The Undead Rangers

The New York Rangers aren't dead yet

The Rangers have resurrected their season with this current 6 game winning streak. It was topped off yesterday by their 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Talbot and his Oilers came East, they conquered the Isles and the Devils (thank you very much), and were then ambushed by the Rangers sharpshooting power play. The Rangers notched 2 power plays in the second period to give them the edge, after trailing 2-1.

Lundqvist made 27 saves on 29 shots. Nash scored two goals, Buchnevich had a PP goal, and Grabner potted an empty netter. Mats Zuccarello had two assists, and McDonagh had one on the Nash power play goal. And worst stat of the day: Jimmy Vesey lost two front teeth after getting hit in the mouth by a Zach Kassian skate early in the second period. Ugh!

Vesey was back on the ice for the third period. It's hockey for all you NFL, MLB, and MLS, pinky raised, tea drinking ladies, who get dizzy and nauseous after seeing a little blood.

Vesey sent out a "It's hockey, #SorryMa" tweet after the game documenting the damage. On the x-ray you can see at least one tooth embedded in his lower lip. Is a tooth considered missing if it's lodged in your lip? You still have it, just not in the right place.

Good job out of you, Jimmy, sacrificing two teeth for a Rangers win.

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

Anyway, when you are a bottom feeder, like the Rangers, as alleged here recently, you absolutely have to feast on the second worst team in the Western Conference, the Oilers, or else you'll lose your bottom feeder status. What's lower than being a bottom feeder, maybe done and dusted, or dead. But the question now is, what's the next level up? The Rangers need a promotion. Three teams are now below them in the Metro division: Carolina, Philadelphia, and Washington. The Rangers have played more games, but we'll ignore that trivial detail. Bottom line, the team is on the rise.

So, the Blueshirts need a new label. How about saying the Rangers have achieved "Undead" status? Not dead and finished, as in trade Lundqvist, fire AV, and clean house for next year. But, "Undead," because they are staggering, not marching, toward the playoffs like an undead zombie looking for a brain to eat.

ICINGS:

Steve Zipay at Newsday wants to focus on "Henrik Lundqvist’s new mask a lucky charm for Rangers." How about instead we focus on his stick. Can someone please give Hank some Stickum or something to help him hang on to his goalie stick. The McDavid PP goal in the 2nd period got past a stickless Lundqvist. It seems like he's losing it at least once every game now. And we know from Sean Avery's new book, that Hank is really the exact opposite of stickless. So let's get a grip please.

The level of writing on Rangers blogs this year is awesome. Some really good stuff turned out by lots of guys. Some recent examples:

Sean McCaffrey over at BlueCollar BlueShirts.

Adam Herman over at Blueshirt Banter: Grabner’s Run of Empty Net Goals is No Fluke -- In fact, of the 41 players in NHL history to score at least 17 empty net goals, Grabner is fourth in goals per game. Only Pavel Bure, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux ranked higher.

The guys at ForeverBlueshirts: Henrik Lundqvist: Better Than the Numbers? -- The stats may not be glamorous but Lundqvist can do one thing, and that is keep the Rangers competitive in games.

The crew at Blueseat Blogs: View from the Chase Bridge for a six game winning streak -- I don't understand why Marc Staal and Steven Kampfer are continually out on the ice. It’s mind boggling to me. They just aren’t a good defense pairing.

etc.

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