I know the Rangers have opened up a seven point lead over the 9th place Hurricanes (Carolina has two games in hand) and they are knocking on the door of sixth place, but one look at the Rangers remaining schedule tells us the playoffs are far from a lock...

3/26 - @BOS
3/30 - @BUF
3/31 - @NYI
4/3 - @PHI
4/4 - vs. BOS
4/7 - vs. ATL
4/9 - vs. Devils

...the next four games all on the road against playoff teams and a natural rival will define the Rangers season.

...when the Rangers schedule came out this offseason I was pumped that the Rangers final three games were at home. Now I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

...seriously, do you see even one layup in those games. Maybe the Thrashers, but even they have been playing better of late.

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James Mirtle at the Globe & Mail lists the man-games lost for every team in the NHL with the Rangers landing at #10 with 294 which is 3.97 man-games lost per game.

...it's funny how injuries always seem to bring a team closer together. Got to give the Rangers major props for fighting through the injury bug this season. It's actually beneficial down the stretch as many players such as Callahan and Prospal are now fresher than they would be if they'd played the entire season.

The number one team by far are the Islanders with 512 man-games lost. The next closest team is the Avalanche with 385.

...512!!! I almost feel bad for the Islanders. Almost.

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Scott Burnside at ESPN.com takes a look at how the Rangers never deviated from their game plan during their January through February slump...

"And yet they have not played differently, they just have had better results. It may seem like semantics, but ask teams that never get to this point after a terrible slide and they'll tell you it's more than just word play."

...if you look back at any of my game recaps during that skid I pretty much said tough loss but this team never stops working hard. That has been a staple of this team and why us as a fan base has fallen in love with the 2010-11 Blueshirts. And to me John Tortorella deserves all the credit.

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Rangers head coach John Tortorella speaks with reporters after the Blueshirts fell to Ottawa 2-1 in an OT shootout on March 24 at Madison Square Garden.


Rangers vs. Senators lowlights

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The New York Rangers (40-30-5) lost to the Ottawa Senators (28-37-9) by the score of 2-1 in a shootout, last night. For a recap and box score go to Yahoo! Sports and newyorkrangers.com.

...i'm going to try and be positive here. The Rangers didn't play a very good game and were still able to come away with a point at a time in the season when points (see last year) mean everything. Sure Ottawa is in last place but they have been a much better team since acquiring Anderson (10 wins in last 16 games).

...Rangers scored a grand total of two goals the last two days and came away with three points. Again a positive. Finding ways to get points despite not playing their best.

...looks like the Rangers are back to taking the first two periods off then finding their game in the third.

...i know Gaborik messed up on the Ottawa goal, but he's still looking more and more like the Gaborik from last season.

...Prust so made out with some random chick after the game last night.

...with EC, MZA and Wolski being benched for the third period you have to assume there's an opening for Avery to reappear in the Rangers lineup tomorrow in Boston.

...speaking of those three, I guess sitting on the bench for an entire period and OT can affect your shootout ability.

...i wouldn't blame Lundqvist if he was pissed at his teammates, first Staal rips one off his mask in the morning practice than the team goes out and scores just one goal including 0 for 5 in the shootout.

...where was AA in the shootout?

...what a play by Staal to feed Prust from his knees. Nice to have him back in there.

...2 for 13 on faceoffs for Stepan last night. Might be time to put him on the wing.

...how does the ref miss that delay of game penalty at the end of the third. Although with the way the pp looked in OT I guess it doesn't make a difference.

...Rangers now just two points out of sixth with Montreal losing to Boston last night.

...off today then tomorrow afternoon in Boston.

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Bergen Record - Rangers gain point, but fall to Senators in shootout

Bergen Record - Ranger notes: Marc Staal returns

New York Post - Lose to Senators, 2-1, in shootout

New York Post - Third strike nearly KOs Lunqvist

New York Post - Rangers' Staal returns; angers Lundqvist in practice

Daily News - Last-place Sens shoot down Rangers

New York Times - Lundqvist Is Sharp, but Rangers Are Not

Newsday - Senators top Rangers in shootout, 2-1

Newsday - Staple: Gaborik trying to make a difference

Newsday - Lundqvist dinged by Staal slap shot

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The New York Rangers (40-30-4, 84 pts., 7th in East) host the Ottawa Senators (27-37-9, 63 pts., 15th in East) at MSG tonight starting at 7:00 p.m. For a preview go to Yahoo! Sports.

Rangers Game Notes

TV: MSG; Radio: 1050AM ESPN Radio, XM 206

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

Staal-Girardi
McDonagh-Sauer
McCabe-Eminger

Goaltenders:
Henrik Lundqvist - 32-24-4, 2.31 gaa, .922 sv%, 10 so.

Craig Anderson - 6-4-0, 2.98 gaa, .908 sv%, 1 so. (#s with Ottawa only)

Opponent Notes:
- The Senators have won nine of their last 15 games.

- Ottawa has allowed just two power-play goals in their last 52 man down opportunities.

- Jason Spezza has four goals and six assists in his last six games.

- Milan Michalek, who is tied for the team lead with 16 goals, has missed 11 straight games with a broken foot but could return tonight.

- Marek Svatos, picked up on waivers from Nashville in February, got his first goal in 13 games with the Senators on Tuesday night.

- D Erik Karlsson has 13 goals and 44 points this season which ties him for the team lead in scoring.

- D Sergei Gonchar is out with a concussion, while RW Daniel Alfredsson has missed 19 consecutive games with a back injury. Both are out indefinitely.

2010-11 Season Series:
Dec. 5 Rangers 1, Senators 3 at MSG
Dec. 9 Rangers 5, Senators 3 at Ottawa
March 4 Rangers 4, Senators 1 at Ottawa
March 24 Rangers vs. Senators at MSG

Opponent Blog:
The Sixth Sens

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Newyorkrangers.com reports that the Rangers have agreed to terms with 6' 8" free agent goaltender Jason Missiaen.

Missiaen, 20, appeared in 53 games with Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) this season, posting a 10-33-8 record, along with a 3.33 goals against average, an .893 save percentage and one shutout. He ranked third in the league with 1,403 saves and fourth in minutes played with 3,026:06 of ice time in his first QMJHL season.

...awesome stats. Not. In Gordie we trust?

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Update, 11:44 a.m.:
Staal tells reporters he's ready to play tonight.

Original Post:
Andrew Gross tweets that every Ranger is participating in practice today including Marc Staal who is skating with Dan Girardi.

...this is great news. I was growing concerned with Torts' lack of info on Staal. Will be nice to have him back in there tonight vs. Sens.

Defensive pairs are Staal-Girardi, McDonagh-Sauer, McCabe-Eminger. Gilroy spare.

Forward lines:
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust
Wolski-Stepan-Zuccarello
Prospal-Christensen-Gaborik

Avery spare.

During practice Staal one-timed a puck off Henrik Lundqvist's mask. Jesse Spector said he looked rattled but is ok.

Also seen at practice was Torts having an animated chat with Wolski.

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For those of you who have been reading TheNYRBlog for awhile know that I held a banner contest for the blog last summer. At the outset of the contest I made it known that I did not have a prize for the winner, however, their creation would be on display everyday for everyone too see. Apparently that was good enough incentive as I received an insane amount of entrants.

In the end, the winner was Joe L. who did an outstanding job coming up with the above banner in this post.

When I made the move to Bloguin just two months later I was told I needed to change Joe's banner because I couldn't use the Rangers logo due to trademark issues. Bloguin had their own artist I could have used to come up with a new banner, but I didn't feel that would be fair to Joe and asked him if he wanted to come up with a new banner for the new blog.

And man did Joe come through. I feel the current banner on the blog rivals any one out there.

For that reason I always felt I needed to get Joe a prize, but unfortunately I wasn't able to.

Enter reader Todd W. who you might remember from this picture of him and his two daughters. Todd works in the jersey business and recently sent me four Rangers jerseys (Staal & Boogaard Heritage and Stepan & Dubinsky home blue) to use for blog contests as a thank you for all the work I've done on the blog. Yes, be very thankful for Todd.

When I received the jerseys the first order of business was repaying Joe. Which Todd agreed was a great idea. So I'm happy to report, that yesterday a Marc Staal Heritage jersey was sent to Joe as a thank you for one of the, if not the best blog banner on the net.

And obviously a big thank you also goes out to Todd for hooking TheNYRBlog readers up with some awesome contest prizes.

Be on the the lookout for contests coming soon.

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