Battle Of Hudson

It was another disappointing night for the Rangers while the Devils gave themselves a nice holiday gift in Western Canada.

Tom Renney’s club continued to baffle dropping a 3-1 decision to Eastern Conference leader Ottawa at the Garden. Not even the return of Sean Avery could spark this dead team. They really look like they need a change. Maybe the Christmas break will revive them.

As for the game itself, they didn’t perform badly like in recent losses at Minnesota and Colorado. However, the finish just wasn’t there and against a very opportunistic team like the Sens who can take advantage of your every mistake, the lack of scoring cost the Blueshirts.

Just like the last two games, it didn’t start out badly as Scott Gomez tallied his ninth 3:42 in by putting home his own rebound in front off a nice Jaromir Jagr pass from down low. Martin Straka also notched the secondary assist.

But despite playing a strong opening 20 minutes in which they outshot the Sens 12-5, the Rangers were only tied due to Jason Spezza’s 12th at 16:16 from Daniel Alfredsson and Luke Richardson. Off a faceoff win just outside the Ranger zone, Spezza got the puck and took a wrist shot which changed direction off rookie defender Marc Staal fooling Henrik Lundqvist.

It was a sign of things to come.

Ottawa’s second goal once again victimized Staal. The 20 year-old from Sudbury Ontario lost his stick and then slid down in front of the net but Shean Donovan smartly maneuvered around him for a backhand which rebounded out to Chris Kelly who put it home to put the Sens ahead.

They carried the play getting 14 of the 24 shots in the period. However, the more rested Blueshirts came out stronger in the final stanza.

The problem once again was the lack of finish. Despite two power plays and a 13-6 SOG edge, they weren’t able to tie the contest.

Mike Fisher finally put it out of reach when he intercepted a Chris Drury pass up the boards and fired a shot which once again Staal inadvertently deflected in past his own netminder.

You really can’t make this stuff up. It was that type of game for the former 2005 first round pick. Coming out of the corner, he accidentally had the puck ricochet off his equipment for the Sens’ third goal.

When things aren’t going your way, this stuff tends to happen. I wouldn’t say the effort was bad. Even Jagr showed up and played extremely hard. Just to show what type of night it was, No.68 rang one off the right post.

It just wasn’t clicking. Not even with key ingredient Avery back in and mixing it up to the tune of nearly 19:00 of ice-time, two shots and a minor penalty for roughing to end the first with Ottawa enforcer Chris Neil. He looked pretty good for his first game back. The skating was there and he was in on the forecheck and even setup a couple of great opportunities but the Rangers couldn’t hit the net.

Heck. Marek Malik who was back on the blueline as reported by blogger Lenny looked pretty good paired with Jason Strudwick. Go figure. The lanky Czech who’s blamed for everything wrong played 16:03 and worked efficiently with his new partner while Paul Mara sat out as a healthy scratch. Confidence had been an issue recently but last night, he made smart reads and quicker decisions with the puck even skating well enough to jump into the play and generate some chances.

Negatives? Nigel Dawes receiving only 5:09 by the coaching staff is inexcusable. They say they want to give the kid a shot. What the heck is he supposed to do in that amount of time?!?!?!?!?! This is where I disagree vehemently with NY Hockey Report host Joe McDonald. The Rangers have an inability to score goals and are basically 30 fewer at this juncture compared to last year. But they can’t give Dawes who has two less goals than Jagr in fewer games more time?

Sometimes, this organization is assinine. Ryan Callahan works hard out there but he’s without a point in 18 straight. Petr Prucha has two freaking goals and finally was benched. The fourth line is the hardest working unit out there and are getting more and more chances to contribute. But when are they going to put one in?

I like how hard they work but sooner or later, the Rangers need more offense from the third and fourth lines. Dawes was supposed to play on the third line. Instead, he may as well have been Jamie Lundmark or any old Ranger prospect who was ruined. I like Renney but he needs to wake the heck up already.

Also, sending out the same PP units which never score is a joke. You want to send a message? How about having some balls like Brent Sutter and putting out a grinder? Could a Ryan Hollweg who btw played a whale of a game last night really do worse at this point?

It’s about time Renney stopped worrying about rubbing his star players the wrong way. Somebody needs to provide a spark.

And yes. I’m talking about Jagr and Mr. Invisible Drury who is minus-nine in this bad stretch and looks more and more lost as the season goes on.

You want to know what’s wrong with this team? Look no further than the lack of production from Jagr, Drury, Prucha, Callahan and Marcel Hossa.

There’s just no consistency and that’s a real problem for a team that was expected to not only take the division but challenge the Sens for the conference.

They’re now in a tie for second with the Pens who won again yesterday. You have the Isles and Flyers just two points behind and the Devils who aren’t even lighting it up are suddenly five up in the division.

I don’t really have much to say about their latest win- a 1-0 shutout over the Flames in which they somehow managed to get to OT despite being outplayed badly for large stretches (outshot 23-10 in 2nd and 3rd).

Patrik Elias converted a Brian Gionta pass off a two-on-one 25 seconds in for the only goal.

Why can they win without even top scorer Zach Parise or defenseman Karel Rachunek? Because they are scared of their coach and know he won’t pull any punches if they dog it? He’ll also make examples and bench players.

When journeymen Sheldon Brookbank and Mike Mottau are playing respectable hockey on their blueline, it speaks to the kind of job the first-year NHL coach is doing.

This team is winning with smoke and mirrors. They don’t score much like the Rangers but somehow they squeeze every ounce they have and hang in games they have no business winning.

It has everything to do with the coach. When Travis Zajac is still stuck on five goals and Dainius Zubrus is basically a support player who Lou Lamoriello invested a ridiculous amount of years in, you have to look at the guy who’s in charge.

He’s getting results the same way his other brothers have. With tough love.

Maybe that’s what the Rangers need. But hey. Everything’s all rosy on Broadway.

What accountability?

Congrats to Martin Brodeur on career shutout No.95, moving ahead of George Hainesworth into second place all-time trailing just Terry Sawchuk (103).

He certainly earned it in making 30 saves for his third blanking this season.

I’m really happy for the Christmas break. Can’t you tell? 😉

In any event, we want to wish everyone out there a very Happy and safe holidays!

The Rangers will be provided with a much needed spark tonight as Sean Avery makes his return to Broadway. His presence will undoubtedly provide the Rangers with elements that they have been lacking over the last four weeks during Avery’s absence.

The only problem with Avery’s return is that is creates a logjam, and there will definately be a healthy scratch. As of this writing (3:45 pm) Tom Renney was leaning towards scratching Petr Prucha. With Prucha scratched, Nigel Dawes would drop down to the third line with Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan and Avery would take Dawes’ spot on the second line. The first and fourth lines will remain intact.

Another healthy scratch for tonight will be Paul Mara. Marek Malik will make his return to the lineup alongside Jason Strudwick, leaving the Michal Rozsival – Marc Staal combination in place. There are plenty of defensive holes in that pairing, which makes me wonder why Renney picked tonight’s game to try it out. I understand Malik makes over 3 million a year, but if the defense is better with him on the bench, why change things up?

Should be interesting to see if Avery makes a difference, Prucha rebounds from his scratch to finally break out offensively and if the defense holds up with Malik back. Wonder how hard the Garden crowd will start to boo should he make a mistake tonight.

All in all, it was a pretty successful night for the three metro area teams last night on the road.
First, the struggling Islanders got some much needed offense from a couple of unlikely sources in Andy Hilbert (tying marker) and rookie Blake Comeau’s first NHL career goal in a come from behind 4-2 win over the Penguins at Mellon Arena. Trent Hunter added his sixth for insurance.

It was their 16th win of the season and points 33 and 34, which pulled them within one of the Flyers who fell in Buffalo 3-2 due to a late Jochen Hecht tally. It was the Sabres’ season best fifth consecutive win which put them into seventh in the East with 37 points.

Meanwhile, the Fishsticks will try to carry momentum into tonight’s home game against the Caps.

The first place Devils continued their Western Canadian road trip by scoring three times in the final stanza to earn a 3-1 come from behind victory over the Oilers at Rexall Place.

They had trailed after 40 minutes 1-0 on a first period tally from Oiler defenseman Joni Pitkanen but New Jersey got goals 35 seconds apart from Patrik Elias and Brian Gionta (PPG) to take the lead for good. John Madden added an empty netter with 29 ticks remaining to seal the deal for points 40 and 41, gaining a point on the second place Rangers who fell in OT to Colorado 4-3.

Speaking of them, it was another listless defensive effort which doomed Tom Renney’s club. If not for some splendid netminding from Henrik Lundqvist in the opening stanza where he stood on his head denying all 16 Avs’ shots, it would’ve been a long night with no points possible.

However, King Henrik gave his team a chance to steal a victory. The lone tally in the opening period came off the stick of veteran finisher Brendan Shanahan, who was setup perfectly in front by leading scorer Scott Gomez for a power play goal. They were lucky to escape up a goal but continued to struggle defensively and finally paid the price when Milan Hejduk struck twice within a 4:16 span to give the Avs a lead.

But the Blueshirts responded quickly on the next two shifts to go back in front thanks to blueliners Michal Rozsival (9th) and rookie Marc Staal.

It would be all Colorado in the third as Marek Svatos forced OT with his 11th in a stanza which the Avs outshot the Rangers 9-5.

Lundqvist wasn’t able to bail his team out in the extra session as Wojtek Wolski tallied the winner just 76 seconds in. They’ll take the point (38) and return home tomorrow to host conference leader Ottawa before the two-day Christmas break.

We’ll see if they can rise to the challenge in the final meeting against the Sens who will be out for revenge stemming from a Ranger 5-2 win on Dec.1.

Note: With a couple of helpers, Gomez extended his point streak to eight straight. During that span, the Anchorage Alaskan native who will turn 28 tomorrow has posted three goals and eight assists. If you got back even further, Gomer has points in 21 of his last 24 contests since Nov.1.

Tis The Season For Gomer

GP G A Pts +/-
Oct. 11 2 1 3 -2
Nov.-Dec. 24 6 21 27 +6


One other key stat we’ll throw at you about the Rangers this season.

Avery The Key Ingredient
GP W L OT/SO L Pts GF GA Diff.
*NYR record w/ Avery 14 9 4 1 19 34 29 +5
NYR record no Avery 21 8 10 3 19 48 56 -8

*3-0 in shootouts when Avery dressed

Sean Avery: 14 games, 2 goals, 7 assists, 9 points, 30 PIM, +1 rating, PPG, GW


Who said the agitator doesn’t make a big difference?

In just under an hour from now, the Rangers will look to rebound from last night’s debacle against the Colorado Avalanche. The game can be seen on MSG2 for anyone in the New York area.

I’ve been holding off on putting out a pregame to try and get a lineup, but I haven’t found anything yet. I would assume that Nigel Dawes saved his roster spot for the time being with his timely goal last night, and that Henrik Lundqvist will be back between the pipes, even though there was a thought of giving Stephen Valiquette the start.

One thing is for certain, the Rangers will not be facing Ryan Smyth or Joe Sakic, as both are out of tonight’s game due to injury. The Avs will dress five rookies for the first time this season. I don’t know who will be in net tonight, but I would think Peter Budaj.

Marcel Hossa is healthy again, and Marek Malik has been itching to get back into the lineup, goiing as far as having his agent talk to Tom Renney to find out his place on the team. Supposedly he was given a vote of confidence that he’ll get back in the lineup, so we’ll see what happens. There were also some rumors that the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Atlanta Thrashers could entertain taking him and his contract on, which would be a good move for both sides at this point. Jason Strudwick has played well with Paul Mara, and having Struds on the bench is like having another coach. It’s good to see.

Here’s to hoping the Rangers can dent the 13-3 home record of the Avalanche and hold each player under five goals (had to throw it in there.)

Yup, you’re reading that right. Marion Gaborik scored more goals than the Rangers’ three tonight, recording a franchise high five goals for the Minnesota Wild. Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored another for the Wild, assisted by Gaborik, to make it a 6-3 loss for the Blueshirts.

Michal Rozsival, Martin Straka and Nigel Dawes scored for the Rangers, who came out strong again to begin the game and jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on Rozsival’s slapshot from the left point. The turning point in the game was when Petr Prucha was crushed by a hard elbow by Minnesota’s Brent Burns along the boards. No penalty was called on Burns, but Tom Renney took an “Abusing the Officials” penalty. It was the first I have ever seen that written in a boxscore. From there, the air was let out of the Rangers’ sails. Chris Drury took an unsportsmanlike penalty later in the period as well for saying something to an official after being cross checked to the ice. All in all, it was a tough game for the Rangers.

Henrik Lundqvist looked good most of the night, but stopped only 12 shots. He made some great saves, but Minnesota scored some pretty goals. Jaromir Jagr was useless on the ice tonight. He was to blame for two of Minnesota’s goals due to his lack of hustle, backchecking, afraid to get hit, stick checking and overall lazy play. There wasn’t much physicality, and Roszival lost his cool at the end, throwing an elbow at Gaborik, earning himself a 10 minute misconduct.

All in all, this was Marion Gaborik’s night. He looked like he was going to score every time he hit the ice. The Rangers played well, but not well enough to win. Having the few bad calls bother them did them no good either, and got killed when they were a man down.

There’s no use harping on a disheartening loss because we’re back in action against a tough Colorado team tomorrow night. The game’s on MSG2 for those of you in the New York area, and will be starting at 9 pm EST. Hopefully we come out fired up after a tough night tonight.

Back tomorrow with a pregame and any lineup changes.

“It’s Marian Gaborik night in St. Paul.”-Sam Rosen, MSG Network after the Wild sniper converted a breakaway for his fifth goal of the night in the Wild’s 6-3 victory over the Rangers Thursday night. Oh btw, he also assisted on the other Minny goal for six points. Amazing.

A simple but effective playcall from one of the best hockey broadcasters out there. It wasn’t a good night for the Rangers who fell apart after taking an early one-goal lead courtesy of a Michal Rozsival power play tally.

Was it ironic that team captain Jaromir Jagr was outmuscled along the boards leading to a turnover and Gaborik’s tying goal less than three minutes later which helped swing the tide? You decide.

The Blueshirts had played a textbook road period and should’ve been ahead. But instead, Jagr’s one glaring mistake along the boards allowed Minnesota to get out of it tied.

From there, it became the Gaborik show as the 25 year-old Slovak scored two PPG 1:49 apart to open up the second making it three straight goals for a hat trick. The trick was nice as he got the puck by the left circle and maneuvered past Ranger defenders before going to the backhand flipping it past a beaten Henrik Lundqvist.

Less than a minute later, Martin Straka tallied his sixth from Jagr and Scott Gomez to slice the deficit to one. But an unsportsmanlike conduct bench minor (one of three which led to Wild goals) gave their opponents momentum back when he setup Pierre-Marc Bouchard’s PP slapper at 10:56 to give them a 4-2 lead entering the final stanza.

Just when it seemed the Rangers might be able to withstand Gaborik’s performance when rookie Nigel Dawes tallied his fifth off a turnover to cut it to one, Marian the Magnificent was at it again 41 seconds later for his fourth. This time, he was in the right place at the right time as an Aaron Voros shot deflected to him for an easy rebound which he deposited for his 16th.

A five-goal performance hadn’t been done in 11 years since Sergei Fedorov’s five-goal night for Detroit in an overtime win over the Capitals on Dec. 26, 1996.

It was during a four-on-four where the dangerous sniper converted a breakaway to accomplish the impressive feat as a capacity Excel Energy Center crowd saluted him.

“It was pretty amazing,” Wild captain Mark Parrish pointed out. “He was banking ’em in out of the air, scoring on breakaways, skating through everybody with it, making highlight-film goals. My God, he was doing it every which-way tonight.

“When a guy like that’s feeling it, it gets pretty scary for the other team.”

“I pride myself on how I respect the whole operation of the National Hockey League and the officiating therein,” a disappointed Tom Renney said after being upset with a couple of calls which went against his club which proved costly. “I’m that way because I’m sincere about it. In the heat of the moment players will lose the handle too. I’m disappointed with the way things transpired. But it’s no excuse.”

They better come ready to play in Colorado tonight.

I’m a little late with a wrapup, my apologies for that. I did want to chip in a little bit of what I saw last night during the Rangers vs Penguins game though.

The Rangers played the kind of game that they have the talent to play every night. Scott Gomez was flying, Jaromir Jagr looked unstoppable off the boards, the defense was shut down as well as physical, Ryan Hollweg made the boards rattle (and received plenty of ice time and penalty minutes for it, even though I feel the 10 minute penalty at the end was uncalled for, for either player) and for the first time in a while it looked like all four lines had some kind of chemistry.

With the Rangers going out to Minnesota and Colorado Thursday and Friday, they need to keep up that pace. Shooting whenever possible, taking the body and being defensively responsible are going to go a long way in determining if the Rangers can come away with four points. Look for Henrik Lundqvist to play both games, as long as he is healthy, and for the rest of the lineup remaining the same.

In other news, the suspension to Chris Simon is undoubtedly one of the hotter topics to discuss the last few days. 30 games is a long time to sit, but Simon has managed to draw that on himself. There was no place in the game for what he did, and he deserved every game. I also feel that this should be a last straw incident, and for the remainder of Simon’s career, he should be on probation. Anything else of this nature that has him looking to hurt someone should result in immediate banning from the NHL, no questions asked. There’s no reason to do the things he did. We don’t need to draw even more critics on a sport that is generally known for being violent when it is played within the rules.

Rangers and Minnesota, Thursday night at 8 pm.

Man. The Islanders really don’t have much luck these days when it comes to putting the puck in the net. Which reminds me. Why do all our metro area teams go through these struggles at various points which are just plain offensive? Don’t answer that. 😉

Is it actually possible to lose a game when you outshoot the opponent by a wide 26 shot margin as Ted Nolan’s club did before a frustrated Coliseum announced crowd of less than 11,000? Can you blame fans here? It’s got to be very exasperating, especially for my outstanding co-host at the NY Hockey Report Gary Harding who sits in Section 317 for every game and is a dedicated Booster Club member who is as passionate an Islander fan as there is.

He bleeds orange and dark blue. Something tells me he won’t be too pleased on our show tomorrow night despite a special guest. And I’d put good money that host Joe McDonald shows and ruffles feathers.

As a diehard Ranger fan who goes to about 25 home games, there’s certainly no love lost for the Fishsticks. However, I have a lot of respect for Gary and the feeling is definitely mutual. We support our teams and sometimes to a fault live and die with them. Considering how the Rangers were going before their solid 4-0 shutout of Pittsburgh last night, I can certainly understand how Mr. Harding feels.

Being a fan can sometimes be tough, especially when your team isn’t winning much or playing up to expectations.

But getting just one goal from out of all sources scrappy veteran defenseman Brendan Witt early in the third to tie Buffalo only to have their hearts ripped out when Maxim Afinogenov one-timed a power play goal from the right wing past a sprawled out Rick DiPietro with 2:17 to go had to feel like eternal hell. And I don’t mean the Kool Aid Lou Lamoriello continues to use to magical proportions with the Devils.

Here were the SOG totals in each period:

1 2 3 Total
Sabres 5 7 5 17
Isles 14 13 16 43

Islander D Freddy Meyer’s high sticking minor led to Afinogenov’s deciding marker. I hope and pray it was a legit call and that the officials didn’t throw them a brownie by sending Thomas Vanek off for hooking with only 34 ticks to go.

“We did everything but score,” frustrated Islanders captain Bill Guerin pointed out to the AP afterwards. “We have the hard work part down, but it’s still a loss.”

Word. I mean it’s just another lost opportunity and two points out the window which Guerin’s club could really use as they remain at 32 points sitting in last place and 12th in the conference behind Philly, Toronto, Pittsburgh and Florida who were all idle.

“We played the game we wanted to play. We played smart,” DiPietro said. “Buffalo’s bread and butter is their power play. You don’t want to get to the box too many times. Unfortunately it ended up costing us at the end.“

Ultimately, the difference was Buffalo netminder Ryan Miller who finished with 42 saves in stealing a road victory for the Sabres’ fourth consecutive win which puts them up to 35 points suddenly sitting in seventh.

“You get a few shots, and you start to feel more comfortable out there,”
Miller noted. “The goal that got by, I was putting up my glove in a defensive
position, and I didn’t see the puck until it was too late.”

Remember when they looked dead? Apparently, my best friend Brian and myself wrote them off too soon.

What a weird conference. Totally unpredictable.

Note: The Islanders’ 72 goals rank dead last.

Somebody get them some help cause they need it if they’re to turn their season around.

A week ago, the Islanders fell to the Sabres up in Buffalo 5-3. Tonight, Ted Nolan’s club looks for a little redemption when they play host to Lindy Ruff’s club at the Coliseum.

They’ll be without the services of enforcer Chris Simon for a while due to his latest stupidity. The same player who used his stick like a baseball bat and connected with Ranger forward Ryan Hollweg during a game last season drawing a 25-game suspension including playoffs and the first 10 games of this season lost his cool in the Isles’ recent loss to Pittsburgh when during a stoppage, he stepped on Jarkko Ruutu with his skate drawing a match penalty for attempt to injure.

A day after asking the team for a leave of absence for counseling, the 35 year-old Ontario native was banned a league record 30 games. So he’ll certainly have plenty of time to think about what he did obviously in this latest incident, apparently not learning the lesson over the summer.

“Several factors were considered in imposing the longest suspension in NHL history for an on-ice incident,” league disciplinarian Colin Campbell acknowledge to the AP. “While it was fortunate there was no serious injury to Mr. Ruutu as a result of Simon’s action, the deliberate act of kicking an opponent with an exposed skate blade, especially where the opponent is in a vulnerable position, is and always has been a repugnant and totally unacceptable act in the game of hockey.”

“While the act itself was extremely dangerous, the fact that this is the
eighth incident requiring the imposition of supplementary discipline on Simon compelled me to impose a very severe penalty in this case,” Campbell admitted.
“This response serves not only the purpose of imposing appropriate punishment for the player involved, but also the purpose of deterring the player and all other players from engaging in similar conduct in the future — hopefully creating a safer long-term work environment for all NHL players.“

Simon will forfeit $292,683 of his salary due to the record suspension.

“It’s excessive,” said his coach earlier today after the Islanders morning skate before tonight’s game. “What I think has no bearing on the facts. The league suspended him … now we have to support Chris while he goes through this process and give him all the compassion and all the support we can give him as an organization.”

That’s all well and good but considering Simon’s recent history, this was the appropriate response by the league.

Will it deter anyone from future incidents? Given the rough nature of our sport, probably not.

For now, the Fishsticks will have to get back on the winning track for the next couple of months without Simon starting tonight.

So far, it’s been a tale of two very different nights for the locals in action tonight.

For Brent Sutter’s first place Devils, it’s been about as ugly as it was for Tom Renney’s Rangers the other night in an brutal home defeat to the Coyotes.

It’s been all Canucks out in what was billed as a classic goaltender battle between Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo.

The opening stanza wasn’t bad aside from a surprise slapper from savvy veteran D Aaron Miller which deflected off Sergei Brylin past Brodeur for his first of the season off a faceoff win courtesy of Henrik Sedin.

There was also an entertaining scrap between Arron Asham and Mike Brown in which the former Islander came away with a bloody ear leaving the ice momentarily before returning like tough hockey players do.

However, as I got out of the shower, the Devils forgot to show for the middle stanza where they were outscored by three despite a 15-10 edge in shots. They were ahead 26-16 in that category thru 40 minutes of play but sometimes such stats can be very misleading.

Such was the case here as Ryan Kesler notched his ninth 69 seconds in off a turnover. It didn’t take long for British Columbia favorite Trevor Linden to get into the act as 1:34 later his rocket of a slapper from inside the right blueline beat Brodeur high to the glove side for a three-goal Vancity lead.

Vancouver captain Markus Naslund broke a nine-game goal drought thanks to a tic-tac-toe goal execute by the Swedish veteran Canucks mainstay along with the magical Sedins who we still maintain are two of the most fun playmaking forwards to catch. So if you get a chance, don’t pass it up unless you’re with a hot chick. That takes priority. Duh.

Naslund was just setup again by the dynamic duo for his second of the night giving him #’s 12 and 13 in 2007-08.

So far, Luongo has stopped all 30 Devil shots. But the question in this space was how many did he really have to stand on his head for? Not enough.

It’s Vancouver that’s had the better of the play and generated better opportunities cashing them in despite 11 less shots with nearly 10 minutes remaining.

It isn’t often the Devs are this outclassed. They were coming off a very nice 4-2 win over their Turnpike rivals the Flyers Sunday night at The Rock improving to 3-1 against a quality divisional foe.

But you have to figure the travel across the continent and not much time off contributed. Great scheduling there!

Now let’s get to the better part of the night as the Rangers got back to the proactive approach Renney prefers. Solid in every zone paying attention to detail, they totally shutdown Sidney Crosby and the Pens in a 4-0 blanking- permitting only 18 shots as Henrik Lundqvist returned in goal to record probably the easiest shutout you’ll ever see. He faced just five total shots in the first two stanzas.

So what went so right as opposed to Sunday’s 5-1 beatdown at the hands of the Coyotes. Well, for starters, they competed. You noticed a real big difference in the defensive end. Lately, they had been allowing an un-Blueshirt like four-or-more to opponents and getting severely outworked along the boards.

Everytime a Pen had a step though Tuesday night, a Ranger was there to backcheck or break up a shot or play and move the puck the other way. This hadn’t been the case for a while and explains why they bottomed out Sunday.

The newly formed lines by Renney clicked. Almost immediately, it paid dividends as an aggressive Scott Gomez was the beneficiary of a Martin Straka rebound getting to it for the game’s first goal just 72 seconds in.

The crafty pivot was flying all night with Straka and a more aggressive Jaromir Jagr (assist, plus-two).

They outshot the Pens 10-3 in the first giving up zilch but led by only one due to an anemic power play which came to life later on. But first, Gomez was once again stationed in front when rookie blueliner Marc Staal’s left point wrister was deflected home by Straka for his fifth giving them an all important two-goal lead halfway through.

Like the first goal, it was off hard work with guys more determined getting to the net. When’s the last time you could say that realistically about this team?

Gomez had been reluctant to shoot all night despite a team best seven SOG. He had been backing up the Pens D and overpassing in the first period. Finally, he wisely threw the puck towards the net from the left hash trying for Brendan Shanahan and caught a break as it caromed past Dany Sabourin for Gomer’s second of the night at 13:21. An actual power play goal! Imagine that.

They had outshot the Pens by seven in the first. Well, the second was even better as they held an 11-2 edge with one gigantic stop by Lundqvist off a Pens’ two-on-one in which Crosby was too close to one-time it in but the puck went off his skate as King Henrik dove on top of it.

You just knew after the first 40, even with the Pens’ fire power, this one was over. That’s how well the Rangers played. Sure. The Pens predictably got more shots (13) than they had in the first couple of periods. But for all intensive purposes, Lundqvist wasn’t forced to stand on his head much the way Luongo wasn’t in getting his fifth shutout in a 5-0 win over New Jersey which just concluded.

When Chris Drury snuck a backhand past Sabourin off a broken play for a PPG with 7:40 left, it put a cap to a very successful night for New York as they pulled within two of first place Jersey and most importantly, rediscovered their game.

Now we’ll see if they can carry it forward as they head out to the midwest for a brief two-game trip starting Thursday in Minnesota and ending Friday at Colorado before returning Sunday night to host conference leader Ottawa.

None of these opponents will be easy. But maybe that’s what the Rangers need as they seem to pick up their play against stiffer competition.

Other pluses:

–Michal Rozsival notched a career high three helpers.
–Ryan Hollweg was reinserted into the lineup on the fourth line and played a spunky game with several hits and agitated the Pens. Overall, that line was effective drawing a couple of penalties.
–Nigel Dawes looked good with Drury and Shanahan on the second line hitting Evgeni Malkin while drawing the ire of Sid the Kid.
-The PK killed off all five Pittsburgh power plays without breaking a sweat.
-Staal was re-teamed with Rozy while Jason Strudwick and Paul Mara reunited and played solid as did Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi.
–Marek Malik was a healthy scratch. It’s time to get rid of Big Bird. He’s got to have some value as despite what critics say, he does log 19-20 minutes and can play PK. There has to be a taker with him in his last year. D are always are in need.

Negatives:

–Ryan Callahan only saw 5:09 of ice-time despite being very active in his shifts on a third line with Brandon Dubinsky and Petr Prucha. Why??? Don’t tell me Marcel Hossa takes Cally’s spot.
-Prucha again only had one SOG. Good god. Is it that hard to get shots? He played over 12 minutes. I get that he works hard but two goals and 44 shots in 33 games doesn’t cut it. Especially for a guy who tallied 52 (30 in ’05-06) in his first two NHL seasons. I’m losing patience here.

Congrats to former New Jersey and current Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire on career win No.1,000. His team did it by rallying from two down after two periods to comeback and defeat the Predators 3-2 in regulation with team captain Brian Rolston tallying the winner with 68 ticks left to complete the comeback.

Congratulations to one of the best coaches this game has!