The New York Rangers play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six matchup tonight at MSG. After 20 minutes the game is scoreless. Playing an uptempo game the Blueshirts outshot the Leafs 11-5 in the frame. The Rangers penalty killing unit, ranked seventh in the league, successfully killed off the only powerplay in the period when Nigel Dawes was in the box for hooking.

Winners of five of the last seven meetings between the two clubs, the Blueshirts are the polar opposite to the Leafs. Whereas the Rangers can’t score goals (a league low 15) the Leafs lead the league with 42 goals scored. Leading the way for the Leafs is captain Mats Sundin (6-12-18). Sundin is second in the league in scoring and is currently riding a four game scoring streak with three goals and five helpers in that span.

The Rangers defense coming off a 2-0 shutout over Jersey Thursday night lead the league with a team 1.76GAA allowing only 17 goals on the year. The Leafs on the other hand have given up 44 goals. Vesa Toskala, touted as a goaltending savior when the Leafs traded for him this summer is 3-3-1 with a 3.67GAA and .890SV.

The Blueshirts are 3-1 at MSG this year while the Leafs have one road victory in three games away from the Air Canada Centre.

On the injury front, Darcy Tucker is out for the Leafs with a knee injury, Bryan McCabe and Kyle Wellwood are also sitting out tonight nursing tender groins. The Blueshirts are still without the services of Sean Avery, Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan

The New York Rangers after scoring in the first minute of the game on Nigel Dawes first goal of the season held on to defeat their Hudson River rivals the New Jersey Devils 2-0 in action at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.Thursday’s game against the Diablos is the first of six at home for the Broadway Blueshirts.

After going 0-2 with the man advantage in the first period the Rangers allowed the Devils three straight powerplay opportunities in the second. The Rangers who have self-destructed in the second period this season managed to survive without a goal scored against them. You have to wonder what Coach Renney says to the troops in between periods because the Rangers come out flat every time. They can thank the play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist for keeping the score 1-0 after 40 minutes.

Tonight was a good night for the Rangers own feeble powerplay to break out as the Devils penalty killing unit is ranked 29^th in the league. The Diablos had given up 11 odd man goals in the last seven games prior to tonight’s action. And the Blueshirts did just that. The Rangers put the game out of reach with a late powerplay goal by Dawes who scored with a nice wrist shot from the left dot at 16:07. Brandon Dubinsky picked up his first NHL point on the play and Petr Prucha picked up the other assist.

ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME as brought to you by rangerspress.com is Henrik Lundqvist for picking up his first shutout of the year. With the way the Rangers score goals Lundqvist needs a shutout every night. Over the last three games Lundqvist has given up one regulation time goal but only has tonight’s win to show for his stellar efforts. We could have gone with Nigel Dawes but he was our ST.RANGER PLAYER OF THE GAME last time out against Pittsburgh.

Up next for the Remedial Rangers is Mats “Moonbeam” Sundin (6-11-17) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-4-3). The Laffs are coming off a road game in Pittsburgh Thursday night. Saturday’s game is being broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada north of the border.

ST.RANGER THINGS…Eddie Giacomin was the last Ranger goalie to start the first nine games of the season…Colton Orr muscled his way to seven hits to lead the home squad…Chris Drury and Dawes tied for a team high five shots on goal…Drury led all forwards with 20:07 of ice time…Dan Girardi led the D with 23:11 … After going 0-9 on the pp against Boston and Pittsburgh the Blueshirts went 1-4 against New Jersey…Outshot the Devils 31-22.

Until next time baby Blueshirts…puck on!

For the first time since the last minute of the Ottawa game oh so long ago the Rangers have scored an even strength goal. And they didn’t waste any time as Nigel Dawes beat Martin Brodeur 57 seconds into the game. Brendan Shanahan picked up the puck at the Devils blue line and quickly fed Dawes who beat Brodeur through the five hole.The Rangers had gone more than 181 minutes in between even strength tallies. The goal for Dawes is his first of the year and second in his career. Dawes goal is also the first of any kind for the Blueshirts since an ugly 5-3 loss to Atlanta last week.

Early in the first the Rangers are up 1-0.

Tonight’s game against the Diablos is game one of the Blueshirts longest homestand of the year. Long homestands have been good to the Rangers in recent years as they have not finished below .500.

It’s safe to say that in facing his old Jersey mates Scott Gomez (2-1-3) has to come up big tonight. Eight games into the season and Gomez has done nothing to earn the admiration of the Blueshirts faithful while collecting his millions.

MIA for the Blueshirts tonight are agitator Sean Avery, Martin Straka and Ryan Callahan. The Devils are also battling the injury bug with Colin White, Jamie Langenbrunner and Cam Janssens out of tonight’s lineup. Langenbrunner owned the Blueshirts last year leading the Devils in scoring with three goals and nine points.

As expected, Tomas Pock cleared waivers and was assigned to the Wolf Pack earlier today. There was no room for Pock on the crowded Blueshirts blue line. Pock dressed in only one game this year against Atlanta and the time down in Hartford will help him hone his skills and make a contribution on the farm while gaining valuable ice time. Defense has not been the Rangers problem this year.

The Diablos (3-4-1) sit two points ahead of the Blueshirts and a victory tonight will give the home side some much needed confidence by picking up ground on a divisional foe. The Rangers sport a 5-2-1 record against their Hudson River rivals in the last eight meetings at MSG. Let’s hope the Diablos are looking ahead to their first home game of the season Saturday night against the Senators.

The Rangers can add yet another player to their injured list. An MRI today showed that Ryan Callahan has a grade two knee sprain, suffered in Tuesday’s loss to the Penguins. The winger will be out indefinitely, though the injury will not require surgery.

Callahan joins the ailing Straka (broken finger) and Avery (separated shoulder).

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!