Avery Done — Are Rangers?

---

The injury to Sean Avery leaves a couple of questions unanswered. When did he get hurt and how did it happen? More importantly what does this bode for the future of "The Detriment" with the Rangers? Avery has been a lightning rod since joining the Rangers in the middle of last season, 2006-07. He has agitated goalies, defensemen and GM's, one in particular. There is a strong possibility that Avery was hurt in the first game of this series, when he scored a goal.

By the nature of the injury it almost has to be inflicted by a stick and the way Avery plays there are always confrontations with other players and sticks especially from goalies and defensemen. While one could make the case that even with Avery in the lineup the Rangers haven't been able to beat the Pens there is no doubting the value a healthy Avery brings to the Rangers. This past year with Avery in the lineup the Rangers were 33-14-10, seventy-six points out of a possible 114 points or a .667 winning percentage. Without him the Rangers were 9-13-3, twenty-one points out of a possible 50 points for a .420 winning percentage. Upon joining the Rangers last year he led the Rangers to a 17-6-6 run which got them into the playoffs. That's 40 points out of a possible 58 or a .689 winning percentage. His one and a half year stint with the Rangers shows a record of 50-20-16. That's a total of 116 points out of a possible 172 points, or a .674 winning percentage. Basically, the Rangers win two out of every three games when Sean Avery is in the lineup. This guy is no detriment.

Lately, there have been some complaints about Avery's performance against the Penguins. Blogs and fans ask questions like: "Is Avery playing? Is he in the game?" Even the Maven, Stan Fischler, has repeatedly complained that Avery has to get in front of the net especially on the power play. Except for game three and on the five on three Avery has had no power play time in this playoff series. He is only averaging around twelve minutes a game, the least of the top six forwards. Whether by design or by ignorance, Avery does not get the ice time that is needed for him to be more effective. Is coach clueless strengthening the Stealth GM's case against signing Avery? I wouldn't doubt it. Coach clueless has been nothing more than a stooge for the Stealth GM.

Sean Avery is the spine of the Rangers. He will be sorely missed if he does not return to the Rangers next year. However, looking at some of the moves that the Stealth GM has made with players like Sjostrom and Backman I would not be surprised that Sean Avery will be playing somewhere else next year. If he is not here, the Rangers will not only miss one hell of a hockey player but they will also be missing a A-one character type player. They probably also will be missing the playoffs. Let's keep the guy. Let's resign the spine of the Rangers.

ICINGS:

Larry Brooks, the NY Post Rangers beat writer, made these points about the NY Rangers today in a 15 minute interview with Michael Kay of ESPN radio. [Not in order and paraphrased.]

Question: Why have the Rangers tanked in this series with Pittsburgh?

Larry Brooks: The Pens have been able to exploit the weaknesses that the Rangers have had all season. Namely, virtually no power play and a shaky defense. The Pens have shown they are a formidable and dangerous team, now among the league elite.

Question: What happened Tuesday night?

LB: The Rangers threw everything they had against the Pens and their young goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury. The Pens withstood the pressure cooker of a packed, loud MSG and took the Rangers' best shots and came on to win the game.

Q: Do the Rangers have a chance?

LB: No one outside the Rangers locker room thinks they have a chance.

Q: What's the problem on the power play?

LB: The Rangers do not have a quarterback or anyone at the point who can run the PP. NHL teams have gotten very good at defending the PP and positioning two men between the puck and the net. You need a special player to run the PP.

Q: Is Tom Renney the right guy?

LB: Yes, because he's very good with younger players. He is very patient with younger players. He's almost too patient with them. And the team will definitely be much younger next year after they shed some of the older players.

The problem for the Rangers is that it has been easy to go from a bad team to a good team over the last three years. The problem now is going from a good team to an elite team. The Pens look like they have made the jump to elite status.

Q: What do the Rangers need?

They most need a "sniper" forward from the right-side, a quarterback for the power play, and more size overall.

They need that sniper on the right-side to fit in with Gomez. There is no way that Gomez and Jagr can play together.

Q: Will Jaromir Jagr be back next year as a Ranger?

LB: Jagr is a riddle. If the Rangers can get this playoff version of Jagr back, yes they'll probably want him back. But only if they can work out the right deal.

If they only get a 75% Jagr back next year then a lot of variables have to be considered. They will not want to build their team around an aging superstar.

Some of the variables in re-signing Jagr are: Will he take a reduced contract for one year with incentives that bring him up to his current level? Does he want a two-year deal?

Jagr was making the case today at practice that he played very well for a 36-year old. Sure, he's not as good as he once was, but he's still a valuable player.

Q: Who will not be re-signed by the Rangers next season?

LB: The Rangers will probably not re-sign: Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, Marek Malik, Mara, and Michal Rozsival . It is also questionable if they'll re-sign Sean Avery.

Removing all those older players, plus having the younger players such as Staal, Dubinsky, and Callahan with lower salaries will give the Rangers lots of room to maneuver. The salary cap should also go up by $4-6 million.

Lynn Zinser at Slap Shot nicely covers Jagr's Last Stand:

He sat at his locker after practice on Wednesday, still wearing his skates and all his equipment and held forth on everything from his future, or what he will say about it, the Rangers’ chances of coming back and handling the job of being Jaromir Jagr.

I will quote him at length so you get a better idea of his thoughts:

[...]

“I’m talking about the series not my hockey career. I’m 36 and feel like 25. I don’t think age is important if you work hard. If you do a lot for the game, it doesn’t matter how old you are. The hard work always overcomes everything. Maybe not the injuries, but everything else.”

“I’m going to play tomorrow to try to win the series back, not thinking about myself. It’s going to take care of itself. I’m going to try to play to win the hockey game, to have a chance to play the next game. That is my goal.” ...

Sean Avery Rushed To Hospital

---

---

John Dellapina & Larry McShane / NY Daily News:
Rangers star Sean Avery hospitalized -- Rangers bad boy Sean Avery was rushed to a Manhattan hospital with a lacerated spleen just hours after his team's playoff loss, sources and his mother said.

Avery, 28, arrived at St. Vincent's Medical Center about 3 a.m., a hospital source said. Five hours earlier, the Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a Stanley Cup playoff game at Madison Square Garden.

He remained in the intensive care unit this afternoon, the hospital source said. After the Daily News' Web site broke the story shortly after 11 a.m., Avery's mother, Marlene, told The Toronto Sun that the injury occurred during a first-period collision with a Pittsburgh defenseman...

---

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers' Avery injures spleen, done for the year - The Rangers have denied reports that forward Sean Avery was rushed to a Manhattan hospital after going into cardiac arrest, saying that the agitating forward lacerated his spleen but did not suffer any heart problems.

Rangers forward Sean Avery suffered a lacerated spleen during Tuesday night's game and will not play again this season, the team said in a press release this afternoon.

Avery was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Manhattan last night along with a team physician Dr. Andrew Feldman, immediately after the Rangers' 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Avery, whose spleen was not removed and isn't expected to need surgery, likely will be hospitalized for a few days, team spokesman John Rosasco said.

Michael Fagan, spokesman for St. Vincent's, said Avery is in "stable" condition...

---

Steve Simmons / Toronto Sun:
Rangers' Sean Avery in hospital -- New York Rangers forward Sean Avery is in intensive care at a New York hospital after suffering a lacerated spleen in Tuesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Avery, 28, from Pickering, was checked into St. Vincent's Hospital at 3 a.m., in a great deal of pain.

However, Avery's mother, Marlene told the Toronto Sun moments ago that her son, Sean's condition had improved and that the spleen had not ruptured, but he had suffered internal bleeding...

---

MSG:
Sean Avery and the Miracle Formula -- Sean Avery was not the same SEAN AVERY after Game 1 of the Pitt series that he had been before. Who knows for sure when his lacerated spleen precisely became a major problem. Sequestered in St.Vincent's Hospital, Avery is finished for the season, but that segues into the key question leading into Game 4 of the series Thursday night at The Garden: ARE THE RANGERS FINISHED? ...

---

---

NY Post:
Sean Avery Suffers Lacerated Spleen -- Avery's agent, Pat Morris, told The Post today that during the Rangers' game last night at the Garden, Avery complained to trainers that his stomach was bothering him. After the game, he then told them his shoulder was bothering him as well. The training team summarized the symptoms to be a "serious spleen issue," and had Avery checked in...

---

ESPN:
Rangers say Avery hospitalized following playoff loss -- The New York Rangers said forward Sean Avery suffered a lacerated spleen in Tuesday night's Stanley Cup playoff game and will be lost for the remainder of the playoffs.

The team also denied a published report in the New York Daily News -- which first reported Avery's hospitalization -- that the forward had been taken to a Manhattan hospital while unconscious and in cardiac arrest.

The Rangers said Avery was admitted to St. Vincent's Medical Center following a CT scan and is expected to make a full recovery. Avery walked into the medical facility with team doctor Andrew Feldman, and the two took a car to the hospital, not an emergency vehicle, the team said...

---

more:
Report: Avery rushed to hospital - Globe and Mail, Canada
Rangers' Sean Avery out for season with lacerated spleen - CNN/SI
Rangers’ Avery Has Lacerated Spleen - NY Times
Sean Avery Photo Gallery - NY Post

Jes Golbez / Hockey Rants:
Thursday's Tepid Tantrums -- As most people know, the NY Daily News, a tabloid known for misinformation and sensationalism, screwed the pooch reporting Sean Avery as having Cardiac Arrest when he really just had a ruptured spleen...

---

Go Sean! Our prayers are with you.

Pens Blitz The Prince

---

---

For those never say die Ranger fans there is history on their side. Only two teams in NHL history have come back from 3-0 deficits. In 1942 it was the Toronto Maple Leafs and 33 years later, in 1975, it was the Islanders. The good news for the Rangers? It's been 33 years since 1975 and that's the thread of life that the Rangers have. Some thread. Some life.

To perform that miracle the Rangers must upgrade their game and again it has to be the defense and the power play. In all honesty looking at this defense and the power play, the 33-year-old streak is safe. After the game coach clueless was remarking how the power play didn't play that bad and showed some progress. Huh? The power play was 0-5 and got a total of 8 shots on goal. They had two five-on-three opportunities, one for about 30 seconds and one for about 40 seconds. They are 1-14 on the power play in this series. The power play has been a killer all year and the clueless one has no clue how to correct it and now there is one game left in the season. The Penguins were 2-3 on the power play. So the bottom line: our special teams suck and the Pens special teams were great.

The Penguins got 17 shots on goal and scored 5 goals. The Rangers got 39 shots and got three goals. Three plays turned the game in the Pens favor. Rozsival's bad pass led to a Pens lead. Ryan Callahan's double minor led to Malkin's goal that gave the Pens a 3-1 lead and finally the disastrous penalty by Ryan Hollweg. The Rangers had just tied the game at three and had momentum going and for some reason Hollweg saw fit to board Sykora into the boards. No reason for it, maybe, if he had boarded Ruutu I could see it, but Sykora? He's a good guy.

Lundqvist was all class after the game. Between screens and deflections there was probably a couple of goals he should have stopped. But unlike other goalies that play in this area he took the blame for the goals and the loss. Jagr played an outstanding game and if this season is his final one he is giving New York and the NHL one heck of a show. I'm not going to miss Thursday night's game. I'll be there. Coach clueless promised changes for last night's game and the best he could come up with was putting Fredrik Sjostrom on the second line and Shanahan on the fourth line. I leaned over to son #1 and asked him, "What the hell is Sjostrom doing on the second line?" He replied, "What's he doing on the ice?"

Looking at the two teams there doesn't seem to be that big a difference between them. However, quickly, you notice the special teams and especially our inept power play that has been zero all year and has never been fixed because the clueless coaching staff doesn't know how to fix it. Then look at the defense. Their defense is pretty well rock solid and the Rangers have been a sieve and are soft. This has been a three year problem that has never been fixed. A glaring example of management's poor decision making were the recent deadline trades where the Penguins picked up Hal Gill, a bruiser, and the Rangers got Christian Backman, a wuss. That tells it all. But go back a couple of years ago when instead of going after Brendan Witt, the Stealth GM settled on Aaron Ward. It's the mentality that picks stick men over the body takers.

So it's Thursday night at the Garden for game four. Will it be Jaromir Jagr's swan song? I hope not. I would hope it would be coach clueless's swan song. But there is about as much chance of that happening as there is of Backman throwing his body at somebody. After all, this magnificent coach has gotten us into the playoffs for the last three years. Stupid me. I though it was guys like Jagr, Lundqvist and Avery and Gomez and Drury. But what the heck do I know.

---

ICINGS:

Larry Brooks / NY Post:
Pitt-iful

Greenburg / NY Post:
Jagr: Series Still Not Over

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers lose third straight, face elimination

Arthur Staple / Newsday:
Malkin is earning title Most Valuable Penguin

Mark Hermann / Newsday:
Rangers have a little too much experience

John Dellapina / NY Daily News:
Pens push Rangers to brink

Filip Bonde / NY Daily News:
Bondy: Clock ticking on Jaromir & Blueshirts

Christie Ackert / NY Daily News:
Malkin's showing lotta Hart

Blueshirt Bulletin:
Penalties and Power Plays Kill Rangers

The Dark Ranger:
Crushed! NYR 3, Penguins 5

Scotty Hockey:
There Is Always Tomorrow, Right??????

HockeyRodent:
Why?

Sam Weinman / Journal-News:
Rangers, down 3-0, vow to keep fighting

Sam Weinman / Rangers Report:
From the postgame

NJ Star-Ledger
Rangers keep faith in face of a sweep
Drury's status in doubt
Malkin flashing MVP skills

NY Times:
March of the Penguins Sends the Rangers to the Precipice

Penguin Scat

Pittsburg Post-Gazette:
Malkin's 2 goals trigger seventh consecutive playoff victory
Malkin breaks out for a Garden party
Penguins Q&A with Dave Molinari
Penguins Notebook: Roberts healthy but still sitting
In the minors: Team captain suspended for 'streaking'
Photo gallery: Game 3, Penguins win 5-3

Tribune-Review:
Game 3: Pens push Rangers to brink
'Baby' Penguin Smith caught streaking
Pens' Malkin named Hart finalist

The Pensblog:
This House...Is Clean. PENS WIN.

The Sidney Crosby Show:
Game 3: Pens v Rangers (W 5-3)

Confluence of Three Rivers:
Penguins 5, Rangers 3: What’s the excuse this time??

ESPN:
Tough Therrien proving to be right balance for young Pens

Seth Rorabaugh / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Empty Netter:
Ned Braden not impressed -As hard as it might be to believe, Sean Avery used to get beat up by his teammates in junior hockey...

What Did He Say?

We're confused. How did two of New York's eminent Rangers beat writers miss the Lundqvist guarantee of a win? It was very newsworthy and the Pens fans have certainly picked up on it.

Joe Starkey / Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Insider: Lundqvist's promise -- Burning question: How reliable are sports guarantees? ...

"We know we can put more pressure on them. We're going to do that in New York, and we're going to get the win." -- Lundqvist, as quoted in the New York Daily News [by John Dellapina], after Game 2...

Why did Steve Zipay at Newsday just use the first half of the quote: "we know we can put more pressure on them," but not the second part?

Larry Brooks at the NY Post also only used a variation of the first part of the quote, "We know we have to put more pressure on them," in his Rangers story entitled: "Ranger Danger." But did not have the so-called "guarantee." Instead Brooks quotes Lundqvist saying:

...but hopefully in New York we'll find the way. We have to be confident that when we get back home we can take two the way they did here."

Sam Weinman of the Journal News has the full quote on his Rangers Report blog, and in an Journal News article. Strange.

----

Pre-Game 3 Chatter:

Backs against the wall. How will our heroes respond?

Scotty Hockey:
You Know Its Bad ... -- When even Forbes Magazine is calling you out for being childish: When the referees do not call the other team for being in the same area of the ice as Crosby, Mr. Penguin whines like a 12 year girl old shut out of a Hannah Montana concert.

---

Michael Obernauer /NY Daily News:
Rangers Happy To Be Home At MSG -- The Rangers are confident that their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Penguins is about to turn around for the simple reason that the Broadway Blueshirts are coming home Tuesday. If they're wrong, they could be going home for summer in two days...

Kristie Ackert / NY Daily News:
Pens Set For Antics Of Sean Avery -- Petr Sykora and the Penguins have gotten just a glimpse of the Sean Avery who was the talk of the Rangers' first-round series. Tuesday, when they enter the Garden with a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal, they expect to see a lot more...

---

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Sniping between Rangers and Penguins before Game 3 -- Sniping and gamesmanship don't have a day off during an increasingly testy Eastern Conference semifinal series in which the verbal sparring began before the puck was dropped.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien laughed aloud when told yesterday that after Game 2, Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said the pressure was on Pittsburgh to win Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden...

---

Arthur Staple / Newsday:
Rangers Must Rely On Their Experience -- The Penguins are not exactly beating up the Rangers, not knocking the New Yorkers silly after two games.

But the Rangers are getting beat. Holding serve at home, as the phrase goes, might be no cause for alarm in the home-heavy NBA or in Major League Baseball, but in hockey, a team that expects to win a playoff series expects to win one of the first two on the road...

---

Jay Greenburg / NY Post:
Passing Grade -- When in doubt, shoot, unless your triggerman is shooting holes in that theory. "When you look at Pittsburgh, they don't shoot the puck," said Jaromir Jagr, who has scored 23 career postseason power-play goals. "They make cross-ice passes, making four guys tired and then somebody is going to be open ...

Mark Everson / NY Post:
Perfect Penguins Showing 6 Appeal -- Uh-oh, 6-0. It has failed only once in 40 years. Tonight, the Rangers must end that Penguins playoff perfection or they'll be at a brink from which hardly anyone ever returns. Drastic Rangers measures seem dictated for Game 3 at the Garden tonight. Of the 20 teams since expansion that have opened a playoff season winning their first half-dozen, 18 have gone to the Stanley Cup Finals, winning 10 Cups....

---

Sam Weinman / Journal News
Rangers Back Home, Hopeful -- The flight home from Pittsburgh was everything you'd expect. The Rangers had just dropped their second game to the Penguins in their Eastern Conference semifinal, and for at least Sunday evening, players allowed themselves to stew over a missed opportunity.

"It was a quiet flight to say the least," forward Fred Sjostrom said. "We know we can play better and we haven't reached our full potential in this series. Hank (Henrik Lundqvist) is playing out of his mind, and you don't want to waste that. I think everybody was a little angry. We know we can do so much better." ..

---

Lynn Zinser / NY Times:
Old Teammates Understand Why Winning And Drury Seem Inseparable -- When they came home from Williamsport, Pa., as Little League World Series champions that beautiful August day in 1989, the 15 boys from Trumbull, Conn., were full of youth and spunk, with seemingly boundless futures ahead of them.

But the spotlight fell on their championship-winning pitcher, the one player who wanted it least. And it has followed Chris Drury his whole life....

Going 5-Hole:
Henrik Lundqvist: “We’re going to win.” -- So, if Henrik is feeling confident, then I’m feeling confident...

Chris Kotsopoulos [retired National Hockey League player] /
Kotsy's Korner! blog:
Pens Take Game 2, 2-0 -- Jordan Staal beat Henrik Lundqvist with a nice move on a power play that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead. The goal was scored on another questionable penalty call on Chris Drury (I think it was a weak call, it appeared Hossa was grabbing Drury's stick rather than Drury hooking him)...

---

Penguin Scat

Seth Rorabaugh, Empty Netter blog / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The culprit? -- We've had some harsh words for the NHL's Reebok Edge-Super-Duper-Mega-Ultra-Awesome-Humungo-Women-Will-Want-You Uniform System. The initial versions of the uniforms were about as breathable as a rubber suit. Players constantly complained the sweat they generated during games would basically be diverted to their gloves and skates...

---

The Pensblog:
Hold Your Tongue. The Big Apple. -- Last year, we got panned when we made fun of Marty Straka. But a year older, a year less wiser. Being that Straka has turned into a big baby, it is worth bringing up what our joke about what the weight machine is about...

---

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Penguins Q&A with Dave Molinari -- Q: Jaromir Jagr may be a free agent at the end of the season. Do you have any reason to think that he might be interested in coming back to the Pens?

Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Perfect start no cause for pressure -- A year ago, the Penguins dipped their toes in the dangerous waters of the playoffs and drowned in a five-game, first-round schooling by Ottawa. This year, things certainly are different...

Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Series puts Jordan and Marc Staal on opposite sides -- One day soon, brothers Marc and Jordan Staal will have a lot to talk about -- although Marc Staal hopes it's not too soon, so that he and the New York Rangers have a chance to extend their second-round series against Jordan and the Penguins...

Fleury, Pens Special

The Penguins were 1-5 on their power play, generating fifteen shots on goal on the PP and thirty-two shots over all. The Rangers were 0-6 on the power play getting only nine shots on goal and twenty-six over all. Therein lies the tale of today's 2-0 Pens win giving them a 2-0 edge in the series that now goes back to New York where the Rangers must win the next two games. Also, the Penguins blocked twenty-two Ranger shots and the Rangers only blocked nine Penguin shots. The hits were even at twenty-eight apiece and the only key area won by the Rangers were faceoffs where they held a 37-20 edge. Unfortunately the Rangers could not capitalize on that stat just as they failed to capitalize on the power play, a bugaboo all season long.

Coach clueless made one lineup change, but looking at it I came to the conclusion that he made no lineup changes. Petr Prucha was penciled in over Colton Orr and got all of 5:50 of ice time including no time at all on the power play. Sean Avery, agitator extraordinaire in front of a goalie, got no ice time on the power play. In fact, Avery got the least ice time, 12:43, of the top six forwards. Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes got eight seconds each on the power play. So four young, aggressive type players got zilch on the power play while the usual suspects who have been ineffective all year on the power play got at least 5:25, Shanahan, to a high of 6:46 for Jagr who got three shots on goal the entire game and had four blocked. Martin Straka, who you would think would come out roaring after yesterday's call, got 20:45 of ice time, 6:00 of power play time with all of one shot on goal, one blocked shot, one missed shot but many pirouettes. He also has no luck as his game tying goal with a little over four minutes to go was overruled as the whistle blew before the puck squirted over the goal line. Tough call, but the rules can be cruel. Two games in a row Straka is involved in a game changing call.

Coach clueless has basically destroyed Petr Prucha this year. The guy who holds the Ranger rookie record for power play goals in a season and scored thirty goals in his rookie season has been relegated to the taxi squad so to speak. His percentage of a goal per game for his career is 28%, exceeded on the Rangers only by Jagr and Drury, and Drury is only at 30%. Prucha belongs on the PP and deserves more that six minutes of ice time. The power play has killed the Rangers all year and is the only constant on this team. The constant is bad and it lost a big game today.

Give the Pens credit though. Even though an effective power play could have turned the game around, the Pens controlled the game from start to finish. Fleury won the game but I don't really think he outplayed Lundqvist. Lundqvist made 30 saves, many spectacular, and Fleury made 26 saves.The defense in front of Fleury was solid as the twenty-two block shots attest to. The Rangers need some changes for game three, but I doubt that clueless will make them. The fourth line of Betts, Hollweg and Orr should be reunited. Prucha needs to be on one of the top three lines. Clueless will not sit Straka, even though he should, so maybe he should replace Dawes who is struggling a bit. I don't like to see Dawes sitting, but Straka will never be benched and Fredrik Sjostrom should sit. I fail to see what he brings to the party.

On defense, it's time to put Christian Backman in the observatory. He got over twenty minutes of ice time with 5:46 of power play time and no shots on goal the entire game. Play Jason Strudwick who brings stability and toughness, both qualities lacking in Backman, and both needed for our defense corp. I also don't understand the philosophy on the power play that has two defensemen at the points. Well, I do understand it. Coach clueless is playing defense even when the Rangers are on the power play. He is more concerned with giving up a shorthanded goal than scoring a powerplay goal. Both changes will probably not be made for Sjostrom and Backman were acquired by the Stealth GM and there is no way clueless will buck the GM. If the Stealth acquires them they must be great. Remember how long we had to live with Poti?

The Rangers are now in a similar position that they were in last year against Buffalo, down 2-0 in games and coming home. However, they cannot let Pittsburgh seize control of the game like they did today. I still believe that the best defense is a strong offense and we need an effective power play but did not have that today. Lundqvist played one whale of a game today. Too bad the Rangers didn't match him. The Penguins are now undefeated in the playoffs. But it ain't over yet!

ICINGS:

BlueShirt Bulletin:
Rangers Unplugged in Pittsburgh -- the credit has to go to the Penguins, their underrated defense turning in an outstanding performance in limiting the Rangers' scoring chances at even strength as well as on the power play...

Scotty Hockey:
Rangers No-Show -- In playoff hockey, the team that leaves it all on the ice is the one who prevails. Simply said, the Rangers have yet to do it. They didn't even seem to break a sweat until late in the third period, when the urgency factor kicked in. And that is just not good enough. They limp home down 2-0 after losing Game 2 2-0. They tried to adapt their style of play to the way the Pens play and it didn't work...

HockeyRodent:
Aggggggghhh! -- These are grown men. The instructions are very simple. Keep your sticks down and if you lose position on the enemy, you are baiting the referees by reaching in with the twig...

---

Bob "Battleship" Kelly was mentioned during the broadcast. A few of his fights:

• Battleship Kelly vs Bob Lorimer
• bob nystrom vs bob kelly
• John Wensink vs. J.-Bob "Battleship" Kelly [battleship is sunk]
  

His NHL Fight Scorecard

Dancin' Larry versus The Cotton Candy Guy

The New York Rangers and MSG have 'Dancin' Larry,' while the Pens at the Igloo have the 'Cotton Candy Guy.' Larry clearly has the edge. You can tell Pittsburgh is a fun loving town.

Seth Rorabaugh, Empty Netter blog / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
He wasn't there -- We erroneously reported Friday that the Cotton Candy Guy was in attendance at Game 1...

MySpace: Hi! I'm Ken the Cotton Candy Man, also known as the Lemonade Man. I work at Mellon Arena,PNC Park, and Heinz Field as a food service vendor. I sell cotton candy at Penguins games, peanuts at Steelers games, and lemonade, Pepsi, water, and even hot chocolate at Pirates games! I love my job. I love to yell "Cotton Candy," "Lemonade," and "Peanuts" as loudly as I can...

More NY Rangers traditions.

Some Pre-Game 2 Chatter

updated:

Carping, whining, criticizing, trash-talking, analyzing, dissecting, ranting, and mocking -- it's all in a good off-day's work during this tense Rangers-Pens series.

The Pensblog has taken to calling Sean Avery, Madonna. That is funny. Will they laugh if Rangers Land starts refering to Sid Crosby as Louganis? Doubtful. Efforts to beatify Mr. Crosby have been underway in Pens-sly-mania for sometime. You can't make fun of a saint, or else you're a blasphemer.

The pope of the NHL, who is more like Paulie and his schemes in the "Pope of Greenwich Village," has his anointing oils ready for the beatification of St. Sidney if he reaches the promised land. Currently you could say, Sid just has a Cultus confirmation.

Anyway, here's what's cooking in the Rangers-Pens playoff oven:

Blueshirt Bulletin [or for the Pens fans BooHoo Bulletin/BS Bulletin]:
The Good, the Bad, and the Crosby -- So why do we keep harping on Sidney Crosby's high diving act? Because we're whiners, right? Wrong -- it's because we're trying to influence the way the game is perceived. As Larry Brooks so aptly sums it up in today's Post, "The national spotlight now will be on the diving issue and the NHL's perceived bias toward its headline act. Everyone now will be under scrutiny, including Crosby, the referees calling the game, and the announcers working it. If this series truly is going to be the Rangers against the world, it will be plainly and painfully obvious by dinner." ...

---

Sam Weinman / USA Today:
Rangers downplay furor over Crosby -- here was no game played between the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins in their Eastern Conference semifinal Saturday. But in an otherwise deserted Mellon Arena, the two teams still found themselves jousting...

---

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers need to tighten defense for Game 2 -- Before Friday night, the Rangers hadn't allowed five goals in regulation since the 6-5 overtime loss to Montreal on Feb. 19, a span of 20 regular-season and five playoff games.

So naturally, after they watched video of the Penguins' 5-4 comeback victory in Game 1 - with special attention on mistakes by a team defense that was fragmented and didn't play well without the puck - yesterday's message was: We've got to tighten up. . .

---

John Dellapina / NY Daily News:
Penguins' coach Michel Therrien cries foul over Sidney Crosby dive -- Putting the referees on notice beforehand to watch out for Sidney Crosby's penalty-drawing theatrics didn't work out too well for Rangers coach Tom Renney in Game1.

And Sunday we'll see how Penguins coach Michel Therrien's impassioned - and unsolicited - defense of his young superstar's on-ice integrity plays with the men in stripes in Game2. . .

---

John Dellapina / NY Daily News:
Ranger 'D' can't check out -- Replacing Colton Orr with Petr Prucha on the fourth line might seem tantamount to rearranging deck chairs after the Rangers' Titanic-like performance in Game 1. . .

---

Larry Broooks / NY Post:
Diving Right In -- The Penguins always have been an interesting franchise, saved from leaving town first in 1984 by conspiring to lose enough games the final six weeks of the season in order to be in position to draft Mario Lemieux, and then saved again in 2006 with a fortuitous victory in the post-lockout universal lottery that allowed the team to draft Sidney Crosby...

---

Larry Brooks / NY Post:
Prucha Likely To Resurface In Game 2 -- Tom Renney implied that Petr Prucha would make his first appearance of the playoffs here this afternoon in Game 2 against the Penguins, and though the coach did not say whom he would replace, it's likely Colton Orr will be the healthy scratch after getting 5:48 of ice in his first tournament game on Friday...

---

Lynn Zinser / NY Times Slap Shot blog:
Slap Shot Talks With Mike Bossy -- SS: Do you like what the NHL has become in the last few seasons?

MB: I think it’s still a work in progress as far as what they want the game to be. I think the referees are still getting a handle on what to call and what not to call. I think what players want, and everyone has heard this thousands of times, is consistency. They want to know what they can do and what they can’t do out there. I think they’ve done a pretty good job of determining where they want the game to be as far as its physicality. I still think there is work to be done as far as the hooking and the holding. . .

Lynn Zinser / NY Times Slap Shot blog:
Pittsburgh Coach Snaps Back -- The Rangers were eager to move on Saturday from Friday night’s Game 1 debacle against Pittsburgh, but Penguins Coach Michel Therrien was not ready to let go of the conversation about the interference call on Rangers forward Martin Straka against Penguins center Sidney Crosby that the Rangers found so egregious. . .

---

Penguin Scat

Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Rangers' roster moves pay off -- In Ottawa, the Penguins faced a team that got out of the gate fast this season, but limped down the stretch. That made for a mismatch in the Penguins' four-game, first-round sweep in the playoffs.

In the New York Rangers, the Penguins are facing something of an inverted image of the Senators. . .

---

Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Penguins Notebook: Therrien says his star is no flopper -- There's nothing new about opponents trying to label Penguins center Sidney Crosby a diver, or at least embellishing the effect of infractions committed against him.

It's been a staple in some quarters since former Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock trotted out that smear for the first time during Crosby's rookie season. . .

---

Rob Rossi / Tribune-Review:
'X-Generation' has given way to new breed of Penguin -- The blue-painted goaltender's crease on a sheet of ice suits Marc-Andre Fleury just fine, and he hardly minds sitting at a table with buddy Sidney Crosby to answer a few questions in front of reporters and camera operators following a Penguins' playoff win.

Seeing his portrait on the side of a bus almost five years ago was more than a bit discomforting, though....

Defense Plus Refs Equals Defeat

Jaromir Jagr at the post game remarked that he expected something to happen. Boy, can he call them. Crosby, to his credit, saved his dive for the end. You remember the comedian Dom DeLuise's great line, "No applause please, save it for the end". On a play that was behind the main play, Whiner II, upon contact with Martin Straka went splashing to the ice, in obvious pain, to the roar of the White Shirted Penguin crowd. Two minute interference call, man advantage penalty, game winning goal on a shot by The Diver off another Penguin. In fact, three of the Penguin goals were deflected off an assortment of Ranger/Penguin players. So it was a typical sequence Penguin win. Dive, call, penalty, goal. Game, set, match. I tried to get a better view of the Dive but Versus had poor reruns that weren't conclusive. You don't think they did it on purpose?

However, the Rangers helped give the game to the Penguins. The defense was awful. Coach clueless's defense-at-all-costs was very costly. It started with the Rangers up 3-0 and Rozsival fanned on a simple clear out which gave the puck to Rutuu who headed deep into the Ranger zone. Rozsival, who must have felt an affinity to Rutuu, chased him in, planted himself in front of the net and allowed the first goal to go in off of his skate. Three more Penguin goals were scored including a two on one where Fedor Tyutin couldn't make up his mind who to cover and he covered no one and Sykora had an easy tap in. Tuts, in case this happens again, leave the shooter to the goalie, you cover the other guy.

After the Pens went ahead 4-3, Gomez tied it up, and with time running out Jagr hit the post. But the Rangers did score four goals and should have won the game but the defense collapsed and its hard to imagine a defense so soft and so mistake prone in such a big game. Hey, I've been screaming about this defense for three years and we have had three years to get some rugged guys but we wind up with the Backman's of the world.

The ultimate insult was Rutuu putting his stick in Rozsival's face and he did nothing but stare at him. Forget the stupid officials who skated to Rutuu and had to put down his stick with no penalty call. I guess the Sean Avery rule doesn't apply to skaters. Where were the Rangers? Where was Rozsival? More importantly, will they shake hands after the series? I remember way back when during a Ranger/Flyer game and the Flyers were harassing the GAG line and had put their bruisers on against them. Prior to the faceoff, coach Emile Francis, beckoned Rod Gilbert to get off the ice and Francis replaced him with a guy I believed was named Ron Harris. Well, they dropped the puck and Harris and the Flyer, Kelly, exchanged blows. Well let's put it this way. Harris punched and Kelly caught. End of intimidation. This would be shocking and unbecoming in the new, Bettman/Crosby NHL.

One more thing on the TV coverage. It is minor league. They seemed peeved when the Rangers scored and ecstatic when the Pens scored. The absence of a revealing replay of the Crosby dive was telling. What also annoyed me was coach clueless's post game news conference. He refused to talk about the play/dive/penalty. Why? Why not talk about the play. Why not scream long and loud about the play. So they would have fined him. Big deal. By not talking about it, it validates the call and they will see many more calls like that. Remember, it wasn't until the fourth game that they called diving on Brodeur. You wonder why the team is so passive. But this is what we have in what is called hockey today. It is sanitized. Its stick over body. Its Crosby diving at the slightest touch and its Jagr taking all kinds of hits and rarely ever going down. And the Rangers subscribe to this through their coach who believes that a pained expression and silence will carry the day. The old Brooklyn Dodger Manager, Leo Durocher, may have gotten it right when he said, "Nice guys finish last".

ICINGS:

Scott Burnside / ESPN:
Crosby, a diver? Question sparks war of words between Rangers, Pens -- To carp or not to carp: that is the question.

It wasn't quite Hamlet's soliloquy; but for an off day after Game 1 of this Eastern Conference semifinals, it was pretty good. Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien took the New York Rangers, and specifically coach Tom Renney, to task for accusing Sidney Crosby of diving.

For almost three minutes, Therrien went non-stop, talking about how disappointed he was in Renney and saying it was obvious the Rangers coach was trying to get into the collective kitchens of Crosby, the on-ice officials and the NHL in general...

---

Arthur Staple / Newsday:
Crosby's diving works to perfection in Game 1 -- So, any of those hundreds of Penguins fans who were shocked - shocked, I tell you! - when I wrote on Wednesday that Sidney Crosby is a whiner and a diver care to chime in today?

No? That's OK. You're probably all sleeping in in your "white-out" gear after Friday night's win, and you're entitled. The Penguins showed some resolve in rallying from three goals down, got good contributions from a couple third- and fourth-liners and a very good night from the Evgeni Malkin- Petr Sykora-Ryan Malone trio...

---

"I haven't changed one bit; I never dove and I don't dive now ... That's just part of the playoffs; part of gamesmanship. If I go down, it's because I've been forced down. I'll do whatever I can to stay on my feet. I think he (Renney) should be the one worried about diving." - Sidney Crosby quoted in NY Post

----

Highlights: Penguins vs. Rangers: Game 1 2008 Playoffs - April 25, 2008 [10:30]

Game 1 Roundup: Pens Jump Out of the Pot

---

The ice-chicken was in the pot getting nicely basted when the kettle tipped over and burned the cooks.

Blowing a three goal lead is no big deal to Ranger fans. Heck, this team has blown five goal leads and found away to come back. That's the positive attitude that our Blueshirt heroes will need if they want to stop the march of the Penguins.

The Straka interference call on Crosby with about three minutes remaining in the game was crucial. Rangers people think it was a bad call, the Pens fans, of course, see it as a good call. Here are few reactions to that key play.

MSG hockey analyst Stan Fischler said the Straka penalty call was "terrible."

MSG's Al Trautwig said the call was "questionable."

Seth Rorabaugh at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Empty Netter blog wrote: "It looked like interference by the book to us. Like we said, by the book that's interference. But we will say we've seen a lot worse not called whatsoever this postseason."

Seth also provided a link to the video [at the 1:51 mark].

Lynn Zinser of the NY Times labeled it a "tough call" in her article.

The Pensblog called it interference: "Late in the third, a loose puck was up for grabs. Martin Straka interferes with Crosby trying to get it. Interference is a penalty."

---

More from Ranger Land and others

John Dellapina / NY Daily News:
Sidney Crosby diving for penalty -- On a night when it was hard for any Ranger to argue that they deserved better than a series-opening loss, the ones willing to discuss it had no trouble arguing that a bit of acting by Sidney Crosby drew the penalty that led to the deciding Pittsburgh power-play goal.

The normally mild-mannered Martin Straka, in fact, argued so strenuously upon emerging from the penalty box and after the final buzzer that he was assessed a game-misconduct penalty at game's end.

"I was just saying he was diving - that was the only thing," Straka said of his protestations to referees Don Koharski and Kelly Sutherland before and after being boxed for an interference infraction well behind a rush the Rangers already had thwarted. "That's what I thought. I was skating, too. I was moving my feet." . . .

---

David Shoalts / Globe & Mail:
The comeback kids -- After the explosive Penguins fought back from a 3-0 Rangers lead, the game hinged on an interference-penalty call on Rangers centre Martin Straka. He was caught impeding Crosby, who was trying to catch up to a 2-on-1 rush.

Coming into the series, the Rangers complained long and loud that Crosby likes to dive to draw penalties. That made the call on Straka a bitter pill, especially when Crosby set up the winning goal. Crosby took a long slap shot that hit Malkin, who was in front of the net. The puck bounced past Lundqvist, the Rangers goaltender, on a night of deflected goals. . .

---

Lynn Zinser / NY Times Slap Shot blog:
Rangers Lose a Barnburner on a Tough Call -- The Rangers have plenty of things to blame for their 5-4 loss to the Penguins in the first game of their playoff series Friday night, most self-inflicted, but they took issue with the call that set up the game-winning power-play goal.

Rangers forward Martin Straka was called for interfering with Penguins center Sidney Crosby on a rush started by Marian Hossa. Rangers center Scott Gomez had knocked the puck away from Hossa at the blue line, seemingly thwarting the threat. But on the other side of the play, away from the puck, Straka ran into Crosby.

“I just saw him,” Straka said. “He was diving and that was it.” . . .

---

John Dellapina / NY Daily News:
Penguins make huge comeback, beat Rangers 5-4 -- The loot was in the trunk and the getaway car was revved. The Rangers were on their way to stealing another series opener. And who knows what kind of psychological blow that might have dealt to a young Pittsburgh Penguins team that has yet to overcome any playoff adversity? . . .

---

Larry Brooks / NY Post:
Crosby Dives Into Series -- Sid's Not Kidding, Tells Rangers He Doesen't Dive

This was more than your customary vanilla pre-series press briefing from Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby. This morning, hours before the puck would be dropped here for the opener of the Rangers-Penguins Eastern Conference semifinal, No. 87 reacted angrily when asked to respond to innuendo from Tom Renney that Crosby embellishes possible penalties and takes dives.

Thursday, Renney, asked if he were concerned about a potential bias toward Crosby, who has been known to embellish in order to draw penalty calls, said he would speak to the series supervisor of officials about a number of topics.

"I haven't changed one bit; I never dove and I don't dive now," Crosby said today with a flash of anger. "That's just part of the playoffs; part of gamesmanship.

"If I go down, it's because I've been forced down. I'll do whatever I can to stay on my feet. I think he (Renney) should be the one worried about diving.". . .

---

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers give up 3-0 lead, lose to Penguins -- Understatement of the month: If you want to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs, you have to protect three-goal leads.

The Rangers couldn't Friday night, as the Penguins scored four consecutive goals - in two sudden strikes 14 seconds apart in the second period and 20 seconds apart in the third - to erase that margin. Although Scott Gomez's blast tied the score, Sidney Crosby's one-timer from the right boards on a power play hit Evgeni Malkin's leg and flew past Henrik Lundqvist with 1:41 left for the Game 1 winner. . .

---

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Penguins plan to ignore Rangers pest Avery -- Avery was on his best behavior and his wrister nicked Fleury's right shoulder and went in the net for his fourth goal of the playoffs and a 3-0 second-period lead.

"I don't have to reel Sean in," Rangers coach Tom Renney said before the game. "I expect him to compete as hard as ever." . . .

---

Dubi Silverstein / BlueShirt Bulletin:
Rangers Can't Stick to Script -- Just about everything we thought might happen in this series happened in the opening game last night. We just never expected to see it all happen in one game. . .

They have bounced back from adversity like this all season long. So when Gomez said this game is over, it doesn't matter how it was lost , it's on to the next game, one can come away from this knowing that there is still enough left in the Rangers' arsenal to turn this outcome and this series around.

---

Janine / Section 404:
Round 2 -- The good news is that the Pittsburgh defense isn't all that impressive either, and the Rangers have a clear win in goal. I think we've got a shot. See you all on Tuesday.

---

Doug Fischer / Blue Shirts on Broadway:
Refs Help Pens Steal Game 1 -- Game 1 between the Rangers and the Penguins was entertaining for sure, unfortunately the Refs played a major role in the final result, a 5-4 Penguins win. If the game was split into 2 sections, you could tell that the first 28 minutes belonged to us but the rest favored the home team. . .

---

HockeyRodent:
March Of The Penguins -- This will not be a long series, folks. If the OLN VS coverage is any indicator, the Rangers are a mere roadbump in the march of the Penguins towards the conference finals. The pair of brutal penalty calls drawn by Sidney Crosby are no accident. We have seen this formula time and time and time again. Crosby dives and up goes the arm. It has been this way the lst two seasons. . .

---

Lynn Zinser / NY Times:
3-Goal Lead Vanishes in All the Excitement -- Game 1 of their second-round playoff series against Pittsburgh was an exhilarating, frenetic match — just what the Rangers did not want. . .

---

CBC
Penguins win Game 1 thriller -- The Pittsburgh Penguins weathered an early storm and then stormed out to an amazing victory Friday night. . .

---

Penquin Scat

Dave Molinari / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Star burst: Penguins rally from 3-0 hole, win, 5-4 -- Crosby's slap shot with 1:41 left caroms right off Malkin's skate, turns into winning goal to cap rally from 3-0 deficit . . .

Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Rangers Notebook: N.Y. coach unhappy with late penalty -- The fact that the winner came with his team shorthanded didn't thrill Renney, in no small part because Crosby drew an interference penalty from the Rangers' Marty Straka.

Renney, who indicated before the series started that he was wary of Crosby drawing penalties, perhaps when they aren't deserved, was asked twice about that one.

At first, he stayed silent.

"That's your answer," he said.

Later, he asked, "Did you see it? Draw your own conclusions." ...

----

Seth Rorabaugh, Empty Netter blog / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
In no particular order... -- A bunch of material from last night that we're presenting to you in a completely random fashion . . .

---

The Pensblog:
Gone In 60 Seconds. PENS WIN -- What was going through your head after Madonna [Avery] scored 3:37 into the second period? Were you looking up coupons for golf clubs? Were you making ill-advised comments on message boards?

We don't blame you. Things weren't pretty at all...

---

Sidney Crosby: The Diver

---

Yesterday we posted a link to a YouTube video entitled "Crosby Fake!" that allegedly showed Sidney Crosby taking a dive in a game with the Canadiens.

A Pensblogger said, "a reverse reply showed the Habs player put the butt end of his stick up in Crosby's face with a lot of force. But as we're gonna hear a lot, we're just providing excuses."

Here is another look at that Crosby play. The key part is at the end. Use the pause button if you want check it out frame-by-frame.

---

ICINGS:

Blights in White Satin [courtesy The Pensblog]:

Game Day: Time to Start Cooking the Penguins

-- updated --

The Penguin Recipe Page -- "The only good penguin is a digested penguin."

Penguin Hunting tips -- In his natural habitat, the penguin has several predators and from these we must learn the essence of penguin warfare..

---

Sam Weinman / Rangers Report:
More from the Igloo -- Game 1 of Rangers-Pens is still some six hours away, and already there have been attempts—either real or perceived—to stir things up by the large media contingent here...

This was apparent about a minute into Sidney Crosby’s press conference, when he was asked about comments by Jaromir Jagr that Crosby and Malkin were not at the level of Mario Lemieux.

First of all, this is incorrect, because what Jagr really said is the game is so different now, guys like Crosby simply aren’t able to dominate like Lemieux once did...

John Dellapina's Blueshirt blog / NY Daily News:
Pens: We won't lose focus in face of The Grate One -- Sean Avery has yet to get in the face of any Penguin, but is he already in their heads?

Sean Avery has yet to get in the face of any Penguin, but is he already in their heads?

Whether it is reporters steering the conversation in that direction or the Pens unable to control themselves, much of the pre-series chatter in the Pittsburgh locker room has been about The Grate One...

Peter Botte / NY Daily News:
Rangers Put Wait And Talk To Rest As Penguin Series Looms

Jen C. / Rangerland.net:
Pregame ... We Want Hockey -- We’re seeing anti-Crosby sentiment in the local newspapers. I think the issue is being overblown just a tad bit. Yes, I do have concerns. I even wrote about Crosby’s on-ice drama not so long ago...

YouTube Video [38 sec.]:
**** Sidney Crosby Fake Dive ****

Newsday:
Penguins Bring On The Firepower

NY Post:
Crosby Clampdown
The Matchups

Hockey Bird:
Building Excitement -- Bird and Rod have a bet on the series.
Oh yeah....Rod is the base player from the Eleventh Hour in Pittsburgh...
Iron City Golden Lager -- I used to love that beer...

Journal News:
Rangers' Playoff History With Penguins Is Ugly

Ranger Ramblings:
Rangers Look To Reverse Playoff History Against Penguins

Blueshirt Bulletin:
Where Have We Heard That One Before? -- UPDATE: Colton Orr returns to the line-up in place of Ryan Hollweg. Gary Roberts will not play because Sean Avery is apparently too much of a pain in the cup for him. Sidney Crosby doesn't dive -- film at 11:00...

The Dark Ranger:
Hours Before The Big Game

NY Times:
The Morning Skate: Know Your Enemy
Penguins Have More Than Game’s Top Star

---

Please ignore that man that everyone is talking about.

David Shoalts / Globe & Mail:
Penguins' plan for Avery: ignore him -- When it comes to drawing attention to himself, New York Rangers pest Sean Avery is as skilled as his hockey talents are modest.

And that, say the Pittsburgh Penguins, is the point. If they ignore him like the New Jersey Devils could not, then Avery's antics will not have an effect on the second-round NHL playoff series between the Rangers and Penguins that begins tonight.

Georges Laraque, who had his own nasty encounter with Avery 2½ years ago when both players were with different teams, said the Penguins are too accustomed to Avery to let him bother them ...

---

Mark Spector / National Post:
Penguins plan to ignore Avery ... or try to, anyway -- Sean Avery arrived in the Pittsburgh Penguins dressing room Thursday morning like smoke from a faraway fire. You think you have all the doors and windows closed, then you put on a clean shirt and it's there - that awful smell.

The maddening thing was that the Penguins had already locked everything down. They were going to do what we all do in life when there is something out there that we know is coming, but we don't really want to deal with it. They would simply ignore him...

---

Mike Zeisberger / Toronto Sun:
Will superpest get swatted? -- To hear the Pittsburgh Penguins tell it, the game plan to counteract New York Rangers superpest Sean Avery is to ignore him.

Good luck...

Meto News - Canada: Avery’s antics worth watching

---

Deadspin:
Previewing The Rangers-Penguins -- From Paul's First Letter To The Russians: So the Prophecy according to Bettman didn't come together exactly...

Sean Avery's a New York Ranger, and is the complete opposite of the salvation Crosby's offering to bring the hockey world. Here his is modeling his trademarked Punch Me in the Face Eyewear.

Prediction: Penguins in 7. Avery with 23 PIM.

---

Penguin Scat

Eddy Spaghetti Penguins Blog:
CBC Exclusive: Sean Avery = Girl -- The following is a clip from CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada previewing the Pens v. Rangers series. The highlight is Jarkko Ruutu [calling Avery a girl] ...

---

The Pensblog:
Blame It On The Renney -- ... it hits you that the pent-up frustration of Pens fans over Jagr's departure from Pittsburgh could not have a better climax.

Slowly, your hatred for Sean Avery seeps out of your body as you stare at a wall.

You remember that Sidney Crosby is on the biggest stage of his career.
You remember Marc-Andre Fleury is red-hot.
You remember when Dick Tarnstrom was the Pens leading scorer not to long ago. ...

We found some actual nice Rangers fans.

[HockeyBird] emailed us to wish us good luck in the series.

Also another solid Ranger blog is [RangerPundit], we have been reading since back before we even started a blog.
We cannot say enough good things about him.
He has been blogging since 2004. ...

comment: All kidding aside. The Pensblog is one of our favorite blogs and we will be reading it every day during this great series. Love their Avery photoshops and a good feud (with Blueshirt Bulletin).

---

Seth Rorabaugh, Empty Netter blog / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Do it for Zubie -- If nothing else, the Penguins need to avenge the memory of Sergei Zubov tonight ...

-Should Jagr be booed?

-Unlike everyone else, including us, the Penguins will plan on trying to ignore Sean Avery.

-We'll be blogging live tonight. Tune in around 6:30 p.m. or so. ...

---

Post-Gazette:
Penguins Notebook: Protecting Fleury major priority against Rangers
The second round: Who has the edge?
Jagr returns to scene of prime for Round Two

Tribune-Review:
Pens hope to overwhelm Rangers' Lundqvist
Looking back on Jagr trade

---

The Sidney Crosby Show:
So It Begins -- My caption? One word: UNREAL...

This one's for the ladies (well, I suppose the men could vote too...): The radio station B94 is taking a vote to find out who is Pittsburgh's hottest Penguin. Right now ...

While most people in my office are saying TGIF, I'm saying TGIHNP!!!! (Thank God It's a Hockey Night in Pittsburgh!) ...

---

Tony Ferrante / The Confluence of the Three Rivers blog:
Penguins/Rangers: Enough talk, let’s drop the puck - Roberts Out for Game One

According to ESPN Radio 1250, Gary Roberts is OUT for tonight’s Game One. It appears that Roberts’ groin is still not healed enough to give it a go tonight...

[...]

Ignore Sean Avery. Easier said than done, understood...

---

Jes Gőlbez / Hockey Rants:
Foolish Second Round Predictions -- Penguins over NY Rangers in 6

Malkin and Crosby are both emotional players, so I worry about them being able to ignore Sean Avery's antics...

----

Igloo Dreams:
Playoff Game #5 - vs New York Rangers -- blah, blah, blah, goaltending, blah, blah, blah, Avery ...

----

The Last Word
Ranger Pundit prescient quote / April 14, 2007:

"How do you ignore Sean Avery? Do you ignore an itch? Do you ignore a gnat on your neck?"

Rangers vs. Pens: Playoff Preview

---

John Dellapina / Daily News:
Rangers Like Own Youth vs. Penguins
Breaking Down The Rangers-Penguins Eastern Conference Semifinal Series
Rangers-Penguins TV sked

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers vs. Penguins Preview: The Matchups

NY Post:
Jagr: Sidney Not In Mario's League
Bettman KOs Avery Shirt

Sam Weinman / Journal News:
Subplots Abound In Rangers-Penguins Series

Hockey Bird:
Rangers vs. Ice Chickens -- Isn't that nice.....a whole series of hearing about how great Sid the Kid is ...

Scotty Hockey:
So It's Set: Rangers vs. Penguins -- ... Keys To The Series.
*Someone has to give Cindy a binky so he can't cry to the refs...

Outside the Garden:
Penguin On The Menu

Lisa Kennelly / Star-Ledger:
Jagr facing chilly return to the Igloo

NY Times:
Penguins’ Fans Are Certain To Boo When Jagr Takes Flight
Rangers-Penguins, a Parent’s Nightmare -- Marc Stall (NY) vs. Jordan Staal (Pitt)

---

Penguin Scat

The Pens Blog:
No Sleep Till Manhattan -- With both teams possessing some nice firepower, it's gonna come down to the goalies...

This guy [Arthur Staple] isn't calling for a Ranger to injure a Penguin, so he's still all right.

He's just spewing his nonsense ...

---

The Pens Blog: Bulletin Board Material --

:: Crosby's a diver. [ Newsday ]

Sean Leahy / Going Five Hole:
New York Media Already Removing Their Binky's -- ... Arthur Staple [at Newsday] prepares an excuse if the Penguins get by the Rangers.

Rangers may have to beat Crosby and refs, too -- [The Rangers] should be absolutely certain that Crosby will whine to the refs every time he's bodied off a puck or otherwise interrupted.

Sid the Kid is the best player in the game, but at just 20 years old, he's become a master at complaining and drawing penalties with dives or overreactions to slashes and sticks waving by his face...

Haven't we been down this road before? So, basically Sidney Crosby and the Penguins will never get a fair shake in the eyes of opposing fans and media because there's some conspiracy for him to win a Stanley Cup every single year of his career.

Can we get over that already? ...

----

The Sidney Crosby Show:
Prepare For Battle -- And there are two more things that prove how much of a tool this guy [Arthur Staple of Newsday] is...

----

Gene Collier / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Traffic alert: Penguins rev up -- The Rangers . . . represent balance, discipline, experience, hunger and just about every other conceivable menace without even mentioning Sean Avery. "

They play such good defense," said Penguins forward Petr Sykora, the first-round sniper. "When we get chances, we've got to create traffic in front of the net. You're not going to get a lot of outside goals or stuff that starts behind the net. We've got to create traffic."

You wouldn't figure a New York team to be unduly aggravated by traffic, but it appears right now to be the only way to beat Lundqvist, keeper of the New York net and fresh off a five-game dismissal of gold standard counterpart Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils. "

He's big and he doesn't get caught out of position," Sidney Crosby said of King Henry after yesterday's practice. "If you get a chance to get him out of position, you've got to make it count." ...

The Blue Line / NJ.com:
Subplots should mean more drama -- First of all, don't call him Henry. Second of all, can you believe on a team filled with stars, the defense, of all things, gets so much credit from former Ranger Petr Sykora? Very interesting...

----

The Sidney Crosby Show:
Ammo Against Avery -- Now that we know we face the Rangers for round 2, let the loathing begin anew! And my God, there aren't even words to describe this hate-inducing gem that good Friend of The Show Cassie C. found about Ranger schmuck Sean Avery (from ABC News):

Macho man and provocateur Sean Avery -- by some accounts the most hated player in the National Hockey League [snoop: you can say that again] -- will be joining the estrogen-infused world of fashion as an unpaid intern at Vogue magazine...

[this guy is a joke]

Why We Call Sid The Saint

----

Seth Rorabaugh, Empty Netter Blog / Pittsburg Post-Gazette:
[very good] Rounding Up -- Welcome to the conference semifinals. Or the second round. Or the round after the first round. Or whatever you want to call it.

It's been a while since Penguins fans have been this far...

Something worthwhile about the Penguins: Sidney Crosby (2.00) and Evgeni Malkin (1.75) have the two highest point-per-game averages in the playoffs. ...

Something useless about the Rangers: From 1989 to 1993, the Rangers drafted at least one player who would eventually become a Penguin. They are: Roman Oksiuta (10th round 1989), Sergei Zubov (Fifth round, 1990), Alex Kovalev (first round, 1991), Peter Ferraro (first round 1992), Eric Cairns (third round, 1992), Chris Ferraro (fourth round, 1992) and Maxim Galonov (third round, 1993).

Best Rangers YouTube We Could Find: Rangers defenseman Barry Beck jumping over the boards to fight Penguins defenseman Paul Baxter:

-Arthur Staple of Newsday is the early favorite to be the Don Brennan of this series. He claims Sidney Crosby is a diver and that Adam Graves's slash back in the 1992 playoffs on Mario Lemieux was an unintentional dirty play...

----

FAUXRUMORS:
Second Round Predictions -- NY Rangers vs. Pittsburgh: In our pre-season-playoff predictions we picked the East's Final 4 as the Rangers, Pitt, Philly and Ottawa. We had the Rangers playing the Penguins for the Conference title. So its a round earlier? Anyway, this match up should prove to be the much more entertaining of the two East series. These teams played 8 times in the regular season so they're should be little need to get acquainted. The two contrast in style with the offensively gifted Penguins looking to/can run opposing teams out of the building, with the patient/disciplined Rangers waiting for opposing teams to make mistakes. Generally in the playoffs its the ladder that wins more games, as does the team with the better goalie (Rangers). However we will have to go against the grain here and believe that the penguins simple possess to much fire power for even Vezina candidate Lundqvist to handle. Key players for both teams: For Pittsburgh: Fleury. For the Rangers: J. Jagr. Prediction: Pittsburgh in 6.

vs.

James Mirtle:
More predictions with conviction It's Round 2 already -- ... My big worry in picking the Rangers in this one, as I did preplayoffs, is the fact Tom Renney's going to roll out a green defence (Dan Girardi and Marc Staal) against some of the league's true superstars. I think they'll surprise us — and it'll come down to the goalies. King Henrik wins. (Sorry Pensblog Charlie.)
New York in 6.

----

Penguins Playoff Video Blog:
Sweep!! Pens win 3-1 move on to next round -- Here are my awards for round one of the playoffs

Penguins MVP:
The MVP has to be Marc-andre Fleury.

• He gave up a total of 5 goals in four games
• Fleury posted a goals against average of just 1.26
• He finished with a save percentage of .955

----

NY Rangers:
Video [3:37 min] -- Chris Elliott of the "Late Show with David Letterman" visits the Rangers, find out what happens in his attempt to skate with the Blueshirts.

Rangers Face NHL's Penguins

The Rangers will open the Eastern Conference semis at Pittsburgh on Friday 4/25 and will have a Sunday afternoon game at Pittsburgh, on 4/27, also. The Rangers get home ice on Tuesday 4/29, Thursday 5/1 and if necessary Monday 5/5. Pittsburgh gets game five, if necessary on Sunday 5/4 and the crucial game seven, if necessary, on Wednesday May 7th. So the powers to be are smiling that their favorite team, the Pens, will be on National TV, at least once and maybe twice.

So it will be up to our heroes to put a stake into the heart of the Pens, the NHL, the networks and also into whiner number two and moving up, Sydney Crosby. Make no mistake about it folks the Pens and their poster boy are the star attractions of the NHL. Have you ever watched them on Versus? They may as well call it the Sydney Crosby Show. Can the Rangers derail this NHL Idol and his supporting cast? It says here they can. How?

First of all the Rangers must abandon the defense at all costs philosophy. The rope-a-dope defensive structure must be dissolved. Yes, the Rangers must play some type of defense but the defense first mentality must go. The best defense is the best offense and the Rangers showed signs of that in the last two games against the Devils. The last game was close because the Rangers abandoned their offense to go totally defensive in the third period. To sort of mix things up, the Rangers defense was offensive. Figure it out.

The Rangers must be disciplined and must stay out of the box as the Pens do draw penalties. They drew the 4th most penalties in the NHL during the regular season and have a 20.4% rating on the power play. The Rangers are not that far behind in PP opportunities, ranking sixth in PP opportunities. The problem is that the Rangers PP % is at 16.5. So stay away from the hooks and the holds, the refs will call enough phantom calls against us.

Press the attack. Tough forechecking, shots on goal and go to the net with a purpose. And press we must as the young Pittsburgh goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury is red hot with a GAA of 1.26 and a save percentage of .955. Heady numbers, but remember that Ottawa was a shell of its early season form. Attack. Forecheck. Shoot the puck. Go to the net and score. Goooal! Goooal! Goooal!

Jagr says that booing sometimes has an effect on how he plays. Hope it's a good effect as he will be booed every time he gets near the puck. Maybe the Ranger fans should retaliate and boo Sir Sydney every time he gets near the puck. Overall the Rangers seem to be in excellent shape for this series. Steal one in Pittsburgh and it should make for an interesting series. The Rangers won only one out of four in Pittsburgh during the regular season and took all four at the Garden. The offense must continue the pressure that worked against the Devils and the defense has to get TOUGHER.

Lundqvist has to be our Prince. Rangers in six.

Penguins Are Next

The Pens Blog has suited up and put their game face on.

It seems like the Pens haven't played in months.
But the Rangers will be equally as rested.
So the rust, if there is any, will be on both sides.

What a series it is going to be.

It won't take long for the hatred to start...

----

The Captain's manly facial hair already has the Pens worried -- What the hell is growing on Jagr's face?

----

Penguin Factoid #1

ex-New Yorker Marie Javins at
'No Hurry in JC' blog:
Cute but Stinky --

I'm working on an Antarctica piece for Tim Leffel's Perceptive Travel website.

... my pal Edward (last seen gloating that I hadn't been to South Georgia and he had) reminded me of a detail I'd forgotten.

"Don't forget the stink of the penguins."

Oh yeah. That's right. Penguins hang out together and poop on the rocks. When you have a big group of penguins, you have a big penguin poop smell.

RP is just relaying this information as a public service. Penguins are fine little creatures as long as they remain downwind.

----

John Dellapina / NY Daily News:
It's Rangers vs. Penguins in 2nd round -- A year ago, perhaps a bit too pumped up by the team's first playoff series triumph in 11 years, a couple of Rangers said some things that their second-round opponent parsed into bulletin-board fodder.

Expect no such utterances from anybody in a Broadway Blueshirt before their 2008 second round faces off Friday night in Pittsburgh. Game 2 will be Sunday afternoon. After having dispatched the Devils in five games in the first round, the Rangers are more grounded and guarded heading into the second round this time around. "I think we learned a bit of a lesson in that we gave Buffalo pretty good motivation for Game 1 last year by shooting our mouths off a little bit," Brendan Shanahan said Tuesday.

"I think that was a lesson learned - that as good as you may feel about yourself after Round 1 it really becomes, you know, 'Those newspapers are wrapping fish.' It really kind of becomes old news once Round 2 starts."...

---

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers will face Crosby and his Penguins -- With Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa and Petr Sykora, Pittsburgh "is an explosive team," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "They've got some terrific young players ... their goaltending certainly seems to have nailed it throughout the course of the season. They're one of those teams who will force you into mistakes by the pressure they apply offensively, so we have to be alert to those issues and try to keep a pretty good offensive team off the ice in terms of the power play." ...

---

Larry Brooks / NY Post:
Cashing In On Avery Punk Act -- It's the NHL, all right - the National Hypocrites League.

Following a week during which the NHL hierarchy cast Sean Avery as the ultimate villain and took the extraordinary step of amending its rule book in the middle of the playoffs in order to outlaw the face-guarding tactics No. 16 employed against Martin Brodeur in Game 3 of the Battle of the Hudson, the league has authorized Reebok to manufacture and sell an "Avery Rule" tee shirt, The Post has learned...

Rangers vs. Pens Is Real Cros Celebre - Brooks
Avery Interning at Vogue this summer - Women's Wear Daily

---

Riot in Montreal after first round victory?

---

---

One of the Four Habs Fans rants about the craziness in Montreal:

Look, I enjoy a good riot as much as the next guy. I've been there. But after a Round 1 win? Are you ******* kidding me? The fine people at Reebok and Foot Locker (TMS wears a size 9, thanks!) did not deserve to have their stores smashed and looted. The Montreal police did not deserve to have their cars burnt like in the video above. And the happy Montrealers who just happened to have parked downtown last night certainly did not deserve what they got.

Now I'm sure it was not a majority of celebrators who did nasty things. It was undoubtedly a small group of people who were hell-bent on destruction probably no matter what happened at the game. But the "one bad apple spoils the bunch" axiom is staring us in the face here. We'll have to watch our step walking downtown this morning because of all the broken glass on the streets thanks to those bad apple ********.

Montreal is the greatest city in the world. I'm proud to call this city my home for nearly 40 years. But now we look like idiots to everyone else. So this morning, I am no longer proud. I'm just ******* embarassed...

---

Now for some good.

Here's one play by Alex Kovalev that got Habs fans stirred up even during a loss. It happened during Thursday's 5-1 pummeling by Boston. Theory of Ice:

Even bad games have their good points, especially in Montreal. Alex Kovalev takes one great shift, and simultaneously takes several million Habs fans- for one moment- back in time. Now we know why he doesn’t cut his hair...

---

As Section 335 pointed out if the Caps now win - Rangers play Montreal, if Flyers win NY plays Pittsburg.

Stars Shine; Stanley Cup Champs Eliminated

---

Ducks sink, and there will be a new champion this year.

'Battle of California' sums things up nicely, and we linked to them, emmm..., only because they mentioned Chris Drury.

Battle of California:
The Stars and Round Two: Reunited and it feels so good -- On the same day that Danica Patrick got the victory monkey off her hot little back, the Stars made it to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

In that time, Chris Pronger came and went from the Edmonton Oilers. The NHL instituted a salary cap and left ESPN because of a horrific lockout. The Stanley Cup champions now include a team from Florida, California and frickin' North Carolina. Also, Britney Spears went absolutely, 100% bats*** crazy. My oh my how times have changed…

* Stu Barnes happened to score his 10th playoff GWG. Now, I’m not going to say that makes him better than Joe Thornton.

But hot damn if #14 isn’t the closest thing the Stars have to Chris Drury...

The Prince Out Classes The Whiner

---

I was never big on Marty Brodeur and all his greatness. Yes, I am a Ranger fan but there are quite a few opponents that I have respected over the years even though they killed the Rangers. He always gloated when he beat the Rangers and I was never overly impressed with a goalie who faced 12-15 shots a game behind a defense that was reminiscent of the old castles with the moat surrounding it. But times have changed and just maybe it's because he is now getting old, but it was enjoyable to watch last night even though the Rangers rope-a-dope defense in the third period was maddening to me.

He always shook your hand going through the 'last mile' handshake and smiled a lot especially to those guys he had beaten down. After all he was the winner and he was Marty Brodeur. Last night he was selective and he didn't shake the hand of Sean Avery, who in my eyes was the number one star of the game and the star of the series. Billy Smith of the Islanders used to skate off the ice because he didn't want to shake anyone's hand. His call, and I respected it because it was whether he won or lost and he won most of the time. Avery summed it up beautifully on the handshake snub, "I'm going on, he's going home."

The Rangers blitzed Marty and the Devils last night to take a 4-1 lead on goals by Rozsival, Jagr, Gomez and Drury. On Gomez's goal, three Devils were busy pounding Avery, who was in front of Brodeur, where else? They even pulled him down after the goal. In fact, the Devils jostled Avery before the faceoffs, hit him during play and hit him after the whistle. Not once did he retaliate to give the Devils a man advantage. By going after him religiously, it opened the ice for other guys like Gomez to roam free. Last night, Avery was no detriment, he was a key force in leading the Rangers to the next round. Sean Avery got into the Devils heads early in this series and they couldn't shake him out no matter how hard they tried.

I've been quiet on the coaching front during this series and most of you have taken that to mean that I am happy with this coaching staff during this run. I am not and last night's third period was proof positive that the coaching has not caught up to the players. Why the defensive shell in the third period? Had John Madden tied the game on his penalty shot the Rangers would have been in deep trouble as their offense was non-existent. Jagr, who led the team in scoring and is showing his old form, alluded to this after the game. Basically he said that it would be hard to get the offense going after playing a defensive third period. Brodeur was vulnerable and his defense kept making mistakes, why not go for the kill? But this is a defense at all costs mentality and it will kill us as we advance. How many games can 'The Prince' (Lundqvist) steal? Also these are the offensively deficient Devils, what happens when we play the high powered teams like Montreal and Pittsburgh. Sure we need defense but if you are on the offense controlling the puck the way Jagr can, the other team can't score. What the hell do I know?

So the Rangers must wait out the results of the other two games in the East. If Montreal and Philadelphia, who both have three wins, win their respected series, they will face each other in one playoff series and the Rangers will play Pittsburgh, which has the other great whiner and probably the refs and the NHL on their side. So my pick, Washington to win the East, will go down along side some of my other great predictions like Dewey to beat Truman and Germany to win two wars. Like I said, what do I know? I do know one thing. "Let's Go Rangers."

ICINGS:

---

NY Post:

Jay Greenburg: Avery Shows 'Class' -- In the end, the Devils' skin turned out to be thinner than even their scoring.

Apparently having seen enough of Sean Avery's face during Game 3's infamous, rule-changing 5-on-3, Martin Brodeur turned away from the Ranger left wing in the handshake line following New Jersey's 5-3 Game 5 elimination last night.

"Everybody talks about how much class I don't have," said Avery. "It's the end of a series and men go to war against each other, and I guess he forgot to shake my hand."

Asked if he was going to shake Brodeur's, Avery said: "Of course I was." ...

Jay Greenburg: Henrik 'Saved' The Day -- The three-goal lead was down to one thanks to two caroms, one on a Bryce Salvador drive from outside the blueline, where perhaps John Madden should have taken his penalty shot to try to tie Game Five with 7:08 to go. Instead Madden, who had burst between Dan Girardi and Fedor Tyutin to take a David Clarkson pass, forcing Girardi to take the penalty, went to his backhand against Henrik Lundqvist, one of the league's most accomplished shootout duelists.

Mark Everson: Dust Devils -- It's not 54 years, yet. Still, the Rangers are off to bigger things and better teams. The Devils are just off. The MegaMillionaires have already come through for the Rangers, who avenged being swept by the 2006 Devils with the five-game manhandling they completed with last night's 5-3 triumph in Newark...

Larry Brooks: Gomez Factor The Difference -- This was the one free-agent defection that stung the Devils more than any other, the one that struck in their craws all season long, the one that prompted obvious resentment on the ice in the Battle of the Hudson that ended in rout last night...

Daily News:

Kristie Ackert: Marty Brodeur: No shake For Sean Avery -- The bitter feud between Rangers instigator Sean Avery and Devils goalie Martin Brodeur continued to the bitter end of their teams' playoff series. The two skated by each other in the post-series handshake line without shaking hands after the Rangers ousted the Devils, 5-3, at the Rock Friday night.

John Dellapina: Rangers Beat Devils 5-3, Advance To Next Round Of NHL playoffs -- Ten months ago, the Rangers dove headfirst into free agency to retool their roster for the two-month march to the Stanley Cup. But the first step on that march required avenging a stomping from two years ago. Friday night at the Rock in Newark, the Rangers completed that first satisfying step. In a wild and woolly capper to a series most expected to last longer, the Rangers beat back the Devils, 5-3, to take their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in five games.

Filip Blonde: Rangers Just Warming Up -- Tom Renney heard the news Friday night shortly before he faced the media outside the visitors' locker room, three hours before game time. He'd outlasted yet another Knicks' coach, his fourth since becoming head coach of the Rangers just four years ago. "That's pro sports," Renney said about the fate of his corporate counterpart, Isiah Thomas. "Part of the business. I don't have my head in the sand so far that I don't think it can happen to me." ...

Newsday:

Arthur Staple: Lundqvist Swept Aside Devils' Penalty Shot Hopes -- Dan Girardi was the culprit, sweeping John Madden down to the ice on a semi-breakaway with 7:08 to play and the Rangers holding on to a 4-3 lead.

Madden was awarded a penalty shot, but Girardi, the second-year defenseman, was pretty calm about it. Helps to have Henrik Lundqvist in net...

Steve Zipay: Rangers Oust Rival Devils In Five Games -- In a series that could signal a changing of the guard in the metro area, the Rangers ousted the New Jersey Devils from the Stanley Cup playoffs Friday night with a 5-3 win, taking the first round in five games and advancing to the Eastern Conference semifinals next week...

Journal News

Sam Weinman: Rangers Hang On, Eliminate Devils -- It was slipping away there for a second - all of it: the momentum, the lead, even the Rangers' command of this contentious opening-round series.A three-goal lead had been whittled down to one. An opponent was desperate to stave off elimination. If you were looking for the first real test of this team's playoff mettle, you had it in the third period of Game 5 last night against the Devils...

Rick Carpiniello: Rangers' Renney Everything Thomas Isn't -- Tom Renney is everything that Isiah Thomas is not, and that now includes: employed as a coach of one of Jim Dolan's teams.Oh, they have a few things in common. They're both bright guys; say what you want about Isiah, but he's no dope. Incompetent? Yes. Delusional? Absolutely. But dumb? No way.

Section 404:

In 5! --Avery took a beating throughout the entire game with not one call...surprise, surprise. I think the officials have to just cut the crap at this point. We get it. You are not happy with him but that does not mean he should be allowed to be beat on nightly...

Scotty Hockey:

No Mo' Mmmaaaaarrrrrrrttttyyy -- How many Devils do you think went into the locker room taking a page from Dino Ciccarelli, saying "I can't believe I shook that friggin' guys hand"?? Oh yeah, not all of them: Mmmaaaaarrrrrrrttttyyy continued to show he is more classless than he claims Avery is by not shaking his hand after the game. The one tradition that truly sets hockey apart from the other sports symbolizing sportsmanship and that bum pisses on it by being childish. What a piece of garbage...

---
---

Post-gazette:

Seth Rorabaugh: Brodeur right or wroing? -- The above is a video of the postgame handshake lines between the Rangers and Devils following New York's 5-3 series-clinching win in New Jersey last night. Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur didn't shake the hand of Rangers forward Sean Avery.

Was Brodeur wrong to do this? The handshake line is one of the more revered traditions in the NHL playoffs. Even if you've been trying paste each other into the boards for seven games, you always congratulate each other for playing hard. Regardless of the circumstances of this series, Brodeur violated that tradition. But does the fact that Avery is who he is merit a pass for Brodeur? ...

James Mirtle:

Quote of the Day -- Everyone talks about how classless I am, but I guess Fatso there just forgot to shake my hand. — Sean Avery on Martin Brodeur

"I shook everybody's hand but one," Brodeur said...

Newark Star-Ledger:
Rangers complete domination of Devils
NY Times
Quick Start, Happy Ending: The Rangers Advance
Rangers Again Too Much For Brodeur And The Devils

And The Crowd Roared

It was one of the most deafening roars these old ears have heard in a long time. Marc Staal, that wonderful twenty-year-old future super star, had just put the puck by a visibly shaken Marty Brodeur with 3:13 left in the game, and the roar almost lifted the roof off of the old Garden, starting the renovation a year ahead of schedule.

While neither team can be classified as heavy weights in the NHL scheme of things, the game resembled an old fashioned heavyweight fight. Each team took turns landing what looked like knockout punches and each reeled a few times from the hits but no one quit. The Devils came back three times to tie the game.

The Avery - Brodeur matchup continued unabated but at the end, it was the most beautiful sight in the world to Ranger fans. Marty Brodeur on his knees and the red light behind him glowing brightly. The young kid with the pedigree had beaten the old guy with the resume. So the kid who had the game winner for the Devils go off his skate, in game three, roared back with the game winner and the crowd roared and roared and was still roaring when Scotty Gomez put in an empty netter off the face off.

The referees: Kevin Pollock and Dennis LaRue were awful. They called twelve penalties. They missed obvious calls. They made up calls. One such call was the matching penalties to Dubinsky and Clarkson called by Pollock on the opposite end of the ice. Every game of this series has had a referee controversy. The plain facts are that the caliber of the refs has dwindled. The two ref system has turned into a disaster where one tries to outdo the other and it doesn't work.

Sean Avery was decked, without the puck, and was pinned down and no call. Lundqvist's stick was batted away from him and the Devils scored right after that. Avery was taken down, skating to the net, penalty called and in the process rammed Brodeur into the net. I'm sure the Devils have their complaints about the refs, and they would be justified.

The ultimate penalty was the diving call on Brodeur. That had to irk the great one to have diving, instead of the usual unsportsmanship-like conduct, roared out to a packed Ranger house. That's the way it was last night, a rip roaring crowd. Oh yes. Final score 5-3.

Let's close it out Friday.

----

----

ICINGS:
Newsday:

• Steve Zipay: Staal Gets Redemption With Rangers' Winning Goal -- After John Madden's pass glanced off his skate for the Devils' overtime winner in Game 3 on Sunday, Marc Staal went home and solemnly watched the play three or four times. "I never saw the puck at the time," he recalled. "Then I tried to forget about it as fast as I could."
  
  Last night, the video replay was far sweeter...

----

• Arthur Staple: Could Rangers Be Getting In Brodeur's Head? -- Martin Brodeur got bumped and banged around, and did a little bit of diving as well. He even took his own mask off at one point during the middle of a Rangers' power play after getting jostled by Jaromir Jagr.
  
  The Devils goaltender rarely gets rattled, but it's fair to say he was a little bit like a James Bond martini last night. And Marc Staal's winning goal with 3:13 left that put Brodeur's Devils in a 3-1 series hole was a pretty stoppable shot ...

Daily News:

• John Dellapina: Rangers Push Devils To The Brink -- The Rangers crossed the river to the Jersey side last week to open their playoffs in grand style. They return to Newark Friday night with a chance to finish the job and the Devils.
  
  That is because, three nights after watching helplessly as a centering pass from John Madden deflected off his skate and into his own net in overtime, rookie defense.man Marc Staal powered a slap shot past Martin Brodeur to keep the Rangers out of overtime and a game from playoff advancement...


• Flip Bonde: Firepower Gives Blueshirts Edge -- He is still very young, just old enough now to go out and celebrate at the establishment of his choice. When Marc Staal slapped the winning goal Wednesday night in Game 4 to bury the Devils, 5-3, his teammates figured he was so wide-eyed and flighty that he hardly noticed at all.
  
  "Probably doesn't even know he scored," Jaromir Jagr said, only half joking...


• Martin Brodeur, Devils On Thin Ice -- Martin Brodeur smiled wearily. After losing to the Rangers Wednesday night to fall behind three games to one in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Brodeur took little comfort in the Devils' ability to play under pressure.
  
  The Devils bounced back from a slow start this season to go on a nine-game winning streak. After a late-season five-game losing streak, they won four of the last five to earn the fourth seed and home-ice advantage against the Rangers.
  
  "How many times can we keep doing that?" Brodeur asked. "We don't have any more times to make mistakes." ...

NY Post:

• Larry Brooks: Rangers Put Devs On Brink -- They gathered at center ice at the Garden to raise their sticks to the fans who had been on their feet and roaring for the final three minutes of last night's manic match. They gathered at center ice to raise their sticks in triumph.

  The Rangers are one win away from taking this Battle of the Hudson, one win away from completing their six-month dominance of the Devils with a first-round playoff victory.

  Still one win away...

• Mistakes Leave Jersey Needing Miracle -- Despair and desperation dog the Devils, who now have tried nearly everything. Survival demands they now win three straight from the team they haven't beaten three times in 12 this season...


• Jay Greenburg: Staal Is Savoring Sweet Redemption -- Brandon Dubinsky ate Jamie Langenbrunner's snow on the first Devils goal, getting caught flatfooted through center, leaving Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal two-on-three, allowing Patrik Elias to tie the game.
  
  Chris Drury got deked almost onto 33rd Street by Elias on the power-play rush leading to Elias' - and New Jersey's - second goal. Big, big mistakes in a series too tight to allow many, especially against an offensively challenged team that needs those errors to beat you...

Journal News:

• Staal Moves On, Leads Rangers To Win -- Three nights earlier, after the puck caromed off his skate and into his own net in overtime, Marc Staal made sure to watch the replay. The Rangers' rookie defenseman noticed the angle of his foot, noticed a few other things, and then wisely, pretty much forgot about it...


• Sam Weinman - Lundqvist, Brodeur Hope For That Playoff Magic -- They are the old man and the kid, two goaltenders at opposite ends of their careers and - at least for a few more days - at opposite ends of the ice, too. Henrik Lundqvist is 26. His nickname is "King." He is the Rangers' future, literally their backbone for years to come. Martin Brodeur will be 36 in about two weeks. His nickname is "Marty," or "Marrrrrrr-teeee," according to most of the singsonging fans at Madison Square Garden last night. He has four years left on his contract with the Devils and, in all likelihood, the same amount of time left before retirement...

Blue Shirt Bulletin:

• On the Marc -- You don't usually get story lines tailor-made for you like this one -- Marc Staal scores the game winner one game after letting a game winner deflect in off his skate. Add to that the fact that he is a rookie who scored his first NHL playoff goal against His Holiness Martin Brodeur, just as he scored his first NHL goal against the future first ballot inductee to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Greg Louganis Hall of Shame...

Margee / SportSquee:

• Game Day With Margee: Game 4, Devils at Rangers, Plus America's Next Top Model -- ...
  
  9:42 PM- Terrorist Face [Scott Gomez] wins his face-off in the closing seconds and nabs an empty-netter. I hate the Rangers with every last cell in my body. However, their goal song is so awesome, I wish I had it on my iPod...

comment: Where do the Rangers find more terrorists like Scotty?

NY Times:

• This Time Staal Gives Victory To Rangers -- When the Madison Square Garden crowd erupted around him, the rookie defenseman Marc Staal could not believe his turn of fortune. He had launched a slap shot that slid beneath Devils goalie Martin Brodeur with 3 minutes 13 seconds left for the decisive goal in a series-swinging 5-3 victory in Game 4 Wednesday night ...

----

Kipper Kid

---

Kid imitates Miikka Kiprusoff during Flames - Sharks series (game 2)

Game Four Chatter

How big a distraction has the Sean Avery escapade been? It sounds like the Rangers are staying loose about the whole situation.

John Dellapina / Daily News:
Rangers Get Silly Over Sean Avery Antics -- Jaromir Jagr couldn't resist. With a chance not only to crack a joke but to do it at Sean Avery's expense, the Rangers' captain had to seize the moment.

So at one end of the MSG Training Center ice yesterday morning, he got in backup goaltender Steve Valiquette's face. Then, his line rush having proceeded to the other end, Jagr did the same in front of Henrik Lundqvist.

Of course, Avery couldn't resist either. When he caught a WNBC camera filming his own replay of the incident, Avery flipped off the cameraman.

Suffice to say, while the NHL had a very serious and official reaction Monday to Avery's samba act in face-guarding Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur during Sunday's Game 3, the Rangers mostly treated the incident as an amusing sideshow upon returning to practice Tuesday...

• Devils Hope To Stop Folding In Crease Against Rangers At Garden - Daily News
• Sean Avery Practices 1-Finger Salute - Daily News
• Humbled By Devils In Game 3, Rangers Look Four-ward - Daily News

----

Larry Brooks / NY Post:
Now It's NHL That's In Yer Face -- Avery's second-period Game 3 break dance in the face of his unwilling partner was right out of "Slap Shot." It crossed a line, even if it's all but impossible to define what that line actually is.

As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart so memorably wrote in a 1964 obscenity-case opinion, "I know it when I see it."

But Avery v. Brodeur was neither a federal case nor an obscenity case, no matter the sour response from Commissioner Gary Bettman on a television interview within hours of the incident.

The demonizing of Avery in the wake of his creative shenanigans is completely out of line. What shrine, exactly, did he desecrate? What player's leg did he step on with his skate blade? What player did he send flying face-first into the boards on an icing touch-up? ...

• Marty's Gotta Step On Clutch - NY Post
  

----

Steve Zipay / Newsday:
Rangers Try To Focus Amid Avery Controversy -- With grins and impersonations, the Rangers yesterday tried to put Sean Avery's latest escapade in the rearview mirror before what Jaromir Jagr described as the critical game in the first-round playoff matchup with the Devils tonight at Madison Square Garden.

"It would be a lot nicer if we were up 3-0," said Jagr, who mimicked Avery's Game 3 face-guarding of Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur in front of Henrik Lundqvist at practice. "The reality is, we're still up 2-1. We could be up 3-1 or it could be tied going back to their building. It's the key game in this series. We have to bring everything; we have to. But they're going to do the same thing. It's going to be a war out there." ...

----

Johnette Howard / Newsday:
Avery's Act Just Part Of The Hockey Culture -- Considering the NHL is the same league that's given us the face wash, the high stick, the hip check, the crosscheck, some amazing adventures in dentistry, the unique nightly phenomenon of legal bare-knuckle fistfighting and those unseen backstage seamstresses who stitch up players' faces and send them flying back to the ice after barely missing a shift, it was comical to hear how many folks in the NHL were outraged, just outraged, I tell you, about the novel stunt that Rangers instigator Sean Avery pulled against Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur on Sunday....

----

NY Times:
To Rangers, Antics Are Just Avery Being Avery -- Drury, like most Rangers, reacted to Avery’s theatrics with an amused shrug. Many said they laughed.

“When you look at it, there weren’t any rules like that,” said the Rangers’ captain, Jaromir Jagr. “Five-on-five you won’t do that because the other team would have an advantage five-on-four. But five-on-three, I thought it was cool. I thought it was smart.” ...

----

Journal News:
Rangers' Rookies Respond To Pressure -- It would be tempting to say the Rangers' corps of rookies doesn't quite grasp the pressure of playoff hockey, which is why they've played so liberally through the first three games of their series with the Devils...

----

ICINGS:
Barry Who?

Barry Bonds has disappeared and his "career has vanished into thin air." Happily no one seems to have noticed or cared. Bill Simmons at ESPN nicely explores the disappearance, plus brings up a very ironic Barry Bonds cameo in a 1994 episode of Beverly Hills 90210.

I, for one, will have this memory: that 90210 in which Steve Sanders was roped into playing in a father-son golf tourney with his dad, Rush, against Rush's country-club nemesis …that's right, a father with a wisecracking baseball-player son named Barry Larson. (The casting of Bonds wasn't even the biggest leap of faith here. C'mon—we were supposed to believe Rush would ever belong to a country club that allowed black members?) As the tourney starts, Rush is cranking his longest drives in years, and that prompts Steve to confront him because, after all, nobody was allowed to cheat, engage in premarital sex, get drunk or use diet pills on 90210 without serious consequences.

When Steve (played with Emmy-worthy zeal by Ian Ziering) threatens to quit and take his blond curls with him, Rush breaks down and admits to using—wait for it—souped-up golf balls! Why, you ask? As Rush explains, he's past his prime and wants to become a club champ once more. In other words, his fear of getting old has forced him to artificially enhance his performance in an athletic competition against a character played by Barry Bonds! In 1994! I can't stop using exclamation points! Someone stop me! ...

The "Sean Avery Rule"

---

The NHL checks Avery's face-guarding with the "Sean Avery Rule."

This is a guy you love when he's on your team, but the rest of the league hates his guts. His homies in Canada really want to wring his neck.

We agree with Michael Farber at SI, who wrote "In Defense of Sean Avery."

Avery, a lightning rod for criticism throughout his career, has been trashed for the maneuver. On TSN, guest commentator Mark Recchi of the Atlanta Thrashers said that there was no place in the game for Avery's antics. Others wonder why the referees, Don Van Massenhoven and Mike Hasenfratz, simply didn't whistle Avery for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which would have put an end to the face guarding.

The consensus, however, that Avery had somehow impugned the good name of hockey with his stick waving was almost comical. On the one hand, these are the playoffs and players are supposed to do "whatever it takes" to win, including scrums and face washes and that after-the-final-whistle slash by Bruins winger Milan Lucic on Canadiens defenseman Mike Komisarek's injured hip in Game 1. On the other hand, some people around the NHL have such delicate sensibilities that Avery merely standing in front of the crease and acting like a maniac is an insult.

You really can't have it both ways.

Would there have been a torrent of outrage if the player in front of Brodeur had been anyone other than Avery?

Then again, would someone other than Avery have been audacious enough to even try the gambit, which is not specifically proscribed? ...

Another look at the desecration of the holy game. The Pope will be visiting soon, should he excommunicate Avery for this blasphemy?

Give Avery some credit for trying to pull off a clever gambit in an important game.

----

The official league press release, NHL.com -- NHL rules on goalie interference :

New York Ranger forward Sean Avery’s controversial face-guarding of New Jersey goalie Martin Brodeur in Sunday’s Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Series was dealt with by the League in a swift and decisive manner Monday.

Avery made headlines across the hockey world Sunday night when, during a 5-on-3 power play, he stood with his back to the play and waved his arms in front of Brodeur to distract the goalie. At another point, he also held his stick in front of Brodeur’s mask and waved the stick back and forth in another attempt at distraction.

[...]

"I've been watching games for 33 years and I have never seen anything like that in my life," Brodeur told the New York Daily News. "If it's within the rules, it's within the rules. The official came over and said it probably wasn't something that should be done."

Monday, the League made sure it would not happen again as Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued a statement about the League’s position.

It is considered an interpretation of Rule 75, concerning goaltender interference.

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

----

ICINGS:

Blueshirt Heaven:
Marty the Mohel -- I had no idea Marty Brodeur was Jewish, no less a Mohel but after watching him try to involuntarily circumcise Sean Avery last night, it begs the question.

This morning Gary Bettman goes on WFAN and tells Boomer and Carton that Avery will be warned about taking liberties with poor, little, defenseless Marty Brodeur. Gary should look at the slow-mo of the altercation. If he did, he’d see that Brodeur exacerbated the hostility between himself and Mr. Avery by lifting his goal stick between Avery’s legs in an attempt to injure his manhood. But, since Gary is such shmekl, he wouldn’t know from manhood...

James Mirtle:
Bettman to institute Avery Rule -- Bettman said he discussed the matter with Colin Campbell, the NHL's senior vice president of hockey operations, on Sunday afternoon already. Their joint verdict: "It's something that we're going to address, probably in the realm of either goaltender interference, or unsportsmanlike conduct.

James Mirtle:
Avery Rule -- I know sometimes it seems as if all of the Sean Avery nonsense and coverage is overblown, but he's actually quite disliked throughout the league, and in a way that goes beyond that of the traditional Darcy Tucker/Jordin Tootoo type pests.

And I think that's part of the reason he won't be a Ranger next season.

TheStar, Canada:
Crosby among players baffled by Avery's antics -- Add the NHL's reigning MVP to the list of players annoyed by New York Rangers forward Sean Avery's bizarre antics New Jersey goaltender Martin Brodeur...

ESPN
NHL amends unsportsmanlike conduct rule in response to Avery's antics

Spector's blog, Fox Sports:
The Sean Avery Rule -- With his back to the player and waving his stick around in that manner, he risked injuring Brodeur despite the netminder’s protective equipment, and could’ve clipped a teammate or an opponent in the face or head with his stick...

BlueShirts blog / NY Daily News:
Avery gets checked by NHL

CBC.ca, Canada:
Avery in the news for all the wrong reasons, again -- The one issue beyond debate, of course, is that Sean Avery is also the most hated player around, at least outside of Manhattan and there are no doubt parts of New York that aren't entirely sure how they feel about him, either...

Globe and Mail, Canada:
Shoalts: Few allies for Avery -- Sean Avery's latest attention-getting gambit drew the usual amount of sympathy from other players around the NHL – none. No one thought the New York Ranger ...

The Dark Ranger:
Brodeur Not Amused By Avery's Chicken Dance -- Let 'em play Bettman...let 'em play!!!

Update: What the New York papers are saying on Tuesday (4/15) about the 'Sean Avery Rule' --

Newsday:
DEBATE: Did Sean Avery cross the line with his waving? --

Jim Baumbach: Avery took it too far...
Anthony Rieber: All is fair in love and hockey...

Newsday
Antics Of Rangers' Avery Lead To Rules Change -- The Avery Directive isn't the latest Robert Ludlum novel. It was the buzz of the hockey world yesterday...

Daily News
Rangers Must Clean Up Their Act
NY Post
Brodeur Not Distracted By Avery's Antics
Journal News
NHL Changes Rule In Wake Of Avery's Actions
NY Times
Avery’s Strategy Draws Ire Of Devils

---

"Marty, your breath just doesn't make it."

---

More on Avery: Ingenious or Idiotic? ...

Devils 'Skate' Over Rangers

The goals reminded me of those old Michael Jordan commercials where he banked the basketball off of different structures to put them in the net. Brylin scored the first Devil goal off his skate. Next came Elias off his leg. Parise sneaked one through Lundqvist and then Madden banked one off of Staal's skate. Minnesota Fats would have been proud of all three shots.

However, there was more to this game than weird goals. There was Mike Hasenfratz and Don Van Massenhoven doing their best impressions of "Anything you can do I can do better' as they gave the Devils eight power plays and the Rangers five. Five will get you ten that master GM Lou Lamoriello was burning the wires to NHL headquarters after Friday nights loss complaining about the calls he got or didn't get in that game. He should have no complaints after last night. Now if the Stealth GM had any brains he should get on the phone and scream a little too. It shouldn't be a problem. They have phones in Edmonton.

The highlight of the game was Sean Avery standing in front of Marty, face to face, waving his stick and his arms to distract the Great One. He scored a PP goal on that play, his third of the playoffs. By the way, far be it from me to criticize our great coach, but it is time to get Avery back on the first line with Jagr and Dubinsky. It is also time to bench Betts and get Prucha back in the lineup. His giveaway led to the first goal. It's more than that. He has no offensive skills and yes I know its the fourth line but who says that the fourth line can't score a goal now or then. I know there is as much chance of both of those things happening as there is for the fans to stop the stupid Potvin chant in the heat of the action. Game four Wednesday night.

ICINGS:
Avery may be an idiot, but we think he's crazy like a fox. Plus he makes the games fun. You can cast a vote here:

LadyPenguin at TeamSugar:
Sean Avery: Ingenius or Idiotic? -- Yesterday during the New York-New Jersey game, the Rangers' Sean Avery seemingly invented a new method of screening the goaltender. Instead of standing in front of Martin Brodeur, with his back to the goal in hopes of deflecting in a shot, Avery stood face-to-face with the Devils' goalie, waving his stick in his face...

... what do you think? Was Avery ingenious or idiotic?

More on Avery v. Brodeur:

Globe Sports:
Avery's antics spark immediate reaction -- Avery, channeling his inner pest, turned to face Brodeur. Instead of trying to get in position to score, Avery spent most of his energy, waving his stick and arms in front of the Devils' goaltender, distracting him from the task at hand...

Bleacher Report:
Sean Avery: When "Bad Boy" Is Bad for Hockey -- In his twisted little mind, he [Avery] had to come up with something else that could throw Marty off his game, so he became creative.In a display that can only be called, childish, rude and completely disrespectful, he stood facing Marty and taunted him with his stick and his hands. It was like watching a school yard bully relentlessly taunting the classroom brainiac. Avery waved his hands in Marty’s face, keeping him from watching the puck in play. He raised his stick and waved it like a flag in Marty’s eyes. No whistle, no call. Marty gave him a little push, and only then did that catch attention...

LA Kings forum:
Sean Avery: Brilliant strategy, or the ultimate ...

NHL: Unsportsmanlike Conduct? - at TSN
The NHL on TSN panel discuss whether Rangers forward Sean Avery should have been penalized for his extreme screening.

Battle of Alberta:
Sean Avery screens Martin Brodeur -- Penalty? Acceptable? I'm still undecided, but leaning more towards thinking it should be a penalty. It's the glove and stick waving that bothers me. Turning your back to the puck is stupid, but I don't think it should be illegal. The Devils were down two men at that point, which explains why someone didn't just push Avery out of the way (or worse)...

HF Boards:
Avery vs. Brodeur discussion

Hockey Talkie:
Avery Adds to his #%#*&@ Resume - ... the Rangers are without a doubt a better team when he is on the ice. I simply hate these kinds of actions and on-ice shenanigans that Avery always seems to be a part of.

Hammer's Bulldog blog:
Sean Avery swash-buckles Martin Brodeur, Milan Lucic runs show. -- I'm not a huge fan of Avery and some of his actions and comments, but this guy is a way better player than I think most people realize. Three goals already in just his third game of the playoffs says it all.

Whew!

It was the big three that brought it home. It was also a hot tip from Shanahan to the refs that helped a lot. But mainly the big three showed up and showed up big. The Rangers took the home crowd out of the game and at times it was hard to tell who the home team was. It was scoreless at the end of two because the Rangers had to kill off five penalties including a four minute call against Backman, but all hell broke loose in the third period.

Jaromir Jagr constantly shadowed by Colin White and whomever else used his tormentors to score his first goal of the playoffs and gave the Rangers a lead early in the third period and then 23 seconds later The Detriment added his second of the series, which was the game winner. Jagr skated around the net with White all over him and then another Devil, John Madden, joined in. Madden, actually picked White who then hit Brodeur as he headed for the front of the net. Jagr shot found its way off of Brodeur's back and the Rangers were on the board. An unhappy Brodeur, complaining to White, was even more unhappy, 23 seconds later, when Avery blistered a wrister by him for a 2-0 lead which proved to be decisive.

Lundqvist outdueled Brodeur for the ninth time in ten matches this year. Lundqvist had 26 saves and Brodeur had 28. The third period saw the Devils charge the net at every opportunity they had. Rather than looking like hockey the traffic around the net, and Lundqvist, looked more like Rugby scrums. Lundqvist made many outstanding saves, none better than having his left leg on the goal line on a play that was reviewed favorably to the Rangers. Three big plays helped the Rangers down the stretch.

The interference call on Madden with 54 seconds left was probably the biggest one. Supposedly Shanahan had tipped the refs off to watch out for interference and sure enough Madden moved into Shanahan after the Rangers lost the draw. Buffalo pulled this on the Rangers in last years playoff and it worked to their advantage. Not this time, the refs spotted it. The next call was a non-call with Betts clearly holding Paul Martin but no call. The final nail in the Devils coffin was a miscall by the linesman in calling a Devil icing. The call was nullified but the faceoff came out to center ice, that's the rule, instead of having it in the Ranger zone.

So the Rangers go up 2-0 in a very passionate hard fought game where they had a little bit of luck, but also where the Big Three of Jagr, Avery and Lundqvist all stepped up and stepped up big. This is where I came in. Game three Sunday night at the Garden. Be there.

ICINGS:

Daily News
Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery lead Rangers in explosive third period
Rangers Must Change On Fly vs. Devils
Marc Staal's Success Pains Brian Gionta
NY Post
Third Period's A Charm For BlueShirts
Rangers Two Good
Second Chance
Copycats?
Newsday
Jagr, Avery score seconds apart, Rangers win 2-1
Rangers' Youngsters Making Big Contributions
The Dark Ranger:
Marty Brodeur Still Declares Himself Greatest Goaltender!
Journal News
Rangers take 2-0 series lead on Devils
Rangers Spend Off-Day Fixing Things
NY Times
Jagr Gets Big Result From Small Opening
Right Place, Right Time For Lundqvist’s Saves

----

Ron Duguay is everywhere — pre-game, post-game, MSG, ESPN, you can't miss the former Rangers pretty boy. Before the Rangers game he was on ESPN radio offering his insights and analysis with ESPN's hockey guy, Don LaGreca. They were talking about the good old days in the late 1970's and early 80's when Duguay played and they mentioned the Sasson jeans ad that Duguay did with Phil Esposito.

That jeans ad was the most famous thing Duguay did as a Ranger. He even signs some of his autographs with a "Oh, La La Sassoon." Though it appears Ron has mixed up the name of the hairdresser (Sassoon) with the name of the jeans maker (Sasson). Not surprising, given the fine coiffure that Ron still maintains.

Thanks to the magic of YouTube the Sasson ad is still around, though "Espo" would probably pay good money to see it destroyed.



The first Sasson ad was so popular they even did a sequel.

Beam Them Up Scotty

----

Scotty Gomez played seven seasons with the Devils and won two Stanley Cups with them, but it is doubtful if he ever had a more enjoyable game on a New Jersey ice surface then he did tonight. Booed every time he touched the puck Gomez saved his best game as a Ranger for the big time of the opening night of the playoffs. In 20:03 of ice time, which included 2:38 of power play time and 1:59 of penalty killing, Scotty picked up three big assists, none more important than the assist he got on Ryan Callahan's short handed goal which was a gift from the great Martin Brodeur. The Gomez, Shanahan, Avery line got two goals and five assists. Two ex Devils and one big Devil tormentor stuck the dagger into the Devils.

The Devils opened up trying to intimidate the Rangers by hitting everything with a white jersey. They figured that would wear the Rangers down. I guess Brent Sutter didn't watch last years opening round between the Thrashers and the Rangers. The Thrashers tried the same thing and you saw what happened to them. The Devils outhit the Rangers 34-27, but it wasn't enough of a difference to alter the outcome of the game. Zubrus and Rupp led the Devils with five hits each while Gerardi with five and Avery with four led the Rangers. Another key stat that went the Rangers way was the 31-25 edge in faceoffs with Drury at 14-4 and Gomez at 9-6. The only thing Gomez didn't do tonight was hawk the program books.

The goalie matchup was much the same as we have seen all year. The young gunslinger, Henrik Lundqvist outdueled the old warhorse, Martin Brodeur. In nine games against the Devils this year, Henrik Lundqvist has given up ten goals. In thirteen regular season games against the Rangers the Devils have not scored more than two goals in any game. Though aided by a couple of posts Lundqvist was outstanding, never more than the save he made on Patrik Elias to keep the score tied at 1-1. Lundqvist made 26 saves and Brodeur made 24, but his biggest miss was his flub on an aggressive Ryan Callahan rebound. That is usually how playoff games are won and lost, by great plays or big mistakes. The game winning goal was a combination of both. A great play by Gomez and Callahan and a big mistake by Brodeur. On to game two.

ICINGS:

Daily News:
Rangers Stick It To Devils In Game 1
Devils Lose To Their Mirror Image
Brodeur Expecting A Big Rebound
NY Post:
Rangers Strike First
Kids Night In Newark
Hurtin' Gomez Enjoys Some Rib-Tickling Fun
The Dark Ranger [in the belly of the beast with his peeps]:
The King Rocks The Rock, NYR 4, Devils 1
Newsday:
Rangers Win After Callahan Jumps On Brodeur Mistake
Gomez Learned Well From His Devils' Experience
Goons Take Night Off In Game 1 Of Rangers-Devils
Journal News:
Rangers Strike First Against Devils

Playoff Previews

Rangers may have edge this time - NY Daily News
As Devils battle for river with Rangers, Martin Brodeur goes with flow - NY Daily News
Home or away, bags are packed -The Star-Ledger, NJ.com
Devils-Rangers and Stanley Cup Playoff previews - The Star-Ledger, NJ.com
Shanahan seasoned for a run at Cup - The Star-Ledger, NJ.com
Rangers’ Style Has Turned Devilish - New York Times
Devils' Brodeur won't change his style - Newsday
Rangers cross tunnel to renew rivalry - CBC.ca, Canada
Devils host rival Rangers in Game 1 of East quarterfinals - Sports Network
Lundqvist for Conn Smythe - Bleacher Report, CA
New York Rangers to Win the Stanley Cup, but Who Gets the Conn ... - Bleacher Report
NY Rangers, NJ Devils Under 4½ - SBR Forum, Costa Rica
Eastern Conference - Faceoff.com, Canada
Devils in video mode - Hamilton Spectator, Canada
Believing is key to success - Toronto Star, Canada
The fifth postseason series between Rangers and Devils - Newsday
Devils (4) vs. Rangers (5) Playoff Preview - AOL SPORTS, NY
East Dish: Storylines for Eastern Conference Round 1 - SportingNews.com
Rangers' Offense Gives Playoff Edge - New York Sun
Gomez sees another side of Jersey - NY Daily News
'Everything's up for grabs now'; dan girardi isn't looking past ... - Welland Tribune, Canada
Stanley Cup playoff prediction key - Minot Daily News, ND

Rozsival And Malik

The title? We were on the LIRR coming home from the game at the beautiful Rock and I asked my nine year old grandson, Nicholas, what did he think my headline should be. Without batting an eye he said, "Rozsival and Malik." One thing you should know about my grandson Nicholas, age nine. He plays defense in Squirt Hockey and back in January his team, The Makos, won the championship of the New York Islanders sponsored Tournament at the Long Island Coliseum. I wrote about them in my blog. In the semi final game Nicholas was selected as player of the game for the Makos. Nicholas knows something about playing defense. I don't believe Rozsival or Malik were ever picked as star of a game and it is questionable what they know about defense.

Our two heroes were on the ice for the two Devil goals in the first thirteen minutes. It was ridiculous how out of position Malik was on the first goal and how useless he was on the second. Rozsival wasn't much better. On the way out of the arena one Ranger fan said that tonight Malik made Rozsival look bad. Another fan retorted, "I didn't think Rozsival needed any help looking bad." With the aid of coach clueless the trio were deadly for the Rangers. The Rangers came out flat (again) and the Devils came out roaring, understanding the enormity of the game and being whiplashed by their coach Suter. Coach clueless must answer the question. Why were the Rangers flat for such a big critical game?

Coach clueless decided to sit Hollweg, Strudwick, Mara and Orr, though I understand Orr may have a 'lower body injury'. He had the Ice Follies lineup.The fourth line consisted of Betts, Sjostrom and Shanahan. The line got a total of five hits all by Sjostrom. It is probably the first time in his life that Shanahan played on the fourth line. As the game went on, Shanny showed up on various lines, getting 15:56 of ice time including 2:49 of power play time. The first period was all Devils, with the Rangers being outshot 11-2 and mauled at every intersection by Clarkson, Rupp and Madden. Rupp and Madden were the goal scorers for the Devils.

It reached a point of such frustration that Jagr was fighting back and mad as hell. So he went off along with Malik and Clarkson went off with White. Good trade for the Devils. Jagr for Clarkson and White who shadowed Jagr all game got a two minute rest. Clarkson has taken the place of Cam Janssen, who Colton Orr used to beat up regularly. Is it coincidental that this was the first game Orr missed against the Devils, and the Devils won? Why is a healthy Hollweg sitting? Why was Mara benched for Malik? Is Orr really hurt and if so what is it? Ask yourself this question. Do we want Jagr getting into roughing matches with goons like Clarkson? Is the next step Jagr dropping the gloves?

Coach clueless did have one last chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and redeem himself but he waffled. He waited too long to pull Lundqvist. There were two opportunities to pull him. One came at the end of the penalty to Malik and it was a little less than four minutes to play. He didn't do it. The next great opportunity came with about two and a half minutes to go with Jagr on the ice and the Rangers had gotten the puck deep and had fairly good control. No dice. It was still defense first for coach clueless. He gave the Devils life and now they think they can beat us. With a powder puff lineup and an overly defensive coach they will.

With all the line switching going on in the third period, Sean Avery and Jaromir Jagr found themselves as linemates again. Lo and behold, Avery with great work behind the net found Jagr for the game tying goal. I believe the next shift Jagr was on, found Straka as his linemate again. A lot of nice passes. Jagr's goal was his 25th of the season giving him a record 17th straight season with 25 goals or more. He seems to be coming on for the playoffs.

One last word on a too long post. Lundqvist was brilliant with 25 saves. The third period and OT was as exciting and flawless as it gets for a goalie. He had seven saves in the third and four in OT. Parise is still shaking his head after being stopped at the doorstep. So we lose home ice but I don't think that will stop us from defeating the Devils in the opening round. The only thing that can stop us is our clueless coach.

ICINGS: Gomez was booed every time he touched the puck so he must have felt great scoring the shootout goal. I asked the Devil fan next to me why he was booing Gomez. He said because he left for more money. I asked him if he would leave his job for a lot more money and would his ex co-workers boo him? A got a nice smile in return.

Predictable

My son's words to describe another big game where winning was expected and needed. Alas, our heroes came out flat against a team they had shut out the night before. Hey Pundit, why so gloomy? After all the Rangers have gotten at least one point in the last nine games. Last night it was the power play, 2-7, that helped us. Tonight it was the power play, 0-8, that killed us.

Of course, other things killed us also. Henrik Lundqvist played as bad a game that I have seen him play since he came to the Rangers. A case could have been made that he should have had a shutout as all three goals were stoppable and Satan's goal was the worst of the trio. Forget the shootout, it should never have reached it. In the shootout Lundqvist was torched by rookies Okposo and Comeau and Number One Star Richard Park. While Dawes and Sjostrom scored, Shanahan and Prucha were stopped and the game went to the Islanders who were playing their last game of the season.

Also contributing to the defeat was the curious decision by coach clueless to leave five forwards out for the full two minutes on a Ranger five on three power play. Besides its ineffectiveness it also gave up a short handed goal to Richard Park who easily sped by Shanahan to give the Islands a 3-2 lead. Shanahan was probably not fully recovered from his lower body injury, whatever the heck that was, but what was everyone else's excuse. What was coach clueless's excuse for not getting his team up to beat an AHL team? My friend in the next section suggested that perhaps there was a little too much celebration after their playoff clinching win and that caused the Rangers to come out flat. Hopefully, the spirits weren't flat.

So now the Rangers go to the Rock where they face Brodeur and the law of averages to try to get a win that would have them finish fourth with the home ice advantage over the Devils. A Ranger loss and a Bruin win would drop the Rangers to sixth place and a date with the Washington Capitals. That wouldn't be a nice date, that would be a nightmare. So, on the last day of the season, the Rangers are faced with a must win over the Devils whom they have beaten seven times, three in OT. But that is what happens when your clueless coach can't get his team up for a game against a bunch of minor leaguers. That is also what happens when your goalie, who has carried us most of the way, has a bad game. We need the Prince to show up Sunday afternoon. I will be there, hopefully so will the Prince. If he doesn't show up, it will be a short playoff season.

ICINGS: The hockey sportswriters gave their three stars to Straka (3). Jagr (2) and Park (1). I found that baffling. My three stars were, #3, Okposo; #2, Park; and number one goalie Dubielewicz.

Rangers Clinch — With Jagr & The Prince

The Rangers clinched a playoff spot by beating the injury riddled Islanders at Nassau Coliseum last night 3-0 and it was the big guys that did it. Jaromir Jagr, slowly waking from his season scoring slumber, scored two power play goals giving him 23 on the season. Lundqvist recorded his tenth shutout of the season which leads all goalies in the NHL. The third party in the triumvirate that I have said was needed by the Rangers if they are to go deep in the playoffs did pretty good also. Sean Avery got 20:11 of ice time, including 4:22 of power play time and while he had no points he had six shots on goal, three missed shots and dished out three hits. No other Ranger had more hits though both Girardi and Dawes had three hits also.

The Ranger power play also seems to be waking up as both of Jagr's goals were on the power play. Five on five the game was fairly even as Straka scored the only even strength goal for the Rangers. As stated before the Islanders are basically crippled so the fact the game was only 3-0 was testament to their coach, Ted Nolan, and their work ethic that the Rangers so often fail to match. There was no Ricky DiPietro to give the Ranger shooters fits, there was no Mike Sillinger to harass our defenders into mistakes and there was no Brendan Witt to blanket Jagr as effectively as he does. But hey, a win is a win is a win. My friend Frank, the Islander fan was right though. The Islanders should have cleaned house at the trade deadline to get some younger talent and prospects. Neil Smith, where are you now that the Islanders need you?

The Rangers have bigger fish to fry right now. They need the Flyers to beat the Devils tonight and we must win our last two against the Isle's tonight and the Devils Sunday. Then we will have the Match of the Decade between the Rangers and Devils with the Rangers holding home ice advantage. The Pundit will be there Sunday with his two sons and Grandson. It should be priceless!

ICINGS:
Section 335 asks: "Why is this allowed?" Regarding the Mark Bell cheap shot on Daniel Alfredsson. Note that Bell conveniently wears a full face-shield.

I hate you, Mark Bell - Sens Army
Sens' Alfredsson, Fisher out for 'weeks' - TSN

----

Greg Wyshynski, at NHL Closer can "Smell The Sidney/Ovie In The Air."

----

Forget the Rangers game, Murph at Islander Army is checking out the Islanders stuff for sale at NHL Auctions.

"the one thing that really caught my eye was the lineup card from Kyle Okposo’s debut, signed by both coaches. No bidders, bidding starts at $25."

Didn't see any Rangers stuff. And Murph is also pulling for "Khabby" over Dubielewicz:

The NHL Tournament of Logos blog has graduated from logos and is moving onto determining the “best goalie mask” with a series of polls. Today’s matchup pits the Isles’ own Wade Dubielewicz vs. Nikolai Khabibulin. Sorry Doobie, but I H-A-T-E that stupid %$#^@&*! Gordon’s Fisherman logo with a passion…I had to vote for “The Bulin Wall”...