The Difference in Games...

Not too much to say about tonight's game that you won't read elsewhere since I recorded the game since I was out and watched it quickly.

However, notice the difference in the two games between the Rangers and Devils this year, most notably in penalties and power plays.

Arguably, the two teams played basically the same in both games. Sure, maybe the Rangers weren't as good tonight, but they both played the same style - fast-paced, slightly gritty, kind of dirty.

Yet, on Monday, October 5, 18 penalties were called in 3 periods. That does include some co-incidental minors that didn't result in a power play (an Ales Kotalik hooking call with a Nicklas Bergfors diving penalty; Aaron Voros and David Clarkson both for roughing in the 3rd), but there were no fights. All 18 penalties were two-minute minors. Each team had 6 power play opportunities.

On Thursday, October 22, 6 penalties were called. Two were from the same fight, and there were only 4 two-minute minors called, and one of them was with 24 seconds left.

What was the difference, you ask? Was it John Tortorella showing the Rangers videos of their penalties so they don't repeat the same mistake? Possibly, but how to account for the Devils only taking 3 minors as opposed to 9? I think there was another factor in play.

Dare I say it? The difference is the network that the games were played on. The first game (10/5) was on Versus, where they want to bring in new viewers. What do "fringe fans" want? By fringe fans, I mean, say, people who normally don't watch hockey but turn it on from time to time; or people who have no rooting interest in one of the teams playing but are watching anyway; or people at a bar watching it because it's on. Fringe fans want to see goals. More penalties = more power plays = more goals and exciting chances.

If Calgary is playing Columbus, I have no reason to watch a 1-0 game since I'm a Ranger fan and have no rooting interest in it. But if it's 6-5, 4-3, or even 6-5, I'll watch because it looks like an exciting game. Same for people who don't ever really watch hockey - they won't watch a 2-0 Devils shutout but they'll watch a 3-2 Rangers win with back-and-forth action and breath-taking saves by both goalies.

Now, tonight's game (or technically, last night's game) was on MSG or MSG+. Odds are, if you're tuning in to a Rangers/Devils game on MSG instead of the Yankee playoff game where they have a chance to win the pennant, you're a big fan and will watch the game no matter what. If it's 5-on-5 play the whole game, I'm still watching.

I constantly say how much I dislike the games on Versus, not only for their annoying broadcasts (although last year was much worse than this year) but for the facts that the referees constantly blow the whistle for phantom calls and bogus penalties.

If you don't believe me, keep an eye out during the next Rangers game on Versus. That game is November 17 at MSG against Washington. Think the NHL doesn't want Poster Boy Alex Ovechkin, Nik Backstrom, Mike Green, and Alex Semin to score 8 power play goals that night? That game might break the record for two-minute minors.

It's Prediction Thursday!...

For the third time today, we will have a prediction themed post on this website. I guess that's what happens when both of your teams have officially emptied their respective lockers and have held exit interviews.

Based on my poor showing in my 2008-09 predictions, you should not put much stock into what I say. Also take into effect that last year, I predicted Montreal, the Rangers, Colorado, and San Jose to win the 2nd round and go into the Conference Finals. The correct winners were Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Dallas. Much like David Wright, I was 0-for-4.

Keep in mind that Game 1 of Vancouver/Chicago is in the books

Boston over Carolina in 5
Pittsburgh over Washington in 6
Detroit over Anaheim in 6
Vancouver over Chicago in 6

I hope I'm not selling Anaheim short again. I heard Gary Bettman's erection has not gone down since the Hurricanes beat the Devils to force a Penguins/Capitals series. I also hope that the officials go easy in said series. You know they're going to referee it so that it goes to 7 games, or atleast try to. And Pittsburgh will win, of course, because Gary Bettman said so.

Requiem for a Team...

Superstitious as I am, to prepare for tonight's Game 7, I did what I did for their last Game 7: Went to my fourth-grade class, headed to the Sunrise Mall, changed the lyrics to a song on the radio in my mom's Volvo to words about the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup, and sat down in my den to watch the game.

What can I say about the game itself? Not much. You watched it, I watched it, we know what happened. A great defensive play by Ryan Callahan turned into a double-deflection. Henrik Lundqvist was in position to stop a shot, but he couldn't get over to stop the freak deflection. Not his fault, not Callahan's, not Dan Girardi's.

I am pretty positive that when the players were gathering around Lundqvist at the end of the game, they were saying, "Sorry. We know you're the best in the game. Wish we could help you out. You don't deserve this." And I'm pretty sure he regretted signing a multi-year deal to be here.

I didn’t want to say anything earlier just in case the Rangers pulled out a Game 7 victory in Washington, but since that dream bubble has burst, I will say it: I had the same feeling going into Game 7 tonight that I did going into Game 6 in Buffalo in May 2007: defeat.

I did not, however, have this feeling for Game 5 in Pittsburgh, when I thought the Rangers could win. My theory was, win Game 5, Game 6 would be a guarantee, and Game 7 a 50/50 chance.

However, after Buffalo won Game 5 in overtime, you knew what would happen. Beaten, the Rangers would return to MSG and put up a half-hearted effort, and the Sabres would pounce upon them. And that did happen, with the Rangers going down 4-2 in the 2nd before a futile third period brought the score to a respectable 5-4.

The difference in Game 5 in Buffalo and Game 6 at MSG this past Sunday? Chris Drury scored in Buffalo.

I won’t blame this series or this season on Chris Drury. He is given 1st line money because of a great opportunity he was given: He beat the Rangers when he tied the game with 7.7 seconds left, then became one of the 3 best free agent forwards available less than 2 months later. Fact is, he is a 2nd line player. It’s not his fault that Glen Sather thought his career-high 69 points (37 G, 32 A) in 2006-07 was worthy of Jaromir Jagr/Joe Thornton money.

However, it again might be dark times ahead for the Rangers. As I’ve mentioned before, this team is handcuffed with Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, and Michal Rozsival. I’m actually getting sick of writing it, but here goes one more time:

This team has these insane salaries on the books for 5 more years (Gomez, Redden) and 3 more years (Rozsival). Once again, it isn’t their faults they’re getting paid this much money. Gomez got lucky also - him, Drury, and Daniel Briere were the top free agent forwards that summer, and he capitalized. The only this Redden is at fault for is accepting NY’s offer when another team offered him the same exact contract, but he wanted to play in NY (I can only guess that team was Toronto, though it is unconfirmed). Rozsival liked the Rangers for giving him a chance to comeback after the lockout, and Sather apparently thought his lax defensive play and his over-passing on the power play was worthy of Rob Blake/Sergei Zubov money.

No GM in their right mind would accept a trade for these underachievers (or I guess they are just “achieving” to their potential, which isn’t very high). In a salary cap world, who would take a $7M center until 2014 with a 5.9 shooting percentage (including empty netters) and who can’t crack 45 assists? Who would want a $6.5M defenseman with 3 goals and limited defensive skills? Is a $5M player who is responsible for more shorthanded goals against than power play goals for going to be high on anyone’s summer trading list?

Be sure, the darkest days are coming if these salaries are still on the books. No good free agents can be signed when the team teeters so close to the edge of the salary cap. That is $18.5M that can’t be alloted to re-signing Paul Mara or Derek Morris instead, or can’t be used to make a move at a real first line player, either via free agency or a trade.

Think Atlanta would accept Scott Gomez for Ilya Kovalchuk? Get real.

I had said numerous times that $39M can't buy you heart in this Emerald City. Tonight, Redden proved that. He actually did have one good play - I told my girlfriend to write down that after 8 pre-season games, 81 regular season games for him, and 7 playoff games, he finally had a good play. He then went and ruined everything by standing in front of Sergei Federov and refusing to drop down to block a shot. Apparently, Drury isn't the one with the broken hand, Redden is, as he also couldn't throw his stick out fast enough to try to block the shot once he decided he was too precious to drop down.

Five more years of Gomez. Five more years of Redden.

Something's gotta give.

Rangers Eliminated in 7

At 2:59 AM this morning, Zach sent me a text stating how he was going to write a retrospective about the Rangers' season after tonight's game. He sent me the title and everything. Clearly, he wasn't too optimistic about heading to the second round.

And with good reason.

After leading the series 3-1, the Rangers are going home early. In front of what has to be one of the loudest crowds I've ever heard, the Capitals emerged in the third period and defeated the Rangers by a score of 2-1. The Rangers were in control for much of the first two periods, but the Capitals were too much in the end. Sergei Fedorov scored with just under five minutes left and the Caps didn't let up; instead of sitting on their lead like so many teams do, Washington put so much pressure on the Rangers that they weren't even able to pull Henrik Lundqvist for an extra skater.

Zach will be by later on with more thoughts. Certainly, he'll point out that Wade Redden just sort of stood there as Fedorov shot the game-winning goal into the net. But let the record show that this was a team effort. Every player did his part to lose this series. From poor games by Lundqvist in Games 5 and 6 to the completely invisible play of team "leaders" Chris Drury and Scott Gomez, everyone is to blame. And that includes John Tortorella, who was so quick to bash Sean Avery for inappropriate behavior prior to becoming Rangers coach, but at least Avery wasn't squirting water at fans behind the bench during the middle of a playoff game.

Clearly, there will be changes. There has to be. But with the Rangers right up against the cap, it's hard to see the Rangers fielding a better team next season.

The Good News...

Not going to dwell on the debauchery that was Game 6. I said all along that they wouldn't blow Game 6 at home up 3-2, and they made me look like fools.

However, there is good news.

The Rangers scored 3 goals on a backup goaltender!

Okay, so now Simeon Var-lah-mov is now the starter in Washington, but his goals against average was like 0.75 going into this game. He gave up 1 goal, 0 goals, 2 goals, and 0 goals. So they got 3 past him, albeit one of them when the game was a wash and it was 5-2.

Still, 3 goals is 3 goals, and if Henrik Lundqvist reads his own scouting report, they have a chance to win Game 7. Maybe not a strong chance, but a chance indeed. If they can score 3 goals and he can stop all but 2, well, you know how scoring works.

For the record, here is the scouting report on Lundqvist...

"Great goalie. Goes side to side better than any goaltender in NHL history. Flops down early in anticipation of a low shot, leaving the entire top of the net open."

* * *

Here is a list of players who played every regular season game for the Rangers: Dan Girardi, Brandon Dubinsky, Marc Staal, Colton Orr, Markus Naslund, and Nik Zherdev.

Yes, Colton Orr played 87 games this season, coached by Tom Renney and John Tortorella. Does Jim Schoenfeld not like him that he would sit Orr in the playoffs when that goon Donald Brashear is out there?

Capitals fan or not, you can't agree with how Brashear went up and randomly attacked Blair Betts. He did it at MSG in 2007 also when he went up and sucker punched Aaron Ward in the mouth.

Today, he nails Betts for no reason other than he was angry about something that had nothing to do with Betts, and he gets a 2-minute penalty. You can guarantee that if someone did something like that against the Penguins, they would get a 10-game suspension.

And here is where Schoenfeld erred. Without Orr in the lineup, and without proper officiating, Brashear had the chance to do this. Nobody was going to make him pay. Paul Mara ran at him, pushed him a little, grappled with him, didn't drop the gloves, and got a 2-minute minor of his own.

No one was in the lineup to offer accountability. The Rangers had very little injuries this year (I believe they had the 2nd least man-games lost this season). Some of the credit has to go to Orr, a great fighter who isn't afraid to pummel someone into oblivion. No one like Dion Phaneuf or Chris Pronger is going to take a run at Scott Gomez (but really, why would you?) if Orr was there, because they have to answer to him.

(Do you think Shaone Morrison would've bitten Brandon Dubinsky if Orr was there to beat him down afterwards?)

When Gomez injured Ryan Miller a few months ago (on accident), no one made him pay. If Derek Roy or Maxim Afinogenov ran into Lundqvist, they, or someone on their team, would have to lose a fight to Orr.

Orr needs to be in the lineup. Maybe Schoenfeld wanted offense and saw Orr's 4 career goals. Maybe he doesn't know that he is there to keep the peace.

Someone should also show him Orr's scouting report before Game 7...

"Can't skate well. Has better accuracy with a left hook than a wrist shot. Will fight anyone on the other team. With him in the lineup, no one will take runs at your top penalty killer or star goaltender, and no one will bite your second-line center. Better than Aaron Voros. Don't sit him the playoffs in favor of aforementioned player, who should be a healthy scratch."

* * *

And finally, let's give it up for Tom Poti, who apparently had his first power play point ever at MSG, and Wade Redden.

Here's to you, Wade Redden. You are stealing 39 million dollars from the fans of the Rangers over the next 6 years, and when your team is down 2-1 in a clinching game, and you get gifted power play time for some reason, what do you do? Lazily reach for a pass, miss it, and slowly chase the puck back into your own end.

Bravo. Bravo. Bravo.

You are hockey's version of Stephon Marbury, with one major difference. He hurt his team by stealing money and not suiting up; you steal money and you play.

Wow

Zach titled his last post, "Saw That Coming". This one should be titled, "Should Have Seen That Coming".

On Friday night, my wife and I had the family over for a barbecue. My father-in-law is a Rangers fan, and a cynical one at that. As the Rangers faltered in Game 5, he remarked to me that he thought they were going to end up losing the series. I told him, flat out, there was no way the Rangers were going to lose this series. However, we did agree that the Rangers' entire team is Henrik Lundqvist. I went as far as to joke that Lundqvist should win the Hart Trophy every year.

Now? Turns out he may be right. As I type this, the Rangers just scored a goal to make the game 5-2 in favor of Washington. For the second straight game, Henrik Lundqvist is watching the third period from the bench in a Rangers hat. Lundqvist wasn't very sharp today, nor was he on Friday; it's no surprise that the Rangers lost these two games.

Suddenly, the Rangers are in deep doo-doo. They'll be traveling to a hot crowd in Washington to play Game 7 on the road. The Capitals were 29-9-3 at home this season. Lundqvist is a mess. The usual suspects still aren't showing up. The one saving grace is that the Rangers will get their coach back on Tuesday - but they had John Tortorella behind the bench in Game 5 and still got blown out.

Long story short? The Rangers have their work cut out for them. If they don't advance to the second round - a scenario that's looking very likely - there will be plenty of blame to be passed around. And there's not a single person in the entire organization who should be absolved.

Rangers Up 3-1, So Let's Talk About Penalties...

You've watched the game, you TiVo-ed Rangers in 60, and you already read all about the game on the Internet.

Let me just say a few things, then...

- - Sean Avery took 2 penalties in the last half of the third period, the first being on a race for the puck by the Capitals' goal line. I think this was a marginal penalty, at best. It didn't look like he actually meant to hit Milan Jurcina. Granted, I might be completely wrong, because lately it seems like Avery "accidentally" hits people a lot. But it truly appears to me that he was turning his body quickly, didn't see Jurcina bending over, and clocked him on accident in the head.

The second penalty, though, when he hit a Capital in the face/neck with his stick, was stupid. Yes, Brian Pothier sold the move like he got shot by a bazooka, but Avery never should have done it. I will stand by Avery and how he plays, but this was a stupid, selfish move. He normally puts his teammates first on the ice, and everything he does is to get under someone's skin or help his linemates, but this was stupid. Instead of hitting Alex Semin or Alex Ovechkin, he has been concentrating on bums like Tom Poti and Pothier.

Shouldn't the first penalty, the punch on Jurcina, maybe been a 4-minute minor since it drew blood? Or is that only for high-sticking calls?

- - Quick sidenote: I remember a Ranger game in Boston that I was at in 2006-07 when both teams had a #68 and a #81, and I thought that was really cool. (For the record, Jurcina, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Hossa, and Phil Kessel.)

- - Paul Mara also took 2 stupid penalties. The first was an interference call where he laid someone out away from the play. A dumb penalty, probably, but you could see the point in it. He knocked someone hard who could have gotten to the puck when it wrapped around the boards.

The second one, where he pushed someone who was chasing the puck into a corner, was ridiculous. It, like Avery's stick-to-the-head, served no purpose and just put the Rangers into a 2-minute hole where Ovechkin, Semin, or Mike Green could've dented the Rangers.

- - Mike Green took a "good" penalty before. He was exhausted from playing a full power play, and when he let Fred Sjostrom blaze by him, he hooked him and took him down before Sjostrom could get the puck.

While he never should have let him blow by him like that, he took a good penalty because it saved a breakaway and it didn't lead to a penalty shot. Avery's hit on Pothier and Mara's useless shove were bad penalties. If a penalty stops a scoring chance, or teaches someone a lesson not to mess with your teammates, that's fine, and a solid 2-minute penalty kill can help your team. But useless penalties demoralize you and invigorate the other team.

- - By the way, there was a part in the 3rd period when the Capitals were on the power play that made me laugh. Every player on the ice, Capitals, Rangers, were completely beat. The Capitals keep their players (Ovechkin, Semin, Green, Nik Backstrom) on so long that by the 1:50 mark of the power play they are phoning it in; and the Rangers had their PK unit out for so long because the couldn't clear.

The end result: a listless power play that couldn't even pass the puck, and a PK unit that couldn't even stop a weak pass.

* * *

All in all, a huge game, like I said earlier, and a gigantic win. It leaves a barrier now where they can win in Washington Friday, but they don't have to.

They now know that even if they lose Game 5, they can close it out on home ice Sunday.

Big Game...

I know you know this, and I don't mean to state the obvious, but this game tonight is huge.

Regardless of tonight's outcome, I think the Rangers will lose Game 5 Friday night. If the Rangers win, they take a 3-1 lead in the series and can afford to lose a game in Washington, knowing that the series comes back to the Garden for Game 6, where they can put it away.

If they lose, though, tonight, they might be in a bad spot. Of course, the same cliches will be said by Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Henrik Lundqvist, and John Tortorella: "One game at a time, one period at a time, one shift at a time." "It's not a best-of-3 series." "We're tied, we're not out of this." "Anything can happen."

But you know they can't afford to lose this. Not only will momentum swing to Washington, but they'll be in an opposing building for Game 5. Yes, they are 2-0 this week in that city, but you don't want to go into a hostile environment NEEDING a victory. You want to go in there Friday thinking a victory is a luxury, but knowing you'll win on Sunday night if you lose Friday.

And due to a family situation, I sold my tickets to tonight's game and will be watching from my couch. Game 1 I watched when I got home from work that night not knowing the outcome; Game 2 I watched some at home, missed the second and most of the third period, and caught the last 4 minutes at Bryan's house; Game 3 I watched at work and didn't bother watching at home when I saw how it went.

So, the couch it is, and thankfully, the game won't be on Versus. I am also bursting with anticipation on which company will be advertised on the plexiglass behind Lundqvist and Simeon Varlamov.

Capitals Win, 4-0

After two very impressive road wins, the Rangers returned home. The Garden faithful (and their awesome glow-in-the-dark) ThunderStix welcomed their home team with open arms. Unfortunately, that's about where things peaked, as the good old Rangers showed up.

The announcers kept talking about how the near-goal by Ryan Callahan was the turning point of the game; after all, if that puck went in, Alexander Semin wouldn't have scored and the game would have been tied 1-1. However, the Caps finally brought their A-game to these playoffs. The Rangers, on the other hand, did not.

If you've read this blog for a while, you've probably read Zach's rants about the Tom Renney-led Rangers and how that team has occasionally shown up under the tutelage of John Tortorella. Tonight was one such night. How bad was it? I actually had to check the boxscore to see if Chris Drury played tonight. Turns out he got ten minutes of ice time. I would have checked to see if Scott Gomez play, but I happened to see him on the ice during the pre-game. Wade Redden managed a whopping one shot on goal in 4:30 of power play time. As a whole, the Rangers were 0-for-6 on the power play, even if some of those power plays didn't last for the full two minutes.

The reason for that, of course, is Sean Avery's 18 penalty minutes. By my estimation, at least two of his four minor penalties were unjustified. The truth is, Avery's repuation precedes him and referees will never give him the benefit of the doubt. This was evidenced when John Erskine cross-checked Avery into the goal right in front of the referee, who declined to call a penalty. It'll be interesting to see if Avery is called into Gary Bettman's office tomorrow after his cheap shot at Simeon Varlamov; the hit certainly fell into the category of a message-sending attack when the score was already decided.

This isn't to knock Avery at all. Avery, Callahan and Lundqvist were the only Rangers to act like they cared about winning. But even a great performance by Lundqvist wasn't enough to win. And make no mistake about it, Varlamov was great tonight. Varlamov, whose goalie mask still features the logo of the AHL's Hershey Bears, can confidently get a new paint job, because he's not going anywhere. One of the best parts of the playoffs is seeing young players emerge as legitimate contributors on the NHL level. Being an upgrade over Jose Theodore isn't saying much, but Varlamov has given the Capitals new life in a series that is suddenly looking like it could go the distance.

You'd like to hope the real Rangers show up on Wednesday night. As an unbiased observer, I sure hope they do. And with home-ice advantage on the line, the Rangers should pull out all the stops on Wednesday. So should the Capitals. We should be in store for a great game on Wednesday.

Which Series is This More Like?...

The Capitals won the Southeast Division this year, and are down 2-0. So, which series is this most like?

2005-06 - Southeast-winning Carolina Hurricanes lost the first 2 at home to Montreal, then replaced Martin Gerber in net with Cam Ward. Ward led the 'Canes to victories in the next 4 games, then they went on to win the Stanley Cup.

2006-07 - Southeast-winning Atlanta Thrashers lose the first 2 at home in the series against the Rangers. They lose Game 1 4-3, then replace goalie Kari Lehtonen with Johan Hedberg. Hedberg loses Game 2 by a score of 2-1 (on a freak bounce-shot by Sean Avery), and they go back to Lehtonen for Game 3. They lose that game 7-0, and Hedberg is back in net for the loss in the elimination game, Game 4.

Will Jose Theodore be back in net for Game 3? He accepted responsibility for the loss in Game 1 and wanted a chance to redeem himself, but Caps' coach Bruce Boudreau went with the rookie, Simeon Varlamov. Will he do a switch, even though Varlamov only let in one goal? Hedberg had a decent game in Game 2 but sat the next game.

* * *

That was great defensive coverage by Tom Poti on the Ryan Callahan goal. Poti went to cover Markus Naslund on his right side, and with his left hand, motioned for the other Capitals defenseman to cover Callahan. Thing is, there wasn't another D-man there, Callahan easily accepted a good pass from Naslund, and scored the only goal of the game.

I don't care if you're reading this as a Ranger or Islander fan. Be happy Tom Poti is on neither of these teams anymore.

A Fact, An Opinion, and a Mistake...

MISTAKE
I think a lot of people erred when they (me included) predicted the Sharks would sweep the Ducks. I think we overlooked the fact that even though these Ducks aren't the same as they were 2 years ago, they still have Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer on the blueline, and Francois Beauchemin is back from injury. Those are 3 big assets to have on a team, and they can have anyone of them on the ice at any given time. Add in Ryan Whitney, and that's a scary defense that not a lot of people took into account.

They sure shut down Joe Thornton today. His only shot came with like a minute left in the game.

For those who didn't catch the end of the game, it was scoreless going into the 3rd period, but the Ducks scored 2 to win it. The Sharks did hit 2 posts in that period though.

OPINION
Ian LaPierre, the "Sean Avery" of the Montreal Canadiens (albeit with less skill and without Avery's stunningly good looks), should be suspended. Tonight, the Bruins scored an empty-net goal to ice the game 4-2, and LaPierre just went and hit him while he was celebrating.

His back wasn't turned like when Dale Hunter attacked Pierre Turgeon in 1993, but there is no place for crap like that in this game. I know they allow fighting in the game, but that is in the heat of the moment (or should only be) and should deter punks like LaPierre from doing that cheap stuff.

He didn't injure Phil Kessel, but he could have, and it was after the play, after a goal, and with nothing to be gained. A one-game suspension should do the trick, like they gave Dan Carcillo in Philadelphia for a useless cheapshot last night.

FACT
The Rangers have been in 5 playoff serieses since the lockout (not including the current one against the Capitals). In those 5 matchups, the team who won Game 1 wo the series.

They lost to the Devils 6-1 in 2005-06. The next season, they beat Atlanta 4-3 and lost to Buffalo 5-2. (I still maintain that if they won Game 5, there was no way Buffalo would have won Game 6 at the Garden that year.) Last year, they beat the Devils 4-1 in Game 1 and then lost to the Penguins 5-4 in the opening of that series.

Not a stone-cold fact, but it's worth noting. Makes you feel a lot better hearing that stat now that they do have that lead though, doesn't it?

Fun...

Well, Game 1 was fun, wasn't it?

The Rangers didn't do much offensively but they did capitalize on their chances. At one point, early in the first, my roommate said, "What are the shots, 9-1?" I laughed at her. When they announced that the Rangers had finally gotten their 2nd shot on net at the 15-minute mark, I actually laughed out loud.

Listen, it was a good game. It was fun to watch, very entertaining, and had the desired outcome, atleast for me. But this is a series, not a one-and-done playoff. I don't want to sound too much liek John Tortorella (or Alex Ovechkin), but this is far from over. The Capitals will come out flying Saturday afternoon.

And we all know how the Rangers fare in afternoon games. If my calculations are correct, they were 2-8 in afternoon games and were shutout four times.

However, if the Rangers manage to stave off the Capitals attack again and win Game 2, that would be huge. Up 2-0 going into MSG is tough for any team to overcome. And the Capitals attack isn't too great, you know.

Seriously. Let me explain. They had 35 shots on goal, 13 from Ovechkin, and 22 from elsewhere. 22 shots in a game? That's Devils-territory. Stop Ovechkin, stop the Capitals. Oh, and don't take bad penalties especially in the offensive zone.

* * *

My wish for this series is good officiating. I was very concernced that we would see biased referreeing based on the fact that the NHL wants the Capitals to do good, much like Pittsburgh got the benefit of 97% of all calls in the playoffs last year. But I guess as long as the Penguins are in, the league is happy, and the other serieses can be called evenly.

Tonight, there were some bad calls and non-calls, but they were pretty much even against both teams. I'm fine with awful officiating, as long as it's even.

* * *

Oh, and yes, Henrik Lundqvist was great today, even though he did give up 3 goals.

Set in Stone: Rangers vs. Capitals

It's all set up, and presumably will begin Wednesday night from the Verizon Center.

Washington (50-24-8 -- 108) vs. The Rangers (42-30-9 -- 93, one game left)

The four games this season...

Capitals 3, Rangers 1 - 11/8/08 - This game was so long ago that Aaron Voros scored the Rangers' only goal on a pass from Brandon Dubinsky. Capitals started backup goalie Brent Johnson, Chris Drury failed on a penalty shot with the score 2-1 with 2:15 left to play, and Alexander Semin scored an empty netter to seal the deal. Alex Ovechkin had no goals and was foiled all night by an incredible Henrik Lundqvist, who let in one goal when it hit the glass behing the net, bounced and hit the crossbar, hit Lundqvist in the head, and Brooks Laich batted it in. The 2nd goal was scored after the net came loose, and Lundqvist argued play should've stopped. It didn't, Caps win.

Capitals 5, Rangers 4, OT - 12/23/08 - Rangers go up 4-0, Capitals storm back to tie it, including 2 goals by Ovechkin. Ryan Callahan scored 2 as well, Drury had 3 assists, and Nigel Dawes had 2 assists. Jose Theodore started the game, got pulled, and then was put back in to start the 2nd period. This was an ecstatic first half of the game, and a gross second half that shone a light on some of the team's offensive and defensive problems.

Capitals 2, Rangers 1 - 1/3/09 - Petr Prucha had the lone goal for the good guys, and Marc Staal matched up well against Ovechkin all night long. However, Ovechkin scored the game winner while shorthanded with 32 seconds left in the 2nd. This was their 12th SHG-against of the year. Steve Valiquette was in net and did play well. This game was also notable for Everyone's Hero Wade Redden getting in - and winning - a fight against Chris Clark.

Rangers 5, Capitals 4, SO - 2/11/09 - Down 2-1 after one period and tied 4-4 after the second, the Rangers had 10 minutes of power play time (including a double-minor for high-sticking) and didn't score once. The Rangers were slumping badly during the stretch of the year, as they were 0-4-1 before this game and 1-4-3 afterwards. Lunqvist was in net, so was Theodore.

So which will we see, those 5-4 games of those 2-1 games? I think if it goes 2-1, it's the Rangers winning, but if Lundqvist lets up those 4 or 5 goals, the Rangers won't be able to overcome.

Official Prediction: Rangers in 7. Yes, I'm serious. No, it's not a homer pick. I've been saying they could beat Washington all along. Once you get past Ovechkin and Green, they aren't scary at all. Jose Theodore? Get real. Lundqvist can outplay him every night.

Another Crushing Defeat

The nice thing about these Islanders from a writer's perspective is that you don't even have to wait for the game to be over to start your piece. That's because every game is exactly the same.

Islanders play some team with 30 or so more points than them. Islanders play hungry; other team barely shows up. Islanders come out and get an early lead. Other team starts to wake up. Islanders win a fight and hold down the fort in the second period. Other team fully wakes up. Islanders get victimized by dumb mistakes, bad officiating or both. Other team catches lucky break to take the lead. Islanders rally late, but can't score. Other team wins.

Howie Rose just said that the Islanders' games of late have been fun. I guess. That is, if you enjoy coming so close to winning every game, yet ending up on the losing end every night. Sure, the team is maturing before our very eyes. Sure, it's better to watch a competitive game than a blowout. But man, it's hard to watch the Islanders compete so hard, but lose.

If you've watched any of the NCAA Tournament, you might be able to relate to this. Big-name school faces plucky underdog school with a losing record. Somehow, the underdog keeps it competitive throughout, but inevitably craps out down the stretch. When the big team wins, it celebrates like it actually achieved something, as opposed to barely beating a team it was supposed to beat by 40 points. Don't you just want to smack everybody on that team? How could you be happy after a game like that?

That's what watching these Islanders is like. You get sucked in by their tenacious play. You feel such pride for them that they're staying with the big dogs. Then, the bottom falls out, and the Islanders lose. Tonight was a perfect example. After the Capitals tied the game at 3, Josh Bailey scored to make it 4-3... only thing is, Tim Jackman fell into Jose Theodore and got called for goaltender interference. Of course, Mike Green scored less than a minute later to put the Caps ahead for good. Funny how Jackman gets called for that, yet when Erik Cole bulldozed over Peter Mannino two weeks ago in Carolina, the ref turns a blind eye and Carolina gets the easy goal.

When the Islanders lost to Buffalo in the first round two years ago, I remarked that it was in the best possible way. The Isles lost, but they could point to controversial calls in Games 3 and 4 as reasons why they lost. This way, Islanders fans didn't have to think about the fact that they would have lost the series anyway. The last few weeks of Islanders hockey remind me of that same sentiment. We can point to bad calls, we can point to unlucky bounces... the truth is, the Islanders aren't good enough yet.

The great thing is, they're not all that far off. The Isles are making serious progress and can make teams pay for taking them lightly. Which leads me to my next point - so many teams are taking the Islanders lightly despite their (relatively) great play in the second half. Next year, if these same teams keep continue to underestimate what will be a much better Islanders team, they will certainly pay the price. And the road to respectability for the Islanders will be much smoother.

The Home Stretch

As the Islanders head into their matchup tonight against the Washington Capitals, a lot of Islanders fans are thinking the same thing. 

Enough already!

Every Islanders fan enjoyed last weekend's results, beating Detroit in their home rink and taking three out of four points against playoff teams. But fans are suddenly finding themselves full of worry. Have the Islanders kissed the first overall pick goodbye? Did they spoil their karma by sending Brendan Witt out during Saturday night's shootout? Did the Islanders give the Colorado Avalanche just enough room to step in and steal the 30th overall spot?

The truth is, these are things nobody can control. It doesn't make much sense to get worried. That said, Saturday's game against Tampa Bay is suddenly looming very large. The Islanders have two games in hand on the Lightning, who don't play until Friday night against New Jersey. If the Islanders win their next two games and Tampa Bay loses to the Devils, an Islanders victory over the Lightning leaves the two teams tied. That's a bit scary.

Fortunately, the Islanders play a ton of meaningful games down the stretch. Tonight, Washington can clinch the Southeast by getting one point against the Islanders. Tomorrow, the Islanders return home to face Montreal, who needs all the points they can get as they battle Florida for the eighth and final playoff spot. Next week features a home game against Philadelphia and road games in Carolina and Pittsburgh; all three of these teams are fighting each other for the all-important fourth seed and the home ice it brings. That takes us up to the final game of the season against Boston, who will have all hands on deck as they try to get one last tune-up for the playoffs.

In short? There really isn't much to worry about - though it's certainly understandable to panic. I, for one, maintain that if the Islanders play hard, all this draft stuff will take care of itself. In less than two weeks, we'll know where the Islanders stand - finally. Who says you need playoff hopes to make the end of the season exciting?

Rangers Finally Score Goals...

The Rangers didn't play great last night, but they outplayed Washington, finally scored more than 2 goals in a game, didn't play atrociously, and got two points out of the deal.

I wonder if Scott Gomez has watched the replay of Paul Mara's goal a few dozen times. If Tom Renney still had control of this team, he would probably make him do that to show him what can happen when you fire from in front of the net as opposed to a crappy, low-angle shot from the boards. (He also should be force-fed replayed of Ryan Callahan's, Lauri Korpikoski's, and even Markus Naslund's goals so he can learn to crash the net/shoot from the slot to score goals).

Gomez's play has gone from serviceable to inconsistent to poor to horrendous. Nobody making $7M/year should be described as "horrendous" now that we have a salary cap in place. It was different when Eric Lindros and Val Kamensky ate up money, because it only affected the wallet. Now, it affects the entire team like an 800-pound gorilla in the room. As opposed to when it used to just cost money, it now handcuffs the team from making other moves because they have a non-performing player with an un-trade-able contract.

He's not just a non-performer. He actually hurts the team with his giveaways near his own goal, in the offensive zone, and his blown coverages that lead to goals (namely, when he was staring at Henrik Lundqvist instead of the man who eventually scored the Capitals' 2nd goal last night).

Between him and Wade Redden, $13.8M in salary cap room is alloted to players who actually help the other team. For the next 5 years after this year, as well.

Think these two are bad now? Wait to see them slower and older in 2013.

* * * 

I want you to look, next time the Rangers give up a goal, at where the players are standing/looking. Nearly every goal they give up, including the first 3 last night, the players were looking at the puck-carrier and not paying attention to the rest of the ice. Joe Micheletti brought it up on the first goal, where everyone (biggest error was Redden) was staring at the puck. 

It was also evident on Mike Green's goal to make it 3-2 Capitals, when he was alone just above the right circle. Four Rangers were "hounding" the puck-carrier - who in reality wasn't pressured at all - and Green was wide open as the 5th Ranger was nearer to him but was also staring at the puck.

* * * 

Aaron Voros was in the lineup presumably because Renney likes his "size" and ignores the fact that he is a poor skater, doesn't punish people with body checks like a man his size should, and doesn't put pucks in the net. 

I've been harping on the fact that his size hasn't given the team anything lately except a blowout loss, a bunch of shutouts and one near shutout.

Well, I stand corrected. Last night, he correctly demonstrated to all those in the system how to effectively lose a fight to someone you tower over. 

Not sure, but I think even Petr Prucha would've stood a better chance against Matt Bradley.

A Call for the Head...

Well, another game, another ineffective power play, another weak performance by veterans, another short-handed goal against, another loss, another 2 points the Rangers will be missing come late-March, early-April.

Who's fault is it? 

The GM who assembled the team? Partly. Wade Redden should never have been signed. Michal Rozsival should have received less money so a real 1st- or 2nd-defenseman could have been signed. They should have signed Scott Gomez or Chris Drury in 2007, not both. (However, signing Markus Naslund has worked out, and the trade for Nik Zherdev was a steal.)

The players who play? Partly. A 7th defender should be brought up so Redden or Dmitri Kalinin can watch the game from the stands. 

The coach? Absolutely. When the power play continually doesn't score and gives up goals, why would he keep putting the same personnel on the ice? The GM gave him these players, the players play to (hopefully) the best of their ability, and when they faulter, he keeps giving them more and more chances. Petr Prucha seems to be a good player. I remember him having success on the power play in 2005-06 when he stood at the doorstep and banged in rebounds. Why not try them instead of the ineptitude of Drury-Redden-Gomez-Rozsival-Naslund? 

I don't know if anyone out there can coach this team better than Tom Renney, but it's becoming obvious that the Rangers might need to try a replacement. As long as said replacement is not Glen Sather again.

The real question, however, is this:

Can this be the first team in history whose power play ends up a minus in the +/- catergory?

* * *

Alex Ovechkin had 9 shots on goal last night. The Rangers' highest player was 3. Hmmmm. By the way, Ovechkin did score. It wasn't a picture-perfect goal, but if you get the puck to the net, good things happen.

Oh, Hey, 2009, How Are You?...

Finally, a Ranger game!

It feels like a week ago that Versus treated us to the analytical stylings of Joe Beninati and Billy Jaffe during the Islander-Ranger game at MSG (that I sold my tickets to).

In reality, it was something like 4 and a half days ago, and by chance, Joe Beninati will be at Saturday night's game also, as he is the play-by-play voice of the Washington Capitals.

I truly hope Sam Rosen will be doing the game, but something tells me we'll have to suffer through John Giannone. It's not that I don't like Giannone, it's that a) he is better served as an in-studio analyst and b) Sam Rosen is one of the best in the NHL.

Let's also hope they have an answer for the Capitals and Ovechkin. As we all know, last time they played, they predictably blew a 4-0 lead and lost in overtime. They were lucky to even hold off for that point, as they got up 4-0 then completely stopped playing.

Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes have been playing solid lately. Petr Prucha's re-return has proved fruitful, as well. I don't have concrete evidence on what they did over their break, but let's hope it involved champagne, cocktail wieners (you know, pigs-in-the-blankets), and a week-long search for Brandon Dubinsky's Game that he apparently lost on or about Halloween Night and hasn't found since.

Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, and Michal Rozsival playing for their combined $18.5M (this season alone!) would also be nice.

And I hope Glen Sather's New Year's Resolution was to read this here blog in the weeks leading up to July 1 (the start of free agency in the NHL) so he can read our insight. Either that, or he'll be paying Erik Cole $7M next year and Marion Gaborik $9M and we'll group them with that free agent disaster named Redden (whom we predicted would be awful not only this year but 6 years down the line).

Regulation Wins...

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, the Rangers beat the Coyotes 4-1. Since then, they have had one regulation win, and that was against Anaheim on December 16.

Since Thanksgiving, there have been 3 shootout wins, 3 overtime wins, 6 losses, and 1 overtime loss (Capitals game last week where they blew the 4-0 lead to Alexandre Ovechkin).

And their power play has fallen to 25-11. That's 25 goals while on the PP, and 11 shorthanded goals against.

Yes, they are in first place. That 5-0 start was fantastic and it's the reason they are still kind of in first place (they are first in points but have played 2 more games than Philadelphia and 4 more than New Jersey, both of whom are nipping at their heels). Besides that fast start, the two reasons that they are in a decent position are Henrik Lundqvist and the fact that Gary Bettman hates games that end in a tie. Don't worry, Mr. Bettman, I do too. I enjoy the shootouts and what they've done to my team.

Let's hope a game against the Islanders breaks them out of their stupor, although the Islanders always, always play the Rangers tight, even with nothing on the line. 

* * * 

Don't forget to vote for us at The NHL Arena.

A Bit Disillusioned

Our buddy Jason from 3rd String Safety left us this comment last night regarding the Islanders-Capitals game...

Excuse this comment for being totally irrelevant to the post but I went to a hockey game for the first time in a while tonight and I had several observations.

- The Nassau Colosseum is a dump. A total dump. Sitting in my row I felt like a prisoner, I couldn't lift my hands to clap because my arms were wedged in between my body as my friends had jacked the arm rest space.

- Our friend Anthony didn't know the "Don't leave or go back to your seat" until there's a whistle etiquette rule. It was amusing to watch him get yelled at for walking up the stairs as he's holding his $18 nachos.

- I would describe the atmosphere as dead. Bryan I am truly sorry you're an Islander fan. The crowd cheered more for the Ice Girls (who I would compare to the WCW Nitro Girls) than anything else. When the game went into OT it just seemed everyone was waiting for inevitable gut wrenching loss.

These are points I'm not prepared to argue right now. Why? Because he's right.

OK, the $18 nachos is a bit inaccurate. (Though they are really good.) But he has every right to take these shots at the Islanders. Sure, it's annoying that everybody dumps on the Islanders. Then again, they're a bit of an easy target these days.

I'll be completely honest and state that I didn't even watch the final two periods of last night's game. The first period was everything I thought it would be. I assumed the Coliseum would be half-empty, and I was right. I assumed Scott Gordon would stubbornly stick with Joey MacDonald, even though he has a 4.67 goals against average in December, and I was right. I assumed the Islanders would fall behind early, and I was right. Does assuming the worst make me a bad Islanders fan? Probably.

In my defense, it was my first night off in a while, and I wanted to spend time doing rather than watching. So I fired up the 360 and played some NHL 09. Is that so wrong? I don't know. But I wasn't too keen on clearing out an entire night to watch a loss. Turns out I missed quite a game. I guess I got what I deserved.

Now, having said all of that, I'm not about to take all the blame here. I, for one, am absolutely sick and tired of hearing the same old crap about the Islanders. For starters, how they're only losing because of injuries. I call BS. The same people who were thrilled that Mike Comrie got hurt are now complaining because half the team is hurt. Oh, and for the record, the whole team was hurt last year, too. You can only blame bad luck for so long before you have to look at what's really going on with this team. (Before you take the easy way out and call the Islanders a team full of graybeards, realize there are only seven players on the active roster older than thirty.)

The other thing I'm sick of hearing about is Scott Gordon's system. I swear, the next time I hear the phrases "overspeed", "Scott Gordon's system", or "the new system", I'm putting a brick through my TV. Never in my life have I ever heard a coach's philosophies get so much press. This isn't football, where coaches call all the plays. Gordon can only do so much; ultimately, it's the players who have to win the games. Do you realize the Islanders have only one player, Andy Sutton, with a positive plus-minus rating? That's awful.

And awful is what the Islanders were supposed to be this year. This has turned into the season we all expected - lots of competitive games that end in losses. Now that the bottom is really starting to fall out on this team, it's easy to get discouraged. It's times like these when we're supposed to remind ourselves that the Islanders are rebuilding, that there are better times ahead for this team. However, it's not that easy. The question we're asking ourselves - and if we aren't, we should be - is, "When this team gets better, will they still be on Long Island?"

I've said before that I believe the Islanders will be moved off the Island within five years. And why shouldn't they be? The Lighthouse is not happening. Nobody really has $400 million lying around to get this thing going. Furthermore, now that it's become a political issue, you know nothing is ever going to get done. Look at the Jets' proposed West Side stadium for proof of what happens when politicians get involved in something started with good intentions. The team is losing money left and right. Nobody is going to the games because the team's not very good and nobody has money. It's a losing situation all around. At this point, the question really isn't if the Isles will be shipped off to Winnipeg, Hartford, or some other hockey-starved city, but when the move will take place.

If you're as cynical as I am, you're convinced this will happen just before all the young players turn the corner and start to become great players. This way, the new city gets all the glory we've earned.

You know, I was totally on board with rebuilding the Islanders the right way before I realized just how dire this whole situation was. Now, I'm not sure what to think. I want to see a successful Islanders team before they're eventually moved out. Will it happen? I sure hope so. Those of us who are still left certainly deserve it.

If you've followed me this far, I do appreciate it. I'm not even sure if I'm following myself at this point. I know this holiday season is supposed to bring about hope and all that, but it's hard to be so positive when evidence suggests things will get even worse. Here's hoping for a holiday miracle that not only keeps the Islanders on Long Island, but puts them on the path to their former glory.