Niemi, Toronto Beat Rangers

Anti Niemi is a great goalie, but yesterday in shutting out the Rangers he got a lot of help from two expected sources. He made 41 saves and none was bigger than the one the Toronto suits awarded him when they ruled against Carl Hageman's wrap around in the second period. They ruled there was no conclusive proof that the puck crossed the line. Never mind that a Garden review showed the puck across the line, the suits ruled. No goal.

The other culprit, the Rangers. There were at least four or five attempts at wide open nets and the Rangers either missed or shot the puck at Niemi. This is not a new phenomenon, this is an old story. The Rangers are not scoring goals. Martin St. Louis is goalless in his seven games with the Rangers. Remember, he came here as a point a game man and has all of two assists here. Nash has one goal in his last nine games. Want more?  Zuccarello hasn't scored in eleven games. And the power play. Forget it. It's back to normal. It was 0-3 yesterday and is now in a 1-16 funk.

Yes, the Sharks are a good team. They are tied for first in the Pacific and are only two points out of first in the West. They have won six straight but yesterday they were beatable but we don't have the players to score the big goals. We thought that was St. Louis. We thought that was Nash. Once upon a time we thought it was Gaborik, and for a while it was. But now, nothing.

Now we are in a dog fight for the last playoff spot in the East with Washington and Detroit nipping at our heels. What's the answer? Goals is the answer right now. There are only 13 games left. It's time to put up or shut up. It's too late for a big shakeup, maybe a minor shakeup. JT Miller is a spark plug type of player who is doing well in Hartford. It's a minor deal but we need something. We can't score goals. Help!

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