My Sunday doubleheader continues. I was at Shea earlier and now sitting here at the Garden for Game 3.

Before the game, the media spoke with Tom Renney, who seemed very loose as his team looks to take control of this series by going up 3-0.

Jaromir Jagr came in and showed the press his Stanley Cup Ring, which he tells us is the “2008 ring.”

The Blueshirts will tote the same lineup out there, why change?

As for the Devils, they will desperately try to get back in this series which could be over by Wednesday if the Blueshirts keep winning.

Philly won today with Marty Biron coming through with a shutout, so it’s a brand new series with the Flyers taking home ice.

Oh and the Mets lost 9-7, but we won’t go there.

More later….

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Well, that looked easy didn’t it?

With the Rangers coming through for two goals in the third, the Blueshirts take home ice back for a 1-0 lead in the series.

And this was a Devil Fans nightmare. Their ‘favorites’ like Scott Gomez and Sean Avery performed and Marty Brodeur looked like a rookie out there [or at least like Mike Dunham] in the third when he tried to handle pucks that should have been just covered up.

Good job by the young Rangers like Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky who didn’t melt under the pressure and good work from Brandan Shanahan scoring the first goal.

The star of the night was Henrik Lundqvist who outplayed Brodeur and could have had a shutout if Marty Straka’s stick didn’t break causing a 5-4 powerplay to be a 5-3 since the Rangers couldn’t clear the puck and Straka couldn’t do too much.

But that’s water under the bridge, because the Callahan and Avery goals were the difference.

And what leadership from Chris Drury at the end of the game, giving the puck to Nigel Dawes for the empty netter so he can get his first goal.

All in all, a nice win.  

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I will have a full report on NYSD later, but looking at the Knicks schedule, expect the Rangers to start on Thursday, Apr. 10 if the team has home ice, simply because the Knicks have home games on the 9th and 11th.

If they sit in the five hole and play the Devils at the Rock to Start round 1, the Rangers can start on Apr. 9 and then play on Friday for Game 2. Then, it also allows the Rangers to play at MSG on the Sunday, Apr. 13th and then on Tuesday, allowing the Knicks to close out their home schedule with a 40 point Celtic blowout at the Garden on the 14th.  

Now this is all speculation, but they can’t move the Knicks and there may be other events at the Garden preempting the open dates, so this can work if the building is free.

UPDATE: I just looked at the full Garden slate and the building is free on all the days mentioned except Apr. 12 with a NY Titans Lacrosse game at 8 p.m. Now, they can play the playoff game in the afternoon or they can move Game 2 back to 13th [NBC may want that anyway] with the games on the road being on the 15th and 17th.

I also looked at the Prudential Center schedule and the building is pretty much free for the next month, so they can schedule the games when needed.   

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Even with the 9-1-0 streak, the Islanders always present problems for the Rangers. Maybe it’s because the Isles play up for this game more than the Blueshirts.

Either way, the Rangers actually need this win on home ice. After losing twice this season – including the one loss on this streak – on the Island, a win at the Garden may show the Isles who’s boss.

Anyway, at the five minute mark, there no score, but stay tuned.

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Here’s the release:

 

RANGERS ANNOUNCE 2007-2008 SCHEDULE

Team Opens 81st Season on October 4 Against Florida At Madison Square Garden

New York, July 11, 2007 – The New York Rangers will open the 2007-08 season on Thursday, October 4, taking on the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden. This marks the fourth time in the last 10 years that the Rangers have kicked off their season on home ice.

With a continued emphasis on division rivalries, the Rangers will face Atlantic Division foes New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the Islanders eight times each over the course of the season. New York will face the other Eastern Conference opponents a total of four times a piece. Also, the Rangers will host the Pacific Division – Anaheim, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Jose – and will travel to meet the Northwest Division opponents – Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Minnesota, and Vancouver.

The schedule features five Saturday contests at MSG and 10 Sunday games at home. The Rangers will play two back-to-back sets in New York, the first on Friday, October 12 vs. Washington and Saturday, October 13 vs. Ottawa, and the second on Saturday, February 16 vs. Buffalo and Sunday, February 17 vs. San Jose. The team’s longest homestand will be six games from October 25 – November 5 and the busiest nights on the Rangers’ home schedule are Thursday and Sunday, with 10 dates a piece. In addition, the Rangers will play five home games on Mondays, seven on Tuesdays, two on Wednesdays, and two on Fridays during the season.

Starting times for all home games will be 7:00 PM, except for the following eight dates (which includes potential national selections for NBC*): Sun., Nov. 25 vs. Dallas (1:00 PM); Sun., Dec. 9 vs. New Jersey (5:00 PM); Sun., Dec. 16 vs. Phoenix (5:00 PM); Sun., Jan. 20 vs. Boston (TBD*); Sat., Feb. 16 vs. Buffalo (1:00 PM); Sun., Feb. 17 vs. San Jose (TBD*); Sun., Mar. 2 vs. Philadelphia (TBD*) and Sun., Mar. 9 vs. Boston (TBD*).

*Please note games listed as TBD are based on a potential national TV schedule. Start times on these games will not be confirmed until 13 days prior to the game day. Please check newyorkrangers.com for final start times.

Single-game tickets will be put on-sale to the public in September. No date has been set at this time.

Madison Square Garden, L.P. is owned by Cablevision Systems Corporation, and includes the New York Knicks (NBA); the New York Rangers (NHL); the New York Liberty (WNBA); the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League); MSG Entertainment, which includes concerts and events at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, and the Beacon Theatre; MSG Media, which is comprised of MSG and FSN New York; fuse, the music television network; and the Madison Square Garden arena complex, located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area.

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