Does anyone else think the Rangers have hit it yet? Well it could get worse tonight. The Blueshirts are coming off of another devastating collapse, there is a chance Jaromir Jagr may not make it into the lineup, the Devils have had two days off, and they are 18-4-4 in the Meadowlands this year. And still, it has been an entire month since the Rangers have beaten a team that sits above them in the standings, and it has happened only twice since December 16th.
But have no fear, Sean Avery is here. I predict he'll be good for at least six minutes of penalty time tonight, especially since they are playing Lou Lamoriello's minions.
Anyway, there is a ton of news today, so let's get to it. We have some stuff on the crap last night, some stuff on the Avery trade, and some stuff on alumni.
On the game:
NY Daily News: The Blueshirts, who are in 11th place, five points behind Carolina for the East's final playoff berth, nursed that lead through the second. But when Henrik Lundqvist coughed up a puck behind his own net, handing Jiri Hudler a goal 2:31 into the third, it was easy to sense that the Rangers' wheels were coming off.
NY Post: The Rangers have lost three straight, seven of their last 10, and 14 of their last 21 while earning a meager 14 of the last 42 available points in the standings. They are in 11th place, five points behind the eighth-place Hurricanes, yet one point closer than that to the 14th-place Panthers. What's more, they have won only 10 games at the Garden all season (10-12-3), a home victory total that ranks the team 29th in the NHL, ahead of only the overall-bottom feeding Flyers.
NY Times: For Lundqvist, the game went from bad to worse in the third period. The relatively simple task of holding a two-goal lead was hampered by a series of missteps and misplays. The same problems victimized Detroit goalie Dominik Hasek in the first period, when the Rangers scored three times, but the bad luck changed sides in the third.
The Journal News: Beginning the night to cheers with two early goals against the formidable Wings, the Rangers left the Garden ice to boos after dropping their third straight game, 4-3. Mired in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, the team had another chance to make up ground in the playoff race. Instead, it collapsed in dramatic fashion to make the postseason seem like an absurd prospect with 29 games remaining.
Newsday: "We gave them opportunities that we can't do at this point in the season," center Matt Cullen said. "This should have been signed, sealed and delivered. We need to start winning some games here. The season's slipping away quick."
NY SportsDay: “We have to forget about this one,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 22 saves on the night. “There's a big game for us tomorrow. We have to play a good game.”
You can read the stuff on Avery here, here, and here.
A little bit of everything from the Rodent and Blueshirt Bulletin.
On some big alumni names:
Brian Leetch and his semi-retirement: He said that he had discussions about returning to the Rangers this season, but that he could not overcome his lingering bitterness about the way he left. He said he still saw himself as a full-time player and was concerned that teams would use him in a lesser role. “I don’t want to diminish what I did in my 16 years there,” Leetch said.
And this is why I'm glad they didn't sign him. He would have expected top minutes, and he just wasn't a top minutes guy anymore.
GM Mark Messier?: Messier told Sun Media yesterday that he wants to take over from his old coach and GM when Glen Sather retires from the job in New York. Messier led the team to a first Stanley Cup since 1940 back in 1994. Furthermore, Messier says he has decided to get proactive about it.
And in some late breaking news, Steve Zipay reports that Lundqvist will be in net again (why, I have not idea), and Jagr will in fact play tonight. Also, the Devils recalled Cam Janssens for tonight. Expect fireworks.
So, it's the Rangers and Devils in New Jersey. The puck drops at 7:30 pm EST.
HDH
Posted by Jim at February 06, 2007 03:13 PMeMail this entry!
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