Oh Baby, No Baby: Rangers one away, Mets swept

Can you believe the Rangers have a three games to one lead over the Capitals? You can thank Henrik Lundqvist for that one. After an intense first period that was well played, the ice tilted towards Henrik. Thanks for some iron behind him and fantastic play, he saved the day.

Just like last Wednesday, I had to resort to getting to the Garden just to catch as much of the final period as I possibly could. The last report of 2-0, 2nd intermission on the phone, became 2-1 with 13 minutes to play as I arrived at the top steps above Penn Station onto the Cheering for Children tiles, with the televisions in view. Several other Ranger fans were there as well.

You would think anyone in charge would notice that a bunch of people were intently watching the third period and maybe have done something like, I don't know, turn on the sound of the game. Things get confusing when you're watching the game on TV, then you hear Markus Naslund's voice, "Hi, this is Markus Naslund, welcome to Madison Square Garden, the World's Most Famous Arena", followed by Sam Rosen calling a Naslund goal, which has nothing to do with the action on the screen. Then you got the goal song blaring while you're busy sweating yet another Washington power play with a few minutes to go in the game.

Sean Avery, what can you say? Inexcusable. What he did was wrong, indeed. With all his miscues, what was he doing on the ice in the last few minutes anyway?

People who left early to catch trains (and there were quite a few leaving the lobby area, who were at the game) should give their tickets to someone else before the game. I don't know how you leave that game.



When one season ends, whether it's hockey or baseball, you look forward to devoting your full attention to the other sport. However, if the Rangers and Mets keep this up, we'll be looking forward to training camp in September when this current Ranger season ends.

What is going on with John Maine?



Albert Pujols is a monster. Livan Hernandez is what he is. Unfortunately Sean Green threw gas on the fire this afternoon. The Mets have now lost four straight and are reeling.

Luis Castillo is actually one of our hottest hitters, and he gets another day off, the second in a week? He's getting the day game after night game catcher treatment.

We can only hope the Mets will be relevant once hockey season ends. That's all we ask for with every somber end to a Ranger season. Maybe it will be June when that happens and the ending to not be somber. Henrik will have to have many more nights like last night.

ECQ GM3: Capitals 4, Rangers 0

Talk about being outplayed right from the beginning. The Rangers did not even get a sniff. Well, ok, they got a post that should have tied the game, but a mere few seconds later the Caps turned that into a 2-0 lead. The crowd is out of it and that's your game.

Of course the refs are going to have it in for Sean Avery. He does not help matters by diving all over the place. Are there legit penalties not called against Avery? Yes. But explain to me how this guy is such a good skater, but you constantly see his butt all over the ice. Again, some of it are from legit crosschecks. Most of the time, however, especially in front of the net, watch for that really thin string that goes around the blue paint in front of that opposing goalie. Avery trips on that all the time.

I know the Caps love to stick it to the fans in any way they can, but for Ovechkin and Backstrom to come out for the mock salute at center ice post game, well, that was amateur hour right there.

Nice job by MSG with the thundersticks. Include a small light bulb inside them, perfect for the fans to throw on the ice if the game was ugly, which it was. Classless act by the fans to do that, but it was a dumb decision by the promotions department from the beginning.

Apparently MSG security is giving crap to fans for throwing balloons during the national anthem, a practice that has been done before every playoff game since the lockout. Who the hell is running this Mickey Mouse organization? Oh yeah, Jim Dolan. Ranger fans should celebrate the day this team gets sold. Unfortunately it does not look like it's happening anytime soon.

Thundersticks?

Apparently everyone attending game 3 at the Garden Monday night will receive a pair of Thundersticks.

The Garden has hit a new low. What, are thundersticks cheaper to buy in bulk than towels? One of the coolest sights/experiences of MSG playoff hockey the last few years was everyone waving their towels as the Rangers hit the ice before the game. Now they are taking it away. Let's hope this is a one game thing. If you may recall, in 2006 for game 3 vs the Devils, blue towels were handed out. The effect was horrible; they went to the whites for game 4 and have not changed since. Until tomorrow night.