I found it rather amusing that Jonathan Coachman kept referring to Atlanta as Hotlanta on MSGNY, so I had to incorporate it into a recap. I was unable to see any of the game, since I did not get MSG2 here. From what I am reading today, Jaromir Jagr was off his game, Stephen Valiquette played well, but let in a few softies, and Garnett Excelby had his way with Marcel Hossa.

Having not seen the game, I don’t know if the effort was better than previous games. I do know that if the effort is not there on Sunday, we will take a beating like the Sabres took against the Kings the other night. (8-2 if anyone didn’t catch that, 7 goals in the first 30 minutes of the game for the Kings)

Tom Renney hasn’t called anyone up for the struggling Rangers, but didn’t rule it out. You have to imagine Nigel Dawes would be the lucky recipient, as he has been dominant since his demotion.

As much as the Rangers have been struggling, the Devils have been surging. Winners of nine straight, they will surely be on top of their game against the Rangers. The defensive presence of Colin White was surely missed, as they are undefeated since his return to the lineup eight games ago. The Rangers will have to muster up all the offense they can, clamp down defensively and play a solid 60 minutes of hockey. Hopefully the days off have helped Henrik Lundqvist rest up and refocus and he will be back to his solid net minding ability.

If any lineup changes happen, I’ll update this post. If not, I’ll check in pre-game tomorrow. Should be a good one tomorrow.