Photograph of Rangers coach Tom Renney (rear, center) and other Rangers players after the Penguins knocked them out of the playoffs by Gene J. Puskar/AP Pittsburgh 3 Rangers 2 OT: In the end it was another weird bounce that brought a close to the Rangers’ season. Dan Girardi tried to kick the puck out of the zone and instead of clearing it, deflected it right to Marian Hossa. Hossa deposited it past a surprised......

Rangers net go-ahead goal, by Ray Haddad at flickrRangers 3 Pittsburgh 0: If New York pulls off the impossible, coming back from a 3-0 deficit, the turning point will be a Henrik Lundqvist save in the second period when Pittsburgh had a penalty shot. Lundqvist’s save was only part of his great night as he made huge saves every time the Rangers needed one. Jarmoir Jagr played like this might have been his last......

The New York Rangers are on the brink of elimination in their 7-game series against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but Rangers forward and "enforcer" Sean Avery is on a much more serious brink. Avery was hospitalized at St. Vincent's Hospital early this morning around 3 a.m. for a lacerated spleen and he remains there this afternoon. Which means Avery will be out for the rest of the season. The Daily News had reported the much-maligned Avery......

Photograph of the Rangers and Penguins in a first period fight (three roughing penalties were charged to each team) at Madison Square Garden by Julie Jacobson/AP Pittsburgh 5 Rangers 3: Ryan Hollweg has a fantastic moustache, but his idiotic penalty probably cost the Rangers their season. New York fell behind right out of the gate with Marian Hossa scoring only a minute into the game. The Rangers tied things up, but Pittsburgh went ahead......

Photograph of Hal Gil (center) going after the Rangers' Sean Avery, with goalie Marc Andre Fleury and linesman Lonnie Cameron trying to stop him, by Gene J. Puskar/AP Penguins 2, Rangers 0: Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin skated past Marc Staal before giving up the puck to Jordan Staal, who scored the deciding goal in this nailbiter in Western Pennsylvania. That second-period strike plus an empty-netter put the Penguins in complete control of this series before......

Photograph of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopping a shot from Penguins player Sidney Crosby by Keith Srakocic/AP Penguins 5, Rangers 4: Martin Straka, Chris Drury and everyone's darling, Sean Avery, had the Rangers feeling good about themselves three minutes, 37 seconds into the second period. Game over? Not quite. Pittsburgh scored twice in 14 seconds near the eight-minute mark. Then they scored twice in a 20-second span five minutes into the third. Scott Gomez......

You have to pick your poison when playing the Penguins. Do you try and stop Pittsburgh’s top line, anchored by Sidney Crosby, or do you focus on shutting down the equally talented, Evegni Malkin and his line? And, don’t forget about the defensemen, Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney are both threats to score when they touch the puck. Clearly, keeping the Penguins off the scoreboard will be a monumental task. But, the Rangers have a......

Photograph of the Devils' Paul Martin, left, and Rangers' Sean Avery, right, go flying over Devils goalie Martin Brodeur by Bill Kostroun/AP Rangers 5 Devils 3: This was an epic clash to end the series. After the Devils jumped out to a 1-0 lead, the Rangers scored the next four goals, taking control of the game and leading 4-1 with about fifteen minutes left in the second period. But the Devils stormed back with......

Rangers 5 Devils 3: There is justice in the hockey world. One game after inadvertently deflecting the winning goal for the Devils off of his skate, Marc Staal scored the winning goal for the Rangers. Staal’s slap shot beat Martin Brodeur through the five-hole with three minutes left in regulation of a 3-3 game and gave the MSG crowd another chance to serenade Brodeur. Staal’s goal was one of the many highlights for the Rangers,......

Devils 4 Rangers 3 (OT) : Sometimes the puck just bounces the right way for you and that is exactly what happened for the Devils Sunday. New Jersey got the win they had to have thanks to a very lucky bounce. John Madden made a smart play, throwing the puck at the crease and it deflected off of Marc Staal’s skate and into the net. It was the second good bounce for New Jersey, who......

Rangers 2 Devils 1: If you were under the impression that these teams like each other, this game should clear that misconception up. New York and New Jersey spent sixty minutes Friday hitting and scrapping and when it was all over the Rangers had a huge victory and a big advantage in the series. Jaromir Jagr got things started with an amazing shot that beat Martin Brodeur off the short-side. Sean Avery scored only 23......

Photograph of the Rangers' Ryan Callahan putting a puck pasting Devils goalie Martin Brodeur by Bill Kostroun/AP Rangers 4 Devils 1: Don’t let the score fool you, this was a close game for about 57 minutes. New York got on the board first thanks to Brendan Shanahan, but New Jersey answered with a power play goal from Paul Martin. The game remained tied until the 7:23 mark of the third period when the Devils......

Photograph of Jaromir Jagr scoring against Martin Brodeur in a losing effort on Sunday by AP/Bill Kostroun For the fifth time in their history the Rangers and Devils will meet in the playoffs. The Rangers won the first three meetings, with New Jersey winning the fourth, a clean-sweep in 2006. Neither team is likely to sweep the other this year as both teams are fairly evenly matched, especially defensively. The Rangers and Devils allowed......

Photograph of the Devils' Zach Parise putting the puck past Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist by Bill Kostroun/AP Devils 3, Rangers 2 (SO): Needing a win in regulation to secure home ice in the playoffs, the Rangers pulled out all the stops. Not even adding an extra skater by pulling Henrik Lundqvist could do the trick, however, and the Devils finally beat the Rangers. New Jersey had lost the first seven games between the clubs......

Islanders 4 Rangers 3 (shootout): The Islanders clinched at least a share of the Metro Ice Challenge Championship! Unfortunately, the Islanders had to play the majority of their games against teams from outside the tri-state area and they didn’t do as well which is why their season is over. For the Rangers, they got a critical point and that combined with the Devils’ loss (see below) gives them a chance to take over fourth......

A week after abandoning plans to build a new arena at the planned Moynihan Station, Madison Square Garden officials revealed $500 million plans to renovate the 40-year-old space. Cablevision--which owns MSG--vice chairman Hank Ratner told reporters that though the company supports Moynihan Station, "We are going to renovate the arena here, and we are not going to be moving...We can accomplish anything we want by renovating." Well, Cablevision probably does like those tax breaks. The......

Rangers 3, Islanders 0: They don't know where they'll be seeded, but the Rangers are going back to the playoffs. Jaromir Jagr scored the first two goals in the first period, and the team never looked back. Even though many fans saw this as a foregone conclusion for the last several weeks, the Rangers weren't taking any chances. “It’s never been like that before,” Jagr said. “You don’t realize when the coach is telling......

Rangers 2, Penguins 1 (OT): Barring a Mets-like collapse, the Rangers will make the playoffs. Monday's victory probably boosted their spirits, too. Chris Drury scored in overtime after assisting on Jaromir Jagr's goal in regulation. At 93 points with three games remaining, the Rangers are one point away from clinching and tied with the Devils for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference. But catching the Devils and the home ice in the first round......

Penguins 3, Rangers 1: As the playoffs draw nigh, people are beginning to wonder if the Rangers will be able to make a run when the second season starts. As almost everyone knows, the regular season in hockey doesn't prove anything. The Stanley Cup playoffs are where statements are made. If the Rangers were trying to tell the league something Sunday, it must have been, "We take a lot of penalties and can't score." Playing......

Accused assistant to Murray Hill Madame Kristin Davis, Grace O'Toole, turned herself in yesterday, perhaps realizing that escape from both the NYPD and the NY Media was an impossible mission. After her alleged boss was arrested and jailed on $2 million bail for running a prostitution ring linked to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, O'Toole took off, although she was described very accurately by someone who witnessed her flight as wearing over-sized sunglasses, and carrying......

New York Ranger forward Sean Avery may be on thin ice with any woman he's currently seeing, as his name popped up in the spreadsheets of Murray Hill madame Kristin "Billie" Davis. The distaff pimp was arrested after being linked to former Gov. Eliot Spitzer--one-time state attorney general and longtime whore connoisseur. Avery denies that he knows Davis or ever used a prostitute, laughing off the incident as a practical joke by someone familiar with......

Rangers 3 Devils 2: For a team that went years without being able to beat the Devils, this year’s performance from the Rangers has been startling. Seven games, seven wins, 14 huge points and now both teams are tied with 91 points and five games to play. It was a game of crazy bounces with the puck, benefiting both teams. Tied at one, Christian Backman committed a terrible turnover in his own end that led......

Flyers 2 Rangers 1 (OT): Sean Avery would like to have that one back. After circling the net and skating near the point, Avery threw a blind pass to center that Philadelphia intercepted and turned into the game-winning goal. It gave the Flyers their second-consecutive win over the Rangers after regulation and puts Philadelphia only a point behind New York in the tight Eastern Conference. New York will now look ahead to a huge game......

Flyers 4 Rangers 3 (Shootout): Do you judge success by the final score or the effort it took to get there? Clearly, the final score is a disappointment, but when you consider the Rangers were trailing 2-0 with less than 10 minutes left, getting a point is somewhat of a victory. New York got back into the game with goals from Marek Malik and Nigel Dawes, but fell behind 3-2 when Daniel Briere scored at......

Gay NY Rangers fans are unhappy about the "toxic atmosphere" at Madison Square Garden during Rangers games. One of their examples is the reaction to Larry Goodman's dancing (pay attention at about 19 seconds in): Goodman's dancing, described as a tradition at home games, is broadcast to get the crowds going late in games. And the crowd responds with chants of "Homo Larry!" (Goodman tells the Times he prefers to be called "Dancin' Larry.") Apparently,......

Rangers 2 Devils 1 (Shootout): These were two HUGE points. Thanks to a Dainius Zubrus goal in the first period, the Devils jumped out to an early lead. Both teams settled in and played smart, defensive hockey and it looked like that one goal might hold up. But, Ryan Callahan made a great move from behind the net and he threaded a pass across the crease that Chris Drury deposited into the net with under......

Rangers 5, Penguins 2: Sean Avery seems to have a fan club. He scored two goals to earn himself a "Re-sign Avery" chant as the Rangers bounced back from consecutive losses in Florida to down the Sidney Crosby-less Penguins. Now, you may say, isn't beating the Crosby-less Penguins like beating the Jordan-less Bulls? That's almost true. Besides, no one will care when if those two points help the Rangers to a better seed and home-ice......

Tampa Bay 3 Rangers 0: The Rangers decided to truly represent New York and went to Florida this weekend for some rest and recreation. They certainly didn’t play a lot of hockey, losing Friday and then mailing it in on Saturday. They only managed 20 shots and while Henrik Lundqvist made some big saves, he couldn’t bail New York out when they needed him most. The loss leaves the Rangers only four points ahead of......

Ruth may have built it, but it sounds like Lundqvist will close it. At least if a rumored game between the Rangers and Red Wings at Yankee Stadium comes to fruition. Some stories say the deal is done, while others say the talks are just preliminary, but the idea is already polarizing the area. The NHL had a very successful (for it) outdoor game this past New Year’s Day in Buffalo. But, while Yankee Stadium......

Rangers 3 Buffalo 2 (Shootout): The Rangers earned at least a point for the 13th-straight game and swept Buffalo in their season series with another big win Monday. Things got off to a bad start as Buffalo scored only 16 seconds into the first period, but the Rangers tied things up just over a minute later thanks to Fedor Tyutin. Jaromir Jagr netted his 18th to put New York up 2-1, but Buffalo tied things......