Ice Time...

Ice time on the power play tonight (of the Rangers' 4:35 total)...

Wade Redden - 2:30

Marc Staal - 9 seconds

Scott Gomez - 2:31

Chris Drury - 2:53

Petr Prucha - nothing

Lauri Korpikoski - 22 seconds

I'm not saying Prucha is the be-all-and-end-all of the New York Rangers. I'm not saying Korpikoski is worth the 2004 1st round draft pick. But Gomez has done nothing - in an incredible fashion - on the power play lately. Redden has done nothing the entire season, on the power play AND even strength. Drury - eh, nothing, at least Drury wants to play for the Rangers.

Could it really hurt the Rangers to put Prucha or Korpikoski on the power play? (Ryan Callahan played just over 2 minutes today on the PP). Korpikoski has 3G, 1A in the past 4 games and, along with Callahan, Prucha, Henrik Lundqvist, and Paul Mara, appear to be the only Rangers interested in playing past early-April.

Listen, I love Tom Renney. He will go down in history with Lester Patrick, Emile Francis, and Mike Keenan as the most important coaches in Ranger history. But, he has an over-reliance on these bums - for lack of a better word. Gomez and Redden don't perform. Why keep putting them out there? 

I sincerely think that Renney won't get fired, because either GM Glen Sather is clueless, or he is out on vacation somewhere. He is an absentee GM, and because Jim Dolan will make money on the Rangers (and Knicks) regardless of how they finish, he has no need to change things.

It makes me angry just typing this. Redden either needs to refrain from showing his loyalty so much, or he needs to step away from the bench and move to a cozy office a few floors below ice level at MSG.

Homegrown Talent (aka I have no interesting title)...

I could make myself angry and harp on the same stuff I've been saying for months about what flaws the Rangers: always staring at the puck and never looking at who is sneaking up behind them; over-reliance on overpaid players; Wade Redden; Scott Gomez; taking bad shots; lopsided ice time; same crappy players on the power play who continually give up short-handed goals and can't score.

I will just say one thing. In the first period, Markus Naslund was skating down the left wing and took a "shot" from a bad angle that Martin Biron easily covered for a whistle, and we go to commercial. What was Naslund thinking? It appeared that he actually wanted to get the whistle so he passed it to Biron. I had to watch this about 5 times on TiVo and I still can't come up with why he thought this shot was a good idea. It was an awful angle, no one was there for a rebound, and it was a weak shot.

But anyway, all I really wanted to write tonight was...

Did you see that play by Ryan Callahan on the Lauri Korpikoski goal?!!? Great! Being chased and hit, he somehow pokes the puck out to Korpikoski, who himself made a great spin-move for the goal. Excellent, excellent play.

Give them some power play time, Coach Renney. Your livelihood depends on it.

Voices: Howie Rose

For anybody who's even remotely interested in the business of broadcasting or even the lives of broadcasters, the NHL Network's Voices is a must-see. Each week, the show profiles a different broadcaster, including clips and interviews with that particular announcer. This week, Islanders broadcaster Howie Rose was on the show.

Overall, the show did a great job of showcasing the abilities of Howie Rose. Howie's a hard guy to dislike; Rangers fans still have reverence for his work with their team, while Islanders fans can claim him as one of their own. Stan Fischler, one of the other broadcasters interviewed, mentioned the difficulty Howie had being accepted by Islanders fans after leaving the Rangers. While the program didn't discuss this at all aside from Fischler's remarks, it remains a remarkable accomplishment that Howie has acclimated himself so well to Long Island.

Obviously, Howie Rose and Stephane Matteau will be forever linked, and Voices devoted an entire segment to the spring of 1994. Islanders fans probably don't want to watch this part, but it's an important part of Rose's career as well as hockey history. Howie discusses his admiration for Marv Albert and how proud he was to share the broadcast of Game 7 versus Vancouver with his idol. In the segment, Rose admits he grew up a Rangers fan and was horribly nervous throughout the third period, which Albert called. At the end, pictures are shown of Rose kissing the Stanley Cup - and after that Matteau call, he has every right to do so.

Unfortunately for Islanders fans, there isn't much devoted to any of Howie's great Islanders calls, probably because there haven't been all that many great moments in his tenure. They did show the Wade Dubielewicz pokecheck that put the Islanders in the playoffs in 2007 as well as some of his amateur calls, which were done on a hand-held tape recorder. Quotes from Rose's current partner Billy Jaffe, his former partner Joe Micheletti, and Rangers announcer Sam Rosen all paint Howie Rose in the best possible light. 

The Voices crew trailed Howie Rose the day of an Islanders-Rangers game on January 13 and gave fans the true experience of a broadcaster. Howie is a noted opponent of the morning skate, so when he showed up to the morning skate and asked Scott Gordon a question, Gordon quipped, "Who's the new guy?" We also got a look at how Howie prepares for the game (mostly game notes and interviews, in contrast to some other broadcasters who pen entire notebooks) as well as a trip inside the booth. Perhaps the most interesting part of the booth is the assistant next to Rose who writes pertinent facts on a Dry-Erase board so Rose and Jaffe can quickly state timely information.

All in all, Voices with Howie Rose was fun and informative, and to be quite honest, it was just nice to see the Islanders being treated like a real team instead of a punchline. Howie Rose's episode of Voices replays tomorrow (Friday) at 4 PM as well as Tuesday at 4 PM. It's definitely worth a look.

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.

Progress Of The Best Kind

Check out Zach's post below about not chanting for Tom Renney's dismissal, especially if you're an Islanders fan and think your team has it bad. Hey, at least you weren't pre-season Cup contenders who are now fighting for their playoff lives. Could be worse, right?

For the Islanders right now, we're seeing the best possible results. We're getting great efforts each night, but falling just short. Last night, playing against a suddenly red-hot Kings team, the Isles blew a third-period lead, but still got a point. And it didn't hurt them at all because Atlanta won. Same can be said for Saturday, when the Islanders lost a tough 1-0 game to Tampa Bay. At this point, you're better served playing well and losing. This way, fans get to see progress being made, but not at the expense of a draft pick.

Now, similar to what Zach said about the Rangers, we shouldn't be rooting for the Islanders to lose or anything. The team has been playing great hockey for the past two weeks, and if they end up winning some games, great. We all know the top spot in the draft lottery guarantees absolutely nothing. The next two months aren't about losing games or giving points away. They're about seeing this team come together and play the best hockey they can. In a month, they might trade some veterans away and be a shell of their current selves; maybe then we can watch the standings more intently. For now, though, enjoy what we're seeing out of this Islanders team, because it's special to watch young players figure out the NHL game right before your very eyes.

That brings us to tonight. On paper, the Devils should destroy the Islanders. But I don't think it'll happen. These two teams always play close games, and that's exactly what we should be seeing tonight. Maybe the Islanders pick up two points, maybe they don't, but they should do exactly what they've been doing lately - playing good hockey that's fun to watch. At this point in the season, that's all we can ask for.

Chants...

While I am advocating for Tom Renney to be replaced, in no way do I think he is a bad coach who needs to be ostracized from the league. Like Emile Francis, Lester Patrick, and Mike Keenan before him, Renney will always be remembered as a Ranger coach - regardless of when he is relieved of his duties and regardless of what other teams he eventually coaches.

He brought the team that was predicted to be 15th in the Eastern Conference the year after the lockout and took them to the 6th seed. They were a group of Czechs (Jagr, Straka, Rucinsky, Rozsival, Malik, Sykora), a group of rookies (Moore, Ortmeyer, Hollweg, Prucha), and a group of ragtag veterans (Nylander, Rucchin, Jay Ward, Strudwick, Nieminen), and he took them to within 1 point of the Atlantic Division title.

This year, his loyalty almost got the best of him. To be honest, last year it almost did too, until Jaromir Jagr started playing like a beast and he started relying less on Brendan Shanahan. But this year, he keeps sending out the same players (Gomez, Redden, Naslund, Drury, Rozsival) who aren't getting the job done. Time and time again, the same ineffective players go out on the ice. Sometimes, Markus Naslund gets lucky and connects with 10 seconds left, or Nik Zherdev scored with 10 seconds left, but most of the time, Scott Gomez misses the net and Wade Redden loses the puck. Yet, they are still counted on.

I am merely advocating for his termination because his time has come. He has done all he can with the Rangers, and a replacement is necessary.

In January, February, and March of 2004, the Garden chanted relentlessly for GM (and interim coach) Glen Sather to be fired. (We also chanted "RE-FUND" when they lost a home game.) 

Under no circumstances do I want to hear "Fire Renney" chants. I can care less about a recurrence of the "Fire Sather" chants, because he isn't very likeable, he hasn't done much for this team (whatever good he did, like trading for Jagr and drafting Marc Staal, Artem Anisimov, and Brandon Dubinsky, could've been done by any GM), and replacing him should probably be done sooner rather than later.

But Renney was serviceable as a coach, and put his heart into it, from when he replaced Sather for the final 20 games of the 2003-04 season (5-15-0) to right before the All-Star break this year. He was so good in 05-06 that he was nominated for Coach of the Year.

So no. Please don't chant for Renney's head tomorrow. If it happens, it happens, but treat him with respect.

Drop the Axe...

Aaron Voros's size, Chris Drury's leadership, Scott Gomez's incredible shots from the boards, Wade Redden's fantastic play from the point on the power play, and Petr Prucha looking snazzy in a suit and tie brought the Rangers another shutout - the 2nd in 4 games (and almost the 3rd if Markus Naslund didn't connect with 10 seconds left on Adam Graves Night).

Yet, the "coach" deploys the same players in the same situation, night after night. Gomez played 19:49 tonight, nearly an entire period of uselessness.

I can hear the axe coming for Tom Renney's head. The hammer should be falling sometime this week.

* * * 

Oh, and was that not the most boring fight you've ever seen between David Clarkson and Eric Reitz?

Henrik Lundqvist was sharp tonight, whcih was the one saving grace for them.

But seriously, Tom Renney's time is up. He's lost this team.

Ridiculous...

We all know that "coach" Tom Renney likes to keep lines intact after a win. Well, apparently he has given up on the team, because he isn't tampering with them after a 10-2 "game."

Okay, that's not entirely true. If the beat writers are to be believed (and they should be), Aaron Voros is down on the 4th line and Fred Sjostrom is up on the 3rd.

Why even play Voros? He was great, great!, in October, and has since faded to obscurity. He can't skate, barely hits, is awful on the power play, and takes bad penalties.

Yet, Petr Prucha sits. What has Voros' "size" given this team? I know I harped on this a few days ago, but it adds nothing to the lineup. It doesn't get them power play goals, that's for sure. They couldn't even score in two games against Boston or Atlanta until the 120th minute. It didn't help them not get slaughtered against Dallas.

Ridiculous.

Once again, I know Tom Renney can't do anything about the players he has on the team. But dictating ice time is his one power tool, and he has lost control of that. 

Regardless of whether he thinks Voros is a good player (and besides Voros' family, he might be the only one... which hurts me to say because I know he grew up a Ranger fan and I respect that he is living his dream in blue), wouldn't he want to shake up the lineup?

Remember when they lost in a matinee to Florida in November? It was a 4-0 horror show, and the next game, he inserted Prucha in. Prucha got the game-tying goal in the 3rd and the Rangers beat the Penguins in a shootout.

Is it really time for Renney to go? I'll give him one more game, but if he keeps deploying the same personnel (aka Voros, Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, even Michal Rozsival on the power play), then yes, it is.

News Items

Just a couple of items you might be interested in, with the first topic being of extreme importance...

- 1050 ESPN Radio (by way of Sean Leahy's Facebook status) reports that Tom Renney will be fired tomorrow. This is the only outlet to report this news, so take it as you will. But it wouldn't surprise me one bit. Either way, it's just speculation at this point, so there's not much to discuss. His firing wouldn't be a surprise, nor would it be surprising to see him coach for the remainder of the season. We shall see.

- Howie Rose will be the focus of the show "Voices" on the NHL Network this coming Thursday. This news comes courtesy of the iO Digital Cable Channel Guide. Howie mentioned on the air a few weeks ago that they were following him around for the show, but I can't remember which game it was. Either way, I look forward to hearing what Howie has to say. If I could interview any one person in the entire Islanders organization, it'd be Howie Rose.

- I played the demo of 3 on 3 NHL Arcade tonight for PS3... that's one fun game. The demo is extremely limited, but the gameplay is all kinds of awesome and fun. It looks like the game's options are a bit lacking, with the main gripe being that you just pick four guys from a pool of NHL stars as opposed to playing as the NHL team of your choice. This also means there's no "season" mode or anything, which is kind of weak. Still, for $10, it's not bad at all. And for those interested, Rick DiPietro appears in the demo as one of the two goalies, with Roberto Luongo being the other. It's always interesting to see how the careers of these two intertwine as time goes on.

I'm watching my tape of the Islanders game right now - I already know they lost. But that's okay. For the first overall pick, these are the games you need to lose. This is still a much better team than the one who sucked it up throughout December and much of January. I can live with these losses as long as the team shows signs of improvement, which they certainly have since the All-Star Break.

The Return Of Mr. Avery?

We conveniently avoid a discussion of the 10-2 drubbing the Rangers received at the hands of the Dallas Stars tonight. Zach talked a little bit about it in the post just below this one. I'm sure you won't want to hear much more about it than that if you're a Rangers fan. You also might not want to hear about Sean Avery, but that's life. Because this post is about Sean Avery.

Here's a simple question. What do the Rangers have to lose by bringing back Sean Avery?

The team is in shambles. They play the most boring style of hockey in the NHL; they make the Devils look like the Oilers of the 1980s. They're fundamentally flawed and stand at least a decent chance of missing out on the playoffs at the expense of the Florida Panthers, for Christ's sake. Their coach just tried to bag skate the mediocrity out of his team on Wednesday, only to backfire horrifically on this night. Clearly, the Rangers are missing SOMETHING.

Is Avery the answer? Maybe. Maybe not. But we all recall the argument for re-signing him this past off-season. And that argument was based around the fact that the Rangers won a crapload of games when Avery played for the team and lost a crapload of games when he didn't. Now, this is a very different situation than the one the Rangers were faced with on July 1. Avery himself is a different person and may end up being a different player; after washing out of Dallas, he has undergone "sensitivity training", whatever that is, and might have lost a bit of his edge. Besides, we all know Avery has ambitions outside of hockey. Lastly, this isn't Jaromir Jagr's locker room anymore. Can Chris Drury control Sean Avery the way Jagr did? Tough question, one nobody can really answer right now.

For Avery to become Rangers property, he'd have to clear waivers. And as all of us Islanders fans know, the waiver order is determined by point totals; namely, the fewer points you have, the better chance you have of nabbing a player off waivers. The Rangers, for all of their troubles lately, have the ninth-best point total in the NHL. That means 20 other teams (Dallas doesn't count) have to pass on Avery in order for the Rangers to submit their claim. Don't dismiss the possibility of another team claiming Avery and trying to get a draft pick out of the Rangers. No matter where Avery ends up, whichever team claims him will end up paying him half the value of his contract (approximately $2 million per year), and if that team wants Avery for the playoffs, the deal has to be done by the trade deadline.

So, if I'm Glen Sather, here's what I do. I try to bring in Avery. It's good publicity, and it might actually work. I declare Tom Renney as safe until the end of the season; after all, it's easier to bring in one player than to fire a coach at this point in the season. If it doesn't work out, it's okay; after all, Renney is coaching his way out of his job anyway, and there's no way we're beating Washington, New Jersey, Boston, Montreal, or Philadelphia in a seven-game series without Avery, and we're probably not winning these series with him, either. But why not go for broke? It beats trading prospects at the deadline for what will inevitably be a sour postseason.

Having said all of that... one last thing to consider regarding Avery. They're 17-7-3 since Avery's suspension. Make no mistake about it, Avery can cure the Rangers or outright kill them. It'll be interesting to see what happens if he ends up with the Blueshirts once again.

As We Speak...

As I type this, it's the 1st intermission and it's 3-1 Dallas.

Listen, Wade Redden is a bum. We know this. Scott Gomez - he of 36 points and an infalted 6.2 shooting percentage due to his proclivity for empty nets - is a bum as well. Not a surprise. Aaron Voros - he of 3 points since Thanksgiving - is a bum as well. Oh, wait, Voros is big and weighs 215 pounds. The Rangers need size in their lineup. Hey, Tom Renney, I weigh over 215 pounds. I'd be just as useless as Voros is out there.

Listen, Petr Prucha is a strikingly good-looking gentleman. He looks great in a suit and tie, probably better than Voros does.

That said, I hear he also looks good in Ranger jerseys during hockey games. 

The Rangers have had Voros's "size" in their lineup for a bunch of games now. Did it help them beat Atlanta, or even score in Boston? Did it stop them from being crushed in the 3rd period by Pittsburgh?

This team is made up of the parts it is made up of. They aren't a great team. They have a decent core, they don't give up, and they are awful defensively. That's going to be the same every game as long as they have the same players.

However, the way they are deployed and (mis)used falls solely on the soldiers of Tom Renney.

Not Much to Say...

What do you say about a game in which the Rangers were nearly shut out 1-0 for the second time in a row?

Well, for one, it was a miserable performance. Losing 1-0 to Boston proved to be an exciting game where the Rangers relied on defense and couldn't penetrate Boston. (Not that they played great, but atleast they weren't atrocious on Saturday.)

Losing 1-0 to an Atlanta team is unacceptable for a team that thinks it should be in the playoffs. One team in the league has given up more goals than Atlanta has, and the Rangers couldn't score one goal until 59 minutes, 50 seconds in? (For the record, the team with the most goals against in the NHL is Toronto - whom the Rangers battled to a 0-0 tie earlier in the year.)

What went wrong? Well, for one, the Rangers have an awful defense - regardless of the fact that Wade Redden actually played pretty well on Adam Graves Night. So since the defense is so bad and can't stand alone, they are forced into a "team defense" system. To be sure, if they didn't play that system, the forwards would be able (hopefully) to pot more than 0.5 goals a game. However, they would also give up 4 or 5 per game, regardless of how good their goaltender is.

So the team defense is stifling the Rangers, but it's also their only choice if they want to win games. They can't run-and-gun like Buffalo or Carolina, where the defense has holes but the team still wins games because if can score goals in an instant. And they can't sit back on leads and pounce when the opponent makes a mistake (like Boston does) because their forwards aren't that good.

But isn't Scott Gomez paid $7M/year for that reason? Yes. And he is overpaid. The year before he became a Ranger he only had 13 goals (and 47 assists... why that equals a $51M contract mystifies me). He is not a goal scorer, he is a playmaker.

Yet, he makes no plays. He had 21:17 of relatively useless ice time in Boston. Last night, his reigns were shortened and he played "only" 18:12. Yet, he still got 1:57 of power play time (the Rangers only had 4 minutes on the PP). 

Why does Tom Renney still employ the same personnel night in and night out on the power play? Aaron Voros played 1:57 on the power play also. He hasn't been effective since early-November yet still wastes space there (oh, I forgot, his size makes him more useful than Petr Prucha). 

Artem Anisimov - him of 9 power play goals and 2 shorthanded in Hartford - was brought up for 9 minutes, all at even strength. Why even bring him up? So he could play as much time as Colton Orr (who actually had a very good game)?

If you are going to bring up a scorer, use him. Tom Renney is overly loyal - we saw it with Jaromir Jagr when he was hurt and ineffective, and we're seeing it now with the shell of Scott Gomez, and with Chris Drury, and with Markus Naslund (who scores a goal then seems to disappear for 3 games). 

Until Tom Renney sits a "superstar" - in reality a 2nd line center who is making huge money to underperform on Broadway - who isn't playing well, this team will not chance. When ineffective players are ineffective and still get huge minutes, and players who give heart and soul sit on the bench (Ryan Callahan) or in street clothes (Prucha, Nigel Dawes), nothing changes. 

This team might have to fight to make the playoffs. And to do that, they'll have to give up something good at the trade deadline. Lord knows Gomez isn't going anywhere, except on the ice in overtime.

Ceremonies...

October 14, 1979 - Rod Gilbert Night - Rangers 6, Minnesota North Stars 4

"You have given me a home, friendship, respect, and love, and that's more important than fame. For these things, I will always be grateful."

March 15, 1989 - Eddie Giacomin Night - Winnipeg Jets 6, Rangers 3

"You have been my motivation, my inspiration. It's the most thrilling moment of my life."

The bottom-feeding Jets scored 4 power play goals and 1 short-handed goal to beat the Rangers. The Blueshirts lost their 6th game in 7 tries yet were still in 2nd place in the Patrick Division, trailing Washington by 2 points.

Brian Leetch got hurt after scoring his 22nd goal of the season.

Giacomin became the 2nd Ranger to have their jersey retired and the 4th in NHL history (first 3 were Bernie Parent, Rogatien Vachon, and Tony Esposito).

February 4, 2004 - Mike Richter Night - Minnesota Wild 4, Rangers 3

"I'm wondering whose idea it was to get a guy who retired because of head injuries to memorize a speech to give to 18,000 people."

Adam Graves got the loudest cheers of the night.

Rangers were leading 3-2 on two Jaromir Jagr goals (and an assist), then Mike Dunham gave up two goals and the crowd chanted "We want Richter!"

January 12, 2006 - Mark Messier Night - Rangers 5, Edmonton Oilers 4 (OT)

"I was ready for the challenge of winning the Stanley Cup. I was ready for this city. I wasn't intimidated about coming to New York."

Leetch wasn't in attendance because Boston was playing (and losing 6-0 to Los Angeles) that night, but his video tribute gathered the loudest applause.

Rangers leading 1-0, Oilers go up 3-1, Rangers go up 4-3, Mike Peca scores in the 3rd to tie it at 4. Jagr scores a beautiful goal 14 seconds into overtime to end the game. A great game capped off an emotional and incredible night.

January 24, 2008 - Brian Leetch Night - Rangers 2, Atlanta Thrashers 1 (SO)

"I've always been privileged to play for the Rangers. We'll always share that championship banner that hangs from the rafters."

Thrashers had a 1-0 from early in the second period. The crowd was getting restless until Michal Rozsival finally tied it up midway through the third. Brendan Shanahan scored the only goal in the shootout to end a night that will be remembered more for the ceremony than for the boring game.

February 3, 2009 - Adam Graves Night - Rangers vs. Thrashers

As I sit here watching a replay of Game 7 of the Rangers/Canucks series in 1994, I'm reminded of how great a player Adam Graves really was. This team is missing someone like him, although Brandon Dubinsky reminds me of him in spurts. Graves went to the net, got smacked around, hit by sticks, cross-checked from behind, and still stood and scored. The 2 points tonight are needed, but tonight won't be remembered for the game, that's for sure.

Three In A Row

In my last post, just after the Islanders-Thrashers game on Thursday, I guaranteed the Islanders would have a three-game winning streak at some point down the stretch. Little did I realize it'd be happening so soon. The Isles have now won three straight (and gotten points in four straight) thanks to their performance against Florida last night.

I had the rare opportunity to watch last night's game without any distractions and without having to miss parts of the game, and it was an absolute treat to watch. It might have been the best 60-minute effort put forth by the Islanders this season. On the defensive end, they were virtually flawless. It almost seemed like the Islanders were playing with a man advantage throughout the game; the Panthers never had the numbers on offense or any significant odd-man rushes, and every time Florida tried to do anything, the Islanders were right in their faces. It's a shame Yann Danis couldn't get the shutout, but that's a good problem to have.

We're seeing a different Islanders team these days, one that's a ton of fun to watch. People are talking about the modifications in Scott Gordon's sytem; I could not care less about these modifications. What I do care about, though, is that the young guys are starting to come into their own and figuring out their roles on this team. At the forefront of these emerging stars is Kyle Okposo, who was easily the best player on the ice last night. Okposo now has four goals in his last three games; of course, this isn't good enough to get into the YoungStars game, but that's okay. Let Okposo be our little secret for now. It's always nice to see young players start to figure it out and blossom before your very eyes. Mets fans saw Jose Reyes and David Wright emerge in 2005. Rangers fans saw Henrik Lundqvist become a star during the 2005-06 season. Now, Islanders fans get the opportunity to watch one of their own discover his potential. And after years of watching traded players become stars for other teams, it's about time.

These are good times for Islanders fans. This is not the time to worry about the Lighthouse or the race for the first overall pick. We're seeing something special - it's all starting to come together for the Islanders now. It won't last for the rest of the season, but the Isles won't be pushovers, and they absolutely have the potential to be spoilers down the stretch. And who knows? With Tampa Bay, Florida, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles coming up, this little streak could continue for another few games or so.

Aggravation...

It's aggravating when the Rangers put forth a decent effort and still come up blank - and they have now been outscored 8-0 in their 3 afternoon games this season (4-0 to Panthers, 3-0 to Penguins, 1-0 today to Bruins). You will see other writers and media-types call this a "good game" where they "played well" and were "shown up by a rookie goalie." All the while they were "playing down a man."

That said, my doctor told me I had high blood pressure (slightly), so I won't dwell much, but I will say a few things. (To be sure, I did enjoy this game. I thought it was great back-and-forth action, and very exciting. Another Bruins-Rangers 1-0 game that I enjoyed, I just wish the score was reversed. Since they were again shutout, a lot of flaws came to light.)

"Good game" - How good of a game could they have had if they scored 1 goal? They couldn't break through the Bruins' defense, they had no answer for Zdeno Chara's size and wingspan, and while they won a lot of battles along the boards, the one big one they lost turned into a goal.

"Played well" - Again, they couldn't penetrate the Bruins D. They'd try to split the defenders and get stood up, and Tuukka Rask would clear the puck away easily.

"Shown up by a rookie goalie" - Was Rask good? Indeed. Was he great? Not nearly. He made a few good saves, for sure. And when Michal Rozsival hit the post, he was forced to shoot at the post because Rask gave him nothing else to shoot at. But for the most part, the Rangers shot directly at him. Markus Naslund gets a rare rush, shoots right at the "B" on the goalie's chest. Same for Nikolai Zherdev in the 3rd. Earlier in the game, Zherdev has a slight 2-on-1, and instead of passing with a 50% chance of scoring, he shoots from a poor angle and reduces his chance of scoring to about 5%.

Remember when Rick DiPietro made 56 saves against the Rangers in March 2007? People hailed DP as incredible, when in fact he only had a 60-second period in which he made great saves. The rest were right at the logo or right at his pads, where a Shooter Tutor could've made the saves. The Rangers do this all the time - take a lot of crappy shots and turn the opposing goalie into an NHL Star of the Night.

"Playing down a man" - To be honest, they were better off without Dmitri Kalinin. Even Wade Redden had a decent game (sans his awful penalty when the Bruin player - I think Phil Kessel - was already past him because of his poor play).

* * *

Some of the post-game talk and nighttime talk centered on calling up Artem Anisimov because he is doing really well in the AHL for Hartford. I'm a big Anisimov fan and have been ever since they drafted him in 2006. He should've been a 1st round pick but teams were afraid he would never come over from Russia. The Rangers took a chance and it will probably pay off.

But will it pay off this year? If he comes up, who does he replace? He could take Aaron Voros's spot, but Voros plays with his heart a lot and I would rather see Petr Prucha in instead of Anisimov.

You can't sit Blair Betts or Fred Sjostrom. They are invaluable penalty killers who rarely make a mistake 5-on-5 either.

Does Colton Orr take a seat? Maybe, as he is the worst technical player on the roster. But then you call up a player from Hartford and give him 7 minutes a night? And you need Orr on the team most nights (he wasn't needed against Boston but would you like to face Philadelphia without him on the ice?).

The real culprits in today's shutout loss were Naslund, Scott Gomez, Zherdev, and Chris Drury, who was nearly invisible all day. They are relied upon for scoring and couldn't break through the defense or take shots that had any intention of going in the net.

If Renney would sit a Top 6 forward for Anisimov, I say bring him up. But don't bring him up to toil for 6 or 8 or 10 minutes a night.

Plus, like I said, Petr Prucha is waiting in the wings.