Pitts-Penalty Box.

Penguins 3 Rangers 1
guh.
The Rangers spent much of the afternoon killing off penalties, and were mostly successful (7 of 9). However, they needed to be perfect, as they were only able to muster 1 goal of their own. (Brandon Dubinsky, assist Jagr)
King Henrik was awesome, but you can't keep Sid the kid and Malkin off the scoreboard while protecting a 1 goal lead.
The playoff race is so tight, and the Blueshirts really need to win the back end of this home & home. Stay out of the sin-bin, boys...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

'Blood & Guts' Gomez!

Rangers 3 Devils 2
YAY!
One of the biggest reasons The Blueshirts have done so well this year (7 wins in 7 tries!!!) against their bitter rivals from across the river is the play of ex-Devil Scotty Gomez. After missing just 1 game due to severely bruised ribs Gomez had 2 assists (on the first goal by Brendan Shanahan and the tying goal by Christian Backman) numerous hits and was named the game's 1st star.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped 32 of 34 shots including this one:

2nd star to the King, and Chris Drury with 3 assists was named 3rd star. One of those helpers came when his shot on Martin Brodeur rebounded from the goalie pad to the slot/crease area, whereupon it bounced off Nigel Dawes' shoulder and went in the net. Here's Nigel, flat on his back, about to score the game winning goal:

The boys hung on for the last 3 minutes of the game and came away with the huge 2 points. Up next is a home & home with the Penguins, starting Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

The Flyers. I hate Them.

Flyers 2 Rangers 1 OT
guh. A loss in the shootout in Philly on Friday night and now the overtime loss at MSG last night. And still the Blueshirts are clinging to 6th place, just ahead of the Flyers and the Bruins. 6 games left in the regular season, and obviously, every point in the standings is crucial.
Jaromir Jagr scored the Rangers lone goal very early in the 1st period, and later said “A 1-0 lead, it’s not enough,”. “Sooner or later, somebody is going to make a mistake and that’s what happened and they tied the game.” NY Times recap
Boys, let's go for 2 points against the Devils on Thursday...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Road Rally!

Flyers 4 Rangers 3 OT/SO
*muted yay*
The good news is the boys scored 3 goals in the 3rd, rallying from 2-0 (Malik and Dawes) and 3-2 (Jagr) to send the game to overtime. They bagged a point for the regulation tie and remain in 6th place in the conference. Recent acquisition Christian Backman assisted on all 3 goals, which, considering he's a defenceman, means he must've been quite aggressive on offense just when he was needed. Way to go!
Now for the bad news: Blair Betts had surgery on his foot and will miss some time, and the Rangers top scorer, Scott Gomez, went into the boards very hard and seems to have broken a couple of ribs. No word on how long he'll be out, prolly the rest of the regular season. =(
Steve Valiquette got the start in goal; alas, no shutout of the Flyers this time around...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Chris Drury = Clutch

Rangers 2 Devils 1 OT/SO
YAY!
Nigel Dawes beat Martin Brodeur for the only goal in the shootout and Chris Drury showed why he has the reputation for being a clutch player, scoring the tying goal with 5 minutes left in regulation (assist to Ryan Callahan):

Apparently not everyone in the NHL is a fan of Sean Avery's big mouth:

Henrik gets 2 angles: 1 for being awesome in regulation; 1 for being awesome in the shootout:


5th place with 8 games to go...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

100 wins for King Henrik!

Rangers 5 Penguins 2
YAY!
On the night when Henrik Lundqvist notched his 100th NHL win, Sean Avery was the offensive star for the Blueshirts, with 2 goals:

The fans at MSG started a chant of “Re-sign Avery!” in the 3rd. The Rangers should re-sign him as well as Jaromir Jagr, who assisted on both Avery goals.
This photo is from last week, but King Henrik celebrates in a similar way after every victory, so here ya go:

The boys take the bus over to Newark to face the Devils tonight. 9 games left in the regular season...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

No Help For Henrik.

Lightning 3 Rangers 0
guh. It's unusual this season for a team to outshoot the Rangers; last night they only managed 20 shots on Mike Smith. At the other end of the ice, Henrik Lundqvist faced 30 shots. Three Frenchmen- Alexandre Picard, Martin St. Louis and Michel Ouellet (empty net) scored for the 'Ning. The final tally could've been much worse, so many of the Tampa Bay chances were from point blank range. Everybody took the night off except the King.
Evgeni Malkin, Sid the kid Crosby and the other Penguins on Tuesday...
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

Jok + Vok = streak is over.

Panthers 3 Rangers 2
It was fun while it lasted, but Florida (with a streak of 6 straight wins) gathered up all of the standings points last night. Olli Jokinen scored a power play goal to give the Panthers the lead in the 3rd, and the Rangers were frustrated by the excellent goaltending of Thomas Vokoun.
Another game in the Sunshine state tonight, with the boys facing Vinnie Lecavalier and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Let's Go Ranguhs!!

Winning is Fun!

Rangers 3 Sabres 2 OT/SO
YAY!
The above photo is from the Jaromir Jagr goal, set up by a bone-crushing hit by Avery (who seems pretty pleased with the result):

If you click the pic to enlarge, you'll also notice the ref checking out Jagr's reaction, even while pointing to the net for the goal indication. =)
King Henrik makes the miraculous seem routine, kicking out the pad to make the crucial save:

And here is Scotty Gomez, with your NYR game winning goal:

From www.nytimes.com: “Literally, when I get to the blue line, I’m like, ‘Should I shoot, should I shoot, should I shoot?’ ” Gomez said. “O.K., let’s go with this one.”
Good choice!
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Nigel and the King!

Rangers 1 Bruins 0 OT/SO
YAY!
It was an Original Six matchup at MSG on Sunday afternoon, and when it was over, King Henrik Lundqvist had his 9th shutout of the season, and the Blueshirts had broken ahead of Boston in the standings. Alone in the 6th spot, with 13 games remaining in the regular season.
Nigel Dawes scored the only goal of the shootout in round 2:

And enjoys his welcome at the Ranger bench:

The boys are in Buffalo Monday...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Revenge on the Island!

Rangers 4 Islanders 1
YAY!
Brendan Shanahan opened the scoring with a breakaway goal 90 seconds into the game, and the boys never let up the rest of the way. Sean Avery scored twice (1 empty netter) and Scott Gomez also put a biscuit in the basket.
King Henrik stopped 26 out of 27 shots for his 30th win of the season
I'm guessing this is either a still from the goal-cam, but wow, nice look from the net:

The Rangers are in 6th place, but only 4 points out of the Eastern Conference lead. That's tight! Rangers vs. Bruins at The World's Most Famous Arena this Sunday...
LET'S GO RANGERS!

'Dubiel' Trouble

Islanders 4 Rangers 3 (OT/SO)
*muted yay*
The Isles started backup goalie Wade Dubielewicz in game 1 of the home and home. The little guy came up big against the Blueshirts, holding the Rangers to 3 regulation goals, and denying 5 of 6 in the shootout. The boys got goals from Dawes, Drury and Callahan. Nigel Dawes also scored the Rangers lone shootout goal.
Check out this great photo of 2 bodies trying to occupy the same space:

Ok, wins and ties- it's all good, good for 6th place in the conference.
LET'S GO RANGERS!

Victorious Valiquette!

Rangers 5 Flyers 4 (OT/SO)
YAY!
The blueshirts came from behind twice, held a lead and lost it twice, and finally relied on their secret weapon:

to ground the Flyers. After a first period frenzy of goals, the Rangers brought in backup goalie Steve Valiquette to replace Henrik Lundqvist, who may have been a bit distracted by the hottie with the sign:

The fist-pumping celebration above is Fredric Sjostrom, who impressed everyone (including himself) with this acrobatic goal:

And this tangled mess is the result of Martin (not pictured) Straka's goal. Out of the way, future-hall-of-famer coming through:

In the shootout, Brendan Shanahan and Nigel Dawes schooled Martin Biron, and Valiquette denied the Philly shooters. Stevie V. now has 2 road shutouts against the Flyers, plus this awesome effort in relief. YAY!
LET'S GO RANGERS!