Saturday, April 08, 2006

Nylander Takes No S**T!



Jagr breaks goal record with #53So there was Michael Nylander talking to Pierre McGuire about his game and about when he played in Hartford and suddenly he uttered the 'S' word and there were the announcers and the post game analyst's apologizing for this 'obscene' word that was spoken. I guess they don't watch TV often, and I am not talking about the cable. They should sit in the Garden one game and really hear some words. And how about that "A..hole" chant? Give me a break. Watch Bettman or Campbell step in and make some moralistic statement.

Back to the game. Nylander scored two goals and had an assist. The game winner in OT was Nylander's 22nd goal of the season. Jagr was Jagr. He broke Graves single season record with his 53rd to lead the comeback. He also picked up two assists to pad his league leading points total to 118. He was a coach on ice, directing and producing. The man is on a mission folks and his mission is to bring the Stanley Cup to New York.

The other bright spot was Jarkko Immonen, again. He scored his second goal in two games. This one was a power play goal as he was in front of the net and deflected a Tom Poti pass into the net. This gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead which Weekes gave back with a weak goal. With Rucchin out with a bad foot Immonen is getting the chance and is producing. This kid has to stay and play for the rest of the season. If Renney insists on putting Rucchin back on the number two line then Immonen should be on with Ward and Betts and send Hossa to the bench. He is not producing. Wait 'til next year to see if he has any potential to do anything.

Renney made a change during the game and I thought it a poor one. He put the Poti and Ozolinsh defensive pairing on with the Jagr line. Three offensive players with two deficient defensemen does not a good combo make. They were okay when they were on the offense but once Boston got into their offensive zone we had problems. Ozolinsh gives up the puck too often and two easy.

The Rangers have now won three straight and five of their last six. More importantly they have come from behind in four of the five wins. This is a good sign heading into the playoffs. They now have 100 points, five ahead of the Flyers who play Toronto tonight in Philly. The Rangers are now tied with Buffalo for the third most points in the Eastern Conference. The magic number for third place is four. Any combination of Ranger wins or Flyers losses totaling four will give the Rangers third place and home ice advantage for the first round.

ICINGS: The Rangers post Olympic record is now up to 9-6-1-3. The Rangers 100 points is the most for a Ranger team since the Championship team of 1993-94. That was also the last year that a Ranger player had a 50 goal season. See any good omens in that?



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