At the conclusion of last night’s Game Four, we made an interesting but true discovery on Pens’ superstar Sidney Crosby. Sid The Kid apparently wanted to explain:

The Battle of New York would like curious observers to note that this is only for satire purposes and not to be taken seriously. Thank you! 

Pretty self explanatory, huh? This just in…the Colorado Avalanche have confirmed that it was the 1987-88 Quebeck Nordiques on the ice against Johan Franzen and the Red Wings. That’s also still when Peter Forsberg last had good groins.

Ah. At least I didn’t take the Avs to win that series outright.

With their backs to the wall, the two best Rangers stepped up to deliver a huge 3-0 Game Four shutout win over the Penguins before a very supportive Madison Square Garden earlier tonight.

Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist performed the way your best players should play in such a situation. Faced with the prospect of an ugly second round sweep at home, the extremely motivated Ranger captain and a much sharper Lundqvist wouldn’t allow it to happen.

Playing his most inspired hockey since finishing runner-up to Joe Thornton for the 2005-06 Hart Trophy, Jagr again was a one-man wrecking crew in this game notching two goals and an assist to stave off elimination against his former club.

It was the 36 year-old Czech’s highlight reel wrister which broke a scoreless contest with 7:15 remaining in the second period. Taking a pass in front of his bench at the Pens’ blueline, Jagr then skated with purpose using Sergei Gonchar as a screen ripping his fourth home. Vintage No.68. That he took a tough high hit from Gonchar’s partner Brooks Orpik falling flat to the ice was awe inspiring. 

A couple of minutes after he got up under his own power, Jagr received a rousing ovation and deserving chants of, “Ja–gr, Ja–gr, Ja–gr!!!!!”

“It’s great, but we have to make sure we play a little longer,” the determined Czech later told a group of reporters at his locker of the chants.

“Enjoy the moment. It’s too bad that we got into a tough situation. Maybe it’s happening for a reason that we’re down 3-0. You never know. We should just play.”

One thing about the Garden is they know what’s going on and especially when to give a special player overwhelming support. There have been instances where I’ve been on his case but in these playoffs, Jagr has turned back the clock and flat out dominated. He’s trying to will this team right now and it’s really something to watch. Given all the uncertainty on whether he’ll return next season, our fanbase showed him the love and respect he deserves.

When you witness a superstar playing at this level in what’s supposed to be the twilight of his career, it just does something. I can’t remember being so energized. I was practically telling people to stand up at times. That’s how badly I wanted this game.

If Jagr did his thing hiking his total to a postseason best 15 points (5-10-15), then the same could also be said for Lundqvist. A couple of nights removed from a subpar showing, the Vezina candidate bounced back strongly playing to capability by shutting the door on the highly skilled Pens, who for the first half were dictating the action but never could beat the 26 year-old Swedish netminder.

His rebound control was superb. Everytime the Pens threatened, Lundqvist silenced them with timely stops. There weren’t a ton of shots until the Jagr goal. Pittsburgh held an 11-7 edge. Behind following Jagr’s spectacular goal, the Penguins killed off a Ranger power play and then got the kind of chance they’ve been burying.

Here came the game’s most dangerous player Evgeni Malkin in on Lundqvist looking for the tying goal. Did the 21 year-old Russian score? After a lengthy review with Toronto involved, they ruled that Lundqvist was shoved in by Malkin as the net came off.

Still, the refs appropriately rewarded Malkin with a penalty shot because Ranger defenseman Dan Girardi pushed him from behind. So, even if a few of the fans from our section protested, it was a good call. Yet after the game there you had Michel Therrien whining much like his star captain Sidney Crosby. What would you expect? Let him complain when his best player still had the puck one-on-one against Lundqvist with a chance to tie it up and swing the momentum.

Here came Malkin again at a very deliberate pace trying to get Lundqvist to flinch first. Only the Ranger netminder never did instead getting his glove on the shot and turning it aside. By now, a place full of believers were delirious. I knew right then they weren’t going to lose. Not the way Lundqvist was playing.

“Last game was a tough one,” he said. “It’s not a new series, but hopefully we have them thinking. We think we can do it. We’re going to go for it in Pittsburgh. There’s no other way for us.”

Inspired by their teammate’s huge save, the Rangers outworked the Pens on the next shift drawing a hooking penalty. Now, given how inept it had been maybe most didn’t think much of it. Especially when Pittsburgh easily killed off the first 46 seconds as the second expired. It’s usually hard to capitalize when a man-advantage is split up. However, for once the Blueshirts made it work thanks to some excellent puck possession from Jagr, Martin Straka and rookie pivot Brandon Dubinsky.

Keeping the puck down low away from attacking Pens, they finally got it to the net. Even after being illegally taken down by Hal Gill, Dubinsky recovered and drove a turnaround shot past Marc-Andre Fleury for his first of the series 44 seconds into the third.

Humongous lift!

Instead of sitting back as they normally would under Tom Renney, the Rangers kept pushing forward drawing a couple of more penalties with even Crosby and Malkin taking frustration roughs following a clean Girardi takeout of Marian Hossa.

The Rangers played a more physical brand of hockey even without Sean Avery and Blair Betts, finishing checks and getting under the skin of their opponent. They also won the special teams battle effectively killing off all four Pittsburgh power plays while converting twice in seven chances.

Thanks to some diligent work late, Pascal Dupuis went to the sin bin for a high stick with 1:14 remaining. Sixty seconds later, Jagr put the exclamation point on a great Game Four hitting the empty net for his fifth.

When the three stars were announced, the game’s second star got the loudest cheers along with more chants including:

“Jar—o—mir Ja—gr, Jar—o—mir Ja—gr, Jar—o—mir Ja—gr!!!!!”

He might’ve been tabbed second star but everyone knew who the true No.1 star of this game was. Even if Lundqvist had done the job making all 29 saves, it was the Ranger team captain who led by example bringing hope back to his team.

“We have to believe,” No.68 pointed out. “That’s where you start everything. If you don’t believe, you don’t have a chance. You have to believe that anything is possible. Then you have to put the pieces together.”

“He is a driven man right now,” a prideful Renney noted of his superstar. “We are going back to Pittsburgh still in the series, and that is the most important thing. We live to play another day and we intend to win.”

Notes: The Pens were looking to start the playoffs 8-0 which hadn’t happened since the 1985 Edmonton Oilers, who repeated as Stanley Cup champs. … Veteran forward Gary Roberts made his first appearance in the series replacing injured Pen teammate Max Talbot. He played 7:33 finishing without a shot. … Petr Prucha was inserted into the Ranger lineup playing alongside a gritty Chris Drury and Brendan Shanahan. Even with a rib problem, Drury logged nearly 21 minutes and assisted on Jagr’s empty netter. Prucha meanwhile got over 10 minutes and had two SOG. … Ryan Hollweg shifted to center a fourth line of Fredrik Sjostrom and Colton Orr which hardly played with Renney wisely giving more ice-time to his best players. … Veteran D Jason Strudwick (10:15 TOI) dressed in place of Christian Backman teaming effectively with Paul Mara. Rangers outhit the Penguins 40-36 with Girardi leading the charge with six. For Pitt, Orpik paced everyone with eight while Jordan Staal had six. … As has been a theme in the series, the Pens blocked 20 shots to the Blueshirts 12. … Fleury finished with 31 saves. … The teams get an extra day off to recovery with Game Five slated for 2 ET Sunday on NBC. Game Six would be back at MSG the following night with a potential Game Seven Wednesday back in Pittsburgh.

Update: I was wrong and Orr was in tonight… Great win for the Blueshirts… Look for some recaps later tonight and tomorrow.

You are reading that right, Lauri Korpikoski will make his NHL debut in the most important game of the New York Rangers’ season. Blair Betts has an orbital fracture under his left eye, and will require surgery to fix it. This is the same surgery that fellow Ranger Paul Mara underwent towards the end of the regular season. Chris Drury is experiencing some kind of rib injury, but has been telling teammates that he is ready to play tonight. So here are the lines for tonight, should Drury play:

Straka - Dubinsky - Jagr

Prucha - Gomez - Shanahan

Callahan - Drury - Dawes

Hollweg - Korpikoski - Sjostrom

As for defense, Jason Strudwick may be entering the lineup for Christian Backman tonight, who has done nothing impressive this series. I am not in favor of the Korpikoski move, as Colton Orr would be a much better choice to man the fourth line with Ryan Hollweg shifting to center. The line gets all of six minutes a game though, so it really shouldn’t make a difference.

With both Betts and Sean Avery out of the lineup, and Drury nowhere near 100%, the Blueshirts will be missing three penalty killers. Tonight more than ever they must stay out of the penalty box. Jaromir Jagr has to play like the man he was the last two games and every puck that has a chance to get in front of the net, needs to get there. Hollweg, Callahan and Prucha need to get powerplay time and battle in front of the net and create havoc for Marc-Andre Fleury.

Henrik Lundqvist also has to be better tonight. While he stole the show in game two, he was awful in game three. Coming back isn’t impossible, and I’m even still optimistic because this has been such a close series so far. Four in a row will be tough, but no insurmountable. Here’s to hoping I can write another one of these on Sunday.

As was reported in other media outlets along with fellow Ranger blogger Lenny when the alarming news came down about Sean Avery, the 28 year-old left wing remained in intensive care earlier today a couple of days after lacerating his spleen during a Game Three home defeat.

“He won’t be removed from there until it stops bleeding, and it hasn’t,” Ranger team spokesman John Rosasco informed reporters at this morning’s skate prior to tonight’s Game Four.

Avery was visited by a handful of teammates Wednesday. According to St. Vincent’s Medical Hospital spokesman Michael Fagan, the Toronto native is in stable condition but still has internal bleeding.

“It’s a tough loss to lose him, but we’ve got a lot of guys in here,” forward Ryan Callahan said as the team prepared for a must win situation with the Rangers trailing the Penguins 3-0 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinal series.

“He’s an important part of our team, obviously,” Ranger rookie pivot Brandon Dubinsky noted of a teammate who’s produced seven points (4-3-7) in the postseason.

“At the same time, we have a job to do. … We can’t sit here feeling sorry for ourselves and being sad and having the ‘poor me’ thought because one of our players is out.”

That job will continue tonight where it’s also expected that Blair Betts (face) will be out with Chris Drury (ribs) doubtful.

We’ll see if the team draws inspiration from Avery.

Wishing the forward the very best for a speedy recovery!

As the final buzzer sounded in Philadelphia last night and the Flyers took a stunning 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the “anointed” 2008 Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens (at least in Montreal, because they feel it is their birthright to win it if they are towards the top), I was smiling. Now some of you who know me might be thinking it makes perfect sense, as a Sabres fan of over 25 years, it is easy to dislike the Habs and seeing them lose gives me great joy.

But this was a bit different: I was not smiling at the joy of seeing the Habs lose, but more at the fact the Philadelphia was winning. Wait, what in the world is this? I am smiling for a team that the Sabres have played 5 times in the playoffs since 1995, and have had wars with, and how in the world can I take joy in a city that has some of the most obnixious fans on this planet?

The answer is…yes.

Why you ask would I EVER root for the Flyers? Maybe it is the Sabres Connection: Martin Biron was a Sabre for 10 years, and had some nice moments with the team, but was never really given a chance to prove himself as a clear #1 goalie. When the time came for that, the sabres were frankly not that good, and Biron was decent. Enter Ryan Miller along with the influx of talent, and the Sabres took off and Biron was regulated to a backup role again.

Biron was a ‘good solider’ during this time, and even after Biron subbed for Miller when he was injured in 2006-2007 and won 13 straight starts, Biron went back to the bench and never complained. For that I always commended him, and was happy that he was given a chance to show his skills in Philadelphia.

And now that Biron is having a fabulous run for the Flyers, I am happy for him. Happy that now he was given the chance to be a starter, a REAL chance. Happy that his team did not panic and trade for a goalie at the deadline in typical Philly fashion. Happy that Biron has shut up the skeptics and morons that call 610 WIP in Philly lambasting Biron.

Another reason is Danny Briere. You may ask yourself, he left for greener pa$ture$, why would you like to see him succeed? Why? Because the fact Briere has netted 14 points so far in the NHL Playoffs, including a league high 8 goals, is a slap in the face to Sabres President Larry Quinn, who really plays the big hand on the issues surrounding the poor negotiating tactics of Quinn and his asylum in Western New York.

So I say “good for you Danny and Marty” and shove it right in Quinn’s face. Maybe Quinn can take a look at the Flyers and think what could have been, as the Sabres sit on the outside looking in.