Battle Of Hudson

Given how Marian Gaborik’s played lately, something had to be wrong. Regardless of all the line combinations John Tortorella tried to get the star sniper untracked, he wasn’t going. Aside from two hat tricks this season, Gabby’s only scored in three other games for his nine goal total. Hardly the kind of consistent production you expect from one of the game’s most lethal scorers.

As it turns out, Gaborik may have been playing hurt. He’s already been ruled out for tomorrow’s pre-Christmas showdown with Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis and a Lightning club that’s visiting Long Island a couple of hours from now. Taking his place will be Olympic standout Mats Zuccarello-Aasen who the club signed over the summer. The diminitive winger started the year with the new Connecticut Whale (formerly Hartford Wolfpack), getting out slowly. However, he’s finally adjusted to the North American style and recently was on a tear, hiking his season totals to 13 goals, 10 assists and 23 points. So, the speedy 23 year-old Norwegian gets his shot. He does resemble St. Louis in size and style. Whether or not he plays like him remains to be seen.

Either way, we’re about to find out what MZA can do. Who does Tort start him off with? Alex Frolov has been revitalized since playing with Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust. The enigmatic Russian set up a nice goal off hard work behind the net, dishing off for rookie Derek Stepan’s ninth in a 4-1 loss to division rival Philly. Perhaps he sticks with D-Step and say Sean Avery, who needs more ice-time with Ryan Callahan out till February at the earliest. I’d keep Brandon Dubinsky with Artem Anisimov but aren’t sure who should join them. If you put Ruslan Fedotenko on the top line, then maybe Avery since he mixes it up. But he plays the left side just like Dubi. So, probably no go. Do they try Zuccarello there? It seems like a risk but that line must produce. There’s size, skill and speed.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Tort try MZA with Boyle and Prust since their size and strength should benefit him, making it a good fit. Those are our energizers who seem to work well with anyone. Why not give it a shot? But where does that leave Erik Christensen? Simply put, you can’t have Christy and D-Step together because they both play the same position. Plus there’s also Chris Drury and Christmas ornament Todd White. It wouldn’t be fair to either Dru or Christy if their ice-time is reduced. Ditto Avery, who’s the whipping boy.

While we’re on the subject of our roster, it looks like Mike Del Zotto could be riding the pine Thursday. He had a dreadful showing Saturday, committing two mistakes that led to goals against- finishing minus-three. What has to be remembered is that this is a 20 year-old defenseman in Year Two. As much as I’ve been on his case, the Blueshirts have to be careful how they handle MDZ. It’s been a tough year for the former ’08 first rounder, who’s registered just two goals and seven assists for nine points but has an Even rating. It’s not that he isn’t trying. The 71 hits and 58 blocks attest to the young blueliner’s competitiveness. He hasn’t looked confident with the puck, forcing diagonal passes that get picked off and fumbling the puck at the point leading to shorthanded odd-man rushes.

I’ve maintained that Matt Gilroy has looked better recently and deserves another chance. Why Tort won’t give him a go on at least the second power play unit remains a mystery. Sure. They’ve gotten surprising results from top tandem Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. But the lack of a true quarterback has haunted this club since Brian Leetch left. Our guess is Michal Rozsival gets first crack with D-Step.

If anything, tomorrow’s game should be more interesting. And right before the post-Christmas Garden confrontation with the Islanders.

If only something would go right for the Islanders. Injuries continue to haunt the once proud franchise. Having already lost top defender Mark Streit for almost the entire year and still minus top power wing Kyle Okposo since training camp, the club will now skate without No.1 goalie Rick DiPietro. This time, DP will miss time due to swelling in his right knee. Quoting Yogi Berra, “It’s deja vu all over again,” for the career Islander.

The Islanders also lost veteran blueliner Mike Mottau for the rest of the season due to a torn labrum in his right hip after finally being cleared for physical activity following an eye injury which sidelined him for 10 games. The former Devil underwent successful surgery. In 20 contests, he had three assists while logging important minutes on the Isles’ back end. Kind of a shame since as it turned out, he was a lot more important to the Devils than first thought. Credit the one-time Ranger draft pick for turning his career around, carving a niche which makes him serviceable.

As for DiPietro, this is nothing new. He’s missed significant time before for the same issue, even being shutdown. In 14 games, DP is 4-6-4 with a 3.68 GAA, .880 save percentage and a shutout. Hard to believe that it was over two years ago that he was an NHL All-Star before hip problems forced him to have season ending surgery. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster since for the former No.1 overall pick out of BU 10 years ago. A look at some of the stints spent upstairs tells the sad tale:

12/26/08-missed 27 games due to knee surgery
1/2/09-missed 3 games (groin)
4/12/09-missed last 41 games of season due to swollen right knee
1/4/10-missed 33 games due to knee surgery
4/11/10-missed final 22 games of season (left knee injury)
12/21/10-swollen left knee-IR

He sat out during Monday’s home shootout loss to Phoenix. Rookie Nathan Lawson debuted making 32 saves. Despite holding up well, he couldn’t prevent Martin Hanzal from tying it late and ultimately was lit up in the skill competition- particularly by Kyle Turris, who did a fancy move kicking the puck off his skate before roofing it over Lawson.

The Islanders host the Lightning tonight. So, it doesn’t get any easier for Jack Capuano’s club that remains 30th overall with 18 points, trailing only the Devils. They’ll face them tomorrow night at The Rock in a game before the Christmas Break. That should be interesting.

Does Lawson get the call again tonight? We don’t see why not. May as well see what the kid can do.

If there were any believers out there that the Devils could still turn things around, the last three games should have proved otherwise beyond any doubt. Successive 3-1, 7-1 and 5-1 losses at home to Nashville and on the road against Atlanta and Washington drummed home to the point to everyone that this is a lost season. Certainly the team’s played like it is now a lost season the last couple of games. Thankfully I saw none of tonight’s loss in Washington as I was out to the movies. And Saturday’s game in Atlanta I shut off after the first period, though I did tune back for a few minutes too many in the third period.

Only one of those games really annoyed me though…I thought we gave effort against the Preds even though we only managed to get nine shots on goal in the first forty five minutes of the game. Our accuracy was particularly bad that night and we were facing a good defense. No shame there. However it seemed like that game was finally the tipping point for vets that have known nothing but chasing division titles who are now staring down a long, black abyss.

Specifically two things annoyed me in Atlanta, the first was starting Martin Brodeur over ex-Thrasher Johan Hedberg. Is it really neccesary anymore to play a 38-year old Marty in the second end of a back-to-back on the road? When we’re more than double digits under .500 and hopelessly out of it and Brodeur’s just coming off a major injury?! Typical of this organization, even now we’re letting Marty dictate playing time. Just give Hedberg an opportunity to shine where he played a few years for crying out loud. Our esteemed head coach gave Mike McKenna, a career AHL goalie more respect than he has Hedberg all season…case in point Hedberg being pulled after less than two minutes against Montreal.

Of course by the time he did get in it was 4-0 and the horse was out of the barn. Even Chico Resch was saying that Hedberg should see the ice at the beginning of the second period, when we’d given up three in the first but Johnny MacLean stubbornly left Brodeur in until the fourth goal went by. Granted, Hedberg was no better when he got in but really, what’s the difference? Either way the offense stinks and the defense isn’t much better regardless, so why run a 38-year old into the ground?

As a team, the Devils hit rock bottom in Atlanta – not only by losing 7-1 but also for the coup de grace, giving up a hat trick to Eric Boulton (yes, really), the career enforcer who’d never so much as had a multi-goal game. At that point I was mad at myself for turning it back on late in the third period, just to get a head start on the postgame. I tuned it on right in time to see Boulton’s third off a misplay from Hedberg behind the net. If that isn’t rock bottom, I’d hate to see what is…losing 10-0 to the Rangers? Actually falling into last place below the ECHL-quality Islanders?!

I never would have thought the latter possible but it just may happen now. When you have a veteran team who’s known nothing but success (in the regular season at least) that is in a hopeless situation, that’s the worst kind of season you have to endure as an organization. At least if you have young kids you’ve got hope and they’re learning how to play at the NHL level. The only neophyte we have with any promise – Mattais Tedenby – has basically been given the shaft by MacLean. Heaven forbid he actually score some goals and create some excitement.

Our other rookies, including defensemen Matt Corrente and Mark Fayne just flat can’t play at this level. Early-season revelation Matt Taormina has all but dissapeared after having a setback from a high-ankle sprain suffered more than a month ago. Same for teen center Jacob Josefson, who hasn’t been cleared to practice yet after his wrist injury was supposedly a 6-8 week prognosis. He’s been out for two months now.

At least we will find out whether MacLean can truly coach at this level, cause even if he manages to coach another fifteen years after this odds are he’ll never have the kind of challenge he’s facing now – to get a veteran team to play for pride when all is lost, and to develop the youngsters (supposedly his trademark last year) when they do come back into the lineup. Though I wanted him fired earlier in the year and still don’t like what I’ve seen from him, really it wouldn’t have been fair to can him after 20-30 games. Even in professional sports nobody gets just 20-30 games. I know Barry Melrose got 16 for the Lightning a few years ago, but that was a dysfunctional organization and he was already a known quantity as a coach with prior NHL experience anyway.

And who knows, maybe down the road once this team’s shaken off the depression over missing the playoffs they’ll play for some pride down the stretch. Surely, not all of them will be here – maybe a couple or more will move on just before the trade deadline and maybe it’ll be a full youth movement by the end of the season. That would at least add energy to a lifeless team, though it doesn’t help matters when MacLean continues to do nutty things like putting career AHL’er Tim Sestito on a line with Kovy and Tedenby. Can we just once have a coach that doesn’t pick his lines out of a hat?!

One thing I want to make clear though, I’m not for an outright tank…I don’t think your players learn anything by constantly losing (at least some of them have to be here next year, no matter what) and no draft pick is a sure thing anyway. And I’m just flat tired of losing, it’s now been a full calendar year of it. With four games coming up that I have to attend I shudder to think of what the crowd will be like for those games – especially with one of them being a Ranger game and at least another being a near-sellout around the holiday weekend.

Oh well, at least my football Jets have meaningful games in December and hopefully beyond. And there’s still plenty to watch hockey-wise for entertainment, specifically HBO’s 24-7 series on the Penguins and Caps leading to the Winter Classic. I’ll probably have thoughts on that at a later date though.

As we approach Christmas, there’s plenty to be jolly about. Especially when it comes to this year’s exciting rookie crop. While all the hype surrounded Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, some other fresh faces have come in and taken the league by storm. While maybe no one is on last year’s level that saw Buffalo blueliner Tyler Myers steal the show away from last year’s top three picks John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene, there’s probably more depth this season, making for an even more exhilerating race. Who will take home the Calder? Let’s look at 10 hopefuls!

BATTLE CALDER TOP 10

1.G Sergei Bobrovsky, Flyers-Seemingly out of nowhere, the 22 year-old undrafted Russian netminder has been a godsend for first overall Philly, posting a 15-5-3 mark with a 2.44 GAA and a .919 save percentage. He’s responsible for 68.2 percent of the Flyers’ 22 wins which are tied for the league lead with Pennsylvania rival Pittsburgh. If goaltending was a question mark entering due to Michael Leighton on IR and Brian Boucher as the only proven guy, that’s no longer the case. Ochenb xoposho to the Pyccku!

2.C Logan Couture, Sharks-While it’s true the 21 year-old ’07 first rounder got into 25 games last season, fact is he’s become one of their most reliable finishers. Not easy to do when you’re behind Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau. Amazingly, it’s Couture who’s 17 markers pace a club that’s underachieved thus far. In fact, the 17 tie him for fifth best in the league. His five game winners lead all rookies. He also has five power play goals (leads rookies) and his plus-eight is second best to teammate Ryane Clowe. It’s hard to ignore the rookie scoring leader (17-7-24). If the Sharks make the playoffs, Logan’s fingerprints will be all over why.

3.RW Jeff Skinner, Hurricanes-The most daunting thing about the seventh overall pick is that the former figure skater rose up the charts where the Canes scooped him up and haven’t regretted it. The 18 year-old Markham, Ontario native has a gift, combining superb skating with a ton of skill. He victimized Henrik Lundqvist already with a highlight reel goal. For so long, it was just Eric Staal that teams had to worry about. Now, there’s another talent who looks legit, giving them a nice 1-2 punch. Word of advice to defensemen. Don’t get Skinned!

4.RW Jordan Eberle, Oilers-The 20 year-old ’08 first rounder who the Oilers stole 20th overall should be quite familiar to puckers. He dominated the WJC scoring big goals for Team Canada, leading them to golds and a silver in last year’s championship classic against Team USA. If not for Eberle’s late heroics in regulation, current Cap rook John Carlson never gets to play ultimate hero. To think in one game, you also had Ranger freshman Derek Stepan, who led everyone in scoring. That’s three top rookies. Keeping with Eberle who scored one of the best goals this season in his NHL debut, the speedy right wing who plays a like ex-Devil Brian Gionta has wheels to burn. His two shorthanded goals rank second to Boston first-year player Brad Marchand (3). For years to come, we’ll be talking about Hall to Eberle and also triumverate member Magnus Paajarvi Svensson (4-10-14). Eberle is third in rookie scoring with nine goals and 13 assists with his 22 points right behind club leader Ryan Whitney.

5.D Kevin Shattenkirk, Avalanche-Somewhat under the radar with Cam Fowler getting most of the accolades in Anaheim, the 21 year-old from Greenwich, Connecticut has been one of the biggest reasons why Colorado is proving that last year was no fluke. Selected in the ’07 first round 14th overall, Shattenkirk has really emerged since scoring a second straight game against the Rangers in a home win. During a brilliant stretch in which he recorded points in nine consecutive games, Shattenkirk netted 13 points (4-9-13) including four of his five goals. Since, he’s been a consistent threat, aiding Norris candidate John-Michael Liles. His 19 points (5-14-19) pace all rookies- two better than Fowler.

6.G Anders Lindback, Predators-With top goalie Pekka Rinne going down, another unheralded Swede who was taken in the seventh round has gotten the chance to shine in Music City. This rags to riches story seems too good to be true for the 22 year-old goalie taken 207th overall two years ago. In his first season, Lindback’s been brilliant winning nine of his first 13 starts between the pipes, helping lead Barry Trotz’ latest surprise up a crowded West. Their 40 points are tied for fifth with Anaheim while trailing Detroit by four for the division. Lindback is 9-2-2 with a 2.27 GAA, .927 save percentage and two shutouts. That’s more than half Nashville’s 17 wins for an unknown. Though to hear rookie countryman and Devil Mattias Tedenby tell it, he really impressed at home in the Swedish Elite League. Could we have another Lundqvist? Rinne’s hoping not.

7.C Derek Stepan, Rangers- Where would the Rangers be without the heady 20 year-old from Hastings, Minnesota who started with a bang becoming only the third player to post a hat trick in his NHL debut. The gritty American with superb vision and instincts was selected in the ’08 second round 51st overall. He starred for both Wisconsin and Team USA, doubling as the captain that led our country to its second WJC. After his hat trick, D-Step hit a rough patch that saw his ice time dwindle under John Tortorella. But he’s worked his way back up, earning more responsibility including playing the right point on the power play. Locked in a three-way tie for fourth in rookie scoring with 19 points (9-10-19), Stepan already is his team’s best center. Look for him to see more time with struggling star Marian Gaborik. Once USA ‘mate Chris Kreider gets here, the Rangers will become a lot more interesting.

8.LW Taylor Hall, Oilers-It’s taken some time for the first overall pick to settle in. Once he has, the talented 19 year-old who’s living a dream playing in his hometown for the rival Oilers, has been as advertised. His 10 goals trail only Couture with all of them coming since Oct.28 when he finally found twine at Columbus, also recording his first two-point game. Hall owns five multi-point contests including a career high three assists and a plus-three rating in a recent 6-3 home win over the Blue Jackets. He also had his first two-goal game in Toronto. A night he won’t soon forget. Four of his 10 have come this month with over half since over the last 13 contests. The top pick will only get better along with a new crop of Oilers who will put the franchise back where it belongs. Beware Colorado and Vancouver!

9.D Cam Fowler, Ducks-When the gifted scoring defenseman was passed over by a slew of teams including the Rangers who went for more rugged Dylan McIlrath, most curious observers couldn’t fathom why. After all, this was a player who impressed at the WJC, showing off his gamebreaking speed and playmaking ability on a deep USA roster that won it all. Ironically, gold medal winning teammate and goalie Jack Campbell was taken by Dallas before Anaheim finally allowed the 12th overall pick to exhale. Considering that a great player in Scott Niedermayer who retired that he reminds us of, maybe it was a blessing in disguise, giving Fowler extra incentive. Nobody’s saying he’ll fill those big shoes but the 17 points (3-14-17) with seven on the power play along with 40 blocked shots is a nice start for the Michigan kid. Imagine what he, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan can do. Yikes.

10.G Michal Neuvirth, Capitals-Entering the year, the 22 year-old Czech who was selected in the second round four years ago was expected to split time with incumbent Semyon Varlamov. Having impressed with nine wins and a .914 save percentage in 17 appearances (16 starts) last season with the injury prone Varlamov in the press box, you can’t say he’s inexperienced. With his teammate again missing significant time, Neuvirth (pronounced New-worth) is largely responsible for the Caps hanging in despite a brutal stretch that was just snapped in Ottawa with the goalie making 24 stops in a comeback win. Of the club’s 19 victories, he’s won a lucky 13- accounting for 68.4 percent. With Varlamov finally healthy, it’ll be interesting to see how Bruce Boudreau uses the young duo. Our guess is he’ll go with the hot hand in what’s suddenly not a given they’ll win the Southeast.

That concludes our first series of rookies. Many other first-year players are deserving of inclusion. So with that, our honorable mentions.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

11.LW Bryan Bickell, Blackhawks-9-9-18, 17 PIM, 17 hits
12.LW Tyler Ennis, Sabres-7-9-16, 16 hits, 78 SOG
13.D P.K. Subban, Canadiens-2-9-11, 2 PPG, 33 PIM, 49 hits, 35 blocked shots
14.D John Carlson, Capitals-3-12-15, +6, 32 PIM, 70 blocks, 32 hits
15.LW Magnus Paajarvi, Oilers-4-10-14, 55 SOG
16.C Alex Burmistrov, Thrashers-5-8-13, +3, 23 PIM, 30 hits, 55 SOG
17.C Jake Dowell, Blackhawks-4-9-13, +8, 40 PIM, 46 hits, 18 blocks
18.C Brad Marchand, Bruins-4-8-12, 3 SHG, +5, 34 hits, 53 SOG
19.C Mark Letestu, Penguins-6-9-15, 2 PPG, 28 hits, 73 SOG
20.C Tyler Seguin, Bruins-5-6-11, +2, PPG, 54 SOG
21.LW Mattias Tedenby, Devils-4-4-8, 2 PPG, 4 PPP, 10.5 Pct.
22.RW Michael Grabner, Islanders-7-3-10, 16 hits, 9 blocks, 47 SOG
23.C Phillippe Dupuis, Avalanche-3-7-10, +6, 19 PIM, 52 hits, 10 blocks
24.C Kyle Wilson, Blue Jackets-4-5-9, 10 PIM, 12 hits
25.RW Evgeny Dadonov, Panthers-2-4-6 in 6 GP, +6, 10 SOG

Almost amazingly, we’re about to celebrate a special time of year. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas bring out lots of Kool Aid smiles and holiday cheer. Even for this Jewish blogger who celebrated Chanukkah right before my birthday a couple of weeks ago, I admit to loving this festive time where anything seems possible. As passionate hockey bloggers, we are really fans first who root as hard as we can for our teams. Sometimes, you win and sometimes you lose. While we can go overboard at moments over some game a la yesterday’s Giant choke against Mike Vick and Desean Jackson, it’s worth pointing out that those of us who write about the sport we love are lucky. We all come from good families and have roofs over our heads. Imagine the great ordeal those less fortunate must go through everyday. Especially when it’s ice cold.

So, while your teams may not be giving you much to cheer about, just remember it’s not the end of the world. I can think of much worse things. We must appreciate every day we have because sometimes, you just never know. I lost a great friend earlier this year who was the kind of enthusiastic, happy go lucky person who made everyone around him better. It’s still very difficult that he’s not around. Many of our core only knew him for over a year but in that span, we discovered a special human being with amazing qualities, which made it feel like a lot longer. Every day, I think about you Lyndzay. You’re always there. I love you.

Christmas is a time to be with ones you love and care about. A time to have fun and create new memories that we hold onto forever. Yes, we celebrated it when me and Justin were growing up. Many great moments that will never go away. I’m glad I can be around close friends that are like family. Being that we don’t have much left, it means plenty. I’m real excited that Brian is coming in during the holidays. We will have more great times that to quote Sam Rosen, “Shall last a lifetime.” If only I could get away from that year. Haha.

Other than the Rangers, this season hasn’t treated Battle fans too kindly. As someone who sat through many forgetful nights during a brutal stretch that shall not be repeated, I can only sympathize with what Islander and Devil fans are going through. It’s not easy. Sometimes, I wonder how we dealt with all the losing. All the jokes. NHL fodder. If that happened now, I don’t think I’d tolerate it. In all those years, I can’t ever recall the Rangers winning nine of their first 32 or losing 24 of 30 to start a season. To think the Islanders won four of their first seven before plunging like the great Stock Market crash in 1987. Not even the most negative Islander fan could’ve predicted that. The Devil start is well devilish and we don’t mean that in a Satanic way. The numbers are so miserable that they’re not worth repeating. At least Ilya Kovalchuk is scoring again. So, what do you say to our resident Devil writer who’s not used to this? Stick it out. If anything, they keep losing and they’re guaranteed to land a top 3 pick. For as poorly as Lou Lamoriello has handled the post-lockout cap, he’s still got a solid Draft record. You know he won’t sit still as the season slips away. Changes are a comin’ in Newark.

Islander fans have been here way too frequently. Even that brief stretch where they made the postseason didn’t produce a single first round triumph, meaning the once proud franchise of the Cup Dynasty (1980-83) has almost ceased to exist. There always seem to be distractions. Whether it’s bad owners like John Spano or Charles Wang’s Lighthouse fantasy to the mysterious dismissal of former PR man Chris Botta’s credentials, it’s always something. Of course, many could point to former GM Mad Mike Milbury for where they are. His trade of Roberto Luongo to Florida and drafting of Rick DiPietro are the stuff of legend. If only that were positive. Now, it’s basically John Tavares by himself while Matt Duchene lights it up on a good Colorado team. Sure makes ya wonder if this team is hexed. I don’t know what to say to an Islander fan. They have been put through so much that it makes James Dolan’s Garden Empire look like the Yankees. Just root for your team and hope it turns around. They can’t be this bad forever.

Meanwhile, it’s not much better for Brian’s Sabres who after an uninspired start, sit in 11th eight points behind eighth Boston. Part of it was rating Vezina winner Ryan Miller missing some games. He hasn’t been as sharp either. Still, I can’t think of a better netminder I’d want for one game. Miller is fully capable of getting hot and carrying this team to the playoffs. Thomas Vanek had a dreadful beginning but had turned it around recently scoring like the go to guy he gets paid to be. However, the club has dropped three of four and Vanek hasn’t lit the lamp, posting only an assist while going a miserable minus-six. There was a horrible 6-2 loss at Florida in which Miller was bad as was their D. In the one win over the Bruins, classic tease Drew Stafford scored his third career hat trick. With underachiever Tim Connolly suffering a broken nose thanks to getting slammed hard into that unprotected rim Don Cherry always justifiably rants about, he’ll miss the next two home games against Anaheim tomorrow and Florida later this week. Can a team that doesn’t score many goals turn it around? Jason Pominville hasn’t been the same since his concussion. They also need better from Tyler Myers. What to tell Bri who’s been through this before? Not much. He’s always echoed that management never does enough to make them a true contender. Off last year, it’s hard to disagree.

Meanwhile, the Rangers don’t play till Thursday. In their big showdown Saturday with the first overall Flyers, they fell 4-1, done in by ex-Ranger Nikolay Zherdev– who converted a breakaway out of the penalty box thanks to an amazing Mike Richards 125 foot outlet. It was another poor showing for sophomore D Mike Del Zotto, who misplayed a puck leading to the second goal and was out of position for another en route to a minus-three afternoon. What can be done about his play? He turns over the puck way too much and is weak around the net, making it harder on steadier partner Michal Rozsival. Who’d ever thought it’d get to that? Henrik Lundqvist couldn’t be faulted unless you wanted to pin him for a rebound which Zherdev finished from an impossible angle, concluding the scoring. Marian Gaborik remained invisible while teamed with both Erik Christensen and Derek Stepan, who later was shifted to a different line and converted his ninth off a nice Alex Frolov feed. I don’t get it. Gabby returns and outside of his second hat trick versus Edmonton, he’s lifeless. Frolov has been much better since his trial with energizers Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust. Maybe it’s time to stick Gaborik with them. Prust is like our mini-Cally. Tort needs to get Sean Avery more ice-time. Maybe reunite him with Gabby and Christy. Regardless of the result that was kind of tainted due to the refs taking away Dale Weise’s first goal in an impressive debut that included a near miss and a win over pest Daniel Carcillo, the Rangers have made their fans happy this Winter. In a conference where there aren’t many clearcut teams outside of the Big Four (Flyers, Pens, Caps, Habs), there’s no reason our team shouldn’t be playing meaningful hockey in the Spring. Once Ryan Callahan returns, they should be dangerous.

So, there’s at least one team with a pulse as we get ready for stockings, presents and candy canes. There’s still time for that to change. He’s making a list. He’s checking it twice. He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. Santa Claus is coming to town. Or as The Boss would say:

Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa Claus is coming to town! Santa Claus is coming to toooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwnn!!!!!

In what’s been a big week for the Rangers, they complete it in Philly tomorrow where they’ll battle the league’s best in an old Patrick showdown. Or shall we say throwdown. The bitter rivals have met once with the Flyers prevailing a month ago. A lot’s happened since as both clubs have played good hockey, climbing up the standings.

First overall Philadelphia boasts plenty of scoring led by quartet Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux and Daniel Briere. There aren’t many holes in a well balanced roster that boasts big and mean Chris Pronger anchoring a blueline that includes Kimmo Timonen, Matt Carle and Braydon Coburn. With surprising rookie Sergei Bobrovsky getting the job done in net and Brian Boucher doing his part, these Flyers are a force to be reckoned with. It’s no wonder they ended the Penguin win streak at 12 thanks to a late goal from pest Scott Hartnell. They can play you any way, also boasting their own Sean Avery in Daniel Carcillo plus former Rangers Blair Betts and Jody Shelley. Even Nikolay Zherdev’s contributed 11 goals, albeit in spurts. James Van Riemsdyk’s also been lighting the lamp recently. This is Philly’s best team since the ’96-97 one that went to the Finals before getting blitzed by Detroit. It’s their best chance to end a 36-year drought since the Broadway Bullies dominated in ’74 and ’75.

So, how will the Rangers deal with it? Nothing seems to faze this pesky bunch. Not after hammering the Caps Monday, then exploding for four goals in the final 10 minutes in a character building win at Pittsburgh, limiting Sidney Crosby to an assist for the second consecutive game. Then there was last night’s come from behind 4-3 shootout home win over an angry Coyote team who no showed against the Devils. The perfect streak in second games of back-to-backs was in jeopardy when the Blueshirts came out flat with Martin Biron allowing a pair of softies in the first six minutes. But the backup battled through making big saves to keep his team in it.

That’s what we’ve come to expect from a resilient club that never is out of a game. Never was there a more defining example that in Pittsburgh after losing emotional leader Ryan Callahan for six weeks with a broken left hand from what else but blocking a shot. They fight till the buzzer. Something Brian Boyle alluded to along with mini-Callahan Brandon Prust. Losing Cally stinks. But all year, they’ve faced obstacles overcoming no Marian Gaborik, Vinny Prospal or Chris Drury and also holding up okay without Michal Rozsival, who’s playing some of his best hockey as a Ranger. After setting up two goals including one from Alex Frolov, Rozy set up Derek Stepan’s tying goal late that forced only the second skill competition for our heroes. It was the clean faceoff win by a sharp Drury in his second game back that allowed them to tie it. They lost Callahan and Drury replaces him in many facets playing with Artem Anisimov and Brandon Dubinsky while providing great penalty killing and winning faceoffs. Something that’s plagued us all year.

I said it the other night when Cally went down. It’s an opportunity for other players to step up. Then Erik Christensen displays that skill with a laser over Brent Johnson and also wins the shootout yesterday with a fancy deke. Frolov, who’s been much better since being moved to the Boyle/Prust line, gets dirty and notches the winner versus the Pens, setting off an explosion with Anisimov wiring his ninth and Boyle putting the exclamation point on the finest win of the season. There’s the dominance of All-Star candidates Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, who are fulfilling expectations since the new contracts. Both adding offense to their game while getting better defensively, limiting time and space from skilled players such as Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin. There’s Prust outhustling Jason LaBarbera to a loose puck and scoring a gigantic shortie with five seconds left in the second, giving our team momentum they ride into the third. And what about an overtime they dominated, getting numerous chances to end it with Boyle trying to atone for two penalties the ‘Yotes scored on. The coach hates the shootout. The improvement in four-on-four has stood out. If only Marian Gaborik would remember that his job is to bury a few.

This is a T-E-A-M. In every sense, they come together standing up for each other with Mike Sauer throwing down and Sean Avery standing in for anyone. How great was it when he pulled Arron Asham away from Henrik Lundqvist after another cheap stick and dropped ’em. Did we mention Prust, who has become so valuable, takes on all comers? This is the kind of team the Garden Faithful have wanted for years. One that bands together and rallies around each other. They’ve made life easier on Lundqvist, who occasionally has to make big saves like the few he made against the Pens, holding them at one. It’s no longer about the goalie but rather centered around a solid mix with a good core featuring home growns Callahan, Staal, Girardi, Brandon Dubinsky, Mike Del Zotto, Sauer, Stepan and Anisimov. Holdovers Rozsival and Lundqvist understand that as does Drury. Where would they be without Boyle and Prust? Remember how much we roasted Slats for that third round pick last year? No more. What Boyle has done is way above anyone’s expectations. Hire the figure skating coach. The transformation has a two-way center capable of neutralizing the opposition. Come to think of it, that sounds like exact requirements for the Selke. Forget all the fancy names who will get preferential treatment. Boyle should be up for that award!

When it comes to Extra Effort, Callahan has always gone above and beyond the call of duty making officer Steven McDonald proud. You could say that about many Rangers this time. Boyle and Prust are my top two choices. They really exemplify what this team is all about. When John Tortorella singles out Prust after admitting they didn’t know much about the ‘throw in’ in the Joke-in-en trade, it tells you everything. Sometimes, a player only needs a change of scenery to blossom. Before he arrived on Broadway, Prusty was used primarily on the fourth line by Phoenix and Calgary, playing sparingly as an enforcer. Who knew? You can’t make it up.

There’s no doubt these Rangers won’t be intimidated by what the Flyers bring tomorrow. They’ll battle. Compete. Fight. Because that’s what they do. A shot at running the table this week against good competition. I’ve never been prouder to be a Ranger.

During the early part of this season, there have been way too many nights where as Lou Lamoriello has pointed out on more than one occasion: ‘Our best players haven’t been our best players, for whatever reason’. Well tonight was at least a temporary reprieve from the nightmare that has been 2010 for the Devils – our best players in fact, were our best players tonight. Ilya Kovalchuk‘s first multi-goal game as a Devil (in 56 games), Patrik Elias‘s two assists and Martin Brodeur‘s 113th career shutout spurred New Jersey to an impressive 3-0 win over the Coyotes.

Tonight was a game the Devils badly needed just for team morale if nothing else, coming in off a five-game losing streak and more contreversy when Brian Rolston was waived, not claimed on waivers and then played 17+ minutes tonight – all within the last 36 hours. Just another example of the chaos that’s clouded the team since this summer’s shenanigans. To his credit though, Rolston handled a tumultuous couple of days in a first-class manner despite the appearance to some (including Jamie Langenbrunner) that he was being singled out for the Devils’ struggles.

Whatever Rolston’s future holds, at least all was right in Newark for a few hours as the Devils got out to an early lead and never looked back. Kovalchuk got his first of the game and sixth of the season at 5:30 after a nice feed from Danius Zubrus set the big guy up for a slapper from near the left faceoff circle that beat countryman Ilya Bryzgalov . At 13:18, the Devils went into even more rarified air, extending their lead to two when rookie Mark Fayne‘s shot from the right point found its way in past a screen set by Langenbrunner for the defenseman’s first NHL goal, with Elias and Travis Zajac getting the assists. How rare was the Devils’ two-goal lead? As Steve Cangelosi pointed out to Zubrus during the first intermission, it was the first time in nine games the Devils had more than a one-goal lead.

After a quiet second period which saw no penalties or goals, the Devils all but put away the game early in the third after back-to-back penalties by the Coyotes gave the Devils fifteen seconds on a five-on-three. Despite our improved power play in recent weeks, normally we’re pretty bad with the two-man advantage but I did have the thought before this one that maybe with so little time we’d get one since we didn’t have time to overthink. Lo and behold, Kovy scored what was almost a carbon copy goal – only this time it was Zajac feeding him towards the left side for a slapshot, giving the Devils a commanding 3-0 lead and putting a big smile on the talented Russian’s face for one of the few times this season.

Sure, Phoenix had their chances and got 29 shots total on Brodeur but finally shaking off the rust that had clearly affected him last weekend, the perennial Vezina winner was in peak form tonight. To their credit, the Coyotes kept going right to the end and even had a power play in the final minute and a half but this time the Devils’ defense stiffened and preserved the shutout. Amazingly, this was only the Devils’ fifth regulation win in thirty tries (ninth win overall; the other four came in OT and shootouts).

Perhaps the most encouraging signs from the win – besides Brodeur regaining his game and Kovy finally putting a crooked number on the board – were the multi-assist games from Elias and Zajac. Elias has been heating up lately with three goals and three assists in his last five games, leading the team in points and after a nightmarish start of his own, Zajac also has six points in his last five games. Our special teams have been pretty good, going 7-20 on the power play and killing off all nineteen penalties against us. Not to mention the team’s finally starting to get healthier. Finnish defenseman Anssi Salmela played his first game of the season tonight and didn’t look too bad playing fifteen minutes. Fellow defenseman Mark Fraser and centerman Jacob Josefson are also on the mend and should be back soon.

Whoever’s in the lineup Friday against Nashville should only have one thought on their minds, getting two in a row. Don’t think about the playoffs, you can’t win ten games in one night. Don’t think about getting five goals to up your scoring closer to its normal levels…just win, win and win.

It’s a big night for MSG. Today, the Garden’s two winter teams have pivotal games against bitter rivals. With this being a hockey blog, we’ll focus more on the Rangers’ third meeting against old Patrick Division rival Pittsburgh instead of the much anticipated Knicks-Celtics battle in Beantown on MSG.

There’s no doubt that these two teams hate each other. Especially the war of words between Brandon Dubinsky and Sidney Crosby following the Pens’ 3-1 win in the Big Apple a couple of weeks prior. The match featured a Crosby slew foot on emotional leader Ryan Callahan, who somehow got nabbed for phantom interference after being taken down by the league’s best player. Dubinsky has never been shy about how he feels towards his former junior rival, disapproving of the Pitt captain’s sneaky antics between whistles. It’s no secret that Sid The Kid isn’t afraid to mix it up, often delivering hacks and whacks which go undetected. A few blatant slashes which are potentially dangerous. That has rubbed Dubi and in particular our fanbase the wrong way. Call it sour grapes. But from our vantage point, it looks like the league’s Golden Boy is getting the ‘star treatment.’

Even Alex Ovechkin hasn’t gotten this kind of love. Perhaps it’s because the Cap sniper is more reckless, even getting suspended last season. Or maybe it’s because Crosby is the very low key superstar the NHL wants to promote with a clean image that can easily be respected. For as much as Sid whines when things don’t go his team’s way, you’ll never see him lose his cool in the locker room or postgame a la the Great 8 after that Olympic meltdown in Vancouver. Along with the league’s leading scorer (26-27-53) being Canadian, it’s easy to see why he’s so well marketed. For as exciting as Sid’s rival is, Ovi will never be portrayed that way. Instead, the leading Cap must shed the unfair label as a playoff choker while Crosby gets the accolades for winning a Cup, making two Finals, winning a Hart, Art Ross and Olympic gold thanks to one of the greatest goals in interntional history all by age 23.

There’s no denying his unique talent which sparked a recent 12-game win streak before Pennsylvania rival Philadelphia snapped it with a 3-2 win last night. Ironically, the dominant stretch came following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Blueshirts in a wild game that saw the Pens get all six power plays and not beat Henrik Lundqvist until there were three minutes left, scoring two straight only to see All-Star candidate Marc Staal tie it shorthanded. Dubinsky set up Callahan for the OT winner, giving the Rangers their best win of the season. Since, Crosby’s taken off passing Steven Stamkos for the league lead in goals and putting up an amazing 19-game scoring streak which continued yesterday with two assists on Evgeni Malkin goals. During it, he’s totaled 38 points including a ridiculous 20 goals that featured two hat tricks in three games sandwiched around a one assist effort in Pittsburgh’s win over the Rangers.

Can Staal and partner Dan Girardi keep him in check? They’re emerging into a shutdown tandem capable of neutralizing the opposition. Ovechkin was left frustrated in a 7-0 rout Monday. The team’s best performance. Lundqvist was also strong making 31 stops. So, are they up to the challenge with Geno also back having scored twice? It will take another gigantic effort from our heroes to make it two in a row and a two-game losing streak for the hated rival. If you want to see it, you’ll have to find MSG2 due to the Coyotes/Devils being on the second network instead.

There should be fireworks. Don’t miss it!

So let’s see, yesterday Devils GM Lou Lamoriello calls a quasi-press conference to declare that there will be no changes and the team we have is the team that we’ll move forward with…and today he waives Brian Rolston? That’s a faster misdirection than when he said Jacques Lemaire would return as Devils coach in ’10 and then Lemaire ‘resigned’ three days later.

For his part, Lou claims that the decision was cap-related though why we need to do this now is a bit of a mystery unless Bryce Salvador‘s a lot closer to returning than we’ve been led to believe. And the only way waiving Rolston actually gives us cap relief – barring a trade which obviously isn’t happening – is either if someone claims him straight up (not likely) or we assign him to Albany, then put him on re-entry waivers so that the cap hit gets divided between us and whoever claims him, which is probably the only realistic scenario to get any cap space this year out of Rolston.

Of course Rolston’s two goals and two assists in fifteen games this season doesn’t exactly scream that he needs to be here and perhaps giving young skaters like Mattais Tedenby and the rehabbing Jacob Josefson more icetime going forward is part of the reason why Rolston’s become expendable in the GM’s mind. Certainly there are on-ice reasons as well as cap considerations towards dumping Rolston. Plus there obviously needs to be a change in the culture of the locker room though if you believe Lou, Rolston wasn’t a negative in that aspect.

“There is no better person in the room, no one with a more positive attitude,” Lamoriello said. “That’s what makes decisions like this so difficult. But I have to make some decisions. I can’t justify the payroll where we’re at with the results we’ve had and this is one of the decisions.”

So what are the financial considerations that merit releasing Rolston this afternoon, as opposed to say earlier in the season when we were playing with fifteen players or later on when we actually are closer to getting our higher-priced players back from injury (Salvador and Zach Parise)? While it’s true Anssi Salmela will be playing his first game of the season Wednesday, adding his $625k salary to the roster is hardly a backbreaker. Perhaps Josefson and defenseman Mark Fraser are also close to returning, though the three of them combined only equal two million in cap space, and we still have six million plus on IR. Since we were about three million over the cap before the season I’d think there would still be enough room to bring all three back and maintain a full roster, especially since you’re replacing league minimum guys like Stephen Gionta and Olivier Magnan.

There are only two scenarios I can think of where the Devils need cap space in the next few weeks – one I’ve already stated, that Salvador is in fact closer to returning than any of us know (which would definitely amp up the timetable) and the other one being that Lou wants to start negotiations with Parise on an extension and needs to clear a little more cap space next year to kick that off so the winger can be inked before this offseason where potential offer sheets and a bad season for the team might impact Zach’s future plans.

For his part, Rolston admitted that going on waivers didn’t come as a total surprise and publicly said that if he was sent down to Albany he would report (not a big shock considering the $7 million or so left on his deal, he wouldn’t get more than $2 million perhaps if he refused to report and went on the open market). And Lou finally said something that was obvious to a lot of us if not this offseason, at worst a month ago:

“I thought we would come out of it,” Lamoriello said. “I thought we were coming out of it, but then we went back. Maybe my patience was a little too patient.”

Yet in almost the same breath Lou said that if Rolston wasn’t claimed by noon tomorrow he would be in the lineup for tomorrow night’s game against the Coyotes. Perhaps it’s a bluff…but with Rip Van Lou’s lack of real activity so far I’ll believe Rolston’s off the team when I see it.

The Islanders remain a mess under new coach Jack Capuano, having dropped six straight after falling 5-0 at Nashville last night. With only one win over the Devils that ended the miserable 14-game winless streak, it’s hard to conclude that any progress is being made since the coaching change.

How does all the losing affect John Tavares, who himself is having a tough sophomore year? The former ’09 No.1 overall pick has eight goals and six assists for 14 points along with a minus-19 rating in 25 games. However, he missed time with a concussion and doesn’t exactly have much around him outside top finisher Matt Moulson, who paces the club with 10 markers and 16 points. Frans Nielsen is second with 15 points (4-11-15)- also matched by James Wisniewski (2-13-15) and Blake Comeau (5-10-15). Tavares is tied with ex-Ranger P.A. Parenteau (4-10-14) for sixth with 14 points.

If you’re an Islander fan looking at the stat sheet, you’re wondering why Tavares isn’t on top and where the heck is Josh Bailey. A player Garth Snow traded down to get. To say it’s been a rough season for the third-year pro would be an understatement. Bailey got out alright but went into a dreadful slump that eventually saw the club demote him to Bridgeport where he got hurt. It has all gone wrong for the projected second line center.

Then there’s Kyle Okposo, who can’t seem to stay on the ice. The emerging power wing is a big part of the team’s future and seemed poised for a big season. Instead, he remains out after having right shoulder surgery, having not even debuted. On a club without much depth, that was a big blow as was the loss of top defender Mark Streit after a freak accident in practice back in preseason. The Islanders remain without more than half their starting blueline with both Milan Jurcina and Mike Mottau also on the mend along with Mark Eaton. Injury prone Radek Martinek finally missed a game last night with an arm problem.

All the injuries which occur every year like Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day character Phil having the same day repeat over and over again, makes one wonder if this franchise is hexed. Between the whole screwy arena lease which hampers them along with owner Charles Wang’s agenda oriented Lighthouse Project and Snow’s execution of Islander blogger and former PR man Chris Botta cause he dared criticize the team, it’s like a night at the circus. And we don’t mean Barnum & Bailey or even James Dolan’s clowns at MSG, who sadly look good compared to what’s going on on the Island.

Even as a rival fan, I throw my hands up in the air at how the Islanders can ever turn it around and field a competitive roster. They are so bad right now that it’s almost got an expansion feel to it. This is a franchise that’s been around for five decades and once were league darlings with an Islander Dynasty spanning 1980-83. Hell. Even ’84 though they fell short of winning No.5 against the Gretzky and Messier Oilers. This is a franchise that hasn’t won a single round since that miraculous ’93 run to the Conference Finals before Patrick Roy’s Habs took them out.

Then, there’s the mystery of Rick DiPietro and if he’ll ever be the same following all the surgeries. When he gives up a goal off a faceoff because his head’s down and it turns into the winner in a wild Atlanta game that featured over 1,200 Quebec Nordique fans cheering wildly at each 15 minute mark, it begs the question when is enough enough? With only five wins and a measly 15 points in 28 games, they have last all to themselves, having been outscored 98-59. The sad aspect is they started the season in first before the roof caved in Metrodome style. Apologies state of Minnesota.

So, the next time a Yankee fan complains (I am one) about Cliff Lee stuffing them for the Phillies, please. Even Mets fans have it better. Though you wouldn’t know it by the way the new regime’s operating. It might be time to put a giant HELP sign in front of Nassau Coliseum. Maybe then Gary Bettman will finally notice.