So much for firewagon hockey Tuesday night at The Igloo as the Penguins beat the Remedial Rangers 1-0. Both teams were tentative to start the game as the Rangers played like they didn’t want to lose and the Penguins played as if they didn’t want to win.

It was 44 seconds into the second period before Evgeni Malkin broke the scoreless tie by poking in the puck from the side of the crease on a dish from Ryan Whitney. Sidney Crosby also picked up an assist on Malkin’s third goal of the season that came on the powerplay.

Moments later, Fedor Tyutin dove after Jordan Staal to deny the Penguin a clean shot on his breakaway. Staal was awarded a penalty shot, the third of his young career, and he inexplicably fired off a lame shot from the hashmarks that Henrik Lundqvist had no problem stopping.

Malkin almost scored his second goal of the game when he banged one off the post with less than two minutes to play in the middle stanza. The Blueshirts woes continue to mount as they have now been outscored 8-1 in second period play this year.

The Rangers only sustained pressure came late in the third when the Penguins were called for too many men on the ice with 3:41 to play. The Blueshirts spent the entire powerplay in the Penguins zone to no avail.

St.Ranger player of the game as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Nigel Dawes for ringing one off the post in the first period. Sadly that was all the offense that the Rangers could muster in the game.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers is Martin Brodeur (3.51GAA/.865SV) and the New Jersey Devils (3-4-1). The game marks the end of a season opening nine game road trip for the Diablos as they don’t open the spanking new Prudential Center until Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.

Hopefully, it will be a case of home-sweet-home for the Remedial Rangers as Thursday’s game marks the beginning of a seven game homestand. Yeah, I’m counting the Islanders game at the tail end as a home game. The Diablos are not your father’s lunchbucket, defense first team anymore. Coach Sutter has them playing a more wide open style of game and Brodeur has looked shaky at best. You wonder if Scott Gomez is second guessing himself for crossing over the Hudson.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Shut out for third time this season…First four game losing streak since January… At 2-5-1 the Rangers have scored a league low 13 goals …After going 0-6 on the pp against Boston the Blueshirts went 0-4 against Pittsburgh…Outshot the Penguins 36-22…Sean Avery skated this morning…Rangers have played more than two hours of hockey without scoring a goal…Rangers sit last in the Atlantic Division and 14^th in the Eastern Conference.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

As the Rangers end a three game road trip the Pittsburg Penguins begin a three game homestand. Tonight’s tilt is nationally televised on Versus which means more people will watch poker than Marcel Hossa’s return to the Ranger lineup. Hossa is expected to play tonight after practicing on the top line with Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez.

Team chemistry is still lacking with Gomez and Chris Drury unable to find their niche on the team yet. Neither pivot has been able to work effectively with Jagr when given the opportunity. Drury is being paired with Petr Prucha and Brendan Shanahan on his wings for tonight’s matchup at the Igloo. The third line looks like Brandon Dubinsky centering Jason Dawes and Ryan Callahan. Let’s hope the old Hartford mates are hungry like the wolf and provide much needed energy up front.

As much as everybody rips the offense it should be noted that on the back end, the Rangers are set for the next decade. We all know that Henrik Lundqvist (2.14GAA/.924SV) is a lock in goal and unless he goes down with an injury for an extended period we know that he gives the Blueshirts a chance to win every game.

For all the flak that Marek Malik receives the defense is ranked fifth in the league giving up just 16 goals through seven games. Studs like Dan Girardi, Fedor Tyutin and Marc Staal are not going anywhere off the island of Manhattan for a long time. Even with the disparaged Malik and Michal Rozsival out there and Tom Pock awaiting his turn, its safe to say that the Blueshirts have the best grouping of young D talent in the league.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Tonight mark’s the first time that Staal plays professionally against his brother Jordan who scored his first goal of the years against the Caps on Saturday…Martin Straka will not need surgery on his broken finger.

The infirmary is piling up. Sean Avery is still at least three weeks away from game action and Marcel Hossa, hobbled with a hip flexor has been MIA for the last two starts. Even if Hossa is cleared to play Tuesday expect reinforcements from Hartford because you can now add Martin Straka to the Rangers MASH unit. Straka is expected to be out for an extended period with a broken finger on his right hand that he suffered in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins.

This is a double blow for the Blueshirts as Straka was tied for the team lead with two goals. That’s right, after seven games the leading goal scorers for the Rangers have an eye catching two goals. The Blueshirts popgun offense has scored in only six of 21 periods this year. You’d expect more from the millions team management has invested in goal scorers. Never mind Joe DiMaggio, where’d you go Jaromir Jagr…Chris Drury…Scott Gomez…Brendan Shanahan? The Amazing Rhythm Aces have five goals amongst themselves.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers (2-4-1) is Sid the Kid and the Pittsburgh Penguins (4-3) Tuesday night. The Pens game marks the last of a three game road trip before the Blueshirts enjoy a seven game homestand. A win over the Penguins will leave the Rangers with a respectable 1-1-1 record on the trip and a much needed confidence boost.

Though they are atop the Rangers in the standings Pens brass have had to answer questions about the lackluster goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury. In five of the seven games that the Pens have played this year they have been faced with a two-goal deficit. One thing to be sure of, with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the ice this game shouldn’t be another yawner. It may not end up as a win for the Blueshirts but it should be exciting.

The New York Rangers squandered a Henrik Lundqvist regulation shutout Saturday afternoon when they lost 1-0 to the Boston Bruins during a shootout at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.

After the making a big splash during the off-season by signing Chris Drury and Scott Gomez the Rangers were not expected to have much trouble offensively. Despite the $15 million they are paying the two players this year, the Rangers’ offense is dead-last in the NHL in goals scored and are at the bottom of the league in many other offensive categories.

After the first five shooters were stopped during the shootout 20-year old speedster Phil Kessel beat Lundqvist glove side when he got a wrist shot just under the crossbar for the game winner. In just his second season in the NHL Kessel now has five game-winning goals during shootouts.

The Rangers suffered a setback in the first period when Martin Straka broke a finger on his right hand after blocking a shot by Zdeno Chara while killing a penalty. As soon as Straka was hit he grimaced in pain and started to take off his glove, but he kept it on once he realized the Bruins were still controlling the powerplay. Straka stayed on the ice to finish off the penalty kill and even successfully blocked another from Chara before getting off the ice and heading to the locker room.

Goaltending and defense came up big for both teams in this game. Lundqvist, who has started in every game for the Rangers this season, played 65 minutes of shutout hockey before allowing the goal to Kessel during the tiebreaker and stopped all 19 shots he faced.

Manny Fernandez, who has struggled since being acquired by the Bruins from the Minnesota Wild during the off-season, got the start over starter Tim Thomas. He saved all 26 shots he faced and then beat Brendan Shanahan, Drury, and Jaromir Jagr during the shootout.

Much of the game was played with a man advantage. The Rangers had six chances on the power play and failed to score every time, but made up for it by keeping the Bruins from scoring on their eight attempts.

Towards the end of the first period the Rangers faced their only serious situation when Jagr received a double minor high sticking penalty for clipping Glen Murray in the face, but they survived it thanks to a fantastic play by Lundqvist

The Rangers killed the first penalty and were working on the second when former Ranger Marc Savard found himself alone at the bottom of the right circle. He got off a shot which at first looked like a sure thing. It was at that moment that Lundqvist came sprawling across the crease to make a huge glove save and preserved the tie game. As Lundqvist made the save Savard fell to the ice in disbelief before getting to his feet and going over to congratulate Henrik on the save.

The Rangers’ biggest opportunity came early in the second period when Petr Prucha got the puck alone in front of the net. He was turned away by Fernandez who managed a nice kick save to stop the opportunity. The play was unique because it seemed like the only time during the game the six foot nine inch Chara was not in front of the net to clear any Rangers away.

The Rangers certainly need their power play units to get their act together. It could be that their lineup is too top heavy. Their first PP unit is Jagr-Gomez-Shanahan with Drury at the point, but their second man advantage unit consists of Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, and Ryan Callahan upfront. While the first group has 1562 career goals combined the second group has just six. This may be allowing teams to stack up their best penalty killers against Jagr and company and take a break during the second half of man-down play.

Rob Abruzzese’s work can also be read In The Dirt.

A tie is like kissing your cousin and in today’s NHL you are not allowed to kiss your cousin or settle for a tie. So we went to a shootout to settle matters after a five minute overtime saw no damage done by either side.

Shooting for the Blueshirts were Brendan Shanahan, Chris Drury and Jagr. Even in a shootout the Blueshirts found themselves snake bitten and couldn’t solve Manny Fernandez

Shooting and missing for the Bruins were Patrice Bergeron and Marco Sturm before Phil Kessel scored on the Bs third shot as the Bruins win their fourth in a row.

Rangers outshot the Bruins 25-19 in regulation and couldn’t bulge the twine. This is the second game in a row that the Blueshirts were unable score an even strength goal.

St.Ranger player of the game as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Marty Straka for imitating Lundqvist and taking a couple of shots in the second period. Straka broke a finger on one of the saves and didn’t return.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

Now I know what it is like to watch paint dry. We are scoreless at the Gawden – or whatever they call it now – heading into the third period. The Bruins will be on the powerplay to start the final frame.

Both teams have had plenty of chances on the powerplay but they are 0for Saturday. The Blueshirts are 0 for four with the man advantage and the Big Bad Bruins are 0 for six. Shots are even at 14 apiece.

The Blueshirts and Bruins are scoreless heading into the second period. And the Blueshirts should be grateful for that. With Jaromir Jagr sitting in the box for a highsticking double-minor the Bruins applied the forecheck to no avail as Henrik Lundqvist stoned them cold. Lundqvist’s best stop of the frame was a nice glove hand save that left Marc Savard lying on the ice muttering to himself.

Kudos to Martin Straka for blocking not one, but two shots on the penalty kill. The first blocked shot saw Straka favoring his wrist. He left for the dressing room following the shift. Why Straka was on the ice killing penalties is anybody’s guess.

The Rangers killed off six minutes in penalties while being outshot 9-4. Jagr is back in  the box to start the middle stanza.

I told myself that I was taking a break today owing to last night’s debacle in Atlanta against the Thrashers. I was tuning out all things pertaining to the Blueshirts. Then I get the news that the BoSox have forced the Rangers-Bruins tilt to be played as a matineé. We are easy prey, now we are getting pushed around by a bunch of guys who go to work in their pajamas.

So if anyone is driving up to Beantown to catch the game leave three hours earlier ‘cause the game isn’t starting at 7PM it’s starting at 4PM. The game is being carried locally by the usual suspects.

Where do we start?

The one saving grace in the Rangers 5-3 loss to the previously winless Thrashers is that nobody was watching.

Locals were growling that the Bosox had a healthy lead in the late innings.

More in the morning…or we can just put this behind us and see how Boston looks at us as easy prey.

Atlanta took to the ice knowing that they had more on the line tonight than our boys in blue. But knowing you have more on the line and executing are two different things. And the Thrashers took the early lead as Pascal Dupuis’ shot from the slot put Atlanta up 1-0 at 4:21 from Brad Larsen and Bobby Holik.

Rangers got into early penalty trouble giving the home side a 40 second 5-3 advantage at 6:12 of the first that Atlanta quickly capitalized on. Viktor Kozlov left alone at the side of the crease neatly tucked in the cross-ice feed from Marian Hossa at 6:23.

Following a nice series of saves against the swarming Blueshirts, Atlanta starter Jere Lehtonen left the game with eight minutes to go in the first frame. Lehtonen was replaced by Johan Hedberg. The Manitoba Moose is 0-2 for the year in three appearances with the Thrashers sporting a 4.29 GAA.

Tomas Pock is on the Blueshirts defence subbing for Marek Malik. Hossa and Jason Strudwick are tonight’s other scratches.