That's about the only way to describe the current feeling after the Rangers sobering defeat at the hands of the Devils last night. It all seemed so good the day before. The mood was high, the laughs were flowing and the world seemed conquerable. Now today I'm wondering how I got that scar, where my pants are and if hammering a golf tee into my temple will relieve this blinding headache.
Here's why that loss was so distressing: The Rangers played pretty well. Sure, they made mistakes, like Ozolinsh and Strudwick's "olé!" on Scott Gomez for the game tying goal, but otherwise they played a decent game. And lost. For the third time out of four attempts since Lamoriello took over behind the Devils' bench. With Jagr again kept off the scoreboard by stingy Devils' checking. The Rangers simply don't match up well against New Jersey, nor do they match up well against any team who checks aggressively and doesn't allow the Ranger artisans the space to create their goal-art.
Still not panicking? Okay then...
Ottawa: 1-2
Carolina: 1-3
Buffalo: 2-2 (both wins were shootouts)
Philadelphia: 4-3
New Jersey: 4-4 (lost 3 out of last 4)
Montreal: 1-3 (lost last 2)
Tampa Bay: 2-2 (lost last 2)
Combined Record Against East Playoff Teams: 15-19
Combined Record Against East Playoff Teams Since January 1: 7-14
I hate to paint such a negative picture, but it has been more and more noticable as the season goes on that what the Rangers do is beat up on the lousy teams and hang in there but ultimately lose against the good ones. Especially lately. My playoff expectations for this team took a fairly large dive last night, is what I'm saying. But here I am blathering on with about a thousand links to get to. Let's see what everyone else has to say.
Hockey Ro' has some brief comments on last night's affair.
Larry says a Rangers/Devils playoff series would be a doozy. Yeah, lovely, but I'd sooner the Rangers get a first round opponent they match up better with, aka Philadelphia.
Also at the Post, Jay Greenberg talks about the Rangers/Devils good 'ol days. Or something. As usual, Jay is about as decipherable as a Korean VCR manual.
The Daily News continues its campaign to ignore hockey by giving one writer exactly 500 words to cover a game that could have and should have produced three or four articles.
The NY Times article sheds some light on why Jagr is the clear cut league MVP and why he's having perhaps the best season of any Ranger in history. Not only doesn't he want some games off down the stretch, he talked Renney into letting him take a couple PK shifts last night just in case the situation arose in the playoffs. This is the guy who's dominating the league with 119 points. Remarkable.
More "wouldn't it be great?" articles from Newsday and The Star-Ledger.
Finally a back up article from the Ledger, this one about Ryan Hollweg defending his stupid hit in the 2nd period, reiterating why I'd rather not see him on the playoff roster. Granted, there's no way that play deserved a 5 minute major, but if Hollweg doesn't think taking a run from 50 feet, leaping off his feet and leading with his forearms is a penalty, then please let's not let him test his penalty theories in a playoff game where one power play could mean the difference. Give me bodycheckers like Jason Ward and Jed Ortmeyer, players who hit hard but with purpose and in the frame of the gameplan, not people like Hollweg who purely want to make a spectacle out of hitting as hard as possible.
- Rocha
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