Update, 6:21 p.m.:
John Tortorella post game presser (via The Blueshirts Blog)...



Original Post:

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The New York Rangers (42-32-5) defeated the Philadelphia Flyers (46-22-11) by the score of 3-2 in a shootout, today. For a recap and box score go to Yahoo! Sports and newyorkrangers.com.

...if the Rangers would have lost in the shootout to the Flyers again I swear I would have shut the blog down.

...as has been the case all year the Rangers remain resilient. They came out as the hard working, lunch pail team we're used to and rode it to pretty much a season saving win.

...haven't seen a point shot power play goal like that since Leetch was manning the blueline. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of that from McCabe in these last three games.

...how good does the decision to bring Fedotenko to camp look now? Big goal from a player who's been there.

...anyone else hope Carcillo got into a car accident on the way home?

...could you imagine the second guessing on the MZA demotion if the Rangers would have lost in the shootout?

...starting my Hank for Hart campaign tomorrow.

...Boyle totally got Vorosed in his fight with Coburn.

...no goals but Gaborik seems like he's just on the edge of breaking out.

...Dr. Jekyle and Mr. Hyde season (or should I say career) continues for EC.

...conflicting reports as to whether Staal broke his nose, but to not miss a shift pretty tells you all you need to know about his toughness.

...no time to celebrate as the Bruins are in town tomorrow looking for revenge.

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The New York Rangers (41-32-5, 87 pts., 8th in East) visit the Philadelphia Flyers (46-22-10, 102 pts., 2nd in East) at the Wells Fargo Center today starting at 12:30 p.m. For a preview go to Yahoo! Sports.

Rangers Game Notes

TV: NBC; Radio: 1050AM ESPN Radio, XM 205

Probable Lines:
Gaborik-Stepan-Prospal
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Prust
Fedotenko-Boyle-Callahan
Avery-Christensen-Zuccarello

Staal-Girardi
McDonagh-Sauer
McCabe-Eminger

Goaltenders:
Henrik Lundqvist - 33-26-5, 2.26 gaa, .923 sv%, 11 so.

Sergei Bobrovsky - 28-12-6, 2.49 gaa, .918 sv%, 0 so.

Opponent Notes:
- The Flyers have lost five of seven and are 6-7-4 since Feb. 25.

- Philadelphia is 0-2-3 in their last five at home, however, they have beaten the Rangers four straight at the Wells Fargo Center.

- Sergei Bobrovsky is 2-1-1 with a 1.23 goals-against average in his last four.

- The Flyers are 33-8-5 when scoring the first goal.

- Former Ranger Nikolay Zherdev picked up an assist Friday night in his first appearance since March 6. His assist was his first point since Jan. 23.

- Danny Briere (lower body) is out today.

- Another former Ranger Jody Shelley (fractured orbital bone) and Chris Pronger (broken right hand) are both expected to be sidelined until mid-April.

-  Claude Giroux leads the team with 72 points (25g, 47a), while Jeff Carter is on top with 36 goals.

2010-11 Season Series:
Nov. 4 Rangers 1, Flyers 4 at Philadelphia
Dec. 18 Rangers 1,. Flyers 4 at Philadelphia
Jan. 16 Rangers 2 vs. Flyers 3 at MSG
Feb. 20 Rangers 2 vs. Flyers 4 at MSG
March 6 Rangers 7 vs. Flyers 0 at MSG
April 3 Rangers vs. Flyers at Philadelphia

Opponent Blog:
Flyers Goal Scored By...

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With the Rangers losing two tough games in a row, Dan David at newyorkrangers.com takes a look back at five "response" games by the Rangers this season.

These are games in which the Rangers turned what had been negative momentum from losses to weaker teams into the kind of victories fans who watched them will remember long after the season ends.

They are 12/12 - 7-0 win vs. Capitals, 1/3 - 1-0 win vs. Canucks, 2/13 - 5-3 vs. Pens, 3/12 - 3-2 (SO) win @ Sharks, and 3/26 - 1-0 win @ Bruins.

...if the Rangers want to make the playoffs they're going to need six response games this season.

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For those of you not familiar with the Yahoo Sports fantasy rotisserie scoring system click here. For more on TheNYRBlog Fantasy Hockey League Championship round click here.

OVERALL POINTS
Team   G   A  +/-  PPP  SHG  GWG  H   W  GAA  SV%  SO  TOT
MSGU   4   4   8   3.5  3.5   6   3   5   8   7.5 6.5  59

JDAS   8   2  5.5   7   3.5   6  7.5  8   2    3  2.5  55

GS     4   8  5.5  1.5  3.5  2.5  1  6.5  7   7.5 6.5  53.5

TG    6.5 6.5 2.5  3.5  3.5   8   2  2.5  5   4.5 6.5  51

FS     4   4  5.5   5   3.5   6   6  6.5  3   4.5 2.5  50.5

GTFM  6.5  4   1    8   7.5  2.5 7.5 2.5  1    1  2.5  44

S'94   2  6.5 2.5   6   7.5  2.5  4  2.5  4    2  2.5  42

BLUE   1   1  5.5  1.5  3.5  2.5  5  2.5  6    6  6.5  41

Team Key: JDAS = Jim Dolan's All Stars, TG = The Greeks, S'94 = Spring of '94, GTFM = GetTheFrolovMatteau, BLUE = BLUESHIRTS, FS = Fire Sather, MSGU = MS G-Unit, GS = Glen Sather

Scoring Key: G = Goals, A = Assists, +/- = +/-, PPP = Power Play Points, SHG = Shorthanded Goals, GWG = Game Winning Goal, H = Hits, W = Wins, GAA = Goals Against Average, SV% = Save Percentage, SO = Shutouts, TOT = Total Points

OVERALL STATS
Team         G  A  +/-  PPP  SHG  GWG  H  W  GAA  SV%  SO
GTFM        10 14  -5    9    1    1  45  2  2.83 .901  0

Fire Sather  7 14   3    6    0    3  44  4  2.04 .938  0

Spring '94   6 15  -1    7    1    1  38  2  2.01 .933  0

Glen Sather  7 19   3    3    0    1  29  4  1.24 .949  1

The Greeks  10 15  -1    5    0    4  35  2  1.91 .938  1

MS G-Unit    7 14   7    5    0    3  36  3  1.23 .949  1

Dolan Stars 12 13   3    8    0    3  45  6  2.11 .934  0

BLUESHIRTS   5  9   3    3    0    1  39  2  1.63 .944  1

Thank you to the Rangers and Glass Bangers T-Shirts (I definitely recommend checking them out) for hooking us up with some great prizes.

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Looks like they'll be no backing in the playoffs for the Rangers as they're getting no help right now as Montreal defeated the Devils, the Hurricanes beat the Islanders and Buffalo earned a point against the Capitals last night.

If you take a look at my updated standings in the right sidebar it shows the Rangers are still in 8th but are now a point behind the 7th place Sabres and just one point ahead of the 9th place Hurricanes.

However, to show you how quickly it can turn back around for the Rangers, Buffalo plays at Carolina today so a Rangers win could either really put some space between them and Carolina or it could leap frog them back into 7th depending on the outcome of the Buf/Car game. Let's just hope it's not three point game.

The Rangers magic number is 8.

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Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist discuss the upcoming game vs. Flyers after an April 2 practice at the Training Center.


Rangers alternate captain Ryan Callahan and blueliner Bryan McCabe discuss the upcoming game vs. Flyers after an April 2 practice at the Training Center.

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Bergen Record - Rangers need blue-colar approach

New York Post - Playoff picture is clear for Blueshirts

New York Post - Shootout success carries potential penalty

Daily News - Torts: We need to be ourselves

Daily News - 'Canes beat Isles, close in on Rangers

Newsday - Torts expects team to rebound vs. Flyers

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Video of John Tortorella post practice presser (via The Blueshirts Blog)...



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With the next biggest game of the season tomorrow afternoon in Philadelphia, John Tortorella has switched up the lines a bit (via Jess Spector)...

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Prust
Prospal-Stepan-Gaborik
Fedotenko-Boyle-Callahan
Avery-Christensen-Wolski

...i like the idea of moving Callahan. Hopefully it lights a fire under him as he's been MIA the last two games. And of course I'd like to see Avery back with Gabby, but we all know that's not going to happen.

Here's a pic of the defensemen playing mokey in the middle courtesy of the team's Twitter account...


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