No Mas: Henrik Lundqvist pulled himself during a disappointing loss to Roberto Luongo in a battle of elite goalies that never unfolded.

If this had been a prize fight, it would’ve got stopped after five rounds. Much like Roberto Duran did versus Sugar Ray Leonard in their infamous rematch, Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist said, “No Mas” to the Canucks.

With his team failing to show up, King Henrik couldn’t bail them out this time serving up two breakaway goals and three more in a 4:10 span early in the second in what was as uncompetitive a game by the first place Rangers all season. Instead, it was the Canucks getting superior goaltending from their star netminder with Roberto Luongo winning by TKO in the highly anticipated goalie match-up which never materialized as Vancouver got the first four scoring five of six in cruising to a 6-3 win at a disillusioned Garden last night ending the Rangers’ three-game win streak.

Lundqvist wasn’t solely at fault for the poor showing which saw a flat Ranger team finally get what was coming to them for once again failing to show early in a match falling behind 4:16 in when Mattias Ohlund found an open Kyle Wellwood, who got between the gap of the worst Ranger defense pair of Dmitri Kalinin and Michal Rozsival breaking in on the Ranger goalie and deking him to the forehand for his eighth.

The team didn’t come to life with instead an ugly epidemic rearing its ugly head again when not only did the Ranger power play fail but again saw its own shadow (Groundhog Day anyone???) yielding another crushing shorthanded goal thanks to a Wade Redden misplay leading directly to an Alex Burrows breakaway goal with him going stickside doubling the margin at 9:38. The league worst seventh SHG they’ve allowed which remarkably is the identical number they’ve given up while a man short. How’s this possible?

If that weren’t bad enough, a faster Vancouver team continued to attack getting glorious chances creating three-on-two’s down low but misfiring. Had they hit the net, there’s little doubt that it could’ve been four or five goals in the first for goal and point franchise leader Markus Naslund’s former team which didn’t sit well as the current Ranger alternate who was one of a handful to show ripped into his new teammates while heaping praise on his former friends.

It only got worse with the Canucks continuing to expose the Rangers who were deficient in every aspect giving pucks away, failing to backcheck and not finishing checks. Maybe it could’ve been different had Brandon Dubinsky shot instead of going around the net with Luongo down with a chance to tie. It was his hard pass which Redden mishandled before committing another blunder. Though the coach only chose to talk to his second-year pivot whose game is slipping.

That much continued to be evident when his sloppy giveaway led directly to Ryan Johnson’s first unassisted for a 3-0 Canuck lead. The follies continued on the next shift when Nigel Dawes blocked a shot breaking his stick and was replaced by Fredrik Sjostrom too late with the ‘Nucks taking complete advantage when Taylor Pyatt setup an uncovered Ryan Johnson for his first as a Canuck. You know things are going bad when a journeyman connects.

Down four, they finally cashed in on one of four Shane O’Brien minors when captain Chris Drury took a Redden pass and beat the Canucks down the ice going to the backhand for his club-leading eighth on the power play cutting the deficit to three 51 ticks later. The momentum proved shortlived due to an undisciplined Colton Orr offensive zone interference penalty getting him into the doghouse as he never saw the ice again.

A questionable crosscheck on Paul Mara handed Vancouver a 5-on-3 and they technically scored twice or so it appeared. First, a Sami Salo blast trickled past Lundqvist and seemed to cross the goalline. However, the officials never called it a goal with play continuing before going to video review. Somehow, they couldn’t overrule it. My guess is it must’ve been 99.9 percent over and they just couldn’t find the definitive angle to overturn it.

Either way, it became moot 20 seconds after a Rozsival crosscheck which kept the Canucks on the two-man advantage longer. Though his penalty didn’t get served until Pavol Demitra drove an unscreened shot off the right post and in, it just made life more difficult.

At that point, Lundqvist had had enough immediately skating to the bench pulling himself after allowing five goals on 17 shots. This wasn’t the first time either. It happened last season too. I’m all for a goalie feeling like he’s not giving the team a spark but shouldn’t the coach make the decision? Lundqvist’s not Martin Brodeur. He shouldn’t be making the call which was disturbing. Though the last goal he gave up was the only one he should’ve had which might explain the disappointed look on the bench after deciding Stephen Valiquette needed some work.

The Ranger backup who hadn’t played since that third period assault in Toronto at the beginning of the month was very sharp robbing Wellwood three times on the ensuing 5-on-3. He gave them a chance to comeback stopping all 15 shots he saw.

By that point, I’d already left the house needing to get some fresh air taking a ride to a couple of old spots while listening to the second and most of the third on the radio. If I may, how’s it possible that this team could be carried on ESPN1050? It’s just God awful! The station barely comes in and half the time, you get oldies music even though I’ll say most of the time, the selections are good. But come on!

No Ranger fan in their right mind wants to hear a mixture of oldies with the game almost unlistenable. This is a complete disgrace. ESPN will never ever get the respect that WFAN has unless it finds a better frequency. It’s gotten that bad. When it’s a much easier listen on secondary station AM770, there’s a big problem. And frankly, I know I’m far from alone here. I’m fed up!

Anyway, enough about that. I just needed to rant. Anyway, at the very least, I managed to pick up Aaron Voros’ seventh goal which came off a faceoff in which it sounded like he chipped it off Luongo and in cutting it to 5-2 with 11:28 still left in the second. Something Kenny Albert and Dave Maloney drove home because unlike the Senator game where nothing was happening, this game had lots of skating, scoring and chances.

The Rangers certainly had enough opportunities to get back in it. The difference was Luongo, who despite allowing three goals for the first time in seven starts. Last night was his 14th straight between the pipes finishing with a season high 39 saves.

That speaks to the weirdness of this Ranger club. They never start well and this game was inexcusable falling behind by four twice before finally playing. The one characteristic I like about this team is they never seem to give up. I could tell on the radio coming back that they were coming and if not for some timely stops by one of the league’s best, they actually might have come all the way back.

Luongo made two big saves on Mara with him setup on the doorstep down one in the first and another midway through the third with the score 5-3 after Ryan Callahan tallied his sixth- a PPG setup by Naslund and Drury with 12:15 left.

His biggest save came when he robbed Redden pointblank somehow getting across with the glove up to deny a backhand rebound late in the second. He scores there and it makes coming back a lot easier. The defenseman also had bad luck on another glorious chance hitting both posts during a power play in the first minute of the third.

So, they had their shots. Luongo was very good in this game because his team clearly sat back and relaxed when they built their lead. I get why. You’re up four against a team which hasn’t shown it can score. But the Rangers do seem to play better as games wear on and are resilient.

While it’s easy to credit them for not throwing in the towel, this was a very bad performance and they paid dearly hanging out their franchise goalie to dry in a big match which all of Canada saw. So, you know he was extremely disappointed.

The team failed on a late PP which could’ve made it even more entertaining. I might’ve pulled Valiquette for an extra attacker. What’s the harm? There were four and a half minutes left. If you don’t score during the first half, pull him with three and change to go. Just another example of our coach being too conservative.

Vancouver eventually hit the empty net with an Ohlund shot redirected by Daniel Sedin with less than three seconds left putting the stamp on it.

THREE STARS:

3rd Star-Mattias Ohlund, Van (3 assists, 2 SOG, plus-four in 21:13)

2nd Star-Roberto Luongo, Van (season best 39 saves incl. 16 of 17 in 3rd)

1st Star-Alex Burrows, Van (2 goals incl. SHG, 3 SOG, plus-one in 18:12)

Notes: Eleven difference Canucks registered a point with Pyatt and Jannik Hansen each tallying two assists. … In a losing cause, Drury finished with a goal and an assist along with a game high seven shots topping all forward in ice-time (23:59). … Against his ex-team, Naslund registered an assist finishing with three shots and an Even rating in 22:44. … Nikolai Zherdev was again quiet with only two SOG, minus-two in 20:03. … With a helper, Dawes has points in three of his last four. … The lone bright spot was the Ranger PP which went 2-for-6 though they didn’t capitalize when they really needed to. … Rangers (14-6-2, 30 Pts) get the next two days off to review what went wrong before visiting favorite antagonist Jarkko Ruutu and Ottawa Saturday afternoon at 3 ET.

That was about as brutal a period as the Rangers could play. They got beat to loose pucks all over the ice with the Canucks converting two breakaways with Wellwood (deke) and Burrows (stickside) each tallying with the latter victimizing our disgusting power play for a league worst seventh time.

This has to stop. Also, Redden and Rozsival were the main culprits on the two goals against. Yet there was our coach talking to Dubinsky. Why not one of the vets? Typical double standards.

The penalty on Voros was weak. He did nothing. However, if the Canucks finished, they’d be up 5-0.

I’m taking a shower. I feel dirty after watching that. Let’s see what they come up with the next two periods.

East meets West when King Henrik battles Roberto Luongo.

They’re Kings of their own domain. Both dominating in net for their respective clubs. Much like when Rocky took on Ivan Drago, East will meet West again when Ranger netminder Henrik Lundqvist battles Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo tonight at the Garden.

The game features two of the elite goalies in the game with Luongo’s five shutouts leading the league while King Henrik ranks first with 12 wins and tied for third with a miniscule 1.92 GAA. About the only surprise headed into the match is that Lundqvist, who led the league last year with 10 shutouts has failed to post one yet. Could it happen tonight against one of the best goaltenders who he’s had great success against outplaying him in all three career meetings back in his rookie season (2005-06) when Luongo was still a Panther?

We’ll just have to wait and see if the outcome will be similar because Luongo’s on a much better team with the Canucks (10-6-2, 22 Pts) tied for fourth in an ultra competitive West where four total points separates third place Minnesota from ninth place Nashville and Columbus.

Vancouver is eerily similar to the East-leading Rangers (14-5-2, 30 Pts) relying on the stellar play of their netminder while getting timely scoring from a balanced offense led by Daniel and Henrik Sedin. Henrik leads them with 15 points (3-12-15) while brother Daniel’s six goals are second to former Leaf Kyle Wellwood, who’s played very well thus far scoring big goals to rebound from an injury plagued 2007-08 with seven markers.

Unlike last season, the Canucks possess a more balanced attack with youngsters Ryan Kesler and Mason Raymond contributing along with the pesky Alex Burrows. Veteran pickup Pavol Demitra recently returned from injury scoring the lone goal in a 2-1 shootout loss at the Islanders Monday. He also netted three assists in a win over Toronto on Hockey Night In Canada.

Demitra is helping replace former Canuck Markus Naslund, who faces the team he rose to stardom with after coming over from the Penguins for <gulp> the immortal Alek Stojanov. Gee. I wonder who won that one.

In over 11 seasons spent in British Columbia, Naslund scored 346 goals including 30 or better six times hitting at least 40 in three straight seasons from 2000-01 through 2002-03 with his best coming in ‘02-03 when he tallied 48 goals and 56 assists for 104 points- all career highs across the board. He also went 5-9-14 in the postseason with the ‘Nucks falling to the Wild blowing a 3-1 series lead after Todd Bertuzzi opened his mouth.

The former Canuck leader dropped off following the lockout going from 32 goals and 79 points in 2005-06 to 24 and 60 in 2006-07 to 25 and 55 in his final campaign last season. His lowest output in a decade when he went 14-20-34 in his second full season with Vancouver before becoming one of the better scorers in the league during a low scoring era.

Overall with the Canucks, Naslund scored 346 goals, 390 assists totaling 736 points in 884 games. Impressive marks for the skilled Swede once tabbed by Pittsburgh in the first round 16th overall back in 1991. Just imagine if Craig Patrick had kept him playing alongside Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Martin Straka and Alexei Kovalev. There’s no telling what they might’ve accomplished.

Instead, he went on to stardom in Vancouver becoming one of the most respected players before being shown the door by management who blamed him for their shortcomings. Considering that his production was down, maybe it was time for a change. He pursued the Rangers once before re-upping with the Canucks. Now signed with the Broadway club for two years, eight million, Naslund is tied for second in Ranger scoring with 14 points (6-8-14). He scored his biggest goal in the final minute tying Boston last Saturday as the club rallied from two back to post a 3-2 shootout win.

After coming out of the gate slowly, Naslund’s begun to fit in on a team which doesn’t rely on one or two players to score but rather a group which has seen at least seven Rangers with 11 points or more. Interestingly enough, for a team that doesn’t score a ton (57 GF in 21 GP), they’re tied with the Blues for third best in double digit scorers with only the high flying Western attacks of the league best Sharks and defending champion Red Wings getting more contributions with as many as 10 different players scoring at least 10 or more points thus far.

Naslund’s former club has at least six of those including solid defenseman Kevin Bieksa (3-8-11), who won’t be in Vancouver’s lineup due to a left foot fracture that has him on IR. A break for the Blueshirts, who themselves won’t have one of their better scorers in Scott Gomez (3-10-13), who will remain out for a fourth consecutive game with an ankle injury.

It’s worth noting that the game doesn’t start until 7:30 with drop of the puck around 7:38 with the game which can be seen locally on MSG also being televised by TSN which helps explain the late start.

As for the history between Luongo and Lundqvist as noted above, here’s a little more on it along with some other fun facts courtesy of The NHL Today in today’s notes:

FROM THE STAT WIZARDS AT ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU
– The Canucks play the Rangers in New York tonight with a likely matchup of goaltenders Roberto Luongo and Henrik Lundqvist. Luongo ranks third among NHL goaltenders with 127 wins over the last four seasons while Lundqvist’s 116 wins tie him with Marty Turco for fourth-most in the league over that span. The top two goaltenders on the list are New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur (141 wins) and Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff (131).

Lundqvist and Luongo have started against each other three times, all in 2005-06, Lundqvist’s rookie season and Luongo’s last season with the Florida Panthers. Lundqvist and the Rangers won all three games: two 4-0 shutouts at Madison Square Garden and a 4-3 shootout victory in Florida.

If you want to read an interesting article before the game, be sure to check out Sam Weinman’s special feature on Ranger captain Chris Drury’s special relationship with former BU teammate Travis Roy, who was paralyzed 13 years ago during a freak accident on his first collegiate shift.

The two have remained close since the incident with Drury raising money for Roy’s cause by hosting a golf tournament continuing to contribute to the Travis Roy Foundation to this day. They still speak regularly and it’s clear how much admiration they have for each other with Drury heaping praise on how well his former teammate has handled being a quadriplegic raising money and awareness for spinal cord injuries:

“He’s an inspiration to me and a lot of people just with what he deals with on a regular basis. He’s very upbeat. He has his goals and is very independent. I can’t imagine what he goes through. I don’t think anybody could. But I don’t think he could handle it better.“

I don’t think any of us could imagine having to go through life battling as hard as Roy does day in and day out. His story is extremely courageous and uplifting.  Tonight, he’ll be speaking out at Rye High School while one of his closest buddies takes the ice able to live out a lifelong dream he once had.

When you think all is lost, just remember how fortunate we really are.

With Gomez continuing to not progress, figure the lineup to remain the same:

Naslund-Drury-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Redden-Girardi

Staal-Mara

Kalinin-Rozsival

It’s a light schedule with the slumping Sabres visiting the Bruins at the top of the hour which can be viewed on yahoo online if you don’t get Center Ice. The late game features the sizzling Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals visiting the Ducks.

Ovechkin got out slowly but has been on fire lately:

– The Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin had only eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in his first 11 games this season but he’s scored 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) in the team’s last four games, with at least one goal and two points in each game. Ovechkin is the first Capitals player to register at least one goal and two points in each of four consecutive team games since Jaromir Jagr had two such four-game streaks in the 2001-02 season. The only player in Capitals history with a longer streak of that kind was Dennis Maruk in 1980-81 (five games).

Enjoy the night’s action.

Just how much is Jarkko Ruutu disliked? Here was Brandon Dubinsky’s take on the Senator pest via NYSD colleague Joe McDonald’s Ranger recap last night:

“He’s an idiot. He’s not professional out there. He tries to get under guys skin. It doesn’t matter. He’s not bothering me.”

The guy doesn’t deserve any respect just based on how he acts. That elbow against the Canadiens which got him a suspension is how he plays. And even worse, was his reaction when being sent off raising his arms to the crowd in salute with an evil grin. Despicable!

Ruutu is an effective player who can agitate and even contribute offensively as he can skate and has decent scoring ability though that’s not his purpose. However, he’s very dishonorable and deserves to be pounded into oblivion.

Maybe one of these days, he’ll get what’s coming to him. Saturday’s rematch would be nice.

The recipe was a similar one. Fall behind against a Northeastern foe. Get timely stops from Henrik Lundqvist. Come up with a tying third period goal to force overtime and then pull out all the stops to win another shootout in dramatic fashion exciting home supporters.

It’s true that the Rangers repeated all these characteristics which led to a thrilling comeback win over Boston over the weekend. But they also had to contend with cheapshot artist Jarkko Ruutu who throughout last night’s 2-1 shootout triumph over the last place Senators was up to his usual tricks trying to get a disciplined first place club off their game.

No matter what bush league garbage the renown pest pulled including firing a second offering at Lundqvist after fanning on his attempt in Round Two of the skill competition, ultimately the Blueshirts did what they had to do to get their third straight win improving to 14-5-2 good for 30 points proving they have staying power.

They didn’t play a poor game by any stretch but got the Sens’ best effort with the struggling club desperate to end a four-game slide with a little added incentive facing former defenseman Wade Redden. Not surprisingly, Ottawa aggressively attacked the net forcing Lundqvist to come up with tough saves in traffic. It still took a perfect play to beat the Ranger netminder who started for the 13th time in 14 games playing another strong game finishing with 27 saves to earn First Star.

With the game scoreless late in the second, Lundqvist’s former Swedish Olympic Gold teammate Daniel Alfredsson struck scoring off a broken play at 16:13 to snap a 10-game goal drought. With the puck along the left wall, the dangerous finisher used a legal pick from Dany Heatley to escape Michal Rozsival beating Fredrik Sjostrom to the slot before patiently shooting one through a screen low past Lundqvist. Heatley and Alexandre Picard tallied assists.

Without Scott Gomez who remained out with an ankle injury which looks to be more serious than first thought, the Ranger offense stagnated for a second consecutive game until the third period. They again saved their best for last with coach Tom Renney making some subtle line changes by sitting out Nikolai Zherdev and Aaron Voros for long stretches. In their place skated Nigel Dawes and Dan Fritsche who worked alongside Brandon Dubinsky with improving rookie Lauri Korpikoski shifted to the checking line with Sjostrom and Blair Betts.

The moves paid dividends with Korpikoski continuing his impressive play generating chances along with Betts and Sjostrom who all worked the puck in deep playing a straight line north/south game taking the body and winning the board battles. Some continued diligent work by the trio led to Sjostrom’s tying goal.

With the new line buzzing down low, a wraparound attempt deflected out to Marc Staal, whose shot was stopped by Alex Auld but a hustling Betts dug out the rebound passing to an open Sjostrom, who with the Ottawa goalie down went upstairs to tie it with 12:43 remaining. It was Sjostrom’s second of the season and first in 17 games. A deserving reward for a guy who never takes a shift off.

He was able to knot the contest thanks in large part to Lundqvist, who was splendid all night keeping the deficit at one with sparkling saves on Ruutu denying a two-on-one and a stone job on Antoine Vermette’s shorthanded bid getting the pad out.

The Rangers continued to need that kind of clutch goaltending just to earn a point with Lundqvist stopping an Ottawa barrage with under 10 minutes left denying Jason Spezza twice and Alfredsson right on the doorstep. He also shut the door on another Spezza opportunity when the Ottawa top pivot had a step on a Ranger for a mini-break.

The game went to OT where neither team could get much during the four-on-four with only the Rangers registering a shot which Auld repelled pushing it to another shootout. In Round One, Renney sent back out Zherdev, who did see a couple of late shifts with Voros in the third after being in the coach’s doghouse.

The fiery Russian who didn’t register a shot in 13:21 atoned making no mistake going five-hole on Auld to give his team the lead. With Lundqvist in net, that was enough to hold up with the King stopping Spezza, Ruutu and foiling Vermette’s backhand deke.

Afterwards while teammates congratulated him, club enforcer Colton Orr who got a rare power play shift along with Dubinsky and emerging team leader Paul Mara skated over in Ruutu’s direction giving him fair warning about his lack of respect firing another shot at their goalie which was a no-no. The same pest who only got two games for a blatant elbow last week from the league tried to go high on Staal during the first. Good thing the second-year defender got his head up before Voros stuck up for him.

This ain’t over. Not by a long shot. They might’ve silenced the 33 year-old Finn who always pushes the envelope with his cheapness. But you just know he’ll try something else when the same two teams faceoff four days from now for a 3 PM matinee up north.

It might just be worth watching.

Notes: Aside from Ruutu’s usual antics, both teams played very disciplined with each getting just three power plays with neither able to cash in. … In his first game versus his former club, Redden played a steady game logging 22:43 with one shot on goal, two takeaways while taking the body with four of the Rangers’ 53 hits. In an oddity which might explain why Zherdev sat, he was the only player who didn’t register a hit with even Rozsival credited with five. … One of the reasons Auld was so tough to beat was due to his teammates sacrificing their bodies by blocking 19 Ranger shots with Chris Phillips (4) and Anton Volchenkov (3) paving the way. By comparison, the home club got in the path of only five with Rozsival blocking a pair. … Blueshirts edged the Sens in faceoffs 30-28 with a big game from Chris Drury, who went 13-of-19. … Making his 11th start in 12, Auld had 26 saves on the losing end.

THREE STARS:

3rd Star-Blair Betts, NYR (assist, SOG, 2 hits, 2 takeaways, 8-8 draws, plus-one in 16:28)

2nd Star-Fredrik Sjostrom, NYR (tying goal at 7:17 3rd, 4 SOG, 2 hits, 1 blocked shot in 15:14)

1st Star-Henrik Lundqvist, NYR (27 saves, league leading 12th victory)

Battle Of Elite Goalies Set For Wednesday: If Lundqvist is the top goalie in the East with Martin Brodeur out, then Roberto Luongo just might be the best out West. The Canuck No.1 has bounced back so far leading the league with five shutouts. It certainly wasn’t his fault his team lost in a shootout 2-1 to the Islanders with Luongo making 34 saves while Joey MacDonald stood tall with 31 denying all three Canuck shooters to give the Isles a third consecutive win.

As of right now, Lundqvist ranks first in wins (12), third in GAA (1.92) and tied for fourth in save percentage (.931) while Luongo is tied for second in wins (10), tied for seventh in GAA (2.14) and eighth in save percentage (.928).

Would it shock anyone if it amounted to a highscoring game?

Michal Rozsival has struggled while Wade Redden has settled in as he faces his former club tonight.

It won’t be just another game for Ranger defenseman Wade Redden when he faces off against his former team, the Senators who visit the Garden for the first of two meetings this week with his new team also visiting Ottawa for a Saturday matinee.

That’s where the 31 year-old veteran out of Sasketchewan who was originally an Islander 1995 second overall selection before traded there for former Calder winner Bryan Berard blossomed into one of the better overall defensemen. In 11 seasons with the Sens, Redden amassed 410 points (101 goals, 309 assists) along with a respectable plus-159 rating over 838 career games.

How consistent was he during his Ottawa career? Only once did Redden finish with a minus-rating while going plus-17 or better in six seasons including five straight between 2000-01 and 2005-06 when he put up his best numbers posting 10-40-50, plus-35 with eight power play goals and four game winners in just 65 contests. Had he not missed time, he gets nominated for the Norris and maybe wins the annual Nicklas Lidstrom Award.

Redden’s contributions helped lead the Senators reach the Stanley Cup before they lost in five games to the Ducks. A series which wasn’t one of his finer moments.

Still, his time spent there was very successful and helped prepare him for his first season with his new team on Broadway where he signed up for the next six years at an average of $6.5 million per year to try to help the Rangers climb further. Thus far, he’s been up and down through the team’s first 20 games posting two goals and six assists for eight points with a plus-two rating.

However, unlike struggling teammate Michal Rozsival, who reupped for four more years getting $20 million, Redden’s settled in and is coming off his best game of a 2008-09 season which has seen a team many questioned get off to a 13-5-2 start good for tops in the East while his former club struggles sitting dead last in their division with just 14 points following being swept by the Islanders.

You just know they want to come into New York and spoil the party. This isn’t just another game for Redden. If you’re Rozsival, you probably wish it was considering how badly the 30 year-old Czech has struggled. It was his two giveaways which led to both Bruin goals putting his team in a two-goal hole before they found the wherewithal to mount another late comeback. One thing about this Ranger club is they never give up. They might not be the most physical but they’re never out of a game.

Rozsival’s poor play has not gone unnoticed where Garden Faithful have booed him for his weak defensive play and awful turnovers on the point while running a power play which has been a sore spot ranking 23rd clicking at just 15.8 percent while permitting a league worst six shorthanded goals (tied w/CBJ) in large part due to the defenseman’s lack of decisiveness. He just refuses to shoot and has lost so much confidence that even the simplest passes are too much for him to handle drawing the ire of home fans.

Add it all up and the Blueshirts are paying him an annual salary of five million to take up lots of space while playing unsteady turning his end into an adventure even making weak link D partner Dmitri Kalinin look better. Though to the former Sabre’s credit, he’s played better lately taking more of the initiative physically and moving the puck well.

The question becomes are the boos getting to Rozsival? It certainly looks that way but with a continued glut at forward with the club not carrying any extra blueliners, Tom Renney has no choice but to continue playing him and hope he snaps out of it. Not surprisingly, the player’s coach showed tremendous loyalty to a player the Rangers have gotten the most out of since taking a waiver on him prior to the 2005-06 season:

“I’m disappointed in what he’s getting right now because he’s a hell of a human being and a great teammate. He’s a good player and he has been since he got here. He needs to know that from us and he gets that every day from his teammates every single day. We’ll stay with him.”

Truth be told, Rozsival has been a key contributor during the club’s three trips back to the postseason including a couple of EC Semi appearances which saw him score a huge triple overtime goal to get the Rangers back in that series against Buffalo.

In his first three seasons, Rozsival notched at least 30 points or better taking on large responsibility playing in every key situation taking advantage of his big opportunity. He went 5-25-30, +35 in Year 1 and followed it up with 10-30-40, +10. Last season, he set a new career high in goals (13) with six coming via the man-advantage while totaling 38 points while going Even over 80 games while playing through a knee injury which he had surgery for during the offseason.

So, he hasn’t been a bad performer here which is why his dreadful start in the first year of a big contract is so alarming. Despite nine points (2-7-9), Rozsival is minus-six and has not looked good.

Tonight, he’ll reach a milestone taking part in his 500th career NHL game looking to reverse the jeers to cheers.

According to Sam Weinman’s Journal Ranger blog, Scott Gomez (ankle) skated this morning but is again out and remains doubtful for Wednesday versus the Canucks.

So, figure the line combos to remain the same:

Naslund-Drury-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Redden-Girardi

Staal-Mara

Kalinin-Rozsival

Also expect Henrik Lundqvist to make his 12th start in 13 games thanks to a schedule which hasn’t had any recent back-to-backs.

For two periods, the Rangers weren’t up to the enviable task against a red hot visitor who came in having won five straight and eight of nine. Instead, thanks to a pair of dreadful Michal Rozsival blunders, they trailed 2-0 to a stingy Bruins club hell bent on making it six in a row even though it was their third game in four nights.

But then came the final 20 minutes in which despite a god awful power play which time and time again couldn’t take advantage of Boston’s lack of discipline, the Blueshirts kept coming in waves tiring out their opponent by scoring twice in the final 6:05 to tie for a late rally- completing the comeback thanks to Chris Drury and Henrik Lundqvist who each came up large lifting them to a 3-2 shootout victory at The Garden.

It was their second win in a row and snapped the Bruins’ five-gamer pushing the first place New York club to 13-5-2 good for 28 points- four better than the Penguins who continued their winning ways by scoring three unanswered in a 4-2 win over Buffalo.

“It shows a lot of character,” Ranger captain Drury said at his locker after beating Boston goalie Tim Thomas between the legs with a perfect wrist shot in the deciding fourth round of the skill competition. “We talked about it after the second period. One shot cuts it in half.”

Not surprisingly, the two top Eastern defensive Original Six clubs started conservatively with neither able to muster much offense in the first that saw Boston hold an 11-6 shots edge. There was a mini-scrap between Paul Mara and Chuck Kobasew but not much else going on.

In the second though, the Bruins took control and forced Lundqvist to come up with some big stops including a quick pad reaction just getting a piece of a Marc Savard high shot labeled following a no-look backhand pass by Milan Lucic. King Henrik also nearly bailed out awful teammate Rozsival, who got outmuscled by Lucic along the boards leading to a turnover. He stacked the pads to deny Phil Kessel point blank but just as the home crowd was cheering, the puck caromed out to Zdeno Chara who slapped one home through a screen to give the B’s a 1-0 lead at 8:44.

That same Chara was the first of three Bruins to go to the sin bin in less than a three-minute span giving the Rangers ample opportunities to get back in it. Instead, another awful turnover by Rozsival resulted in Boston increasing their lead when defenseman Dennis Wideman took a Savard feed and wristed one top shelf inside the right post for his fifth at 12:25 as boos rained down for the PP failure.

It was the sixth shorthanded goal the Rangers allowed with Rozsival victimized on at least half including his failure to settle a Brandon Dubinsky puck at the point turning it into utter chaos which led to the goal against. His teammates never recovered with Aaron Voros too late on the backcheck as Wideman went upstairs on Lundqvist who was out of position.

A couple of more minors by Boston including a bench minor for too many men on the ice handed the Rangers two 5-on-3 chances but they couldn’t beat Thomas who was strong down low denying Drury on the doorstep and Markus Naslund.

So instead of building momentum from their PP success in Newark, they were brutal going 0-for-6 driving the MSG crowd nuts.

One thing about this Ranger version is that they don’t give up when things aren’t working. Instead, they got off the deck coming harder and more determined in the third and got the payoff with two goals in the last 6:05 to tie it up.

The first message was sent by Renney, who couldn’t have been pleased with his power play sending out rookie Lauri Korpikoski, Nigel Dawes and Dan Fritsche for an extended shift along with Marc Staal, who rarely plays the point. Though they didn’t score, MSG analyst Dave Maloney who was working at ice level noted that the third line which combined for a goal and four assists in their win over New Jersey had good speed and chemistry.

Perhaps the coach noticed that his team needed something with no Scott Gomez (ankle) for a second straight game which was evident on their man-advantage. Renney, who usually shortens his bench for the third rewarded the hardworking trio by sending them out for a shift still trailing by a deuce. The end result was them getting the puck in deep, recovering it and then Korpikoski centering for an open Dawes, who beat Thomas snapping a 10-game goal drought and more importantly cutting the deficit in half with 6:05 left.

Finally, the Garden crowd had something to cheer about instead of saving their love for Rozsival and his continued struggles. With the B’s nursing a one-goal lead trying to hang on, the Rangers continued to be the aggressor with Renney tapping his new energy line for another shift with a Wade Redden sighting springing Korpikoski for another chance with his wrister from the top right circle going off Thomas’ glove into the netting earning more cheers.

That’s the type of effort fans who pay good prices want to see. That the spark was provided by this new line with Gomez out is a message in itself which needs to be heeded. They must stay intact even when he returns.

The job wasn’t done and when they had just pulled Lundqvist for an extra attacker, here came Brandon Dubinsky flying up the ice after taking a Paul Mara pass after the defenseman had just stepped on the ice with the club barely completing a legal line change. The sophomore center who’s been fairly quiet lately backed up two Bruins drawing them gaining the zone before dishing off to a cutting Naslund, who made no mistake beating Thomas with a quick wrister miraculously tying the game with 53 seconds remaining.

The play invoked memories of Nikolai Zherdev’s even later heroics on another Saturday night comeback home win when he skated up right wing beating Marc-Andre Fleury to tie the Pens game with 8.1 left before the team took it in a shootout by an identical 3-2 margin also rallying from two down.

“We haven’t gotten the starts we wanted in a few games, but we have been able to at least get one point in many of them and sometimes even two,” the Rangers’ latest hero indicated.

The Rangers continued to press nearly winning it in regulation and then early in overtime when Drury stole the puck and then looked to be setup with a vacant net by Ryan Callahan except that a strong Boston backcheck prevented it.

Both teams played to win in OT which was refreshing to see compared to the usual conservative approach playing for the skill competition. The B’s nearly won it late when Savard was setup but forced wide by Lundqvist hitting the right post pushing it to a shootout.

During the first three rounds, both netminders were strong with Thomas making the best save sprawling on top to cover Dawes’ five-hole attempt forcing a review which couldn’t determine where the puck was. It looked like he had it in between his pad on the goal line.

When the first three shooters couldn’t decide things, Renney sent out his captain Drury, who moved in fast before firing through Thomas’ waffle to put the Rangers ahead leaving it to Patrice Bergeron to try to extend it versus Lundqvist. He made a good move deking while tucking the puck between Lundqvist but the Ranger goalie got just enough of a pad to push it off the left post. Still, somehow the refs lost sight ruling it had went in forcing a video review to confirm the obvious.

“I wasn’t sure,” Lundqvist admitted. “At first I thought I had it underneath me the entire time and then I saw the review and I saw it hit the post. I was a little surprised.”

The puck never crossed the line insuring a Ranger comeback victory against one of the league’s better teams. One they should savor going forward.

THREE STARS:

3rd Star-Lauri Korpikoski, NYR (first NHL assist, 3 SOG, plus-one in 11:48)

2nd Star-Dennis Wideman, Bos (SHG, plus-one in 24:25)

1st Star-Markus Naslund, NYR (tying goal at 19:07, 4 SOG, plus-one in 21:53)

Notes: Every Ranger finished with at least one shot minus Rozsival, Dmitri Kalinin and Aaron Voros. … In two games since being reinserted by Renney, Dawes has a goal and two assists with a plus-three rating. In the two games since being put together, Dawes, Korpikoski and Fritsche have combined for two goals and six helpers with a combined plus-eight rating making the most of their opportunity. … They only took two minor penalties but the No.2 ranked Ranger PK was up to the task killing off both Boston power plays. … Dubinsky’s assist was just his second point of the month after tallying 11 points in October. … Savard registered two assists in defeat. … Renney gave plenty of ice-time to the Drury unit with the captain seeing more than 25 minutes while Callahan (23:02) and Naslund (21:53) each were out often. … Lundqvist finished with 23 saves for the win while counterpart Thomas turned aside 29 of 31. … Monday, the Rangers host sliding Senators who dropped a 3-2 decision at the Islanders last night.

Their record continues to be one of the better ones in the league thanks to a 10-2-1 start. However, the Rangers had slumped winning only once in five before their second period explosion in their latest win over the beat up Hudson rival Devils in Newark Wednesday.

Maybe the Devs were the right elixir to cure their recent struggles even though the Blueshirts again got off to a bad start with one constant Henrik Lundqvist holding them in before Nikolai Zherdev and Chris Drury got untracked. Certainly, they took advantage of a struggling opponent who they’d owned.

Now tonight, Tom Renney’s first place club steps up in competition playing host to one of the better teams in the NHL in the red hot Bruins, who enter MSG with a five-game win streak coming off a hard fought shootout win in Chicago before dismantling the Canadiens 6-1 the other night in improving to 10-3-3 with their 23 points ranking second best to the Rangers’ 26 despite having played three fewer games.

With one of the better netminders in Tim Thomas and a stingy D under former Devil coach Claude Julien, the Bruins are a well schooled club which plays responsible two-way hockey led by veteran physical defenseman Zdeno Chara and the much overlooked Dennis Wideman, who they acquired from St. Louis for Brad Boyes in one of those deals which worked out well for both teams.

They also have a very fast attack up front which can transition from D to offense quickly with leading scorer Marc Savard (6-11-17), Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron, Chuck Kobasew, Michael Ryder along with emerging stars Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic and David Krejci. Adding former Phoenix No.1 pick Blake Wheeler (six goals) to the mix in the offseason gave them even more young talent to what’s become a legit playoff contender. Adding a vet like Stephane Yelle who has valuable Cup experience helped improve their depth.

When you can send out Jay Pandolfo clone P.J. Axelsson to pull out a shootout with a sweet backhand deke past Nikolai Khabibulin, you know you’re pushing all the right buttons and have a good team capable of doing something.

If the Rangers (12-5-2, 26 Pts) are to prevail, they’ll need to be extremely sharp from the outset. They can’t afford another sluggish start against a very opportunistic club that enters ranked in overall team defense (2.01 GAA). In case you’re wondering, the Rangers rank third best (2.13 GAA). So, it’s imperative to get out quickly or it could be a long night.

Looking for pleasant surprises on the home side? Look no further than third-year defender Dan Girardi, who’s not only one of the team’s most reliable in his end but suddenly has added offense to his game on a consistent basis with his 14 points (2-12-14) second on the club and tied for third among blueliners this season. Not bad for a guy who went undrafted and has evolved into a steal for Glen Sather.

Last season, the 24 year-old from Ontario tallied 28 points (10-18-28) including five power play goals in his first full campaign.

His emergence along with Paul Mara’s steady improvement have made up for Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival’s poor starts.

Updating Scott Gomez’ status via The Journal’s Sam Weinman, the playmaking pivot remains out for tonight with an ankle injury. Obviously, the team is operating on the side of caution which is probably wise considering the kind of game they got from Nigel Dawes, rookie Lauri Korpikoski and Dan Fritsche Wednesday.

Expect the same lines for tonight:

Naslund-Drury-Callahan

Voros-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Dawes-Korpikoski-Fritsche

Sjostrom-Betts-Orr

Redden-Girardi

Staal-Mara

Kalinin-Rozsival

If you’re looking for a scrap, keep an eye on Boston’s Shawn Thornton who will mix it up. So, maybe Colton Orr will get to use his fists.

Don’t forget, the other two locals are in action as well with the Devils hosting the Capitals in a rematch of last night which Washington took 3-1. The Islanders face off against Ottawa looking for a sweep of a home-and-home when they host the Sens at Nassau Coliseum.

Here are the rest of a busy Saturday night schedule:

Flyers @ Canadiens, 7 ET, HNIC

Maple Leafs @ Canucks, 7 ET, HNIC

Sabres @ Penguins, 7:30 ET

Blue Jackets @ Wild, 8 ET

Stars @ Coyotes, 9 ET

Avalanche @ Oilers, 10 ET, HNIC

Predators @ Kings, 10:30 ET

Enjoy the games!

Who wants Old Time Hockey? We do! That’s who. No matter what age you are, a big part of the game will always be fighting. They don’t play AC/DC’s “For Those About To Rock” for cheapshot artists like Patrick Kaleta and Jarkko Ruutu.

Or how about the Beastie Boys’ “Fight For Your Right To Party” which is often blasted at Nassau Coliseum or The Rock when a scrap is about to begin. Because as they say, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And I don’t mean a classic Billy Ocean 1980’s hit song or even the memorable scene from Animal House with the legendary John Belushi.

Hockey is unlike any other sport because we have enforcers who are put out there to seek retribution when our team’s stars are messed with. Mess with our best player and there’s gonna be payback. Throw a late unnecessary dirty hit and you’re sure to pay the price. Some players take things into their own hands like Ranger defenseman Paul Mara did pounding Kaleta into oblivion before getting a major and game misconduct for doing the right thing even if it cost his team two points.

Standing up for oneself is something puck fans respect. When a player wusses out to draw an instigator a la Sean Avery, there’s sure to be no respect for those antics. The fight instigator is something the hardcore fan despises because it lets cheap players off the hook and penalizes the real ones who will stick up for fallen teammates the way Brandon Dubinsky did the other night for Dan Girardi following Zach Parise’s cheap crosscheck for what was a clean takeout along the boards in which the Devils’ best scorer still made the play to setup Travis Zajac’s goal.

Sometimes in today’s game, a player will take a penalty just to send a message to opponents that cheap plays won’t be allowed. However, the best aspect is that the message not only will come in loud and clear to future opponents but to their teammates as well who will admire this team concept and bond closer together over the course of a season.

Ironically, Colin White who ducked Colton Orr the other night stood up for a teammate a couple of years ago when Avery who was then on the Kings ran someone. The tough physical defenseman did the proper thing and pounded the agitator for his actions making him accountable. This was commendable and even as a rival fan watching, I admired it.

Hockey can be a brutal sport. Just ask the same player who missed a chunk of last season due to blurred vision which might help explain why he wouldn’t drop’em with one of the better heavyweights in Newark. Injuries are part of the game as players sacrifice their bodies blocking shots, etc.

Heck. Even Avery who became a cult favorite in his brief stint spent in Broadway Blue played through a significant injury somehow continuing for two more periods against the Pens in last Spring’s second round with a lacerated spleen before being hospitalized and missing the final two games of the series. A severe injury which once forced Peter Forsberg out of the 2001 postseason with the Avalanche, who overcame his loss to win its second Stanley Cup. Nobody wishes harm on any player even if they’re not well liked. Especially when it’s life threatening requiring surgery.

Injuries can occur during scraps where sometimes one of the participants can have a nose busted or be given a shiner. Or worse can have their orbital bone broken meaning they’ll miss significant time. Fights can be vicious but they sure are a crowd pleaser. What arena doesn’t stand up in excitement when two tough guys square off? The encouraging news is that fighting has comeback and looks like it shall always have a home in hockey and that’s good considering what can take place.

Without it, players wouldn’t be able to police themselves. Still, most would agree that the instigator’s a waste and should be out completely so there aren’t as many cheapshots and sticks coming up as frequently which has become a disturbing trend in our sport.

For now though, at least we got some of the late legendary Paul Newman’s Reggie “Reg” Dunlop’s Slap Shot character preaching “Old Time Hockey.” Sorry if it’s in French. Ahh. It still rules!

And with that, let’s kick back and enjoy an old classic video of hockey fights over the past three decades with appropriately classic Guns N’ Roses “You Could Be Mine” playing in the background. Well put together!

Long live fighting! Screw you Bettman!!!!!

Well I was going to give the recap as much effort as the Devils put forth in the final two periods - nada, zip, zero and zilch.  But since Derek already took care of the nuts and bolts I might as well just put down a few thoughts:

Offense - Well, two goals is an absolute bushel for this team, especially against Henrik Lundqvist.  That said, the power play is still useless and other than Patrik Elias (who’s been Mr. Invisible since his first game on the checking line) and Zach Parise, the Devils absolutely refuse to shoot high on Lundqvist.  Whether it’s Jamie Langenbrunner or Brian Gionta burying partial breakaways right in Lundqvist’s XXX-pads tonight or John Madden doing the same on a penalty shot in Game 5 last year, it’s just mind boggling.

Defense - What defense?  I literally lost track of the shots against…I think it was 47 or 48 that our Paul Martin-less D allowed.  To a Ranger team with a suspect offense themselves and one that had no Scott Gomez mind you.  Imagine how bad it would have been had he played (shudder).  And what, exactly has happened with the Devils’ penalty kill?  Even without the great defensemen of seasons past they’ve still managed to maintain a top ten or close standing in the PK - but now they give up seemingly at least one or two PP goals a game.  Maybe the only power play the Devils’ PK can stop anymore is their own. 

Goaltending - Yes it’s only been a week, but the last few games have proved my worst fears; Kevin Weekes is simply not good enough to compensate for a substandard Devils D and Scott Clemmensen doesn’t even belong on a roster.  Granted only one goal Weekes allowed was really bad (though it was the go-ahead goal, which was key) but if you allow one stoppable goal a game with this defense your GAA is going to be 3.5.  And that’s not NHL caliber. 

That said, why Brent Sutter pulled Weekes down by three in favor of Clemmensen with a power play to start the third period is beyond me.  Bringing in the human white flag solved absolutely nothing and only exacerbated things when he gave up a back-breaking goal in the third period after Langenbrunner had somehow managed to pull the score within 4-2. 

Speaking of the coaching…

I’ve got about a million problems with Sutter right now.  Two I’ve already articulated - sticking Elias in checking line purgatory (on his off wing no less) when this team has no offense to begin with other than Parise and Zajac, and the goaltending decision in the 2nd intermission.  Also, there should have been a timeout called at some point during the second period while the Rangers were going bang, bang, bang, bang especially with all the power plays and two-man advantages that the PK’ers were on the ice for.  And wtf is Sutter and this organization doing with Niklas Bergfors?  Playing seven defensemen in the lineup when maybe two or three of them are any good to start with?!  Just send the kid down already, it’s like they’re trying to punish him for some unknown reason.  Sutter’s put him and Petr Vrana in positions to fail when they have been in the lineup.  And I don’t even want to mention Sutter’s preferential treatment of Langenbrunner.  The only time he ever gets off the ice anymore is when he’s inevitably in the box for his critical minor penalty every game.  God forbid if any other player on the roster (particularly Elias) had committed the string of critical late-game penalties that the captain has. 

Intangibles: Yes, I know this team’s not very good at this point.  I can deal with losing but the team quit in the final two periods and this early in the season against their biggest rivals, that’s a terrible sign.  The question has gone from whether the Devils should make a move to improve the team to is it really worth it?  Why burn assets trading for a Nikolai Khabibulin or a Dwayne Roloson if it’s not going to make a difference?  That might be a hard truth for Lou Lamoriello to accept, but Martin Brodeur is not walking through that door anytime soon.  If they can get something for FA’s like Gionta and they’re 10-12 points out of a playoff spot by February it needs to be explored and the kids need to get a real shot and not 4-5 minutes a game.  Then maybe something can come of what’s fast looking like a lost season and the team can retool for a last stand over the next couple years with a healthy Brodeur.

Oh, and one addendum - I guess I was too hard on Clemmensen above, the goal he gave up was not on him, but rather the fault of a deflection by Mike Mottau after seeing the replay.  For as good as the Rock’s sightlines are sometimes it’s still hard to see every tip of the puck when you’re all the way in the upper corner on the other side of the rink.  I still wouldn’t have changed the goalie at the end of the second period though.