thrahsers for eighth. Each has 58 points but Carolina played only its 53rd game compared to Atlanta's 55th and our 56th. So, they have games in hand as well. With another difficult match coming at Original Six Detroit on dreaded Versus before a few days off with Atlanta next, the sooner the Blueshirts snap out of a funk that's seen them lose seven of 10, the better off for their playoff chances.

This wasn't about a sluggish start as had been the case in recent weeks plaguing our club. It was more about Price, who made some money stops and our anemic offense with again the powerless play the main culprit. How else to explain blowing four consecutive power plays in the second and not even making a dent before of all people, Scott Gomez scored a crusher to snap a scoreless tie late in the stanza? It would figure that a wide Alexandre Picard point shot would carom off the Habs' ridiculous boards right to a vacated Gomez, who patiently took his time before going upstairs on starter Martin Biron. Biron btw was quite good making 27 saves. So, aside from a flukey bounce, since coming in for Henrik Lundqvist, all Marty's done is stop 33 of 34. If your team can't score, you got no shot.

Only this time, it's our steady backup that was victimized by our fading offense. Has anyone seen Marian Gaborik? It's getting to the point where you half expect his mug to be on the back of a milk cartoon with the slogan:

"HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PERSON? IF SO, PLEASE CONTACT THE NYRANGERS AT 2 PENN PLAZA IMMEDIATELY."

Okay. No one is saying he isn't trying. But a couple of days removed from some lazy turnovers in an MIA performance which John Tortorella again called him out, Gabby registered two shots and was minus-one in under 15 minutes. Unless he's finishing, Gaborik is a waste of space, which makes you wonder if maybe our organization would be better off exploring trading the superstar. I know it seems like a stretch because of the hefty price tag and also we're still talking about one of the elite snipers when on. So, what has happened to the Great Gabby??? Outside of lighting up three of the worst teams this season to the tune of 10 goals, he's scored only six in the other 38!!!!!! That is insane. Tort has tried every possible line combo that it makes one ponder if we're gonna have to bring back the Renney shuffle which always had jailed Petr Prucha as a healthy scratch.

Vinny Prospal has already shown more in two games than his more gifted linemate. How much catering can our coach do without screwing with the rest of the chemistry? And Chris Drury wasn't in to critique for this one with his knee being drained. Yep. Another injury for our battered captain who you know will sacrifice even if he couldn't score into a whore house. Does Gaborik ever lay it on the line ever? Maybe I'm overreacting. But it's getting increasingly frustrating watching the rest of our team give it their best while the ghost wearing No.10 resembles Nigel Dawes. At least the ex-Ranger got dirty. I don't have an explanation for Gaborik who should be over his shoulder separation unless it's like Jaromir Jagr after that brutal arm injury at the end of Game One versus the Devils in '06 First Round.

The excuses have to stop. Lundqvist never makes any when he has off nights, always at his locker to discuss what went wrong. I'm not inferring that Gaborik isn't but I just can't make any more excuses for what's supposed to be our best offensive player.

Sean Avery saw increased time with Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust, who were our most effective trio late as Price closed out his fifth shutout of the season (eighth career). They worked the puck down low and generated chances but Price was too strong- stifling a pointblank Avery opportunity with Biron pulled in the final 70 seconds. Eventually, our joke of a power play came back to bite us when Tomas Plekanec erased all doubt, sending the Rangers to their latest loss.

So, what to expect now with what should be an angry Detroit having been shutout two straight by an aggregate 6-0 margin against Columbus and Nashville? Uh. This probably doesn't bode well. Even if Jimmy Howard's having a sophomore slump, even an injury plagued Winged Wheel is much better skilled than our grinders. Just imagine the havoc five-goal scorer Johan Franzen might create. Henrik Zetterberg, Nick Lidstrom, Todd Bertuzzi and Dan Cleary are still healthy along with Brian Rafalski. And if Boyle's suspended for his hit on Jaroslav Spacek who thankfully wasn't hurt, oh joy. :P

Well, I wouldn't worry too much. Lundqvist should be better. So, we at least should have the edge there. Let's hope they carry forward how they played because on most days, it'll be good enough. Just not against Devils North.


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Scott Gomez, Canadiens (deciding goal at 18:34 of 2nd)
2nd Star-Martin Biron, Rangers (27 saves)
1st Star-Carey Price, Canadiens (35 saves incl. 19/19 in 3rd for 5th SHO)

Devils mistakes cost them a point against Florida

Since the first week of January, the Devils haven't had many slip-ups, going 8-1-1 in their prior ten games and fanning the ridiculous optomism about making a miracle playoff run. When you're in the position the Devils are you really can't afford to give away points. Tonight the Devils did, thanks to a series of mistakes that cost them an overtime loss to a team much closer to a playoff spot in the Panthers. Although it should fairly be said they were also gifted the point they got by some of the weirdest goals you'll ever see, so perhaps the 4-3 OT loss was a fair result if nothing else.

Yet I'll admit it, I felt bad about dropping the point. With winnable road games in Montreal and Toronto sandwiching a home game against Carolina the Devils could have really made some hay into doing the impossible this week, or merely the improbable of getting back to .500 (since we're still eleven under). About the only good things that came out of tonight were we got one point closer to Buffalo - losers in Pittsburgh - and got out of last place in the division completely.

I did partially fear a letdown tonight based on their emotional win at the Garden barely twenty-four hours ago although I'm not sure what happened to the Devils was really a letdown as much as it was breakdowns. Starting with the opening goal by Chris Higgins 6:52 into the first, when defenseman Anssi Salmela fell down while backpedaling, and that created an opening for Higgins to walk in and score. Salmela would continue to make mistakes but because the team was playing a third game in four nights and also plays again Sunday afternoon, Jacques Lemaire didn't want to shorten his bench so Salmela played on. Not that he would be the only ex-Thrasher to make costly mistakes tonight.

You could pretty much tell what kind of game it would be on the Devils' two goals in the first period, first when a ridiculous bounce off the backboard victimized goalie Tomas Vokoun, and Travis Zajac tapped in a loose puck for a farcically easy eighth goal of the season. Then, the haunted boards struck one more time for good measure, deflecting a Henrik Tallinder point shot that went wide right onto the stick of Jason Arnott for another tap-in goal at 11:01, Arnott's 13th. Showing their resiliency - and not for the last time today - the Panthers tied the game less than two minutes later when Dennis Wideman scored through a screen on the power play at 12:35. Florida's power play was an exercise in futility for the Devils' penalty killers, as the puck remained in the New Jersey zone for the entire eighty-four seconds of the man advantage, which included a terrible attempt at a clear from Zajac right before the goal.

Amazingly enough, luck proved to be on the Devils' side one more time in the second period when Mark Fayne's twenty-mile an hour high floater of a wrist shot somehow knuckled its way past Voukoun at 6:20 to restore the Devils' lead. Despite the fluke nature of the goal, the second period proved to be New Jersey's best, as they controlled the game for the latter part of the second period. Only a predictably inept power play kept the Devils from extending their lead, to say they were 0-3 with the man advantage would be kind omission. We registered few, if any quality chances on those power plays.

And most embarassingly one of those power plays resulted in our losing the lead at 12:52 of the third period, when Ilya Kovalchuk made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone, then a hideously bad one by swinging and missing at a puck on edge, allowing Mike Santorelli to get a shorthanded breakaway. Instead of staying in his net though, Johan Hedberg came way out of it to try a futile poke-check that missed, allowing Santorelli an open net to put the puck in. It wasn't the first time Hedberg had ventured into no-man's land to unneccesarily play a puck. To be fair, he did have a nice poke-check on a breakaway in the second period but the second time he tried it he got a tripping penalty and odds are the Panthers realized Hedberg was getting play-the-puck happy so a third poke-check surely wasn't going to fool anyone.

After the ridiculous breakdowns on all three goals, the end result seemed inevitable somehow although the irony of Rostislav Olesz's OT winner after two minutes was that it came on one of the few shots where Hedberg stayed in his net the whole game, and he allowed a softy after he'd been stopping the puck well for most of the night. Still, I was beside myself that the Devils could lose this game with all the good fortune that had gone their way. It kind of seems like a wasted point really, though like I said at the top it was a wasted point that was probably gifted to begin with. Really if you were scoring this game like a boxing match, the Panthers were the better team for much of the night. Not much better, just marginally so - but still better.

And let's not forget, for the premature talk from Devils fans about getting back into the playoff race - Florida's already there, five points back of Atlanta for the eighth seed. Not to mention most of the other teams we're going to be playing are also in the thick of the race, so that makes having a historic run even more of a daunting task. As Lemaire's been preaching all along though, one game at a time. Hopefully Sunday we have yet another great performance from Martin Brodeur in Montreal, though as we saw with Henrik Lundqvist against the Devils the other night, even when you have another team's number eventually that gravy train goes missing.

Lundqvist BeDeviled

Throughout most of his career, Henrik Lundqvist has owned the Devils. However, that certainly wasn't the case last night with a rejuvenated Devil club coming into MSG and chasing him in a satisfying 3-2 win before a sparse crowd. The Devils have been playing much better hockey and continued their hot trend with an eighth win in 10 (8-1-1) to pull out of the cellar and into a tie with the Islanders.

Believe it or not, they trail the eighth Thrashers by 18 points with still plenty of time left. Given that Atlanta's struggled lately and the Hurricanes also lost again, anything's possible. In the mean time, New Jersey is just focused on playing the kind of hockey that's produced the turnaround. Sticking to Jacques Lemaire's strict one-four neutral zone trap, the sharper Devs jumped on the Rangers from the outset with Ilya Kovalchuk wiring one top shelf past Lundqvist's glove only 64 seconds in. A lot went wrong on the play with three Rangers caught deep leading to a seamless transition with No.1 star Dainius Zubrus dropping the puck for Kovalchuk, who surprised Lundqvist from the right circle for his 15th.

Sloppy play would be a theme all night as the Blueshirts failed to get the puck deep, often throwing errant passes right to Devil sticks into the teeth of a stingy trap that forced a bakery dozen of turnovers. Unable to break the defense, a flat Ranger team struggled to generate anything for the first half. In fact, before Ryan Callahan surprised Martin Brodeur with a similar shot high glove answering Brian Rolston's goal which made it 3-zip late in the second, the Rangers had two total chances. Both of which were missed nets with Brandon Dubinsky hitting the post with Brodeur dead to rights and Artem Anisimov missing wildly. As fate would have it, it would foreshadow a cruel ending unless you drink Kool Aid.

For a second consecutive game since the All-Star break, it was evident that Lundqvist was fighting the puck, letting out some juicy rebounds like the one Mike Rupp deposited Tuesday. This time, it was a routine Zubrus shot that squeezed through for an awful second goal following a close call at the other end. Zubrus' ninth from Henrik Tallinder had the Devils in total control. Bottling up the neutral zone, they pounced on every Ranger mistake. Neither team really forechecked, which probably explains a grand total of 19 shots midway through. David Clarkson tried to liven a dead atmosphere by pounding Sean Avery in a anticlimatic fight if you could call it that which lasted 30 seconds. Avery fell down after one punch and it was over. Something tells us those two aren't done. Nothing was settled.

Continuing to have the better of the play, the Devils took full advantage of a lazy Mats Zuccarello pass into no-man's land. After the first-year Norwegian came hard on the backcheck, he simply threw the puck to a blind spot which Patrik Elias was only too glad to dish across for an open Rolston who buried his seventh past Lundqvist- effectively ending his night. The Devils had scored three on a guy they usually struggle just to get to one. Three goals on 12 shots and Martin Biron was in. Right away, he was tested and made an outstanding stop. Though he only faced six shots, at least half were clutch giving his team a chance at another comeback.

Following a timeout in which a furious John Tortorella peppered his team including during a TV break, Anisimov and Callahan hooked up on a nice play, getting one back 81 seconds later. A streaking Anisimov backed up the D before dropping to a cutting Callahan whose slapshot went inside the crossbar past Brodeur's glove. A similar goal to Kovalchuk's but from a sharper angle. Neither goalie could've been pleased on either even if they were rockets. Callahan's second goal in two games since returning gave his team life. They pressured the last few minutes but still trailed 3-1 after two.

The Devils ran into penalty trouble early in the final stanza with Zubrus (goalie interference) and Anton Volchenkov (delay of game) in the box 45 seconds apart. Eventually, even our putrid power play had to score. Thanks to returnee Vinny Prospal, they did with Mr.Suntan centering one off Tallinder's stick for his first of the season. Nice to see him get rewarded in his first game back. Prosp was better than expected taking a team high five shots in 16:33 while nearly setting up Marian Gaborik in the first and narrowly missing a goal earlier. His creativity down low was evident and can only boost our offense. Who knows? Maybe it will rub off on the PP.

Speaking of Gaborik who got a secondary helper on the goal with Zuccarello also assisting, he was invisible. When Kovalchuk who isn't exactly known for defense takes him off the puck and goes the other way, that's pathetic. Maybe it's time for Gabby to play with Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust. Find me one good reason why Zuccarello or Wojtek Wolski should play on the fourth line with Avery and Chris Drury. That's how down I am on Gabby. Start earning your paycheck.

So, with Prospal scoring early to make it one goal, I had to stay just to see our miserable power play fail twice. I needed to catch the local 1 train back to South Ferry for the 10 PM boat. So, when our late man-advantage was about to go empty, I took off for Penn Station hoping I'd make it. As fate had it, I ran into a Devil fan who told me we hit the post with a second left before the train came. Of course, it got to the Ferry terminal with a minute to spare. By the time I and a few others raced upstairs, it was too late. So, I had to settle for the 10:30 boat and didn't get back till after 11. :P

Yeah, I was mad. LOL...but the ferry ride back was nice and there were several fans also on it. If only there'd been some actual noise in the building. I've never seen such a late arriving crowd for a Battle Of Hudson. I don't know if it's the icy weather and all the snow, but it wasn't close to a sellout. There was no energy in the place. It looks like I'm going to go to my first Rangers-Devils game at The Rock when the rematch takes place two weeks from now on February 18. I have a Devil buddy going, another friend who hates hockey but just wants to torment me and two other Ranger fans. So, it should be quite interesting. If anyone else wants to meet up from the njdevs, let me know.


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Patrik Elias, NJD (assist, +3 with great overall play)
2nd Star-Brian Rolston, NJD (GWG-7th of season)
1st Star-Dainius Zubrus, NJD (9th of season, assist)

Hey Marty, Shut Yer Yap

At times, Martin Brodeur can say too much. That was exactly the case the other day in regards to losing. A term the future Hall Of Fame Devil netminder is unfamiliar with. Unless you count the Devils' being eliminated by the Senators on the final day of the season back in '95-96 which kept them from defending the Cup, Brodeur has never known the feeling of missing the playoffs.

The all-time leader in wins and shutouts is a winner who's accomplished everything this game has to offer. Winner of three Stanley Cups, Olympic Gold and the Vezina awarded to the game's top goalie, he certainly has a lot of pull with the media. A friendly person by nature, he'll always weigh in on any issue. The man for who those silly lines were painted behind the net restricting him and other effective puckmoving types like Carey Price and Marc-Andre Fleury, is a good source when you want to know what can be done better to improve the game.

In what's been a tumultuous season uncommon to MB30 and a few of his Devil teammates such as Patrik Elias, Colin White, injured Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, the once proud franchise sits in last place with their 37 points trailing Edmonton by one and the Islanders by two. Despite playing much better lately winners of seven of nine including a 2-1 triumph over Ottawa, the Devils bring a 17-30-3 record into the latest Battle of Hudson installment against the Rangers at MSG. Perhaps because of the unenviable position he finds his team in, Brodeur felt obligated to speak about the differences between the two franchises.

‎"We don't like not making the playoffs," Brodeur told NJ.com Wednesday. "It hasn't happened a lot, but (the Rangers) have been through seven years in a row not making the playoffs. We feel fortunate. We had a great run. This has been a ...difficult season but those guys, seven times in a row. That's tough. I just can't imagine that."

While it's true that the Rangers endured a brutal stretch spanning nearly a decade, why is the past relevant to where the bitter rivals currently are? Entering tonight's match, the seventh seeded Blueshirts boast a 29-20-4 mark with 62 points- 25 more than Brodeur's club. Gone are those chaotic days when the club couldn't get out of its own way. With last year's exception that saw an inferior Ranger outfit miss the postseason by a point thanks to a shootout loss to Cup finalist Philadelphia, who promptly bounced the Devils out, the Blueshirts have made the playoffs four out of five seasons since the lockout. Something even the all-time great can't ignore.

"If you miss it by 20 points or miss it by one point, you don't have a chance to win the Stanley Cup," Brodeur pointed out. "The first thing is to make it and right now they're making it."

Correct. Missing by a point last Spring sucked. Especially losing to the hated Flyers with Brian Boucher of all people besting Henrik Lundqvist in the skill competition. True enough, Philly had better shooters. When you're relying on Olli Joke-in-en to keep your season alive, you're screwed. And so, another desperate Ranger push fell short deservedly so even if the shootout is a lousy way to decide such important points. Just ask all the teams Edmonton beat back in '05-06, coming within a game of beating the Hurricanes for Lord Stanley.

For Brodeur who'll soon have to make an important decision on his future, it's got to kill him that his team put themselves behind the eight ball. Unable to string any kind of consistent effort that resembled their team mantra, a good man John MacLean lost his job with Jacques Lemaire returning one final time to at least save face. Ironically, their much more inspired play coincided with the trade of former captain and '03 Cup hero Jamie Langenbrunner who gets to compete for another with his former team in icy cold Dallas. Home of the Super Bowl. Is it a bit strange that they're suddenly playing more like the team we've grown accustomed to? Just by how they pushed the Rangers the last time before the New Year demonstrated that the Devils wouldn't be an easy game anymore. Pride has been restored.

What we don't get is why Brodeur felt obligated to speak about a team he loathes. He's always commanded the spotlight. Playing in the Garden State hasn't always been easy. Had the Devils been located in Manhattan, they'd build a statue for him. That's how great he's been. That doesn't mean it's cool to take subtle shots at the close Hudson rival. Something he's done throughout his career. Do you ever hear a peep out of nemesis Lundqvist? Only praise when it comes to the opposite No.30 who he has the utmost respect for.

Brodeur is right about one thing. He's been fortunate to play for a good organization that made winning a priority. For that, he should be grateful. However, a little friendly advice to Marty. Stick to your team. You know plenty of Garden Faithful will let him know about it tonight. Get your popcorn ready!

Fleury outplays Lundqvist in shootout loss to Crosby/Geno less Pens

Sometimes, the game of hockey is quite simple. In the playoffs, it usually comes down to goaltending. In Tuesday's case between a pair of All-Stars, Marc-Andre Fleury was better than Henrik Lundqvist. The Cup winner bested the gold medalist with Fleury making 26 saves and going seven-of-seven in the Pens' 4-3 shootout win over the Rangers.

Alright. Say this a few times. The Blueshirts have won 12 of 26 games at Madison Square Garden. Save us the Bettman substandard record of 12-11-3. Our team is really two games under .500 at home which simply is unacceptable. I get that this team gives it all they got every night. I also realize that for whatever reason, they're far more comfortable winning on the road where they've gone 17-10 (17-9-1), translating to Road Warriors. Ah. I do love using the name of arguably the greatest tag team in wrestling. God bless Hawk. It's fine that John Tortorella's club wins more away from MSG. But at the same time, at some point they better turn The Garden into a home ice advantage instead of home ice disadvantage. There's still 16 games left on 33rd and Seventh including tomorrow's grudge match against the revamped Devils. They better get it together soon.

So, how in a game where six combined goals was Fleury the difference? If you saw the goals our team scored compared to the softies Lundqvist let in, it was obvious. For some reason, he just wasn't sharp fumbling rebounds even in the first where our team led thanks to a Brandon Prust tap-in set up by Brian Boyle and Wojtek Wolski. Our team built a two-goal lead early in frame two when Artem Anisimov did something- batting the puck out of mid-air to notch his 11th from Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik. With Dubi back along with third goalscorer Ryan Callahan, our lineup looked decent considering it was their first games. I really liked how Dubinsky meshed with Anisimov and Gaborik. Hopefully, Tort will keep them together. Callahan played with Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello, who took turns with an effective Wolski.

The fourth line was anchored by Chris Drury who worked with recently demoted Kris Newbury and Sean Avery. I thought they played well forechecking effectively. Newbury may have racked up 32 penalty minutes in his time here but he played with energy and mixed it up. Sure. A few of his penalties were undisciplined and probably explains why he's been an AHLer. But he worked hard and fit in. Kudos to Ken Gernander and the rest of the Connecticut Whale staff. As for Drury who most figure could be the odd man out when or if Vinny Prospal returns, the captain acquitted himself well putting together a couple of inspired penalty killing shifts. For a guy who gets killed due to his hefty salary, Dru always gives effort. It's a shame that his body has broken down and he's likely done after this year regardless of the contract having another year remaining. I've seen tweeps ask for him to be stripped of the 'C.' But that would be detrimental to the team. I don't think outsiders realize his importance in the locker room. Intangibles can never be underestimated. It would've been nice if Dru had beaten Fleury with a great try that the Pitt netminder gloved for one of his best saves.

As for Boyle and Prust, Batman and Robin did their thing combining on a goal while playing solid all around hockey that we've come to expect. I guess Wolski will stick with them as I feel MZA is a better fit with D-Step and Cally. Aside from Callahan's tying tally with 12 ticks left in the second, the power play stunk. Michael Del Zotto was again shaky despite setting up Cally's redirect. He also failed to take Ranger killer Mike Rupp on the Pens' second goal- an awful rebound by Lundqvist on a routine Max Talbot shot. Honestly, he could've had all three, including rookie Dustin Jeffrey's unscreened one-timer for a Pens' power play goal that gave them life. In a word, deflating. No wonder the Pens soon tied it and then surged ahead on a similar play off a faceoff after Tortorella burned a timeout. Yes. Chris Kunitz tipped home Zbynek Michalek's blast but there again seemed to be enough time for our two-time All-Star to stop it.

Predictably, Lundqvist took no heat afterwards in a game we should've come out with two points in. What do these media people do during games? Yawn when Henrik allows clunkers similar to Martin St. Louis' in the All-Star Game?!?! Lundqvist has had a great season and I'm not trying to take away from it which includes seven shutouts. However, there are instances where he lets in goals that mystify. For a man praised for consistency, you expect him to make those saves. Especially in a game where Jordan Staal punched Prust following an elbow, earning a major late in the second ending his night. For how Tort felt about his team's game being good for the first game back, it sure seemed like the Pens were hungrier to the puck. They won most of the battles. In effect, they out-Rangered us without Crosby and Malkin.

Yes, our team dominated the third and overtime outshooting Pittsburgh 13-4 but Fleury wouldn't have any of it. Aside from Zuccarello trying to go five-hole which nearly worked, it was little shock that Fleury didn't allow one shot in the seven round skill comp to beat him. He wasn't losing it. When Lundqvist made the first move against unlikely hero Jeffrey who went five-hole in Round Seven, it was over. Especially when Gaborik was sent out. He simply isn't good at shootouts. So, Fleury easily padded away his feeble attempt and the Pens had the deserved extra point on a night their goalie was better.

Cookeing Up A Storm: Before I close the book on the other day, one thought on the Pens. Particularly Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke. These two constantly swing their sticks, which is potentially dangerous. While I'll give the benefit of the doubt to Kennedy who at least attempts to play an honest game most of the time, there's no love lost over Cooke. A man who continually gets away with garbage and never has to pay the price. At the opening faceoff of the second, he tried to goad Prust into a penalty simply because he chickened out of a fight. A low move typifying what this guy is about. Then, there was a shift where he chased Gaborik around looking to go low on him with the puck nowhere in the vicinity. To top it off, there he was running his mouth looking to instigate stuff at the end of the period with Boyle having none of it. This guy is a flat out embarrassment to the game of hockey and makes Avery look like a Lady Byng candidate. Yeah. I know Sean's no angel but he'll never look to hit someone cheap or take it to the level Cooke does. Isn't it about time someone puts this guy through the glass? The day can't come fast enough.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Brandon Prust, NYR (8th of season, fight vs Deryk Engelland-draw)
2nd Star-Marc-Andre Fleury, Pit (26 saves incl.7/7 in shootout)
1st Star-Dustin Jeffrey, Pit (PPG, shootout winner in Rd.7)

Devils hold off Ottawa amidst reports of the team being for sale

Even the Devils' 2-1 win against Ottawa isn't enough to lift the latest dark cloud hanging over the franchise - and no I'm not talking about the dopey icestorm that kept me and thousands home as no-shows for the game tonight, just the latest weather disaster in the Northeast this winter.

After a tranquil five days between Devil games, a bombshell was dropped on Devils Nation early this morning with the news that the team is now being put on the market. First reported by Bloomberg News, the initial story appeared to have been somewhat clarified by Jeff Vanderbeek's statement that his partner 'Brick City Hockey' (headed by minority owners Mike Gilfillan and Ray Chambers) didn't share his vision of the franchise and was putting their share of the team up for sale but that he expected to maintain a controlling interest.

Later reports have clouded the picture again though, with speculation that the minority owners can, in fact initiate a sale of the whole team and the Prudential Center arena. If you believe the Post, Vanderbeek only owns 30% of the Devils (if you have enough partners, that could still be enough to own a majority but not enough to ensure the others won't eventually buy you out of control), other reports have his stake at the team at 50%, with Chambers, Gilfillan and co-owner Peter Simon - who won't be selling his interest - splitting the rest of the team. If there really is instability with the team, that could further complicate the efforts to give Zach Parise a long-term deal this offseason, among other consequences of whatever nonsense is going to come of this latest spectacle in the days, weeks and months.

Vanderbeek can protest all he wants that nothing's going to change but in the span of a week I've now seen two of my teams be put up for sale and have been doubly lied to. That's a pretty bizarre coincidence, though the Devils' problems seem to be coming from left field even more than the Mets. If the Devils were in such dire straits, why exactly did we spend nearly $200 million aggregate in salaries this offseason between the contracts of Ilya Kovalchuk, Henrik Tallinder, Anton Volchenkov and trading for Jason Arnott? Is one bad season at the box office enough to get half of ownership to cry wolf or are they just looking for a profit now that the team's value has peaked?

At the very least, clearly we haven't been told everything about Vanderbeek's agreement with his partners, just like the Mets admitted nothing to us about how Bernie Madoff would affect the team. The shame of it is, Vanderbeek looked like he came straight from central casting as an owner who is a legitimate fan and kept involved on a day-to-day basis with the team and the fans PR-wise but didn't micromanage the hockey operation a la a Dan Snyder with the Redskins. Although he hasn't admitted he's looking to sell yet, his former firm at Lehman Brothers also took a huge hit during the recession but until now money certainly hasn't been an issue with the team. Who knows if we'll be as lucky with the next guy or group that comes in, since either way this looks like the beginning of the end of Vanderbeek being the face of the franchise.

It's too bad that whatever happens in the last 32 games, this will now loom over the rest of the season and the offseason. We really can't get a break from contreversy, between the Jamie Langenbrunner insubordination towards Jacques Lemaire last year to the Kovalchuk nonsense this offseason and Johnny MacLean's ill-fated tenure as coach, probably the worst stint as a coach ever in the NHL since it was so short and a spectacular failure. This is just more nonsense to add onto the pile.

About the only good thing you could say for today is the team won, and played fairly well if a bit uninspired at times against a subpar Ottawa team playing another goalie I never heard of (19-year old Robin Lehner). Of course, the 2009 second-round pick gave us headaches for most of the night - as have most goalies this year - stopping 31 shots, 24 of them in the first two periods with only Nick Palmeri beating him in the first minute of the second period. At least one of our rookie forwards is playing well - Palmeri has four goals in his first eleven games - of course that rookie's not Matthais Tedenby who was scratched yet again after a subpar game in Detroit last week. And once again I ask, if he's not going to play here then why is he here?

At least our defense was about as healthy as you could expect at this point, with Colin White's return after two games on the shelf with a lower-body injury. For one of the few times all year we had our top four of Volcheknov-Tallinder-White and Andy Greene intact on defense and the two free agent signings both seem to be hitting their stride now after slow starts. Among our top six, only Mark Fayne (flu) missed the game, with Anssi Salmela taking his place.

While defensively and system-wise we looked more like the Devils of the last three weeks of January, offensively we looked like the pre-Lemaire version for the most part. Until the final six minutes, when Danius Zubrus scored on a weird deflection (a break we weren't getting for the most part earlier this year), which gave us just enough breathing room for a regulation 2-1 win. Our seventh win in nine games was played in front of a crowd who was announced at just over seven thousand but in actuality probably much less due to the icy roads keeping ticketholders away.

Somewhat nonsensically, reporters have been asking the team whether they still feel they're in the playoff chase and were pestering Lemaire about it during the postgame, as if being some eighteen points back with 32 games left constitutes being 'in' it. Rightly the coach poo-poohed the question with this response:

“I never talk about that (with the players),” Lemaire said. “We’ve just got to take it a game at a time and that’s it because it’s nearly impossible, so why are you going to look at the whole picture?”

Really, you can't look at the playoffs until you get to .500...that should be the first goal and goaltender Martin Brodeur admitted as much on numerous occasions. Not that I want fans to completely give up the ghost, it's better than all the 'tank' talk that dominated December and early January but you've got to be somewhat realistic here. For the Devils to make the playoffs they'd have to do something more than twice as improbable as anything that's ever been accomplished in hockey history. We're not even out of last place yet.

At least things on-ice are looking a lot better than it is off-ice these days.

Around the rink: Devils and All-Star thoughts

Figures, doesn't it? Right after we bury out of one week's worth of snow, another big storm's on the way tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the Devils' return for the final 33 games of the season in spite of our current position in the standings but I'll probably have to sit out of going to tomorrow's home game against Ottawa since it looks like the snow's going to wreak havoc on attendance yet again (see: December 26 against Toronto). Hopefully none of our players will be sleeping in their cars again tomorrow night.

Aside from the snow, it will be nice to have real hockey back, whether on TV or in the arena. Yes, I admit the All-Star game was a nice diversion...especially with the unique format of picking teams encouraged by former legend and current NHL exec Brendan Shanahan (can we just nickname him the Mad Scientist now?). Whether it was staged or not, I still got a kick out of Johnathan Toews staring daggers into teammate Patrick Kane - assistant captain for Nicklas Lidstrom's team - for bypassing him in the first several rounds.

The shenanigans of the 'draft' also included Eric Staal's theatrical hold once he indicated a certain pick was going to be from the Rangers, but instead of his brother (defenseman Marc) it turned out to be goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Of course he picked his brother in the next round and made sure to have his other two Canes teammates with him as well - wunderkid Jeff Skinner and goalie Cam Ward, the first draft pick thanks to team colors and the fact the game was going to be in Carolina. Hometown and family blood trumped Lidstrom's collection of talent in the skills competition and narrowly went down to defeat in an 11-10 shootout during the game itself.

Still, even with the new format (and my personal fave Patrik Elias being the Devils' only ASW representative) I can't really get into watching the game. It's hard to watch a game where teams don't even attempt to play defense. Then again, I got used to it during the first half of the season - well, at least one team wasn't playing defense then. Which perfectly segways into my team's return from the All-Star break tomorrow night against the Senators. To think, eight years ago these teams met in an epic conference final, now they're among the dregs of the league. Even last year, both teams made the playoffs but were ousted in the first round by Pennsylvania teams.

Thankfully the Devils played their best hockey of the season in the three weeks prior to the All-Star break, but will the long layoff and another tough loss in Detroit (still winless there since '96) stall the momentum gained by a seven-game point streak? At least the 3-1 loss to the Wings can quell the silly playoff talk for a while, since we're still twenty points back of a spot. Don't delude yourselves with futile playoff hopes, Devils fans. At least not until this team gets back to .500. Unlike the playoffs, .500 is at least a semi-realistic goal and I can't take the playoffs seriously until we at least get to that point since it's likely going to take being several games over .500 to get the eighth seed.

Even that will be a challenge though, since the team's overall record is 16-30-3. Can the team go, say 21-7-5 in its last 33 games? That's what it would take just to get to 82 points and a .500 record. Our last three weeks of January cautiously suggests it's possible but further complicating the march to respectability is the trade deadline looming at the end of February. Granted, the only likely candidate to be moved is center Jason Arnott, an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season - but I certainly can't picture the Devils adding anyone at the deadline.

Whether this team gets back to .500 or not, at least we're on our way to accomplishing what should have been the only goal at the halfway point - making the second half of the season fun to watch and worthwhile since we're seeing vets return to form (Brian Rolston's among the hottest Devils, for crying out loud!) and rookies learn from vet coach Jacques Lemaire. Both will serve us well next year, whoever the coach may be since Lemaire's already ruled out a return.

At least I'm glad I decided to go to the home game against the Panthers before the break, since that turned out to be another winning effort. My only regret was I should have stayed for the third period instead of rushing home to catch the Jet game. Not so much cause I missed anything at the Devil game (we were already up 4-1 when I left, well on our way to a 5-2 win) but because I had to watch the ridiculously lethargic start to the AFC Championship that doomed the Jets. Sometimes things in sports are just unexplainable, like the Jets' effort level in that game or the Devils' in Game 6 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals at home.

Maybe the first half of the Devils' season will fall into the 'unexplainable' category if this team returns to its winning ways and gets its pride back over the final two plus months of the season. Or then again, maybe the problems will be far more explainable given the two major changes from the first half of the season till now (offing the coach and captain).

Rangers Clawed Again by Panthers

In Inspector Gadget, Dr. Claw was the evil character who he took on and outwitted in the entertaining cartoon when kids could be kids. These days with what passes for TV during the afternoon, there are no Claws trying to ruin Gadget's day or Lotors seeking to destroy Voltron. Skeletor versus He-Man won't be happening anytime soon but unfortunately for the Rangers, they felt the Claw last night against their kryptonite in the form of the Panthers, who came into MSG and posted a whacky 4-3 win.

For some reason unknown to the universe, the Rangers simply cannot beat Florida. Throw out the shootout win and we'd be 0-for-3. It doesn't matter what the records are. Even if half of Connecticut is on our roster, the bottom line is the Rangers are still sending three All-Stars who are thankfully all healthy. That Marian Gaborik isn't one speaks volumes. Maybe he needs more odd goals like the one that went off his stick and shoulder to tie the Caps, who our team rallied to beat in the skill competition the other day. Where would this team be without Brian Boyle, who will probably get overlooked for the Selke despite leading the team with 18 goals and doing everything the award for game's best defensive forward details? It's Boyle who John Tortorella trusts so much to the point that he stuck Gaborik with him and saw Gabby set up the big man's 18th which tied the game.

In a testament to their character, the Rangers again rallied this time from two down to tie Florida early in the third. One they absolutely owned except for the final tally. Sometimes, you're unlucky. Just ask goat Artem Anisimov who went from shootout hero to No.1 Star for the Cats in 24 hours. Alright, maybe that's a bit unfair. But come on. He had not one but two Panther shots go off him past a stunned Henrik Lundqvist for goals, including the bizarre winner off Mike Santorelli's stick which caromed off No.42's back and bounced over our helpless goalie. You can't make it up.

What is it about Florida that makes them such a thorn in the Rangers' side? Even when we win, it's by the slimmest of margins. Granted. Tomas Vokoun is a good goalie who never gets his due playing in obscurity. Now, he knows how Roberto Luongo felt all those years before forcing a trade to Vancouver. Sometimes, people forget that the former Predator is a top 10 netminder who can steal a game. So, losing to the Panthers isn't as humiliating as our favorite Ranger blogger Scotty Hockey makes it. What can you do when two shots go off a player for goals? What can be done when the Blueshirts dominate the third but the Panthers' only shot resembles Adam Sandler's winning shot in Happy Gilmore? Like all games, hockey's a funny sport. If bounces don't go your way, sometimes you lose.

Tortorella wasn't disappointed with the team's effort mostly because of how they responded after seeing Lundqvist give up a klunker that deflated the building. To those wagoners who gave him a Bronx cheer when it was 3-1, find another team to latch onto. Such childish behavior is inexcusable. You aren't real fans. Anyone who acts like that should be tossed from the building by the dopey Dolan security and never be allowed to attend another game. I've gotten on Lundqvist plenty in this space but without him, we're simply not a playoff team. He's played his ass off and deserves better than that garbage. His team didn't help much either being lazy on a pair with even Boyle's line getting victimized.

Of course, they'd atone later with warrior Brandon Prust igniting a rally and then Boyle depositing loose change in front for a power play goal. See how easy that is? Stick your hardest working player out with size and grit and watch him get dirty to score a PPG. That's how it's done folks.

So, am I upset about the bitter loss ending our team's play prior to the break? Of course. Losing to the Panthers irks me. Especially when they beat us in the flukiest way possible. But hey. Couldn't we say the same thing for Gaborik's goal that allowed us to steal two points in DC? Case closed.

Immediately following the game, the Rangers designated Mike Del Zotto, Kris Newbury, Chad Kolarik, Evgeny Grachev and Brodie Dupont for assignment so they could stay fresh in Connecticut. Enough can't be said about the play of Newbury and Kolarik whose hustle is indicative of what this team is all about. They fit right in. Big kudos to Ken Gernander and Jim Schoenfeld.

Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan were bright spots again last night with MZA dishing out three assists and Stepan tallying his 14th and 30th point. Not bad production from the 20 year-old out of Wisconsin. Oh btw, Zuccarello's up to 3-8-11 in 17 games proving he's going to stick. It won't be long before the little engine that could is scoring big goals. He's a keeper.

When they return for the Feb.1 home game against the Pens with probably Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin back, figure Ryan Callahan to be there for his teammates which should be a big lift for a team that's struggling to score goals. Brandon Dubinsky won't be far from behind. All things considered, Tortorella has done a superb job keeping our team in playoff position with a 29-20-3 record for 61 points, good for sixth seed- two ahead of Montreal and two behind Washington.

I'd say you got a Jack Adams candidate there. Hope the break treats our players kindly. They've earned it.

Islanders deserve better

Over the weekend, the Islanders put in a claim on free agent goaltender Evgeni Nabokov, who had signed for the rest of the season with the Red Wings. Obviously looking to cash in and win a Cup after a failed stint with SKA St. Petersburgh of the KHL in which five years, $25 million weren't enough, the former Shark has put himself in an unenviable situation.

By rejecting the Islanders after agent Don Meehan said his client would report anywhere for work, it reflects poorly on the 35 year-old Nabokov who guided San Jose to the Conference Finals twice. Even worse, if he did hang up on Islander GM Garth Snow and then speak to ESPN afterwards, it's very unprofessional. The rules are what they are. It wouldn't be fair to the other 29 teams if he just chose Detroit without the waiver rule in place. After all, he did leave the NHL to play in Russia before getting released by SKA. Even the veteran netminder was aware that this could happen.

"I understand the rules," Nabokov told ESPN.com. "We're not stupid. We knew what was going on before we made the decision. But I made this decision because the goal was to play with Detroit."

If only it were that simple. You can't just choose your destination without teams with poor records identifying if they want to pick the player up. The Islanders have a unique situation with Rick DiPietro in and out of the lineup and rookie Nathan Lawson on the mend with a left knee sprain. The organization doesn't want to rush Kevin Poulin, wisely deciding to keep the 20 year-old former '08 fifth round pick in Bridgeport where he can develop. So, it makes all the sense in the world for a team short on goalies to want Nabokov.

"I think I'm going to stay home for now, I'm sticking with my decision," Nabokov echoed yesterday. "It's nothing against the Islanders and their organization. It's nothing to do with that. It's just that I'm at the point in my career where I want to help a team win in the playoffs. I don't see how I could help the Islanders or what I could do for them. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me. And I hope they understand that.


"I was surprised they picked me up. I was like, 'Wow, what's the point?"'

While it's understandable why Nabokov doesn't want to report due to the Islanders' place in the standings, it is still blatant disrespect and lacks class. It shouldn't be that easy for a player who returns to play on a winner with a chance. This isn't fantasy. Mr. Nabokov needs a reality check.

"It's a situation where I feel we got a talented player off waivers and we'd be thrilled to have him part of the organization," Snow said. "He has a standard player's contract with our organization."

"I'm not going to speculate," he added of whether Nabokov changes his mind a la Adam Banks in The Mighty Ducks. "I'm looking forward to having him in an Islanders uniform. We can cross those bridges when we get there. I'm not there yet."

Do you think a kid who gets traded midseason would not want to play hockey? Come on. The Islanders can toll the contract and have Nabokov owe them a season next Fall or place him on waivers again. I'd suspend him without pay. It's not right what he's doing and childish.

We'll see what happens.

Injuries Testing Ranger Character

Meet the walking wounded. Or in the Rangers' case, the skaters who are piling up on the IR. Injuries are part of sports. The Pens are dealing with life without the game's top player Sidney Crosby and finding out it ain't so grand. Yesterday, the Bears had to play the second half without Jay Cutler yet emergency third string QB Caleb Hanie nearly played unlikely hero with Chicago falling just short against archrival Green Bay.

There are always injuries which make life more challenging. Only the really good teams can overcome them and keep winning. Before the Ranger roster resembled the Connecticut Whale with Michael Del Zotto and Evgeny Grachev being summoned the other night with Dan Girardi going down and warrior Brandon Prust nicked up, they already were without key cogs Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky with spare parts Ruslan Fedotenko and Erik Christensen also out, plus Alex Frolov done. That John Tortorella's club have been able to keep it together is a tribute to this team's character which will keep getting tested with what's sure to be a tough visit to the nation's capital tonight with suddenly surging Alex Ovechkin and the Caps seeking revenge for a 7-0 humiliation last month.

So, it continues for the seventh seeded Blueshirts, who again found a way to win Saturday coming back twice in stunning the Thrashers 3-2 in a shootout with Selke candidate Brian Boyle tying it and shootout sniper Mats Zuccarello playing hero by faking Ondrej Pavelec out for the only goal, which Henrik Lundqvist made stand up. For a team that's scored two-or-less in 11 of their last 12 since the start of the month, the Rangers have managed to survive bringing a 6-5-1 mark into tonight's Versus showdown with the puck drop at 7:30.

“We had many guys out,” Vezina hopeful Lundqvist stated after finishing with 20 saves including a stone job on Atlanta captain Andrew Ladd late in regulation to give his team a shot. “We tried to rebuild the team a little bit. We’re trying to get everybody on the same page.


“We’re not in an easy spot, but we’re doing the best we can now to get points.”

With a lineup that now features former Whale Del Zotto, Ryan McDonagh, Kris Newbury, Chad Kolarik, Jeremy Williams, Brodie Dupont or possibly Grachev who's fresh off a hat trick, these Blueshirts bend but don't break. No matter the adversity, they respond. Especially after a poor defensive effort that saw the Hurricanes blitz them 5-2 last Thursday with All-Star Marc Staal and Danny G with a rare dreadful showing. Not surprisingly, the Rangers were more focused and played with better intensity against another team trailing them in the standings.
 
When you twice battle back from one-goal deficits and allow only 20 shots with dangerous All-Star duo Tobias Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien hardly factors, it speaks to the committment of your team. One that never quits nor backs down from any challenge. Even if Girardi got tagged by Ladd after stepping in for Staal following a clean hit that caught his partner turned the wrong way stumbling into the boards, it was another team building moment. So, Girardi sits out tonight with bruised ribs and probably a busted nose from his scrap. Just last year, he watched Flyer fodder Daniel Carcillo suck Marian Gaborik into a one-sided fight. A humiliation he took a lot of heat for. Those days are over. These Rangers fight, claw and scrap.
 
With two more huge games before the break including the Caps later with backup Martin Biron getting the call against Braden Holtby before Tortorella comes back with Lundqvist versus the Panthers in a Garden match tomorrow, it's important for the Blueshirts to finish the month strong. They know they're in a heated race with sixth place Montreal, eighth Atlanta who were routed by Tampa Sunday and ninth Carolina who you never can can't out as long as Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Calder frontrunner Jeff Skinner have anything to say about it.
 
Every point is so valuable. The Rangers are finding a way not using the injuries as a crutch. They've rallied around each other to make sure a bitter ending last year doesn't get repeated. So, they'll skate, check and sacrifice until Callahan returns with target date Feb.1 versus the Pens likely. They'll continue to plug away until Dubinsky's ready. Girardi and Prust will be back because they're leaders who exemplify what it is to be a New York Ranger. An identity formed under one of the league's best coaches in Tort who's handled things much better this time. Even he gets it. It's about keeping everyone on the same page and having them ready to work. That's why they're one of the hardest working teams in the NHL despite the lack of finish with Marian Gaborik using most of his ammunition against lesser lites Edmonton, the Islanders and the Leafs.
 
At some point, Gaborik must pick it up and carry the load. Putting it on the shoulders of kids Derek Stepan and Artem Anisimov won't work. Neither should Wojtek Wolski who's been good since he arrived from the Desert going 3-3-6 over seven contests. On this team, everyone contributes. McDonagh already evolving into a steady defenseman since Michal Rozsival exited stage left. Mike Sauer logging big minutes in place of Girardi to get the Rangers a 'W.' Newbury playing gritty bumping into anyone in his way while winning board battles. And Kolarik notching his first NHL point.
 
In every sense, this is a T-E-A-M. Exactly how Tortorella wants it. One True Blue faithful can be proud of. The job isn't done.

Picture of the day

Courtesy of the MSG broadcast...see how many mistakes you can find in this one screenshot!

Devils' third straight win cause for real celebration

If the circumstances favored us on Thursday when the Devils shut out a Pens team without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, we had things up against us today. Facing our nemesis in Philly (who'd taken three of four from us so far this year), a team that's leading the entire NHL with 67 points while we're still fighting to get out of dead last. Not to mention we had backup Johan Hedberg in net for the first time in two weeks, since he got pulled after allowing two quick goals against that same team in that same city. To top that off, hot rookie Nick Palmeri sat out the game due to injury and we also lost top defenseman Colin White early in the game due to whatever-body injury.

Yet, the Devils overcame all that to pull off a 3-1 win that might have been the team's most satisfying of the season. For starters, it was the team's third straight win - as I've been harping on for a long time, a win streak of that long hadn't occured since December of 2009. In addition, the Devils don't have a regulation loss in their last six games, all since the halfway point of the season. You didn't even roll your eyes when you heard Steve Cangelosi and Ken Daneyko whispering in the postgame about how the resurgent Devils may be the hottest team in the league right now.

Hedberg played well with 26 saves, many of the highlight-variety in the final two periods. Yes, I would have played Martin Brodeur myself, especially after his shutout Thursday - and after all, there's really nothing to save Brodeur for this season (unlike prior years where I wanted him to sit more to have some gas in the tank for the playoffs). Thankfully Jacques Lemaire went with his own instinct and now Hedberg feels a part of the win streak as well, just like everyone else. Not to mention we don't run Marty completely into the ground before the break, since today's game was our fourth in a week's time.

While other vets like Patrik Elias - two goals this afternoon - you sort of expected to turn it around, even guys like Henrik Tallinder and Brian Rolston (!) are contributing to the six-game result streak, with Tallinder getting a goal and an assist today in about twenty-six minutes of icetime. Rolston added two assists, giving the embattled vet eight points (two goals, six assists) in his last six games, which is nothing short of remarkable considering that Rolston had just five points in twenty-four games before this. Maybe putting him through waivers, which seemed like a fruitless exercise at the time, actually did have an upside?

Now the Devils are just four points back of the Isles for last place, with two games left before the All-Star break, a home tilt against Scott Clemmensen and the Panthers tomorrow (unbeaten in his three starts against us since leaving) and then a trip to Detroit against a team that suddenly has problems in net - exacerbated when the Isles blocked the Wings' attempt to sign Evgeni Nabokov from Russia by putting in a claim for the former Sharks goaltender. Presumably Brodeur will be back in the net for those final two games as the Devils attempt to go into the break on the kind of high that seemed impossible just two weeks ago.

Of course, now the Devils' resurgence has left yours truly with a dilemma. Do I go to the game tomorrow afternoon, with the Jets playing at 6:30? True, the hockey game itself wouldn't overlap with the start of the AFC Championship since it starts at 3 but I would have to drive - something I've only done once since the move from the CAA - and pay for parking there in order to get home in time for the game (since the train wouldn't get me home till 7:15, unless I left the game early). With as bad as the team's played for much of the season I really do want to go now, especially since I've missed going to several games lately for a variety of reasons - blizzard, New Year's eve stuff, selling my pair against Tampa in case the Jets were playing that day on Wild-Card weekend.

Then again, the only bad thing about going tomorrow - besides the hassle in getting in home on time for the game - is the fact that most Devils fans seem to be bitter football Giant fans who get jollies out of chanting 'J-E-T-S suck suck suck'! Certainly the goofballs in the back of 208 were doing this on Thursday, as well as changing the 'Rangers suck, Flyers swallow' chant by substituting Sanchez for Flyers. Perhaps it was inevitable there'd be a confrontation at the end of Thursday's 2-0 against the Pens, with an incensed season ticket holder behind me going up after the instigators, with another sth in the back row (one of the main antagonists) egging him to come on up.

Fortunately the sth at the end of my row (who's also a Jets fan) held the other guy back to avoid any real fisticuffs but really if you're coming to a Devils game and ragging on a team you know at least a good portion of the crowd likes, you're just asking for trouble. And these guys are all sth's, they've all been at the games since the team moved to the Rock so one way or the other, everyone's gotta live with each other. I don't care for the chants, but if people want to act like doofuses, fine by me just so long as they're not in my face with it.

In any case, I don't know how much hockey's going to be on my mind tomorrow as the football game draws closer but I do know with two games left before the All-Star break I finally want to see this Devils team play. And that's about as big an accomplishment as I could have hoped for out of the second half, at least intangibly. Tangibly, there's a chance this team can still get to .500, as far away as that seems. It would take something like a 22-8-5 stretch to do it but with what I've seen in the last six games, why not?

Gaborik 4 Rangers 3 Leafs 0

If you were playing the lotto, the winning numbers were 43. Well, at least a successful pair that worked its magic for the Marian Gaborik and the Rangers in a game of 7up over a bad Leaf team last night on Broadway. It'd be easy for us to poo poo the offensive explosion 10 games in the making due to the opponent. However, unlike other bloggers I'm going to accentuate the positives of a game the Rangers badly needed to snap a two-game skid.

For starters, Gaborik answered the bell after learning Brandon Dubinsky was out with a stress fracture three to four weeks. It's essential for the Great Gabby to pick it up and by that, I don't mean just the first four-goal game in the league this season. Here's the facts. With his finest outing that also included a helper for a five-point effort since that virtuoso five goal, six point performance victimizing us when he played for Minnesota, that makes it 10 of his 15 goals scored in three games with the other two hat tricks coming against lesser lites Edmonton and the Islanders. One thing I agree with from the cynics is that Gabby must remember to save some ammunition for stiffer competition starting with a visit to ninth Carolina tonight. The Blueshirts need No.10 to be consistent during this pivotal stretch before the break.

Yesterday was a great start with John Tortorella taking our easy advice of moving Sean Avery up with Gabby and Artem Anisimov, who netted a career high four assists, including a pair of beauties right on the Slovakian sniper's stick which was smoking literally. He started quickly thanks to a great Avery feed with Gaborik doing the rest undressing poor Leaf starter Jonas Gustavsson who was without a stick for the first goal.

It began an onslaught of four in a 4:45 span, blitzing a putrid Toronto club that may have been feeling the effects of a recent road swing that includes stops out West. Ironically, Ron Wilson's club laid a smackdown on the Thrashers recently. On this night, they were no match for a determined group of Blueshirts who made a statement after finding out before the game about Dubinsky's injury. Brian Boyle followed up Gaborik with a neat redirect of a Marc Staal shot for a power play goal. Already with a goal and assist, Gabby lit the lamp again courtesy of a brilliant Anisimov backhand feed across the goalmouth for a tap-in 36 seconds later.

“It feels good," Gaborik said after ending an eight-game drought in fine style. “It has been a battle lately. I need to get going. It is always a big relief to get the first one. It just took off from there.”

They weren't done with Ruslan Fedotenko's peculiar shot dipping under temporary reliever J.S. Giguere for 4-zip 2:19 later. Brandon Prust set it up with a nice pass in the neutral zone. His second point in three after going dry the previous seven this month.

With Wilson wanting to save Giguere for his ex-team tonight, Gustavsson mercifully came back in for more punishment. Before Gaborik completed his third hat trick followed by No.4, the Leafs played more physical with Mike Komisarek throwing his weight around. One such hit came after Fedotenko released the puck with the rugged defenseman going shoulder to shoulder KO-ing the ex-Lightning forward for an extended period. Fedotenko suffered a separated shoulder, meaning Brodie Dupont gets recalled from Connecticut. The way things have been going in that department, pretty soon we'll be fielding an AHL roster. I'm not gonna bother listing the guys who are still here for fear of jinxing them.

Rookie Dale Weise lost a fight to Luke Schenn. Kris Newbury would late take on Dion Phaneuf stemming from a hit from boarding the Toronto captain early on. Former Ranger enforcer Colton Orr also got involved, taking a charging minor which Gaborik finished off for his fourth with a laser past a helpless Gustavsson. Prior, Gabby turned the trick when a harmless shot snuck through The Monster. Anisimov and Wojtek Wolski netted helpers.

Up six having allowed just 13 shots with Henrik Lundqvist hardly breaking a sweat, the Rangers made it a touchdown and a PAT when rookies Derek Stepan and Mats Zuccarello worked a give-and-go with MZA finishing off his third 53 seconds into the final stanza. Wolski drew his second assist as well. He's 2-3-5 over five thus far and seems to have good chemistry with D-Step and Zucc. The Rangers will need that trio big time without Dubinsky with Ryan Callahan close to returning. The target date is February 1 versus his favorite opponent Pittsburgh. He began holding a stick the other day.

As sometimes happens when you're up big, you let down. That allowed the Leafs to take a few cracks at breaking the shutout. However, Lundqvist wasn't biting. The King made a pair of scintillating stops from in tight late to huge support and the familiar chants of "Hen---rik, Hen---rik, Hen---rik." Even in a rout, the emerging Vezina candidate kept his focus stopping all nine shots in the third (22 overall) for his league high seventh shutout- tying him with frontrunner Tim Thomas.

“They got a couple of chances,” Lundqvist said. “I wanted to get a shutout.”

With the contest winding down, Orr lost his mind intentionally slashing Steve Eminger, earning a major and game misconduct. The kind of ugliness we didn't see when he donned our jersey. I don't know if it's because he's playing for Brian Burke but the way that team plays sometimes leaves something to be desired. Colby Armstrong again tried to pull some shenanigans but Ryan McDonagh wasn't having it. Speaking of McD, he quietly gets better and better combining with Eminger to go plus-six while logging a career best 21:21, including a late power play shift and some PK time as well.

This was one game against inferior competition. The Rangers finished 3-0-1 in the season series against the Leafs. Now, it gets tougher with the Canes tonight, visits to Atlanta and D.C. before returning for the Panthers. Eight points up for grabs. Every single one valuable. Time to put the pedal to the metal.


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Sean Avery, NYR (3 assists-1st helpers since 12/16 vs Phx)
2nd Star-Artem Anisimov, NYR (career high 4 assists, +3 in 13:56)
1st Star-Marian Gaborik, NYR (4 goals-12, 13, 14, 15/assist, 7 SOG, +3 in 17:28)

Dubinsky injury the latest challenge for Rangers

When it rains, it pours literally. How else to explain Brandon Dubinsky going down at the most important stretch? A day after Larry Brooks wrote a suggestive piece advocating returning our leading scorer to center to boost slumping Marian Gaborik, the Rangers learned that the fourth-year emerging star has a stress fracture in his left leg which will keep him out three to four weeks.

To say I'm mystified would be an understatement. When you don't have a working computer and your brother needs your phone, you fall out of the loop. I had no idea Dubinsky was out until I saw a Facebook status which of course said our season was over here at the Library in Great Kills. Look. I'm not going to overlook Dubinsky's importance. It's my opinion that he's been the Team MVP in this surprising season that still has the Rangers seventh a point behind the Canadiens and two up on Atlanta. When Ryan Callahan went down, Dubinsky elevated his play to another level. It might not always be scoring goals cause he'd also cooled off considerably since a hot start but the plays he made helped the team win games. Whether it's winning a battle along the wall to set up Sean Avery a couple of weeks ago or just being in the right position defensively, Dubi has grown up this year.

He's more than the club-leading 17 goals, 21 assists, 38 points, four power play goals, two shorthanded goals and 124 shots. The 24 year-old Alaskan is playing the best hockey of his young career and is about to eclipse career bests across the board. For the Blueshirts to lose him now when Gaborik isn't scoring and the team hasn't scored more than two since a 3-1 win over the Devils concluding 2010, it's dire. There's no questioning the heart of a team that leaves everything out on the ice. Now, they're facing the toughest challenge of their season. Will they bury their heads like a few nervous nellies or will they stand up as they've done all year and fight a la William Wallace's epic speech in Braveheart.

"He's been struggling through it for the past couple of weeks here," John Tortorella pointed out. "He still was playing very well. It was a surprise. But you've got to move right by it, give the other guys opportunities and just go out and play."

"You can't worry about how difficult it is. You have to find a way to get it done. We have five games in seven nights here. There's no time to think, no time to whine. It's time to fight and you have to find a way to get points."

Well stated by a coach who's gotten the most out of his players. This is a team that wouldn't be where it is without the valuable contributions of Brian Boyle, Brandon Prust and Ruslan Fedotenko. They've been a constant. No question Tort needs them to chip in when they can. As was echoed in yesterday's post, it's time for Gaborik to step up. Henrik Lundqvist can't do it alone. Sure. Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Mike Sauer have his back along with an underrated D corps that still makes mistakes due to being the youngest in the league. More will be asked of Artem Anisimov who's capable of scoring more. Maybe they should slide Sean Avery with them. He's been playing much better lately by forechecking with vigor and winning battles. He can create space for our Gabby and Arty.

Keep Derek Stepan, Wojtek Wolski and Mats Zuccarello together. They scored both goals in a grueling 3-2 loss to No.1 overall Philly. The trio combines speed, skill and playmaking forming solid chemistry. It doesn't make sense to break them up. Tort has to be careful not to tweak the lines too much. Chris Drury is what he is at this point. A veteran who can win draws and kill penalties. Keep him on the fourth line with Dale Weise and Kris Newbury if he's still trusted after his idiocy the other night jumping Matt Walker from behind. They'll have to recall someone. Perhaps Chad Kolarik or Jeremy Williams.

In the meantime, the challenge presents itself. They host Toronto tonight, visit Carolina tomorrow and then take on Atlanta and Washington on the road before returning to MSG for Florida. A tough stretch which could prove pivotal if they're to make it back to the postseason. These five games in seven days come before the All-Star break.

"He's in every situation," Tortorella added of losing Dubinsky. "He's maturing, becoming a leader. That's just stuff on the ice. You can see him maturing off the ice. He's a big player for us. He's a very important guy in all situations, offensively and defensively. Because of our struggles in our faceoffs, we've been using him more there. It's a big hole."

Are the Rangers ready to step up? We're about to find out.

Pominville's OT winner pushes Sabres past Canadiens

Not much has gone right for the Sabres. A season disappointment that's included injuries to top stars Ryan Miller, Derek Roy, Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville hasn't helped Lindy Ruff's club. However, last night a couple of those now healthier parts helped the Sabres post a nice 2-1 overtime win over the hated Canadiens at HSBC Arena.

Not surprisingly when these two bitter rivals get together, there was plenty of chippiness with antagonist Patrick Kaleta infuriating former Islander James Wisniewski after boarding one of his teammates from behind. Wisniewski lost his cool and negated a Montreal power play with a retaliatory crosscheck on Kaleta's teammate Nathan Gerbe. At the moment, Montreal was already leading 1-0 thanks to diminutive rookie David Desharnais' second of the season on their first man-advantage. Wisniewski helped set up the goal along with another ex-Islander Roman Hamrlik to loud cheers from a strong Habs' contingent. Whenever these teams get together, there always are Montreal fans who make the trip across the border to support their heroes. Something quite familiar to Buffalo whenever another top rival Toronto visits.

It makes for an incredible atmosphere. Even if I've never been to a Sabres game, just listening to the "Go Habs Go," chants followed by "Let's Go Buffalo" is enough to enjoy the action. Perhaps that's why Versus wisely selected the heated Northeastern battle over a depleted Red Wing squad that fell to the Crosby-less Pens last night. For those who went, it must've been awesome. When the viewer can feel the environment through the television, it speaks to the nature of an intense rivalry similar to what we get closer to home whenever the locals do battle.

Carey Price was on making it tough for Buffalo to put one past him. The 23 year-old former No.1 pick who's flourished since the club dealt Jaroslav Halak to St. Louis was on top of his game, making plenty of sparkling saves en route to a game high 37 in what amounted to a losing effort. It was still good enough to earn the Habs a point, pushing them one up on the idle Rangers for sixth in the East. One issue for Montreal was that of fallen teammates with Jacques Martin's club losing Max Pacioretty for the remainder after a Wisniewski point shot struck him in the right side. While he was taken to the hospital, top line finisher Mike Cammalleri was already lost due to the dreaded upper body injury. They also lost Jeff Halpern as well. Down three, the Habs competed hard supported by Price's strong goaltending.

It took the power play for the Sabres to finally draw even when rookie Tyler Ennis was able to put home a Thomas Vanek rebound for his 11th with Connolly netting the other helper. The first-year left wing hasn't gotten much pop in a deep rookie class but deserves more attention. His playmaking and wherewithal to get dirty despite a smallish 5-9, 163 pound frame can't be ignored. Ennis wasn't done also helping set up Pominville's OT winner which also came via a power play. He's now up to 23 points (11-12-23) in 45 games after impressing with nine (3-6-9) in 10 last year. The 21 year-old former No.1 pick selected 26th overall in the '08 Draft is definitely one to keep an eye on for Sabre fans, who must admire the edge he brings.

“It’s big, but we have got to have some consistency here," explained the kid from Edmonton of getting two points while erasing a bad 5-3 loss to the Islanders victimized by John Tavares' second hat trick of the season. “We’ve got to build off this.”

Ultimately, it was a loss of discipline from ex-Devil/Ranger Scott Gomez which proved to be the difference. Late in regulation, he lost his cool during a battle with Nathan Gerbe retaliating a slash with a punch to the face. While his second minor of the contest didn't cost his team a point in regulation, it had to hurt watching the Sabres work some magic with Ennis handing for Vanek who wheeled to the front before making a sweet dish to a vacated Pominville for the decider 69 seconds into overtime.

"I’m not going to sit here and blame anyone,” Gomez lamented. “I know better than that. I know not to put myself in that position. I did and it cost us a chance at two points.”

 “Gerbe did a great job getting the penalty to get that power play,” Ennis noted. “When you get a chance in overtime like that, you have to bury it. It was big for us for Pommer to do that.”

In his career high 22nd consecutive start, Miller was also solid turning aside 29 of 30 in notching his 18th win of the season. The Sabres also were down a player with the sizzling Drew Stafford lost after two shifts after injuring his groin. The former University of North Daktota product has come into his own scoring 15 goals, which ranks second on the club behind Vanek (17). He has 23 points in just 30 games thus far, having missed 15 games. Buffalo can ill afford to lose him.


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Jason Pominville, Buf (OT winner at 69 seconds-9th of season)
2nd Star-Carey Price, Mtl (37 saves)
1st Star-Tyler Ennis, Buf (11th of season, assist)

Lost Weekend cause for concern

For most of the season, the Rangers have overachieved courtesy of hard work and determination- willing themselves to big wins such as the Pens and Canucks. That kind of yeoman effort is what Garden Faithful have come to expect from Jack Adams candidate John Tortorella's club which is tied with Montreal for sixth with 55 points entering tomorrow's match-up against Original Six Toronto at The Garden.

However, as the lost weekend proved in gut wrenching one-goal defeats to the Canadiens and Flyers, there's still work to be done if this team is going to get back to the playoffs. By dropping both ends of a crucial back-to-back against two playoff calibre clubs, the Rangers suddenly find themselves two points up on eighth Atlanta who pulled off a crazy late comeback win over Florida Sunday. What's even more is that the Hurricanes sit just five out playing better hockey until taking it on the chin 7-zip in Beantown yesterday. Loose translation: Unless Marian Gaborik gets it together, the Blueshirts could be in trouble.

Since the new calendar year, they haven't scored more than two goals yet. That's nine games with a slump also hitting leading scorer Brandon Dubinsky, who had a horrific night in Montreal Saturday getting nabbed for a couple of retaliatory penalties due to rookie punk P.K. Subban. It's understandable why our Team MVP wanted a piece of Subban for his unpenalized and remarkable unsuspended spear to Marc Staal's private area in a previous match last Monday. But getting sucked in hurt the team's chances with our club out of sorts giving up three goals in less than three minutes putting them behind the eight ball. The 13 shots on Carey Price through two periods wasn't enough. Especially with Henrik Lundqvist responding strongly by taking action on Benoit Pouliot for bumping him. Lundqvist is playing his best hockey, emerging into a heated Vezina race with Tim Thomas, Jonas Hiller, Marc-Andre Fleury, Price and Ondrej Pavelec.

If not for King Henrik's stellar play, it could be worse for a club that's a mediocre 4-4-1 in January with no let up in sight. Not even the visiting Leafs should be easy with them able to score goals thanks to Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur, Nikolai Kulemin and dangerous sniper Phil Kessel. It's a must win for the Blueshirts who then see those Canes in Raleigh Thursday as part of a pivotal three-game Southeast road swing with stops at Atlanta and Washington before the pesky Panthers visit the Big Apple before the All-Star break. Now isn't the time for the Rangers to fall into bad habits with poor starts that have them playing catch up as we saw in falling behind 3-1 and 3-0 to the hated Flyers before a furious rally fell short thanks to splendid goaltending from Brian Boucher and a couple of Dubinsky near misses.

Consistency has been a key in why the Blueshirts are 26-18-3 still in playoff position. They can't let up now. Perhaps Tortorella benching Gaborik for long stretches Sunday will finally ignite the slumping Slovak, who's got only three goals in his last 19 games. Hardly the kinda production you expect from one of the game's top finishers. Finding the right linemates shouldn't matter. Gaborik hasn't made any excuses, noting that he must be better by working harder to get out of this. Needless to say, the power play has struggled mightily with so much depending on Gabby. It's not just about the megastar in his second year but also about kids like Artem Anisimov finding the net with more regularity. He has one of the best shots but has only 10 goals so far. Not enough for a guy who should easily be 20-25 goals with any consistency.

The Rangers can't depend solely on rookie Derek Stepan to carry the burden with new linemates Wojtek Wolski and Mats Zuccarello. They need more from Sean Avery who's playing better aside from his stupid cheap shots on a fallen Matt Carle with him beaten up. Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Prust need to pick up the slack as does Chris Drury, who really must contribute a little more.

Now we find out what this team is made of.