An Igloo Win

Game Summary

That headline is something I thought I'd never type again. Last night was the last regular season game at the recent house of horrors for the Rangers. Goodbye and good riddance. See you in the playoffs? Probably not.

Last night I saw Rangers 3, Penguins 0. It's what happens when you have a 1-month old who is in the same room as the television showing the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics. Daddy was bumped to the other room to watch Rangers hockey, but was still on diaper duty. Pretty frustrating to come back to the room and see 0-0 turn into 1-0 Pittsburgh, then later on 2-1 Rangers becoming 2-2.

Good to see Ryan Callahan come back after looking like he injured his arm in the first period. Would've felt bad for him if the injury was serious enough to cause him to miss the Olympics. Came back he did, and he played great.

I'd love to see someone knock Matt Cooke the hell out. Perfectly clean hit by Drury there and he cries like a baby, then is still throwing fists while the guy is down. It's too bad that took place late in the second and the game was close, eliminating the possibility of retribution in the third.

How many fights has Crosby had in his career, two or three? You can bet the next one is happening vs Brandon Dubinsky.

Bullpen, You Have a Problem

The Mets probably got their most satisfying victory of the season late yesterday afternoon. Considering it's September and they are about 19 out, that's saying a lot.

We saw David Wright hit not one, but two homeruns, including one that put the Mets ahead over the Phillies in the top of the 9th, after being down to their last out with nobody on and trailing 9-8. Tatis single, Wright homerun. Phillie fans stunned.

The Phillies can compete with the Yankees (I can't believe I'm saying this) if they have Ryan Madson doing his thing in the 8th and if they had the Brad Lidge of last season. The problem is they don't Frankly I couldn't care less if they choke away the division to the Marlins (I can't believe I'm saying that).

A doubleheader sweep today would be nice, but I'm afraid it will be not the way we want it. At least we had one day to enjoy a sweet victory in this crap season.

*****

On Dubinsky: they give Callahan a decent raise and why shouldn't Dubi feel he deserves something similar? Sure, he did not have the season of growth we expected of him last season, but we see a worse season from Jagr in his last year without Dubi. The team put themselves in this position. They were shelling out millions to fourth liners the last couple of years and just a portion of that money could've been used to satisfy Dubi's demands. If this kid gets away, it will be a real shame.

Rangers 3, Devils 0

Felt a little like April 2008 didn't it?

You have to admit, the most overrated goaltender in NHL history was looking sharp the first 24 minutes of the game. You had the feeling it was going to be one of those 0-0, 1-1 shootout affairs. However, the Devils unraveled and the Rangers scored 3, two of them in a span of two minutes.

Dubinsky and Callahan are getting hot at the right time. Hell, Callahan has been hot. He has 21 goals on the year now and has been one of the best, if not the best player since Torts arrived. Dubi, by the way, was 9-0 in the faceoff circle tonight.

Sean Avery was doing his thing. Whether it was making the overrated one take cheap crotch shots, or making the other two fools go after him, he was doing his job and playing hard. All that was missing from him was a goal. He did have an assist on the Cally goal which was set up by a beautiful look from Scott Gomez, who was effective as well. Was that actually him throwing around the body? OK, so Holik made him look awfully small a couple of times, but hey, Gomez was throwing the body!

Lundqvist owns Brodeur. Talk to me about his wins record when he gets another 25 without the shootout. Until then I don't want to hear it.

Hurricanes 3, Rangers 0

OK, so now you see the flip side of the Sean Avery acquisition. From time to time he'll throw himself at somebody's feet in an effort to look like he slipped, and sometimes the refs won't buy that, like last night, as he took two penalties that pretty much nullified Ranger power plays. It probably would not have made much difference anyway.

At 2-0, the game was pretty much over, despite there being enough time left in the game. You just had that sense they were not coming back.

No relief from the telecast on Versus as you get to listen to the Carolina play-by-play man call the action.

I know you are sprawled on the ice and really have no other choice, but does Brandon Dubinsky think he's going to get away with something by pushing the puck towards the goal with his glove?

Despite what the NHL newspaper/website standings say, fear not at being a point out of the playoff picture like everyone is saying this morning. It's still pretty much a dead heat and there are plenty of games left between the six teams locked in the battle for four spots.

Voros out, Korp in, and Dubinsky?

As expected, Lauri Korpikoski skated in place of Aaron Voros on the Dubinsky line in practice today. Speaking of Dubinsky:

I like the guy, he plays hard and gives it his all, but do you think maybe he might be better served watching a game (especially with a back to back this weekend) up in the press box? It would give Dan Fritsche an opportunity to at least get some game action and maybe give Dubinsky a fresh start in his return to the lineup. It could do wonders mentally. Now if Fritsche were to return to the lineup and score a hattrick...nah, that won't happen. Just try it for one game. Assure Dubi he'll be back in the lineup the next game. It might not make much sense considering he had a few of scoring chances last night, but 1 goal in 31 games might warrant a break from the action.

Henrik Lundqvist is the lone Ranger representative on the Eastern Conference all-star squad. Now let's just hope he does not pull something in the skills competition.

Gamenight: Rangers vs Canadiens

Canadiens 22-10-6, 50 pts
Rangers 24-14-3, 51 pts

The Habs come into town without their starting goaltender, as Carey Price is still out with a mysterious injury. Then again, every injury is mysterious, we just know it's either the lower or upper body. They will have Jaroslav Halak in net, much to the dismay of the diehard Canadien fans. Halak comes off an outing which he allowed 5 goals vs Florida at home, although they won in a shootout.

The Rangers, no surprise, will roll out the same lineup as they did in the win vs Pittsburgh. Another chance for the Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev line to reclaim some of their early season magic. It's hard to believe that Dubinsky has only one goal in his last 30 games.

Other notes:
-The rest of the Eastern Conference all-star team will be announced tomorrow. I doubt Marc Staal would make it, but Lundqvist has a good shot, and will likely be the lone Ranger representative.
-Jarkko Ruutu is in trouble with the league. No surprise, it was just a matter of time. He denies biting Andrew Peters' hand, but hopefully the league does not buy it and does something about it.
-The Ducks have traded Brad May to Toronto. Not surprise there as well, as Brian Burke begins the process of adding toughness to the Leafs with a player he was familiar with in Anaheim.