NYI Top Post-Lockout Moments #20-16

When you're a fan of a team that has won one playoff game since the lockout ended five years ago, there usually aren't a lot of positives. However, much to my surprise, there are a fair amount of good things that have happened to our Islanders since the lockout. Not many good things on the ice, mind you, but still, it hasn't been all doom and gloom in Islanders Country. Here are the first five of my top 20 post-lockout moments.

20) Sound Tigers Invade Nassau Coliseum

Nassau Coliseum - February 18, 2005

We start off this list with a moment that occurred as the lockout was taking place. As the lockout dragged on, many Islanders fans were resigned to their fate - no hockey at the Coliseum for all of 2004-05. However, when it was decided that the Bridgeport Sound Tigers would play an AHL game at the home of their NHL affiliates, fans pounced on the opportunity to see hockey - any hockey - at the Coliseum. For an AHL game on a Friday night, the Coliseum was sold out.

Things only got better after the game, though. It was only then that fans received word that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were headed to New York City to make one last attempt at restoring labor peace. High off the vibes that the Coliseum provided, Islanders fans were certain that they'd be seeing a lot more hockey at the Coliseum that winter. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. However, the Sound Tigers did host one more game at the Coliseum that year, a game that drew about 12,000 people. One of them was yours truly, who was only too thrilled to sit in the third row of the Coliseum for just $25.

19) The Fans Respond To Kansas City

Nassau Coliseum - January 15-19, 2009

When the Islanders announced that they were going to play an exhibition game in Kansas City, many fans immediately feared the worst. After all, how could they not? They had seen the Lighthouse Project transform from the team's saving grace into a political issue covered in red tape. Seeing the writing on the wall, Islanders fans responded with some of the best attendance figures the team has seen since 2001-02.

For three games between January 15 (the date the game was announced) and January 19, the Islanders drew 15,000 or more, with two of those games being sellouts. Granted, it doesn't sound like much, and yes, those games did include a Devils game and a holiday matinee, but the 2008-09 Islanders were a truly horrible team. In fact, they lost all three games and scored only one goal in each game. But the fans kept coming out to make sure everyone knew people cared about hockey on Long Island, even if they don't always show it - as evidenced by the 11,000 who saw the Islanders' next home game on January 21.

18) Islanders Showcase The "New NHL"

Nassau Coliseum - October 19, 2005

Heading into the 2005-06 season, we all knew the landscape of the NHL would be dramatically different. Speed and scoring would be up, and fighting could perhaps become obsolete. The early games of the post-lockout NHL were exciting and received rave reviews. But an early-season clash between the Rangers and the Islanders was immediately hailed as a prime example of what the "new NHL" could be.

The Islanders were one of many teams to overhaul their rosters in an effort to thrive under the new rules. It didn't work over the course of the 2005-06 season, but on this night, they were perfect. They played the Rangers tough in a hard-hitting game that did not feature a single fight, an action-packed game that went to overtime tied 2-2 thanks to the efforts of Rick DiPietro and a then-unknown Henrik Lundqvist. The game went to a shootout - the first-ever shootout for both teams - and thanks largely to the broken stick of Jaromir Jagr, the Islanders won, their first victory over the Rangers since the 2002-03 season.

17) Rick DiPietro, All-Star

Philips Arena - January 27, 2008

When the Islanders traded Roberto Luongo on Draft Day 2000 and selected Rick DiPietro, the Islanders made a statement that they believed more in DiPietro's future than that of Luongo. As we have all seen over the years, that was not exactly the wisest choice. Nevertheless, the Islanders faithful waited patiently for DiPietro to emerge into a star goaltender. That finally happened during the first half of the 2007-08 season, and DiPietro's progress was rewarded with the first All-Star nomination of his career - a nomination, Islanders fans like to note, that came at the expense of Henrik Lundqvist.

The notion of DiPietro as an All-Star only got better when Martin Brodeur bowed out of the game, leaving the starting job to DiPietro. DP took advantage of this opportunity to not only showcase his goaltending skills, but also his personality. He was frequently miked up by Versus during the Skills Competition and the game itself, and while he displayed his charisma very well, he also nearly stole the show on the ice as well. DiPietro let up just one goal all weekend long - while Versus was talking his ear off, of course - and nearly won himself MVP honors in the process. For an Islanders fanbase that had very little to cheer about, DiPietro's performance in the 2008 All-Star Game was considered a huge win for Islanders Country.

16) Islanders Acquire Ryan Smyth

February 27, 2007

Even though the Islanders were in the East's top eight in late February 2007, Islanders fans still weren't overly confident in their new GM, Garth Snow. The team had performed well thanks to some impressive performances from veterans on one-year contracts, but the credit for those signings went to Neil Smith. Snow, on the other hand, was facing his first trade deadline and, as a buyer, many were worried that Snow would find himself receiving ridiculous trade offers and getting fleeced on deals.

That all changed when the news of the Ryan Smyth trade broke. In a move made just before the deadline, Snow acquired Smyth for 2003 1st rounder Robert Nilsson, 2005 1st rounder Ryan O'Marra and the Isles' 2007 1st round pick. Islanders fans were stunned - after all, the Islanders had been devoid of superstar talent for years, yet they had just picked up the big prize of Deadline Day.

The bounty for Smyth, an unrestricted free agent at season's end, seemed like a lot at the time. I recall being certain that Smyth would bolt after the season and that the trade wouldn't actually help the Islanders get past the first round of the playoffs. I even went as far as to text Zach, telling him that the Islanders had just traded their entire future for two home playoff games. As it turns out, they did only play two playoff games that year. But Nilsson has yet to crack ten goals in a season on the NHL level, while O'Marra has only played three games in the NHL. It's also worth noting that the Oilers have not made the playoffs since dealing Smyth, while the Islanders got in that year thanks largely to Smyth's contributions.

NYR Top Post-Lockout Moments #20-16

This is my personal favorite moments from Ranger games starting in the 2005-06 season. It only includes NHL moments (for example, it doesn’t have Henrik Lundqvist winning the Gold Medal in the ’06 Olympics) and it doesn’t include bad memories (for example, Game 5 vs. Buffalo, or Jaromir Jagr and Lundqvist coming back hurt from the Olympics, or Jagr throwing a punch at Scott Gomez).

20) Three Goals in Ninety Seconds
Madison Square Garden - November 14, 2006
As a rule of thumb, I never like to go to Ranger-Devil games at MSG. I don't know if it's the Devils' fans or the fact that I've seen some real stinkers, but they just don't appeal to me. So, on this day, I sold my friend my tickets to an early season game between the Hudson River Rivals.

This seemed like a great decision after 2 lifeless periods, and that's when everything got great. Jaromir Jagr scored just over two minutes into the 3rd period, and then, 26 seconds later, Jagr's puck went high and somehow floated over Martin Brodeur's head and into the net. A minute and 4 seconds later, Brendan Shanahan wristed one in the net to make it a 3-2 game, in a game the Rangers trailed 2-0 90 seconds earlier.

The icing on the cake? Marcel Hossa's two assists.

On the way home from work that night, I was listening to talk radio, and a called said it was "the single greatest regular season game I have ever witnessed in person." I texted my friend, and all he replied was, "I concur."

19) Strong Comebacks Against Canadian Teams
MSG - January 11, 2007
Kevin Weekes gave up 4 goals in 32 minutes and Lundqvist gave up an early 3rd period goal as Ottawa built a 5-0 lead on the Rangers. Half of the Garden left at this point, but the Rangers mounted a big comeback. Petr Prucha, Jay Ward, and Marcel Hossa scored within 3 minutes of each other and Blair Betts scored 4 minutes after that to bring the Rangers to within a goal. Jed Ortmeyer’s two assists were his first points since coming back from a pulmonary embolism, and he got a standing ovation both times his name was announced.

The Rangers kept pressing, and might have tied the game if not for a bad call by Mike Hasenfratz. The Senators flipped the puck over the glass in their own end, which should have been a penalty, but the referees didn’t call it, even though replays on the big screen proved that it went out while still in the zone. Brendan Shanahan refused to leave the zone, arguing that it should be a penalty, nearly getting a penalty of his own. The Rangers were then forced to pull Lundqvist, ending in a Dany Heatley empty-netter which sealed a 6-4 win for the Senators.

This was also Weekes’ last game in a Ranger uniform, as he hurt his leg in practice the next day and Steve Valiquette replaced him.

Montreal - February 3, 2008
The only game on Super Bowl Sunday (when the Giants beat the Patriots), the Canadiens jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a Sergei Kostitsyn penalty shot, but then the Rangers roared back. They scored 3 goals in 7 minutes in the second to tie it at 3, then Chris Drury and Martin Straka scored in the 3rd to complete a great comeback in front of a stunned La Centre Bell crowd. It was the 3rd straight win for the middling Rangers, who would soon go on a 10-0-3 run to make the playoffs.

18) Dom Moore Scores Against Roberto Luongo
Sunrise, Florida - November 9, 2005
The Rangers were losing to the Panthers 3-2 with three seconds left in the 3rd period. Dominic Moore was behind the net and saw an opening between Roberto Luongo’s pad and the post, so he aimed for it, hoping it would bank off of his leg and into the net - and it did. In the postgame interviews, he said that he knew time was winding down and had no other choices, so he whipped it towards the net and hoped for what eventually happened.

Petr Prucha wound up scoring the only shootout goal for the Rangers, and they won, 4-3.

17) Sean Avery Night
MSG - January 6, 2010
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, nothing makes me happier than when Sean Avery scores. This year, there haven’t been too many of those moments - in fact, until this game, he had only scored 4 goals and they came in 2 games.

He was like a man-possessed on this Wednesday night in New York City, playing his former teammates. He scored to tie the game at 1-1, then had the primary assist on the next 3 goals as the Rangers jumped to a 4-2 lead and eventually won 5-2 on an empty netter.

He was hitting, shooting, getting under the skin of the team, and even undressing a defenseman with spin-o-ramas.

In short, this was Sean Avery’s night, and it was the way he should play every game.



16) Gomez Traded for Gaborik
June 30 - July 1, 2007
If I had asked any Ranger fan if they would have traded Scott Gomez straight-up for Marian Gaborik, do you think they would have said, “No, I’m happy with Gomez.” Well, in essence, that’s what the Rangers did. They traded nearly identical contracts (5 years, $7M+) and came up on the winning end of the deal.

Of course, it wasn’t an actual trade, but on the eve of the start of free agency, the Rangers traded Scott Gomez to Montreal for Chris Higgins and prospect Ryan McDonagh. With the cap-space now free, the Rangers didn’t trade for Dany Heatley and instead signed Gaborik to a five-year deal.

Another reason this trade was great was that Montreal was interested in Gaborik, but with Gomez’s contract now on their hands, they couldn’t even make a run at him.

It was risky for the Rangers: What if Gaborik signed elsewhere, who would the Rangers go for? What if they signed him and he got hurt?

But so far, it has worked out. He’s young, he’s fast, he’s immensely talented, and he isn’t afraid to stick up for himself. And he’s a great player to build around.

No Olympic Break Here...

While the NHL takes a relaxing vacation to the Bahamas, or Las Vegas, or Tahiti, or wherever it is that millionaire Europeans and Canadians take their families when they have two weeks off, The Rivalry stays here.

And no, we won't be covering the Olympics in great detail. If you want that, go somewhere else. To be honest, I'm only interested in how Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, and Chris Drury do. And while I want Lundqvist to win the gold again (if the Americans don't), it pains me to know he's going to play in so many extra games when other goalies get to rest.

Instead, we will welcome back Bryan. Remember him? He writes for this website about the Islanders, and he's also the only one who ever updates our Twitter, since I hate that site. He hasn't written since January 19 by my count, and the Islanders have gone 2-8 since. Coincidence? Purely, but it is suspect timing by my counterpart.

Our main purpose though, the part that I wanted to write in the first paragraph but I'm a little long-winded, is that we have an 8-part series planned for you.

We each came up with our Top 20 Post-Lockout Moments for the Rangers and Islanders. Obviously, I'll be doing the Rangers' list and Bryan, the Islanders' moments.

I don't know about Bryan, but I'm only putting positives. Game 5 vs. Buffalo, for instance, will not be brought up, though it probably was the biggest post-lockout moment for the Rangers.

Here's the schedule...

Tuesday, February 16 - Rangers #20 - 16
Wednesday, February 17 - Islanders #20 - 16
Thursday, February 18 - Rangers #15 - 11
Friday, February 19 - Islanders # 15 - 11
Saturday, February 20 - Rangers # 10 - 6
Sunday, February 21 - Islanders # 10 - 6
Monday, February 22 - Rangers # 5 - 1
Tuesday, February 23 - Islanders # 5 - 1

Hope you enjoy it.

Brashear Asks for Trade...

Excuse me, because it's 4:55 a.m. and I just got home from work/bar and I am just reading up on the hockey news of the day, but did Donald Brashear ask for a trade?

To who? Hartford? Charlotte? Oh, no, wait, the Charlotte Checkers won't be the Rangers ECHL affiliate next year.

Looks like Hartford it is. I hear the Rangers will trade Brashear and his $1.4M contract this season and the next for $1.4M in cap space.

Bringing up the question, why was he signed in the first place?

And why was Colton Orr let go?


Now, I know it's probably tough to be an NHL General Manager, and I'm not saying I'm qualified. Hell, I'm just a lowly restaurant manager.

But I watch the games. I have known for years that Brashear has offered nothing to any team he's been on - Philadelphia, Washington, now the Rangers - and that Orr has graduated into one of the best fighters in the league.

Odd choices, Mr. Sather. Odd choices.

I'm Not Scared of Kovalchuk...

No, I'm not scared of having Ilya Kovalchuk on the Devils for the rest of the season, for a few reasons.

1) The Devils aren't the Rangers' competition this year. If he was traded to a team close to the Rangers in the conference standings, then yes, I wouldn't like it much.

2) Sean Avery is a Ranger.

Scouts?...

Being an NHL scout has to be one of the easier jobs in the world. I admit, a minor league hockey scout probably has a tough job - traveling to obscure cities in Oklahoma, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Texas; low pay; lots of hours; writing reports on people that no one knows.

But a pro scout? Isn't that why there are TVs? That's why the NHL has highlights of every game on its website. We are all basically pro scouts. We watch TV, we see replays, we decide if a player is good or bad.

So what exactly is it that the scouts for the Calgary Flames do?

I can understand the executives in Calgary wanting to trade Dion Phaneuf. He was a disease in the locker room, and even with him in the lineup they had only 1 win in the past 9 games. It was time for a change for him, so they traded him for a bunch of players. Matt Stajan is pretty good, Nik Hagman is skilled, Jamal Mayers is tough, and Ian White is a decently high-scoring D-man (though he's no Phaneuf).

Still, they lost out big time on that trade. A top-6 forward, to bottom-6 forwards, and a 2nd- or 3rd-pair defenseman does not make up for losing a huge talent like Phaneuf (like him or not, and I don't, he's good) and a great penalty killer in Freddy Sjostrom.

So how does Calgary follow up? By trading for Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins. Really? Olli Jokinen and Chris Higgins are both going to be unrestricted free agents after this season, so it wasn't a salary dump (Higgins' + Kotalik's salary = Jokinen's). Wouldn't you rather have Jokinen then Higgins? I would, because I watch the games, though I don't get paid.

And how could they have possibly wanted Kotalik? Don't get me wrong, I liked Kotalik as a Ranger and think he could've been good here, but he's sat out 8 of 9 games. The one game he played? Against Carolina where the Rangers lost 5-1 and he was a rusty screwdriver out there.

How could a paid individual go, "That guy who hasn't played for 7 games, played horrible in his 1 game, then got benched again. We want him. What, he has a no-trade clause to Calgary? That's fine. We want to pay him for the next 2 years also." This has buy-out written all over it.

(I can see a team wanting Higgins. He's a tough guy who has scored in the past but was awful in NY. Maybe they see him as a reclamation project who they can dump in the offseason if it fails.)

The only way it makes sense for Calgary is if it's the first of a few moves (well, second of a few moves, I guess) to land a big fish.

It reminds me of when the Canadiens took Scott Gomez off of our hands, as I'm sure it reminds you as well. Remember how they then couldn't afford to make a run at Marian Gaborik?

Thank you, Canadian teams.

Hey, is Vancouver looking to trade the Sedin twins for Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival?

Good Players...

You know who was good? Olli Jokinen from 2005 through 2007.

You know who isn't that good anymore? Olli Jokinen.

Of course, if the rumors are true, and Olli Jokinen is about to be a Ranger (along with Brandon Prust for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik), then he becomes the 3rd highest-scoring Ranger, behind Marian Gaborik and Vaclav Prospal.

And yes, he is a 1st-line center who can play with Prospal at left wing and Gaborik at right wing.

But the big thing is that Kotalik is making $3M for not only this year but the next 2 seasons as well. Jokinen's cap hit is $5.25M, and he is an unrestricted free agent this summer. So the Rangers effectively clear $3M off the books for the next two seasons.

(Higgins is making $2.25M this year, but that's unrelated because he'd be a UFA after this season, and the Rangers probably weren't inviting him back for another campaign. The only thing that his salary has to do with this is that it's an even exchange, just over $5M for just over $5M. Prust is making $500,000 only.)

Maybe Jokinen isn't as good as his two seasons when he averaged over a point per game, but to add more offense this year while clearing $3M for the next two years is a good move.

Keep in mind that this doesn't address the real problems of the Rangers cap issues - that would involve moving any combination of Wade Redden, Chris Drury, and Michal Rozsival. But the moves are going to have to be made before the Olympic break because there is only 1 game before the March 3 trade deadline.

Not to Be Unfair to Cam Ward...

Not to be unfair to Carolina Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward, but any goalie tonight would've stopped 37 of 38 shots against the Rangers tonight.

I think the Shot Clock Man has a bad angle of the ice. At one point, a puck was passed parallel to the goal line. He took his stick, reached out, and pushed it towards the blue line. I took a glance at the shot clock and it went from "11" to "12".

Brandon Dubinsky rifled a shot - absolutely blasted this puck - that was caught by Ward. The only hitch? It was going high if Ward didn't touch it. He actually had to move out of net to catch it. Shot clock increase.

I'm not saying most of those 38 shots never actually were shots. In fact, most of them were. However, how many really tested Ward? Three? Four? The Rangers had a couple of good chances, but at least 29 of those shots were crappy, low-angle, easily-saved shots.

The Rangers do that; they have been for years. They make goalies look amazing. Remember when Rick DiPietro made over 50 saves one day in March '07 and everyone said how incredible he was? Guess what? Most of those shots were right to his chest - they would've hit the Gordon's Fisherman right in the head.

Tonight, the Rangers must've seen the logo on the Ward's jersey as a bulls-eye. Because they kept aiming for it.

Did You Expect a Different Result?...

Did you really expect something different than what happened tonight?

Did you expect Donald Brashear to do more than Erik Christensen or Ales Kotalik would? Look at this stat-line: 5 shifts, 5 minutes 35 seconds, 2 hits, minus-1.

With (essentially) a 6-minute power play and Michal Rozsival running the point, what did you expect? A shot to hit the net? A goal?

Get real. With Kotalik watching from above and Mike Del Zotto playing the opposite side (so he can't get a real shot off), there was nobody to blast the puck from the point. And with no Rangers wanting to stand in the crease, even if they did, there was nobody to bang home a rebound.

Kotalik sits during the "winning streak" against Montreal and Tampa Bay, so he sits again in Philadelphia. Okay, I see that. If it's working, run with it. They lose, but he sits again in Montreal. Interesting, but I see what John Tortorella is doing. But now they've been shut out 2 straight games and their cannon-shot is still not dressed, while gutless players like Brashear and Chris Higgins get to go in.

At one point during the extended power plays in the 3rd period, all four Penguin penalty-killers and their goalie were facing the same direction - towards the corner so Marc-Andre Fleury had to turn his neck left to face the puck. Rozsival, for some unknown reason, was on the left point (maybe Wade Redden was changing his tampon, I don't know, I'm not the bench boss).

Now, if this was a team playing the Rangers - say, Montreal, Philadelphia, or Pittsburgh - that point man would have skated down so that he was facing the penalty-killers' backs. He would have received a pass and banged it home before Henrik Lundqvist had adequate time to slide back to the other post.

However, this is Mikey Rozsival we're talking about. What did he do? Waited for a pass. Just to pass again. Just to have the puck fumbled out of the zone, thus killing any chance of a good play.

Apparently, the PK-men on Pittsburgh weren't the only ones not paying attention on that play.

I'm not saying that Kotalik himself would've saved this game. But if he was out there shooting and someone wanted to get dirty in the crease - hey, Sean Avery can't play every shift, can he? - then maybe a garbage goal would've gone in and all of you would be singing the praises of this team for coming back from a 1-0 deficit and finally winning at home.

But no one wants to shoot. No one wants to get dirty. No one wants to hit.

And I guess no one wants to play in May, either.

The Difference in 2 Players; Montreal Update Coming Soon...

I will update later today about the Rangers game in Montreal. For the record, it's the 1st time I've seen them lose in an opposing building (not including the Nassau Coliseum). I saw them win in Nashville, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Montreal before the 6-0 disaster I witnessed first-hand Saturday night.

* * *

Do you know the differences in Dan Carcillo and Donald Brashear? Carcillo has 6 goals and 6 assists this year; Brashear had no goals and 1 assist. Carcillo dresses for games while Brashear stays nice and clean in a suit and tie. Carcillo wins fights (his record this year is 7-3-2, including beating Marian Gaborik and losing to Sean Avery last Thursday) while Brashear skates away from confrontation. In fact, the last fight Brashear won was against Jared Boll of Columbus three days before Thanksgiving. Brashear's record this year stands at 3-4-2.

As for Brashear's claims that he wouldn't fight Carcillo - "I don't even fight a guy like Carcillo. I don't think he's in my league." - and then his claims that he isn't a guy who only goes out and fights staged fights... well, what? Do you fight everyone or will you only fight heavyweights?

"If I would have played" Gaborik would not have been fought by Carcillo, Brashear said. Oh yeah? If you're out there fighting people like Matt Carkner, Eric Boulton, Eric Godard, and Shawn Thornton, is that really a deterrent for people like Carcillo? Will he not get under Gaborik's skin just because there is a chance that Brashear might lose a fight to Aaron Asham or Ian Laperriere?

Did Brashear's presence in the first half of the season stop any team from running over Henrik Lundqvist? Were they afraid he was going to go after Ilya Kovalchuk or Johan Hedberg, or did they know that, no matter what, he would fight Boulton and leave everyone else alone?

Like what Carcillo did or not, he got the Flyers an extra 2 points that night. He got the best player on the team to thrown down his gloves and fight him. He threw an entire team off their game, because they then stopped trying to score and started looking for revenge. The only person nearly capable of getting under a team's skin like that on the Rangers' roster is Avery. Not Brashear.

Guess what, Donald. Carcillo might not be in your league for long - because he'll still be in the NHL for the next decade.

What a Night; Emails...

A week ago, I never thought there'd be a day when Aaron Voros and Christopher Higgins both score in Rangers uniforms.

Well, here it is. That Voros goal was very nice, but the thing that was excellent was the Brian Boyle pass - through traffic, an excellent pass for a primary assist.

Not much I can add here that you won't find elsewhere, but it's huge when 8 different Rangers can find the net - and none of them have the initials MG.

I've been saying all along that the Rangers need offense besides Marian Gaborik, and that the Rangers need to hit the other team and stand up for themselves.

Tonight, they did that. If the players that don't score often - Callahan, Dubinsky, Drury, Lisin, Anisimov, Avery, Higgins ... ... ... - can find ways to score, this team can be be a playoff team. If they go back to only having Gaborik and Vinny Prospal scoring, it will be a long offseason.

* * *

Two emails in my inbox today from a site I used to write on. And I stopped, because it was ridiculous.

1) Should the Rangers trade for Vinny Lecavalier?

2) Should the Rangers buy-out Ales Kotalik?

No, they should not trade for Lecavalier. He is a decent player this year and was alright last year. What about in 8 years from now when he's 38, has millions of dollars in the bank, a Stanley Cup ring already, and couldn't care less about playing?

And buying out Kotalik? Scratch a man 3 straight games and this crap gets written. Do people really not have any other ideas in their heads?

There are at least 5 guys ahead of Kotalik in the Buy-Out Department, not the least of whom would be Vinny Lecavalier if they traded for him. Plus, if they buy out his contract, who would shoot the puck for the next 2 and a half seasons? Michal "Miss the Net" Rozsival? Wade "Pass First, Defense Later" Redden?

C'mon. Have something original to write... or work for the Jay Leno Show.

Do Moral Victories Exist?

You knew the Islanders had to lose sometime. And you probably knew that the Islanders sweeping three of the East's top four would probably be too good to be true. Yet, you're disappointed that the Islanders lost tonight.

That's a good thing.

I keep waiting for the Islanders to fall off the pace and out of the playoff picture. It hasn't happened yet. At this point, I'm not so sure it's ever going to happen. These Islanders looked like they belonged in this game, and they looked like they had a great chance to win. It's a shame it didn't work out.

Some thoughts on tonight's game...

- Over the past two years, the Islanders have written the book on blowing three-goal leads. Tonight, they flipped that book around, coming back from three goals down on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champions. Even though the end result wasn't there, the comeback was a great sign.

- If Garth Snow does nothing else next year, he has to get a big winger to play with John Tavares. He's not big enough to do it all by himself, which is to be expected at 19 years old. Even so, it's hard to watch him getting knocked around so frequently.

- Sidney Crosby didn't do a whole lot to silence his "whiner" rep after Richard Park's goal to tie the game. I get that it's the captain's job to let the ref know when he's missing calls, but yapping with Park and Doug Weight doesn't really accomplish a whole lot.

- The Sutton hit... just an unfortunate incident. Clearly, Sutton felt bad; he stayed on top of Pascal Dupuis until the whistle blew to make sure nobody else hit him. The refs got the call right, but it's unfathomable that the ref behind the play made the call before the ref standing right next to the play. Even more unfathomable than that, though, was the discussion on MSG Plus that followed the play, in which the announcers - particularly Butch Goring - suggested that the hit was Dupuis' fault for being in a bad position. We here at The Rivalry regularly sing the praises of the MSG Plus crew often, but this was uncalled for.

- The Isles got destroyed on faceoffs tonight. Not good when you're facing a team with as many playmakers as the Penguins.

- Not to jump on the "The refs give Pittsburgh preferential treatment" bandwagon, but there were a few calls that probably didn't need to be made. The two that stick out in my mind were the call on Kyle Okposo that set up the game-winning power play goal by Evgeni Malkin and the delay of game call on Dwayne Roloson. But that's life. Good teams always get the calls.

- Kind of a dick move by Crosby, taking a shot on Roloson as time expired and the Penguins protecting a two-goal lead. The Isles and Penguins meet again in three weeks. Here's hoping the Islanders haven't forgotten by then.

All in all, an excellent effort for the Islanders, who probably deserved more than they got tonight. That said, giving the likes of Crosby and Malkin seven opportunities on the power play is usually a recipe for defeat, something which was the case in tonight's game. Despite the loss, the Islanders should feel great about their play of late. The days of the sad-sack Islanders are rapidly coming to a close and are being replaced by this young, energetic team that can hang with anyone.

Jed Ortmeyer...

A job well done to one of the few men who still get cheered at Madison Square Garden even though they are an opponent.

Jed Ortmeyer today had a goal and two assists in San Jose's 9-1 win over Calgary. Don't forget, he also scored the go-ahead goal in San Jose's 7-3 win over the Rangers in mid-October. The Rangers were winning 2-0, the Sharks made it 2-2, and Ortmeyer scored to make it 3-2.

A good guy who deserves nothing but the best.

And I leave you with a video from the penalty shot he scored against Boston in his first game back in 2007 after suffering a pulmonary embolism. He was awarded a penalty shot, got advice from none other than Ryan Hollweg, and scored against Tim Thomas.

Home & Home With Montreal...

Next Saturday, I will be venturing into Montreal to see the second game of the Home & Home with the Canadiens. Okay, it's a home-and-home with 2 other games in between, but still, it stands to be more intriguing than a home game against Tampa Bay and a game in Philadelphia.

So, which jersey should I wear?

Should I go with the autographed Dan Girardi jersey?
The autographed Sean Avery?
Superstar Marian Gaborik?
New addition to my collection Vinny Prospal?

I normally like to wear Sean Avery jerseys when I'm in other buildings.

I did it in Nashville last year about a month after the Rangers got him back on re-entry waivers, and a few fans yelled "Sloppy Seconds!" at me. To recap, I am not Sean Avery, I just wear the jersey. And the Rangers won that game.

I wore it in New Jersey amid death threats from the upper level (directed at me, my friends, and Scott Gomez, playing his first game in Jersey since signing with the Rangers). Those were quieted when the Rangers won the game.

I wore it in Philadelphia, where some kid tried to body check my friend. "How could you wear a Sean Avery jersey in Philly?" one cigarette-smoking man asked me. Well, the Rangers won that game.

And I wore it in Montreal on Super Bowl Sunday when the Giants beat the Patriots. As I was on the escalator, there was a man in a Mike Komisarek Habs jersey in front of me. We had an awkward silence, then discussed what it would be like to really date Elisha Cuthbert. The Rangers went down 3-0, then won that game 5-3.

Should I keep the tradition alive, or change things up?

Three Metro Teams in Action, 5 Points Given Out...

Can't be any disappointed hockey fans out in the NY-NJ area tonight, from the 17,000 Ranger fans at MSG, to the 1,000 Devil fans at MSG, to the 4,000 Islander fans who routinely sell out the lower bowl on the Nassau Coliseum, to the 17,000 fans that the New Jersey Devils have accumulated since Aaron Broten first led them on the ice in 1982.

Yes, Bryan, the Rangers-Devils game was excellent, except for one thing - it underscored how bad the Rangers are at mustering offense. Henrik Lundqvist was great in stopping 45 shots - downright incredible on a few.

And I won't bash Marty Brodeur as I normally would. Any time you stop 51 shots, you played great. Of course, the Rangers made it very easy for about 40 of those shots. He did make a few excellent saves, and while he didn't do much on Marian Gaborik's overtime-near-score, that save on Michal Rozsival with time running out in the extra period was good.

Shots from the boards, shots with no traffic in front, shots to Brodeur's glove. C'mon! Do you really think a wrister from the left circle is going past Brodeur's glove? You can tell me all you want about how many shots they had, and I will tell you until I'm blue in the face that it doesn't matter if they're 90% crappy shots.

And I guess that old hockey adage "If you shoot enough, one is bound to go in" was proven wrong tonight.

Remember March of 2007 when Rick DiPietro made, what, 56 saves in a shootout loss to the Rangers? The Rangers made him look like Jesus Christ that night - albeit he was clean-shaven, and Christ would wear #33 not #39. But they had so many awful, easy-to-save shots that it looked like nothing would get by him, and rarely anything did except for a goal in regulation and a Matt Cullen goal in the shootout.

Anyway, fast-paced, end-to-end action with good defense play that wasn't boring. It was a very good game to watch and would've been sweeter with a Rangers' win, but now the Rangers web site can say they are 9-1-3 in the last 13 games.

And I can't even get mad at the shootout result. It would've been nce to have had a Ranger score, but they couldn't, and Patrick Elias' wrister that beat Lundqvist was awesome.

* * *

Telling stat of the night brought to us by Versus and Jack Daniels Old No. 7: Marian Gaborik was 2-for-17 in shootouts going into tonight. Now, he is 2-for-18, around 11%. By comparison, Erik Christensen, Zach Parise, and Ales Kotalik are near (or over) 50%.

Why does John Tortorella keep putting Gaborik in? I know he's a superstar, I know he'd the "stud" on the team, and I know he scored in the shootout in Atlanta, but he isn't a breakaway artist.

Jaromir Jagr wasn't. Gaborik isn't either. Stick to Kotalik, Christensen, Vinny Prospal, Artem Anisimov, and maybe even Ryan Callahan. But keep Gaborik out of it until at least the 6th round.

Enver Lisin would've been nice to have seen pull some moves out of his bag. But alas, Donald Brashear needed to have his customary 8 shifts and 5:53 of ice time.

Hey, didn't Lisin score in Atlanta?