The Nash Saga

Will Rick Nash be doing more celebrating in a Ranger jersey or will Scott Howson wait till the summer to deal the much targeted power forward?

For what seems like a year (really two weeks), Rick Nash has been rumored to the Rangers. True enough, the Blueshirts could use another scorer to help balance an inconsistent offense that's too reliant on a few performers. Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Derek Stepan and Swedish sensation Carl Hagelin have been the most consistent while Brad Richards has struggled to make a difference on our hideous power play.

Remember when everyone was convinced overpaying Richards for nine years would automatically improve our man-advantage? That didn't account for chemistry. Especially when documenting our powerless play, which has never been the same since Leetch and Zubov ran it to perfection in '94. Granted. Those were Hall Of Fame defensemen, who did it more conventionally. These days, a forward is frequently used on the point. It works a bit better in New Jersey with Ilya Kovalchuk, who paces the Devils with 21 power play points, including seven power play goals which puts him in a three-way tie with teammates Patrik Elias and David Clarkson.

In Big D, Richards had 29 power play points, including seven power play goals. Since coming to Broadway, he has been unable to carry it over with a disappointing 15 along with three PPG. Somewhat astonishingly, that output is good enough to tie Gaborik for the team lead. Gabby's scored seven and set up eight while Captain Callahan leads the club with 11 power play tallies. Mike Del Zotto has 11 power play helpers and Stepan is 3-7-10. The production suffers for two reasons:

A.No True Point Man- Del Zotto has bounced back but rarely shoots and if he does, it almost never hits the net. Without someone who can blast the puck, the Rangers often find themselves working the puck to Gaborik on the right side. So predictable to decipher.

B.Lack Of Cohesion- What should be simple enough in what's been a very good year just isn't. For some reason, the Rangers relax. By that I mean they take their foot off the gas pedal and get outworked by hungrier shorthanded foes. It takes forever to get anything set up due to no consistent faceoff wins and a lack of aggression from our units. By the time they get going, there's time for one last chance. The Blueshirts move the puck too slowly and don't take enough shots.

If you just looked at Nash without factoring in his nightmarish cap hit ($7.8 million) or accounting for team chemistry that has the Blueshirts tops in the East with 84 points entering Monday's home match against the Devils, it's a simple answer. Stick Nash with Richards and Callahan while shifting Hagelin to the third line for better depth. It'd be easy to assume that the 27-year old former No.1 overall pick who's had two 40-goal seasons and four 30-goal years would instantly bolster our power play. However, one look at his recent decline and it's enough to make you wonder if he'd fail under the spotlight.

NASH BY THE NUMBERS
                 GP      PPG       Goals       Pts        Shooting Pct.
'02-03       74        6            17           39         11.0
'03-04       80       19           41           57         15.2
'05-06       54       11           31           54         18.2
'06-07       75        9            27           57         11.8
'07-08       80       10           38           69         11.6
'08-09       78        6            40           79         15.2
'09-10       76       10           33           67         13.0
'10-11       75        6            32           66         10.5
'11-12       62        4            21           43         8.9


There are two schools of thought. One is his power play production has dropped along with the expected output. That shooting percentage decline is hard to ignore. At 27 (28 this summer), Nash is in his prime and should be a consistent 40-goal, 80-point guy. One could argue that the lack of talent on the Blue Jackets has hindered his ability. Shut down Nash and you have a good chance. In a brutal year, counting today's shorthanded goal in a 4-2 loss to the Penguins, his 21 goals, 43 points and 14 power play points all pace Columbus, who just subtracted Jeff Carter. When Scott Howson traded for the ex-Flyer, he had big expectations. The hope was Carter could take some pressure off Nash and improve enough to make the postseason. Instead, Carter got hurt and sulked before finally playing to potential when he knew his days were numbered.

Ironically, Nash has picked it up since the Jackets made it known they wanted to move him. Following a down January in which he totaled six points (5-1-6) over a dozen contests, the franchise cornerstone has 10 points (4-6-10), including points in eight of 12 games this month. That included a tying goal which forced overtime at MSG last week. Not a bad showcase. Even more impressively, he notched a goal and assist in a 6-3 rout of slumping San Jose, who have interest in reuniting him with former Olympic gold medal linemate Joe Thornton. With the Rangers able to pull out a 3-2 OT win over Buffalo yesterday while the free falling Sharks again lost today to Minnesota, might his destination be HP Pavilion instead of The Garden?

It all depends on who's calling the shots. If Howson has his way, the odds are Nash doesn't get dealt until the summer. The teflon GM has continued to demand Ryan McDonagh or Mike Del Zotto along with Brandon Dubinsky, top prospect Chris Kreider and a No.1 pick. Too rich for Glen Sather's blood. Slats would part with popular Blueshirt Dubinsky along with D prospect Tim Erixon, possibly prospect Christian Thomas and a No.1 pick. Meanwhile, Howson wants Logan Couture from the teal. No way that goes anywhere.

"We're hopeful a deal can get done prior to the trade deadline that is fair and equitable for the Blue Jackets," Nash's agent Joe Resnick informed TSN in Puck Daddy's Nash update earlier today. "However, if a deal is not reached, then the list of acceptable teams will not change at a later date."

Resnick basically is trying to dictate the market in an attempt to force Howson's hand. It's obvious they want this resolved by 3 PM at tomorrow's trade deadline. It's unfair to Nash, who's been all class despite playing for a minor league franchise who's appeared in the playoffs once when they were swept by rival Detroit. I don't buy it. If Howson has any brains, he'll bypass the Rangers and Maple Leafs along with latest suitor Philadelphia (gee, what a shock) for the chance to acquire a No.1 goalie in June. Vancouver is the likely destination with Cory Schneider forever stuck behind Roberto Luongo. Hard to believe Blue Jacket scouts don't like LA backup Jonathan Bernier while Howson is in love with former Calder winner Steve Mason. Hell-o Jim Carey, Blaine Lacher, Andrew Raycroft!

While Columbus has dumped Carter (Kings) and Antoine Vermette (Coyotes) they're stuck with bad long-term contracts like R.J. Umberger, Fedor Tyutin and James Wisniewski. In other words, it could take years to recover for one of the NHL laughingstocks. So, now they're gonna trade their meal ticket. What reason should Jacket fans go to games when Nash is gone? Other than top prospect Ryan Johansen, there''s little to get excited over. Jack Johnson is a solid pickup from LA that can improve a terrible back end but isn't exactly the greatest defensively. They got little for their most versatile player Vermette, who had a friendly cap hit ($2.82 M). Solid move for the Pacific-leading 'Yotes. Essentially, Howson cannot screw this up, which is why he'll probably hold out till the Draft unless there's a sucker.

If you're Slats, try to shore up the blueline which needs one more dependable 18-20 minute guy to help an overworked top four of Dan Girardi, McDonagh, Del Zotto and Marc Staal, who's still not there defensively. Adrian Aucoin is in his final year with Phoenix but it's hard to see them trading now. Forget chief target Ray Whitney or dream scenario Shane Doan. The Rangers could also use a faceoff guy. Vets Sami Pahlsson (Scotty Hockey) and Paul Gaustad might fit. Another player who's signed through '12-13 is David Steckel on the Leafs. Gaustad is the best of the bunch who can also bring size and physicality to our bottom six. Dealing for Chris Stewart wouldn't be a bad move. He's underachieved in St. Louis but a scenery change may work.

For now, it remains quiet an hour before midnight on the East coast. What happens between now and roughly 14 hours away remains to be seen. Fasten your seatbelts!

Devils deal for Zidlicky, honor Doc before loss to Canucks

Last night was certainly busy at the Prudential Center. Before the game, the Devils honored long-time announcer Doc Emrick with a ceremony paying tribute to his twenty-one seasons in the organization. During it, word filtered out about a trade for Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky, who instantly becomes the Devils' best puck-moving defenseman since Brian Rafalski. And oh yes, there was the game itself - a marquee matchup between the Devils and the Canucks (who had just ended the Red Wings' record-breaking win streak on home ice last night). Unfortunately the game didn't have as happy an ending as the Devils lost 2-1 despite dominating long stretches of the last fifty minutes.

First, the ceremony itself. Before the ceremony, the Devils gave Doc a few gifts, including a jersey with Doc on the back and a new Lincoln car which prompted genuine excitment from his wife, who dropped her flowers and her jaw. Doc was his usual genuine self after the fans' chants of 'Thank you, Doc!', acknowledging the hard-working guys like the Newark Penn Station popcorn maker and other everyday fans like the one who came up with the moniker of ZZPops for the Zach Parise-Travis Zajac and Jamie Langenbrunner line. His love for dogs certainly came out, reminding everyone that a lot of puppies need a good home, as well as his love for family (including the fact his nephew has one of his three Stanley Cup rings, and his brother has another).

And of course, his love for the Devils and the people he worked for and with were expressed, thanking the Devils for one of his favorite moments as a fan - the comeback against the Flyers in 2000, saluting past and current members like Larry Robinson, Patrik Elias, Scott Stevens and Martin Brodeur for their contributions, among others. Conversely, I don't know if I have a favorite Doc moment myself. Between his voice, excitement and knowledge he was just a pleasure all the time - and still is whenever I get up to listening to him nationally. Just by default, you can't go wrong as a Devils fan citing 'The championship to New Jersey...the Devils win the Stanley Cup!' as your favorite Doc call after the Devils' first title in 1995.

Unfortunately after a great ceremony, the start of the game wasn't so fantastic, as the Devils fell behind early and generally looked dead-legged for the first ten minutes of the game. Coach Pete DeBoer acknowledged as much afterwards, saying we were standing around watching play for the first ten minutes. During a commercial break, I checked online as I usually do and found the Devils were close to a trade for Zidlicky, a puck-moving defenseman for the Wild who had been rumored to both be on the block and anxious to come here (since he's good friends with fellow Czechs Elias and Petr Sykora). Following that trade online on my phone became what held my interest for much of the first two periods.

Initial reports that we gave up very little for Zidlicky proved incorrect, the trade and terms finally became consummated sometime during the second period - when the Devils were now behind 2-0 - as the Devils gave up not only Kurtis Foster (rumored to be on the block since the Zidlicky rumors started), but also forwards Nick Palmeri and Stephane Vellieux, as well as a second-round pick this year, and a conditional third-rounder next year which we give up if the Devils reach the Conference Finals and Zidlicky plays 75% of the games.

While I was initially dissapointed we had to give up so much, really it was only about the pick(s) for me since I've never been a fan of Palmeri, Vellieux is more or less AHL fodder and Foster's basically only capable of playing on the power play (and even then, the mere threat of his 100 MPH shot seemed to contribute more to the PP than his actual play did). Granted, given the current market for defensemen, a second and a conditional pick for really the only puck-moving defenseman on the market seems to be fair. I wasn't sure Zidlicky would go for market value mainly because the player himself seemed dead set on waiving his NTC 'only' to come to New Jersey, plus he was having a bad year in Minnesota - frustrated by the system of new coach Mike Yeo.

Even GM Lou Lamoriello said his wanting to be here played a part. Addressing whether the Devils overpaid or not for Zidlicky, Lou gave another one of his Lou-speak answers...'We don't ever worry about what we give up, only what we're getting'. Calling Zidlicky a potential top two defenseman, he went into detail about the recon work he'd done, citing former coach Jacques Lemaire (who had Zidlicky in Minnesota), as well as current Devils assistant Dave Barr who was also on the Wild staff when Zidlicky was there as people he went to for first-hand knowledge on the player.

Given the fact the Devils have not only been searching for a legitimate puck-moving defenseman who can help the power play (Foster wasn't a puck mover, just a puck boomer) for years - but also a right-handed defenseman at that, Zidlicky fills both those needs with one trade. Not to mention he provides far more offense five-on-five than Foster ever did. Plus, while some people are concerned that Zidlicky's signed through next year at $4 million, it could wind up being a huge asset if Zidlicky's play turns around. He had been a 40-plus point defenseman for years before injuries last year and an off season this year got in the way, but I could definitely see him being rejuvanated here - filling an important role, being in a place he wants to be, and around people he knows and likes.

In the end, you certainly can't accuse Lou of not being 'all in' this year. He's absolutely all in, with this deal coming after trading for Alexei Ponikarovsky last month. Plus who knows, maybe Lou's not even done yet if he feels there's still a need for more forward depth. While all this was taking place, the Devils found their game legs and got back into the game through the leg of David Clarkson, after an Elias pass found Clarkson's leg instead of his stick, but the goal was allowed to stand after it was ruled there was no kicking motion.

Clarkson's 24th goal of the year at 11:30 pulled the Devils to within one, setting up a frantic final thirty minutes where the Devils had chance after chance but somehow couldn't get the puck past highly regarded backup Cory Schnieder. One home-run pass narrowly missed a wide-open Ilya Kovalchuk. Elias had a glorious chance in front but shot it right into Schnieder. Parise had a good chance in front but was stopped by the Vancouver netminder, who had me wishing they had played him the night before and starter Roberto Luongo last night!

All in all, still not a bad night. The Devils may have lost a game, but they played well against a good team and got a potential difference-maker for the rest of this season and next year without giving up any key pieces off the active roster. And it's always nice to see Doc again. As last night's emcee Matt Loughlin reminded us all not-so-subtly at the tail end of the ceremony, hopefully Doc will be able to do our games again the farther we go in the playoffs. That would be something to hear!

Devils continue winning ways through Canada

On a mini two-game road trip that saw the Devils swing through Montreal Sunday and Toronto Tuesday, the Devils put another four points in the bank as stunningly, a playoff berth that looked iffy at best going into the All-Star break is becoming all but a fait accompli weeks after it. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot of work for the Devils to do, specifically navigating a brutal March schedule where the team will play seventeen games in thirty-one days at one point. Before that however, come important home games against Vancouver on Friday and a suddenly resurgent Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon, the Devils' last two games before Monday's trade deadline.

Even with twenty-three games left to play and having key pieces still on the shelf, the Devils' consistency (23-8-2 over their last 33 games) has put them in a promising position to play in the postseason once again after their first April without playoff hockey in fifteen seasons last year. Not only are the Devils sitting in fourth place a point ahead of division rivals Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but they're nine points and three games in hand clear of ninth-place Winnipeg - who happens to be tied for first with current third seed Florida in the usually interesting Southeast division. With teams like Winnipeg, Tampa Bay and Washington far closer to their division lead than the Devils it seems unlikely enough teams will pass them at this point. What a change from just before the All-Star break where the Devils were sitting on the bubble in eighth place after losing four in a row!

Very little has come easy for the team this year however. Even in the Devils' relatively comfortable 3-1 win over the Canadiens on Sunday came reminders of this, when Anton Volchenkov took a puck to the face in the first period but even a deep gash wasn't enough to take out the Russian shot-blocking dynamo. However, fellow defenseman Bryce Salvador faced a much more formidable foe - a bug that caused Sal to miss the final twenty-five minutes and coach Pete DeBoer to remark later that 'He (Salvador) would have needed a Port-a-potty on the bench to play in the third'. That's about as graphic as I need to know! Without Salvador, the Devils had to go with five defensemen in the final minutes, including Peter Harrold - playing only his second game with the Devils after Kurtis Foster developed back problems and was a scratch.

As usual, Martin Brodeur had another outstanding game in his hometown. But the absence of his father (a Canadiens photographer) led to the revelation that Denis Brodeur was in fact recovering from brain surgery - a fact that had been known only by close friends and teammates for the last couple of weeks after Marty's brother texted him with the bad news that his dad had a brain tumor just hours before he was to play the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Perhaps then it was oddly fitting that Brodeur came up with a stirring 31-save performance and his first shutout of the season. Unlike all the other pucks from his previous 110+ shutouts however, this one wasn't going in a glass case but straight to his father's bedside. Sometimes it's amazing just how much an elite athlete is able to focus despite a potentially devastating distraction. Thankfully, it seems as if the elder Brodeur came through the surgery well.

After the Devils' trip to Montreal over the weekend came last night's game in Toronto, another back-and-forth affair where the Devils took a quick 2-0 lead, then the Leafs tied it up with goals in the first and second before Alexei Ponikarovsky burned his former team with a late second-period goal. Ponikarovsky has been nothing short of a revelation since GM Lou Lamoriello acquired him from the Hurricanes in exchange for a third-round pick, contributing four goals and six assists in just thirteen games. Ponikarovsky, Steve Bernier and Danius Zubrus have at last given the Devils a third line that can score for the first time in seemingly forever. Zubrus had been part of a successful line earlier in the season with Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora but has played just as well since getting matched with the Devils' two most recent additions. Bernier was a camp tryout and former first-round pick who didn't make the team and was riding the buses in Albany for the better part of the season before finally being promoted.

It was at this point in the game that I wound up having to go out to a late movie. While the movie (Hugo) was kind of sappy, the Devils as it turned out were writing their own improbable script. After blowing yet another lead in the final minute, a knucklepuck by Mark Fayne in overtime somehow skipped past Jonas Gustavsson in goal when it looked for all the world like it was going wide, to give the Devils a 4-3 win barely a minute into the extra period, further damaging the Leafs' already fading playoff chances while putting the Devils back into fourth place in the East.

With the deadline now less than five days away, speculation is high on whether the Devils will do anything else to fortify their team, specifically a defense which has suffered key injuries to Henrik Tallinder and Adam Larsson. Even power-play specialist Foster has had to sit out the last couple of games. Although a guy like the Caps' Dennis Wideman (if the Caps do decide to break up the team and cash it in for this year) intrigues me, the prices for defensemen now are through the roof. Especially after a middling guy like Kyle Quincey goes for a #1 - granted, a low #1 but still.

Can the Devils really afford to give up a first-round pick - which is what it would take to acquire a real difference-maker on the blueline, since we will have to surrender one to the league in the next three years to finish off the penalty for our Ilya Kovalchuk cap-changing contract? Giving up less for a role player like Marek Zidlicky may still be the path Lou chooses. Or...can they afford not to trade a first-rounder and make a move for a difference maker? After all, this may be the Devils' best chance to win for the next little while if Zach Parise walks at the end of the season and Martin Brodeur retires (for the record, he's given no indication that this will be his last season yet).

Decisions, decisions. At least one that we know will not be made involves Parise, as the GM and coach have both vehemently denied that the captain is on the block, nor should he be. You don't trade your captain and a key player when you're fifteen games above .500 and may just be a contender after all. Teams usually look to acquire UFA's to be in that situation, not give them up. Although the opposite may be happening in Washington where it seems obvious they're tired of the dissapointing core and may look to break up the team despite having every chance to win their division.

In the end, I think Lou decides that getting players such as Tallinder, Larsson and center Travis Zajac (assuming he's not in witness protection) back into the lineup will do more than any acquisition could. Maybe he'll try and shop at Wal-Mart for a defenseman as opposed to Neiman Marcus, but hey the Devils' last Cup run in 2003 was fortified by Wal-Mart pieces like Grant Marshall and Pascal Rheaume. Nothing wrong with shopping at Wal-Mart if you have a good enough team to win. Whether the Devils are good enough to win in April and beyond still remains to be seen, and won't be answered until then. After all, only eight players including Zajac remain in the lineup from the Devils' last playoff team not even two years ago, and only Brodeur and Elias remain from 2003.

Deadline deals begin: Downie to Avs, Quincey traded twice

Steve Downie and Kyle Quincey were on the move as part of a three-team trade as Deadline 2012 heats up.

With less than a week to go in this year's trade deadline, a couple of moves were finally made. No. It didn't involve much rumored top fish Rick Nash, which is fine with me since I want no part of him.

However, two players were dealt in essentially a three-team trade. First, the Lightning sent rugged winger Steve Downie to the Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Kyle Quincey. Then, Tampa Bay flipped Quincey to the Red Wings for a 2012 first round pick and minor league blueliner Sebastien Piche.

TRADE BREAKDOWN

Colorado gets physical Downie, who can bang in corners and contribute on stat sheet. The 24-year old has 28 points (12-16-28) with 121 penalty minutes over 55 games. The former '05 first rounder of the Flyers spent four years in Tampa developing into one of the game's top pests. He now joins his third roster trying to boost the Avs' playoff chances.

Tampa Bay recoups another pick as Steve Yzerman continues to sell spare parts. He did well landing a second for Dom Moore and got another second, plus a third for Pavel Kubina, who was shipped to Philadelphia. Now, he gets a first round pick from Detroit, who's all in for another Cup. We don't know much about Piche other than he's already 24 and has been in the AHL.

Detroit acquires a top four defenseman who can relieve pressure off ageless Nick Lidstrom along with Nik Kronwall and Brad Stuart. Quincey, 26, was originally a Red Wing fourth round draft pick in '03. However, he only got into 13 games over three seasons before the Kings claimed him. His best year came during '08-09 in Hollywood when he totaled 38 points (4-34-38). LA dealt Quincey to Colorado in a failed blockbuster for Ryan Smyth. He's a solid blueliner capable of contributing with his 23 points (5-18-23) tied with Erik Johnson for most by a D this season. Now, he'll return to Hockey Town and try to help the Wings win another Cup.

Devils win second-chance shootout against Ducks after Getzlaf's disallowed goal

For all the regular season games I've gone to at the Prudential Center and the Continental Arena over the last several years, and many other games watched on TV I can't remember one ending like this. Ryan Getzlaf scored in overtime, leading the Ducks to an apparent 3-2 win, completing their comeback from 2-0 down and continuing their improbable playoff run. Clearly, this game was over and I was annoyed - especially at our lack of jump in the overtime. I had my coat on and was walking out of the arena, but I didn't even get to the end of my row before I noticed a bunch of odd things.

Martin Brodeur was still defiantly in his crease. Zach Parise was talking to the refs and the rest of the Devils were still on the bench. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out something was amiss, and sure enough seconds after I stopped walking out, the announcement came...'The play is under review'. Even so, we never get the benefit of the doubt on video reviews from Toronto anyway. I thought it was just delaying the inevitable - until I saw the second replay where it was as clear as day Getzlaf kicked the puck in the net with his skate.

And even then I worried we would get screwed because the call on the ice was no goal, and the review was taking forever. Parise later said somewhat sarcastically he thought the call was going our way simply because seemingly nothing else has, including his own disallowed goal against the Islanders back in November. My exact words at the arena were 'if this (Getzlaf's goal) isn't kicking, can we get the Parise goal back?' Finally however, justice prevailed and the erroneous call was overturned in a kick that was obvious to everyone outside the Ducks locker room except Chico Resch, who clearly needs Davisvision after I heard him later on still wondering after the tenth replay if it was kicking. It was a kick, Chico...and as obvious as one I've ever seen.

Anaheim had gone to the locker room in fact, thinking they won. No doubt many fans turned off the telecast and wound up surprised later when they found out the later outcome, for this game would eventually go into a shootout. Though captain Parise continued his post-Montreal penalty shot hex by missing, teammates Ilya Kovalchuk and Patrik Elias bailed him out with goals, and Brodeur - who stood tall with 36 saves (many of the highlight quality) - would come up with the key saves on Corey Perry and yes, Getzlaf to end the shootout.

Overshadowed by the wild ending was a compelling game between two good teams. Anaheim was trying to continue their massive run (14-2-3 in their last twenty after a terrible start that had them twenty points out of a playoff spot). In the pregame in fact, ex-Devil Rod Pelley admitted there were parallels to the way Bruce Boudreau's handled his team compared to Jacques Lemaire last year when the Devils were making their own even more improbable surge. For us there wasn't quite as much at stake though we were looking to continue our surge up the standings, possibly to finish as high as fourth and get home-ice in the first round - quite the change from when the Devils were still a bubble team at the All-Star break.

After a cagey first twenty minutes, the Devils went ahead in the second period when Parise and Kovalchuk worked the puck to rookie sensation Adam Henrique in front with a brilliant pass by Parise and a shot by Kovy that rebounded to Henrique, and the Calder candidate did the rest beating Jonas Hiller with a deke at 1:25. A fortuitious bounce off of Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa led to our second goal at 10:56, when Danius Zubrus pickpocketed him and found a wide open Alexei Ponikarovsky. The former Cane - who's been a revelation since he's come here - scored his tenth goal overall and third as a Devil, beating Hiller with a quick five-hole shot.

That two looked large with the way the game was going, even as the Ducks continued to outshoot us every period. Brodeur was continuing his recent return to excellence by stoning chance after Duck chance...until Perry finally broke the lock, putting home a backhander off the rebound from a Getzlaf shot at 16:08. The Ducks right-winger, who scored 50 last year put home his 29th of this season to cut the Devils' lead in half. And there it remained as the end of the second and most of the third period rolled by quickly, despite power play chances for both teams in the final twenty minutes the game seemed destined to end 2-1.

But then a former Devil came back to burn us, and no it wasn't Pelley - it was the even more obscure Sheldon Brookbank, who was made to look like teammate Teemu Selanne after getting open in front and roofing a wrister past Brodeur with under four minutes remaining to tie the game. Then came the overtime, where it seemed like either the Ducks found another gear, or we downshifted and the result was a couple of bad shifts that led to the Getzlaf goal...or almost-goal. Credit defenseman Anton Volchenkov on the play, for the second time in the last couple of weeks his work tying up an opposition player's stick in front of the net proved key (following his role in the much-debated Marian Gaborik no-goal a couple weeks ago), as Getzlaf couldn't shake loose and actually had no other choice but to try and kick it in.

However it came, the Devils win continued their terrific post-All Star break play as they improved to 7-1-1 and got their second win in a row after losing two straight last week. It's been said so often by GM Lou Lamoriello and others, but your best players have to be your best players more often than not for you to win - and with Marty turning it on and Kovy coming through with twenty-seven points (13 goals and 14 assists, including a hat trick in Buffalo Tuesday) in his last eighteen games, that's exactly what's happening here. No longer are people wondering whether Marty has lost it or Kovy will ever fit in as a Devil. With all the great stories from this season so far, those two are among the most meaningful ones.

Lundsanity or Linsanity: Henrik's still top dog

Henrik Lundqvist makes one of 42 saves for his league best seventh shutout in Boston.

The two biggest sports trends on Twitter involve MSG teams. It took less than a week for #Linsanity to be born on newest Knick folk hero Jeremy Lin. The kind of rags to riches story that would make Roy Hobbs proud. The Natural is one of my favorite sports movies, depicting Robert Redford's Hobbs character who once is a hotshot can't miss teenager who strikes out The Babe on three pitches and then disappears from baseball until basically my age. The rest is a poetic fairy tale made for Hollywood.

What does this have to do with Lin or nightly Ranger hero Henrik Lundqvist? Let's just say both were long shots. Of course, Lin more so due to starring at Harvard and having two NBA teams waive him and then needing Knick injuries and point guard ineptitude for Mike D'Antoni to finally give him a shot. Almost similar to Wilfred Brimley's Pop Fisher character, who sees Hobbs put on a show in batting practice and then pinch hits him for Bump Bailey, who eventually dies crashing into a wall. A little far fetched? Sure. Thankfully, nobody dies in these stories.

It's easy to forget Lundqvist was a seventh round draft pick given his lofty status among NHL netminders. But the truth is the Swedish King every Ranger fan loves and other female observers drool over was just as long a shot as Lin. Not too long ago, the Blueshirts were a laughingstock that missed the playoffs seven years in a row. Two things changed. The work stoppage altered Glen Sather's organizational plan and Henrik Lundqvist happened by surprise. Sometimes, luck is all that's required for a team to turn it around. If not for Dan Blackburn's career ending freak injury during weight training, Henke never sees the light of day and probably stays put in Sweden starring for Frolunda.

Instead, the afterthought selected so late back in 2000 became a star back home- developing into a legit prospect fans like myself started following and onto the Rangers' radar. It really is that simple. When Slats brought Kevin Weekes in for '05-06, everyone knew he wasn't going to be a full-time starter. However, Weekes had the NHL pedigree and enough professionalism to help ease Lundqvist in once it became apparent he could hold his own. If only some of our fans had given the admirable present NHL Network analyst the same respect. Based on tweets with him, he really is a classy guy who's one of the best.

You can't give all the credit to Hank without mentioning Jaromir Jagr, who happens to be celebrating his 40th birthday today and amazingly is still a star you don't want to see this Spring. It was No.68's record-breaking season of 54 goals and 69 assists for club bests in goals and points (122), that backed up a guarantee, putting our team back in the playoffs. Somehow, he was robbed of the Hart which went to Joe Thornton in half a year with San Jose. It would be like blind squirrels denying Lundqvist of the Vezina this special season. Here we are seven years later with that same seventh round pick standing on his head, leading a first place club to the East's best record.

The incredible numbers speak for themselves. Fresh off last night's virtuoso performance in which he denied all 42 Boston shots for his league-leading seventh shutout, which ironically was his 42nd career blanking, Lundqvist is first in save percentage (.941), second in goals-against-average (1.77) and fourth in victories (27) in fewer games played (42). The only goalie to win at least 30 at the start of a career six consecutive seasons is three shy of extending that NHL record to seven and there's nothing lucky about it. He is a model of consistency similar to the opposite No.30 across the Hudson who's tops all-time in wins and shutouts. Could Henrik one day chase down Martin Brodeur? If he continues to shut teams out (18 since '10-11) with regularity, perhaps an unbreakable record could one day fall. It still is a long shot given like Dominik Hasek, he started his NHL career late. He'll turn 30 on March 2 with one goal in mind. The Stanley Cup.

No wonder following yesterday, Garden faithful referred to him as #Lundsanity. Kinda sad that it originated from Knick fans who haven't been this caught up in the play of a guard since Walt Frazier. It'll take Lin a lot longer to be mentioned with an all-time great or even Lundqvist. He can either go the route of Kurt Warner or Kevin Maas. The same was said once of King Henrik, who despite three Vezina nominations, Olympic gold and All-Star recognition, has only won two playoff series. Part of it was the team, which wasn't built to go far. However, with key addition Brad Richards and the continued development of legitimately the area's best captain Ryan Callahan, the Rangers lead the East with 79 points. In fact, they've only lost 13 times in regulation- boasting a league best 37-13-5 mark. One less point than Detroit, who's played three more games.

With John Tortorella running the asylum, he's kept them focused to the point where seven times, they have bounced back from a loss. A great characteristic to boast this postseason. Amazingly, they've done most of it without Marc Staal, who still looks shaky. A credit to overlooked Norris candidate Dan Girardi and super sophomore Ryan McDonagh. When you look amongst the stat leaders, you won't find anyone in the league's top 10 scoring race. There isn't a Kovalchuk or Tavares on this roster but Marian Gaborik has answered every question leading them with 27 goals and 49 points while getting a bunch in the third period when most Ranger games are decided. His six game-winners are tied for second with Captain Cally (6), trailing only Richards' seven. While most teams rely on one big name like the Pens with Hart frontrunner Evgeni Malkin, the Rangers possess balance that delivers. You never know who'll play the hero. It was Brandon Prust with a shorthanded goal in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Caps for his first goal in 49 games. McDonagh also scored in back-to-back W's including the club's second triumph over the defending champs. They still have two left including a pivotal match on April Fool's Day.

By now, nobody is fooled anymore by what these Blueshirts are accomplishing. Despite a solid contribution from Martin Biron (10 W, 2.02, .920, 2 SHO), it still hinges on Lundqvist, who deserves MVP consideration. More often than not, they win on the back of the best goalie this season. As was on display at TD Garden Tuesday, the Rangers relied on their franchise netminder to bail them out. They were outshot 42-20 by the Bruins, who are the standard. The club was opportunistic doing damage on a suddenly hot power play thanks to some great passing from Mike Del Zotto to Callahan, who now has six goals over his last four. McDonagh also tallied late in the first which really hurt the B's chances. Boston did much right, attacking and generating quality chances but couldn't beat King Henrik. One ridiculous sequence saw Milan Lucic thought he'd scored on a rebound only to see the puck bounce around before a Zdeno Chara blast was denied by a backwards Lundqvist, who somehow got it with the back of his mask. If that isn't a defining moment of how it's gone, we're rendered speechless.

All of this is great on paper because that's all it is if they don't go far this Spring. It's been 15 years since the Rangers won two rounds and made the Conference Finals. Given the gritty, physical style they play helping Lundqvist out, they have a real chance this season. But as Tortorella reminded them along with Brandon Dubinsky in a tweet, they can't expect to succeed like last night. The playoffs are a different animal. Everyone that's been here knows it, which is why there's plenty of incentive.

If they are to finally shed the label of early round fodder, the Rangers need Dubinsky and streaky Russian Artem Anisimov to step up. Both are going well and have playoff experience. It can't just be the Henrik Show and Gabby, Cally, Richie, D-Step and Carl Hagelin. It takes a lot to win 16 games in the second season. In case you hadn't noticed, the Blueshirts aren't the most talented bunch. But they are a complete T-E-A-M that wins the battles, sacrifices their bodies and gets dirty. That should make them a tough out along with the hot goalie who can do no wrong in his seventh year.

One memorable time, it was Mike Richter who made every clutch save. That team also had the best leader in sports along with a Norris winner, 50-goalscorer and one of the greatest passing defensemen to play in this era. They too played with a lot of determination. Oh. And had a fiery coach similar to Tortorella. Of course, we're referring to '94, which Ranger supporters have begun envisioning. But before you get too far ahead, there's still 27 games left including tomorrow's match against former Cup champ Chicago. Yes, they have lost nine straight but still are fully capable of coming into The Garden and ending that streak.

The Rangers will do what has become routine. Grind and finish every check. If they don't, they'll hear about it from the coach who's never hesitant to tell you what he's thinking. There's still so much time left and plenty more to go. It doesn't get easier. Only tougher. At least the Eastern leaders know they have a decided edge in net. #Lundsanity

Devils' winning streak finally ends as scoring dries up

Amazingly, the Devils have only been shut out once this season - on Opening Night against the Flyers. I say amazingly because despite the team's improved offense and slowly improving power play they still go through stretches (like the three games before the All-Star break) where the offense looks like it's lost in a dark forest without a clue on how to get out. After a fortunate 1-0 win over the Rangers where I missed the entirety of the third period where we were outshot 15-1 and still hung on, the Devils did get Jaroslav Halak chased on Thursday with a couple of early goals.

Then the offense dried up again. I was out Thursday with my friends having my seats for this game and almost totally forgot about the contest until I saw the Facebook updates after I got home lol. Fortunately we were still up 3-2 despite Facebook not updating when we get scored on, but that's another story. In the inverse of Tuesday, this time I got home in time to watch the third period - not quite in time to see Kurtis Foster's five-minute major that was apparently a hosejob, and he didn't even get fined for the play! That tells you someone screwed up.

And yes, everyone including Patrik Berglund himself thought his stick was high on the tying goal late, but it's a tough call to overturn unfortunately. We were the benficiaries of that late last season when Evander Kane scored an apparent tying goal, but it was ruled out because of a high stick near the faceoff dots. Despite this one being much closer to the goal and Berglund's stick being high enough to 'make our 6'4 defenseman (Mark Fayne) duck', there still wasn't going to be enough video evidence to overturn the good goal call on the ice.

So, instead of a 3-2 win the Devils went into overtime and eventually their 12th shootout of the season. At this point it seems like we've been in too many shootouts for our own good as teams seem to be catching on to what our shooters and goalies like to do. For the first time all season it seemed, Ilya Kovalchuk got stopped by Brian Elliott and Johan Hedberg let through a crappy goal off his pads. In a disturbing trend, one-time shootout ace Zach Parise missed again to end the game, and hasn't been the same in the skills competition since missing that late penalty shot against the Habs - failing to convert on every single shootout attempt.

After Thursday's loss, the Devils still had a streak with points in every game since January 21, but that ended Saturday as they suffered a regulation loss to the Panthers, and split the season series against a team many Devils fans have dismissed as being 'inferior' and a 'one-line team'. Maybe they can be a one-line offense at times (with actual offensive firepower from the blueline to help, something we can only dream of), but not a one-line team as they proved again Saturday.

First of all, any Devil fan that thinks we're going to the playoffs for certain now just because we're five points up in early February is delusional. This league is too closely bunched together, one bad week and you're back on the bubble - as what happened to us right before the All-Star break. Not to mention this Devil team, despite its terrific start to the post-All Star portion of their schedule, is still a team with its problems. Inconsistent offense, a defense prone to giving up the big mistake and goaltending that's been spotty equal a playoff bubble team.

Yet, so many Devil fans treated the Panthers like an afterthought before, during and after the game it's mind-boggling. No, they're not Boston or even the Rangers but let's be honest, the Panthers' record would be as good as ours if they had better luck after the first sixteen minutes (with a whopping eleven OT/SO losses, to be precise). And the Panthers, once they got the lead against us early in the second put an absolute clinic on how to protect a lead. One in which I hope the Devils were taking notes. People can say the Devils were flat all they want, the Panthers knew what they were doing out there too. Every pass we missed by a hair they were right on it for the turnover.

Yes they did gum up the works by slowing down the game (as Scott Clemmensen admitted to doing) and stacking four guys up at the blueline, making it hard not only to enter the zone but get the puck once you dump it in...but isn't that what you're supposed to do with the lead against a team that has the firepower of the Devils? After some of our hideous performances with a lead this season - including nearly blowing a six-goal lead in Philly - it was almost refreshing in an odd way to see a team that knew what to do up a goal. They weren't sitting back either, sitting back is getting outshot 24-1, or 15-1 in the third period. That wasn't the case yesterday, and the Devils lost their only real chance to tie the game when they failed to convert on their lone power play opportunity late in the third.

So now the Devils' giant home stretch concludes unconclusively. People can point to the 5-1-1 since the break, but what about the 1-2-1 before the break (with three straight losses at home)? Even the overall 6-3-2, you can't complain about it, but you'd still like to see better than 4-3-2 at home. And you definitely want to see the Devils keep the wins coming the rest of the month before Hell March and seventeen games in thirty-one days against tough opposition.

Saturday Matinees for area locals

All three area locals are currently in action on a busy Saturday. The Rangers are visiting the Flyers. At last check, they led 2-1 after one with goals from Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik. Wayne Simmonds has the Flyer goal. The Blueshirts lead Philadelphia by six points for the division. So, it's a pretty big game. Our team also has two games in hand but another win would put even more distance between us and the Flyers.

Meanwhile, across the Hudson the Devils are hosting the Panthers, who lead the Southeast over Washington due to one less game played. Both have 61 points while third Winnipeg is three behind following a stunning 3-2 shootout comeback triumph over the Caps the other night. Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien scored 12 seconds apart to erase a late two-goal Washington lead. That division may only place one team in. So, whoever wins it is huge. The Devs are trying to bounce back from a tough home shootout loss in which they let a one-goal lead slip to St. Louis with Johan Hedberg victimized by T.J. Oshie for the only shootout goal. Only their third such defeat in 12 tries. Martin Brodeur is back in against former backup Scott Clemmensen. The Cats just surged ahead 2-1 on a goal from Kris Versteeg. Steve Bernier has his first for New Jersey while Sean Bergenheim has the other Florida tally.

On Long Island where they honored the past including former defenseman Kenny Jonsson prior to the start by inducting him into their Hall Of Fame, the Islanders and Kings are tied up at one. Dustin Brown just knotted it in the second. Michael Grabner got his 15th in the first from Mark Eaton and Kyle Okposo. It's Evgeni Nabokov against Jon Quick in net. The Isles need every win while LA's in a tight race with Phoenix, Dallas, Colorado and Minnesota for the final two spots.

Updating the Ranger game, Claude Giroux has tied it with his 22nd from Simmonds and Scott Hartnell. Might it be one of those three-point games later today? They've gotten to Henrik Lundqvist twice, which has to boost their confidence while the Blueshirts have tallied their two against Sergei Bobrovsky. And just as we're typing away, Callahan has his second of the day and third in two games on the Rangers' second power play goal of the game. This isn't a misprint. It actually happened! Stop the presses. Mike Del Zotto and Gaborik set it up. So, the Rangers now lead 3-2 with half of regulation left.

In other action last night, the Sabres earned a big two points by coming back to stun Dallas 3-2 in a skill competition. They rallied from a two-goal third period deficit, including Derek Roy's equalizer at 19:21 with Ryan Miller on the bench for an extra attacker. Nathan Gerbe's backhand top shelf beat Kari Lehtonen and Michael Ryder missed against Miller as Buffalo climbed to 54 points. They still trail Winnipeg by four and eighth Toronto by eight with 28 games remaining. They are hot though and there's still enough time left. Especially with Miller back on and Thomas Vanek scoring last night. Even Ville Leino is contributing. He had two assists in a 6-0 drubbing of Boston earlier this week. Buffalo hosts the Lightning tonight at 7.

The other game of note is Winnipeg visiting Pittsburgh. So far, it's the Jets leading 2-zip on goals from Kyle Wellwood and Alex Burmistrov. What a great story it would be if they somehow won the Southeast in their first year back. It should be some finish. We'll try to have more later.

Richie's OT winner bolts former club

All Brad Richards needed was his former club to end a slump. The '04 Conn Smythe winner delivered a clutch goal much like he had to win in Tampa Bay- scoring the overtime winner in an exciting Ranger 4-3 comeback win last night at MSG.

Richards entered ice cold with just one goal over the previous 12 games. Finding himself in the unfamiliar position of starting on the fourth line, the first-year Blueshirt who was brought in to add offense worked his way up throughout a spirited third with earlier goalscorer Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin. On a rare occasion where the power play clicked on a Callahan tip off a Michael Del Zotto shot, Richards was able to score his team-leading seventh game-winner at 2:37 of OT thanks to a great set up from Artem Anisimov. It allowed him to breathe easier as teammates jumped off the bench to mob him.

Most importantly, it was another example of a team not giving in following a disappointing showing against the Devils. In an odd yet entertaining affair in which the Lightning led twice, the Rangers picked themselves up with a great third and OT to prevent a losing streak. Playing with a sense of purpose after a second that saw backup Marty Biron let in consecutive Tampa goals off the sticks of Vinny Lecavalier and ex-Isle Bruno Gervais, the hosts attacked their opponents with vigor, creating a lot of chances. Mathieu Garon was steady. Brian Boyle missed an earlier opportunity when he rang one off the post but on kind of a fluky play, the checking center took a Hagelin feed and whipped the puck past the Tampa netminder, tying it with under 10 minutes left.

"It’s like other good teams that I’ve been on. There’s never a panic in the locker room,” Richards said. `We’ve been through it, and we’ve got a game plan. We’ve executed many times and we’re very confident.”

“I think it’s a mindset. If you have some success, and we have had some success in the third period, you try to go back to that,” Tortorella pointed out of his team's resilience. “We were playing well. They are such an opportunistic team, it doesn’t take much for them to score goals.”

Boyle's fourth point over the last six felt like poetic justice following a Dom Moore cheap shot knocked out linemate Ruslan Fedotenko. Amazingly, Moore only received two minutes for roughing for a blindside hit that made contact with his head from behind. Moments earlier, Fedotenko delivered a check to Moore. Was he paying him back? He denied it later. The hit was being reviewed by the league. John Tortorella refused comment. But Richards said it was the type of hit that needs to be eliminated.

As for the game's conclusion, the Rangers still needed a pair of Biron denials on leading goalscorer Steven Stamkos in the final minute of regulation just to make overtime. Stamkos had earlier burned Biron, Michael Del Zotto and Anton Stralman for a late first period goal on a nice backhand deke five-hole. It was his league best 36th of the season. This time, Biron got the better of the former No.1 overall pick. On a night where he wasn't required to make many stops, those were the best of his 14.

In OT, Anisimov and Del Zotto combined to force a turnover and then helped set up Richards' game decider. Anisimov took a Del Zotto pass and circled down low for a two-on-one and then made a great pass for Richie, who buried his 17th from a tough angle at the left side of a helpless Garon.

"Don't give up on that guy. It'd be the wrong thing to do," praised Tortorella of his star pupil he also coached with the Lightning to their only championship.

For a team that hasn't been lighting the lamp with regularity, it was good to see them dig deep against a team that's been hot of late, winning eight of 10 with only one regulation defeat. They made it tough on the Rangers with our team getting victimized by Tampa's skill. But the win made it the seventh time this season that the Blueshirts refused to lose two in a row. A great quality which allowed them to move five points up on idle Boston for the conference lead. With the Flyers edging the Leafs, it's a four-point lead for the Atlantic with the Devils seven out due to a shootout loss to St. Louis (4-3) and the Pens eight back. Another big test tomorrow with a visit to Philly who they've dominated thus far. It shouldn't be easy.

No Goal: Yes but wrong ruling

With seconds to spare in their 1-0 shutout loss to the Devils, the Rangers thought they had scored to tie it with 3.3 seconds remaining. However, the officials immediately wiped out Artem Anisimov's would be goal due to goaltender interference on an attacking Marian Gaborik. Not shockingly, this led to a vehement protest from John Tortorella, who refused comment afterwards, not wanting to get another fine.

Truth be told, it was definitely the right call to disallow Anisimov's goal off a Ryan Callahan rebound. However, the ruling itself was incorrect. There are many instances where the refs have split second decisions to make due to the speed of the game. Especially when a desperate team like the Rangers flies up the ice and thinks they tied it. It's a bang bang play not leaving the officials much time.

Was it goalie interference? Hardly. Gaborik was shoved in by Anton Volchenkov while attempting to stop. Replays showed snow as Gaborik put on the breaks. The problem was he was too close to Martin Brodeur and bumped into him. Once hit, the future Hall Of Famer did what he always does, embellishing it to make sure the stripes didn't miss it. Not that they didn't see it. It was clear as day that as Gaborik fell into him, Anisimov was putting away the rebound. So, there was no way it should've counted.

The correct interpretation is 'incidental contact.' A ruling we've seen more and more of due to the protection of goalies. As a matter of fact, the Sharks had a potential tying marker waived off last night due to Patrick Marleau unable to avoid Miikka Kiprusoff.  The proper call was made. Calgary would hold on for a 4-3 win, giving Kiprusoff career win No.300 against the team that drafted him.

Sometimes, the officials have a tough job to do. So, while they did err by sending Gaborik to the box, they still were justified in disallowing the goal. So, when former ref Kerry Fraser says the Rangers were screwed, only in terms of what they ruled. I didn't see it as controversial because you simply can't allow a goal to stand when the goalie has no play on it, which was the case with Brodeur. We've had ones like that go our way plenty this season with Henrik Lundqvist, who never embellishes when he is run. However, it's up to the refs to make the call. That's what they're there for.

Besides, from the sounds of it, the Rangers didn't deserve to win. They were outhustled and hardly tested Brodeur despite the lopsided third period shot total (15-1). The continued struggles on the power play persist. When they don't sustain a consistent forecheck, they're very beatable. So, the Devils earned the two points- making David Clarkson's first period power play goal stand up. Now, it's onto tonight with Tampa visiting before a tough weekend with the Flyers and Caps back-to-back. Yet another challenge with the Bruins on deck next Tuesday.

With Boston in a slump, the Rangers still find themselves as the East's top seed, three up on the B's but with the Flyers, Pens and Devils all gaining. They have responded to adversity well all year. We'll see if they can again starting tonight.

Devils shut out Rangers 1-0 after contreversial finish

If people (including me) wanted to put a slight asterisk on the Devils' home win against the Rangers last week, saying it didn't come against Henrik Lundqvist, you can't say that about the Devils' 1-0 win last night. Lundqvist showed up and was brilliant, allowing only a first-period power play goal to David Clarkson...but for one of the few times in this rivalry Marty was indeed better. Martin Brodeur turned back the clock and was at his best last night, making thirty saves including fifteen in a frantic third period, all while dealing with a sprained ankle after a collision with Ryan Callahan. That moment may have been key to what happened in the final five seconds - but more on that later.

Unfortunately, I had to go out after the first period and though I listened to much of the second period on the radio I missed the third entirely. Actually I only turned it on at 7:10, two seconds after the puck drop. Turned out not one, but two fights were already underway - Eric Boulton vs. Brandon Prust and Cam Janssen vs. Mike Rupp (a rematch of a fight several weeks ago). While the Devils won both bouts, everyone watching and in the stands understood this was going to be a man's game. Every inch and puck would be contested, and so it was...despite a dubious count of fifty-two Ranger hits compared to twenty-four for the Devils that even Janssen scoffed at in the postgame.

With both goalies looking in form early and often, it was going to take something special to move the scoreboard. And after Clarkson drew a penalty on Stu Bickel, he cashed in his twenty-first goal of the season after some quick passing by Patrik Elias and Zach Parise - who found a wide open Clarkson in the slot for a quick wrister that got the Devils the all-important first goal. As good as both goalies looked early though, I never dreamed that would be the only goal of the match, especially since for the first time in his career Marty was still barren of a shutout going into February and his record against rival Lundqvist was poor.

Lundqvist made the saves early as the Devils outshot the Rangers in the first two periods, but Brodeur was needed late as the Devils' familiar third-period problems seemed to crop up again. While I didn't see or hear the third, and by most accounts a lot of the shots were from the outside, the fact is the Rangers outshot the Devils 15-1. Just days after the Flyers outshot us 24-1 in the third. For once however, there was no soft goal, no fatal mistake although there very nearly was one in the final, frantic ten seconds.

Ironically, it was Parise of all people who could have ended the game with a simple dump-in but he chose to shoot at the empty net, and the puck was blocked and went the other way with rapid speed. Callahan seemingly took advantage by scoring with just seconds remaining but the goal was quickly and decisively waved off after Marian Gaborik plowed into Brodeur. When I first heard the call of this play on the radio and what had happened (I already knew the score from checking my phone) I was bemused, but didn't realize that play was actually in the final seconds until reading about it online after I got home. I was like whoa, I really have to see this play now.

To me it was a no-brainer that it was the right call. Gaborik was going full speed and already in the crease when he made contact. Saying he tried to stop is like saying I tried to stop going fifty miles per hour with a yellow light already up for a couple of seconds. It just isn't going to happen, you're running the red light. Defenseman Anton Volchenkov did not throw Gaborik into Brodeur, as the Rangers contended. If anything, he tried to push him away from Marty after he was already well on his way to contact and was battling him with his stick, which should have slowed him down if anything.

Of course, the Rangers went nuts with Lundqvist complaining about getting hit earlier and told he was diving, while accusing Marty of the same thing at the other end. Take a number, buddy...you guys have been running Marty for five years and finally paid for it, though we might wind up paying a price too as Brodeur was still noticeably limping on his sprained ankle after the game. Did Callahan sliding into Marty earlier in the period and injuring him influence the later call on Gaborik? Probably, I still haven't seen that one though.

Either way, the win was still the Devils' fifth in a row after the All-Star break and was another step towards proving they could play with the top teams in the league. Not to mention another step towards solidifying a playoff berth.

Devils bulid up huge lead, survive late Flyer onslaught

At home the previous two games, the Devils fell behind and kept having to fight back to win. This afternoon in Philly, the Devils put up a huge lead by scoring three goals in the first, three goals in the second and yet the game was still in doubt after the Flyers put up four in response during a wild third period. Finally time ran out however, and despite being outshot 24-1 and being cheap-shotted all over the place (some called, some not), the Devils outlasted the Flyers 6-4 despite missing a handful of regulars from the lineup.

Sometimes teams fall asleep in afternoon games and come out flat. One could say the Flyers did that today, but I myself was trying to take a nap and almost completely forgot about the game. Ironically enough it was when I was logging on and saw a score update that the Devils were up 3-0 that I was like...really? Then I turned it on just in time to see the Devils put up two more early in the second, finally chasing Sergei Bobrovsky after a sixth later in the period.

New Jersey scored an incredible four special teams goals, including two on extended five-on-threes by Kurtis Foster, yes the same Foster that was more or less exiled two nights ago but got a reprieve after rookie Adam Larsson had to miss this afternoon's contest. Again the Devils dressed seven defensemen, calling up the immortal Peter Harrold to be the seventh D/twelfth forward. Foster opened the scoring at 3:05 after back-to-back Flyer penalties gave the Devils their first two-man advantage, and incensed the Flyer fans and no doubt coach Peter 'The Whiner from Uniondale' Laviolette.

Philly would actually have a reason to be upset later in the period, when they were on their own power play but Ilya Kovalchuk got a breakaway, in part due to an uncalled hook on Danius Zubrus, and Kovy scored shorthanded with just fifty-seven seconds left in the period. Stunned after the late goal, the Flyers let up and with less than half a second remaining, Zubrus managed to beat Bobrovsky and the clock to put the Devils up a three-spot. Incensed after the turn of events, the Flyers committed about fifteen penalties before the Zubrus goal that weren't called, and Scott Hartnell lost his head after it, giving the Devils a power play to begin the second period by throwing around his usual quota of cheap shots after the play was over.

Hartnell's idiocy led to another quick goal, scored by Zach Parise just thirty-eight seconds into the second period. It would not be the last time a Flyer cheap shot affected the scoreboard this afternoon. Continuing their meltdown they allowed yet another goal to Alexei Ponikarovsky fifty-nine seconds later to go down five. Back-to-back roughing and cross-checking penalties by Tom Sestito and Braydon Coburn gave the Devils yet another two-man advantage, and once again big Foster had enough time and space to get his shot through, completing his surprising two-goal, three-point night (the first of the defenseman's career).

Now up an incredible six goals, and after outshooting the Flyers 30-17 in the first two periods it looked for all the world like the only concern in the third would be if the Flyers decided to cheapshot one of our better players, and how much we'd be able to rest our top players with a game in less then twenty-four hours. To their credit, the Flyers came to play in the third period and first spoiled the shutout attempt of Johan Hedberg with some brilliant hand-eye coordination by Wayne Simmonds giving the big forward a goal at 3:59. Even that goal looked like more of an annoyance, but we were still fine for a while, despite having to kill a penalty by Parise. Jaromir Jagr scored at 9:23 to make it 6-2, and at this point we were still okay, but now you knew another goal would make this game more of a headache than it needed to be - and there were still more than ten minutes left.

As it turned out, it was a cheapshot by Philly's Zac Rinaldo, slewfooting Parise that wound up unjustly turning the game. While Rinaldo did get sent to the box, so did Kovalchuk, Bryce Salvador and Anton Volchenkov - the former after he tried to challenge Rinaldo to a fight to stick up for his teammate, then wound up having to square off with (and drop quickly) teenage Braydon Schenn after Rinaldo backed off the fight. That's as lame as anything I've ever seen Sean Avery do, and it's not the first time Rinaldo's been on our radar either. After cheap-shotting Zach in the preseason, Brad Mills made the team in part because he stuck up for his captain and fought Rinaldo then.

Despite a deliberate attempt to injure, the penalties all wound up canceling out and Ponikarovsky's tripping penalty fourteen seconds later incredibly put the Flyers on the power play - with our top forward and two defensive penalty killers in the box. So, of course Claude Giroux broke out of a slump by scoring at 12:40 to bring the Flyers back to within three. And with Volchenkov and Salvador still in the box, they kept applying pressure and took advantage of our already injury-riddled defense by scoring yet again at 13:37, this time Jacob Voracek got the goal sending what remained of the crowd into a frenzy.

While clearly the Devils did not come to play in the third period (as evidenced by what would be an incredible shot total of 24-1 in favor of the Flyers in the final twenty minutes), and even more troubling played scared after it got to 6-4...it's still a shame that a missed slewfoot and cheap play wound up resulting in two goals. Even mild-mannered coach Pete DeBoer after the game said there was no place for that and hoped discipline czar Brendan Shanahan would take a look at that, as well as a Rinaldo cheapshot on Jacob Josefson earlier in the game.

Despite the Flyers' continuing onslaught after it got to 6-4 and a penalty by Andy Greene in the final thirty seconds, it got no closer thanks to some outstanding Hedberg saves - in his first start in nearly a month. Although the Devils' frightening goal difference in the third period this season wasn't helped by today, you still have to look at the fact that they gained two points and the Flyers none in a game where we were missing our top three centers, two of our top defensemen and our offense is kicking it into gear with thirteen goals since the All-Star break. Not to mention the Devils' win put them ten games over .500 for the first time this season, and with every game meaning so much at this point with the standings bunched together, you can't dismiss the importance of any win.

And with the Penguins coming to town tomorrow, you also can't dwell on what happened in the third period either. Just keep winning.

Tavares run to stardom propelling Islanders

John Tavares' emergence to stardom has the Islanders thinking playoffs.

Maybe the turning point is when I foolishly traded John Tavares off my fantasy team. Sometimes, the best trades you make are the ones you don't. I'm paying dearly. Not that I was winning our league anyway with three teams stacked but at least I would've had a great keeper. Definitely not my finest hour.

Be that as it may, Tavares has been on a roll since the end of 2011. Hard to believe the '09 first overall pick won't turn 22 until next Fall. Here is the talented guy everyone was waiting for to explode. Perhaps even saving a proud franchise that should stay put in Long Island. Even when you read they've scheduled a preseason game versus the Devils in Brooklyn next October.

While the uncertainty surrounding the Islanders will continue, one thing is certain. JT91 is ready to lead his team into the future. With their season looking all but finished, Tavares strung together a 12-game point streak that sparked the Isles to eight wins, helping restore order. Over the memorable dozen, the Mississauga, Ontario native tallied 21 points (8-13-21) including seven multi-point games with two three-pointers in wins over Carolina and Detroit. The stretch vaulted him among the scoring leaders with five more points coming following Toronto ending the streak. He now sits tied for fifth with 53 points with his 22 goals one fewer than linemate Matt Moulson and 31 helpers trailing P.A. Parenteau (36).

Somewhat amazingly, the dangerous trio have turned into one of the most lethal scoring lines led by Tavares, whose playmaking and skill have made Moulson and Parenteau better. Exactly what you want to see from a budding star taken No.1. If Rick DiPietro is the franchise curse, then John Tavares is the franchise gift that gives Isles' fans hope that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. The names with which he now finds himself competing for the Art Ross are some of the game's best with everyone chasing the Pens' Evgeni Malkin, who entered play with 59 points. Familiar faces Claude Giroux, Steven Stamkos, The Sedins, Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews and Pavel Datsyuk are all in the mix along with Leaf duo Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul. A refreshing sight for Islander supporters.

Considering all the bad news surrounding Sidney Crosby, it's nice to see others stepping up in his place. If only Ryan Getzlaf was one of them. :P Hey. Older teammate Teemu Selanne paces the Ducks with 49 points, proving that the Finnish Flash could probably play another five years. Let's hope so. Tavares' outstanding play has the Islanders thinking playoffs again. And while it's still a long shot with the Devils dismantling the Flyers today (at last check 6-0 at Wachovia) and Toronto still nine clear also in action later, the Islanders still have to climb over three teams to make it. A pivotal match against Buffalo looms large for both Battle clubs. Each trying to gain ground. The Isles have gotten solid play from Evgeni Nabokov while Ryan Miller is finally looking like a former Vezina winner. Two huge points up for grabs. It'll probably be tight.

Can the Islanders come all the way back led by their future captain? It's a lot of weight on Tavares' shoulders. If his top line got any kind of consistent support from Michael Grabner, Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen, perhaps they still have a chance. Until others pick it up including bust Josh Bailey and '10 first round pick Nino Niederreiter, they'll continue to go as far as JT91 carries them. At least for now, there's finally hope.

Christensen finds new home in Minnesota

Yesterday, Erik Christensen finally found a new home. The much maligned forward, who drew the ire of our sometimes arrogant fanbase was traded to the Wild along with a seventh round pick for Casey Wellman. While I can't tell you much about Wellman, the 24-year old from California has gotten into parts of three seasons with Minnesota, registering 13 points (4-9-13) over 41 career NHL games. In 14 contests this year, he had a career high seven points (2-5-7). It's any wonder if he'll stay up or go down to help the Whale.

For Christensen, the likeable 28-year old moves onto his fifth organization where he'll try to boost the Wild's playoff chances. For all the justified criticism he's received, Christy does possess offensive capabilities that could benefit his new team, who currently sits eighth in the West with 57 points- three better than Dallas, Calgary and Colorado, who are all tied with 54. Minnesota just might be a good fit for a guy who can contribute on the power play and is money in the shootout. Given the Wild's similar defensive posture with goalie tandem Nik Backstrom and Josh Harding, adding another offensive player could only help.

If it's true Christensen was never going to see the light of day on our first place team due to John Tortorella souring on him due to the physical nature of the roster, a scenery change could only benefit him. After putting up 27 points (11-16-27) over 63 contests in '10-11, he was 1-4-5 in 20 this season. With rookie Carl Hagelin passing him along with John Mitchell and Mike Rupp, he became expendable. The thing I always admired about Christy was his honesty about his struggle to find consistency. For a guy so talented who could score from an impossible angle as he did occasionally like versus Washington last Spring, it was sad to see how little confidence he had. But you can tell how much he cares. So, when people dump on him on the way out, it rubs me the wrong way.

Given our powerless play epidemic, you can't convince me that he couldn't have been reinserted to provide a spark. Last year, seven of his points came on the man-advantage, including four power play goals. One more than Brad Richards has in his first season on Broadway. Ironically, Christy's only goal was a PPG in a home win over Montreal, in which he also netted an assist. Four of his five points came over a three-game stretch in November. Unfortunately, what followed was one helper over the last 10 of his Ranger career.

Somewhat astonishingly, Christensen is in his seventh year having already played for the Pens, Thrashers, Ducks and Blueshirts. His 156 points (62-94-156) over 358 games tell the story of an inconsistent player who has never been able to put it altogether. At 28, he gets another chance to prove his worth as a rental for the surprising Wild. Christensen is playing for a contract. Possibly even his NHL livelihood. If he can help get Minny in the playoffs, that would only be a plus. As someone who also took him to task in this space, I wish him well. Show 'em what you can do.

Another roller coaster ride in Newark

As if Tuesday's wild match with the Rangers wasn't enough for high drama and emotion, Thursday's game with the Canadiens put everyone through the ringer yet again, as the Devils came out flat and fell behind 2-0 in the first ten minutes before roaring back and breaking a 3-3 tie late in the third with Zach Parise's second goal of the night en route to a hard-fought 5-3 win. Typically, as the Devils were celebrating a win they lost another player due to injury as defenseman Adam Larsson got laid out by counterpart P.K. Subban late in the third period and is expected to miss at least one and probably both of this weekend's games against the Flyers and Penguins. More on that later though.

It was another interesting night at the Rock, for season ticket holders got the opportunity to request two free seats for the game. I sold my regular seats and used the freebees, not realizing I would actually be upgrading in the process since I wound up with section 10 when I looked at the ticket, a good view almost parallel to the net where we defend twice. Even better, I have friends who have seasons in section 11 so I was able to talk to them more than usual tonight. Paid attendance was just over 13,000 and approximately 1200 or so of the free tickets were used, helping to fill the normally sparse lower bowl and give us fans a little extra bonus.

Fully enjoying my second free night down in the lower bowl this season (after my club seat game in November), I got zeppoles at the nearby Boardwalk stand and hardly cared I got powder all over myself, especially since my jerseys were in the wash and I was just wearing a t-shirt anyway. Unfortunately my mood turned from mellow to sour in a matter of minutes as the Devils came out like they were still hung over from the wild win on Tuesday, letting Montreal run all over them the first ten minutes - outshooting New Jersey 9-2 and outscoring them 2-0. First, David Deshairnais scored a rebound goal at 4:11 to give the Habs the lead. Then, Andrei Kostitsyn scored after a series of breakdowns to make it 2-0 at 9:23. I only said one word at this point...timeout! And Pete DeBoer agreed with my request, using the timeout at that point with the team's heads clearly somewhere else.

Maybe it was the timeout that turned things around - or maybe it was Parise's soft goal on Carey Price that somehow snuck through shortside at 10:36 that got the Devils back in the game. Ilya Kovalchuk and Danius Zubrus each got assists on the goal, and it wouldn't be the last time any of those three would be involved in the scoring. Kovy could well have tied it early in the second period when his shot squirted through Price, who didn't cover it. Unfortunately for the Devils the puck remained on the goalline and despite an attempt by Alexei Ponikarovsky to whack it in, the refs on the ice and a subsequent video review didn't see the puck cross the line so it was ruled a no-goal. By this time, the lack of calls on obvious Canadien penalties were irking me and the crowd more and more, with the culmination of our displeasure the disallowed goal.

Ironically enough, it was a penalty that was finally called on Montreal that nearly ended the game for the Devils as they gave up...yes another shorthanded goal. The culprit was a familiar one - Kurtis 'The Statue' Foster. Heck, I'd rather have the dopey bronze statue that is an eyesore outside the Prudential Center play defense than Foster, especially after his clinic on how not to play the point on the power play. First he lost the puck at the point, then let Tomas Plekanec get behind him and finally failed to pick up trailer Matthieu Darche, who swatted in a rebound after Martin Brodeur had made the initial stop on Plekanec's breakaway. Finally after that wonderful display of defense, Foster wound up on the bench for the rest of the night. Somewhat fortuitiously, the Devils had dressed an extra defenseman anyway due to the uncertain status of Bryce Salvador (playing through a leg injury). Did Foster's benching come too late though?

Lo and behold, the Devils' next power play was infinitely more successful without Foster to gum up the works, although David Clarkson's goal at 13:43 was somewhat fortuitous, as a Kovalchuk shot bounced off a Canadiens defender, then Clarkson's leg before going in after yet another review incensed the crowd and caused me to say only half-kiddingly I was walking out if this was disallowed. Thankfully, I wouldn't have to follow through as it was a good goal - which I saw pretty well from my vantage point anyway. Despite being outshot in every period, the Devils' play continued to get better even with a series of bad calls, missed calls and no calls that somehow escaped Habs coach Randy Cunneyworth when he was complaining that the whistled favored us after the game. Truth be told, we did wind up with more power plays in the game though some of the ones that were missed were even more egregious than the ones that got called. I guess the Habs are used to getting three times as many power plays as the other team the way they usually get at the Bell Center.

Still behind 3-2 despite the shenanigans, the Devils finally tied the game early in the third, when a beautiful deflection by Zubrus off a Ponikarovsky shot beat Price to tie the game at 6:11 and gave Zubie his thirteenth goal of the year. The game muddled on with the Devils killing another penalty after a contreversial interference call on Clarkson. Even more consternation followed when Subban laid out Larsson (who'd earlier been shaken up by another hard check), and the teen sensation had to be helped off the ice with an apparent back injury. Although the check was clean, there still had to be some form of retribution and Patrik Elias provided it, giving Subban an honest knock on the next shift. To his credit Subban showed genuine concern for his counterpart when he was laid on the ice, but I didn't see any of this at the time. I wasn't sure whether the check was clean or dirty.

Finally, at 17:16 the Devils' top players struck a more meaningful blow - on the scoreboard, when a Kovalchuk shot rebounded to Parise at the right side of the net, and he would beat Price with a quick wrister in the vacated area of the goalcrease for his second of the night and eighteenth of the season tying him with...Clarkson for second in scoring just behind Kovy. With the net empty it seemed like the Devils tried to force it to Zach since he could have gotten a hat trick, but finally Clarkson took care of business himself flinging it into an empty net for his nineteenth goal of the season. Clarkson's two goals and an assist weren't even enough to earn a star, as Parise got first star with his two goals including the game-winner, Kovy got second star for his three assists and Brodeur got third star ironically, after being rooked out of it during a couple of home games where he only allowed one goal. Don't get me wrong, Marty did deserve it with a bunch of fine saves that kept the Devils in it while they were still trying to find their equilibrium. New man Ponikarovsky also deserved some recognition for his two assists and +2 on the night, in addition to the almost-goal that wasn't.

Thankfully, the Devils managed to take advantage of playing a weaker team at home although things quickly toughen up again with a trip to Philly Saturday, a Super Bowl Sunday matinee back at the Rock against the Penguins (no, I won't be going for three wins in a week) and then a Tuesday showdown with the Rangers at the Garden. Early word is that Johan Hedberg will finally be getting a start in Philly tomorrow, with Brodeur back in net Sunday. Hedberg's last start was in Edmonton, more than three weeks ago but he certainly should be kept in the mix, even though Marty's largely stepped up his game recently.

Despite the two emotional wins, things are just getting started. Being nine games over .500 and in position to make the playoffs doesn't mean much if you have a bad week, and the Devils have some brutal games coming up. Larsson and Henrik Tallinder being out with Salvador playing through injury and Andy Greene just coming back from a long absence himself compromises our defensive core. The continued absence of top centers Adam Henrique and Travis Zajac has shuffled our forward lines. And yet this team and organization knows they can't afford to miss the playoffs again, for a variety of reasons that I've already gone into before and won't do now.

If this team's talent gives me pause when I think on whether we can make the playoffs, their sheer determination may be their biggest asset in the chase for the postseason. Determination that they've shown in the last two games, which could easily have both been losses and given us a disasterous five-game losing streak, all at home.

Lundqvist wins goalie duel with Miller

Sometimes, you're only as good as your goalie. For the Rangers, it's like a broken record or kinda like the groundhog seeing his shadow for six more weeks of winter earlier today. Groundhog Day happens to be one of my favorite movies. Though the part where Bill Murray's Phil character keeps waking up to the alarm clock and song "I Got Ya Babe" does get tedious. It's still so enjoyable. Can't believe I can't even find it on the TV. Epic fail.

Not so much for Henrik Lundqvist, who this time outdueled an opposite No.30 for a 1-0 shootout win over the Sabres last night in Western New York. Lundqvist went toe to toe with former Vezina winner Ryan Miller for 65 minutes with it needed a skill competition to decide. Of course, there was just as much drama in that as the final frantic moments of regulation and overtime where both goalies had close calls. I'm not going to compare this duel to the unbelievable one King Henrik and Martin Brodeur shared a couple of years ago at MSG with Marty getting the better of Henke. That saw both netminders face a ton more shots and plethora of quality chances. However, you really have to give Miller and Lundqvist credit. Both knew that one goal would decide it.

“To win in a shootout and not give up any goals, obviously it’s a good goalie game,” Lundqvist said after stopping all 34 Buffalo shots while getting help from the goalpost in the shootout. “I’ll take that any day.”

With his 41st career blanking, King Henrik tied the Kings' Jon Quick for the league lead with six- further enhancing his Vezina chances. Plenty of games left to play for Lundqvist, Quick, Jimmy Howard and Pekka Rinne to duke it out. Though you have to like Lundqvist's chances the way he's playing. Our team remains in first despite scoring issues. It can be attributed to the remarkable play of Henke along with a sturdy D led by Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh.

“I don’t think he’s been at this level. He’s improved this year,” praised John Tortorella after seeing his All-Star move past Dave Kerr into second all-time on the franchise's shutout list, trailing only Ed Giacomin. “If you want to get to where you want to be, you need goaltending like that. He’s certainly provided that.”

While Lundqvist didn't show any signs of rust in his first start following his All-Star appearance in Ottawa, Miller continued to look more like the guy who won a Vezina and carried the Sabres to first a couple of years ago. He's struggled much of the season since Milan Lucic bowled him over and concussed him earlier in the year. But Miller Time is starting show again with two wins over his last three while permitting just a pair of goals, including zero yesterday in a tough luck loss.

“It was fun to be a part of. I haven’t had too many good outings in the last few months,” Miller noted. “To go up against Lundqvist, who’s having a great season, and have a night like this, where it kind of puts us in the spotlight at each end, it’s nice to be a part of."

The Sabres are still hoping to climb back in the playoff picture, still trailing eighth New Jersey by nine points with 31 games left. The point at least pushed them past idle Montreal and the Islanders- giving them 48 which put Buffalo in a tie for 11th with Tampa Bay. The Bolts have played two less games while the Canadiens are back in action with a visit to the Devils as we type. Obviously, they need help. But the effort was there despite no Thomas Vanek, who's out a week due to an "upper body injury."

Had Buffalo cashed in on any of five power plays including a late one thanks to a Mike Del Zotto delay of game, they could've earned the valuable extra point and all important win. Instead, they were stymied by Lundqvist and an outstanding Ranger PK that may as well double power play duty considering how awful they looked during a four-on-three in OT. With a chance to win it, the four forward alignment of Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards, Derek Stepan and Ryan Callahan moved the puck around the perimeter, making it easy on Miller, whose best save came when his cat-like glove robbed Artem Anisimov late in regulation.

The powerless play is far too predictable with our guys trying to cut it too fine with only Captain Cally willing to get dirty in front. The play of Richards in particular has hurt the team. He really isn't doing a whole lot. It might be time for Tort to switch it up. Why not try a guy like Carl Hagelin, who's unafraid to shoot and uses his speed along with grit to make things happen? The coach simply needs to stop rolling out the same unit. Work in Brandon Dubinsky and even Anisimov. They really should determine how far this club goes.

Lundqvist made the more difficult saves, thwarting Brad Boyes twice. Perhaps that was a prelude because in Round 2 of the skill competition, he made arguably the best save you'll see. With Boyes deking and having our Swedish King dead to rights, somehow Henke slid his glove across while flat on his back to rob him. I'll never know how he did it and was just as flabbergasted as Doc Emrick. After Gaborik put us up, Jason Pominville knotted it by going low stick side. It took until the fifth round when Rochester's own Callahan again gave grandma a show by faking deke and then surprising Miller with a quick wrister to win it, along with an awesome fist pump.

It allowed Lundqvist to win his 23rd of the season and win the Broadway Hat. But couldn't you say that about just about every game he plays? Case closed.

BONY Stars:

3rd Star-Ryan Callahan, NYR (shootout winner)
2nd Star-Ryan Miller, Buf (29 saves, shutout)
1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (34 saves, 6th shutout-career No.41)

Grinding style could use more skill this Spring

It's kind of tough to analyze a game when you can't even see it. Unless it's a rarity like tonight's visit to Western New York with the Rangers battling the suddenly resurgent Sabres (yes, even our lurking Buffalo blogger texted me something positive last night) on NBC Sports Network at 7:30 PM. Fortunately for me, I'll get home in the middle of the first from my basketball game in Park Slope.

It'll be refreshing to get a chance to watch our team for a change. Hopefully, they remember the team mantra of no losing streaks. Especially with the Pens on the verge of passing the Flyers. The way Evgeni Malkin is playing, it's making Pittsburgh supporters forget the ineptitude of their team doctors regarding Sid The Kid. You'd swear the Pens and Mets share the same one or as I like to refer to tongue in cheek, Dr. Seuss. While they continue to win and the Flyers are right there as well, nights like last night are opportunities lost. Especially when you blow three one-goal leads against your archrival, even if a bounce went against you to give the Devils the big break they needed.

Of course, the Rangers had no chance once it went to a skill competition. The Devils are simply too strong. All it took was another Ilya Kovalchuk blast to give them the valuable extra point for their first win in four. Meanwhile, Brad Richards continued to fire blanks and All-Star MVP Marian Gaborik couldn't save us this time. At least he set up two goals. What's Richards excuse? I get that he's tied with captain Ryan Callahan for game-winners with six but there's been too many nights where you barely notice him. Given our lack of skill, it's somewhat understandable. However, isn't he talented enough to make others better and carry this team? You don't pay through the nose for inconsistency. When Olli Joke-in-en's been better with the Flames, something's wrong.

Admittedly, it's hard to kill Richie when he's in our top four in scoring with Gabby and Cally. Other than Derek Stepan, who has been cold lately and last night's goalscorer Mike Del Zotto, the offense is hit or miss. While Artem Anisimov seems to believe his season was made with HBO cameras, Brandon Dubinsky remains stuck on five goals. FIVE! How is that humanly possible? I know Dubi gives the effort more than Artie, but enough's enough. We didn't extend him to be a checker. Brian Boyle has one less goal. Ruslan Fedotenko is either even or has one more. Even John Mitchell has been more productive since he's been up. Mike freaking Rupp has four.

Sooner or later, Dubi has to put the puck in the net. There's no reason why he shouldn't be able to turn it up and reach 20. He's good enough. It's high time him and AFKAA (Artist Formerly Known As Anisimov) remember their roles. You can't always rely on the Boyles, Mitchells and Anton Stralmans to bail you out. I enjoy how hard our team plays. But the constant grinding can wear on you. Over an 82-game schedule, it's not conducive. This team isn't the Boston Bruins. They're not even in the same stratosphere. Henrik Lundqvist and Dan Girardi can only do so much. With apologies to Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and even Del Zotto, that's our backbone.

The Rangers win the hard way. While it's working now, that style might not pay off this Spring against the best competiton. Seven-game series are a whole different ballgame. As we've seen in excruciating losses to the Caps, our lesser talented core has worn down. Adding Richards was supposed to boost scoring. While it's been better, there's still zero consistency. Most games they win are tight like yesterday's with the bounce going the other way. In the playoffs, skill takes over. As big a fan I am in effort, grit and intangibles, which I've constantly been ribbed at by Brian for years (haha), you still need enough skill to advance.

What that means for Glen Sather is an improved power play, which can really use either a PP quarterback or another forward who doesn't fire blanks. I've already suggested Ray Whitney from the Coyotes, who has valuable experience winning with Carolina. Even at 40, the Wizard can still bring it. His 43 points (16-27-43) that pace Phoenix are actually two better than our point leader Gaborik. Whitney also has 27 helpers, five power play goals and a plus-14 rating. He knows how to play and would be a nice fit in Tort's system. The cost wouldn't be astronomical like Shane Doan. Maybe even a high pick would get it done. But you're probably looking at a B level prospect just for good measure.

Even with Steve Eminger getting closer and Jeff Woywitka too, I still believe our team could use another defenseman who can log big minutes. Eminger and Woywitka are fillers who Tort uses sparingly. Though at least he trusts Eminger. Adrian Aucoin also plays for the 'Yotes and has miles of experience and durability. He can play any situation and would take pressure off our top four. It might be worth a call to Don Maloney for a cheap price.

Undoubtedly as the deadline draws nearer with the calendar finally February, there will be more rumors and bigger names mentioned. Do they really want to overpay when it's not a given this team can go far? I say fill the holes but don't sacrifice too much. We'll see what happens.