Through the miracle of moden technology called Verizon, I am writing this on the train ride home.

If you were at the game or watched it at home, you saw the Rangers dominate on shots, but also watched as the Ducks capitalized on Blueshirt mistakes.

Here’s the problem: The Rangers play a different game at home compared to on the road. That said, the Blueshirts make too many mistakes at home, and hope that Henrik Lundqvist can save them.

Unfortunately, he can’t.

As good as Lundqvist has been, the Rangers still can’t leave their goalie naked out there for odd man rushes. They limit those on the road, but get out of the gameplan at the Garden. The result comes a loss for the Blueshirts, a frustrated crowd and an angry Tom Renney, who is not at fault here.

Until the team cuts down on their mistakes at the Garden expect more of this, because the Rangers can’t go toe to toe with the high scoring teams.

Just my throughts on the train. I will have the NYSD game story up later.

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NEW YORK – This is not what Tom Renney had in mind when his team looked to the New York Giants for inspiration. The Super Bowl Champs were the road warriors of the NFL, winning a record 11 straight away from the Meadowlands. And the Rangers started emulating the G-Men, by getting three hard fought road wins. And then they came back home to the league worst Lost Angeles Kings. The 4-2 loss just highlights what’s wrong with the Rangers this season. “We talked about a good young team that was 6-3-1 before tonight,” Renney said. “They were just getting better and had nothing to lose. We needed a start to possibly put them on their heels and give us the room that we were looking for and take control of the game early.”

«FULL STORY»

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After the 2-1 win over the Devils, I was able to poll a few Blueshirts on their picks. While some didn’t really follow football enough to give a pick, others fearlessly forecasted a Giant win.

Here are the results:

Henrik Lundqvist: First went with the Pats 24-15, but then changed it to Giants 32-24

Jason Strudwick: 24-14 Pats

Fedor Tyutin: Giants 24-21

Stephen Valiquette: Giants 24-14

Dan Girardi: Giants 30-21

Scott Gomez: Giants 28-17

Tom Renney: Giants 26-23

 

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Marek Malik is in. Paul Mara is out and Steve Valiquette is in goal.

Tom Renney said Valiquette plays for scheduling purposes, and Henrik Lundqvist will be in Jersey and Montreal.

But tonight the Rangers play the Flyers in a game that hopefully gets the competitive juices flowing as time is ticking away.

“Anything can help,” Renney said. “I would like to think it doesn’t matter, but these are four point games and Philadelphia is playing very well and we have to have the passion to play”

For the lines, Renney is changing the lines once again with Marty Straka moving back with Scott Gomez and Jarmomir Jagr. Sean Avery goes back with his buddy Brendan Shanahan with Brandon Dubinsky centering and Chris Drury will center Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

That’s all for now.

And for some Giants news check out NYGMen.com, which I am running for the week.  

 

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Ok, after John Dellapina’s and Jay Greenberg’s revelations of why Marek Malik was sent home yesterday, it’s clear that the much maligned defenseman must move on.

First, the obvious: Tom Renney deserves better. He has been one of Malik’s biggest defensers and to snub him in front of the whole team is just inexcusable. Renney is trying to win games and frankly, scratching Malik over the past month was justified.

Secondly, Malik’s attitude has become a me-first type of player. Besides the well documented blowups, after a Ranger win a few weeks ago, the defenseman came out just a few minutes after the game to dispute a +/- call on him. Malik felt he was on the ice for one of the Ranger goals and should be rewarded. That type of pettiness is not championship material.

The Rangers are playing very hard to turn this season around and Malik is making it very clear he doesn’t want to be part of it. It’s time to cut bait. If Glen Sather can’t trade him over the break, then waiving him, with a trip to Hartford may be a good attitude adjustment.

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I wasn’t at practice today, but reports out of Greenburgh say Marek Malik’s equipment was not in his locker.

When asked, Tom Renney stated it was an “internal matter” and as of right now, he’s still a Ranger.

Ok, but that doesn’t mean Malik will be a Ranger later today or after the All-Star break. The much maligned defenseman has been rumored in trade talks and may be moved, if someone will take his $2.5 million salary which expires at the end of the year.

More on this as it comes in.

In other news, Ilya Kovalchuk won’t be at the game either due to a one game suspension for his boarding hit on Michal Rozsival on Tuesday.

Oh, and there’s the matter of No. 2 going to the rafters as well. The ceremony starts at 6:30 and the game will begin at 8:08 with the Rangers fined if it’s late.

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Tonight the Rangers take on the Montreal Canadiens after demolishing the Maple Leafs last night 5-1.

Henrik Lundqvist is back in goal, but other than that, the same lineup will go out with both Marcel Hossa and Jason Strudwick taking seats.

Tom Renney is looking to build some momentum by getting three in a row for his Blueshirts before they take the dreaded Western Canadian trip next week.

And for those who are counting that’s five games in a row against teams from the north and six out of seven.

Oh Canada!!

Even with such a bad December, remember the Rangers are only three points behind the Devils for the second most total in the conference. So it’s not so bad.

With the power play coming alive and Sean Avery back, the Rangers look like they can take on the world in 2008.

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The Rangers look to make their holiday wishes come true tonight with a win at home against the first place Carolina Hurricanes.

The Staal Brothers will take center stage with Eric facing off against Marc [In case you were wondering all three bothers spent Christmas in Carolina with Eric and Marc coming up here together].

Tom Renney is scratching Nigel Dawes, Marcel Hossa and Jason Strudwick, all have good reasons.

Hossa is still ill, but you would have to believe could play if he was contributing more. And Dawes and Strudwick may be sitting because the team may be showcasing Petr Prucha, Paul Mara and/or Marek Malik. The latter two will be paired up together on the third defensive set, while Prucha will slot back in on the third line.

According to Larry Brooks in today’s Post, Columbus is looking at those three in a possible trade. They have has scouts at the last few games with the Rangers looking at some help as the team has struggled over the last 10 games [going 2-6-2].

In the Post story, the Rangers are looking at defensemen Adam Foote and Rostislav Klesla with others may be in the deal as well, depending on how much Columbus takes back from the Blueshirts.

None of this can happen until tomorrow anyway, since the NHL roster freeze goes until tomorrow.

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I hate to use the word trap game, but the Rangers are in somewhat of a tough pickle tonight with Ottawa in town With Christmas two days away, coach Tom Renney is trying to get his team focused, even though they came back from a tough road trip.

“I hope not,” Renney said. “This is the Ottawa Senators. This is the NHL. This is what we get paid to do to put a product on the ice in front of our fans. They want to support us for the right reasons. We have to play.”

The fans will get to see the play of Sean Avery, who Renney said will provide spark to the team as he comes back from surgery back on Nov. 27. The wrist is fine and after the doctors checked it out this morning, he was given the good to go.

“What he brings us is what he always has,” Renney said. “He’s an intelligent player, who doesn’t scarifice the defensive side of the puck to do his things. I like his speed, naturally. He’s an abrasive guy.”

What Renney is hoping for is a trickle down effect, where the rest of the Rangers follow No. 16′s lead.

“To a point,” said the coach. “There are a number of times during the hockey season where you are looking to establish traction and gets parts of your game back. When he is not in the lineup, there’s a vital part of our game that is missing to a point. He helps everybody to understand this is [what we are missing.]”

Avery will be in. Petr Prucha is a scratch, along with Paul Mara. Marek Malik in, as will be Nigel Dawes on the third line.

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