King Henrik makes case for Vezina

King Henrik isn't done shutting out opponents. Neither is his run towards a first Vezina, which could finally be in the cards. His 26 saves against a potential first round opponent, the Bruins boosted the Rangers to their eighth win in 10. Lundqvist pitched his career and league leading best 11th shutout, allowing rookie Derek Stepan's 20th goal to stand up in Beantown.

Until a late second period surge that included Patrice Bergeron bumping into Lundqvist shorthanded, his day had been routine thanks to outstanding defensive efforts from everyone. Both the D and forwards were in synch, keeping the Bruins on the perimeter while the Blueshirts forechecked vigorously.

Sean Avery was back in for Mats Zuccarello and had a solid afternoon, playing mostly with Erik Christensen and Wojtek Wolski on the fourth line. When John Tortorella sent the trio out, they did a solid job along the boards, generating a couple of chances including a Marc Staal shot that Tuukka Rask shutdown. Filling in for Tim Thomas, the second-year Finn was outstanding finishing with 22 saves. The only blemish a nifty Stepan redirect of a Mike Sauer shot due to a controversial faceoff. I didn't catch it but apparently the refs screwed up. Guess we'll hear more about this later.

The Rangers misfired on three power plays, including one Marian Gaborik had all day to shoot but remarkably chose a low percentage pass to a covered teammate. That kind of play was particularly frustrating for our star, who after the nice stretch of five goals in five games has cooled off. It would also be his silly boarding penalty that awakened the Bruins from their mid-day nap. Though they didn't capitalize thanks to strong penalty killing with Brian Boyle returning after being hobbled by Ruslan Fedotenko accidentally bumping into him. Boyle and sidekick Brandon Prust didn't miss a beat nor did the rest of a PK that got the job done. In particular, Dan Girardi who was big all game with some outstanding work alongside partner Marc Staal while improving rookie tandem Ryan McDonagh and Mike Sauer stifled the B's.

A Girardi clean freight train on Lucic frustrated the big power forward, who eventually got duped by Brandon Dubinsky into a phantom slash. By then, Boston was finally playing better, ratcheting up their trademark physicality. One reason why I don't want to see them early assuming we make it. With nothing happening on the power play, Staal misjudged a puck, allowing the Bruins to come two-on-one. Brad Marchand got the puck to a streaking Bergeron, who had a step on Staal and crashed into Lundqvist after he denied the centerman's shorthanded bid. In truth, there was nothing Bergeron could've done as his momentum carried him into Henrik, who stayed down for a good minute before looking punch drunk when trainer Jim Ramsay came out. Amazingly, the guy I said is tougher than he looks stayed in and saved his best for last.

While Justin and I searched for birthday cards for a girl's party tonight, Lundqvist was doing his best to stifle an all out Boston assault. At least it wasn't criminal. :P When we got back to the car for the final eight minutes, the Bruins were like bees getting in Lundqvist's path. But he stood up to every challenge, denying the dozen shots sent his way. When he wasn't robbing someone, his hustling Ranger teammates were sacrificing their bodies in full playoff mode, blocking some 16 shots in one period. That's got to be some sort of record for a regular season game.

The last four and a half minutes was all Bruins. They fired from everywhere with a couple of times, it sounding like Kenny Albert was ready to say, "They score." But that moment never came as me and Justin looked at each other. In between all the huge saves Lundqvist made were crucial blocks by Boyle, Girardi, Sauer, Callahan and countless others. That's what's defined this team from Day One. Not the flat account they gave the other night versus Ottawa. It's that kinda resiliency which makes this the most rootable Ranger team I can remember in over a decade. Their work ethic wins you over along with the desire to get it done, which has always been Tortorella's mantra.

The last three games, our offense has cooled considerably, scoring only once in each yet we've come away with five of six points- thanks in large part to Lundqvist who has half his four shutouts over the three since Martin Biron went down. The 28 year-old Swede has started 20 straight and notched four of his league high 11 blankings. The way he has stepped up is what you expect from your best player. Make no mistake about it. It's Lundqvist who's defined this run with some of his finest work during his sixth season. One which started shaky with Biron even giving him a few nights off. There have been peaks and valleys but when the chips are down, Lundqvist's stepped up like a real King.

To win his first Vezina, he'll have to beat out a strong cast that features Tim Thomas, Carey Price and Pekka Rinne. All worthy candidates who have had great seasons. Only Price has been the most valuable, which is why I'd throw him and Marc-Andre Fleury in for the Hart if that's still permitted. In a down year offensively aside from The Sedins, where would the Habs or Pens be without their goalies? Enough of this Corey Perry MVP talk when his team may not even make it. Steven Stamkos still is in the convo as well.

What about Lundqvist, who on a team minus a 60-point scorer, more often than not becomes the story when his team looks in trouble. How about the shots he's taken, which scared the beejesus out of Garden Faithful. I thought he looked woozy after the Bergeron incident. Of course, he stayed in. The same man who responded to his coach's challenge earlier this week following another collision with Benoit Pouliot. The man has so much pride and must do it under the spotlight. Sure. The other candidates are good. But if it really is coming down to goaltending and pressure without much of a security blanket, then it should come down to Lundqvist versus Price. You can make a pretty good case for Price, who's also suffered some pepperings from us and recently these same B's who couldn't solve our goalie.

Counting today's yeoman effort, The King is up to 33 victories, 11 shutouts, 2.24 GAA and what would be a new career best in save percentage (.924). It's all but impossible to ignore how he's performed during this run. Over the last 10 games, Lundqvist's 8-1-1 with a 1.67 GAA, .936 save percentage plus three shutouts. This is the kinda superior goaltending our team's needed just to reach this point. Last year, they fell one point shy with the skill competition doing us in. Today's win matches the points (87) they had last year with six remaining. Now, the Rangers get three days off to rest their franchise netminder, who hopefully will be fresh for a crucial test in Buffalo Wednesday before paying a visit to Long Island the following day.

Ryan Callahan is the heart of this team. Brandon Prust the warrior. Brian Boyle the soul. Brandon Dubinsky the axe. Henrik Lundqvist is the backbone. It's time for him to win the Vezina.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Derek Stepan, NYR (20th goal of season for GW-5 20-goal scorers for NYR-06-07)
2nd Star-Dan Girardi, NYR (outstanding defense, four hits, four blocked shots in 26:24)
1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (26 saves-league leading 11th SHO, career No.35)

Ousted Sabres taught lesson

Well, so much for one half of my Cup pick. As it turned out, maybe the Sabres knew that the Bruins were the wrong match-up. At least that would explain pulling Ryan Miller to try to get back in that final regular season showdown against the Devils. Regardless, it sure didn't workout for either as each bowed out in the first round disappointing each fanbase.

Tonight, it was Buffalo's turn to lose doing so by a 4-3 final against a hungrier Boston club who did all the little things that win in the playoffs. You know. The same kinda stuff the Flyers did to New Jersey. Indeed, Lindy Ruff's club was outgritted by the Bruins, who took the closely fought series in six. It'd be easy to argue that the Sabres could've/should've won, referencing the good start taking Game One and leading 2-zip in Game Two before the roof caved in. Twice in this series against a hated opponent, Buffalo couldn't put it away, blowing two leads after the second for the first time all season. One thing about those stats which we researchers used all the time up at Bristol. They're meaningless at this crucial time of year. It's all about who wants it most. No lead is safe. Especially in the new NHL. You just can't approach it the same way in the playoffs.

Sure. Ruff's club missed Vanek, who returned from a high ankle sprain tonight netting a late goal with Miller pulled to get them within one with still 73 seconds left. It only delayed the inevitable, allowing former Sabre Miro Satan to notch the series winner a few days after crushing Buffalo hearts with his sudden death winner in Game Four. How could this happen? To quote my good pal Brian, "It's Buffalo." Where anything unforeseeable takes place. No goal. Check. No goal II. Check. Injury after injury defying logic when the '05-06 seemed on the verge of winning it all. Of course. Now you can add a once great Sabre who was washed up to the point where the desperate B's took a flier on him. And no. Normally, I don't write this script because it's the one that shall be echoed by our Buffalo contingent. I can see it now.

"Just another chapter in Buffalo sports lore."

How can we argue? We didn't even include football. I got nothing. I really liked this Sabre team and felt they could go a long way. Especially with Ryan Miller standing on his head. If he doesn't win the Vezina, something's wrong. No disrespect to Ilya Bryzgalov or Martin Brodeur. But Miller's the best goalie this season. Though I'd also like to see Bryzgalov get recognized with the Hart because no player was more valuable to their team. Especially the Coyotes, who get their crack at history tomorrow in the Desert. As for Miller, even in a special season where he played out of his mind, he gets silver in Vancouver and falls in the first round to shafted rookie Tuukka Rask. To think that the Maple Leafs gave away the Finn for Andrew Raycroft, who now backs up Roberto Luongo in Vancouver. Wow. Being that Bri absolutely loathes Toronto, they're to blame for this. Even when that franchises misses again, they somehow screw Buffalo. Pretty whacked.

Nobody feels worse than Miller, who gave his team every opportunity. Bottom line. The Bruins were peskier winning many board/puck battles as was evidenced at TD Garden. Minus Vanek and Jochen Hecht, the Sabres couldn't finish enough. They got nothing from Derek Roy and Tim Connolly, who may as well have been ghosts. When Nathan Gerbe does more in two games, you got issues. How come the B's got much more out of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, who torched Buffalo for two goals and a helper in the coup de grat. Ah. The power play. What a foreign concept that was for these Sabres, who may as well have had on half Devils and Rangers gear on. Special teams are so vital in playoffs. And like the other Battle participant, Buffalo failed miserably. If you're having trouble scoring and can't win the battle of special teams, you're screwed.

Why did Boston win? Because Claude Julien's club wanted it more. Forget how little they led until the clincher. They kept coming. One can't say the same for Buffalo, who seemed content to rely heavily on Miller to bail them out. That's not a good recipe this time of year. It'd also help if Toni Lydman could play his position. The Bruins got more out of journeyman Johnny Boychuk. And can anyone please tell me who the heck Adam McQuaid is. This ain't Total Recall. What else? Well, the Bruins had no trouble advancing minus Marc Savard. Grinders like Milan Lucic, Vladimir Sobotka and ex-Sabre Daniel Paille (Paille's Revenge???) owned the wall. Even Satan mixed it up. Their best players also were their best, meaning Zdeno Chara, Dennis Wideman, Bergeron, Krejci and Rask did their thing.

How many Sabres could you say that for outside of Miller? Jason Pominville (2-2-4) was fairly quiet. Tyler Myers struggled, perhaps hitting a rookie wall. The aforementioned Roy/Connolly went into the tank. Oh. Buffalo's grinders showed with Adam Mair, Mike Grier, Patrick Kaleta, Paul Gaustad, Cody McCormick and Tim Kennedy doing their part. But if there's one defining moment, it had to be 42 year-old dinosaur Mark Recchi knocking Matt Ellis off the puck and setting up Bergeron in Game Three. Brutal. Recchi knows what it takes and leads by example. How frustrating was it that deadline pickup Raffi Torres was reduced to a healthy scratch the last two? Only Buffalo.

It wasn't all bad as kids like Gerbe and Tyler Ennis distinguished themselves. Hell. Ennis came close to tying it. The miniscule 5-9, 163 pound center looked just fine putting up a goal and three assists in his first playoffs after tallying nine points in 10 games. With Myers the cornerstone of the blueline, the future looks bright. Problem is there are enough vets to challenge now. Miller's already 30. How many peak years does he got left? Buffalo can't afford to waste them which is why Roy and Connolly were so disappointing.

Maybe we're being too hard. This was their first taste of the playoffs in three years. Perhaps Boston's experience showed. Even though they went down fighting, it still was a tough way to end a good season. Hopefully, the lesson was learned.

Bruins clinch thanks to NHL record

One more team is in the Big Dance. Thanks to an unlikely NHL record, the Bruins clinched a playoff spot by posting a hard fought 4-2 win over the Hurricanes at TD Garden this afternoon. The two points give them 89 points with one more game tomorrow versus the Caps. They can finish either sixth or seventh pending tonight's Leafs-Habs Hockey Night In Canada clash. Montreal needs at least a point to wrap up a spot.

Claude Julien's club dominated the first half of the game, taking it to a Carolina club playing its final game and looking ready for a Par 4 course. Despite 18 first period shots with many quality chances, the Bruins couldn't solve Cam Ward. Amazingly, a late Matt Hunwick minor for hooking proved pivotal. With 1:42 left on the penalty, Boston did the unthinkable- scoring three consecutive shorthanded goals in a 64-second span to set an NHL record. Daniel Paille got the bizarre sequence started by taking a Zdeno Chara feed and beating Ward down low at 32 seconds. Just 49 ticks later, David Krejci set up Blake Wheeler for No.2. With the crowd in a frenzy including quirky NESN play-by-play man Jack Edwards, Steve Begin set the record when he took a great Dennis Wideman outlet and went five-hole only 15 seconds later.

Never before had that happened. When the Bruins needed it most, they delivered one of the greatest NHL moments, which ultimately sealed the postseason. It still didn't come easy with the pesky Canes chipping away thanks to goals from Erik Cole via backhand wrap and Pat Dwyer less than three minutes apart to cut the margin to one. With time winding down in the crazy second, they came close to tying it. It would be a sign of things to come. An even nuttier play took place which could've cost Boston in the third. After failing on one power play, a delayed call for a second saw them accidentally miss a shot wide. The puck caromed off the boards past everyone headed to the vacant net. Yes. It looked like they were screwed. However, their heart and soul Patrice Bergeron made a great hustle play skating hard to just get his stick on it to sweep it away at the last second. An outstanding play by a guy who always gives the effort. Following a brief review which confirmed miraculous save, he got a great reception. It's players like Bergeron and Krejci that have stepped up minus offensive leader Marc Savard, who is expected to miss the first round.

With the B's sitting back, the Canes didn't go away outshooting them 8-5. They forced rookie Tuukka Rask to make a couple of tricky saves. Overall, the outstanding 23 year-old Finn they stole from the Leafs for Andrew Raycroft finished with 33 saves, improving to 22-12-5 with a 1.97 GAA, .931 save percentage and five shutouts. The Calder likely is going to Jimmy Howard. Would either rook be a Vezina candidate? Unlikely with Ryan Miller and Ilya Bryzgalov the co-leaders with Martin Brodeur, Evgeni Nabokov, Jaroslav Halak and Henrik Lundqvist all in the mix. In 45 games (39 starts), Rask leads the league in GAA and save percentage. Awfully hard to ignore considering that he supplanted last year's Vezina winner Tim Thomas and got the league's lowest scoring offense into the playoffs.

For Boston, they can breathe easier and watch the Canadiens tonight and Flyers and Rangers following their game to see who winds up heart broken. They earned it.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Tuukka Rask, Bos (33 saves for 22nd win)
2nd Star-Cam Ward, Car (38 saves incl. 33/36 first 2 periods)
1st Star-Daniele Paille-Blake Wheeler-Steve Begin, Bos (NHL record 3 SHG in 64 seconds)


UPDATED EASTERN PLAYOFF STANDINGS

+1.Caps 120 Pts
*2.Devils 99 Pts
&3.Sabres 98 Pts
*4.Pens 99 Pts
*5.Sens 94 Pts
*6.Bruins 89 Pts
7.Habs 87 Pts
8.Flyers 86 Pts
________________
9.Rangers 86 Pts

On Road To B'ruin

If one were to grade the Rangers' performance in a must win versus a mediocre Bruin team that's hanging on, it would be an F. Once again, they flunked out this time by a score of 2-1 in Beantown. Once, this Original 6 match-up was great with plenty of fanfare. Not anymore. After 20 sloppy minutes, NBC execs had to be shaking their heads in disgust. It had about as much appeal as watching paint dry.

What does it say about this league when this is what you get for the final spot? At least Boston has an excuse. What's the Rangers? Don't answer that. Credit the Bruins for doing what they had to in getting a badly needed win even if it was only their second at TD Northbank since the Winter Classic. Coming off a disgraceful performance in the Matt Cooke game which even drew the ire of Cam Neely, the B's were hungrier winning every battle. They finished every check and forced our Hostess Twinkies lineup into more turnovers than at the bakery I just ordered my Dad's birthday cake from.

Miserable and lifeless would be a good way to describe our heroes, who did their best Invisible Man act in what Garden shill Don LaGreca described as the "biggest game in over 10 years." Apparently, the so-called ESPN 1050 pregame host must've conveniently forgotten Game Five EC Semis at Buffalo 2007. Embarrassing. How much can you insult our intelligence? The Jagr Era at least produced two exciting first round wins, including the five-game revenge that drove the Devils and Marty into early tee times. Say what you will about Tom Renney but those teams cared. The Post No.68 Error has been a disaster. We're not advocating bringing him back as it would probably turn into Messier II. The day Savior cut ties with JJ, that was the end. Back to the Dark Ages of teasing the Garden Faithful.

How hard has it been? Watching this team has turned into a chore. Just like it used to be. A sad tale that's been rearing its ugly head from the ashes as this season's gone on. As we've openly stated in this space, more and more fans aren't opposed to seeing this team go in the tank for a better draft pick. If only Jazzy Jim gave a damn instead of pushing this bogus 3D M$G Extravaganza Wednesday against the Islanders, charging 20 more dollars to con more suckers. Anything to screw over a way too loyal fanbase that will continue to shrink next Fall as more season tix aren't renewed.

Updating my situation, unless something drastically changes this summer, I'm not returning. I've had enough. I'll save my family money and myself some as well since I always donate to the cause. A lost one. I don't see it getting any better next year. Mark it down. 3/21/10 at 6:36 ET. Derek Felix of Battle Of New York guarantees the Rangers miss the playoffs again, finishing even lower. The worst aspect is nothing will even change. Business will go on as usual as if everything's right. M-E-D-I-O-C-R-I-T-Y. Dolan Vision.

While many guys wearing our colors didn't bother to show- a list which is too long for me to bother with- Henrik Lundqvist did everything possible to give his teammates a chance. He made plenty of strong stops keeping it scoreless for more than half the contest, including stoning Daniel Paille's penalty shot following an undisciplined Artem Anisimov wrap job. I've been one of his defenders all year because it's unrealistic to expect him to light it up in Year 1. But there's too many instances where he struggles. The skill is there for the lanky 21 year-old Russian but he needs to seriously bulk up so that he has more of a role next go round.

The Rangers had opportunities thanks to a few ill advised Boston penalties, including an unnecessary Zdeno Chara hi-sticking double minor. Four minutes with their best player off the ice. Leave it to the Booshirts to botch the entire thing, not even registering a shot on Tuukka Rask. I've echoed it many times but you just can't make this stuff up.

When the Bruins stayed out of the box, they were the aggressor banging bodies and generating more off the attack, forcing Lundqvist to be really good. It remained scoreless until another sad reality took place where our boys actually turned immortal Andrew Ference into Bobby Orr- allowing him to set up washed up Miro Satan for the game's first goal with 3:47 left in the second. In a pathetic display, they all went to Ference, who was on a bad angle along the left wall with both Marc Staal and Michal Rozsival forgetting completely about Satan, who snuck in for the easiest goal he's ever scored and relevancy. Unbelievable. That same player who Pierre McGuire trashed accidentally banged into one of our guys for a lazy interference minor with 26.5 seconds left.

Leave it to Olli Jokinen to take a selfish rough before the buzzer, ending a power play in which they wouldn't have scored anyway. Speaking of the Jokester, he is garbage. He has been invisible in these games and hasn't scored since 2/12. Ser---ious---ly. To think I actually thought he'd be important to Calgary this year. What an absolute waste. He took one shot and was in the box three different times. Great job! No wonder the Flames took Chris Higgins and Ally.

Trailing by one, the Rangers had maybe one or two chances to draw even with Rask stifling Marian Gaborik and Sean Avery ringing one off the post. They just didn't create much. Losing Ryan Callahan for the third didn't help. On one shift late in the second, he out-hustled Chara to negate an icing but took a hit, skating off awkwardly. It's being termed a "lower body" injury.

During first intermission, McGuire and Mike Milbury alluded to how much pressure's on Lundqvist to be perfect. He finally succumbed to the pressure permitting Dennis Wideman's backhand from the slot that made it 2-0 with less than 10 minutes left. On the play, the aforementioned Jokinen over skated leaving Wideman vacated where he took a Vladimir Sobotka pass and fooled Henrik for his fourth. Milan Lucic added a helper. Game. Set. Match. So what if Mike Del Zotto got his eighth when his point shot deflected off Lucic to foil Rask's shutout bid with 3:04 to go. The Rangers weren't coming back because they're incapable.

“Sure, this was a team that we’re chasing and we needed those points,” a dejected Vinny Prospal said. “It’s a big loss for us, but, on the other hand, we can’t just say it’s over.”

I'll say it for you. Season over. On the road to B'ruin.


BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Dennis Wideman, Bos (GW w/9:40 left in 3rd, 3 SOG, +1 in 17:24)
2nd Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (29 saves, falls to 28-26-8 w/2.46 GAA, .918 Save .Pct)
1st Star-Tuukka Rask, Bos (23 saves for 17th win in rookie year)

Sabres fall again in shootout to B's

The Sabres' woes continued at the hands of bitter rival Boston, who edged them in a shootout prevailing 3-2 at HSBC Arena tonight. David Krejci snapped a 1-1 tie in Round Four to give the B's their second consecutive win, tying the idle Flyers in points (61). However, they remained in ninth due to one more game played. Not bad considering Claude Julien's club had just ended a 10-game losing streak the other day.

Boston got superb goaltending for a second game in a row from rookie Tuukka Rask, who finished with a career high 43 saves and turned aside three of four Sabre shooters. Perhaps he's finally supplanted last year's Vezina winner Tim Thomas, who's been up and down all season. The 22 year-old Finn who posted a shutout to get his first win since 12/30/09- bested Ryan Miller (32 saves), who did all he could to allow his team to rally from a two-goal deficit. He allowed a pair of first period goals to former Sabre Daniel Paille, who played a big role in beating his former 'mates. Paille scored on a wraparound 4:51 in from Marc Savard and another ex-Sabre Miro Satan. Just over seven minutes later, he burned Buffalo again by neatly deflecting home booing target Zdeno Chara's left point shot for his ninth. Derek Morris added a secondary helper.

Despite outshooting Boston 17-11 in the first, Buffalo trailed 2-zip. That didn't deter them from coming out with a strong second to get the game tied. The Sabres took eight of the first nine shots, forcing Rask to come up with some tough saves. They couldn't beat him until a two-man advantage, which Derek Roy cashed in for his 13th at 4:35 to cut it to 2-1. After some sloppy passing, a nice pass play was started by Tim Connolly, who dished across for Jason Pominville who quickly fed Roy in the slot for a blast that went top shelf. It came following a scrap between Craig Rivet and Milan Lucic with the Bruin antagonist getting an extra two for a hook. A Steve Begin hold less than a minute later allowed Buffalo the opportunity to get back in it which they did on Roy's sixth PPG.

With the Sabres upping the ante, it got heated when Paul Gaustad's challenge was turned down by Chara, earning the Goose an unsportsmanlike minor. The fact the towering Boston captain backed down was yet another example of why the instigator needs to go. He certainly can throw 'em but opted to say no, earning a power play which Buffalo killed off. Rookie Tyler Myers tied it with 75 seconds left bringing the crowd to their feet by taking a Gaustad feed and beating Rask with a wrister for his eighth. He'd later leave the game late in regulation following a blocked shot taken to the neck but skated off on his own.

Though they outshot the B's 12-8 in a very exciting third that saw both teams go for it, Boston had the better chances but couldn't beat Miller who wasn't allowing anymore at least during the hockey portion. However, Rask was every bit as good forcing it to overtime where both netminders made great stops. On the first shift, Miller slid across to his right to deny a two-on-one. But Rask cameback with two tough stops through traffic including a rebound he got with his goalstick. The Bruins couldn't cash in on a 4-on-3 power play drawn by Michael Ryder with Miller turning away Dennis Wideman twice and the Buffalo PK doing the rest. Before time expired, Wideman sent one more shot on Miller which he repelled taking it to the shootout.

In Round One, Pominville (five-hole) and Marco Sturm (forehand deke shortside) traded goals. Nobody scored in the next two frames sending it to extras where Rask stoned Drew Stafford setting the stage for Krejci to be the hero. He obliged by beating Miller with a quick snapper handing Buffalo a fifth straight defeat. With the point, the Sabres remained atop the Northeast due to two fewer games played than Ottawa, who cameback from two to post a 3-2 home win over Calgary. Both clubs have 72 points.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Daniel Paille, Bos (2 goals versus former team)
2nd Star-Ryan Miller, Buf (32 saves)
1st Star-Tuukka Rask, Bos (career high 43 saves, stopped 3 of 4 shooters for 2nd win in row)

Higgins late goal saves Rangers

For more than 50 minutes, they'd outplayed the Bruins and were leading by two. Rare in itself. But if you've followed this team, you know nothing ever comes easy. So, when a sleepwalking Boston club struck for two in 86 seconds tying it with just over four minutes left, it shouldn't have been a great shock. Neither was the fact Matt Hunwick's shorthanded tally started the comeback with our guys standing around and still dazed enough to let the B's tie.

The more stunning aspect was who scored to rescue the Rangers to an actual regulation win on home ice. Oh. And they scored three without Marian Gaborik on the score sheet. The winner actually came off the stick of Chris Higgins, who finally got off the schneid for his first goal in an eternity. Also his first on home ice. Maybe they can now have a freeze frame MSG Chris Higgins profile as a Ranger.Couldn't resist. In all seriousness, he has been busting his ass for the past two months. So, it was nice to see him finally get rewarded off if I may say some nice work by the captain Chris Drury and constant Ryan Callahan.

“We played a strong game,” the hero said after ending an 11-goal drought. “We just let up a little bit. … We let them back into the game. But we were confident we were going to win, even when they tied it up.”

It allowed them to win a game at MSG and actually jump into a tie with idle Montreal for seventh. They both have 45 points but Les Habitants have played two more games. So technically, we're ahead even though the Habs are playing much better. How bad is the East? Do you even have to ask? The good news if you can actually call it that is that our flawed team is in playoff position. The bad is that if they somehow make it, they'll be easy pickings for the Devils, Caps or Sabres. I fail to see what another gate does for this franchise other than hook up our greedy owner who will screw the fans more than Bret Hart got screwed by Vince McMahon. And that would also mean Slats stays put and again, we're stuck.

All that said, they played solid earning their 20th win in 42 games. Seriously. That's less than half and we're sitting in seventh. For some reason, Boston tried everything to hand us the game, taking four undisciplined minor penalties in a row, including a five-on-three our team blew. But a miracle of sorts took place when there was an Ally Kota-leak sighting. Off a broken play started by Callahan, Dubinsky slid the puck across to Kotalik who blasted a one-timer past Tuukka Rask for his first goal in 22 games. Right away, Versus captured our $3 million mess looking skyward thanking the heavens. Three years. Nine mill with a no-trade.

Up one, the Blueshirts got another man-advantage because Ally's PPG came on a delayed call. In typical fashion, they couldn't build off it allowing the Bruins to win every battle that included a couple of shorthanded bids. Kotalik was also involved in a sloppy change that led to a bench minor for Boston's only PP of the period. The PK did a nice job but Henrik Lundqvist was called upon to make a couple of big saves to keep our team ahead after one.

In the second, a great Mike Del Zotto seam pass found Dubinsky, who one touched it to a cutting Erik Christensen, who broke in from the right side and slipped a one-handed backhand thru Rask's waffle for a two-goal lead at 7:34. Amazingly, the waiver wire pickup has all four of his points over the last three since being moved up by John Tortorella to the top line. Same guy who was getting mysteriously scratched in favor of Brian Boyle. Boyle was in the lineup as was $1.4 M waste of space Donald Brashear, who replaced Aaron Voros for some reason on the fourth line. Boyle actually had a chance but predictably took a weak backhand off a three-on-two that Rask easily ate up. He later did nice PK work on another Bruin power play with Gabby in the box for a bizarre high toss that went into the stands for delay of game.The Blueshirts played really well in front of Lundqvist, allowing him to see all 11 offerings while they sent 17 on Rask and made it more difficult.

"We played really well in all facets of the game,” a pleased Tortorella emphasized of an effort that saw his club block 24 shots, register 11 takeaways and 35 hits.

Distracted by the wrestling chaos, I didn't see a ton of the third but didn't miss much. The B's were still dead when Zdeno Chara went off for interference with under seven minutes to go. They only got five total shots. Unfortunately, the Ranger PP struck the wrong way, allowing the Bruins some life when Gaborik turned it over on the boards, leading to Hunwick's SHG. David Krejci outhustled our guys behind the net and worked it to Blake Wheeler, who then found Hunwick in the slot with his backhand whistling past a screened Lundqvist. Suddenly awaken, the B's took it to us. Even still 5-on-4, the doom and gloom could be felt through the TV. Eventually, Wheeler got the puck and blew one upstairs, stunning only the blatant homers. Somehow, they tied without point leader Patrice Bergeron, who left early in the second after taking a shot off his hand.

Nothing surprises me anymore. So, I didn't have any reaction and figured they'd lose. Only to my startling discovery when I flipped back, I saw Higgins actually smiling as the bench celebrated his first goal as a Ranger on Garden ice. The one time he scores, I miss it. Versus showed the replay after and he wrong footed Rask, who thought pass on a play Higgins snuck a backhand past the gifted Finnish rookie. Drury and Callahan assisted on the late goal with 89 seconds remaining. Claude Julien pulled Rask for an extra but it was obvious that the Rangers wouldn't allow them to tie doing a noble job defensively to earn the two points.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Blake Wheeler, Bos (goal/assist, 2 SOG, +2 in 16:33)
2nd Star-Brandon Dubinsky, NYR (2 assists, game best 5 SOG, 4 hits, takeaway, 2 blocked shots, 6-7 draws in 24:16)
1st Star-Christopher Higgins, NYR (GW w/1:29 left-1st goal on home ice, 3 SOG, takeaway/blocked shot, +1 in 16:34)