MSG decided that upstate New York was not part of that whole switching the Knicks to MSG thing, so I have been listening to the game on the radio. It’s a good broadcast, but I wish I could see it for myself.

It was announced before the game that Blair Betts would be out for 2-3 weeks after undergoing some minor foot surgery. Like I said in my last post, you can’t just consider Betts as only a fourth line center. He does too many intangibles that the Rangers will surely miss.

Today’s game would have been good to see if Ryan Hollweg could hold down the center spot for the next couple of weeks, but early in the first period, Scott Gomez went hard into the boards and injured what is being listed as his shoulder. He won’t return tonight, and Hollweg and Colton Orr have been sparingly used.

If I’m the Rangers and Gomez is out for any period of time, I leave the first and third lines alone. They have finally caught on. Petr Prucha used to be a center, so maybe give him a try on the second line, even if it’s only to get him back in the lineup. If he can’t handle it, then move Chris Drury or Marty Straka up. Prucha takes the wing spot and Straka shifts, or Prucha just takes the wing spot on the third line.

Sounds like a wild game as the Rangers took a penalty tied at 3-3 in overtime. Enjoy this ending.

The Philadelphia Flyers are trying to fend off a recently resurgent Buffalo Sabres team from catching them in the eighth spot of the Eastern Conference. The New York Rangers are looking to continue the solid play that earned them wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils so far this week. What this means for us? Great hockey.

Expect Philly to come out and try to establish a strong physical element to tonight’s game, which much to the delight of myself will be now shown on MSG. Those New York Knickerbockers (who?) will be on MSG2 instead tonight, and well, rightfully so.

In terms of lineups, Stephen Valiquette gets the start for the Rangers in net. Ryan Hollweg also steps back into the lineup tonight, but not for Fred Sjostrom, but for an injured Blair Betts. Betts has a foot problem currently being listed as a toe bunion, so he won’t be out long. This is good news for the Rangers, because Betts is one of those role players who is extremely important to the Rangers’ team. He wins faceoffs, kills penalties, blocks shots and forechecks hard. The fourth line probably won’t get as much time tonight, save for the establishment of a physical game. Hollweg came into the NHL as a centerman, so catching on shouldn’t be too hard for him.

Tom Renney was also toying with the idea of playing Jason Strudwick in place of Christian Backman, just in case the game gets out of hand. With Sean Avery, Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Colton Orr and Hollweg all showing that they’ll be willing to drop the gloves, Strudwick isn’t a necessity. Backman adds a bit of offensive element that Strudwick doesn’t possess as well, even though his Broadway debut has been less than impressive so far.

We’ll see if we get a goal-fest, like the last meeting between these teams, a fight-fest, as has been seen many times when these two teams lock horns, or a healthy balance between the two. Any way you slice it though, this is good hockey. Enjoy the game.

MSG: Rangers vs. Flyers, 7:00 PM (Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti)
MSG Plus: Islanders vs. Devils, 7:00 PM (Doc Emrick and Chico Resch)
MSG Plus 2: Islanders vs. Devils, 7:00 PM (Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe)

AP Photo Courtesy Getty Images by Winslow Townson

“If he (Kovalev) doesn’t have any votes for MVP, I will be really upset. We are at the top of the conference and he is a big part of it.” -Montreal coach Guy Carbonneau on his best player’s two goal, assist performance in a 4-2 win over Boston putting them back into the conference lead by a point.

Now there’s a sentence you never thought you’d see. Heck, even myself being the biggest Alexei Kovalev fan, I’m not surprised.

Oh. I’ve always been a huge supporter of No.27 ever since he debuted with the New York Rangers during the 1992-93 season.

It was a year later where AK27 performed quite well during the club’s run to that elusive and way too talked about Stanley Cup. Part of the first ever Russians to get their names engraved on it with teammates Sergei Nemchinov and Alexander Karpovtsev, Kovy scored perhaps the biggest goal in that memorable Mark Messier Guarantee taking a drop pass from No.11 and beating Marty Brodeur to start a now historic comeback in arguably one of the best series ever played.

Since that playoff run, the former 1991 Rangers’ first round pick (15th overall) has teased even his most diehard fans with amazing talent which easily could’ve resulted in a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Sure. The 15-year NHL veteran has had his moments while playing twice on Broadway, Pittsburgh and up at The Molson Centre.

Who could ever forget that bustout career season with the 2000-01 Penguins everyone envisioned (well at least me anyway) in which he notched 44 goals, 51 assists totaling 95 points with 12 power play tallies and a clutch nine game-winners? 

For all the misguided talk about how he benefited from playing with Mario Lemieux in No.66’s return to hockey, try again as Kovalev played alongside Robert Lang and current Ranger Marty Straka, who btw is one of the most underappreciated forwards of his time.

Sure, Lemieux and a motivated Jaromir Jagr faced the top checkers but really it was pick your poison because Kovalev’s line was that good.

So, should he have been nominated for the Hart that season over either Mario or Jagr? Well, where else do you think I came up with the novel idea for the Kovy274Hart name?!?!?!?!?!

After a second failed brief stint in New York a few years later in which those dreadful Ranger teams misused the star by typically playing him out of position at LW and not even trying him at the right point on the power play, he was eventually moved to the Canadiens for Jozef Balej (remember him) and a second round pick which turned into Bruce Graham (AHL fodder). So, who won that deal again?

Sure. Who could’ve predicted that Balej would go from looking promising to coming into camp out of shape and being exiled to Vancouver before an unfortunate injury finished his career. I still say it was just the luck of being a Blueshirt during what was a miserable time. Just ask Jamie Lundmark why his career got royally screwed up.

Up till last season, Kovalev had rebounded north of the border where every last thing puck is heavily scrutinized. If you recall before the lockout, his awful overreaction to a slash led directly to a Glen Murray OT winner putting the Habs on the brink in Round One falling behind to archrival Boston 3-1. That same heavily critiqued player bounced back in that series leading the Canadiens to three consecutive wins as they rallied for the first time ever (against Boston) from that deficit to comeback and beat the Bruins.

In his first full season up North, Kovalev produced at near a point-a-game pace tallying 65 points (23-42-65) in 69 contests for his best output since 2002-03 when he amassed 64 in just 54 games before being traded by the Pens to the Rangers.

Having turned 34 during a disappointing 2006-07 season in which he had only 47 points (18-29-47) along with a glaring minus-19 rating in 73 games, it looked like his career was shot. Were his skills diminishing? Or was it just the usual song and dance from a player who’s had his share of ups and downs?

It was in my NHL Preview that I didn’t give this year’s edition of the Canadiens much of a chance. Just to borrow a direct quote on how certain I was about them missing the playoffs and finishing near the bottom of the East, here’s this gem:

“Up front, Chris Higgins, Tomas Plekanec and Guillaume Latendresse must continue to progress because relying on Alexei Kovalev to score consistently is like asking Jim Dolan to fire Isiah Thomas.”

So much for being able to predict the future as I also thought the Habs blueline was bad.

Maybe a motorcycle incident prior to the season was a wake up call of sorts for Kovalev. Whatever the reason, he’s turned in his best hockey since that career year in Pitt. However, the talent is far from the same. On this team, he is relied on to perform and lead his club.

Another couple of words I never thought I’d write about my favorite player. When Saku Koivu was out, guess who donned the ‘C?’ We’re talking about the richest tradition in all of hockey here! The Montreal sweater is one of the most special in all of sports right on par with the Yankee Pinstripes and famed Celtic Green. Just don’t tell the American media.

That same player who was thought to maybe be on the way out is now his team’s best player on what suddenly is a very deep team which could wind up representing the East-  going for that elusive 25th Stanley Cup and maybe become the first Canadian franchise to win it since those 1993 Patrick Roy Les Habitants way back when Kovalev was a 19 year-old rookie back in New York.

Scoring two breathtaking goals and assisting on another, AK27 led his team to a 4-2 road win at seventh seeded Boston putting the Habs a point back ahead of the Devils for tops in the conference.

The goals were No’s 32 and 33. He now has 77 points (33-44-77) in 75 games back to averaging slightly better than a point-per-game. With fellow Russians Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin vying for the NHL scoring lead and Hart, there’s little chance for the third older Russian to join them on the podium in June. Not with other deserving candidates such as Nick Lidstrom, Brodeur and Jarome Iginla deserving accolades for what they’ve done with their respective teams.

Is Kovalev important to his team’s chances this Spring? With all due respect to rookie Carey Price, you betcha! But he doesn’t do it alone. Not with help coming from Selke candidate Tomas Plekanec, those two Kostistyns plus Koivu, Long Island native Chris Higgins, Guillaume Latendresse, Norris candidate Andrei Markov along with physical freak Mike Komisarek, Roman Hamrlik plus double threat Mark Streit.

These Canadiens are very good for a reason. Still, Kovalev is their most skilled forward and probably their top player. At least when it comes to being proven in the postseason along with Koivu, he’s there.

So, does Kovalev deserve a few Hart votes? Sure. But if we’re going to say that, so does Mike Ribeiro on Dallas who is equally as valuable. Remember he was the guy deemed expendable traded for Janne Niinimaa. Yep. A player no longer in the league. So too is the game’s most unheralded young star Ryan Getzlaf with Anaheim.

You can also put in some votes for Mats Sundin. What a player! Maybe he’s not the brightest guy wanting to stay in Toronto but hey. How many players these days are loyal soldiers?

So, will Kovalev get some votes? Probably not. But he does play in a great place where hockey is treated like King and not like Britney Spears.

At least he has that much going for him but playing on an Original Six not given much of a chance and delivering the way he has should say plenty.

Maybe I did actually get it right seven years ago. Kovy274Hart.

Ochenb Horosho!

Picture the moment:  I am sitting in traffic on the 1-405 Freeway in Southern California and the frustration is mounting.  The traffic is not moving very much (even in the Diamond Lane, which is the West Coast version of the HOV Lane) and there is no end in sight.  And to top things off, I am tuned into XM Radio as the Buffalo Sabres are playing the Tampa Bay Lightning in a critical game for the Sabres playoff chances.

Bad traffic, a 4-1 lead for the Lightning, and a chorus of boos raining down from the Sabres crowd caused my blood to boil over.  I pick up the cell phone to call my best buddy, Derek (AKA kovy274hart here), and of course before I call, I check the Rangers/Devils score to make sure it is in between periods.  Voicemail it was to be, and I sang a message on the voicemail that the Sabres season was over.  Then I called my other good friend Frank, another Rangers fan, and provided a f-word tirade for the ages! You can say I hit the breaking point (no shock to those who know me that I declare the season to be over!)

The 3rd period begins, and I am half listening to the game, already starting to think about the off-season.  Five minutes into the period, Jason Pominville scores right off the face-off that even took Sabres play-by-play man Rick Jeanneret by surprise.  4-2 Tampa Bay, and even before I can think “Man, if we can just get one more goal”, Jochen Hecht scores his 20th to pull the Sabres within 1 goal.  Now as a long time Buffalo sports fan, I now have learned to calm myself for such moments, taking the ‘cautiously pessimistic’ approach with the Sabres, which almost seems to be the Jerry Maguire’esque ‘Mission Statement’ for Buffalo Sports fans like myself.

Then, the traffic moves a bit, and as I roll down the window a bit more to get some 72 degree air,  and Thomas Vanek scores his 29th to tie the game at 4.  This got me pumped up, but even more then that was the next Thomas Vanek moment, as he scored his 30th goal to take a 5-4 lead.  At this point I am going nuts, and I almost swerved over into another lane and hit someone else!  So I called my friend John because I was all fired up, and listened to Jeanneret call ANOTHER goal for the Sabres, yet ANOTHER Thomas Vanek goal to give the Sabres a 6-4 lead.  So Sabres fans, what do you think of the Vanek contract now??

After Jochen Hecht sealed the deal with an empty netter to give the Sabres a 7-4 lead, it all became clear to me.  Jeanneret pointed out that the Sabres now lead the NHL with 234 goals and I said “wow, I cannot believe that!” And think that this team loses Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, and had injuries to guys like Connolly and Afinogenov, and it makes me realize how lucky Sabres fans are to have Lindy Ruff behind the bench and….yes…I will finally admit it…GM Darcy Regier in the front office.  Despite losing the co-captains and Brian Campbell, the offense is still there for this team.

Another thing that Sabres fans should never question is this team’s desire to win and effort.  This all stems from Ruff, who wears his heart on his sleeve and relates to players in a way that few coaches can.

So what inspired the Sabres to rise from the dead and score 6 unanswered goals to stun the Lightning and stay in the playoff race for the 8th seed?  Perhaps it was the announcement that 39 year old defenseman Teppo Numminen will rejoin the team today.  Talk about heart, Teppo is 6 months removed from open heart surgery.  Most would never question if Numinen hung up the skates.  But Teppo pushed on, and is definitely an inspiration given the circumstances.

Soon after the game was over on XM Radio, the traffic cleared away and I got to my destination.  Perhaps if the Sabres can close the season strong, they can clear the traffic jam for the 8th spot and arrive at their desired destination instead of the golf course.

NOTES: Thomas Vanek scored a natural hat trick in the 3rd period. Amazingly enough, this is the 2nd natural hat trick against the same Tampa Bay Lightning this season.  I do not have a stat for this, but I wonder if this is a 1st in NHL history for a player to have 2 Natural Hat Tricks in one season against the same team. An amazing performance by Thomas when the Sabres needed it most.  Buffalo currently sits in 9th place in the Eastern Conference with 81 points, one point behind the 8th seeded Philadelphia Flyers. The Sabres host the Toronto Maple Leafs at HSBC arena Friday night. 

AP Photo Courtesy Getty Images by Bruce Bennett 

Hey Steve. Ole buddy old pal. Where are you?!?!?!?!?! Good god. Where can he be? Hopefully, highly intoxicated at his dorm or at home cause that’s right. It’s Spring Break. He should be out partying his ass off! Or maybe Lepore just can’t believe his beloved Devils didn’t win again in what’s suddenly become a role reversal favoring the other side of the Hudson.

I hope you drank up cause you certainly weren’t to be found on the NYHR earlier! ;) Well, if I were a Dev fan, I’d be pretty ticked off too. Especially when their team came out very hungry and clinged to a one-goal lead for seemingly ever until Mr. Clutch Chris Drury does what he does scoring a big goal for his team-leading 23rd with a shade under five minutes left in regulation.

So, how did it the latest tough defeat to their bitter Hudson rivals begin to turn? Well, one could point to the goalie who clearly is in the Devils’ heads. The one who somehow didn’t get tabbed one of the game’s three stars even though it was two of his clutch stops which prevented the Devs from getting just enough cushion to walk away with a ‘W.’

Yes. Henrik Lundqvist earned his money tonight with pivotal stops on Zach Parise and Mike Mottau early in the third which allowed his team to stay within striking distance. Without those timely saves on what wasn’t a busy night for either franchise goalie including the game’s top star Marty Brodeur (20 saves), the Blueshirts don’t comeback to win or even get a point because that’s how tightly contested it was.

This was old school clutch and grab hockey with the new BHL (Bettman Hockey League) rules tossed out. How else can you expect Sean Avery to get away with an innocent stick too close to David Clarkson’s mug before the drop of the puck in the middle stanza? Oh. There’s definitely no love lost between those two. Especially with Avery’s pre-game antics back in October and Clarkson’s late cheap hit on Michal Rozsival early on which resulted in one of the more entertaining portions of the game- a whale of a scrap between the combatants going toe to toe despite Clarkson towering over Avery and getting the decision. Why Avery would continue to stand in there and not let the refs break it up had to be pride. To the Irishman’s credit, he cameback strong in the second half.

I guess I just admired Avery for not backing down and standing up for a fallen teammate on what on most nights is a minor penalty. But this wasn’t most nights. Especially when these two teams get together. It’s a given it will be close. There’s really not much difference in terms of style as both play detail oriented systems relying on their star netminders to make timely stops.

Perhaps the Rangers have a little more balance up front where they can send out three scoring lines to the Devs’ two and a half. Even if top scorer Patrik Elias missed last night, give Brent Sutter plenty of credit for constructing a big line of Michael Rupp, Dainius Zubrus and Clarkson as the trio injected energy by hitting and even tallying their team’s lone goal via a power play. Yes. An actual POWER PLAY GOAL was scored by the Devils against the Rangers! Zubrus put home a nice Rupp setup for the resurgent forward’s third in the last three.

That like hadn’t happened in ages. They were something like 0 for their last 32. The Ranger PK is good but how’s that even possible?

As for the Ranger PP, haha. That’s another story altogether. They just totally SUCKED. With the exception of a great setup from Marty owner Nigel Dawes where Fedor Tyutin hit not one but two posts with Mr. Boo Scott Gomez just missing on the rebound, it was the Ranger man-ad disadvantage.

For a game which only had a combined 39 shots with the Rangers holding a 21-18 edge, the goalies each made a few enormous saves. No. Neither had to stand on their head but both were good when needed. Brodeur stonewalled Marty Straka on a clean breakaway getting the paddle on his low shot. He also had to dive across to stop a chance off D-man Colin White.

Lundqvist stopped Mottau’s right point try with Clarkson screening early in the third and then flat out robbed Parise on a great Brian Gionta setup during a NJ power play.

Drury’s tying marker with 4:46 left came off great hustle by Ryan Callahan, who beat NJ defenders behind the net before walking out and finding the open centerman, who made no mistake burying it and emphatically pumping his fist.

The four-on-four in overtime was just as carefully played as regulation forcing a predictable shootout. In it, only Dawes would tally when he faked a shot and froze Brodeur before going five-hole.

Lundqvist stopped Devil shooters Jamie Langenbrunner (left pad), Gionta (left pad) and Parise (right pad forcing Zach’s forehand deke off).

From our vantage point at least, it seemed that Lundqvist had the Devils three big shooters beaten as all three didn’t really do what you’d expect. Both Langenbrunner and Gionta usually deke but each tried wrist shots low which Henrik stopped without a problem. Parise kind of hesitated before his forehand deke left him little angle making it an easy stop for Lundqvist improving him to 6-0 vs the Devs this season.

It’s the first time the Rangers have won six straight over New Jersey since that year. Let’s not say anymore.

Gotta love the postgame reaction of Brodeur. Either he’s really a sore loser or just needs a few drinks to cool off.

“Well, he missed the shot. (OH REALLY) He was going to shoot it, I think low blocker and it kind of hit and went off his heel low. My stick was off the ice because I was reading something else.”

Maybe Brodeur has been listening to too much Chico Resch cause this was about as lame an excuse as the future Hall of Famer could make. He got beat by a great move. But because Nigel’s a Ranger, the normally unflappable veteran goalie couldn’t give the 23 year-old rookie credit. We get it Marty. You can’t stand the fact that Nigel’s had your number all season (four early goals before evolving into a reliable regular).

We get that you can’t stand losing to the Rangers. Well, buddy. Keep singing your tune about having more points because it won’t mean anything if your team loses to them in say the Eastern Conference Semifinals. I’m going on record as saying if they were to meet, I like the Rangers’ chances.

I also guaranteed victory last night to Steve. That’s how confident I was. I just feel if they play their game, they’re the better team no matter what comes out of Brodeur’s mouth. They match up this time. I’m more concerned with the Habs, Pens and Senators because those are more likely opponents as are the Southeast-leading Hurricanes.

The Devs likely will hang on and win the Atlantic and either be a 1 or 2 seed. Figure the Rangers to be anything from a 4 to the 6 they currently are. If the scenario plays out that way, both teams will have to win their first round to even contemplate a playoff series.

As for Dawes who improved to four-for-six in the skill competition and has become the new Ranger version of The Closer, the Manitoban whose game is looking more and more like Gionta’s everyday had a chuckle:

“I might not have gotten as much on it as I wanted to, but my intention was to go 5-hole. I wanted to try to get him to freeze a little bit, and I got him with a good fake. Then I wanted to get him as he was trying to reset.”

It’s been replayed enough times already and that’s exactly what it looked like. He faked shot by pumping the leg and froze Brodeur, then fired between the legs.

A great move and finish by a poised kid.

Too bad such an admirable guy couldn’t show a little in the post-game. Well, they meet again at MSG next week. See ya there!

With faceoff about 10 minutes away, I’ll be hosting the NY Hockey Report around the third.

We’ll be airing live in our usual spot between 9 and 10.  MAKE THAT 10-11 as co-host Gary Harding booked for an hour ahead due to daylight savings!

Fellow Devil blogger Steve Lepore might be calling in at some point to join me and give postgame analysis.

Please tune in or better yet give us a call!

646-716-7209

Tom Renney has opted to stay the course and put the same team that looked fairly impressive for most of the night last night back out there again tonight when the Rangers take on the Devils in New Jersey.

Petr Prucha, Ryan Hollweg, Jason Strudwick and Paul Mara will be the scratches tonight. Fredrik Sjorstrom earned his keep last night with the game-winning goal at a crucial time for the Blueshirts, but I still feel that the power play would benefit more from Prucha’s presence in the lineup. Hollweg’s energy is missed, but the scoring touch is a nice addition to the otherwise checking fourth line. Henrik Lundqvist will be back in the net, with Stephen Valiquette likely starting Friday against Philadelphia.

Unfortunately for me, MSG will be airing the Buffalo vs. Tampa Bay game tonight and the New York Knicks game on Friday. I don’t get MSG2, for Friday’s game, and won’t be around a computer or radio for tonight’s game. I’ll do my best to post, but not seeing or hearing anything firsthand won’t allow me to do any kind of analysis. Enjoy these two big games, should be great hockey.

It didn’t come easy and certainly wasn’t pretty but style points for winning games doesn’t matter. Especially at this critical juncture with the playoff race upon us.

The Rangers managed to pull out a 5-2 victory over the Atlantic rival Penguins on home ice last night. Oh. The start was splendid as they got the first couple on a shaky Ty Conklin.

First, Sean Avery atoned for missing an open wrap-around (hit post) by taking a Jaromir Jagr drop pass and wristing one top shelf for the first of two on the night. Tom Renney wanted his team to be more simple with the puck firing and going hard to the net.

The best example of that was rookie Ryan Callahan, whose hard work paid dividends when he got to a Chris Drury rebound and potted his eighth giving that key line their first point in six games. The goal came only 30 seconds after Avery’s opener putting a much sharper Blueshirt team (than in Florida) two goals in front.

If they were by far the superior team through 20, somebody forgot to tell them that the game is 60 minutes long! It took the Pens just the opening 3:11 of the second to knot the contest.

First, a dreadful line change led to a Jarkko Ruutu breakaway from center ice. No. This isn’t a misprint! That agitator really did get an outlet and then walked in as he does quite effectively in shootouts and calmly went to the backhand flipping it past Henrik Lundqvist upstairs. Not bad for a guy who likes to muck it up ticking off opponents.

He does skate very well and has some skill if you’ve caught a couple of Pens’ shootouts. So I wasn’t too shocked when he scored. That it was only his third of the season 98 seconds in to slice the Ranger lead in half was. Ruutu could probably score more.

The Pens suddenly were uplifted and would soon tie it thanks to another Lundqvist stickhandling blunder. Every Ranger fan knows how scary he can be when coming out of the net to play the puck. This time, his indecisiveness caused confusion in front leading directly to Jordan Staal’s 11th from one-time Ranger Pascal Dupuis and Marian Hossa 1:33 later tying it at two forcing Renney to call a timeout.

Good thing he did because who knows what would’ve happened? It worked as on the very next shift, Fredrik Sjostrom stole the puck on a bad Pen giveaway and then walked in deked Conklin before going to the forehand for his second goal as a Ranger with both coming at MSG.

The unassisted tally came only 44 seconds later and restored order for his team. Lundqvist then made up for his miscue by robbing a Pen on an identical backhand try from in close.

Despite both teams being guilty of bad turnovers, the game remained 3-2 entering the third. It was there that a recharged Ranger team took control getting both goals off hard work. First, Avery got to a rebound of a Dan Girardi routine right point shot, depositing the loose change for his 15th in just 48 games. Just imagine if the potential UFA hadn’t missed a good chunk of action.

The crowd responded by giving him some love chanting, “Re-sign Avery, Re-sign Avery.”

Why not? Where would this team be without the former King? He’s just been playing hockey lately and not mixing it up as much. Word of advice for you Sean. Please continue doing what you have been and don’t pull any shenanigans tonight at The Rock against your favorite opponent Marty Brodeur and the Devils. Let’s just try to stay with a simple formula which has our team five-for-five entering another big game.

I’d much rather have Avery infuriate the Devs with his work in front by potting a big goal and leaving Brodeur wondering why he ran his mouth in yesterday’s Post. I liked Lundqvist’s reply after the game tonight saying, “We know we can beat them.”

We’ll see if that holds true later tonight in what should be a heated rivalry game.

Another slumping Ranger resurfaced as Marty Straka got on the board by deflecting home a Drury shot for his 13th with 8:31 left to conclude the scoring.

He played much better as did linemates Drury and Callahan, who was finishing every check.

This was a good win and came at an appropriate time with the rival Flyers posting a 3-2 home win over Atlanta. So the Rangers are now in sixth by their lonesome at 85 points with nine games left all versus the division. One which now has them an Atlantic best 16-6-1 entering tonight.

Notes: D Marek Malik returned from an upper body injury and didn’t show any rust logging over 18 minutes while finishing plus-three. He really does boost the blueline. Especially when you can shift rookie Marc Staal to third pair with the adventurous Christian Backman, who at least has looked a little more comfortable lately. … Avery’s 15 goals matched a career high with one team back in 2005-06 when he got 15 with the Kings. He’s three away from last season’s combined 18 goal total (LA-10, NYR-8). … Devils expect to have D Colin White back from injury while F Patrik Elias might be forced to sit this one out. 

In other East action last night, the Caps defeated the Preds 4-2 on the strength of Alexander Ovechkin’s league-leading 58th plus two helpers putting the Russian over the century mark for the second time in three seasons. He leads the league with 102 points, five better than Evgeni Malkin who was kept off the scoresheet last night. … The Habs gained a point in a home 4-3 shootout defeat tying the Devs atop the conference with 90 points. However, NJ has two more games left and two extra wins. So they still rank No.1.

The Rangers take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight, kicking off the final ten games of the regular season. All ten games will be against Eastern Conference opponents, so saying that every game is crucial would be an understatement.

The Penguins will be without Sidney Crosby, but remain a formidable opponent none-the-less. For the Rangers, Petr Prucha, Ryan Hollweg, Paul Mara and Jason Strudwick will be healthy scratches. Marek Malik goes back into the lineup alongside Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal goes back to skating with Christian Backman. The good news is that everyone is healthy, the bad news is that Prucha and Hollweg continue to be wasted on the bench.

Henrik Lundqvist will be back in net tonight, as the Rangers look to get back on track after back to back unmotivated games against the Panthers and Lightning. If they can’t get motivated for the Penguins, Flyers, Islanders and Devils, then this team doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs. Their best games this season, however, have come against these teams, so let’s see if this translates into home-ice advantage in the playoffs. A clean two points in at least seven of these last ten games would put the Rangers in a great position.

Enjoy the game. I’ll check in later on.