There was a very entertaining game which took place at 33rd and 7th Avenue last night. Because unlike the Knicks who still are everywhere you look at The Garden with NBA All-Star ballots for that pathetic bunch, the Blueshirts actually are becoming watchable again.

Yes. They’re now finding the offense which was missing for most of the first half. For the third consecutive game, they scored at least four and posted a well earned come from behind 4-3 overtime victory over the Canadiens in what was an electric atmosphere last night.

That’s cause you had your share of Montreal supporters who made the trip from up north to support their team. Tell ya one thing. They sure make it interesting. In fact, I had a French Canadian come up to me before warmups and he was speaking gibberish which couldn’t be understood. Then even made a joke about basketball. Classic stuff.

It seemed to be the same kind of supporters who went home bitterly disappointed last April when their team collapsed to miss the postseason at the Islanders’ expense.

They chanted “Go Habs Go, Go Habs Go,” which got the attention of Ranger fans who returned the favor with “Let’s Go Rangers, Let’s Go Rangers.”

Maybe this is what I like about Canadian games. It creates a chaotic atmosphere full of energy. And because the Habs entered leading our Rangers by two points for fourth in the conference, the fans were into it from start to finish.

The best aspect was that the game itself wasn’t a snoozer. It was back and forth probably played more at Montreal’s frenetic pace. Despite each team getting the same amount of shots (21 apiece) on goalies Cristobal Huet and Henrik Lundqvist, many were of the quality variety testing them and keeping fans on the edge of their seats.

The Rangers struck first when Scott Gomez setup defenseman Dan Girardi’s seventh at 10:14. But the Canadiens got a late Andrei Kostistyn power play tally to tie it taking advantage of an undisciplined Marek Malik hook after a giveaway.

As Habs fans were singing their patented, “Ole, Ole, Ole” song the Rangers came right back 17 seconds later to re-take the lead when Gomez made a brilliant rush and fed Jaromir Jagr for his 11th making it three straight for a rejuvenated No.68 with a goal.

They took the lead to the locker room. Apparently, they forgot to come out for the second because it was all Habs. A lazy Martin Straka hook in the offensive zone led directly to another Montreal PPG. Off a Marc Staal backhand clear attempt which was gloved down by former Ranger Alexei Kovalev, Tomas Plekanec setup an open Kostistyn for his second of the night at 14:31.

Montreal went ahead 2:36 later on essentially another man-advantage when during a delayed call on Blair Betts, the Habs got the extra attacker out and worked the puck around down low before the Kostistyn brothers combined to find an open Plekanec for an easy goal within 12 feet.

After being outscored 2-0 and outshot 7-1, the Rangers came out much better in the third and would get the tying goal. But not before having an apparent Fedor Tyutin goal wiped out when Toronto ruled against what looked like the equalizer. Instead, the puck hit both the crossbar and right elbow of the post. To the naked eye live, it looked in and didn’t make the usual sound. But it appears the league ruled properly in reversing the call.

The Rangers could’ve let down after that bad break but on this night, they weren’t taking no for an answer. Off a key faceoff win, Chris Drury went to the net and found a loose rebound off a deflected Paul Mara shot and scored his 10th to tie the game with 5:51 remaining.

It was the king of play you come to expect from Mr. Clutch. He has struggled in his first season on Broadway but he was huge late.

In OT, Drury again factored in on the deciding marker. Off a Roman Hamrlik turnover, he pushed a puck ahead to a streaking Brendan Shanahan who did the rest beating Huet top shelf on a breakaway 66 seconds in for his team-leading 14th to send the Blueshirt faithful home happy.

It was a very good character win. And an important one at that as the team prepares for a crucial three-game Western Canada road trip with stops in Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton. They have yet to beat a Western team this season. That must change as the calendar year changes to 2008.

The win wouldn’t have been possible without a key save by Lundqvist on Plekanec minutes before Drury’s tying goal. He only made 18 stops but several of them were high calibre. That’s what you expect from King Henrik- one of the league’s elite netminders.


Three Stars:

3rd Star: Brendan Shanahan, NYR (GWG 66 seconds into OT)
2nd Star: Tomas Plekanec, Mtl (goal, two assists)
1st Star: Chris Drury, NYR (tying goal and assisted on winner)


Game Highlights

Ovechkin’s first career four-goal game

A couple of statements were made by the two New York teams on this big Saturday night. Both posted impressive wins to keep pace with the Flyers and Penguins (both winners as well) and gain valuable ground on first place New Jersey.

For the Rangers, the road treated them extremely well at Air Canada Center where they got five power play goals (five in 10 chances folks) including a season high four points (PPG, three assists) from team captain Jaromir Jagr in a 6-1 dismantling of the Maple Leafs.

This was about as good a performance as they’ve had all season. From Sean Avery’s mouth saying how he hated Toronto due to how “hockey obsessed they are” even though he’s from there to backup Stephen Valiquette (27 saves) performing great yet again in his home town to the unreal night the power play had, it all clicked for the Blueshirts on this night.

There’s really not much to say. That’s how convincing this win was. For whatever reason, the road team owned the season series with the teams splitting four games with the Rangers prevailing twice up north while the Leafs got the better of it on Broadway. Toronto technically took the series by virtue of their one point in a shootout loss to Valiquette.

But any way you slice it, this was a nice measure of revenge for that embarrassing 6-2 home defeat over three weeks ago on Dec.6.

They got the first six on the Leafs outskating and outchancing them by plenty. And the best aspect was all the penalties called on Toronto were earned and they buried their chances.

This was really a breakout game for Tom Renney’s club who returns to MSG later this early evening to host the Canadiens who come in having won two in a row and are tied for fourth in the conference with New York and two other teams.

When Betts scores from Orr and there’s a Petr Prucha sighting- yes twice the Czech tallied to double his goal output to four- you know it’s your night.

Rookie center Brandon Dubinsky netted three assists and Scott Gomez continued to play well adding a secondary helper to hike his point streak to a career best 11.

Brendan Shanahan scored his club-leading 13th on an absolute rocket on a five-on-three. Avery not only infuriated the Leafs drawing a power play but basically danced on their faces with an unreal no-look backhand pass to help Prucha snap a 17-game long drought.

“It’s a miracle,” the very happy Czech expressed to the Associated Press later. “I was waiting for it a long time, and I just want to keep scoring … and get some confidence.”

“My confidence was shaken just in front of the net and I couldn’t score a goal,” he added. “The one thing that was missing from my game was points. I’m just glad I did it tonight.”

A great thing for the Rangers which hopefully Prucha can build on. Now if only they could get Ryan Callahan untracked.

Even Marek Malik is looking better these days since being reinserted. He’s actually worked well with Paul Mara and is making quicker reads and decisions instead of complexing things in his end.

Two wins in a row is nice. But three straight before a new calendar year would constitute a winning streak and cause for optimism.

One other quick point. Nik Antropov has had a great season for the Leafs but how many times did we have to see the lanky Russian chop down Rangers with his stick coming high and slashing Prucha or Chris Drury without an arm going up?!?!?!?!?!

That’s what’s wrong with the officiating these days. They’re so obsessed with calling every hook legal or imagined but are missing much more serious blatant infractions which can cause injuries.

Wake the hell up already NHL!

Now to the Islanders who had a great win of their own at an energized barn on the Hempstead Turnpike- posting a 5-2 victory on home ice to make it four straight over the first place Devils this season.

To be perfectly honest, this was quite an entertaining game which included a couple of great scraps. Every time we flipped it on, there was lot of stuff going on. A lot of edge out there with plenty of battles contested. You could see how badly each team wanted it.

I really enjoyed the Mike Rupp-Andy Sutton fight. That was awesome stuff. I only wish I had caught the one between David Clarkson and rejuvenated Islander captain Bill Guerin. Even Mike Comrie and Mike Mottau got into it in the first!

You didn’t hear any moans or groans from the crowd. I wonder why.

The Isles really played well the first 40 minutes and led on a shorthanded tally by defenseman Chris Campoli and a second period power play goal from Marc-Andre Bergeron.

They seemed in complete control for most of the second until Devils’ leading scorer Zach Parise took a Brian Gionta touch pass and converted a mini-breakaway beating Wade Dubielewicz to the backhand for only his second goal in the last 10. It was very timely because it came with just 25 ticks left giving his team a much needed lift after being outshot 14-6 in the stanza.

When John Madden scored his 12th to knot it just 3:59 into the final period, the Devils clearly had the momentum and began taking it to the Isles generating some really good chances. But Dubielewicz was up to the task stopping 12 of 13 New Jersey shots on his way to 27 saves and the game’s 3rd Star.

The goalie allowed his team to find their composure and finally a great individual effort by Trent Hunter resulted in Sutton’s deciding marker with 8:17 remaining.

With his team changing, Hunter held onto the puck and gained the Devil zone. Then he maintained control until the change was complete and dropped a pass to Mike Sillinger, who in turn fed a cutting Sutton for a quick one-timer past Martin Brodeur for his first as an Islander.

“I think it’s my first (game-winner) ever,” Sutton acknowledged later on.

“Guys like Trent Hunter and Mike Sillinger deserve a lot of credit for the way they handled the puck. Hunter had it, and got it back to Silly. I
just tried to be there, and Silly found me and I just shot it as hard as I
could.“

It really was just a smart play by Hunter and one which had Brent Sutter seething.

“When you play a team you haven’t beaten yet in your division this year, you’d think there would be more of a sense of desperation to want to play one of your better games,” the first-year Devil coach pointed out.

“For 30 minutes, we were a very average hockey team.
Then we woke up and played well the next 20 minutes. Then it looked like we
never learned how to play defensive zone coverage
before.”

Of course, he was right. His team had plenty of incentive to come away with a ‘W.’ But the Fishsticks wouldn’t allow it to happen Saturday as Sutton also assisted on Sean Bergenheim’s insurance tally with 4:58 left which put it away.

Comrie added an empty netter to pull the Isles within five points of first despite being tied with the Flyers for last in the division. It just tells you how close things are in the Atlantic.

All in all, a good night for the two bitter New York rivals as we approach 2008.

The New Jersey Devils have problems on Long Island. Last season it was Miro Satan that pretty much owned them Devils; especially on the shootout. So far this season, the Devils cannot figure out the team at the bottom of the division.

The Islanders got out of the gate early with a nice goal from Chris Campoli. Then the rough stuff came into play. First it was Tim Jackman who wanted to get at Mike Rupp after a hit on Blake Comeau. Then after a huge hit by Mike Comrie on Mile Mottau, the two talked it over during a comercial break and decided it would be best if they dropped the gloves and worked it out with their fists.

Marc-Andre Bergeron put the Isles up after his attempted pass deflected off of Andy Greene’s stick and right through Brodeur’s legs. Andy Sutton and David Clarkson talked all game and we all knew that they were going to go sooner or later. After a faceoff, Clarkson lined up with Bill Guerin and they dropped the gloves. If that wasn’t enough Tim Jackman and Mike Rupp lined up on hte ensuing faceoff and decided to go, until Andy Sutton realized that he wasn’t going to get at Clarkson. Sutton ended up dropping his gloves as well and pushing Jackman out of the way to fight Rupp instead. Jackman obviously obliged because Sutton towers over him by like 12 feet.

After all of the fireworks were done, the Devils decided to make a comeback. Fearless Freddy Meyer got crossed up with Brendan Witt and Zach Parise cruised in on Wade Dubliewicz unscathed for a beautiful top shelf goal. Mike Comrie left John Madden wide open in front and he put home an easy rebound. That’s the last time the Devils would see the back of the net.

With the score knotted at two Trent Hunter did a beautiful job of keeping the puck in hte offensive zone and fed Andy Sutton who was coming off the bench for a slapshot goal. It was Sutton’s first goal as an Islander. Constant pressure from the Isles kept the Devils from getting any quality chances. Both Parise and Madden had great chances during an Islander defensive breakdown, but hte boys buckled down and started playing like htey wanted to win. Another great job by the fourth line kept the puck deep and during a change a few shots and constant pressure paid off as Sean Bergenheim picked up a loose puck and scored to make the score 4-2. Mike Comrie added an empty netter to seal the deal.

Final score was 5-2 Isles. They have not lost to hte Devils all season. Andy Sutton scored his first goal as an Islander and recorde the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, assist and a fight. Mike COmrie was an assist short of the GHHT as well. Isles can take this win and smile. Its probably one of hte best games they have played all season. They host Carolina on Monday and hopefully Rick Dipietro will be ready to play.

The first 20 are complete in Toronto and Long Island. The Rangers got first period goals from Blair Betts and Jaromir Jagr (PPG) to take a 2-0 lead into intermission.

Meanwhile, the Islanders are up one on the Devils thanks to a shorthanded tally by defenseman Chris Campoli. Richard Park got the primary assist as the Fishsticks killed all three New Jersey man-advantages. Wade Dubielewicz stopped all 10 shots.

The Betts rare tally in the Ranger game came off a nice play by Colton Orr, who freed up a puck behind the net to the hardworking fourth line center, who slipped a backhand wraparound past Andrew Raycroft.

Jagr’s second goal in two straight was via the power play as No.68 found a loose Michal Rozsival rebound for his 10th. He’s playing much better which bodes well for the Blueshirts.

Toronto native Stephen Valiquette was sharp in stopping all eight Leafs shots.

Orr cameback battling to a draw with Leafs’ goon Wade Belak.

Overall, about as solid a road period you could’ve asked for. We’ll see if they can keep it going with the target on Sean Avery’s back.

In other action, Atlanta is up three on Boston. No. Ilya Kovalchuk hasn’t tallied but one-time Ranger Pascal Dupuis has along with Slava Kozlov and Bobby Holik.

The Caps lead the Sens 2-1 after a period with Alexander Ovechkin netting his 27th.

Buffalo and Pittsburgh are scoreless.

More later.

It’s a very busy schedule today as usual on a hockey Saturday. Already one game of impact in the Atlantic Division went final as the Flyers got a goal and two assists from the red hot Joffrey Lupul in a 4-2 road victory over slumping Tampa Bay.

They moved temporarily into a second place pending what happens with Rangers-Leafs and Sabres-Pens later tonight.

Meanwhile in Colorado, the Avalanche continue to hold a 1-0 lead over the league’s worst team the Kings in the final stanza. Defenseman Jordan Leopold has the only tally.


Speaking of the Avs, they’ll be without team leader Joe Sakic for eight to 12 weeks. The franchise player who’s in his 19th season with Quebec/Colorado underwent hernia surgery yesterday.

The classy 38 year-old captain of the Avalanche has been one of the best players in the league and helped lead them to two Stanley Cups. He’s out for the 14th consecutive game today and should be missed despite his team’s impressive 8-4-1 mark since his injury.

“A huge loss for us,” Colorado coach Joel Quenneville expressed to the Associated Press Thursday. “Obviously, a player of his abilities and what he brings to the organization and the team on a game-by-game basis is irreplaceable. I think in his absence over that last stretch we’ve done a good job. But I don’t think we should feel like it’s going to get any easier going forward or anybody’s going to feel sorry for us without Joe in the lineup.”

Sakic’s 1,611 career points place him eighth on the NHL’s all-time scoring list. In 24 games this season, the 38 year-old veteran pivot has seven goals and 15 assists totaling 22 points.

He needs just six helpers to reach a career milestone of 1,000. His 617 goals rank 14th best in league history.

“After with the doctors we believe this procedure will enable me to return to the lineup,” Sakic said in a statement released by the Avalanche.

Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of one of the quietest superstars who just goes about his business on the ice and leads by example.

Best wishes for Joe in his recovery.


As Lenny mentioned earlier, the Rangers visit Toronto tonight for a HNIC clash. The Leafs hold a 2-0-1 edge in the regular season series with the Blueshirts looking to gain a measure of revenge on Toronto. The last time they met, the Leafs beat the Rangers 6-2 at the Garden. There will also be the reunion between pests Sean Avery and Darcy Tucker. So you know this could be an eventful one tonight.

Meanwhile, the first place Devils aim for four in a row as they visit Nassau Coliseum. The Islandes so far have owned them winning all three games with New Jersey just gaining a point in an OT loss. But the Devs have improved since then and it’s likely that Wade Dubielewicz will again get the call in net for the Fishsticks.

The Pens and Sabres also will be meeting for the first of a home-and-home series at Mellon Arena with the much anticipated Hockey Heritage Outdoor Classic taking place on New Year’s Day up in Buffalo at Ralph Wilson Stadium with faceoff scheduled for 1 ET/10 PT on NBC.

We’ll have more later.

** Just something I missed last night, but Nigel Dawes was in fact returned to Hartford, where he will continue to learn how to kill penalties as well. It’s too bad Renney can’t just admit that the team is better with him in the lineup. **

Truer words haven’t been said. Sometimes, this organization makes you really wonder what the heck they’re thinking about.

The Rangers kick off the first of a week’s worth of games against Canadian teams tonight against Toronto. The game will certainly be filled with emotion, particular revolving around everyone’s favorite pest, Sean Avery. Expect him and Darcy Tucker to renew their friendship at some point in this game, probably sooner than later.

Tomorrow the Rangers move on to the Montreal Canadians. The Canadians have been up and down all season, but are led with solid goalkeeping from several rookies. Christobal Huet may get the start tomorrow, but that’s just speculation at this point.

Expect no lineup changes for tonight’s game. The only difference that may happen would be Marcel Hossa being inserted on the fourth line, but that is only going to happen if Colton Orr cannot skate. He was still a little scratched up from his collision with Matt Cullen. If he’s in, he will also probably check to see how Wade Belak’s family is and how his holidays are going.

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will not be around for much of the weekend. I will check in on Monday with a recap. I will be recording both weekend games and will be watching them when I come back. Believe me, I would much rather be here. Enjoy the games, and I’ll talk to you on Monday.

** Just something I missed last night, but Nigel Dawes was in fact returned to Hartford, where he will continue to learn how to kill penalties as well. It’s too bad Renney can’t just admit that the team is better with him in the lineup. **

The Thrashers are one game under .500 (18-19-1) with their 37 points placing them 13th in the ultracompetitive Eastern Conference.

That’s one fewer than Philly, the Isles and Leafs who are all tied for 10th. It’s also two behind the ninth place Panthers who fell at home to the Canadiens 5-1 tonight. And the Thrashers are even just three points fewer than a ridiculous four-way tie for fifth (NYR, Bruins, Pens and Sabres).

With their second straight victory, the Habs have 42 points moving into sole possession of fourth in the East.

This is the parity that Gary Bettman envisioned when he locked out the players for a historic entire season in 2004-05.

Oh btw…the slumping Bolts and Caps who share last in the conference also have 33 points and can easily get back in the mix with one three-game win streak. That’s all it will take.

So, is this much uncertainty good or bad for the league? From a fan perspective, it certainly makes things interesting.

Are the Devils really the second best club to Ottawa in the East? Debatable. On one hand with their come from behind 2-1 shootout win at home over Buffalo, they’re playing well and lead the Atlantic by five points. On the other, they’re not scoring much but finding ways to pull games out.

So, which is it? Tough to say. Did you know that their record against the division is only 6-6-3? Including tonight’s win on a Zach Parise shootout tally which stood up thanks to three big stops from Martin Brodeur, the Devils are a combined 12-5-0 against the rest of the conference comprising the Northeast and Southeast.

Makes ya wonder, huh? You look at their goal differential (89 GF, 86 GA) and there’s not much separating each column. But you don’t get extra style points for how you pick up the two points. Just as long as you come away with the ‘W,’ you’ll be in good position.

Their next game is against one of the teams they haven’t beaten yet in the Islanders. But they’ll probably again be without starter Rick DiPietro who’s missed nearly the last couple with a knee sprain.

Fyi…the Rangers own the division’s best record (10-4-0) with three of four defeats coming to those Fishsticks who are second best (8-5-0).

NYR vs rest of East: 8-8-3
NYI vs rest of East: 9-11-1

Note: The Devils are 3-2-0 vs West while the Rangers are 0-3-1 and the Isles 1-0-1.

There’s your difference folks.

So, who now believes decreasing from eight games each against divisional foes is a good thing?

Just saying. We already had our solution to this problem. Too bad league brass aren’t listening.

Now for a little more on Ilya Kovalchuk’s sizzling start and how he compares:

From The Stat Wizards At The Elias Sports Bureau:

Kovalchuk First To 30Atlanta’s Ilya Kovalchuk became the first NHL player to reach the 30-goal plateau this season when he scored the first of his two goals in the Thrashers’ 5-3 loss to Florida last night.

This is the first season in which a player has scored 30 goals before the end of December since 1999-2000, when the Penguins’ Jaromir Jagr reached the mark on Dec. 30.

The last season in which a player was the first to score 30 goals at an earlier date than Kovalchuk it this season was 1997-98, when Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne did it on December 22.

First NHL player to score 30 goals (since 1997-98)

2007-08 Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl. December 27
2006-07 Teemu Selanne, Ana. January 18
2005-06 Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl. January 6
2003-04 Rick Nash, CBJ January 24
2002-03 Markus Naslund, Van. January 8
2001-02 Jarome Iginla, Cgy. January 17
2000-01 Markus Naslund, Van. January 24
1999-00 Jaromir Jagr, Pit. December 30
1998-99 John LeClair, Phi. January 30
1997-98 Teemu Selanne, Ana. December 22

Well, would you look at that? It’s the fastest to 30 in a decade since The Finnish Flash accomplished it five days quicker with the Ducks.


If Kovalchuk continues his torrid pace and somehow gets the Thrashers into the playoffs, forget all the other candidates for the Hart. The Russian sniper will deserve to win it because he’s not on a good team.


So, you can argue the exploits of Henrik Zetterberg, the Sens trio, Sidney Crosby, Brodeur, Jarome Iginla, etc.

It’s so much more difficult to score at that clip these days. Not with how athletic the goalies are and how fundamentally sound players are. Coaching and team defense is so much better that it intimidates even the league’s best from challenging goalies from even 15-20 feet in. It seems to always be about moving them laterally and making one too many passes.

Kovalchuk’s season so far is special and it will be a joy to follow and see where he finishes for this blogger. I’m rooting for him to get to 60! How about you?

Nothing overly exciting happening so far, but I wanted to report the most current events.

- There will be no discipline for either Colton Orr or Sean Avery following the game against Carolina. With Avery, the incidents gets filed under a special category, and two more like instances will result in a mandatory one game suspension. I think that’s fair. No complaints from me here.

- Talks between Columbus and the Rangers got hot last night, cooled off later, and now are said to be dead. Adam Foote has a full no trade clause, which I missed on my first read through, and Columbus has said they are no longer in the market for a winger. They are said to still be interested in Brandon Dubinsky, but I’m glad nothing is happening with this trade. The San Jose Sharks were said to be trying to get into the mix last night, but that fell through as well.

- Tom Renney is practicing the same line combinations as Wednesday night, which means Nigel Dawes would again be in the press box. Renney did say that he would prefer not taking the trip with 23 skaters, which means that Dawes may be playing this weekend, but in Hartford.

Now that this trade talk is done, for now, here’s a question for anyone out there. What would you do to better the Blueshirts before the trade deadline? Trade some youth for a proven veteran? Trade a slumping veteran for some youth? Trade Marek Malik for two Hannah Montana tickets? Leave a comment with any ideas.