Battle Of Hudson

Another opportunity wasted. Yet again, the Rangers couldn’t take advantage of good fortune. With the hapless Bruins losing in the Matt Cooke Revenge game, our heroes failed by falling to the Blues 4-3 at MSG. Their home record is now 15-23. I don’t count OT or gimmick losses. Besides, our team’s stunk it up in those instances anyway, further damaging their chances of a fifth consecutive postseason.

How does a team contending for the playoffs have a losing record on home ice? Absolutely brutal. If you check history, the post-lockout Rangers always were reliable at The Garden. Now, we’re back to the Dark Ages and it shows. If you can’t win at one of the better venues with great support, what does it say about your franchise? There are an awful lot of adjectives I can’t use to express my bitter disappointment. Thank God we sold this game and weren’t there for another classic tease. A game in which the weakest link Wade Redden actually contributed by tying it. And then in the next breath, one of our better players Ryan Callahan lost his check on Paul Kariya, allowing the vet to score his 400th- further crushing Ranger hopes.

Home Ice Disadvantage: A Closer Look At NYR Post-Lockout

Year         Record at MSG    Without OT/SO Losses
’05-06      25-10-6                25-16
’06-07      21-15-5                21-20
’07-08      25-13-3                25-16

’08-09      26-11-4                26-15 
’09-10      15-17-6                15-23

The last time the Blueshirts were this inept at home, they were finishing up a 69-point season in ’03-04. In fact, they won only 13 times back when ties still existed along with the dreaded four column Bettman Era Error. That team went 13-21-3-4 or in more conventional terms, 13-25-3. Coincidence?

In many ways, the way this season’s winding up, it eerily reminds us of ’02-03 when the Islanders gave the Rangers plenty of chances to comeback and steal the eighth spot. Instead, our hapless team ‘led’ by Bobby Holik finished five points behind the Isles, whose 83 were enough to lose in the first round to Ottawa. Fast forward seven years later and history is repeating itself with Boston clinging onto the final spot with 74 points. Three better than both the Blueshirts and Thrashers, who doubled up slumping Ottawa to pull into a tie for ninth. Both Beantown and Hotlanta have 12 left to our 11, underlying just how important Sunday’s NBC tilt is at TD Northbank.

If only it were that simple. Tampa, who lost tonight is 11th with 68 while the Islanders, who’ve reeled off three in a row are tied for 12th with the Panthers just six out. Even the Hurricanes, who pulled out an overtime home win over conference leader Washington are at 66 still hanging around. Given how poorly the injury riddled Bruins and Rangers are playing, anything’s possible.

That brings us to the latest bad loss for the club that resides on 33rd and 7th. They wasted an inspired effort from Marian Gaborik, who snapped out of it with his club-leading 37th goal while setting up the other two Ranger tallies. Talking head John Tortorella came to his senses and put Erik Christensen back with the Great Gabby while finally demoting lifeless Olli Jokinen to the third line. While the change netted positive results, the team still found a way to lose despite out-shooting St. Louis 29-16.

Unfortunately, Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t at the top of his game, permitting a couple he’d like back, including the mystifying unscreened Erik Johnson shot from the right point that left the normally affable 28 year-old Swede waving his arms in disgust. Even if you want to get on Chris Drury for not clearing the puck, it was still inexplicable. Four goals on 16 shots is inexcusable for one of the game’s better netminders. He struggled in spurts, letting out bad rebounds off routine shots. This is one of my pet peeves. I can’t classify Henrik as elite because he still has areas which need fixing, starting with positioning. He plays too far back. A more aggressive goalie cuts off the angles. Aside from that, the conservative approach makes him vulnerable on breakaways. Something we’ve seen this season. Everyone knows you can pick high glove. It’s the other areas he should focus on with Benoit Allaire during the offseason.

It’s not Lundqvist’s fault the team is so poorly constructed. Speaking of which, did Matt Gilroy (8:52 TOI) see the ice in the third period? Here we are in Game 70 and the coach doesn’t even have enough confidence to play the Hobey winner. What’s that thing again about Hobey jinxes? Never mind. Where they lost this one was during the first three critical minutes, failing miserably on an extended five-on-three. So out of sync were they that even blatant homer Joe Micheletti critiqued it by basically saying, ‘This is the worst 5-on-3 I’ve seen.’ You know it’s bad when such a rare moment happens on Jazzy Jim’s Don’t Worry Be Happy Network.

Despite not converting with neither point men Gaborik or the Jokester even considering a shot, the Rangers managed to get it tied when an even rarer sight took place in the form of a Redden goal. The play was made possible by Gaborik and Brandon Dubinsky, who Tort stuck out. In this stretch, Dubi’s played the best hockey of his career. He won the board battle, freeing the puck to Gabby with the puck eventually coming back to an open Redden, who blasted home his second of the season to loud cheers- snapping a 57-game drought. Hell. He even helped set up Gaborik’s 37th back in the first. So, on a night they got three points from their superstar and two from the worst player, they still invented a new way to lose.

One thing we’ve seen too much of is that this team can’t sustain it. How many times have they tied a game just to see an opponent come right back, breaking our hearts? Same losing characteristics the pre-lockout teams had. And coached by the self-proclaimed genius who walks on water and never is accountable. At least Tom Renney always took the blame. The Blues’ winner came 73 seconds later with Kariya finishing off a nice play that David Backes and T.J. Oshie combined on. With Jody Shelley making a poor change, Kariya took him off the puck and then made a bee line for the net escaping Callahan while Oshie set him up for the milestone. Congrats to a classy player who would’ve been a Hall Of Fame lock if not for injuries.

Can anyone please explain to me how it’s possible that Shelley overstayed his shift? What was he even doing out there?!?!?!?!?! Hey. This is the same coach who had the audacity to stick out two-thirds of the fourth line in the final shift after Dubinsky tied the Buffalo game, which they predictably lost in overtime 2-1 on 3/7. You gotta be kidding me.

To their credit, the Blueshirts tried everything to get this one tied but couldn’t beat backup Ty Conklin. Ser—ious–ly. They couldn’t beat the freaking second string goalie, who made 26 saves. In a heated playoff race that’s there for the taking, swept by the Blues. There are no words.

3rd Star-Paul Kariya, Stl (game-winner with 11:36 left-400th career goal)
2nd Star-Erik Johnson, Stl (PPG, 4 PIM, SOG, 2 hits in 17:35)
1st Star-Marian Gaborik, NYR (club-leading 37th plus 2 assists, 3 SOG, +1 in 24:09)

1. Patrik Elias (goal, assist, +3)
2. Paul Martin (goal, +1 with 18:05 TOI)
3. Martin Brodeur (24/26 saves)

There’s no stopping the Devils. Luck of the Irish not required to hand a beat down of what’s looking more and more like defending chumps. Patrik Elias made it 3-1 when he stole a Jordan Leopold blind backhand pass and then beat Marc-Andre Fleury for a shorthanded goal. Another Pens’ turnover that may as well have been from a bakery. Funny but moments earlier Fleury flat out robbed Travis Zajac with a sprawling glove save that even Chico Resch had to admit was great. Oh wait. He thinks every save is great. 😛

The Elias shorty seemed to unnerve the Pens, who looked rattled. Turnover after turnover proceeded until Zach Parise netted team-leading No.33 by being allowed to swat in a rebound while Mark Eaton stood and watched. Not shockingly, it chased a furious Fleury, who MSG-Plus’ cameras caught breaking slamming his goal stick against the wall.

Since when did Pittsburgh morph into the Rangers? Apparently, the sight of the Devils turns them into pumpkins. If this were a prize fight, it would’ve been stopped in Round Two. The play of the Penguins in this one is flat out embarrassing. It’s like they’ve never played the game before. Pretty sad for a Sidney Crosby led team that’s got an impressive resume, including two consecutive trips to the Finals, winning the franchise’s third championship (first since ’92) by dethroning Detroit.

Much of the credit goes to the Devils, who just look very focused with Paul Martin back on the blueline. He really has looked great and that bodes extremely well for Jacques Lemaire’s club. The Devs are clicking on all cylinders, playing air tight D while pouncing on Pittsburgh mistakes. The score could very well be 8-1 after two periods. That’s how dominant they’ve been. Brent Johnson came in and had to make two great stops from in tight, including a sparkling glove on Ilya Kovalchuk to keep the deficit at three. The Devs’ fourth line continues to play well with Rod Pelley doing solid work. Remember when NJ fans were all over Rob Niedermayer? He’s looked real good since key ingredient David Clarkson returned.

There’s not one Devil you could say anything negative about. Thus far, it’s like Manny Pacquiao’s performance versus Joshua Clottey. While Marty’s done the job again turning aside 15 of 16 (5-5 in 2nd), Fleury’s ugly line which really wasn’t his fault was four allowed on 13 shots. He’s permitted three-or-more in all five starts with tonight’s four raising his GAA to 4.52 and a dismal .838 save percentage. Yikes. In case you’re wondering, Johnson made his only start on 12/30/09 acquitting himself well by stopping 31 of 32 in a 2-0 shutout loss. He also relieved Fleury in an ugly 12/21 4-0 loss, turning aside all 14 shots. Counting the two he stopped so far, that’s quite a difference.

The big question becomes if Dan Bylsma’s team sees the Devils in the second or third round, would he consider going with Johnson? It seems illogical. But based on how poorly the Pens have played in front of Fleury, it actually might be something he considers.

Well, if it wasn’t obvious already, it should be. The Devils are in the Penguins’ heads. After trailing on an early Chris Kunitz goal, the more traditional red and green guys honoring the past on St. Patty’s Day responded like good teams do, getting the next two.

Both off identical sloppy turnovers forced by Jacques Lemaire’s trap which has given Pitt fits. The first came off a poor change, allowing Patrik Elias to force Kris Letang and then make a smart soft backhand feed which sprung Dainius Zubrus for a clean break, which he converted with a sweet power forehand deke to draw even. The second came was a potential momentum shifter with less than two minutes left when another Pens’ misplay led to returning Devil hero Paul Martin breaking in and firing far side past Marc-Andre Fleury. A very good shot but another one the Pens’ netminder should’ve had. In four starts versus the defending champs’ kryptonite, he doesn’t play well.

Meanwhile, Martin Brodeur made a few strong stops when called upon. He has 10 saves to Marc-Andre’s seven. You have to wonder if the Pens minus Evgeni Malkin, can respond. All we saw from Sidney Crosby were some dirty stick whacks at Mike Mottau that drew Devil fans’ ire. The same kind of stuff he gets away with versus us. It would be a refreshing change to see the Golden Boy treated like other players. For one of the game’s best, he sure gets away with a lot. But as evidenced during last night’s Ranger clunker, refs just aren’t paying enough attention to stick swings like the one Brian Gionta got away with after a whistle. He ain’t Mr. Hacks for nothing.

Time for the second. Be back after.

“In most cases, your record is who you are.“-Dave Maloney 11:26 ET on FAN 3/16/10 with a furious Steve Somers

Sometimes, you are who you are. Or in the Rangers’ case, they are what their 31-30-9 record says they are. As MSG Radio color analyst Dave Maloney diplomatically put it to WFAN’s Steve Somers, that’s how to describe our mediocre team following two straight wins, including one of the best of the season couldn’t be bothered to show in another must win against Les Habitants. 


For everything they did well Sunday versus Philly is how much at the opposite end of the spectrum they were last night. Bipolar is a good way to describe this mismatched roster, poorly constructed by The Savior. This is what you get. When the much reserved captain Chris Drury calls them out as he did to NYSD’s Joe McDonald following the 3-1 embarrassment that wasn’t even close, it speaks volumes. Granted. He’s not the player he once was and didn’t even register a shot but neither did Ryan Callahan, who had perhaps his worst game. No Happy St. Paddy’s for him. Marian Gaborik had one shot while linemates Vinny Prospal and Olli Joke-inen were invisible. 

As Dad remarked, ‘You could see why Jokinen’s been on four teams in over a year.‘ The Jokester’s play on the point that saw our power play produce exactly two shots in five chances, was putrid. We’d say more but what for? Everything we already knew about a talented player who teases fans is true. If he’s back, fans should boycott. Probably the only way to get through to Jazzy Jim.


There were plenty of Habs fans at The Garden who had a lot more to be proud of. Their team won its sixth straight, improving to 21-9-3 with top defenseman Andrei Markov in the lineup. He missed the last two before the break (both losses). Coincidence? Markov’s one of the best blueliners in the game and is playing like it. He set up teammate Glen Metropolit’s early power play goal following an undisciplined Brandon Prust holding minor which set the tone. The assist extended his point streak to seven straight (2-8-10). Exactly what you’d expect from a real No.1 D. Imagine if we had one? As Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler would say, “Dream On.”


It wasn’t even a contest. Sure. Sean Avery tied it up on a gritty redirect of a Matt Gilroy right point blast 2:02 into the second. Unfortunately, that was it. Avery, who was benched by John Tortorella– has scored three times since. Or as Somers referenced during a classic monologue, he led the team with four shots while Drury had none and Gaborik one. Nobody else was engaged. You could easily cite the players that showed on one hand. Erik Christensen certainly did. When the waiver wire pickup is one of your best in a game you’re supposed to be “desperate” for, something’s wrong. Knowing the way this team operates, Christy won’t be back, replaced by some overpaid stiff.


Henrik Lundqvist did everything he could to prevent a dominant Canadien club that outshot the Rangers 18-5 in the middle stanza, from surging ahead. Montreal trapped them to death, forcing a bakery of turnovers. Sloppy is how to describe their play. Two days removed from looking well organized, it was like they never practiced before. While Henrik made save after save including highway robbery following a dreadful Marc Staal pass right to a Hab in the slot, the Blueshirts barely tested Jaroslav Halak, who entered with a 1-3-0 sub-4.00 GAA at MSG. Instead, they passed, passed and passed driving fans batty.When they should’ve shot, they didn’t making it a routine night for Halak (19 saves). What does it say when Lundqvist saw two shots fewer in 20 minutes?


Nobody disputes that Montreal’s better. Just look what they’ve done minus offensive leader Mike Cammalleri. Guys like Metropolit, Travis Moen (assist) and deadline acquisition Dominic Moore step up. Fitting that the former Ranger would comeback to haunt them on the awful winner. One in which our defense fumbled the puck until Sergei Kostitsyn’s shot was put in by Artem Anisimov, sucking the life out of the building. Not there was any to begin with. Through two periods, they’d been outshot 27-11 and outplayed severely. Up in our customary 411 seats, I actually thought they’d come out with something in the third. Especially with Boston prevailing over Carolina 5-2 to increase their cushion to three points. Was there any discussion in the locker room? Simply amazing. 

So what if they got two more shots (9-7) or almost as many as the first 40? None even threatened Halak, whose team played the kind of hard nosed hockey you see in the playoffs. Playoffs?!?!?!?!?! Somehow, this team has 71 points with a dozen left and are still alive. Even the Thrashers, who finally won last night over Buffalo, are afloat with two less. Tampa Bay has 68 and the Islanders off John Tavares‘ five-point game, are hanging around. Parity.


To borrow a Maloney/Renney phrase, quite honestly when Brandon Dubinsky had the puck slip off his stick on a shorthanded bid late in the second, that was the Rangers’ only chance. It just wasn’t their night. As I headed back to the car in time to see Tomas Plekanec clinch it with his team two short by outworking our guys, it was emblematic of the whole contest. One in which the scoreboard didn’t lie. Montreal 3. New York 1. 34-20 in shots. If not for Lundqvist, who finished with 32 saves, it probably reads 8-1. 

They are who they are.

3rd Star-Sean Avery, NYR (11th of season-3rd in 2 games, 3 hits in 16:09)
2nd Star-Andrei Markov, Mtl (assist, 4 SOG, hit, blocked shot in 19:56)
1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (32 saves incl.18/18 in 2nd)

Today’s comes from Brandon Dubinsky, who’s really turned it up lately. He’s playing his best hockey of his young career. It’s not just about goals and assists but how hard the third-year Alaskan native is competing. Not long ago, I wondered along with many other Ranger tweeps if it would be better to trade him. But since he was shifted to wing, we’re starting to see what Dubi’s capable of. The win over Mike Richards in one of the better games the club has played Sunday was the icing on the cake, pulling the team within a point of the Bruins.

The Habs visit town tonight having been red hot- winners of five straight. They’ve played so well that they’re now tied for sixth with the Flyers at 76 points. However, Les Habitants have also played two more games. So, they’re actually seventh. Meanwhile, Philly takes on Nashville and Boston attempts to bounce back with a visit to Raleigh.

For the Blueshirts, the formula is simple. Like Adrienne said to Rocky in Rocky II, “Win!” They’ll need to be at their best against suddenly resurgent Scott Gomez, who’s teamed up well with Brian Gionta minus Mike Cammalleri. A credit to Jacques Martin. Despite being hobbled, leading scorer Tomas Plekanec is expected to be in. Andrei Markov has played better lately, notching the winner in their last game. Jaroslav Halak has been tremendous, going five-for-five since his Olympic duty with Marian Gaborik and Team Slovakia. However, he’s not had much success at MSG bringing a 1-3-0 mark along with a sub-4.00 GAA. In fact, the Rangers have won six of seven at home against their Original Six rival.

As for Dubinsky’s quote, it’s one which really applies down this critical stretch:

“We’re not going to back down.  We’re going to continue to fight, scratch and claw each and every game to find a way to get into the playoffs.”

We’ll see how they do tonight from our Sec.411 seats.

So, as the saying goes…I’m baaaack (from a week-long hiatus)! Turned out I didn’t miss much in New Jersey this weekend since the monsoon-like conditions led to power failures all over the state. No doubt the St. Patty’s parade in Morristown this year on Saturday was a dud, since the planned gettogether some of my friends always have that day didn’t happen anyway – with or without me. I was busy Wednesday and out of the state the prior few days but actually didn’t miss all that much Devils hockey.

Oh, I missed Wednesday’s beatdown of Henrik Lundqvist, at least live. Making it worse was the fact it turned out I didn’t have to be where I was that night so I could have gone to the game after all. Thank goodness the power failures didn’t start at that point so my tape actually worked, unlike this weekend where nothing I wanted to tape did so I watched it all Thursday. Ironically I could have seen the first half of the game if I’d wanted to but after the Devils’ brilliant Alberta trip I was too nervous to watch and as it turned out that was the worse half anyway.

Granted, Pierre Luc-Letourneau Leblond beat down goon extrordinare Jody Shelley during the first period, and the Devils scored three times but also gave up the lead three times, the last of which came after a giveaway by Mark Fraser that led to him being benched the rest of the game and scratched the next two games. While Fraser’s play has gotten progressively worse this season I do think part of it’s the fact that Jacques Lemaire give him – and the other kids – no rope at all. Just look how badly Nicklas Bergfors was in the doghouse before he left and how he started scoring again the minute he got out of here. It’s not as if other people haven’t been screwing up on this defense either, but I digress.

While the second and third goals were embarassingly scored by Erik Christensen and Brandon Prust (the former on a nifty deke in front one-on-one with Martin Brodeur after yet another defensive breakdown), Brodeur actually did fairly well that game for someone who allowed three goals. Then again you could say the same of Lundqvist giving up five, since most of them were deflections seemingly off his own defensemen. Almost all of what went on wasn’t his fault, including John Tortorella flashing his Mike Keenan complex and pulling Lundqvist at 5-3, with plenty of time to get back into the game. In fairness, coach unhappy probably didn’t see Dan Girardi‘s stick deflect the last puck in, which looked like it was going to be an epic fail three on one by the Devils before Brian Rolston‘s attempted pass luckily bounced in for his first goal as a Devil seemingly since 2000.

Most encouraging that night were all the different goalscorers, including a couple of d-men. Six goals and not one of them scored by Ilya Kovalchuk. Friday would be a different story though, as I attended a strange game between the Devils and Penguins. In the first period we played Atlanta Thrashers-like hockey and were fortunate to only be tied, although Sidney Crosby‘s five-hole goal on Marty less than a minute after Patrik Elias gave us an early lead was yet another example of the Devils not maintaining focus after scoring.

If anyone watched the second period, they wouldn’t believe how bizarre it got. I barely believe it, and I was there. To wit, the Devils got nine and a half minutes of power play time – two minors plus a five-minute major after a cheap shot by Craig Adams on Martin Skoula with about a half minute tacked onto that because the Penguins didn’t have a guy in the box, not to mention an attempted (if you want to call it that) penalty shot by Kovalchuk…and the game was still tied at 1-1 after two!

Not scoring on the five-minute major was the most hair-pulling of all, although it doesn’t help when you have an extended power play and shoot your load early on with the dreaded five forward formation. Using up all our forwards led to a minute and a half of watching Rod Pelley, Dean McAmmond and Rob Niedermayer in a disasterous shift with the man advantage. Not that our big scorers did any better though, but when you have three supposed scoring lines it would be nice not to have to use the fourth one on an extended power play.

Kovalchuk’s embarassing attempt on the penalty shot was almost as bad, after he got hauled down on a breakaway he just stepped to the ice, made one move and threw a weak wrister at Marc-Andre Fleury. Honestly Colin White did better against Mike Richter in that epic fail penalty shot several years ago, but then again Kovy’s not good on breakaways – he’s been 0-4 since the Olympic break one-on-one with the goalie. Things got so bad I was actively laughing in the hall during the second intermission. What else could you do at that point?

Fortunately the Devils showed their early-season resilience and scored twice in the third, including a contreversial one by Kovalchuk where Travis Zajac made contact with Fleury’s glove during the shot. I didn’t realize what all the fuss was about upstairs until I saw the highlight afterward…oh well, guess those are the breaks but really the Pens didn’t deserve any luck Friday. They’re a bit of a cheap outfit, from Matt Cooke and his cheap shots to Adams and his late hit on Skoula (worse than the Alex Ovechkin shove really) to Mike Rupp turning into a complete douche since he switched uniforms, swatting at Marty with his stick and attempting to take out another Devil the way he did Jay Pandolfo a few months back.

Still, even with the big win that got us back within two points of the division lead and gave us five straight over the Penguins I wasn’t convinced we were back. I needed to see more than one lousy two-game winning streak in two months, even if those two games were the biggest kind possible in the regular season. Playing in Long Island Saturday had slight letdown written on it but I actually thought the team would come out well and they did…for fifteen minutes, before reverting back to the chickens with their heads cut off play of the last two months. The less said about that game, the better except that defensive breakdowns again proved fatal, particularly on a shorthanded goal against after Kovalchuk scored early in the third to pull us to within 3-2.

Somewhat surprisingly, Yann Danis started that night – apparently much to the consternation of Devils Nation who wanted to see us keep our momentum going. Well if you actually watched the game and know anything about hockey, you couldn’t fault Danis for the loss Saturday. Our power play stinks, our defense is brainless but that’s Danis’s fault? Besides, is Brodeur supposed to play all seven games in the next eleven nights? Why are we the only team in the league not allowed to play a backup…I mean, the Penguins have a backup that’s won like ten games just to start with.

That game I watched on a friend’s computer and Monday I listened to the first two periods in a car ride home. While the Bruins were the more desperate team (predictably) in the first ten minutes, the Devils feasted on a struggling Tim Thomas and pounded home three goals in quick succession, chasing Thomas after the first. Other than the goal-burst and good fight wins by Pelley and Leblond, there really wasn’t much to see in the last two periods other than the Devils again going to the umbrella prevent and nearly paying for it late when the Bruins scored with just under a minute left to make it 3-2 and narrowly missed tying it at the buzzer.

So now we go into this Wednesday’s big showdown with the Penguins two points out with a game in hand, which speaks to how important our 5-0 record against them has been. If we’d gone .500 against them we’d be twelve points back. With the game on Wednesday being throwback jersey night as well, it’s another guaranteed sellout which would be the Devils’ third in four games since coming back from the break to go along with a nearly 16,000 crowd last night. At least the fans will be ready, hopefully the team will as well.

The Devils are back at home taking on current Eastern 8th seed Boston, who are nursing a one-point lead over the idle Rangers. They return to action tomorrow night with faceoff at 7:30, hosting seventh seeded Montreal. While that promises to be a big game, the Blueshirts also get the Blues Thursday and those struggling Bruins later this week.

Perhaps the B’s should just forfeit the remaining 40 minutes. They’re already down 3-zip. David Clarkson’s tallied twice and Zach Parise just finished off a Mike Mottau point shot off a faceoff. Not surprisingly, all three have come at even strength as the Devil power play continues to operate as well as PSE & G. How good was the opening 20 for the Newark hosts? Martin Brodeur got the lone assist on Clarkson’s eighth. Apparently, the other goal is now credited to Rob Niedermayer, who must’ve gotten a piece of David’s shot. Martin Skoula picked up his first point on the opening tally. Clarkson and Parise struck 45 seconds apart late in the stanza which they controlled despite a 12-11 shot margin.

A great response by Jacques Lemaire’s club following a stinker on the Island. If they win, it would be the fourth straight win on home ice and move them within two of first Pittsburgh with the final game of the season series Wednesday. Also of note, Parise’s goal was his club-leading 32nd. Improving fourth center Rod Pelley also fought Mark Stuart, defending captain Jamie Langenbrunner who earlier went after Dennis Seidenberg for a questionable hit on Zach Attack.Noteworthy because these Devils stick up for each other. Something that bodes well moving forward.

As for Claude Julien’s club, they came in losers of 3 of 4 (1-2-1). They’ve been unpredictable all season. Minus Marc Savard, goals are going to be tough to come by. In other words, a brutal period that they can’t afford now. Will they be able to bounce back?

Yesterday’s big 3-1 home win over the Flyers was one of the best games this version of the Rangers has played. Their shortcomings have been well documented. For once at least, the guys wearing the Blueshirt logo wore the jersey with pride, outplaying a bitter rival by a country mile. While much of the focus centered around the kinda game Sean Avery had following a seat in the press box, John Tortorella’s club stood up to the Broad Street Bullies highlighted by Brandon Dubinsky KO-ing Philly captain Mike Richards. That in itself was something to behold as Richards certainly is honorable. Thanks to the tutelage from former enforcer Colton Orr, Dubi has come a long way.

Even if we didn’t go having sold the game a while back, it was nice to see our guys winning every battle while limiting the Flyers to just 18 shots. Yes, they actually made Henrik Lundqvist’s day easier with him only required to come up with a couple of large stops including a stone job on Jersey kid James Van Riemsdyk after a minor miracle took place.

Michal Rozsival scored a power play goal. No. Jaromir Jagr didn’t return from Russia. Not long ago, it wasn’t uncommon to see Rozy contribute offensively using his big one-timer. For as miserable as he was the first three months, the elder statesman has steadied since. He’s been more involved in all facets with the familiar nice outlets springing teammates and even more engaged defensively. Granted. He’s still prone to mistakes like Atlanta’s second goal the other night. However, if you’re not judging with bias, the Czech’s played with more purpose. On one shift Sunday, he shoved Flyer clown Scott Hartnell down repeatedly. Something that’s been happening more frequently. It was nice to see him get rewarded offensively, ripping an Erik Christensen feed off the bar and in. So, without even more discussion since I never got around to a recap, here’s the rare sight that saw Rozy congratulated by teammates:

While you let that sink in, a couple of strong quotes from the soft spoken ’05-06 mainstay:

“It’s a great feeling to contribute offensively. It’s not something I’ve done so much this year, but I felt that I was open and I got a great pass from Christensen and I just shot it. The main thing is that there was a great screen in front of the net.”

Say what you will about his contract which is our GM’s fault but the guy logs important minutes on our blueline without fanfare while being a good teammate. Maybe I’m more forgiving than most but I seem to recall the Rangers taking a waiver on the former Pen post-lockout and he evolved into one of our more valuable players. When push comes to shove, he and former whipping boy Marek Malik weren’t that bad. I’d much rather have Big Bird than main culprit Wade Redden. None of this justifies Rozsival’s salary ($5 M) which the club is still on the books another two years. The main issue aside from cost is that he’s asked to be a top 2-3. If our D was stronger, Rozy as a 4-5 would be much better, speaking to the real problem. Marc Staal is by far the team’s best with Dan Girardi and Rozsival taking turns as the second. For a change, all three had strong games with DG chipping in a helper and a few blocked shots. Until rookie Mike Del Zotto matures, it’s a work in progress. Whether Girardi’s a part of it all depends on what the club chooses to do with upcoming RFA.

One can’t illustrate how much Tortorella leans on the top four due to Redden and Matt Gilroy’s struggles. Never has a bottom pair more negatively impacted a team’s defense. Both are soft. We can no longer give Hobey a free pass. He’s a few years older than Del Zotto. If he doesn’t show improvement next year, then the $1.659 M they’re paying him is a colossal failure that’s kept Corey Potter and Bobby Sanguinetti buried in Hartford. Both are cheaper and deserve a chance. Especially Potter, who’s done nothing wrong whenever recalled the past year-plus. Furthermore, what was the point of signing Ilkka Heikkinen if he’s not going to play? Simply amazing.

I didn’t plan to turn this into a rant about our entire D but it just manifested itself. Kudos to Rozy for sticking with it!