Blueshirt Boggle

Dru Has to Come Through in Divisional Draw

UPDATE: Valley in. Malik in, Mara out. Possible line reconfig: Straka back to the first line, Avery back to the second line with Shanahan and Dubinsky, leaving Drury with the line he centered early in the season between Prucha and Dawes. Thanks to Steve Zipay reporting in Blue Notes from the morning skate.

The deck is stacked against the Rangers as they head into Philadelphia tonight for the first of three games in less than four days. The Flyers are 12-2-1 since Christmas (their only two losses in regulation to the Devils) and are 5-1-1 in their last seven home games. In their last eleven, they have scored three or more goals in each game (averaging 4.36 goals per game), they have converted one in three power plays (19-57), and have allowed a respectable five power play goals in 36 times short (14%) if you exclude one bad 5-8 night vs. New Jersey.

The Rangers, by contrast, are winless on the road in 2008 (0-4-2, bookending an 0-5-1 start on the road, their 7-2-3 record in between a distant memory). They have been outscored 19-10 in those games. While their power play, free of home fans beseeching them to shoot every time they touch the puck, scored in each of their last four road games (4-20, as opposed to 0-27 in their last six at home), their penalty killing has been awful, allowing opponents to convert at a 25% rate (8-36, compared to 18% on 5-28 at home). That will be a huge problem against the league's top power play, especially if Steve Valiquette gets the call in net.

There is some good news hidden in the numbers. The Rangers, who seem to lose mainly because of lack of intensity, are able to get themselves up for divisional games -- when they come in bunches, which is the case the rest of the way. They went 10-3 against divisional rivals during a 26-game stretch in which half their games were within the Atlantic, outscoring their opponents 32-19. On the flip side, they lost their only divisional contest in their first seven games and have lost the only two divisional contests they have played in their last 19. Beginning tonight, half of their 32 remaining games are against Atlantic foes -- the so-called four-point games where a win not only gains two points but also denies rivals two points (except when the stupid extra point comes into play).

If the Rangers are to get going, they're going to need some help from Chris Drury. They paid him the big bucks not for any gaudy numbers, but for clutch play. This playoff push requires more of him than the two goals, two assists, and -6 he has compiled in 13 games in 2008. Those four points rank him sixth among Ranger forwards in that time. Three defensemen have scored as much or more. Three other forwards are just a point behind despite playing less than the full complement of games, and all three were his linemates most or part of that time. He is currently on pace for his second-worst season of point production since his rookie season, his worst NHL season in goal production, and a +/- more than twice as bad as his career worst.

In the news, a report on the Rangers being driven to the net by their coach and his consideration of starting Valiquette in the Post, Newsday, and Blue Notes. The Daily News considers where the Rangers might look for help, which includes getting a center that would allow Drury to move to the wing and perhaps get his game together. NYR.com and Rangerland have game previews -- funny stuff elsewhere at Rangerland. Greg Cimillucca of CBS Sports thinks the Rangers can repeat last year's playoff run. Howlings previews the Pack's next game. Chris Holt didn't get any support in Charlotte's latest loss. And Prospect Park names the Rangers' prospect of the week.

Rangers Run and Gun Themselves Down

The game plan was as obvious as it was effective -- for one period. The game plan was obviously thrown on the scrap heap -- after that one period. Against the run and gun, damn the defense Carolina Hurricanes, who had given up the second-most goals in the league going into the game, the Rangers sat back and trapped their way to a dominant first period -- they led 1-0 with an 11-5 advantage in shots on goal through the first 18 minutes of play despite being shorthanded for four of those minutes. But then they came out in the second period and thought they could trade chances with the Hurricanes, and lost the game because of it, the Canes converting three two on ones after Ranger defensemen got trapped up the ice joining the attack.

With exactly one minute left in the first period, the Rangers leading 1-0, Eric Staal carries up the left wing boards. There is no Ranger in sight until he crosses the red line. At that point, Jagr forces him up the boards where he skates right into Fedor Tyutin's check at the Ranger blue line, causing a turnover that allows the Rangers to counterattack with a three on two. Tyutin considers joining the rush, but hangs back, which is a good move as Jagr loses the puck and the Canes counter with a three on two of their own that is negated, with Jagr and Martin Straka backchecking to make it three on four. Late on the same shift, with 20 seconds left, the Rangers stop the Canes on defense and quickly counter for a two on one, with Jagr cutting to the middle and just missing the net.

Six minutes into the next period, with the Rangers playing an end to end skating and forechecking game with the Canes instead of the first period trap, Tyutin decides to join a three on two rush. He one-times a shot that misses the net, giving Carolina a two on one the other way. Tyutin skates back aimlessly as Ray Whitney fakes a shot and dishes off to Sergei Samsonov for the tying goal. A minute later, Sean Avery misses an open net with a shot similar to the one Samsonov scored on. A minute after that, still trying to run and gun with the speedy Canes, Paul Mara joins a three on two rush and is trapped when Straka's backpass to him is tipped away to start a two on one that Rod Brind'amour converts for the winning goal.

"We had two outnumbered opportunities where, rather than getting a goal or scoring opportunity ourselves, they went the other way and scored," Brendan Shanahan told the Daily News. "That's really it there. One was a four-on-two and the other might have been. That's the way the Hurricanes are. They're a high-risk team. So we needed to execute and we didn't. We turned potential game-breaking plays for us into letting them get back in the game and then letting them take the lead."

And that was all, she wrote -- except for one thing. Jagr could have given the Rangers a 2-0 lead going into the second period had he converted that late two on one in the first. There would have been no reason in the world for the Rangers to abandon their defensive posture with a 2-0 lead. Jagr had two or three more good shots from that same spot, high slot, where he has scored so many goals since coming to New York. He shot wide, he shot into the goalie, he shot into shot blockers -- everything except into the net. Despite playing an otherwise good game, Jagr could not get the key goal for the Rangers, and that was a big part of the loss. He is coming straight in on those chances, whereas in the past he moved laterally to open up the goalie.

This one is on the players -- the coaches' game plan was there, and it worked. The players decided to abandon it early in the second period, even though it was still working. This one is on Jagr for not converting his best chances, it's on Tyutin for missing the net and not getting himself back into the play, it's on Straka for not getting the puck in deep, it's on Blair Betts for not reading the play right on the Canes' third goal. But one Ranger this is not on is Chris Drury -- Drury, after all, did not attend last night's game, so how could it be his fault?

Context is key to the difficult task of officiating in the NHL. Referees have to be able to read plays as well as players in order to determine who did what and why in making their calls. In the first period last night, there was absolutely no context to the calls made by the dynamic duo in zebra stripes. With Carolina clearly looking to engage in vengeful acts of violence from the start of the game, the context for Scott Walker's hit on Scott Gomez was a no-brainer -- major, game misconduct, and a trip to Toronto to visit Mr. Campbell. Walker's hit was worse that Ilya Kovalchuk's on Michal Rozsival, which was stupid but was at least not premeditated, and he earned a major, game, and suspension for that. Instead, Walker got his team a power play when Sean Avery came in to challenge him.

The context was also lost on the refs when they put the Rangers two men down seconds later on a phantom hooking call -- Brendan Shanahan's stick was up because he was tangling with his man off a draw and Eric Staal skated right into it. Shanahan dropped the stick and then gave the ref a look of disgust at what was a disgusting call. But nothing was as far out of context as a diving call on Jaromir Jagr later in the period. First of all, Jagr is notorious for not diving, to a fault, with Shanahan and reporters often chiding him for continuing to skate with defenders draped all over him when a fall to the ice would draw a penalty. But on top of that, had he not taken that so-called dive, he would have had an open run at the net -- why on earth would a guy who never dives take himself out of a golden opportunity to draw a penalty?

We gave Stephen Walkom a soapbox in Blueshirt Bulletin last fall so that he could explain to us how NHL officiating has become more consistent under his leadership. Mr. Walkom, step up to our soapbox now and explain to us how this type of officiating meets your goals and what you intend to do about it -- oh, don't bother, we know that you will come up with laughable spin about how the refs did their best and we know that you can't do squat about it and don't even believe there is anything to be done about it. In the meantime, the sports world will continue to derisively chuckle at your oeuvre. "You want to play within the rules," Walker said after the game. But with officiating like this, what exactly are the rules?

Context is something fans should consider as well. Two years ago, the Rangers' first game after the Olympic break was a 6-1 shellacking of Philadelphia that had fans booking their viewing location on the Stanley Cup parade route. They then lost six straight, nine of their next twelve, and their last nine games of the season (including the playoffs). Last year, the Rangers lost their 52nd game of the season as they did last night. They lost their next two to make it four straight losses. Then they won three straight, four of five, and went 13-3-4 their last twenty. So those of you who want to write them off after a couple of mistakes last night -- go stand in the Marek Malik handshake line and wait for the fair weather of springtime.

Game reports can be found in the Daily News, Newsday, Post, Raleigh News & Observer, AP, NYR.com, and Carolina's web site. Additional pre-game and post-game notes can be found in Blueshirts Blog, Blue Notes here and here, and the N&O. Stan Fischler's take can be found at MSG.com. Not much action down on the farm -- Prospect Park has the lowdown on the Q, and Charlotte won on the strength of Chris Holt's goaltending. Howlings reports that Miika Wiikman was co-winner of the AHL Player of the Week award.

Malik Returns, But For How Long?

Marek Malik is back with the Rangers after a de facto suspension of one game for refusing to shake Tom Renney's hand after a win last week. But just like last year's boat-rocker Aaron Ward, Malik's days with the team are numbered -- the New York Post reports that Glen Sather has shopped the troubled defenseman and has found significant interest, although not at his current asking price. According to reporters on the scene yesterday at the MSG Training Center, Malik was contrite about his behavior and sounds like he has finally gotten the message that his play has relegated him to depth defenseman. Renney's comments indicate that he will continue to treat him as exactly that, no more and no less. See the aforementioned Post article plus stories in Newsday and the Journal News for more.

The Rangers are in Raliegh today to face the Carolina Hurricanes as play resumes after the All-Star break. Both teams find themselves battling inconsistency as they strive to make the playoffs. The Hurricanes are 2-5 in their last seven and are 5-9-1 since losing to the Rangers the day after Christmas. The Rangers have been better than that -- 4-2-1 in their last seven and 7-6-2 since that win over Carolina -- but that includes an ugly five-game losing streak to start 2008, and they are only two games removed from a pair of listless back to back losses to Boston. Plus they play in the tougher division -- the Canes currently hold the third seed in the conference by dint of leading the Southeast Division even though they have fewer points than all five Atlantic Division teams.

The key for the Rangers will, as usual, be their power play, even more so against the NHL's worst penalty killers. The Rangers came back to win their last game over Carolina in the third period thanks to a pair of power play goals. But they are currently on streaks of 0-for-13, 1-for-21, and 2-for-38 that have dropped them to 24th in the league. Meanwhile, the Canes have improved, killing all ten power plays they faced in their last three games and having given up a respectable five in 38 times shorthanded over the past ten games. On the other hand, they allowed the Islanders to score three shorthanded goals in their last game.

There is also the issue of physical play -- the last meeting between these two teams caused the Hurricanes to up their toughness quotient, with Matt Cullen lost to a huge hit by Colton Orr and Andrew Ladd sustaining a fractured bone in his face in a fight with Sean Avery. In the news, John Dellapina of the Daily News and Stan Fischler MSG.com look ahead to the playoff push. NYR.com, Rangerland, and the Raleigh News & Observer have game previews. NHL.com has another Staal brothers article, this one on Marc and All-Star MVP Eric, who face each other tonight. On the farm, Greg Moore did not score in the AHL All-Star game last night, but leads the Wolf Pack MVP voting over at Howlings. See WP.com for the Wolf Pack Weekly and an All-Star break update from Bob Crawford. Prospect Park has an update as well.

Back From the Break With a New Blueshirt Bulletin

UPDATE: Malik and Renney have made up -- he was back on the ice today. See Blueshirts Blog, Blue Notes, and Rangers Report.

Yesterday's All-Star game is in the books, the Rangers return to action tomorrow after reconvening for practice this afternoon, and the latest issue of Blueshirt Bulletin is out. Having fired off a rapid-fire series of issues from September to December, and with so many people having taken time off during the holidays, this issue comes out six weeks after the last one with a cover date of February, 2008. It finds the Rangers at the traditional breakpoints of the season -- the halfway mark and the All-Star break -- and it finds the Rangers at a crossroads similar to last season, where they need to finally get their game together and make a concerted playoff push.

Thus the cover, which illustrates one path toward the post-season and another in a direction Ranger fans do not want to envision. The issue is loaded with midterm reviews of the Rangers and the organization -- a two-page centerfold report card, an article in which the Rangers grade themselves (Tom Renney gives the team a... well, you'll have to read the issue to find out, and you might be surprised), two different looks ahead at the second half of the season, as well as a review of the Wolf Pack's first half, Charlotte coach Derek Wilkinson's grades for each of his Checkers, and second half goals for each Ranger prospect in juniors and college.

There's more -- there's a report on the contract situation of several key Rangers headed toward free agency, an article on defensive specialist Blair Betts, a profile of Wilkinson, a reader's encounter with Brian Leetch, five more numbers for the ages (one of which we now know will be retired next year), Rangers news and notes (featuring Sean Avery, Colton Orr, Scott Gomez, and Henrik Lundqvist), Wolf Pack news and notes (featuring Ryan Callahan), Rangers Timeline, the View From the Blues, and All Around the Rink With the Rangers by John Halligan, with the story of how one-time Ranger goalie and broadcaster John Davidson inspired a classic rock hit.

We have our usual array of great writers -- John Dellapina of the Daily News, Steve Zipay of Newsday, Bruce Berlet of the Hartford Courant, Joe McDonald of NY Sportscene, the aforementioned Halligan, two articles sent in by Blueshirt Bulletin readers, and our own contributors -- Prospect Park's Jess Rubenstein, keeping track of all of our prospects; Mitch Beck, now focusing his efforts on minor leaguers in Howlings; Anthony Mastantuoni of Ranger Ramblings; and blue seater Ron Boesgaard. I wrote a word or two myself. In our next issue, we will have full coverage of Brian Leetch Night, including many anecdotes told by Leetch and his friends that have not been published anywhere else. We will also have an interview with Bobby Sanguinetti, the 2006 first round draftee from New Jersey who may prove to be Leetch's long-awaited heir apparent. And we hope to have a lot of stuff to report on that playoff push we mentioned earlier.

Folks, this is stuff that is not available anywhere else, and the only way to get it is by taking out a subscription or by going down to Gerry Cosby's to pick up an individual issue (there are no newsstand sales this month). Ordering is easy -- you can E-mail us here for information, or click here to see a subscription form, which contains all the details. If you have a PayPal account, getting a subscription can't be easier -- just send a transaction to Blueshirt@mindspring.com with your name and address. You can also order by credit card either by E-mail, fax, or phone, or send in a check or credit card info by regular mail. If you already have a subscription of your own, get one for your friends and family members.

By taking out a subscription, you also help ensure that we can continue to bring you daily coverage here at BlueshirtBulletin.com. This is the place to find links to Ranger reading around the web every day -- and we often unearth things you'd never find on your own, including translations of material that appears in Czech or Russian. We report on every game, directly from the Rangers' locker room after most home games and some road games. We often report directly from the practice rink, especially during the pre-season, where we provide unparalleled training camp coverage, and during the playoffs. And we now have a second site devoted to the Wolf Pack, Mitch Beck's Howlings, while Jess keeps us updated on prospects at his site, Prospect Park.

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In the news today, you can read about Gomez's performance at the All-Star Game at NYR.com and about the Eastern Conference's last-minute win in the New York Times. The Hartford Courant has an article on one of the Rangers' AHL All-Stars, Greg Moore -- for a second straight year, another AHL All-Star, Nigel Dawes, cannot participate because he is in New York, hopefully to stay this time, like Dan Girardi last year. Finally, Prospect Park has a recap of Sunday action.

Gomez Dishes Off Praise Too

When it comes to things like being recognized as all-stars, playmakers usually take a back seat to the goal scorers who finish their set-up passes. But it is usually in their nature to like that state of affairs. Scott Gomez, despite being named an all-star this year as the Rangers' lone representative, would have it no other way. As unselfish off the ice as he is on ice, all he could talk about in his all-star conference call was his teammates, past and present. He started out lauding his current finisher, Jaromir Jagr, the slumping winger who started scoring again after being reunited with Gomez a little over a month ago after a false start at the beginning of the season.

"It's been great," Gomez said of centering Jagr. "It's one of those things, we started off in the beginning, you couldn't have put two [worse] guys together because we were so off-page or off-mark. He's one of the special ones. He's one of the best ever, probably. So you really don't try to change it. What I was doing earlier on in the year was trying to get him the puck too much. Guys on the other teams knew what I was trying to do, where if I played my [own] game -- that's how our game meshed together. I don't want to change Jaromir Jagr. He's still one of the best players in the league. And when he's on, it's fun to watch night in, night out. But I've gone through that before with Mogilny and others. So we separated for a while and then we got put back together. And the key to that has been Marty Straka, the way he plays and what he brings to the line -- that's helped me and Jagr get back on track."

He spoke as well about the Ranger catalyst from the other end of spectrum -- Sean Avery. "He's a great teammate," Gomez said. "He brings it every night. He expects guys to do the same. When he's in the lineup, he has spark. He is the guy we feed off. He's one of those guys you need in the locker room. When he's in the lineup, for one, if we're on the road, everyone in the building hates him. The other team probably dislikes him. So we've got to be a little more on our toes. I know [from] playing against him, you hate the guy. But definitely when you're a teammate of his, he's one of those guys, he's a beauty. He's got alligator arms -- I don't know if he can ever reach his wallet," Gomez kidded. "He's a fashion consultant. I mean, a guy can't walk by without him critiquing your outfit. You hear about every crappy album that's out, the kind of music he listens to. He keeps it interesting. He's definitely fun to be around. You gotta be on your toes when you're around him because he has a comment for everything."

Then there is goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. "What a great competitor, what a great guy," he said of Lundqvist. "Off the ice he takes time for his teammates. He's going good. When he's on top of his game, he carries this team. We need to play better in front of him. Hank's one of the best goaltenders in the league, but I think he's not getting the credit because we haven't been playing that well in front of him. So he's doing fine. And we need him to continue. As a team, we got on a bad patch there where we relied on Hank and it wasn't fair to him. He's focused -- the last couple of games he's made the key saves that we needed. And we need that from him every night -- he brings that every night."

Gomez was asked about his past keeper, Martin Brodeur, calling Lundqvist "weird" in a recent Sports Illustrated article. "He's a goaltender," Gomez quipped. "Aren't they all weird? To be a goaltender you gotta be a little off. But I think Marty was probably misquoted. I don't know if a guy just comes out and says that. To call someone weird when you don't know them, I don't think Marty would do that. They're both great goaltenders. Marty is a little different. He's been around longer. He deserves it. But at the same time, to go into a hockey game knowing you have Henrik Lundqvist in your net, it provides an advantage most nights, if not every night."

And then of course there was the inevitable question of Brian Leetch, whom Gomez knew mostly as a competitor. "First of all, Brian Leetch was, when I was growing up in the U.S., he was one of my favorite players ever," Gomez said. "The Canadian guys always had Coffey, Bourque, all those guys. We had players like Leetch. With Brian Leetch, playing against him, every night when you go against him, you knew you had to be at your best because he's one of those players who can control a game. That's the ultimate compliment in our league, if you're one of those guys who can control a hockey game. Brian Leetch at his best was like that. What most people don't realize is that I was fortunate enough to meet him at the World Cup. How great he is on the ice, he's a million times better off the ice. He's a great guy, a great human being. It's one of the coolest things to meet one of your idols, then meet him off the ice and he's ten times the person you think he was."

For more on Gomez, see Newsday. Brandon Dubinsky was named MVP of the YoungStars game last night with two goals and an assist in the three-on-three showcase (see NYR.com). He stood out from the rest of the field by being the only player willing to come back and play a little defense in the wide open contest. Marc Staal had a gorgeous goal plus an assist. In the SuperSkills competition, Scott Gomez acquitted himself well in the shootout elimination as one of only four players able to score a goal and move on to the final round, won by Dion Phaneuf.

In the news, John Dellapina compares this year's team to last year's team in the Daily News and comes up with some remarkable similarities. The big differences, however, are the unlikelihood of another jump-starting event like last year's Sean Avery trade (although Avery remaining healthy the rest of the way might serve the same purpose), and the bunched up standings that have the Rangers in better position this season than last. In the Post, Larry Brooks decries the direction the league has taken, with the salary cap and the "loser's point" creating false parity, keeping teams close to playoff contention even though they remain mediocre squads.

While we agree with him in general, we should point out that the problem is really the extra point awarded the winner, not the point awarded the loser for a regulation tie -- there are fewer regulation ties this season (20% of all games) than there were in 1993-94 (27%), a season we chose at random. In theory, those extra points that are awarded now should create more distance in the standings, yet the standings now are more bunched than they were in the Rangers' Cup season -- the eighth place Islanders finished 13 points ahead of twelfth place and 12 points behind fourth place that year, while this season's eighth place Rangers are only five points ahead of twelfth and four points behind fourth two-thirds of the way through the campaign.

The Rangers will open next season with a pair of games in the Czech Republic vs. Tampa Bay. They will also compete for the first-ever Victoria Cup vs. the Russian League's Metallurg Magnitogorsk, the European club champion, in a game to be played in Bern, Switzerland. Former Ranger draftee Jan Marek, a Czech, is the leading scorer of Metallurg. For more, see the Daily News, Newsday, Post, Blueshirts Blog, Slap Shot, NYR.com, NHL.com, and ESPN. On the farm, Miika Wiikman pitched his second shutout in the last three games (see the Courant and Howlings) -- ironically, he did it on Al Montoya bobblehead night in Hartford. Andrew Hutchinson was named captain of the Wolf Pack (see Howlings). Charlotte couldn't complete a comeback and lost 6-3 (see the Observer). And Prospect Park reviews all the other action from last night.

Not Too Young to Be a Star

The NHL's All-Star weekend kicks off today, and three Rangers are in Atlanta to take part rather than take a few days off like all the others. Scott Gomez is the team's lone representative to the main game, which takes place tomorrow night. He will also participate in the SuperSkills competition this evening. Brandon Dubinsky and Marc Staal will play in the YoungStars rookie game tonight.

"I was obviously really excited about it," Dubinsky said of learning about his selection to the YoungStars. "I phoned my father and told him that I was going to be in the game and he was real excited, as I was as well. I've been a big hockey fan growing up and watched the All-Star Game. And to be here and get a chance to take part in it and all the different festivities and things like that, it's going to be really exciting. I'm looking forward to it."

Staal was so focused on just making the NHL that an honor like this never entered his mind. "In the summer, that was my goal, to make the team," he said. "To try to play as well as I can to be able to stay and contribute. It's huge for me. It's an incredible honor to be there with all these great players. So it should be a lot of fun. Obviously playing in the NHL is a dream come true. I'm loving it right now. It's unbelievable. Hopefully, our team can keep winning and get on a good roll. It will even be more fun. Yeah, I'm really excited about it. It's been a lot of fun so far."

He is pleased with his development as a rookie, even at a position that is a lot harder to master at the NHL level than the forward positions his brothers play. "I think there's a lot to learn as a defenseman," he said. "The coaching and the players and the team have been really great with me this year and been patient. It's let me figure it out. Every day I'm learning something new. Hopefully I can just keep improving and be a better player."

Both players are relieved to be heading into this weekend's festivities having won their last two games over Atlanta. "We were having a little bit of a struggle there," Dubinsky said. "To end with a couple wins going to the break, it lets the guys relax a little bit better and enjoy themselves over the break. They feel good about themselves and can re-energize to get ready for the final push in the season." Staal added, "Yeah, we know we need to get a lot of big wins down the stretch. We're starting to play a lot better lately. [Thursday] night was a big win for us. And hopefully carries on to after the break."

Staal can hardly go anywhere without one of his brothers being brought up, and this event is no exception, with Eric Staal an Eastern Conference All-Star. Asked about the NHL promotional spot about which brother is their father's favorite, Marc joked that there will never an answer to that one. "I don't think he'll let that one go," he said. "That's a pretty funny commercial. I enjoy watching it every time." He said that he is in frequent contact with his brothers. "Yeah, we talk quite a bit," he said. "It's nice that we're all in the same conference, so we see each other quite a bit, too. Which is not really normal for me. The last couple of years I hadn't seen him all year. But now we get to go for dinners and things like that. We always talk. If we're going through a bad stretch or a good stretch, we always see what's going on."

Gomez was asked about what he thought of the shoot-out competition, revamped this year along with other SuperSkills events. "Hopefully there's a couple of passing events," the playmaking center said. "I'll be off to the side just passing the puck. I'd rather do that." More tomorrow from Gomez.

Henrik Lundqvist will spend the All-Star break with a bunch of other players at a vacation house in Vermont rather than go home to Sweden to visit his father. He said that Tom Renney offered him an extra day off so that he could go home, but he decided that all the travel and jet lag would hurt him more than seeing his father would help him, especially since he has gotten reports from home that his father is now well on the road to recovery. Lundqvist promised not to do any skiing during his trip, but did not rule out snowmobiling.

In the news today, Stan Fischler reflects some more on Brian Leetch at MSG.com, Howlings has the translation of an interview with Alexei Cherepanov (courtesy of our friend Laurie Carr) as well as a preview of the Pack's weekend action, the Hartford Courant and Howlings have reports on the Pack's 3-1 win last night in which Ryan Callahan had two goals and an assist, the Charlotte Observer covers the Checkers' 2-1 win, and Prospect Park catches us up on all the other action from last night.

Rangers Grind One Out for Leetch

A hallmark of Brian Leetch's career was his unselfishness, on the ice in supporting his teammates in many ways, including a franchise record number of assists, and off the ice in never accepting all the credit that was actually due him for his unparalleled performance at his position. So it came as no suprise to anyone that a highlight of his retirement ceremony was announcing that Adam Graves and his number 9 would be honored next year -- although the announcement itself was a surprise to everyone in the building, especially Graves himself. Leetch had already spent a considerable chunk of his ceremony lauding his good friend John Murray, who went down with the World Trade Center, and the foundation set up in his name, he held his two-year-old son Sean through most of the ceremony, and he reiterated his sole desire that he be remembered for nothing more than being a New York Ranger.

These are not just things that make Leetch such a good person, they are the things that made him such a great player. Graves talked the other day about how calm Leetch always was on the ice in every situation. But it was the strength Leetch drew from teammates like Graves that gave him that calm. Just as it did last night. Explaining that it was his own choice to make the announcement about Graves, Leetch said, "I wanted to do it. That kind of made me calmer up there because I knew I had that trump card." And the beauty of it all was that Graves, like so many other key members of that 1994 Stanley Cup team, was the exact same type of person. "He grabbed my hand," Leetch said of the moment after the announcement. "His eyes were all welled up, he gave me a firm Adam Graves grab on the shoulder and hug, and then of course I knew he would give it the old, 'This is your night, this is your night."

The understated ceremony suited Leetch's nature so well. Things kicked off with Leetch in the Rangers' dressing room, a number 2 jersey hanging in his old stall (Brendan Shanahan, unaware that he was in Leetch's old stall, had to move down to make room, with his neighbor Ryan Hollweg moving down the line even further). "Going into that locker room and seeing the guys," he said. "I knew that everyone could see on TV. Just being back in there and being able to walk from the locker room out, to make that walk out there was great." Rather than focus completely on the 1994 team, as was the case with Mark Messier, Leetch's ceremony honored a career spent in New York and the Ranger tradition beyond that that Leetch himself now represents as much as anyone.

There were some great moments, like former Ranger enforcers Tie Domi and Darren Langdon bringing out a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle as a gift, and Leetch honoring the two general managers that influenced his Ranger career the most -- Craig Patrick, who drafted him, and Neil Smith, who built the Cup winning team, both in attendance, although not out on the ice (current Ranger GM Glen Sather was not mentioned at all, unless he was among those thanked immediately after Ranger owner Jim Dolan, in which case his name was drowned out by the boos for Dolan). Leetch made sure to mention the blue seats, and even elicited a Potvin chant by mentioning his name (although the Garden faithful could have returned the favor by not completing a second Potvin chant while Leetch was lauding Wayne Gretzky a moment later).

Shanahan said this was the first time he had witnessed an event like this. He is less than a year younger than Leetch and Graves. He said that Graves was "kind and mature" even at the age of fourteen, recalling when he as a thirteen year old was called up to play on a team captained by Graves. He said Graves made sure to come over and make him feel comfortable by asking him about his school and complimenting him on his haircut -- he wasn't sure at the time whether Graves was sending him up for his haircut, but he knows now that even at that young age, Graves had a good heart.

There was a game played last night, and though the Rangers prevailed 2-1 in a shootout, with Shanahan getting the winner, it was not a wholly satisfactory effort. The Rangers knew the Thrashers were going to come out harder to make up for their awful showing two nights earlier, even without the suspended Ilya Kovalchuk. They also knew that they themselves needed to play with the kind of intensity they showed in that 4-0 win. But while the Thrashers kept their end of the bargain, the Rangers did not, with a tepid first two periods that let the visitors get out to a 1-0 lead despite only 13 shots on goal (two of them creating the lone goal to that point).

Nevertheless, the Rangers were happy that they were able to battle through the frustration without making the kinds of mistakes that allowed Boston to get away with a win last Sunday. This time, they got the key goal to tie the game in the middle of the third period on a nice pass by Nigel Dawes to Michal Rozsival -- Rozsival settled the pass down, unlike earlier attempts by Chris Drury and Petr Prucha, who had trouble handling set-up passes with the net open in front of them (the ice may have been choppy due to the Leetch ceremony). And then they won the shootout they way they usually win shootouts -- a Shanahan goal and a perfect Henrik Lundqvist in net.

"We played a really solid game," Lundqvist said. "We didn't give up much and we played a patient game. That is the way we have to play. Sometimes you play well but you don't get the win. Right now it's all about the wins. I don't care if we play bad or if we play really good as long as we're winning. Some nights you won't play your best but find ways to win." This was one of those nights. "One of the things we talked about in-between periods was we shouldn’t get down on ourselves, just stay patient," said Shanahan. "And we did stay patient. And we got the win. Tonight we won a game where things are not going well, where you have to scratch and claw. It wasn't going to be easy, clean, or pretty. We better make a habit of winning those games as well, not just ones like Tuesday night." He believed that the Leetch ceremony put added pressure on the team to win, and that led to some overpressing and frustration, but they were happy to overcome it in the end and come through for Leetch.

But it says here, as it has said here all season long, that the cause of the frustration was the team's inability to win the game on the power play. They had four first period advantages, including a five on three that was just eight seconds shy of lasting the full two minutes -- they managed only two shots on goal during that two-man advantage and ended the evening 0-for-5 to extend their streaks of futility to 0-for-13 in their last three games, 1-for-21 in the last five, and 2-for-38 in the last eight. The Thrashers did not have any shots on goal through the first ten minutes of play until they got a couple while the Rangers were on the power play. "We're not moving the puck as quick as we'd like to," said Dawes, a career power play specialist who watched the Rangers work from the bench. "We were getting shots toward the net but there wasn't too much traffic. That's something that we need -- not all our goals are going to be pretty."

"If the power play would click at 20%, a lot of our concerns would be alleviated," said coach Tom Renney. "We would have a handful more wins. The confidence that your power play gives your even strength play is really important -- you feel you're a team that can control the puck, can control an opponent, because you're an attacking team, you're a puck possession team, you're doing all those things a good offensive team can do. Our power play has distracted from that at times." He believes that his team has to simplify their approach and keep working at it, although that has been his mantra all season and the unit is still struggling. Said Dawes: "All the guys have been doing a good job of working hard on the power play and creating those chances. I think it's going to be coming." On the plus side, the team only allowed one power play (although Atlanta took advantage, naturally, for their only goal), and has allowed only six power plays in their last three games after allowing 54 in the previous nine games.

Heading into the All-Star break, Renney is not pleased with what the team has done but is optimistic it can finish the job properly. "We're not happy with where we are," he said. "You can't be. But it's a season -- it's not 15 games or 50 games, it's 82. We have to correct ourselves even further, we all know that. But anything worth pursuing is worth the effort and the trouble, and we're prepared to do that. We have expectations for ourselves, and those are always the toughest ones to live up to. What we've found this year is the mindset of the group has been challenging -- it's been there a lot of the time, but there have been times when it hasn't been there. We have to wrap our heads around that collectively and realize that we are in the race, very much in the playoff hunt, and more than capable of securing that."

A Laurel and Hearty Handshake

Getting a slow start this morning. Since it will take a while to get a game story ready, here is the lowdown on Marek Malik as far as we know right now. What I've heard is that Malik refused to shake Tom Renney's hand after the win over Atlanta Tuesday night. Renney goes around the room after a big win shaking each player's hand individually congratulating them for their effort. After his best game since opening night, Malik did not shake Renney's hand. There was no argument, no harsh words exchanged, and Malik thanked Renney, but he did not shake his hand. He says he apologized to the coach and is awaiting a decision on his status, which may come as late as next Monday. In the meantime, his locker has been cleared of all his equipment.

This story comes from someone close to Malik. Rangers Report says that the story as I first heard it has been verified by New York reporters. The Daily News and New York Post report that several players immediately got on Malik's case for the obvious snub. It could be the last straw for Malik, the one that broke the back of the camel (or, as some might argue, the mule). We know Malik expressed anger at least twice this season about being scratched, once via sarcastic remarks to the press about the Rangers losing in his absence, and once in Edmonton by storming out of the arena. We know Malik came out after a game demanding to get a plus for a goal that was awarded to a different player -- replays show that the other player was on the ice when the scoring play began and that, at best, Malik jumped on the ice during a shift change way behind the play.

We also know that Renney has often defended Malik from the booing he receives at the Garden, often referring to his character and his team-first attitude. We don't know what happened from Renney's point of view -- after the game, he reiterated that it was an "internal matter" without elaborating. One can only conjecture, after a game when the team finally came together with a complete effort, something Renney has had difficulty getting out of them this season on any consistent basis, that Renney was not happy to see a player make an individual statement in front of everyone else, and decided that it was time to send a message that the only thing that matters here is achieving success as a team.

But the door does remain open for Malik to return to the team -- it's up to Renney. Trade rumors ran rampant yesterday after the initial news that Malik's locker had been emptied. That along with reports from Hartford that Miika Wiikman had supplanted Al Montoya as the Pack's number one goalie, that Wiikman was set to make his third straight start in the Pack's next game and that Hartford coach Kenny Gernander said he might start the game after that as well, fueled speculation that Montoya and Malik were headed out of town in a trade that was being kept quiet so as not to upstage the Brian Leetch festivities. But so far, no news.

Game reports on the Rangers' 2-1 shootout win last night can be found in the aforementioned Post article on Malik, as well as the Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, AP, SNY, NY Sports Day, NYR.com, and AJC. Reports on the Leetch ceremony abound -- see the Daily News here and here, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post here and here, Record, Star-Ledger, Advance, AP, SNY, NY Sports Day, NYR.com, MSG.com, Courant here and here, Record-Journal, and CBS Sports (shockingly little coverage in the national news outlets other than CBS, and that includes the NHL -- I guess Sidney's ankle is more important than one of the all-time greats). On Graves, see the Journal News, Newsday, Post, Slap Shot, NY Sports Day, and Howlings. For more on Malik, see Slap Shot. In prospect news, the Courant has the Wolf Pack week ahead and AHL All-Star news, and Prospect Park has an update on other action from last night.

Brian Leetch Prepares For His First Date With Immortality

Brian Leetch was at Rockefeller Plaza tonight for a Skate With the Greats function for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House of New York. With him were former teammates Mark Messier, Adam Graves, Mike Richter, Jeff Beukeboom, Stephane Matteau, Brian Mullen, Tie Domi, and Darren Langdon. Leetch and a few others took some time before the event to talk about his career, which will be honored at the Garden Thursday night when his number 2 is retired and raised to the rafters in a ceremony that will start at 6:30.

Leetch spoke about virtually every aspect of his career -- being drafted by the Rangers, playing in the 1988 Olympics, his first game as a Ranger, Mark Messier's arrival in New York, winning the Stanley Cup in 1994, the Cinderella playoff season of 1997, the bitter disappointment of the seasons that followed, his captaincy, his trade to Toronto, his decision to retire, and of course all the great people he met along the way and his for the city he played in. We're going to save most of it for the next issue of Blueshirt Bulletin, but here is a sampling of some of the things he and his former teammates said.

"I was able to sit down and get some rough outlines to try and gather my thoughts," he said of his preparation for the banner raising ceremony, one which everyone thought might be like pulling teeth for the normally taciturn Leetch. "I had an idea of what I want to say, like I do now. Iit's just, 'Can I get it out the way I want to, say the thank yous the way I want to?' I thought it was going to be more nervous anticipation building up to it, something that I was looking forward to getting over with. But I got such a positive reaction from all my friends, people I run into -- Ranger fans -- about how they're looking forward to it. That gets me excited. I'm excited for the night, I'm excited for everyone to have a good time. I just don't want to mess it up."

Just as Messier said at his recent Hall of Fame induction, Leetch dwells on the people who helped get him there, something you can expect to hear from him in his Garden speech. "This night is about all of those teammates, all of those people from your parents to your friends," he said. "That's the beauty of the whole thing, to be able to share that -- you don't get to this position in a team sport [by yourself]. That's the part that makes me feel good, to be able to go through that and recognize some people and share the experience with a lot of people."

Leetch was asked about being traded away from New York and not getting a chance to finish his career here. He said that in the end it was his own decision. "Tom Renney called me two years ago and expressed that he thought I'd be a perfect fit for the blue line, that I could bring a lot to the team, that I could still play," he said. "It was up to me whether I wanted to end my career in New York, and I just decided at the time that that was enough." Years of playoff disappointments had worn him down, age and injury were catching up to him, and family was becoming more important to him -- he decided that if he could not give 100% to hockey, that he had to hang up his skates.

Back at the other end of his NHL career, at the start, there was his first day with the Rangers, fresh from the Calgary Olympics where he represented the USA in a disappointing seventh place finish. "There was a note to knock on Mark Hardy's door to set up a ride," he said of his initial arrival at the Armonk Hotel after flying in from Calgary. "He's looking at me, and I'm like, 'Hey Mark, I'm Brian Leetch, I just came from the Olympic team.' He's like, 'Oh, come on in, I just got traded here myself, I don't know what's going on.' I said, 'We've gotta get to practice tomorrow.' He's like, 'Oh yeah, Marcel Dionne's gonna pick us up tomorrow.'

"So I'm in Marcel's car, we go to practice. Chris Nilan's coming in and he's giving me a hard time for finishing in seventh place. All the Canadians are giving him trouble, he's always going back and forth with Tomas Sandstrom, he's like, 'These Swedes, you gotta beat the Swedes, why didn't you beat the Swedes?' And I don't know anybody on the team. We play the first game, and I can hear the crowd chanting, 'USA! USA!' First drop of the puck, Chris Nilan gets in a fight, and they wrestle from the wing right to the boards in front of me -- I start laughing. Jeez, I'm in the NHL -- this is crazy! The Garden's chanting, 'USA!', Chris Nilan's fighting two seconds into my first game -- this is nuts!"

Messier remembers his first day as a Ranger when it was Leetch picking him up to take him to his first practice. "I was staying in the city, first game that I was here," he recalled. "I was riding with him to practice. Sometimes, not a lot of words need to be said. It became very evident to me very quickly what kind of commitment Brian had. That's what you're really looking for, someone to grab an oar and start paddling in the same direction as you are, and everybody else gets swept up into it. He was the guy. Nobody did it better."

Leetch recalled how he and Richter, the Rangers' goalie for so many of his games here, would joke around on the ice to keep each other loose. "We used to say stupid stuff to each other, we used to laugh," he said. "I remember I gave the puck away to Brett Hull one time in the slot -- I was trying to ice it up the middle and he got it, rips it right off the crossbar. He [Richter] goes to me, 'I had it, Leetchie, I had it.' And I said, 'I know you did Mike.' We used to do stuff like that, keep things light in front of the net -- he's a goofy kid anyway, it helped me to lighten up."

"Brian was a guy, I would just shake my head," Richter said. "He knew where he was gonna park and why -- 'Thursday's delivery day, so you have to park over on the side.' I'm just happy to have pants on going to practice, and he knows where he's gonna park and why. And that's the way he was on the ice. He really knew what he could do, what he couldn't do, and anticipated so well. Nobody can prepare themselves for the kind of night like he's going to have tomorrow. But it's really important, particularly for a guy like Brian, who's publicly acknowledged for all that he brought to this organization, to this city, and even honestly to this game -- one of the best who's ever put on skates at his position. He deserves every bit of credit he gets for a career that is remarkable. I certainly benefitted a lot from his skill. He was out there covering my ass an awful lot. Only half of my jersey would be going up there if it wasn't for that guy."

Graves remembers Leetch from a time before anyone else knew him. "We played against each other in an under-18 tournament in Colorado Springs, a two-game tournament," he said, guessing that it took place in 1985, when the two were 16 or 17. "A lot of times you look back, you see a guy's name, you say, 'Oh, I didn't realize I played against him when I was 14 or 15.' I'll never forget saying to him, 'Good luck,' when we were shaking hands at the end of the tournament. We definitely controlled the series -- Canada had a good team -- but he was far and away the best player on the ice. I'll never forget that. I remember Brian Leetch -- I was tracking him that year."

Leetch, a big all-around sports fan known for his love of the Yankees, was asked for a prediction for the upcoming Super Bowl, but he declined to give one. "I love being around sports history, and the Patriots are going for that," he said. "But I also know watching the Giants play, how playing well at the right time, believing in your team -- I have no idea what's going to happen in this game, no idea, I really don't. You'd think the way the Patriots' season's been -- but that game the Giants played against them, that was one of the most exciting games of the year. That's why they play them, that's why you watch them -- anything can happen."

Messier was not as reluctant to make a blod prediciton. "24-21," he said, in the Giants' favor. Asked if he was willing to guarantee that result, he said, "No, because I can't do anything about it. The Giants are playing as well as anyone going into the playoffs, and every team strives to be peaking at that time." But we're not here to talk about football, we're here to talk about hockey, Ranger hockey. Tomorrow night, another piece of history will be made at the Garden when Brian Leetch is forever immortalized with his number 2 placed alongside the other leaders of the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup team -- Messier's number 11 and Richter's number 35, as well as of course Rod Gilbert and Eddie Giacomin.

To read more about Leetch, see the Daily News -- an expert panel declaring him the best Ranger ever, and John Dellapina's top ten Leetch moments -- plus the Journal News here, here, and here, Newsday, Times here and here, Post, Record, Star-Ledger, AP, NY Sports Day, NYR.com, and NHL.com. Video of Leetch and Messier from last night can be found at MSG.com here and here. Mitch Beck lauds Leetch and provides a copy of his Blueshirt Bulletin article from last year at Howlings. Don't forget the early start time of 6:30, set by the league so that TV broadcasts can start promptly at 8:08 -- the Rangers will be fined if the ceremony runs overtime.

There is a game tonight, by the way, as the Rangers take on Atlanta again. But Ilya Kovalchuk is going to have to miss it, suspended for the hit on Michal Rozsival that got him kicked out of the last match in the last minute of the first period (see Slap Shot and the AJC). Other game previews can be found at Newsday, MSG.com here and here, NYR.com, and Rangerland. The Denver Post reports that the Rangers were scouting the Avs-Preds game the other night even though they don't play either team the rest of the season. Miika Wiikman pitched a 1-0 shutout for the Wolf Pack last night -- see the Courant and Howlings. Prospect Park has a mid-week update.

Larry Brooks of the Post spoke to Jaromir Jagr about his present and future, with Jagr saying things that are no surprise to those who know him but which might surprise those quick to judge him with false assumptions. We don't want to reproduce too many quotes because we want you to read the article, but here are some snippets: "I would like to continue playing next year in New York, no other place, but we have to do good this year because why keep someone around if they don't do it?... Our record so far is kind of my fault, too. I take responsibility... When there are times that I think I get too much of the blame, there are also times when I get too much of the credit. That's for sure. I don't complain when people say all the good things, so I can't complain when people say bad things. I just wish if they want to say bad things, say I'm playing bad, not that I don't care."

[The image shown is an excerpt from the upcoming issue of Blueshirt Bulletin, with a photo courtesy of Getty Images, accompanying a story written by Blueshirt Bulletin reader Peter Hasapis about his encounter with Brian Leetch.]

UPDATE: Marek Malik was absent from the rink this morning, along with his equipment. Tom Renney insists he is still a Ranger and his status is an "internal matter." No further news beyond that, except for the expectation that Malik will not play tonight and Paul Mara will return to the ice. Thanks to Rangers Report and Blue Notes for the update from the morning skate.

An Intense Thrashing

The Rangers ratcheted up the intensity level, as they needed to after a pair of lackluster efforts over the weekend, and rewarded themselves with a huge 4-0 win over Atlanta that was nowhere near as close as the score would indicate. The Rangers outshot the Thrashers 39-14, with only two of the 14 shots requiring anything other than a routine save by Henrik Lundqvist, who recorded his seventh shutout of the season. Overall, the Rangers attempted 62 shots to just 24 by Atlanta. In the first period, the Thrashers had no shots for the first 16:46, and had only even attempted two shots (blocked) to that point. The Rangers already had two goals and had outshot the Thrashers 27-2 to that point, 30-6 in the period. "That's our game plan every game, just put as many shots you can on net," Fedor Tyutin said. "The more shots you have at net, the more chances. A shot is never a bad play."

And it could have been worse. In addition to many other good scoring chances, Dan Girardi shot into Kari Lehtonen's pads with an open net early in the second period, Chris Drury did likewise with the top of the net open in the third period, Jaromir Jagr was just barely stopped on a late breakaway after making a good move, and Scott Gomez hit a crossbar. Things were so bad for Atlanta that it seemed the only way they could slow the Rangers down was to take a penalty and put the Rangers on the power play, which is now 2-for-33 in the last seven games. In this game, that including a three-minute major last night that resulted from 37-goal scorer Ilya Kovalchuk getting himself thrown out of the game for a vicious hit into the glass on Michal Rozsival near the end of the first period.

Coach Tom Renney, unhappy with the level of effort last weekend, reamed into his team after Sunday's loss to Boston and spent the past two days trying to refocus his team. "We had a real good day yesterday, we had an excellent skate this morning," he said. "You could just see the focus -- it was real clear. The guys wanted really badly to have a strong night tonight." But he gave the credit to his players, noting that the effort was a combination of the team's leaders rallying the players and players all knowing that they had to get themselves going. "At the end of the day, it's their dressing room," Renney said. "You can set the table for what you'd like to see and encourage that, but if you don't have outstanding leadership to make sure that that plan is followed through and everyone is committed to it, it doesn't matter how good it looks. I would suggest that tonight's game is based entirely on in the room leadership."

Brandon Dubinsky gave the entire team credit for the turnaround. "All the way from Tom to Jags and Shanny and Gomer, all the way down to me and Marc and Danny and Nigel," he said. "We all gotta hold ourselves accountable and do the things that's gonna take for this team to win each and every night." But he gave the coach extra credit. "He wants to win bad," Dubinsky said. "He cares about us a lot, and he believes in each one of us. I know he says it over and over in the paper. We weren't doing the things we needed to win. Tonight's an example of what we need to do to win every night, with that intensity and the team game plan within our system, the things we always talk about that are gonna make us successful. We just stayed within our system. The coaches have a great system. Some of those games that we were losing lately, we weren't playing within our system, we weren't listening to the coaches. Tonight we stuck to our game plan. All four lines were an example of that, top to bottom, every guy was really exerting themselves, intense, and ready to go."

But he emphasized several times over that one game was not enough. "I would love to leave here jumping for joy," he said. "But we can't be satisfied -- it's just one game. We have to bear down and play like this every single night the next 30 games of the season and have that intensity and that effort and that team play. We can't take our foot off the gas. We're happy about this win, but tomorrow's another day at work. We gotta knuckle down and be prepared for Thursday, start over and do it again." Jagr said the same thing. "We have a long way to go," he said. "We have to win a lot more games to get into the playoffs. It was a good start, but the next two days is gonna be a different game -- they're gonna be a lot better than they were today. Plus Kovalchuk -- they were missing Kovalchuk, a big part of their team."

But the Rangers have Jagr. Lost within too many losses over the past month is that Jagr has been scoring again. Since getting Gomez as his center, he has 24 points (eight goals and sixteen assists) in 18 games, a pace of 1.33 points per game -- at that pace, he will get the 38 points he needs in his last 32 games to fulfill one of the two criteria he needs, along with a playoff series win, for his contract to automatically extend into next season. But even so, Jagr has not scored enough, especially on the power play, to help the team win more games. "When you lose, sometimes you try to do too much just to help the team," he said. "Sometimes you feel like you don't do enough for the team. You try to be everywhere, but you're nowhere. But when the team wins, you have more patience. That's the way it is."

Renney agreed, and extended the thought to Jagr's ability to captain the team. "I think it helps him a lot because he's the leader of our team," he said. "And he's right -- when we're in a tough situation, he does try to do too much. From that point of view, it also diminishes his effectiveness as a leader, because he gets quiet, he doesn't say a whole lot, as much as we need him to -- most leaders won't when they're having a tough night. So a night like tonight gives him the voice that we need. Never mind the way that he played -- that just speaks volumes anyway. So it's a real good night for him from that point of view, and that has tentacles that reach far and wide for our team."

Jagr was aided by a reshuffling of the forward lines that placed Sean Avery on his left wing. That paid off early on when Avery came swooping in behind the play to finish a pass Gomez had tried to thread to Jagr at the top of the crease. Jagr was the one swooping in to score the fourth goal on a backhander from the slot. "That was the idea," Renney said of getting Avery on that line. "When those two [Avery and Gomez] can attack and back off the opponent, Jaromir can look for the good ice behind that. Those two are tenacious players -- especially if we go to the net, and he's coming in late like that." The line shuffle was designed to increase the Rangers' attack level, and to add youthful energy and grit to each line. "You start with globally what you want your team to look like -- thinking more of an attack, more abrasiveness per line," Renney said of how he came up with the new lines. "You think about your team look, then you get more specific about what you want each line to look like."

But Renney did more than just shuffle the forward lines. He also met with individual players to help get them going. One of those players was Tyutin, who had a commanding performance, physically with hip checks that had Thrashers giving the puck away rather than absorb one of his hits, offensively with three assists after twenty games without a point, and defensively with and without the puck, especially in helping shut down Marian Hossa. "I had a little talk with Tom this morning," Tyutin said. "He helped me feel more confident. Just try to play my best as hard as I can." Asked what he was told, Tyutin smiled and said, "It's a secret. He's a great motivator." Someone must have said something to Marek Malik as well -- he played his best game of the season, making no mistakes, joining the offense, even throwing a couple of big hits, at least one on Hossa.

But none of it will matter if the Rangers respond the way they did after big recent wins over Toronto (6-1), Montreal (4-1), and Buffalo (2-1). "We gotta continue this," Dubinsky said. "We're not satisfied -- we gotta play like this every night." Lundqvist for one believes they can do it. "We have the team to pull it off," he said. "We just [have to] try to stay focused and positive."

It was a strange night, thanks no doubt to the full moon that was shining outside. All but four of the Thrashers were minus -- and one of the four who wasn't minus was Slava Kozlov. That's because he went to the bench after leaving a puck for Straka to scoop up for a shorthanded goal that was of supreme importance to the Rangers, who were only up by 2-0 at that point and were missing chances to extend their lead, both on the power play and on chances like the ones Girardi and Gomez had earlier in the period. Beyond the Garden, the three lowest scoring teams in the league -- the Rangers, Devils, and Isles -- combined for 17 goals last night. The Devils, one of the worst in the league on the power play, had five power play goals, the Isles had three shorthanded goals, and the Rangers scored three of their four goals on backhand shots.

Game reports: Daily News, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, AJC, AP, SNY, and NYR.com. Notes and quotes from Blue Notes, including Lundqvist explaining why he will not go back to Sweden during the All-Star break to see his father. Jeff Beukeboom talks about Brian Leetch at MSG.com, and the New York Sun has a feature on Leetch as well. In Hartford, Bob Crawford looks back at the Pack's last weekend at WP.com, Bruce Berlet of the Courant writes about Dave Liffiton's return from season-long injury, and Jordan Owens was sent back to Charlotte to play in the ECHL All-Star game -- see the Charlotte Observer and Howlings. (Mitch also has Wolf Pack Q&A going at Howlings, as well as a preview of the Pack's next game). Prospect Park goes back to looking at Ranger prospects after yesterday's rant about Renney.